Chapter 158 - The Only Thing That"s Important
"Nine Jade Palace, Lu Mingshu wins."
Everyone lost track of how many times they had heard this.
As expected.
It was the third day of challenger"s fight. Over the first two days, she was challenged quite a few times. There was quite a variety of people who challenged her; people from different sects and all different standards of ability.
Even now, it was still a mystery whether somebody was trying to make her life difficult or whether she had just angered the entire crowd.
"Senior Brother, are you okay?" Qi Sheng nudged Kou Wei, who was deep in thought.
"It"s faster."
"Huh?"
"I meant the time she took to defeat the opponent." Kou Wei pointed at the stage. "The opponent this time was no weaker than Cai Zheng, but she took less than half the time she took to defeat Cai Zheng."
Qi Sheng raised his eyebrows. "So?"
Kou Wei sounded like he was deeply moved. "She… is getting stronger every day. I can see her improving every match."
As a disciple of the Heavenly Sea Pavilion, Kou Wei had seen many talents, but it was his first time seeing somebody like Lu Mingshu. She wasn"t that good in terms of her skills, but her learning speed was surprising.
A mistake was never repeated twice. A barrier would not stop her twice. She was able to learn from her mistakes each fight and correct them as soon as possible. Her ability to judge and control the situation was something that one would hardly ever see in their lives.
Once, he foolishly thought that her biggest disadvantage was her age. She was only sixteen and she still had a long way to go. Looking at her fight now, Kou Wei felt like he had been underestimating her potential.
If one were to look at her after seven or eight… no, three or four years, and maybe she will be one of the best Harmonization Realm martial artists? By then, all the Harmonization Realm martial artist in China may have to keep their mouth shut.
Kou Wei heaved a sigh of relief. I probably will have broken through to the Spirit Realm by then, otherwise it would be a headache to meet such opponent.
On the other hand, Qi Sheng looked extremely happy to see Lu Mingshu being so powerful. Kou Wei couldn"t help but ask, "Aren"t you afraid that you won"t be able to get her if she"s too strong?"
Kou Wei had known for a while what Qi Sheng was thinking since the start. When Qi Sheng saw her for the first time, he was love-struck. Now, the more Lu Mingshu fought, the more he liked her.
"I like her because she"s powerful! Getting her is not that important anyway. It"s just admiration. It"s not like I"m going to woo her or want her to be my partner," Qi Sheng answered without much consideration.
Kou Wei was taken aback by Qi Sheng"s answer. He smiled in relief. "I"m glad you"re aware."
The third day ended. The compet.i.tion that seemed relatively peaceful had dirty secrets underneath.
After three days of the challenger"s round, a group of disciples had managed to get at least twenty or thirty marks.
The lambs are almost fat enough to be slaughtered, eh?
Slowly, Lu Mingshu took a cloth and wiped her sword clean under the candlelight.
There was a book on the table. It listed down the points that every disciple had acc.u.mulated so far.
Obviously, Lu Mingshu had the highest amount at thirty-six points.
Somebody then knocked on her door. Lu Mingshu went to open the door and, as expected, the servant girl who always came by was standing at her door.
The same greenhouse, with the same people.
"Alioth Star Lord, what can I help you with?"
The wheelchair slowly turned around, and Xie Lianzhen"s face could be seen.
"Miss Lu, are you sure you still want to fight?" he started slowly.
"Why does the Young Master ask? Why shouldn"t I fight?"
Xie Lianzhen looked at her and started slowly, "After so many Qilin Festivals, you"re the first to be challenged so many times in three days. By rule, you could"ve rejected most of those challenges."
"Do you think thirty-six points is enough for me to get into top ten?" Lu Mingshu retorted.
Xie Lianzhen then smiled thinly. "What if I said I could a.s.sure that you get into the top ten?"
Lu Mingshu stared at him in silence.
Tok! Tok! Tok!
Xie Lianzhen tapped his walking stick on the ground as if he was a metronome for the wind in this cold night.
"It"s not hard. As long as some important figures lose during a key round, thirty-six will be just enough."
Silence soon overtook the greenhouse, leaving only the sounds of crickets chirping. Lu Mingshu then broke the silence; "Alioth Star Lord, do you behave like this when you"re at the Seventh Truth Platform too?"
Xie Lianzhen raised his eyebrows at her.
"You"ve really opened my eyes," she said softly. "Everyone told me that you were crippled and that there"s not much chance for you to break through to the Spirit Realm. If not for the queen, you wouldn"t be where you are right now. Out of the seven Big Dipper Star Lords, you"re the weakest and have the lowest status; I guess they"ve never seen what you"re like right now."
"What I"m like right now?" Xie Lianzhen eyes widened in curiosity like a little child who heard the name of his favorite candy. "What am I like right now?"
"The situation is totally in your control."
Xie Lianzhen paused for a moment before laughing out loud.
"Miss Lu, I think you got the wrong person. That"s something to describe the queen, not me."
""The queen"? You don"t seem to ever call her "mother."" Lu Mingshu ignored his words. "Is it because of the distance? Or is it because of resentment?"
Being questioned by her, instead of getting annoyed, Xie Lianzhen just shook his head. "Why are you so curious about me?"
Lu Mingshu shrugged. "Aren"t you the one that"s curious about me? Can"t I know more about someone who"s always keeping his eyes on me?"
"So what do you want to know then?" Xie Lianzhen asked patiently. "I"ll answer anything as long as I can."
"Then answer the thing I just asked."
"You mean why I don"t call her mother?" Lu Mingshu nodded. "Erm, habit, I guess? I have never called her mother before, so I wouldn"t start now."
Lu Mingshu nodded and looked at him. "Do you hate her?"
"Nope," Xie Lianzhen answered without hesitation.
"Is it because you love her then? Or can you just not be bothered?"
This question took Xie Lianzhen aback. "Because… I don"t feel like it?" He then smiled and looked at Lu Mingshu. "Is Miss satisfied with this answer?"
"Does my satisfaction even matter?"
"Of course it matters." He smiled thinly. "I wouldn"t give you a chance to even ask if it didn"t."
Even though he didn"t really say it directly, it was more than obvious that he was interested in her.
This was the first time in her life that someone had ever confessed to her.
But her answer was something that no one would ever expect. "So, what on earth do you even see in me? We only met a few times and yet you"re trying to court me. Is it because we have similar family backgrounds, so you feel some kind of resonance with me? Or do you just pity me because of the situation I am in?"
"Which answer would you like to receive?" Xie Lianzhen smiled at her.
"Doesn"t matter which answer I"d like." Lu Mingshu shook her head. "Or rather, the answer doesn"t really matter to me regardless."
Xie Lianzhen"s smile widened. "So, what"s important to you then?"
"The important thing is…" She moved forward, forcing Xie Lianzhen into a dead-end. She then gave him an evil smile.
The close proximity caused Xie Lianzhen to lean backward until he felt his wheelchair hit the wall and he had nowhere left to move.
The candlelight shone on her, making her eyes s.h.i.+ne brightly. Lu Mingshu sneered and gave him a dead glare. "How many faces do you have exactly, huh?"
Chapter 159 - Two Faced
For a moment, both of them look at each other in silence.
For the first time in his life, Xie Lianzhen was put in a difficult situation of being exposed. The feeling was strange - being cornered by someone and forced to answer something that he didn"t want to answer. He had an urge to run away from her as far as he could, however…
"Miss, what do you mean?"
Lu Mingshu stood up and moved back. The oppression radiating from her was gone, and Xie Lianzhen felt that he could finally breathe again.
"The n.o.ble and gentlemanly you that everyone sees - is that really you?" Lu Mingshu wasn"t tall, but because Xie Lianzhen was in a wheelchair, she was able to tower above him. "Alioth Star Lord, do you know that I have a certain strength?"
"What?"
"Since a young age, the amount of approval I"ve receive is so little that I never had room to be arrogant." Lu Mingshu"s voice was melodious, yet it brought chills down Xie Lianzhen"s spine. "You don"t even know me, neither do you know what any of my aspirations are. How are you so sure that you like me?"
She sneered and shook her head. "What I see from your eyes isn"t fondness, but examination."
Her cold voice echoed through the big greenhouse. "You examine and observe me like I"m an interesting experiment that you can perform research on. I don"t know what you want from me, but I am 100% sure that it"s not my love you want."
Word by word, she sliced open his sh.e.l.l.
"You have absolutely no respect for anyone - me or anyone else. We aren"t humans, but merely objects that are different from yourself. You observe and research us out of idle curiosity, and you don"t seem to have any goal in life. Nothing in this world matters to you, including your sect, status, your mother, or even yourself. Cold, ruthless, ungrateful, undisciplined, and out of control…."
Each word was like a sharp knife piercing through his heart.
"Is this the real you? A two-faced snake who"s sick and tired of the world and thinks the whole world revolves around himself."
Xie Lianzhen sighed.
"Miss Lu, you are overconfident in your ability to judge, aren"t you?" His voice was so soft that she could barely hear.
"No. It"s just that I don"t know what you want, and that makes me feel threatened. I have always believed in my intuition after everything I"ve experienced, and I don"t feel that you"re courting me for a good cause. In fact, you"re even worse than those who despise me."
Xie Lianzhen had never heard such things in his life. Everyone around him was scared of him and avoided him.
Such words could be considered extremely malicious. If the queen heard this, she would skin Lu Mingshu alive and exclude her from the selection list no matter how he pleaded.
However, Xie Lianzhen didn"t feel angry. He couldn"t even feel the pain of being exposed anymore.
"So what message is Miss trying to send to me? Do you want me to cancel my plans and stay far away from you?" He nodded and smiled. "It"s certainly one method."
Lu Mingshu smiled thinly. "So that"s what"s in your brain, huh? Alioth Star Lord, you have observed me for so long, how could you not know that I"m someone who doesn"t beat around the bush? I"m just telling you what I really feel about you - you"re creepy, that"s all. Please stop hara.s.sing me. I won"t bother to entertain you anymore, so don"t waste your time on me."
"How is it wasting my time?" he replied softly. "Look, I have always been helping you. From understanding the rules of the Qilin Festival, teaching you about what kind of situation you are putting yourself into, and now, I will get you into the New Generation Ranking. All you have to do is to just believe in me and you will not need to do anything else. From now on, just reject all challenges. I will definitely let you enter the New Generation Ranking. And it would be even more convenient if you could agree to you-know-what! If you want to escape Nine Jade Palace, I"ll help you. Changing the sect master is also not a big deal. Or if you want somebody to disappear, it"s also possible! See how convenient your life could get?"
He emphasised each and every word he said. Every word was coated with sugar, and with his gentle voice, it was a temptation that one couldn"t resist.
"And then?"
"And then you could do whatever you want. There"s no need to consider much or meet with any trouble. n.o.body could control what you want, and you will have everything you want. I"ll settle all the troubles.
"So, how does it sound? As soon as you agree, everything is settled."
Like a patient predator, he slowly lured his prey into his trap with temptation and sweet-talk.
Lu Mingshu burst into laughter suddenly. "Forgive me for my straightforwardness, but if I agree now, you would immediately break the promise, right?"
"Look at what you"re saying." Xie Lianzhen hummed. "Am I that untrustworthy?"
"Why would someone who doesn"t even give a d.a.m.n about himself give a d.a.m.n about a promise?" she replied firmly. "If I agree now, would you still be so nice to me? You"re only curious why I won"t take a step back and agree. If I suddenly did, I doubt you would still be so nice."
Lu Mingshu was already running out of patience. Why on earth am I wasting my time with this idiot talking about useless stuff? The challenge is tomorrow, and it will be a cruel fight… and it has nothing to do with Xie Lianzhen.
She walked forward and held up his chin tightly.
Xie Lianzhen eyes widened in shock. Her eyes looked cold, something that he had never seen before. He bit his lips as he heard her taunt; "Alioth Star Lord, why bother using all that to tempt me? You should just use your face, because it"s the most valuable thing that you have."
Lu Mingshu removed her hand abruptly. "I"m sorry, it"s late, and I have compet.i.tion tomorrow."
She then left the greenhouse without looking back.
When Xie Zhanghui entered, he saw Xie Lianzhen staring into s.p.a.ce.
"Young Master?" For many years, Xie Zhanghui had never seen him in this manner; totally lost about what to do.
"Zhanghui." Xie Lianzhen looked at him
"Yes."
"She said that the most valuable thing I have is my face, but she doesn"t even give a d.a.m.n about this face." He sighed and became emotionless. "Does she mean that I am worthless?"
Xie Zhanghui was lost of words. He was aware of what Xie Lianzhen wanted, and there was only two possible results. Either she rejected it or she accepted it. Listening to Xie Lianzhen, it didn"t make any sense. What did they even talk about?
"I…" Xie Lianzhen started slowly, "can"t find a word to define her anymore. She"s much more observant and straightforward than I thought. Should I continue this matter? She just makes me…"
His voice lowered, and the sentence was left unfinished.
"…nevermind. Let"s go."
Chapter 160 - Only Speed is Invincible
Lu Mingshu slammed the door shut, then leaned against it and took a deep breath.
She stayed there until she felt better.
It"s not like she had never heard rumors or slander about herself or having people look at her like she was an alien, but this was the first time somebody treated her in this way. The amount of time and energy Xie Lianzhen spent on her caused a chill to run down her spine.
The matches today had already drained her physically and mentally, so she didn"t want to waste any more energy on somebody with dubious intentions.
Throwing these thoughts into the back of her mind, Lu Mingshu sat down and focused on the challenge tomorrow.
The first stage was over. Tomorrow, those who were interested in the New Generation Ranking would start to fight.
Lu Mingshu didn"t know whether anyone was going to challenge her seeing that she had so many points, but she had to be well-prepared no matter what.
She placed the strengthening seals on the table.
At this point, she had fourteen strengthening seals. Subtracting the one she used when she went against Xing Kun, she had thirteen.
Among these thirteen, six were useless at the moment. She then picked out three among the remaining ones.
The first one increased the resonance of mystic force, the second one increased her defense, and the third one enabled her to puncture the opponent"s defense.
Two for attack and one for defense.
Even if no one challenged her tomorrow, she would challenge someone.
Rejecting all the challenges and let Xie Lianzhen hand me a position on the New Generation Ranking for free? What"s the difference between that and backing down?
The next morning, Tan Yubing came to her door.
They had breakfast together before heading to the tent.
"My challenge ends today." Tan Yubing smiled. "I don"t know if anyone would want to get points from me though."
Over three days, Tan Yubing had seven matches. Most of them were wins, and she had acc.u.mulated twenty points.
She had a good att.i.tude. She didn"t brood over stuff.
"Good morning, Senior Aunt Tan and Junior Sister Lu!" Shao Zhengyang arrived at the tent early. He smiled at both of them happily.
Tan Yubing gave him a wide smile. "Relax. Remember, 70% ability and 30% luck. Use it wisely!"
Shao Zhengyang nodded, but he still looked anxious.
Seeing him being all panicky, Lu Mingshu couldn"t help but laugh at him. "How confident is Senior Brother Shao today?"
Shao Zhengyang smiled bitterly. "3%? Actually, 1% should be more accurate." He knew himself well, and he was aware of where he stood compared to Kou Wei and the rest.
"Since there"s only a 1% chance, what"s there to worry about? Take it as if there"s no chance at all."
It didn"t sound nice, but he thought it was true. 1% as if nothing….
After chatting for a while, the bell rang, signaling the start of day four. Lin Zixin than slowly made his way up on stage.
After making his short opening speech; "Wei Chunqiu from the Seventh Truth Platform challenging the Door of Feisha"s Qi Zining!"
After the announcement, cheering could be heard from the different tents.
Wei Chunqiu! He"s going up first!
"The blade is out of the sheath, and the edge is exposed!" Kou Wei muttered. He could feel Wei Chunqiu"s determination to win. There"s no doubt we will have to go against each other.
"Qi Zining is in second place now." Tan Yubing pointed at the list. "You"re lucky that he chose to not challenge you instead."
Lu Mingshu nodded her head. That day when she was stopped by State Master Jia Yan, she met Wei Chunqiu, and he said that he would be lenient on her. Lu Mingshu didn"t take it to heart, but apparently, Wei Chunqiu had done as promised.
No matter how confident she was, Lu Mingshu knew that fighting Wei Chunqiu would end in defeat.
Both parties went on stage.
Qi Zining was getting more and more popular these days. He won almost all his matches and only lost one. Now, in front of Wei Chunqiu, he was shaking nervously, and he had to redo his greeting because he messed it up.
Wei Chunqiu did not beat around the bush. He only replied with a, "Please," and immediately fished out his sword.
In the eyes of the spectators, a faint sword-light flashed, and in the blink of an eye, the sword was in front of Qi Zining.
"Fast!" Shao Zhengyang was gobsmacked.
In Nine Jade Palace, the one with the fastest speed was Ban Qin, but Shao Zhengyang didn"t fear him. It"s not like being the fastest was a guaranteed win; Shao Zhengyang had his own ways to cope with Ban Qin. As far as winning chances went, Shao Zhengyang had the advantage against Ban Qin.
However, seeing Wei Chunqiu fight, Shao Zhengyang could think of anything. It was too fast; he would never be able to reach such a level.
Clang!
The weapons clashed as Qi Zining held up his own to block the attack.
After the clash, Wei Chunqiu changed his pattern.
The sword in his hand was like an agile fish. He swayed to his right, and the sword went right past Qi Zining, nearly cutting his right arm off.
Qi Zining didn"t even have time to react. All he could do was rely on his instinct. He lowered his body and Wei Chunqiu missed by a bit.
One attack after another, Qi Zining barely blocked five attacks. The next second, he heard a sound and felt blood trickling down his back. He turned back abruptly, but he felt a sharp pain in his wrist. By the time he reacted, the weapon was no longer in him.
"Wei Chunqiu from the Seventh Truth Platform wins!" Lin Zixin announced.
Until that announcement, the spectators didn"t even realized what was happening, and they suddenly started applauding.
"Wow! That"s fast!"
"Yeah, I was expecting something more than that between those two. Who knew…?"
The whole process was just a few streaks of dim sword-light and then Qi Zining suddenly lost just like that.
"This is called "back to the basics"!"
"When will Kou Wei appear? It will be so good when they fight each other."
"Definitely," the person answered firmly. "If they don"t fight and someone reaches first place just by points, the spectators won"t be pleased."
Yes. The two best disciples in the Harmonization Realm. How could one say they are the best if they haven"t defeated the other party? Wei Chunqiu and Kou Wei were like a lion and a tiger among the Harmonization Realms. The chance had finally arrived.
Shao Zhengyang heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing the fight. "I want to correct myself - I don"t even have a 1% chance of getting into the New Generation Ranking…."
During the preliminaries, the opponents were all easy, so one couldn"t tell how good Wei Chunqiu was from that. Qi Zining could win so much during the first three days of the challenger"s fight with his power, and yet he just lost to Wei Chunqiu in an instant.
Wei Chunqiu is already this powerful, so what about Kou Wei? Or Yue Lingyin…? Shao Zhengyang was disgruntled.
He turned around to see Lu Mingshu"s poker face.
"Junior Sister Lu, how about you?"
"He"s very powerful," she started slowly. "I once heard a sentence that I thought was exaggerated, but now, it makes sense."
"What is it?"
"In the world of martial arts, there is no impregnable defense; only speed is invincible."
In the world of martial arts, there is no impregnable defense, only speed is invincible? Shao Zhengyang and Tan Yubing bit their lips and started thinking. They thought about Wei Chunqiu"s performance, and they totally agreed.
"That sentence is accurate." Shao Zhengyang mocked himself, "I used to think that a fast sword isn"t hard to deal with, but that"s just because I have never seen a truly fast sword before."