On the card, there is a warrior wearing a horned iron helmet, holding an axe in his left hand and a longsword in his right hand, standing on a cliff peak, snowflakes swirling around him. He exudes wildness, filled with a vast battle spirit.

"Dragonborn Chenfeng"

"Everyone says I'm a hero or a butcher, but I know I'm just a soldier who doesn't want to die."

The character card released in the second issue of the "Unrivaled List" features the only completely independent rebellious warlord at present, the leader of the Storm Army, Chenfeng!

In fact, during the release of the first issue, the Statistical Department already voted for Chenfeng, but considering Lexu's reasons were convincing and it was a trial, Lan Yan managed to snag the 'initial edition' advantage. As for why Chenfeng was chosen, the reason is simple: as a leader of the rebel army, he has enough topical interest.

The people of Yanjing don't know how many rumors they've heard about this rebel leader. Some say Chenfeng can shout and retreat thousands of troops; some say Chenfeng colludes with the evil dragon beasts; some say Chenfeng is actually a lucky person who escaped from the chopping block due to an accident. But regardless, the people of Yanjing naturally have hatred, fear, and curiosity about him, ensuring that sales will definitely not be low.

"You've got to be kidding me. I bought five packs, and they were all common cards of 'Snowstorm Chen Fengbao'." Li Ying blinked: "Teacher Qin, since you're not interested in collecting, why not give them to me? No, why not just give me an epic card 'Meat Grinder Chen Fengbao' and a shiny card 'Reversed King Chen Fengbao', since you printed them anyway..."

Lexu: "Why don't you ask Shuiyun to give you a few mountains and lakes, after all, Huiguang is her home."

Li Ying: "Really? I feel so embarrassed, thank you, Shuiyun..." She was cut off as Lin Xue knocked her on the head.

Lexu took a look at the Unrivaled List. Unlike the initial version, this time it listed the top ten martial artists in the outer eight districts and provided preliminary evaluations.

For example, the "Unrivaled List·Chenfeng Sub-list" commented on two martial artists at the Peak of Perfection:

"Zhou Shiwei, guardian of the Sirius Lighthouse, at the Peak of Perfection, has guarded the Sirius Lighthouse for thirteen years, killing over ten thousand Sea Barbarians with a long spear, shrouded in blood and extraordinary combat power. Evaluation: Possessing the courage of Lan Yan!"

"Xu Kang, Martial Arts Grandmaster, at the Peak of Perfection, created the 'Cold Flame Primal Thunder Palm' by integrating various combat techniques, undefeated against southern martial artists, nicknamed 'Southern Fist.' Evaluation: No less than Lan Yan's martial arts!"

The Statistical Department took Lexu's suggestions by using other martial artists to accentuate their strengths in the evaluations, thereby provoking conflicts between the martial artists. Just like when a girlfriend says her boyfriend is awesome, it's not much of anything, but if she says, 'You're only slightly better than my ex,' any boyfriend would find every last drop of strength to perform critical strikes.

Once Zhou Shiwei and Xu Kang read their evaluations, they will certainly be indignant about being seen as mere foils to Lan Yan, leading them to challenge Lan Yan and even become rivals out of pride.

Just the thought of being able to set up two more enemies for Lan Yan made Lexu feel as though the sun outside was shining bright.

"Hey, hey." Yan Yi asked unhappily: "I asked how you're going to deal with the Immortal Palace plan, don't change the topic."

"Actually, there's not much to deal with," Lexu said: "According to the current intel, we know that a person named 'Smile' possesses a bizarre ability that allows him to become intangible to evade attacks. The Blood Essence Stone he has can't be stolen, which means our current methods are almost ineffective against him."

"How can there be such abilities in this world?"

"But he claims to use Immortal Technique..." Li Ying said weakly.

"Instead of denying an ability we've never seen, it's better to consider it a premise for planning." Lexu said: "Moreover, 'Smile' is likely a member of the National Relief Association, a group bold enough to mobilize manpower to hunt down the principal. Opposing them, we can basically assume they have combat power at the Martial Pillar level—so, strong-arming it is out of the question."

"And for outwitting, they've already prepared methods for us."

Yan Yi: "You want to join the Immortal Palace plan?"

"Sure!" Li Ying immediately said excitedly: "Then you can join under me, and if I recruit a few more people, I can advance to fourth-level Deacon to exchange for the first drop of Immortal Blood..."

"No." Lexu shook his head: "Other than Li Ying and myself, who's already beyond saving, others don't need to join."

"Why?!" Ming Shuiyun immediately retorted: "Why can't we join?"

"I'm also curious about the Immortal Blood." Qian Yuya, who had been reading, raised her head and said.

Others also seemed eager to try, since not everyone wants to become stronger, but the method of becoming stronger through the Immortal Palace plan is too simple—recruit people, drink Immortal Blood, how exhausting can it be? A result you can gain effortlessly, without spending money or effort, who could refuse?

"First, reconnaissance doesn't require that many people. If something goes wrong, you would only hold me back." Seeing they seemed about to argue, Lexu said: "Of course, if you insist on joining this operation, I won't oppose it. In the worst-case scenario, if something happens, I'd just risk my life to protect you, just like when I saved Li Ying."

The situation was already so dire, there wasn't any chance they'd say something like 'all right, all right, then use your life to protect me'. They had no choice but to close their mouths with frustration. Li Ying gently spat, touching her belly, which had healed without any scars.

"Secondly, Li Ying mentioned that there are only about a dozen people at the gathering. Don't you think it's odd?"

Yan Yi pondered for a moment and said: "Indeed, there are too few people. According to the Celestial Palace Plan, members already joined should quickly recruit others in to ensure their promotion to the fourth level deacon and obtain the first drop of Immortal Blood."

Lin Xue speculated: "Maybe it's because the principal stirred things up, so they're hesitant to recruit recklessly?"

Qian Yuya shook her head: "It's understandable for others, but two teachers, Ying Sheng and Su Qian, shouldn't have such concerns. With their network, casually recruiting ten people should be simple."

"Then why..."

"They're afraid of scaring away the Blood Essence Stone," Leyu said. "If too many people are involved causing issues, then the path to Immortal Blood would be completely cut off. They're planning to observe first, to see if they can directly obtain the Blood Essence Stone."

"Another point is, the Celestial Palace Plan has a significant issue: If too many new members join, and there are lots of members upgrading to deacon, the Blood Essence Stone can't provide that much Immortal Blood. It's like everyone suddenly goes to buy rice from the shop; inevitably, some won't be able to buy any."

Li Ying said anxiously: "Then we need to hurry to promote to deacon! If we're late, we won't be able to exchange for Immortal Blood!"

"Yes, if you're late, you won't be able to exchange for Immortal Blood," Leyu said. "But Li Ying, try to detach from your identity as a mere pawn, imagine yourself smiling, imagine yourself as a scythe..."

"Why would Smile implement such a system? Why would he give away Immortal Blood at a loss to recruit members? Excluding the possibility of blood relations with you, why would he engage in a losing business? You should know that here, he is engaged in a monopoly operation. No one competes with him; even if he keeps nine portions while only giving you one, you have no choice but to accept it."

"Nobody engages in losing businesses, but risky trades exist. He has crafted an image that suggests he might escape at any moment, publishing an absurd yet feasible plan to incite your greed and urgency, making all of you want to exchange for Immortal Blood as soon as possible..."

"Either the Immortal Blood has issues, or there's undisclosed intelligence we are unaware of. Regardless, recruiting members benefits the Celestial Palace Plan immensely."

"The enemy hopes for what we should oppose. Therefore, I must confirm the truth myself. If I feel there are no issues..."

Lin Xue: "Then we all join the Celestial Palace Plan?"

"Then you will join the Celestial Palace Plan as my subordinates," Leyu patted his chest, "I will drink the first drop of Immortal Blood to test for poison, and bear all hardships for everyone!"

"Mr. Qin, how could you do this!" Li Ying stood up angrily: "I clearly was the first!"

"Oh, don't be anxious," Leyu comforted her, "There are so many people in the Unrivaled List Research Society; you can randomly pick ten to be your subordinates, right? I've tried. If I find the Immortal Blood fine, then you can safely recruit people into the Celestial Palace Plan. By then, everyone will have Immortal cultivation, and the Imperial Academy will stride into the new era of cultivation!"

"Impossible," Yan Yi said. "If things escalate that much, the secret is bound to spread. By then..."

"Do you think the Celestial Palace Plan ever considered keeping a secret?" Leyu countered.

Yan Yi was taken aback.

"This plan couldn't remain secret from the beginning. Even leveraging human greed and selfishness wouldn't work. Under this method of spreading from one to ten, and ten to a hundred, leakage is inevitable. I suspect the upper echelons of the Imperial Court might already know about this."

"Then why hasn't the Imperial Court..." Yan Yi stopped halfway, realizing something: "He wants to sow discord between the Imperial Court and the principal!?"

Once the Celestial Palace Plan is exposed, the Imperial Court's investigation will definitely target Imperial Academy's staff and students, which is Cha Huan's sore spot. If the National Relief Association harbors any ambition against the Imperial Academy, this single move could effortlessly embroil Cha Huan and the Imperial Court in internal conflict.

Spread, leakage, squeezing; various scenarios are accounted for in the Celestial Palace Plan's calculations. Reckless actions will only advance the Celestial Palace Plan, so everyone is cautiously probing, even the Imperial Court dares not act rashly. Everyone is aiming to seize the Blood Essence Stone once and for all, avoiding remaining on the Celestial Palace Plan's chessboard to become pawns of the National Relief Association!

As everyone discussed specific plans, Lin Xue was suddenly pulled aside by Li Ying and Kui Nian and they murmured in Lin Xue's ear for a while. After hearing them, Lin Xue turned and looked at the painting on the wall.

She remembered seeing this painting the previous times she was here; it was merely a very ordinary portrait of a woman's back... Back?

Lin Xue blinked her eyes, gazing at the woman's face slightly turned back, seemingly in the movement of turning around. Her entire body was covered with goosebumps.