Everyone"s jaw dropped at what Hunting Cat just did and said.
“Are you sure?” Qin Xinran tilted her head as she looked at him. No one could tell if she was happy or against him.
“If I want to raise a dog, I want an extremely fierce one.”
“I don"t mind, I like fierce dogs.”
“Then let"s raise one.” Qin Xinran declared casually.
“…You are willing?” Hunting Cat was in disbelief. He had already mentally prepared himself to be rejected and had even thought of how to remain strong after the rejection. He also considered how to make sure that Qin Xinran would not be disgusted by him chasing her. He never would have thought that Qin Xinran would agree so easily? Was it the same reason as the one he was thinking?
“Stupid.” Qin Xinran burst out laughing, “I can"t always be annoyed when others flirt in front of me. Occasionally, I should let them have a taste of their own medicine right?”
Furthermore, the end of the Clan Tournament was nearing and the end of their goal was close. She had relatively good feelings towards Hunting Cat, why shouldn"t she take the chance to date?
Hunting Cat started fidgeting out of happiness, a silly smile was plastered on his face. Finally, he bowed towards Rong Yuan and said seriously, “Thanks.”
If not for Rong Yuan"s suggestion to make the first move, he did not know how long he was going to hesitate before confessing to Qin Xinran. Now that his confession was a success, the first person he wanted to thank was Rong Yuan.
“There"s no need to thank me. Xinran is my friend, I wish for her to be happy too.”
Now, Gu Lingzhi would not need to worry about Qin Xinran every time she saw how Qin Xinran was single. Things worked out.
Not only was Qin Xinran"s personality explosive but she was also extremely firm on her decisions that it made people speechless. On the first night that she had established her relations.h.i.+p with Hunting Cat, she had already brought him back to her room, showing with her actions what it meant to be decisive. This made Rong Yuan extremely jealous. He grumbled about how he would not have taken so long to chase Gu Lingzhi if she was just half as easy to chase as Qin Xinran. This ended with Gu Lingzhi giving him a stern lecture.
On the day of the compet.i.tion, all the members from the Gui Yuan clan were present as usual. Except that now, no one mocked them for making a big deal.
There was quite a big increase in the audience for the Clan Tournament. Those clans that had already been eliminated were in no rush to leave and came to watch the tournament during their free time. They also roamed around the city finding treasures. This hustle and bustle would only die down about a year after the end of the Clan Tournament.
“At where the Qisha Clan is, the man standing on the right, wearing white, is Qin Yue. When it is time for the lower-cla.s.s True G.o.ds to battle, pay attention to him. The skinny man behind him is Mu Tong. I mentioned him before. He is one of the most powerful DemiG.o.ds. On the other side…” Zhuo Haotian explained to Gu Lingzhi as he looked at the people across them. Occasionally, Hunting Cat would also chime in.
In the few days before the battle, they had already come up with a plan on how to deal with their opponents from the Qisha Clan. Now, with the introductions made by Zhuo Haotian and Hunting Cat, everyone started to match their faces with the information they knew about them. They started to feel slightly cautious.
After all, no matter how detailed their information was, it was not as good as observing their opponents directly.
“He is very strong.” Qin Xinran"s eyes burned with a fighting desire as she looked at Qin Yue, “He is mine, no one is allowed to fight with me for him.”
In the category of lower-cla.s.s True G.o.ds, Qin Xinran was only considered second best among the three partic.i.p.ants. However, in the previous battle, they had deliberately made Qin Xinran seem like their strongest option while the other two lower-cla.s.s True G.o.ds from the Spirit Tribe had made it a point to conceal half of their abilities. It was all for the last push, creating an unexpected outcome. They had done the same for the six others in the Martial Sage and DemiG.o.d categories.
“Come, make your bets, make your bets! Qisha Clan against Gui Yuan Clan. The odds are 1 to 5. This year"s dark horse, the Gui Yuan Clan will be up against the Qisha Clan that is ranked number 97. Will they continue creating their miracles or will they be defeated? Such an exciting battle. Won"t it be a waste to not put your stake in this?” The bookmaker, Jin Chengcheng, held a Storage Ring in his hands as he spurred the audiences to make their bets.
Ever since he followed Gu Lingzhi"s bet for fun and won a huge sum from betting on the Gui Yuan clan, his betting luck had been good. Especially when the Gui Yuan Clan was competing, he would always earn a lot.
Having received quite a number of bets, Jin Chengcheng came up to the Gui Yuan Clan and bent down towards Gu Lingzhi. Lowering his voice, he said, “Cai Shen Ye (T/N: The name of a well-known G.o.d wors.h.i.+pped in Chinese folk religion and Taoism, which is believed to bring wealth), are you going to place a bet today?”
Laughing, Gu Lingzhi glanced at Jin Chengcheng and threw him a Storage Ring, “Of course, why wouldn"t I?”
“Then…who are you going to bet on?”
Gu Lingzhi raised her brows, “Of course I"m going to place a bet on my clan.”
Their goal was the top one hundred, how could they stop at five hundred?
If it were anyone else, Jin Chengcheng would have laughed at them for aiming too high. But when it came down to Gu Lingzhi, Jin Chengcheng had a weird feeling that he would believe everything she said. Hence, when the majority of the people did not believe in the Gui Yuan Clan and believe that the Gui Yuan Clan would stop at the top five hundred, Jin Chengcheng decided to take out half of his wealth – which was all made from betting on Gui Yuan Clan during this period – and place his bet on the Gui Yuan Clan.
“…I hope you won"t disappoint me.”
All these while, there were quite a few that kept their bets on Gui Yuan Clan like him. However, when they knew who the Gui Yuan Clan were up against, the Qisha Clan, they did not think well of the Gui Yuan Clan and shook their heads.
“Against the clans not in the top 500, the Gui Yuan Clan would be okay. However, against the Qisha Clan, they are still lacking. If they were to have a thousand years to improve maybe they would be a step closer, but now…hopefully they wouldn"t lose too badly.”
Hearing the discussion beside him, Zhuo Haotian pursed his lips unhappily, “A bunch of people with no foresight. Is the Qisha Clan that powerful? That"s because they haven"t seen anyone better. Sister Xinran, I believe in you. Later, show the Qisha Clan what we"re made of!”
“Yes! I will!” Qin Xinran grabbed her fist as her canines shone under the sun"s rays. Qin Yue suddenly turned around and saw her, raising his brows. Did the people from the Gui Yuan Clan really believe that they could win them? Are they dreaming?
Boom, boom, boom.
Following the three drum beats, the duels today were officially starting.
The first round was for the Martial Sage category. Their first opponent was the second strongest among the three partic.i.p.ants. Gu Lingzhi nodded at Ruan Qingyan, indicating for her to go up.
Ruan Qingyan received the order and immediately tapped the floor as she floated onto the battle arena. She nodded slightly at the disciple from the Qisha Clan, “I am Ruan Qingyan from the Gui Yuan Clan, nice to meet you.”
“I have watched you fight before.” Hou Yunfei laughed, “You are pretty strong, but compared to me, you are still lacking slightly. If the Gui Yuan Clan had sent you up in the second round, maybe you all would be able to win one battle.”
According to him, among the Martial Sages of the Gui Yuan Clan, Ruan Qingyan was considered strong. The other two weren"t much in comparison. On the other hand, the Martial Sage that was competing after him, was the weakest among the three of them. This was why he had spoken as such.
Quan Qingyan smiled slightly, “If that is the case, I hope you will have mercy and not defeat me too badly.”
“I am afraid I can"t do that.” Hou Yunfei appeared to be put in a spot, “My elders have orders and I have to do my best to fulfil them.”
“Really? What a pity.” Ruan Qingyan did not seem to care as she rolled her shoulders. It was as if she was just testing him and said it casually, not really caring what his reply was.
Hou Yunfei opened his mouth and was about to say that if she did not want to get injured she could just admit defeat. However, Ruan Qingyan had already begun her attack. Her first move was already a thunder strike.
Possessing all five Spiritual Roots, she used her wood, earth and gold Spiritual Roots explosively. She started off the attack by targeting Hou Yunfei in three areas, the top, middle and bottom.
Hou Yunfei was shocked and was prepared to face his opponent when he realised how scary Ruan Qingyan was. In one attack, she had blocked off his chance to retreat.
However, he was not like the wastrels that she had previously fought with!
With a low growl, Hou Yuntian did not flee but instead attacked. His long sword was engulfed in gold spiritual energy as he swung towards Ruan Qingyan. At the same time, he unleashed his realm and the battle arena immediately turned into a sea of swords.
Ruan Qingyan gave a delicate cry as she waved her sleeve and a pink ribbon appeared in mid-air. Ruan Qingyan immediately hopped onto the ribbon, rendering the swords that covered the floor completely useless.
“Did you think that"s all to my realm?” Hou Yunfei said coldly. With a s.h.i.+ft of his will, the numerous swords on the floor seemed to come to live as they shook. In a moment, they lifted off the floor and seemed to defy gravity as they flew toward Ruan Qingyan.
The people watching could not help but exclaim, “Hou Yunfei"s domain is much stronger than before. It looks like this Ruan Qingyan has no chance of winning.”
Ruan Qingyan also gave an exclamation before retreating backwards quickly. Under everyone"s surprised cries, the pink ribbon under her split open, turning into a flower shower that looked as if it fell from the sky. When the delicate petals met with the swords, not only did they not tear, they turned into a liquid, causing the swords to quickly corrode. In a few breaths, all the swords that came into contact with the flower petals had turned into a melting puddle of molten iron on the floor.
“Gosh, was that ribbon part of her realm? It actually has such an incredible corrosion ability!”
Hou Yunfei was also stunned as he increased his control of his realm. At the same time, the swords in the air doubled in number.
“What a pity,” Ruan Qingyan sighed. Pointing behind Hou Yunfei, a huge amount of vines suddenly appeared and immediately wrapped around Hou Yuntian. Hou Yunfei snorted as he tried to struggle and escape. All of a sudden he realised that he could no longer control and release his spiritual energy. His spiritual energy had been sealed and he could only use his physical strength.
“Demon Plants?” Hou Yuntian cursed. How could the plants that Ruan Qingyan controlled be Demon Plants? Weren"t Demon Plants found only on the Thousand Mountains Range?
Normally, he would need only a few seconds to get out of the bind of the Demon Plants. However, a strong opponent would not allow any loopholes. In the time that the Demon Plants binded him, it was enough for Ruan Qingyan to do a lot of things.
All he saw was Ruan Qingyan"s light laugh as she raised her hand and the sky full of flower petals merged to form a pink ribbon once again. She then waved her hand towards Hou Yunfei.
Bam—
Hou Yuntian was completely unwilling as he was thrown out of the battle arena.