novelraw Chapter 229 - 97: The Tournament Begins
Chapter 229 - 97: The Tournament Begins
Gu Qingqing didn’t care, but Luo Wenxi couldn’t stand it. Seeing Lu Ying looking a bit disappointed, she quickly grabbed Lu Ying’s sleeve to comfort him."What do you mean by that? What do you mean she has bad taste? I think it’s you who has bad taste." Rong Ye originally didn’t plan to argue with Luo Wenxi, but when Luo Wenxi talked about Gu Qingqing, hitting Rong Ye’s reverse scale, he looked at Luo Wenxi with an unpleasant expression.
"Brother Lu Ying is so excellent, yet she doesn’t want to be friends with him. Isn’t that bad taste?" Luo Wenxi turned her head, looked at Rong Ye, and retorted, "Besides, what does this have to do with you?"
"Heh, only you think your Brother Lu Ying is good. Even if you gave him to us for free, we wouldn’t want him." Rong Ye snorted coldly, glanced at Lu Ying, and said mockingly.
A trace of ruthlessness flashed in Lu Ying’s eyes, but his expression became even more disappointed.
"Xixi, you don’t have to be like this. It’s my own fault that I’m not good enough. It’s really not Miss Gu’s fault. Didn’t you just say you wanted to buy some snacks? Let’s hurry and go." Lu Ying looked at Luo Wenxi gently, persuading in a low voice.
The more he acted like this, the more Luo Wenxi felt it wasn’t fair for him.
Ever since she met Lu Ying, Luo Wenxi never dared to upset him; even if he furrowed his eyebrows, she would be terribly worried. Seeing him so fragile now and still speaking well of Gu Qingqing to dissuade her from troubling Gu Qingqing, how could such a gentle Lu Ying not make Luo Wenxi like him?
And the more she liked him, the less she could tolerate anyone being mean to Lu Ying.
She turned her head, glaring at Gu Qingqing, "Hey, why won’t you be friends with Brother Lu Ying?"
She thought she was already lowering herself by talking to Gu Qingqing and had set aside her prejudices. Although her tone wasn’t great, it was still within a normal range. Gu Qingqing should properly answer her question; she was waiting for Gu Qingqing to give a reason and then persuade her.
Gu Qingqing glanced at Luo Wenxi, then looked at Lu Ying. Seeing Lu Ying also looking at her with an expectant expression, a hint of disdain flashed in her eyes.
"Being friends with someone depends on fate. I’m not interested in your Brother Lu Ying at all, nor do I want to be friends with him. It’s your business if you like him, but you also need to understand that not everyone likes even Spirit Stones in this world, and there’s no law that says I must be friends with him. It has nothing to do with what kind of person he is." Gu Qingqing felt this girl seemed rather foolish, much like Qin Yi before, completely smitten by Lu Ying.
Hearing Gu Qingqing say she liked Lu Ying, Luo Wenxi’s cheeks flushed. She cautiously glanced at Lu Ying, feeling a small sense of relief when it seemed he hadn’t heard it, but also a hint of disappointment.
When she understood what Gu Qingqing meant, she couldn’t comprehend it, because, in her eyes, Lu Ying was such a perfect man. How could any woman not like Lu Ying?
"Miss Gu is right; there’s no rule that everyone else must be friends with me. I just felt that I had a connection with Miss Gu, but since Miss Gu insists, I won’t bother her anymore and give her a bad impression. I apologize to Miss Gu." Lu Ying seemed to understand what Gu Qingqing meant and no longer appeared disappointed. He spoke sincerely.
"No need, just stay away from me in the future, Mr. Lu." Gu Qingqing wasn’t buying into Lu Ying’s act. To her, she had already told Lu Ying her intentions before, but meeting him like this again showed he hadn’t given up. Although she didn’t understand why Lu Ying was so determined to be friends, she felt it was better to avoid him when possible.
Lu Ying’s face showed a trace of embarrassment at being so bluntly rejected by Gu Qingqing. He raised his head to look at Gu Qingqing with a very complicated expression, containing many emotions. Finally, he bowed slightly to Gu Qingqing and turned to leave.
Luo Wenxi couldn’t help but want to speak up when Gu Qingqing confronted Lu Ying, but Lu Ying stopped her. Now, seeing Lu Ying simply walk off, she became anxious, glared at Gu Qingqing, then hurried after Lu Ying. Even from afar, you could hear her and Lu Ying talking.
Watching the two leave, Gu Qingqing also breathed a sigh of relief.
"Geng Geng, this Lu Ying looks decent enough. Why wouldn’t you want to be friends with him?" Nan Hua fanned himself, turning his head curiously to ask Gu Qingqing.
Usually, Gu Qingqing was quite polite to others. Even if she didn’t like someone much, she wasn’t as unrelenting as with Lu Ying. Not only Nan Hua but also Rong Ye and Jun Wu were quite curious.
"I don’t know why either, it’s just an intuition. I feel this person isn’t as simple as he appears, and subconsciously reject spending time with him, so I don’t want to be friends with him." Gu Qingqing pondered aloud.
Upon hearing this, Nan Hua and the others were quite surprised.
"Then it seems Lu Ying might really have some issues. We should mention it to the second senior brother and have someone keep an eye on him." Nan Hua shook his fan, saying leisurely.
Gu Qingqing nodded. Having been blocked by people one after another, Gu Qingqing lost interest in shopping, and since it was getting late, they decided to call it a day and return to their residence to rest.
...
Three days after Gu Qingqing and her team arrived at Cloud Peak City, the Sub-immortal Realm competition finally began.
The sects participating in the Sub-immortal Realm competition appeared on the Cloud Ascension Platform in Cloud Peak City, a plaza that could accommodate tens of thousands of people.
The competition was hosted by the White Tiger Sacred Land, and the White Tiger Sacred Land’s Saint Master Bai Guanlin, the Spirit Fox Saint Master Wen Guiyun of the Lingxi Sacred Land, and Jun Yutian of the Yunlan Sacred Land were all present, causing the entire Cloud Ascension Platform to boil with excitement.
These three are essentially the top figures in the Sub-immortal Realm. Other disciples rarely see them, even those from their own sects, unless something major happens.
Many cultivators in the Sub-immortal Realm idolize these three, so seeing them left them overwhelmed with excitement.
Unlike Wen Guiyun’s refined demeanor and Jun Yutian’s domineering presence, Bai Guanlin gave a more amiable impression.
He wore the white Holy Master’s Clothes of the White Tiger Sacred Land, with a white tiger head embroidered on the front, appearing very majestic.
His hair was neatly groomed, and the Purple Gold Crown on his head shined brightly in the sunlight. His appearance wasn’t much less impressive than Wen Guiyun and Jun Yutian, and his constant smile made him seem even more approachable.
Of course, if you truly believe he is approachable, you’d be mistaken. Like Yue Zhao, he is the kind who smiles while setting traps; the difference being Yue Zhao gives off a gentlemanly vibe, whereas he seems easy to deceive.
After he explained the competition rules, the event officially began.
The competition format changes every year and is decided by the hosting power. Last time it was mainly an arena battle where the winner took first place, but this time it’s different.
According to Bai Guanlin, the first event of the competition is a team challenge. Participants form teams freely, and the White Tiger Sacred Land will open a small secret realm to send all participants into. They need to stay inside for three days.
In this secret realm, many plaques with points written on them were placed by elders from the three sacred lands. Participants will gain points by finding these plaques. The team with the highest points will receive an additional ten points per member, second place nine points, and so on, down to one point for the tenth place team.
Of course, the secret realm isn’t completely safe. If someone encounters danger, they just need to crush the Jade Token given to them, and they’ll be transported out. However, doing so means they forfeit the competition.
Teams can consist of five to eight members, and if a member quits, each remaining member of the team will lose three points.
There are over a thousand participants this time, and the groupings were quickly finalized.
Gu Qingqing naturally formed a team with Yue Zhao, Nan Hua, Mu Chen, Jun Wu, Yun Ran, and Zhuo Tingqiu. After registering and receiving their Jade Tokens and score-tracking Jade Tokens, they waited nearby for the competition to start.
Once everyone registered and received their tokens, Bai Guanlin, Wen Guiyun, and Jun Yutian simultaneously ascended into the air. Under everyone’s gaze, they started sealing, their hands moving so fast that they left afterimages, and finally, they all struck.
Three different colored Spiritual Powers appeared in mid-air, eventually merging into one. Suddenly, a light curtain emerged in the center of the plaza, behind which a glimpse of a forest could be seen. This was where Gu Qingqing and her team would enter the secret realm.
The crowd entered in an orderly fashion, and after the last person went through, the three withdrew their hands, the light curtain disappeared, and the Cloud Ascension Platform quieted down.
...
Gu Qingqing felt a moment of disorientation and then found herself in a mountain forest. This experience was slightly better than when they entered the Immortal Secret Realm, as their team wasn’t separated.
It was Gu Qingqing’s second time entering a secret realm, and she couldn’t help but look around curiously.
Tall trees, each as wide as a person, surrounded them. Their branches intertwined, forming a canopy that blocked out the sky, allowing only sporadic rays of light to filter through the branches and leave spots of light on the ground. The forest was dim.
Yue Zhao and the others, like Gu Qingqing, assessed their surroundings. Since the secret realm was unfamiliar to them, they needed to quickly acclimate to the terrain. Only then could they quickly find plaques and earn points in the limited three days they had.
"Where do you think the elders put those plaques?" Gu Qingqing wondered aloud, her chin resting on her hand as she surveyed the area with curiosity.
"Generally speaking, those plaques might be placed near materials beneficial to cultivation, like spirit flowers and herbs or demon beasts," one of the team members replied.