How Did I End Up in Second Place?

This was hardly the first time Immortal Kirin had knelt before the sword formation. Just the instances Lu Yang had heard about exceeded ten, and the actual number was certainly far greater. Lu Yang couldn't say for sure what had triggered the kneeling this time around. As for Immortal Kirin swearing an oath to the heavens... with Immortal Ying Tian around, never mind lightning striking five times—even if it thundered every single day, nothing would happen to him. “What?!” Jiang Shishi stared blankly at Lu Yang, then shifted her gaze to Luo Hong's face. After looking back and forth three times, she finally confirmed that Lu Yang had indeed spoken the correct answer. This wasn't at all how the clan patriarch had explained it to her! How did these two know more about Phoenix Clan history than their own patriarch? “Wait, what do you mean by ‘lovers’? What was the relationship between my Ancient Ancestor and the Demon Celestial?” Jiang Shishi seemed to detect something astonishing from that answer. Didn't the historical records say that her Ancient Ancestor and the Demon Celestial were rivals who fought a massive war vying for immortal status, resulting in her Ancient Ancestor's defeat and the Demon Celestial ascending to immortality? Why would the Ancient Ancestor speak to the Demon Celestial in such a tone? This completely contradicted the history she knew! Jiang Shishi's mind was in total chaos. A single question had completely upended her understanding, overturning everything she had ever believed. Meng Jingzhou glanced sideways at the dazed Jiang Shishi, then went back to pondering what to eat once they got back. Su Lian'er also stared at Lu Yang in astonishment. On a question regarding Phoenix Clan history, how could anyone possibly know more than Jiang Shishi? Just who was this Lu Yang? Luo Hong paid no heed to the crowd's reactions. Whatever their response, it wouldn't disrupt her posing the questions; this was the procedure. “Listen closely to the third question: The Dragon Clan Ancient Ancestor was exceedingly formidable, serving as an insurmountable hurdle on the path to immortality for all of the demon race. During the ancient era, there was an extraordinary demon prodigy who, despite having concerning cultivation talent, possessed a genius for researching divine abilities. “Neglecting sleep and food, this prodigy developed a grand divine ability called the ‘Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms.’ In theory, if one mastered all eighteen palms, even the Dragon Clan Ancient Ancestor would be defeated by this technique. “However, this prodigy never completed the grand divine ability. What happened?” The Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms was an ancient grand divine ability widely renowned across the Demon Domain. Its might was beyond question, and all demon clans had searched for traces of it, yet none had succeeded. There were numerous theories as to why the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms had never been completed. Su Lian'er spoke first, rushing to answer: “According to the ancient texts of my clan, that prodigy spent his entire life yet still failed to perfect this technique. It was likely due to the limits of his talent.” Luo Hong made no comment. Su Lian'er's answer couldn't be called entirely wrong. Seeing that Luo Hong remained silent, Jiang Shishi offered another answer: “Our ancient texts have a similar record, stating that this divine ability was so defiant of heaven that the prodigy encountered a life-and-death tribulation. Though he exerted all his strength, he failed to survive it, thus perishing before he could perfect the technique.” Luo Hong shifted her gaze to Meng Jingzhou, signaling that he could answer. Meng Jingzhou looked back at Luo Hong with an expression that said, *Go ask someone else.* Luo Hong then turned her eyes to Lu Yang. Lu Yang was thin-skinned and felt rather self-conscious under Luo Hong's stare. After a brief hesitation, he shared an ancient secret. “Well, regarding this matter, I've heard a bit about it. It's said that the Dragon Clan Ancient Ancestor possessed a rudimentary Natural Selection Dao fruit, whose function was that surviving attacks without dying would make her even stronger. “Therefore, if she survived the complete Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms—which specifically countered dragons—she would become even more powerful. “After hearing about this prodigy's achievements, she paid him a visit, hoping he could complete the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms to help her grow stronger. When the prodigy learned of this, he was overjoyed and asked the Dragon Clan Ancient Ancestor to display her full power to give him a reference. “The Dragon Clan Ancient Ancestor unleashed her full strength. Winds and clouds shifted, giant stars shattered, and the scene looked like doomsday. When the prodigy witnessed this, he was literally frightened to death. “Back then, people referred to this prodigy as Lord Ye, which gave rise to the famous story of ‘Lord Ye’s Love of Dragons.’” Luo Hong nodded, thoroughly satisfied with Lu Yang's answer. “Correct. Plus one point. “As for the two of you, your answers were not entirely accurate, so no points are awarded, nor will any be deducted.” Only a fully formed Dao fruit possessed the property of causing others to forget it; a rudimentary Dao fruit lacked this trait. Thus, when Lu Yang spoke of the rudimentary Dao fruit, everyone was able to remember it. “Now, listen to the fourth question: While at the half-immortal stage, the Dragon Clan Ancient Ancestor and the Phoenix Clan Ancient Ancestor engaged in a fierce battle, during which the Phoenix Clan Ancient Ancestor died and returned to life. Please describe the detailed course of this battle.” Hearing that this was another tale about her Phoenix Clan Ancient Ancestor, Jiang Shishi looked thrilled. She knew this battle intimately! Every gesture and move of the two Ancient Ancestors had radiated immense power, reducing the celestial stars to dust, extinguishing the sun, and reducing the cosmos to dead silence. It was an epochal duel, culminating in the Phoenix Clan Ancient Ancestor's rebirth through fire, awakening amidst the flames. Both the Dragon and Phoenix Clans took immense pride in how powerful their Old Ancestors had shown themselves to be in that battle. Just as she was about to speak, she recalled Lu Yang's stellar performance earlier and turned her head to look at him. “You answer first.” Lu Yang's eyelid twitched. He hadn't really wanted to answer this question, lest he shatter the image of the Phoenix Clan Ancient Ancestor in Jiang Shishi's heart. Still, since she had ceded the opportunity to him, he couldn't very well decline. Fortunately, nothing that happened in the ancient realm could be spoken of outside; otherwise, the answers he had given would have thrown the entire Demon Domain into utter turmoil if leaked. In the Immortal Fairy's words, the battle between those two had been nothing more than setting fires, burning paper, pulling hair, and drawing circles on the ground to cast curses. Reciting that directly seemed rather disrespectful. Keeping a straight face and a solemn expression, he spoke in a deep, reverent voice, appearing to hold the Dragon Clan Ancient Ancestor and Phoenix Clan Ancient Ancestor in the highest esteem. “In that battle, heaven and earth collapsed, and space itself shattered. Both Ancient Ancestors unleashed their strongest techniques, yet after hundreds of exchanges, no victor emerged. They used their clans' True Flames as their primary means of attack, with half-immortal talismans burning furiously within the flames. The blaze soared into the heavens, and the might of the talismans shook antiquity and illuminated the present. The two also used parts of each other's bodies as mediums to cast peerless curses, filling the entire cosmos with an ominous aura. “The Phoenix Clan Ancient Ancestor was slightly outmatched, dying under the curse before reviving amidst the flames.” In reality, the Phoenix Clan Ancient Ancestor had cast the Art of Playing Dead to fake her death, only to leap up howling when the Dragon Clan Ancient Ancestor's flames burned her too badly. Better leave that part unsaid. “Correct answer. Plus one point.” Jiang Shishi was filled with regret. She could have answered that question too! “Sixth question: The Nine-Tailed Fox Clan Ancient Ancestor charmed the world...” “Seventh question...” Jiang Shishi and Su Lian'er scrambled to answer, and this continued all the way to the tenth question. “All ten questions have concluded. Lu Yang has ten points, clearing the third level.” Out of the ten questions, Su Lian'er answered five incorrectly, finishing with negative five points in fourth place. Jiang Shishi answered four incorrectly, finishing with negative four points in third place. Meng Jingzhou hadn't answered a single question, leaving him with zero points—and second place. “Decided: once we're out, I'm having mung bean cakes.” Meng Jingzhou had finally settled on what to eat, only to snap back to reality and discover the competition was already over. “How did I end up in second place?”