At this moment, a burly man walked towards Li Yao.
This burly man was as big as a mountain, with extremely thick hands and feet, long hair flowing down his shoulders, a silver headband, and eyes like copper bells. He had a sinister and cunning look on his face and exuded an eerie and intimidating aura.
The burly man walked up to Li Yao and introduced himself, saying, "I am Xiao Wei Mou from Qi State. I have long admired Brother Li's superb swordsmanship and would love to have the opportunity to learn from your skills."
As he spoke, Xiao Weimou reached out and handed it over.
The meaning was clear: he wanted to test his strength against Li Yao.
Xiao Weimou was as strong as an ox, while Li Yao was as handsome as a scholar.
There's no need to compare; everyone has already guessed the result.
If Li Yao is willing to compete, he will definitely lose, and lose miserably.
Most of the people present stared at Li Yao with great interest, eager to witness him make a fool of himself in public.
Li Yao responded to Xiao Weimou's provocation with a smile.
Li Yao calmly extended his hand and shook hands with Xiao Weimou.
Xiao Weimou smirked and gripped Li Yao's hand tightly.
But the next moment, his sneer turned into surprise, then into astonishment, and then into pain...
Everyone was stunned by what they saw.
Chapter 68 A Hundred Schools of Thought Contend, The Master Deceiver Li Yao
Xiao Weimou originally intended to give Li Yao a hard time, but he ended up getting himself into trouble.
He never expected that Li Yao, who looked so thin, would be so strong.
He felt as if his hands were bound by an iron hoop, and the hoop was tightening.
Waves of excruciating pain contorted Xiao Weimou's face into a hideous grimace.
However, despite the excruciating pain, Xiao Weimu endured it and did not utter a single cry.
Li Yao saw that Xiao Wei Mou preferred to endure rather than admit defeat.
So he slowly increased the force.
Click, click...
All that could be heard was a series of crisp cracking sounds, which were terrifying.
Everyone looked at each other in disbelief, never expecting Li Yao to be so strong. Even the burly Xiao Weimu was no match for him.
Ji Yanran, however, looked at Li Yao with great interest, her eyes sparkling.
Li Yuan, whose gaze was fixed on Ji Yanran, saw that Ji Yanran's eyes were looking at Li Yao in an unusual way, and he was filled with hatred, wishing he could kill Li Yao immediately.
At this moment, Xiao Weimou could no longer endure the intense pain and cried out, "It's broken! It's broken! I surrender! I surrender!"
Li Yao pinched Xiao Weimu hard again, making Xiao Weimu wince in pain before Li Yao released his grip.
Ji Yanran smiled and said, "I never expected that Grand Tutor Li's strength was so amazing that even the famously brave Xiao Weimu was no match for you."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Weimou was so ashamed that he wanted to disappear, and he gritted his teeth in hatred.
Li Yao waved his hand and casually said, "It's just a trivial skill; I'm sorry to have made you laugh."
"A trivial skill?"
Ji Yanran's beautiful eyes lit up immediately.
This was the first time she had ever heard such a profound and insightful phrase.
She couldn't help but exclaim, "Grand Tutor Li's witty remarks truly inspire my admiration!"
Everyone felt a surge of envy, jealousy, and resentment, wishing they were the ones being praised by Ji Yanran.
Li Yao broke out in a cold sweat. He hadn't expected that a casually uttered idiom would impress the beautiful Ji Yanran.
He still remembered when he first met Yuanzong, Yuanzong was also fooled by his words "trivial skills".
Then, the banquet began.
During the banquet, everyone drank wine and discussed current affairs.
Ji Yanran is holding a political forum tonight in the hope of listening to the theories and ideas of various schools of thought and finding a good way to govern the country.
Everyone had already found out Ji Yanran's preferences, and they began racking their brains to show off their talents in front of her.
Some people even go so far as to refute and belittle the arguments of others in order to show off their own erudition.
Those who study Laozi and Zhuangzi believe that governing a country should be done through non-action and following the natural order.
Those who follow the Legalist school believe that governing a country should involve severe punishments, and advocate for the combination of "law," "tactics," and "power" in governing the country.
Those who follow Confucianism believe that people should be influenced by benevolence, righteousness, and morality, and advocate governing the country with rites.
...
In short, everyone showed off their strengths and expressed their opinions, all wanting to show off in front of Ji Yanran and attract her attention in order to win her favor.
Of course, there is one exception.
That's Li Yao!
Li Yao didn't eat dinner that night and fought another fierce battle with Guan Zhongxie and his group of masked men.
Therefore, he is very hungry now.
So he buried his head in his food and ate heartily.
Ji Yanran's beautiful eyes lingered on everyone.
Finally, she saw that Li Yao was actually enjoying his food and had not participated in the political discussion at all.
Ji Yanran asked in confusion, "Grand Tutor Li, why are you silent? We are waiting to hear your profound insights."
Immediately, everyone's eyes turned to Li Yao.
Among them, a particularly intense, jealous gaze shot out, which naturally came from Li Yuan.
Li Yao was stunned for a moment.
A profound statement?
Let me spout some profound theories that can fool you to death!
Since this talented woman has invited me, I'll just say a few words of flattery.
So Li Yao took a sip of water, and then he used the same trick he had used to fool Yuan Zong, Lian Po, and Li Mu to fool these people.
What 'using war to stop war'?!
What 'unification of the world'?!
What 'rule of law'?!
What kind of 'rule of virtue' is this!
He even brought out the core values of "prosperity, democracy, civility, harmony, freedom, equality, justice, rule of law, patriotism, dedication, integrity, and friendliness".
This startled the group of people, leaving them completely bewildered.
They had never heard such novel and insightful arguments before.
Upon hearing Li Yao's "profound insights," Ji Yanran's beautiful eyes sparkled with delight.
This made many people present even more envious, jealous, and resentful, especially Li Yuan.
Ji Yanran said excitedly, "Grand Tutor Li's insightful remarks have truly broadened my horizons. I wonder which of the seven kingdoms Grand Tutor Li believes can unify the world?"
Without hesitation, Li Yao replied, "Of course, it's our Great Zhao!"
Most people scoffed at this statement.
Although the Zhao state was strong, the other states were not weak either. So how could the Zhao state unify the world?
Seeing Li Yao speak with such certainty, Ji Yanran asked in bewilderment, "Why does the Grand Tutor believe that the State of Zhao can unify the world?"
Li Yao said solemnly, "Because Great Zhao has me."
The crowd erupted in uproar.
I've seen confident people, but I've never seen anyone this confident.
Is this confidence? Or arrogance?
Li Yuan's eyes darted around, and he smiled:
"Grand Tutor Li is indeed very confident."
"However, I have heard that Grand Tutor Li is even more confident in his swordsmanship, and I have also heard that Grand Tutor Li is known as the God of Swords."
"Among the delegations from the six nations, there are many swordsmen with superb swordsmanship who would like to experience your knife skills."
"Do you dare accept the challenges of these swordsmen?"
Li Yao was overjoyed, thinking to himself: I'm not afraid of your challenges, I'm just afraid you won't dare to challenge me. I've been waiting for you to say that for a long time.
However, his face remained completely expressionless.
He took a sip of his drink and said casually, "Whatever!"
Li Yuan was stunned for a moment; he hadn't expected Li Yao to agree so readily.
However, he was immediately overjoyed.
This time, the swordsmen from the six kingdoms are not just one or two experts.
No matter how powerful Li Yao is, he can't withstand so many swordsmen challenging him one after another. He'll exhaust Li Yao to death on the stage.
Moreover, he had only heard that Li Yao's swordsmanship was superb, but he had never personally witnessed just how superb Li Yao's swordsmanship was.
The ever-arrogant Li Yuan didn't believe that Li Yao was that powerful.
Therefore, Li Yuan immediately made an agreement with Li Yao.
Both sides agreed to set up a fighting arena at the Great Zhao Imperial Guard's training ground the next day, where Li Yao would accept challenges from swordsmen from the other six countries.