After the match ended, Lin Zixin took a deep breath and looked over at the Nine Jade Palace's tent.
"The next match – Lu Mingshu from Nine Jade Palace challenges Huo Jiang from the Sapphire Blood Sect."
There was an uproar among the tents.
"What's going on? They just fought yesterday!"
"This is going against the rules!"
"How can you go against the same person twice?"
"But if it's against the rules, why didn't Mister Lin stop it?"
"Wait!" somebody exclaimed. "The rules say that participants can't challenge the same person twice, right?"
"Yeah?"
"The previous time, it was Huo Jiang who challenged Lu Mingshu… but now, it's the other way around."
Everyone looked at each other in confusion. Can you actually do that? Wow, I never would've thought of it.
Generally speaking, upon reaching the challenger round, there was rarely anyone who would let emotions affect their decision-making. If two people had a rematch, the losing party would have an 80% chance of losing again, and the winning party had already gotten the loser's points. Even though it wasn't against the rules, no one had ever done it in the history of the Qilin Festival.
Lu Mingshu jumped on stage and looked toward the direction of the Sapphire Blood Sect.
Her eyes were cold. Combined with her fair skin, she looked like an iceberg.
In the eyes of others, this Eldest Miss of the Nine Jade Palace was a weirdo. She had the classic Dongyue woman's look – defined facial features and fair skin. Dongyue women were well-known for being lovable and delicate; they reminded people of the apricot flowers that bloomed in spring. However, looking at Lu Mingshu, one couldn't see any signs of her being lovable or delicate. She stood there like an ice sculpture; beautiful and clean, but chilly as well.
After a while, Huo Jiang jumped up on stage.
"Miss Lu, isn't it obvious that you already won yesterday? What do you still want?" Huo Jiang bit his lips. The calm he had yesterday was long gone. One could easily tell that he was scared.
Under Lu Mingshu's attacks the day before, he totally had no chance of counterattacking. Without his concealed weapons, it would not even be possible to injure her. Speaking of which, she stole his concealed weapons in the end. Recalling the scene yesterday, her precision and concentration scared him.
To summarize it; the confidence that he had yesterday was long gone, and he was now afraid of Lu Mingshu.
"Sir is unwilling to fight?"
Huo Jiang shook his head and smiled bitterly. "It's obvious I'm no match for you."
"Oh, well that's fine. We don't have to fight." Before Huo Jiang could thank her though, she added, "I'm interested in your concealed weapons. Could Sir let me try them out?"
"Miss Lu…"
She had already stolen his concealed weapons yesterday, what was left for her to even try out? She stole his weapons and didn't return them, and since he was at fault in the first place, he didn't dare to ask for them back. He felt his heart drop. What the hell, does she want me to give her all of my concealed weapons…? Wait… is she serious?
Huo Jiang looked at her, eyes widening in shock. "Miss Lu! Why…? Would you stop pestering me?"
Lu Mingshu put on a thin smile. "Me pestering you? Sir is making no sense. You can challenge me, but I can't challenge you?"
"What…" the hell? Who cares about the fight? I'm talking about you stealing two of my concealed weapons already and yet you still want more? Greedy!
However, Huo Jiang did not finish his sentence. Using concealed weapons against her in the first place wasn't something to be proud of.
"What's Miss Lu doing?" Qi Sheng asked.
Kou Wei scratched his chin. "I don't know, but she sounds just like you when you're trying to extort me."
"Senior Brother!" Qi Sheng protested.
Kou Wei smiled at him. "Let's just watch."
On the stage, Huo Jiang went into a fighting stance. "Since Miss Lu is so persistent, then I shall fight you."
Lu Mingshu started to attack immediately after he finished his sentence.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Their weapons clashed against each other.
The match was nothing but boring. Huo Jiang didn't even try to fight back, and he didn't use his concealed weapons either. He just took her attacks silently.
Many people were shaking their heads.
"This Lu Mingshu is going overboard! Huo Jiang has basically surrendered, and yet she still wants to fight?"
"This is the most atrocious thing I've ever seen in all my years of attending the Qilin Festival."
"Such a petty girl! What's the use of being so powerful when you have such a bad attitude?"
"Indeed…."
She forced Huo Jiang to the corner, not giving him anywhere to go. As he was about to surrender, Lu Mingshu started speaking; "Sir doesn't have a good life in the Sapphire Blood Sect, am I right?"
Upon hearing that, Huo Jiang stood rooted to the ground.
Lu Mingshu attacked again and spoke, "I heard that you competed for a genuine successor disciple spot three times and never once succeed. That's sad."
Huo Jiang had fire in his eyes. Yes, he sucked; he couldn't become a genuine successor disciple even in such a small clan. But…!
"A day before the Qilin Festival, somebody approached you…."
Huo Jiang's eyes widened, and he looked at her in shock.
Lu Mingshu remained calm. She eyed the spectators and was assured that the rooftop was too far for others to know what they were talking about.
The sword-energy enveloped both of them. From afar, one would think that they were fighting furiously when, in reality, Huo Jiang wasn't even counterattacking.
Huo Jiang was feeling confused.
"You…"
Lu Mingshu attacked again, smiling. "You don't have much time left, right? If you don't do well soon, you might be abandoned by your sect."
Huo Jiang was speechless.
The person who came to him said the exact same thing too.
Indeed, he didn't have much time left. The Sapphire Blood Sect was a small sect, so they didn't have many resources to provide for all their disciples. If he didn't prove that he was worthy, he would be abandoned. If not for this, why would he take so many risks?
"Actually, your concealed weapons don't do you much good anyway." Lu Mingshu smiled thinly. "You didn't beat me with them, and you won't beat anyone else that's way above your skill level, right?"
Huo Jiang gave her a death stare. "So what the hell do I get if I give them to you?"
"I won't expose you!" Lu Mingshu smiled. "That person gave you more than some weapons, am I right?"
Lu Mingshu had a sweet and melodious voice, yet it sounded like the devil in Huo Jiang's ears. "Sir, either you gain a chance to break through to the Spirit Realm, or you can continue to be who you are. Choose for yourself."
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