Chapter 104 - On the Eve of the Duel

In just a single night, the news of Ling Chuxi and Lan Xinyu being tied for first place in the experiential training competition spread throughout the entire academy. Everyone knew the both of them would be exchanging pointers the next day to determine the ranking for good. Frankly, anyone who wasn’t blind could tell with a mere glance that there was a problem with this situation.

Even if both teams had found items of the same value, Lan Xinyu’s team consisted of three people whereas Ling Chuxi’s team consisted of only two. Judging by this point alone, Ling Chuxi and Ling Yichen had already won.

Despite this, many people were anticipating the duel between Lan Xinyu and Ling Chuxi. Lan Xinyu was a prominent figure in White Stone City after all. She was known as the peerless genius and had always been put on a pedestal. She was the individual the students of White Stone Academy always looked up to. And Ling Chuxi herself was no lightweight. The moment she had entered White Stone Academy, she was taken in by Mu Liufeng as his disciple. Naturally, she also possessed her own extraordinariness. Thinking about it, her cultivation would definitely not be weak.

During a duel between two strong cultivators, spectators always hoped to catch a glance of their exceptional elegance.

Leading up to the exchange of pointers, Ling Chuxi didn’t bring up the matter of the losing party having to kowtow to the other party in front of the whole school and leave White Stone City. Lan Xinyu also kept her mouth shut regarding the matter. It was as though the both of them had never placed such a bet.

Even the principal was taken aback by today’s martial arts competition. It was a duel between two extraordinary people. Lan Xinyu and Ling Chuxi hadn’t arrived at the martial arts venue yet, but the atmosphere was already incredibly boisterous because it was filled with people.

The fifth princess and Ling Yichen managed to find a good spot to watch the duel from. The fifth princess was happily eating meat buns as she waited for Ling Chuxi to step into the fighting ring. The meat buns were, of course, bought by Ling Chuxi for breakfast.

The fifth princess noticed Xia Zhuoyi in passing and waved to him as she shouted loudly, “Hey, hateful person! Over here, over here.”

Xia Zhuoyi’s face was full of chagrin as he walked over gingerly.

“Can you not call out to me like that in front of so many people please, Fifth Princess?” said Xia Zhuoyi in embarrassment. He felt a headache coming on. Everyone was looking over at them. It was really too embarrassing.

“I feel the term “hateful person” has a nice ring to it though,” said the fifth princess with a deadpan expression. After some thought, she offered the bag of meat buns in her hand to Xia Zhuoyi. “Here, have some. Master bought it for me. It’s really tasty.”

“Oh, thank you.” Xia Zhuoyi had yet to have breakfast, so he didn’t bother declining in courtesy and removed a bun from the oiled paper bag the fifth princess held out to him at once. “Where is Ling Chuxi?”

“Master is over there. She is about to go onstage,” said the fifth princess as she pointed towards the stage area of the martial arts competition venue enthusiastically.

Xia Zhuoyi and Ling Yichen looked in the direction the fifth princess was pointing in and saw Ling Chuxi standing by the edge of the fighting ring. She was calmly chewing on a meat bun. Mu Liufeng was standing beside her. He seemed to be saying something to her as he reached a hand into the oiled paper bag Ling Chuxi was carrying to procure a meat bun to eat without bothering to be courteous about it. Ling Chuxi snatched the oiled paper bag away from Mu Liufeng and put her arms defensively around it so Mu Liufeng couldn’t take any more meat buns. Watching this, Xia Zhuoyi and Ling Yichen both felt beads of cold sweat drip down the back of their heads.

Those two really had to sense of self-consciousness. Did they not realize how many people were looking at them right now?

“Say, obedient disciple. Can the deadline not be shortened? Does making a mask really take so long?” negotiated Mu Liufeng as he chewed on his stolen meat bun. Early this morning, he had run over looking for Ling Chuxi to ask if she had managed to obtain all the materials needed to make a mask. When he found out that Ling Chuxi had all the items necessary, he was very happy. But, his happiness was cut short when Ling Chuxi informed him that it would take another two weeks before the mask would be ready and he became glum again.

“Just wait for me to be in a good mood. Perhaps it might only take a day then,” said Ling Chuxi to Mu Liufeng as she scanned the rows of academy’s teachers sitting on the watching platform. Lan Xinyu was on the other side of the martial competition venue, getting ready to enter the ring.

“Let’s talk after I finish cleaning up,” announced Ling Chuxi. She stuffed the oiled paper bag in her hands into Mu Liufeng’s, then casually wiped the oil off her hands on his sleeve.