Li Qiye solely had everyone’s attention. Some even inched closer in order to listen to his response, not wanting to miss a single word.

After all, knowing this other entry meant potentially grabbing the golden divine egg and changing their future trajectory.

“By walking, of course. How else can it be, crawling?” Li Qiye smiled at the marquis.

“...” The listeners became speechless with black lines on their forehead. They exchanged glances with each other; some glared angrily at Li Qiye with fury in their eyes.

They felt that Li Qiye, a lowly woodchopper, was playing with them.

“...” The marquis thought that he would be able to get the right answer from Li Qiye, not expecting such an answer.

“You!” The hot-headed senior defender was livid while shouting: “Brat, you must be tired of living to mess around with us!” He was already furious about this matter so this naturally didn’t help.

Li Qiye smiled at him and said: “So you have a problem with my response and prefer to crawl?”

“Sir Shang, Young Noble Li isn’t wrong. Of course one would have to walk to enter that valley but if you choose to crawl, I’m sure nobody will say anything out of respect for your choice.” Up on his peak, Teacher Du clapped and laughed, clearly adding oil to the fire.

Unfortunately, the senior defender couldn’t do anything to him outside of wearing an ugly expression. The guy snorted and waved his sleeve angrily.

The marquis took a deep breath to calm down. He asked seriously: “You can really just walk in, Young Friend?”

“Of course, no need to perform a full kowtow rite or anything.” Li Qiye nonchalantly responded.

“Impossible!” Many among the crowd blurted.

There were numerous chaos primal beasts guarding outside the valley. Many experts and elders have been killed.

As for Golden Cicada Buddhist Child, he managed to get through the beasts but not the defense inside. Both his cultivation and Buddhist attainment were impressive but not enough to deal with the sonic waves from the statues.

Now a woodchopper said he could go there? How could anyone believe this? Moreover, they could see that he was only a Violet Marquis.

Such a cultivator could be found everywhere in Buddha Holy Ground. Even if a miracle were to happen for someone to successfully enter the valley, it definitely wouldn’t be him.

“He’s just boasting.” The students didn’t believe it after seeing the failed attempts and bloody aftermaths earlier.

“Absolutely impossible.” Zhang Changyu said: “Even if the beasts let him in, just one roar from the statues is enough to turn him into blood.”

“I agree.” The majority had this belief.

However, Yang Ling trusted him and said: “He’ll definitely have a method after growing up here.”

“It’s useless, the only thing that matters is strength here. If one can rely on methods and schemes to win, there’s no need to cultivate.” Zhang Changyu snorted.

“So will you bow and accept defeat if he can actually do it?” Yang Ling taunted.

Zhang Changyu didn’t answer because he would never bow to Li Qiye after the guy killed his mount and humiliated him.

Meanwhile, the teachers talked among themselves.

The older teacher said: “What do you think? He doesn’t look like he’s boasting.”

“Hmm…” Some teachers thought that Li Qiye was a talent worthy of development. However, they remained skeptical and were being polite by not expressing this.

“It’s difficult, nothing short of a miracle.” Another teacher said.

“Just watch, judging by his appearance, he’s not lying nor bragging. Plus, given his characters, he shouldn’t do something like that.” Teacher Du said.

The teachers stopped talking and waited for the result.

“Anyone can brag, I’m afraid you won’t be able to back it up a while later.” Zhui Xueyun snorted, only to be ignored again. He gritted his teeth angrily.

The other experts didn’t think that Li Qiye could do so either. Even the ancestors had no solution to this problem.

“You really can go in? Will you do it right now?” The marquis started losing his patience.

“Sounds like you want to make a bet with me.” Li Qiye said.

“Hmm, I’ll do it, what will you bet?” The marquis hesitated for a moment before making up his mind.

“You’re at least more interesting than the fool next to you.” Li Qiye chuckled.

“Brat, you want to die?!” Sir Shang gripped the hilt of his blade and roared.

Li Qiye had insulted him several times just now, fully testing his patience. He wanted to cut the guy down.

The marquis hurriedly stopped him and laughed: “Sir Shang is a general used to the battlefield. He has a straightforward personality and doesn’t hold back, please excuse him.”

The marquis was smooth and slick, aware of how to please people. He grasped his opportunity and said: “Alright, let’s have some fun. Don’t worry, I won’t make it hard for you if you can’t go in, I just need a favor or two. But in the case of success, I’ll give you one million stones.”

“Not interested in that.” Li Qiye smiled at him: “You just need to bark like a pekingese after I win. It’s not a bad choice considering your personality.” [1]

“Hey!” The marquis’ expression changed. He would rather lose the stones than bark like a dog.

“Forget it if you don’t want to.” Li Qiye said.

“No, I’ll bark if you can go in.” The marquis found value in Li Qiye’s friendship with the beasts and actually agreed.

“Not bad.” Li Qiye nodded, thinking that this marquis was flexible enough to be successful.

“And this sir over here, do you want to bet too?” Li Qiye smiled at Sir Shang.

The latter snorted and turned his head away, not paying attention to Li Qiye.

“And you? Oh, don’t forget what I said last time.” Li Qiye glanced over at Zhui Xueyun.

The youth turned red and scowled, not wanting to bet against Li Qiye. The last loss was already humiliating enough.

“Anyone else?” Li Qiye turned towards the crowd.

They exchanged glances. Men of status like them naturally didn’t want to bark like a dog.

“Seems like all of you can’t match up to this pretty boy.” Li Qiye tapped on the marquis’ shoulder. [2]

The marquis became awkward. He was quite old already yet Li Qiye called him a “pretty boy”.

1. The word here can mean pekingese (dog)/(figuratively) sycophant/lackey

2. Literal translation is little white face, the meaning is attractive young man (usually derogative); pretty boy; gigolo. It is used very often