"Lu Mingshu from Nine Jade Palace wins!"
Everyone heaved a sigh of relief when Lin Zixin announced the result.
It was rare for a match to be so intense during the first few days of the challenger fights.
Cai Zheng was powerful, and with his techniques, he was a match for Lu Mingshu. Most predicted that the match would end in a tie.
In the last few minutes, Lu Mingshu used her Physical Manifestation of Sword Intent to defeat Cai Zheng. It was a close shave.
In the Seventh Truth Platform's area, Yu Kuang heaved a sigh of relief. "Cai Zheng is really good at hiding his ability."
He was relieved because the booklet that the Seventh Truth Platform handed out didn't mention anything about Cai Zheng knowing how to freeze the opponent's mystic force. The Seventh Truth Platform had been observing the participants for more than a year or two, and Yu Kuang dared to say that the Seventh Truth Platform had the most accurate and detailed information about all participants. The Seventh Truth Platform not finding out about Cai Zheng's secret technique showed how good he was in concealing his ability.
"It's a pity that he used it on Lu Mingshu," Wei Chunqiu, who rarely spoke, commented.
"Yeah," Yu Kuang observed. "If it was me, I can't guarantee that I would win."
Freezing one's mystic force was like taking away a part of their cultivation. There was no doubt that such a thing would ruin their normal way of fighting. Looking at how Lu Mingshu was forced into a corner until the last few minutes was a good example. Every martial artist took years and years to come up with their own pattern, which consisted of the skills and techniques they usually used and even how they dodged. Once that pattern was broken, one would be forced to change it, resulting in a huge performance drop.
Who exactly is going after Lu Mingshu? Yu Kuang bit his lips as he pondered. She came all the way from Xichuan, and she only became famous recently. Moreover, Nine Jade Palace is just a middle-tier sect. Who would pay such a high price just to take down a newb like her? It would make more sense for somebody to come after Kou Wei or Senior Brother Wei….
As he was in deep thought, Wei Chunqiu cut it off by adding, "Junior Sister Shi has been gone for quite a while, huh?"
"What?" Yu Kuang looked at him abruptly.
Yu Kuang didn't really take note of when Sect Master Jia Yan left her seat. She's a girl, so that's normal. But… it's been two hours and yet she's still nowhere to be seen?
"Junior Brother Xie isn't around either!"
Yu Kuang looked toward where the Alioth Star-Lord should've been sitting. There was an empty chair.
"I'll leave first. I have something to do." Yu Kuang stood up frantically and ran off.
Seeing him run off, Wei Chunqiu chuckled.
...
Tan Yubing rushed over to Lu Mingshu as soon as she got down from the stage. "Junior Niece Lu, are you okay?"
She shook her head and bowed to the chaperones. "Elders, this disciple will leave first."
Kang Tian nodded. "Go and get some rest. Healing is important."
Under the worried looks of the elders, Tan Yubing sent Lu Mingshu back.
Tan Yubing put Lu Mingshu down before slamming the door in anger. "Who the hell is doing all this? Are they mad?"
Lu Mingshu kept quiet and took a pill.
"Junior Niece Lu, are you okay?" Tan Yubing asked worriedly.
The previous time, it was just a flesh wound. This time, it was internal. Cai Zheng had control over Lu Mingshu's mystic force, and she got whipped a few times.
"I'm okay." Lu Mingshu coughed. "No matter who it is, the other party has shown that they aren't going to let me off. I may need to fight again today."
"Haish." Tan Yubing sighed. "I'll keep an eye out for you. Go and get some rest."
"Okay. Thank you, Senior Aunt Tan."
There was no time for her to talk about being polite. Tan Yubing went out to keep an eye, and Lu Mingshu entered the Heavenly Wheel to heal.
Compared to yesterday, where she was dripping with blood, she looked way better today. However, the injury today would actually take much longer to heal. Her mystic force was still frozen even now. If she didn't recover in time, it would affect her next match.
In the blink of an eye, an hour passed. Lu Mingshu could hear sounds outside her door.
"Senior Aunt Tan, how's Senior Sister Lu now?"
"Still resting."
"B-but… oh my god, what do we do? Somebody has challenged her again!"
"That fast? Are you sure?"
"Yeah, ask Senior Sister Lu to hurry up!"
When Tan Yubing entered her room, Lu Mingshu had already exited the Heavenly Wheel.
"Senior Niece Lu…"
"Let's get going." Lu Mingshu stood up.
"Are you okay now?" Tan Yubing looked at her in worry.
Lu Mingshu gave her a stiff smile. "Whether I'm okay or not, I still have to fight, right?"
Tan Yubing hesitated for a while before replying. "Junior Niece Lu, you could concede. You don't have many points yet, so you wouldn't lose out that much. The rules also state that you can reject a challenge after having two matches in one day."
Lu Mingshu shook her head as she tidied her clothes. "I can reject, but would that person stop?"
"Erm…"
Indeed, Lu Mingshu could delay the match according to the rules. However, since somebody was obviously coming after her, they wouldn't stop even if Lu Mingshu delayed. Delaying would only cause her to get caught up in an unwanted situation, where she didn't have enough points and had to keep fighting.
Besides, she was unwilling to back down anyway. Not even a single step!
As expected, Lu Mingshu accepted the challenge.
In the Heavenly Sea Pavilion's tent, Qi Sheng had ants in his pants.
"This is stupid! Why would she accept a challenge when she knows that person has ill intentions?"
"Mhmm," Kou Wei mumbled. The most suitable option was to reject and come back in two days when she fully recovered. He figured that Lu Mingshu would choose that option. If it was him, that's what he would do. After all, the opponent had come prepared while Mingshu was in a passive position. The best method was to maintain her strength properly.
"Haish…." Qi Sheng frowned in despair when the match started. "Why is she so stubborn?"
Lu Mingshu didn't seem to understand "at the right moment" meant. Why not moderate yourself appropriately and only attack at the right moment? Compared to just accepting every challenge like this, she would gain much more. To some people, she was just plain idiotic.
However, Kou Wei didn't want to call her stupid. From the amount of time they had spent with each other, he was aware that Lu Mingshu was nowhere near idiotic. She was smart. She was clear about what was happening, and yet she chose the stupidest way she could to deal with the situation. That wasn't idiotic, it was…
"Silly!" Kou Wei sighed. "Such a silly girl."
She was in a battle… a battle with the world and its rules. Looking at her life, it had always been like that. She had been rebelling against everything she could.
What was the big deal with her father remarrying? He was a Spirit Realm martial artist; why would he want to spend the rest of his life with an ordinary Dongyue woman? Almost everyone supported Fu Shangqin marrying the Zhou family's eldest daughter. To them, they were a match made in heaven. Meanwhile, the Lu family should have just given up on Fu Shangqin and focused on their lives, where they could have lived a good life.
For the Nine Jade Palace's internal strife, the easiest method for Lu Mingshu to get her way was to make an alliance with the Zhou family's enemy.
For the Qilin Festival, the best solution to counter her current situation was to make good use of the rules to take it slow and steady. In that way, she would surely get into the New Ranking.
However, she didn't want to.
She always rejected the "best and most appropriate" solution.
It suddenly hit Kou Wei that he didn't fully understand this girl.
He always thought that she was just resisting those who oppressed her, but now he realized that it was way more than that.
She was going against the whole world and its unwritten rules.
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