Watching these people clearly eat dirt yet still pretend to be kind and amiable, Yun Ran felt instantly soothed inside.

Then she left with a sweet smile on her face.

By the time she got back to the inn, Yun Ran’s whole body carried an indescribable lightness, as if every cell in her was dancing.

"Master, you’re back!"

The Little Paperman had been waiting early on; from the look of it, it had obviously dug up quite a bit of information from those people’s mouths and was just waiting to share it with her.

It was just a bit of a pity that it was a little late now; otherwise, Yun Ran really would have had the Little Paperman prepare more food and drink so she could listen slowly.

"Go on, tell me, what useful information did you hear?"

The Little Paperman immediately scooted over and said mysteriously, "Those people’s mouths were full of random nonsense; there wasn’t much truth in it.

Judging from the suspects they mentioned alone, there were at least dozens. Trying to pick out the real target from them is a bit difficult.

But that can’t stump me. When they said those people’s names, their emotions were relaxed; it was obviously just them talking big.

Until someone unconsciously brought up the people of the Murong Family, and everyone’s mood instantly turned tense.

The scene went cold at once; those people even found excuses in twos and threes, saying they had things to do, and quickly dispersed."

Yun Ran’s gaze darkened in an instant. It seemed that the Murong Family was an untouchable taboo in many people’s hearts.

If it were someone else, once they guessed this much, they’d definitely avoid it like the plague.

But Yun Ran just happened to be the kind of person with a rebellious bone; the more taboo something was, the more it piqued her interest.

"Go check what’s really going on with this Murong Family."

The Little Paperman answered, then whooshed and disappeared.

That night, Yun Ran slept quite soundly, but everyone else did not have it so easy.

Just as dawn was breaking, knocking sounded at the door.

The moment Yun Ran opened her eyes, she was fully awake. She lifted her feet and walked toward the door.

Seeing that it was still the same person monitoring her outside, Yun Ran had already built up an immunity; anyway, both sides were already tacitly aware of each other’s act.

"What is it?"

The man took out a gilt-edged invitation from his hand. "This is the once-every-ten-years selection banquet of Moonlight City. Elder Kang asked me to bring it over."

Yun Ran took the thing expressionlessly, but in her heart she was already roasting them.

Looked like she really had tormented Elder Kang and his group badly last night, otherwise they wouldn’t have done something as annoying as sending someone to knock on her door at the crack of dawn.

Although it didn’t have any substantial impact on her, it was really a bit irritating.

"Alright, I got it."

After she finished, Yun Ran shut the door.

Even if she wasn’t very clear on what this selection banquet was about, she wasn’t going to ask these people. Who knew what pits were buried in there.

Thinking it over, Yun Ran directly took out a Sound Transmission Talisman, planning to contact Xuan Chu and the others.

Within Moonlight City, it might be a bit hard for her to learn all the details about this selection competition.

But Xuan Chu and the others, who were currently at the Xuan Master Association, would definitely have ways to pry information out of other Xuan Masters’ mouths.

"Check out what’s going on with this once-a-decade selection competition in Moonlight City. The more detailed, the better."

After the talisman paper burned to ashes, Yun Ran lay down on the sofa, waiting for their reply.

Dragon Spirit and Xuan Chu were currently at the General Association and were already getting along quite well there.

At the very least, the people here treated them with great courtesy and consideration.

Especially after those people learned that it was Dragon Spirit and the others who had resolved the near total-annihilation crisis over in Lotus City.

Their status had shot straight up.

If it weren’t for the fact that they were late additions, they would already be sitting in management positions by now.

Dragon Spirit had just completed a full round of breathing cultivation when he heard Yun Ran’s transmitted message.

He immediately dissolved the Prohibition in the courtyard, stepped out, and went to find Xuan Chu at once.

Their courtyards were close, so he arrived quickly.

As soon as he stepped into Xuan Chu’s courtyard, Dragon Spirit spoke directly. "You got Yun Ran’s message too?"

Xuan Chu nodded, already having a plan in mind.

"We’d better split up. Once we’ve gathered the information, we’ll compile it and then tell Yun Ran."

Xuan Chu faintly felt that this once-a-decade selection banquet was extremely important; it might even yield some very crucial information.

In the past, Dragon Spirit had been quite unwilling to follow Xuan Chu’s lead. At the very least, even if he agreed inwardly, he’d argue a bit on the surface.

But now that it concerned Yun Ran, Dragon Spirit didn’t even struggle for a moment.

"Alright, we’ll do it that way!"

The two quickly split up. In this period, both of them had developed their own social circles, and the people they were familiar with were quite different.

This actually gave them the chance to dig for information from different small cliques.

By the afternoon, they’d found an excuse to separate from the others and returned to their residence.

Dragon Spirit was more impatient by nature and spoke up directly. "What I found out is that the selection competition is extremely important.

Even the General Association is sending people to participate. The only downside is that the death and injury rate for this selection competition is a bit heavy.

But once you succeed, the benefits you can get are enormous and very helpful to cultivation."

The information Xuan Chu obtained was more or less the same, but he’d also gotten an extra piece of news.

"I heard something from an old man over at the Book Collection Tower. His ancestors left a message.

Anyone of their bloodline is forbidden to participate in this selection competition; he said there was something fishy about it.

However, their ancestral branch offended the main branch and had been suppressed all along.

Because of this, that rumor is dismissed by many as sour grapes—like they can’t get the benefits so they bad-mouth it to save face, but end up losing even more face..."

Whether it was Xuan Chu or Dragon Spirit, their breadth of experience surpassed that of many heirs from great clans.

This bit of news, which everyone else treated as clownish behavior, was, in their eyes, actually quite credible.

Especially since everyone they questioned had nothing but praise for this selection competition and was single-mindedly eager to fight for a spot.

Yet when they asked for more detailed content, not a single person could make clear what the selection competition was actually like.

These people didn’t know what was inside—did those who came out alive not know either?

If there really were enormous benefits, those who survived would definitely pour all their effort into studying the techniques for clearing it.

Instead of letting people who knew nothing blindly yearn for it and stumble in without a clue.

So Xuan Chu was inclined to believe that at the final stage of this selection competition, there was most likely some kind of special Prohibition.