UGB Chapter 170 Junior Brother Qin, You Don't Want To...
Chapter 170 Junior Brother Qin, You Don't Want To...
Chapter 170: Qin Junior Brother, don't you want to...
Princess Longyi's unusual behavior instantly attracted the attention of countless gazes in the grand hall. After all, her status and position were extremely special. When she was outside, she largely represented Emperor Qing Huan's will. Every move she made would be interpreted with various intentions by those who were observant.
Princess Longyi didn't care about what others thought. With a graceful and charming demeanor, she walked elegantly to the area where the disciples of Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace were, ignoring the gazes of her senior sisters, and went straight to Qin Muling's desk.
"Can I sit here?"
With an elegant and melodious voice, Princess Longyi gently spoke from her pink lips, her deep and beautiful eyes calmly gazing at the handsome young man in front of her.
Qin Muling sighed, "Can I say no?"
He owed a considerable debt of gratitude to the person in front of him. Under the unparalleled aura of the other party, it was difficult for him to straighten his back and speak.
"In that case, I'll take it as you've agreed."
A hint of a smile appeared in Princess Longyi's beautiful eyes. She gracefully sat down opposite him, and her attendants immediately presented various delicacies and fine wines.
Qi Yalan, who was not far away, was about to get up but was stopped by Yu Lingzhou. The senior sisters communicated with each other through their divine senses for a moment, and their expressions gradually calmed down.
"In a moment, the Tournament of Martial Arts will begin," Princess Longyi raised her cup slightly to show her respect and said in a gentle tone, "I wonder, Qin Junior Brother, how confident are you in ranking on the Heavenly Genius List?"
Qin Muling shook his head, "I have decided to abstain. With the senior sisters participating in the Tournament, it is unlikely that those top positions will fall into someone else's hands. No matter how generous the rewards are, whether they get them or I get them, there won't be much difference."
This answer clearly surprised Princess Longyi. She thought that Qin Muling would perform well in the Tournament of Martial Arts, and she could observe his potential and talent. She didn't expect him to directly declare his abandonment.
After thinking for a moment, Princess Longyi gradually relaxed her expression, "I understand. You have only just embarked on the path of cultivation, so this is indeed the wisest choice for you."
She believed that she had already guessed Qin Muling's intentions. In this grand hall, his cultivation in the True Self Realm could only be considered good, but he couldn't compare to the most outstanding geniuses. Under normal circumstances, Qin Muling could at most occupy a position at the end of the Heavenly Genius List. The positions in front were out of reach for him. Such a result was obviously not what he wanted to see, and the higher-ups of Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace would not be satisfied either. It would be better not to participate.
"There will always be grand gatherings of immortals. Perhaps in the next gathering, you will be the leader of the Heavenly Genius List," Princess Longyi asked with a smile.
Qin Muling still shook his head, "In five hundred years, the sect may not allow me to participate anymore. You know the reason."
The grand gathering of immortals only happened once every five hundred years. But with Qin Muling's incredible growth speed, by then, not to mention True Immortal, even the Profound Immortal Dao Fruit would be within his grasp.
With such cultivation, it is only natural to win all categories of competitive fights while lying down. How could the higher-ups of the Dao Court tolerate it? They can only choose to privately persuade him to withdraw. After all, with such cultivation, do they still need those rewards on the Heavenly Pride Ranking?
Princess Longyi smiled and said, "It took my true form a thousand years to break through the True Immortal realm. This is because my mother personally instilled the essence of the spiritual path into me. So, I no longer have the qualifications to participate in the gathering of immortals. If you are confident that you can surpass my record from back then in just five hundred years, it seems that I need to raise my evaluation of you even higher!"
Qin Muling finished the nectar in his cup in one gulp and said, "You don't doubt my words at all? Maybe I'm just talking nonsense?"
Princess Longyi remained calm and said, "If someone else said that, I would never believe it. But you are different. You have enough confidence to say and do it."
Qin Muling chuckled and continued to focus on the exquisite delicacies on the table, ignoring Princess Longyi's intentional or unintentional probing.
She, or rather Emperor Qing Huan behind her, must have noticed something, but Qin Muling was not sure how much they knew about his secrets.
It is impossible for them to know everything. If that were the case, Emperor Qing Huan would have personally taken Qin Muling down, locked him in the palace, and forced him to have a relationship with Princess Longyi. Even the Emperor Xin Yu couldn't save him.
"The rankings are out. Your senior sisters are all on the list. Do you want to take a look?"
After a while, Princess Longyi continued to speak.
The attendant, Su Yi, presented a jade tablet and infused it with mana. Within the hazy light and shadows, a long list appeared.
This is not the final result of the swordsmanship competition, but rather a collaboration of the Dao Court forces specializing in the business of collecting and selling information. They usually collect information about the disciples of major Dao Court families, carefully select and organize it, and compile a list of cultivation rankings. This list is provided for all cultivators participating in the gathering of immortals to observe and learn from, and to have a clearer understanding of their own strength.
There are a total of six thousand names on the list, and even the last-ranked cultivators have peak strength in the Heart Demon Realm. In the eyes of others, they are considered talented geniuses with considerable potential, but Qin Muling doesn't think much of them.
It's the same old saying, Qin Muling's bone age is too young. If he had another hundred years, no, just fifty years, he would surpass ninety-nine percent of the geniuses on this list.
Qin Muling carefully looked at it for a moment. Each name was accompanied by a corresponding description. As long as he focused his divine sense on a certain name, the information would automatically appear.
The rankings on the list are not fixed. Every year, these organizations join forces to revise it. Injuries to the geniuses, breakthroughs in cultivation, opportunities gained from traveling, or being taken in by powerful figures and ranked as Low Grade disciples, all affect the rankings.
Of course, if a genius accidentally falls or their cultivation is completely destroyed, they will naturally be removed from the list.
As expected, Qin Muling's five senior sisters are all on the list, and they are all ranked in the top thirty. The eldest senior sister has the highest position, ranking sixth.
The first place on the list is a rising star from the ancient Qilin clan named Chiyeling. He is currently at the high-level Origin Immortal realm and has awakened many Divine Abilities. His bloodline purity ranks first among the new generation of descendants in his clan.
The following positions are occupied by the Dragon Clan, Phoenix Clan, Tantu Clan, and other famous ancient tribes' new generation pure-blood descendants.
This surprised Qin Muling a little. Xue Bingxuan is currently at the mid-level Origin Immortal realm, but due to her Innate Primordial Spirit Root, her actual combat power far exceeds her surface level. Yet she still can't rank first?
After thinking about it carefully, Qin Muling relaxed. No matter how powerful the organizations behind the scenes are in collecting information about all the geniuses, they cannot know everything. Underestimating the strength of his senior sisters is only natural.
Moreover, Qin Muling is not on this list. He looked at it several times and was sure he didn't miss it.
"...Your Highness, as you can see, my name is not even on this list. Why do you treat me differently?" Qin Muling asked with a smile.
Princess Longyi remained indifferent: "I had them remove it because there is too little information about you. Even those old guys who have been in this business for a lifetime couldn't make up their minds about where to place you."
"I see," Qin Muling suddenly realized. It seemed that the attention from the sect towards him had started a long time ago. Perhaps it was from the moment Mu Yinghua brought him into the sect and handed him over to Senior Sister Xue Bingxuan for care. Some observant individuals must have noticed him.
Not being ranked was not because of his lack of strength, but because there was too little information available to assess his true abilities.
However, apart from Qin Muling, there was plenty of detailed information about Senior Sister Xue Bingxuan and the other female disciples. The list mentioned when they joined Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace, when they became personal disciples of Mu Yinghua, and the approximate time they reached each major realm. It also mentioned the opportunities they might have had, the Divine Abilities they excelled in, and the Law Treasures they used in battle.
Especially in recent years, Xue Bingxuan and the others had made rapid progress in their cultivation, and their rankings on the list had been steadily rising. The last piece of information in the report subtly hinted that Xue Bingxuan might already have a destined partner, someone with extraordinary talent. The two of them cultivated together, shared their fate, and shared their luck, which could explain their remarkable progress.
"It's indeed quite extraordinary," Qin Muling sighed softly after reading the list. The intelligence-gathering and analysis organizations had far more potential and influence than he had anticipated. That was how they managed to gather information on almost all the new elite talents in the Extreme Void Starry Sky.
Of course, the power of the sect also played an indispensable role; otherwise, it would have been difficult to compile such a detailed list.
"As for the final winner of the tournament, some peripheral betting shops have started accepting bets. Are you interested in participating?" Princess Longyi said with a smile. "If you're lucky enough to bet correctly, the rewards will be quite generous! It might even provide you with enough cultivation resources until you reach the True Immortal realm."
"While I would love to give it a try, I'm afraid I don't have any money," Qin Muling said calmly. "So, unless Your Highness is willing to lend me some, I won't be able to participate in this gambling game. Of course, you should be prepared for the possibility of losing everything."
"Alright, I'll go along with it!" Princess Longyi readily agreed and gestured for her attendant, Su Yi, to present a large-capacity spatial bracelet.
She had been waiting for Qin Muling to say those words and didn't think the young man had much chance of winning. Losing everything was a high probability event.
By then, she would have a valid reason to do something more to him, and even the Emperor Xinyu of Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace would have nothing to say afterwards.
Qin Muling took the spatial bracelet and inspected it, finding various Supreme Grade spirit crystals and rare heavenly materials inside. Any one of them could fetch a sky-high price at an auction.
"Alright, I'll bet everything on Senior Sister. The first place in this tournament belongs to her," Qin Muling said with certainty.
"Very well, let's wait and see!"
Princess Longyi's expression remained calm, but she was already thinking about what kind of program to arrange to deal with Qin Muling after he lost all his money.
"Junior Brother Qin, don't you want to sell your life to repay your debts?"
At that time, she would enjoy the sight of the embarrassed and ashamed expression on the beautiful young man's face, while continuously making various demands that would make him feel ashamed, such as giving her a shoulder massage, foot rub, serving tea and water, giving her a back rub, or taking a bath. Just thinking about it made Princess Longyi excited and eagerly anticipating it.
After a while, under the announcement of the Xuan Yin Emperor, the martial arts competition finally began.
The rules of the competition were simple. The Emperor created multiple temporary spaces using his Divine Ability as the arena for the competition, and then used the celestial secret technique to randomly draw lots for grouping.
Every cultivator who was drawn would be transported to the arena space at the designated time, and they would compete in pairs. After determining the winner, the competition would end.
The losers would be eliminated, while the winning cultivators would have a certain amount of time to rest and recover before the next round.
With the supervision of a Monarch Level expert, the cultivators didn't have to worry about falling or risking damage to their Dao Foundation, but ordinary injuries were inevitable.
A large bright moon appeared in the sky, and millions of names scrolled and appeared on it, stabilizing after dozens of breaths.
At this time, as long as the cultivators invested their divine sense into it, they would receive corresponding feedback, such as who their opponent was and which faction they belonged to.
Following Princess Longyi's guidance, Qin Muling invested his divine sense into the moon and quickly received the information he was interested in.
To Qin Muling's surprise, Luo Wanqing's opponent turned out to be Yan Lingji. He secretly sighed at the guy's bad luck, as he would be beaten up in his first appearance.
Except for her, the opponents matched with the other senior sisters were all ordinary, with the highest cultivation level being only at the Immortal Transformation realm. Passing the round would be a piece of cake.
"This is really... unbelievable. To encounter a female cultivator from Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace in the first round? And it's Luo Wanqing, that star of ill fortune."
In the distance, Yan Lingji's face was as ugly as it could be. He was only at the Immortal Ascension realm, while his opponent was a genuine Origin Immortal and an unbeatable close combat body cultivator. How could he fight?
"Or, should I just forfeit and wait for the next opportunity?" the elders beside him suggested.
Cultivators had the right to forfeit, but it was limited to a maximum of two times. Once the forfeits were used up, it meant being completely eliminated and there would be no more chances to compete.
"It seems like that's the only option!"
After thinking for a while, Yan Lingji finally made a decision. It might be a bit embarrassing, but compared to being beaten up by Luo Wanqing on the arena, it was still more dignified.
"He actually forfeited just like that? Coward!" Luo Wanqing looked at the prompt on the jade token and disdainfully curled her lips.
(End of this chapter)