"Do you want to work quietly and amaze everyone later, or do you want to secure a victory and end this game early?"

On the sixth floor of the Platinum Tower, Ming Shuiyun, secretly checking her identity, suddenly heard Leyu say this and looked up in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Leyu glanced at the three National Hero cards in his hand and directly chose the "Calamity Demon Queen" card, saying, "Unlike the Eye of Omniscience exam, the Blood Essence Stone game has only one winner. Although the Sword Holder didn't specify how many points winning the Blood Essence Stone would award, it's at least 3 points or more—which means it could even surpass the points for winning first place in the Eye of Omniscience."

"If someone else finds the Blood Essence Stone, even if it's Shuangli Palace, their point advantage wouldn't be enough to crush us. So the first path is to completely give up on this game, focus on building Shuiyun's influence and prestige, and decisively defeat the other Sword Masters in the third game."

"Ah, I'm the Emperor?" Li Ying flipped over a shiny gold Emperor identity card and immediately drew a National Hero card from the deck, "Then I'll definitely use the Lie Sect. Loyalists remember to coordinate with me."

Ming Shuiyun nodded, "Then what's the second path?"

"That would be to actively seize the Blood Essence Stone." Leyu glanced at his identity card, "The Sword Holder might not care much for the game of Finding the Sword anymore. Or rather, compared to that, he's more concerned with taunting his enemies."

"The hosting of the game is purely due to the Sword Holder's interest. If he's not interested, the game becomes merely a task for him. When an acceptable winner appears, he's likely to straightforwardly announce the victor."

If 'Eye of Omniscience' could be considered a selection, then 'Finding the Blood Essence Stone' has already shown that the game is just a whim of the Sword Holder. Just like what Leyu thought, the Sword Holder didn't plan the Selection of the Sword game well; perhaps he found it amusing to have seven heirs attend school together, or maybe he read a campus romance novel, so he did it.

Like an author without an outline, initially, it might seem fun, but over time, he'd feel like wrapping it up. However, the Sword Holder isn't in a rush; the semester is long, and he can arrange games for the Sword Masters based on daily life at the academy, like sports events, Combat Technique competitions, Academy Cups, card games, or even asking them to fall in love under the excuse of 'the Emperor needs to undergo Emotional Tribulation,' making it perfectly reasonable.

But that's if the Sword Holder has nothing else going on. Now, someone has disturbed him and caught his attention—the president of the National Relief Association. Compared to the game of Finding the Sword, it's time to end it, but he still needs to select an emperor to avoid a bad conclusion.

If a Sword Master can emerge with a substantial lead in points, earning universal acclaim, the Sword Holder is likely to go along and directly appoint her.

Actually, it doesn't matter much who among the seven Sword Masters becomes the emperor; Leyu doesn't believe the emperor can truly act on her own will. It's ultimately a manifestation of the interests of the groups in power.

The Holy Sword's brilliance only ensures that the person on the throne bears the Ming surname, but it can't guarantee that the emperor's will runs through the land, ensuring national affairs go as she wishes—if violence could truly decide everything, Cha Huan wouldn't hide at the Imperial Academy to unify it.

All seven Sword Masters lack their own political backing, so even if they become emperor, they will be just a figurehead on the throne. Who knows how many years it will take before they can showcase their prowess, with minds often directed by where they sit. By then, they'd surely be a competent emperor, for better or worse.

Since it doesn't matter who becomes emperor, Leyu provided the Sword Holder a chance for a reasonable conclusion. Losing interest, the Sword Holder would naturally be willing to end the game of Finding the Sword. Like an author eagerly waiting to wrap it up, hearing his book is about to be taken down unexpectedly brings wry amusement.

"Of course, we can also grab at both paths—develop our influence while seeking the Blood Essence Stone. If we advance, we win, if we retreat, we defend, ensuring we remain unbeatable," Leyu said.

Li Ying: "I'm equipping 'Redemption Sword,' 'Shield Formation,' passing it to Shuiyun."

Ming Shuiyun: "I'm equipping 'Snow Moon Flower Dance,' targeting Li Ying with 'Kill;' 'Snow Moon Flower Dance' ignores Li Ying's armor. I activate the Blue Flame ability 'Peerless,' you need to use two 'Flashes.'

Li Ying: "I take one blood damage... Shuiyun's a rebel, loyalists get to work!"

Lin Xue, Qian Yuya, and Kui Nianruo all pass cards to Leyu: "I activate the Xiangyu ability 'Sow Discontent,' making Shuiyun initiate a 'Duel' against Yuya. I activate 'Break the Bridge' against Shuiyun, end my turn with 'Close Moon' to draw a card."

A moment ago, Ming Shuiyun attacked Li Ying, Qian Yuya actively distributed cards to Ming Shuiyun, both clearly rebels, which revitalized Li Ying: "Ha, Teacher Qin is loyal! This one's stable!"

The rebels soon perished, leaving the loyalists to battle each other. Since Leyu was always loyal, Li Ying helped Leyu fight the other loyal Lin Xue. When Lin Xue was down to her last drop of blood, Leyu suddenly acted up: "Activate 'Sow Discontent,' making Li Ying trigger a 'Duel' against Lin Xue, do you have a kill, Lin Xue?"

Lin Xue shook her head: "No, I'm dead."

"Okay, Lin Xue is dead. Her revealed identity is loyal, and the lord must discard all hand and equipment cards due to killing a loyalist," Leyu stated, "I 'Kill' Li Ying, with no 'Flash,' you lose a blood; I activate 'Barbarian Invasion,' with no kill, you lose a blood; I activate 'All Cannons Firing,' with no 'Flash,' you lose a blood, the lord dies... Okay, game over, all perished, the hero wins!"

Li Ying groaned, "Teacher Qin, you're playing the hero card! This card is disgusting, making the lord forcefully kill loyalists!"

"Learned it? Next time you can use this trick to annoy others," Leyu chuckled softly, winning with the most challenging hero strategy brought him rare joy, "That's basically it. Shuiyun, is there anything you'd like to ask?"

"What do you think?" Ming Shuiyun retorted, "Do you want to take the first path or the second?"

Leyu: "The second path, I'm very curious about the Blood Essence Stone."

This was a genuine statement. Even if he couldn't ultimately possess the Blood Essence Stone, Leyu wanted to touch it—the Saint's Relic could potentially solve the cold bench problem this time around.

As time went on, Leyu increasingly understood the Saint's Relic's greatness. Even though its transformed Divine Weapon was a weakened version of its usual power, the benefit was that having the Saint's Relic was essentially having all Divine Weapons.

The more he learned, the more hesitant Leyu became about exposing the Saint's Relic. When using the Veil of Strife or Soul Purification, he'd either switch identities or ensure absolute secrecy about its use. Any exposure could lead to murder and treasure robbery.

More importantly, the Veil of Strife and Soul Purification weren't suitable for him, making the Saint's Relic mostly a decorative piece, occasionally turning into an ear pick or nail clipper.

But the Blood Essence Stone was different; aside from its commercial value, its mere ability warranted lifelong possession: increasing life and Spirit recovery speed.

It's not an attack-type Divine Weapon but an enhancement type, boosting Leyu's base combat power without anyone noticing!

Moreover, having the Blood Essence Stone would allow Leyu to show Qing Lan what kind of person he truly is!

"Let's take the second path. We'll work on mobilizing the Peerless Kill Research Society to find the Blood Essence Stone," Ming Shuiyun decisively chose to support Leyu.

Lin Xue: "Instead of pinning victory on the third game, why not resolve it in the second game as much as possible."

Li Ying: "Right!"

Qian Yuya: "Brother Hongle, you overlooked something: getting the Blood Essence Stone would allow Principal Cha to assist us. Just this alone is enough to close the current point gap—having the principal's help is truly an unbeatable position for a Sword Master. Even if we don't get the Blood Essence Stone, we must not let another Sword Master have it."

Li Ying: "I think so too!"

Kui Nianruo nodded vigorously.

Leyu smiled, "Though that's the plan, we currently don't even have channels to purchase Spirit Condensing Pills, making it impossible to approach the Blood Essence Stone. So, there's no rush; let's go with the flow. We may not have a chance to act before someone else finds it..."

"Speaking of this."

Li Ying suddenly raised her hand, confidently puffing out her chest, "Actually, I have a way to get close to the Blood Essence Stone."

"Ah?" Everyone was shocked, and Li Ying looked towards Kui Nianruo, "Remember someone approached us on the street trying to sell Spirit Condensing Pills a few days ago?"

"I remember, but didn't you reject them on the spot?" Kui Nianruo asked curiously.

"Ah, well, after you went to the library, I immediately ran back, bought a box, ate a few, and felt really good, so..."

Li Ying 'heehee' knocked on her head, trying to act cute, but Qian Yuya was relentless, "You seriously dare to take medicine from a stranger?!"

"But she made it sound so good, and the price was so cheap; not taking advantage of it would be unwise," Li Ying argued, "Also, don't misunderstand, I wasn't trying to take medicine. I just thought the market prospect for Spirit Condensing Pills was vast, and this price didn't match their value, so..."

Qin Yueshi looked at her with an odd expression, "Could it be you..."

Li Ying: "Yes, I'm actually now... a lower-tier distributor for Spirit Condensing Pills."

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