Baili Xin looked at Old Seven and Old Nine as they hurried away, then at the masked Yu Qing. She seemed to understand a little, yet not completely. At Yu Qing’s signal, she also returned.
Inside the arena, a group of Kunling Mountain disciples rushed out carrying tools, making use of the break in the competition to level the ground once more.
As everyone watched, Wen Ruowei supported Zhong Ruochen out of the arena. Instead of taking a seat nearby, she helped her sister leave the venue directly.
Zhao Dengzi summoned Zhan Yunqi over, instructing him to personally escort the sisters with the sect’s finest healers and to bring the best medicine available.
Only after dealing with everything at the scene did he turn and leave.
By then, people in the stands were already shouting after him, questioning how Wen Ruowei could interfere with the match and simply be let off.
Seeing this, Qin Fujun quickly caught up with the departing Sect Master, continuing to consult him in a low voice.
At that moment, Long Xingyun suddenly entered the arena.
For the first time ever, he actually reached out to support Yu Qing by the arm, asking with great concern,
“Brother Zhang, how are you? You’re not seriously hurt, are you? Those two sisters went too far. They completely ignored the tournament rules. They’re utterly lawless.”
His words were courteous, and so were his actions.
He appeared genuinely concerned.
Holding Yu Qing’s hand, he even began examining his condition with his cultivation.
The sight left Yin Shanhe in the stands dumbfounded.
Other than his own mother, he had never seen anyone receive such concern from Young Pavilion Master Long.
Now he had witnessed a second person.
It was unbelievable.
A moment later, however, his brows lifted.
He had roughly guessed what the Young Pavilion Master was actually doing.
Tie Miaoqing and Sun Ping exchanged astonished looks from the VIP seats.
They were deeply shocked by the apparent closeness between Long Xingyun and Yu Qing.
Standing beside the platform, Xiang Lanxuan also stared in complete confusion.
Not just them.
Even Yu Qing himself was utterly baffled.
Only after realising that Long Xingyun was examining his injuries did he understand.
The monster was not pretending.
He really was concerned about his condition.
The purpose behind that concern, however, was far from ordinary.
Without giving him any face, Yu Qing casually shook off Long Xingyun’s support and said quietly,
“Get lost.”
“Brother Zhang, that’s rather heartless of you. Haha.”
Long Xingyun laughed awkwardly and withdrew his hand, looking rather disappointed as he left.
He had discovered that although Yu Qing had suffered internal injuries, they were not severe.
With one or two days of recovery, he should be fine.
Trying to take advantage of his condition during the challenge matches would be difficult.
His judgement was correct.
Although Yu Qing had taken Wen Ruowei’s powerful kick, he had not received it completely defenceless.
He had simply been locked together with Zhong Ruochen and unable to defend himself.
Besides, Wen Ruowei had never intended to kill him.
Returning to the contestants below the stage, Long Xingyun shook his head and sighed.
“What a mess. That woman’s kick was far too vicious.”
Everyone immediately focused on him.
Someone asked,
“How badly is he hurt?”
Long Xingyun opened his folding fan and fanned himself as he sighed.
“Very badly. I’m afraid he won’t recover completely for at least one or two months.”
Hearing this, quite a few people looked back at Yu Qing with flickering eyes.
After all, they had all seen him coughing up blood.
Kui Kui, in particular, looked eager to make his move.
Meanwhile, Qin Fujun returned to the stage and loudly announced,
“The challenge for first place has concluded. Zhang Zhichen has successfully defended his position.”
“What about the person who broke the rules and rushed into the arena to attack? Are they just going to let that go?”
Someone in the stands shouted loudly.
Immediately, many others echoed the complaint.
In truth, Yu Qing wanted to ask the same question.
Anyone who had taken such a beating would be unwilling to let it pass so easily.
Unfortunately, he had his own concerns.
He could not openly pursue the matter.
Otherwise, he would not have kept his face hidden.
“Everyone, please calm down.”
Qin Fujun waved vigorously in all directions before continuing loudly,
“Please rest assured. Kunling Mountain will definitely investigate this matter and provide everyone with an explanation. Right now, the tournament itself remains our highest priority. The competition must continue. We cannot allow the actions of a few individuals to delay the entire event.”
After hearing this, the crowd found it difficult to continue protesting.
Gradually, everyone quietened down.
Qin Fujun then addressed the contestants below the stage.
“Is anyone challenging for first place today? The champion platforms from second to tenth place are still vacant.”
The contestants once again fell into hesitation.
Kui Kui turned the challenge plaque in his hand, his eyes fixed on the Number One position on the background wall.
Long Xingyun noticed this and secretly smiled.
Just then, Yu Qing’s voice suddenly sounded beside him.
“How much longer are you going to drag this out?”
Long Xingyun turned around.
Seeing Yu Qing approach, and noticing the other contestants watching them, he said somewhat awkwardly,
“You’re injured. I don’t want to win unfairly.”
Yu Qing looked him up and down with some surprise.
Since when had this fellow become so considerate?
He replied,
“As you wish. Two days from now. Let’s settle this as soon as possible.”
Hearing those words, Kui Kui thought for a moment before putting away the plaque in his hand.
Since the champion himself had said two days later, it was obvious he intended to spend two days recovering.
There was no point challenging now.
The champion had every right to postpone.
In that case, it was better to let the pretty boy and Zhang Zhichen fight first.
He could issue his own challenge afterwards.
Several others shared the same thought.
Had Long Xingyun not just claimed that Zhang Zhichen’s injuries would take one or two months to heal?
They all wanted Long Xingyun to test his true strength first.
Long Xingyun glanced at everyone’s reactions while leisurely fanning himself.
He said nothing further.
Seeing that no one stepped forward to issue another challenge, Yu Qing had no intention of continuing to stand around like an idiot.
After greeting Qin Fujun, he excused himself to recover from his injuries and left early.
He had no intention of returning over the next two days.
No matter who challenged him, they would have to wait until he had recovered first.
The people in the VIP seats also found things rather dull.
Seeing Yu Qing leave first, Li Chenghu gave a soft grunt.
“An unexpected incident. Several hundred million has disappeared.”
Those who understood immediately grasped what he meant.
Had Zhong Ruochen taken first place, that enormous reward would have belonged to the Yin Kingdom’s court.
Now everything had to proceed according to the rules.
The Yin Kingdom would hardly rob tournament contestants for money.
Hearing this, Sun Ping’s eyes flickered.
Tie Miaoqing, meanwhile, watched Yu Qing’s departing figure with a complicated expression.
Empress Yan Yi also stood up.
“It seems they will not make up their minds until the third day’s deadline arrives. Chaoyang, we’re leaving.”
Everyone immediately stood to see them off.
“Sister in law, let’s leave together.”
Li Chenghu responded before beckoning to Tie Miaoqing.
“Everyone is weighing the advantages and disadvantages. Nothing is going to happen for the moment. Let’s go. If anything interesting occurs, Sect Master Zhao will naturally send someone to inform us.”
Zhao Dengzi quickly agreed.
“Your Highness is absolutely right.”
And so, the VIP seats gradually emptied.
By mid afternoon, Yu Qing slowly opened his eyes inside his room, where he had been meditating cross legged.
He had just finished healing the injuries within his body.
His face covering had naturally been removed, and his previously loose hair was now tied behind his head.
His internal injuries had already healed.
As for why they had recovered so quickly, he knew the reason perfectly well.
Minor injuries healed quickly.
More serious ones took longer.
Sometimes even he could not decide whether the strange changes within his body were a blessing or a curse.
He had pondered that question countless times.
There was still no answer.
He reached out once more, taking hold of the necklace hanging around his neck.
His fingers touched the bead inside the silver mesh pouch again.
It still felt exactly the same.
Nothing had changed.
Yet he vaguely sensed some sort of connection had formed between himself and the bead.
He once again channelled his cultivation into it to investigate.
Immediately, the same strange sensation from before returned.
Inside the bead seemed to exist something indescribable.
It felt as though a living being were within.
It seemed to be murmuring softly, almost as though trying to communicate with him.
Yet he could not understand a single word.
However, whenever he withdrew his consciousness and examined it through ordinary cultivation techniques, it became nothing more than a solid object resembling a stone.
It seemed to contain no mystery at all.
He knew exactly what had caused this transformation.
It had happened after the bead absorbed his blood.
Again and again he immersed his consciousness within it, trying to discover the truth.
It was useless.
He could neither see nor grasp anything.
Everything remained shrouded in vague, chaotic mist.
In the end, having no other choice, he gave up.
Just then, footsteps sounded outside.
Someone knocked on the door downstairs.
“Brother Zhang, are you in?”
Yu Qing left his bedroom, opened the door, and walked onto the balcony.
Looking down, he did not see the person knocking.
Instead, he saw Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie.
Nan Zhu immediately waved up at him.
A Kunling Mountain disciple who had knocked on the door stepped back and called upwards,
“Brother Zhang, they’ve come to visit you.”
Yu Qing nodded.
“Thank you.”
“Not at all.”
The disciple replied politely.
Before leaving, he instructed Nan Zhu and the others,
“I’ll be waiting in the garden.”
With that, he walked beneath a large tree and stood there waiting.
Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie wasted no time.
They flew straight up onto the balcony.
Yu Qing looked around curiously.
“Where’s Baili Xin?”
Nan Zhu chuckled.
“If she came too, how could we speak freely? We used the excuse of asking her to keep an eye on the tournament for us and left her there.”
He looked around at the surroundings with admiration.
“So this is the place. One building for each person. No wonder everyone says it’s a wonderful place. It’s far better than the Dingyin District. It wasn’t easy getting permission just to visit you. We requested it several times before they finally agreed. Luckily, you left the arena early today, so we could come over before returning with everyone else. That’s the only reason they approved it.”
He gestured towards the Kunling Mountain disciple beneath the tree.
“They’ve only given us half an hour. Once the time’s up, we have to leave. Honestly, they’re guarding against us as though we’re thieves.”
Seeing Nan Zhu beginning another lengthy speech, Yu Qing quickly raised a hand.
“Time’s limited, so stop talking nonsense. What is it?”
Nan Zhu immediately remembered why they had come.
He glared at Yu Qing.
“What do you mean, what is it? Old Fifteen, have you gone mad? We agreed that after dealing with Long Xingyun, you’d deliberately lose and leave the tournament. Why are you fighting for first place? Are you trying to make everyone realise we’re impostors? Do you know what happens if we’re caught competing under false identities?”
Yu Qing calmly replied,
“We need money. If I take first place, that’s a reward of five hundred million. It’ll clear every debt we have. I promise that once we get the money, each of you will receive one hundred million.”
Nan Zhu waved dismissively.
“Need money? Spare me. We need our lives even more. The moment you stick your backside out, I already know what you’re planning. There are things I couldn’t say in front of Baili Xin…”
Before he could finish, his voice stopped abruptly.
The three fellow disciples simultaneously turned towards the garden.
Another Kunling Mountain disciple had appeared, escorting a neatly dressed, beautiful young woman.
The moment they saw her, all three froze.
Images of the woman seated in the VIP section flashed through their minds.
Was that not Princess Chaoyang?
What was she doing here?
Looking around curiously, Princess Chaoyang’s eyes suddenly met theirs.
Her eyes curved into crescent moons as she smiled, revealing a row of gleaming white teeth.
She hurried beneath the balcony in a few quick steps, waving cheerfully.
“Zhang Zhichen, I’ve come to visit you. How are your injuries?”
What on earth?
None of the three dared act casually before the princess.
They immediately jumped down from the balcony and bowed together.
“Greetings, Princess Chaoyang.”
No sooner had they spoken than more than a dozen people hurried over.
Leading them was none other than Governor Mi Yunzhong, accompanied by a group of men in plain clothes.
Seeing the princess, Mi Yunzhong relaxed with relief and quickly strode over.
His gaze merely swept across Yu Qing and the others before his expression suddenly froze.
During the battle, Yu Qing’s hair had hung loose, so Mi Yunzhong had noticed nothing unusual.
Now, seeing Yu Qing with his hair tied back, he suddenly found the face familiar.
It seemed as though he had seen it somewhere before.
Then he looked at Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie.
Three portraits instantly flashed through his mind.
His footsteps stopped instinctively.