Ning Ying and her senior siblings found an excellent spot to watch the matches.
The three sat on the terrace of the main peak’s immortal pavilion, sipping the spiritual tea their master had personally brewed not long ago while munching on melon seeds. The competition platform below was in full view, allowing them to clearly see the Sword Trial Conference matches.
“This spot is really good.” Ning Ying casually picked up a spiritual fruit and took a bite. The precious spiritual fruits Yaoyue Sect used to entertain guests were now piled high on a plate before her.
“Even the Qingyu Sect Master praised these spiritual fruits endlessly, and Master is so generous.” Sang Jinse also picked up a spiritual fruit to taste, nodding. “After consuming it, I do feel a sense of spiritual power increasing.”
Gu Qi, however, shook his head indifferently. “Spiritual fruits like these—Back in my hometown, we have as many as you could want.”
Sang Jinse asked curiously, “Junior Brother Gu, where is your hometown?”
Gu Qi’s mind heated up, and he almost blurted out that his hometown was the Demon Lord’s palace. The words reached his lips before he remembered he needed to conceal his identity, and he swallowed them again with a look of unspeakable difficulty.
Sang Jinse nodded understandingly. “No need to force it, Junior Brother. I was just asking casually.”
Senior Sister Sang didn’t know that Gu Qi was the demon lord, but Ning Ying did. She lowered her head, pretending to eat spirit fruits while actually struggling to hold back her laughter.
It was said that the demon lord’s palace held countless treasures, so having precious spirit fruits wasn’t surprising. It’s just… this Demon Lord really wasn’t very bright!
“Look, a new round of matches is starting!” Gu Qi pointed at the platform below, changing the subject.
Yun Qingyuan had already returned to the judges’ area at the competition site, sitting together with various big shots. With Master absent, the three felt no restraint, crowding together at the terrace edge, poking their heads out to look down.
Ning Ying noticed that among the participants in this round were the Buddhist Son who’d nearly fallen to demonhood earlier, and also a white-haired youth with dragon horns who’d been jealous over Senior Sister Sang.
She immediately perked up: “Rivals in love meeting—their eyes blaze with hatred. This should be good.”
Gu Qi wore a gleeful expression, urging, “Senior Sister Sang, aren’t you going down to cheer them on?”
Sang Jinse retorted crossly, “I’m too busy hiding from them. I’d never cheer them on. I only cheer for Junior Sister.”
Gu Qi clicked his tongue. “They’re fighting!”
Lianhua Sect’s Buddhist Son Jing Nian and West Sea Dragon Palace’s Crown Prince Fuliu—both under twenty yet already at the Nascent Soul stage—were truly worthy of being called prodigies. Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the atmosphere between them was tense.
On stage, Jing Nian intoned “Amitābha,” slightly raising his indifferent, compassionate brows as he said slowly, “Benefactor Fu, I’m unwilling to strike heavily. You’d do better to concede early.”
“Sang Sang has been with you recently?” Fuliu’s eyes showed a trace of hostility. “Making me concede won’t be that easy.”
“This humble monk hasn’t…” Jing Nian said helplessly. Though he’d been staying at Yaoyue Sect recently, every time he met Sang Jinse, Sikong Qin would come barging in to interrupt, so he hadn’t spent much time alone with Sang Jinse at all.
Fu Liu snorted coldly, a trace of disdain flashing in his ice-blue vertical pupils, unique to the dragon clan. “Ha, who do you think would believe that? In the entire cultivation world, who doesn’t know about you fighting someone at the gates of Yaoyue Sect and then staying there for half a month?”
Jing Nian: “…”
He wanted to argue, but everything the other said seemed to be true.
No, wait—
“Has this already spread throughout the cultivation world?”
On the high pavilion’s terrace, Gu Qi commented lazily, “This Buddhist Son underestimates everyone’s enthusiasm for gossip.”
Ning Ying nodded. “The fastest spreading thing in the cultivation world is gossip, let alone when it involves the Buddhist Son, who draws attention from all sides anyway.”
Hearing Ning Ying’s words, Gu Qi fell into thought again.
He couldn’t defeat the Immortal Lord, but he could still secretly spread gossip about him and tarnish his noble reputation.
He immediately thought of a title for the story he was about to create: “The Obsessive Immortal Lord’s Beloved.” It would tell a tale of torment and love, featuring the obsessive Immortal Lord forcefully taking his soft and delicate little disciple as his own. Perhaps that alone wouldn’t attract enough attention, so he could also add some steamy scenes—like a midnight rendezvous, sharing a pillow after drinking, and so on.
Junior Sister Ning and the Immortal Lord had already slept together—he had plenty of creative inspiration and material!
“Senior Brother Gu, what are you thinking about?” Ning Ying lifted her sparkling eyes to look at the brooding Demon Lord.
Gu Qi coughed lightly, somewhat unnaturally, and lied without changing expression: “I’m thinking of writing a betting story with Senior Sister Sang as the prototype.”
Ning Ying clapped her hands in approval upon hearing this. “I wholeheartedly support this! Please be sure to include the Buddhist Son, the Human Emperor, the Dragon Crown Prince, and the others!”
“Naturally.” Gu Qi nodded repeatedly.
Beside them, Sang Jinse coughed helplessly. “…Hey, you two, I’m right here.”
Gu Qi seemed not to hear Sang Jinse at all, muttering to himself as if no one else were present, “Junior Sister Ning is right. I’m wondering whether the ending should be one-on-one or one-on-many…”
“Though I’d love to see one-on-many, betting stories should probably end with one-on-one, right? So readers can feel the joy of betting correctly?” Ning Ying said.
“That’s not necessarily true. Plenty of readers who bet wrong end up heartbroken…” He began discussing it seriously with her. “They’re all Senior Sister Sang’s wings—hard to give up any of them.”
“Senior Brother, stop talking,” Ning Ying gently tugged at Gu Qi’s sleeve. “The way Senior Sister is looking at you…”
“What about the way she’s looking at me?” Gu Qi, with his back to Sang Jinse, smiled at Ning Ying.
Ning Ying: “And you can still smile, Senior Brother? That’s the look of someone who wants to commit murder!”
Gu Qi: “??!”
He turned around just in time to meet Sang Jinse’s icy gaze.
Sang Jinse looked at Gu Qi and directly drew her sword. “…A misfortune for our sect. Today I’ll eliminate you for Master.”
Gu Qi instantly groveled. “Senior Sister, I was wrong!”
Ning Ying also chimed in softly, “Senior Sister, if you’re going to kill him, please make it quick. Senior Brother Gu is very afraid of pain, after all.”
Gu Qi: “???”
Junior Sister Ning, what kind of demon are you? Using the softest tone to say the most terrifying things!
The three joked around for a bit before their attention was again drawn to the fighting below.
The Buddhist Son and Dragon Crown Prince each displayed their divine powers, exchanging blows in a back-and-forth battle that was quite a spectacle. Golden lotuses frequently bloomed, waves surged, dragons roared and tigers howled, flames blazed—the special effects deserved full marks.
But what truly captivated the audience was their verbal sparring.
Fuliu: “A monastic shouldn’t give in to anger, Master Jing Nian. Your cultivation level is lacking.”
Jing Nian: “???”
Jing Nian: “My cultivation level is lacking? You’re so pure, so noble.”
Fuliu: “I heard you nearly fell to demonhood. Is that true or false?”
Jing Nian: “Nonsense! I’ve always been devoted to Buddhism. When did I ever nearly fall to demonhood?”
Fuliu: “Master, monastics shouldn’t lie. Everyone saw it. I heard the reason your demonic fall failed was… three people fell from a tree, and the mood was ruined. Hahahahaha.”
Jing Nian: “…”
Jing Nian: “If I were going to fall to demonhood, my first act would be to kill myself in atonement. Would I still be here wasting words with you? Take this—Dragon-Subduing Pestle—”
Fuliu: “What’s a mere Dragon-Subduing Pestle to me? Watch my Divine Dragon Swishes Tail—”
Meanwhile, up on the terrace.
“This fight is amazing!” Ning Ying couldn’t help but exclaim. “Not only are they bickering while fighting, they even provide their own commentary…”
Gu Qi added, “I can’t believe I’m getting double the entertainment without spending a single spirit stone!”
“What about Uncle Ye?” Ning Ying suddenly thought of their fun-loving uncle. “Without Uncle Ye at an occasion like this, so much fun is missing.”
“He’s probably still sleeping,” Sang Jinse guessed.
Ning Ying: “…”
…Hard to disagree. If not for sleeping in, how could Uncle-Master Ye miss such excitement? Truly the sect’s most laid-back sword prodigy. If he practiced swords more diligently, he might not be outshone by Master in swordsmanship. After all, unlike Ye Juan who only cultivated the sword dao, Yun Qingyuan was proficient in alchemy, talismans, artifact refinement, and divination. Though he also used a sword, he wasn’t a pure sword cultivator.
The biggest characteristic of pure sword cultivators: being poor.
“No way, no way?” Gu Qi said mockingly. “It’s almost noon now—Uncle-Master Ye isn’t still sleeping in, is he?”
Ning Ying: “Yep.”
Sang Jinse: “That’s right.”
Gu Qi doubled over laughing. “I’m thinking that Junior Brother Chu has it pretty rough, ending up with such an unreliable master…”
“That’s not quite right,” Ning Ying explained. “Though Uncle-Master Ye’s… lifestyle is casual, his sword technique mastery is second only to Master’s. Receiving his guidance is extremely beneficial for Junior Brother Chu’s cultivation.”
“See, Junior Sister Ning’s true love really is Master,” Sang Jinse said, covering her smile. “In Junior Sister Ning’s eyes, Master is number one in everything.”
Hearing her senior sister’s words, Ning Ying’s ears tinged with a light blush. “Senior Sister, don’t talk nonsense. It’s not, not true love… I deeply respect Master. I wouldn’t dare have any improper thoughts.”
“But when your senior brother and I first put up the banner, you didn’t make us take it down either.” Seeing her junior sister’s shy expression, Sang Jinse couldn’t resist teasing.
Th-that was because spirit stones had been spent on it, and it was also senior siblings’ kind gesture…
Before Ning Ying could finish her thought, a clear, pleasant voice suddenly sounded behind her.
“Is that so?”
Ning Ying: “!!!”
Help! It was Master’s voice!