Chapter 185 - Invitation from Her Highness

"Morning, Junior Sister Lu!" Shao Zhengyang greeted Lu Mingshu.

"Morning."

She walked past Shao Zhengyang after answering half-heartedly. Shao Zhengyang raised his eyebrows and turned back to Tan Yubing, who was behind him. "Senior Aunt Tan, what's wrong with Junior Sister Lu? She looks dead inside."

Shouldn't she be on cloud nine after being ranked first on the New Generation Ranking and defeating the barbarians yesterday?

Tan Yubing shook her head. "I don't know. She was like this when I saw her earlier too. Maybe she didn't get a good sleep."

But she is in the Harmonization Realm, where sleep isn't really needed. Would a lack of sleep really have such a big effect?

Neither of them could figure it out.

"Senior Sister Lu."

"Good morning, Senior Sister Lu!"

"Senior Sister Lu…"

Lu Mingshu gave a one-word reply to all the young disciples who pa.s.sed her.

In the past, she was said to be arrogant and rude for being cold.

But now, there seemed to be no opinion about her greetings, and some even said, "She's so cool! No wonder she's ranked first."

When she reached the tent, her seat had already been cleaned, and even the fruits given to her were better than what the others received. Seeing that she had arrived, everyone moved to let her come in.

That's just human nature, huh?

It was a full attendance today, and everyone was seated, waiting patiently for the compet.i.tion to start.

The New Generation Ranking was just a warm up. The Hero Ranking was the main event.

The compet.i.tion rules between the Spirit Realm elders was much simpler, but that made the compet.i.tion tougher. It was like the arena type of compet.i.tion - once you lose, you're out.

The rules were cruel. You might manage to get into the top ten with luck, but first place was the best for sure.

This compet.i.tion was different from the New Generation Ranking compet.i.tion. The New Generation Ranking focused on potential, while the Hero Ranking focused on ability.

Among the three chaperones of Nine Jade Palace, An Tongchen was the only one who had the chance to try to fight for the Hero Ranking. Kang Tian, the main chaperone, was old; he was only sent to protect the team. Yin Hong was just not that capable and only came because Zhou Miaoru sent her to settle some things.

Lu Mingshu didn't understand. Nine Jaded Palace had declined to such a state where they didn't have any good Spirit Realm elders in the sect? Why didn't Fu Shangqin come? Isn't he very good? Before he met the Zhou Family Head, he was in the Inner Breath Realm. With the help of the Zhou Family, he managed to reach the Harmonization Realm and then break through to the Spirit Realm within seven years.

Such a person would be considered a genius no matter where he went.

Normally, the best disciples of the top clans took at least eleven years to break through to the Spirit Realm. This included eight to ten years of hard work, then three years to polish their skills so that they could immediately fight at full power when they broke through.

Even if the time for polis.h.i.+ng was taken off, being able to break through in seven years was still very impressive. No matter how bad his character was, n.o.body ever suspected his talent.

Looking at how much the Nine Jade Palace had declined, why didn't he, as the sect leader, come and fight? If he did well, Nine Jade Palace wouldn't be the same.

Lu Mingshu didn't know what Fu Shangqin was thinking. Perhaps he isn't confident and wants to wait for the next Qilin Festival? Ten years was nothing much to those in the Spirit Realm.

The three chaperones made their way to the tent. Yin Hong went to talk to Lu Mingshu immediately and grinned happily, ignoring the cold reply from Lu Mingshu.

An Tongchen even had to ask her to go back to her seat.

But she didn't care. Yin Hong was in a good mood, and nothing would affect it.

Why would she be angry? Last night, the queen asked to meet with her, and she stated clearly that she hoped that Lu Mingshu would stay here and not return to Nine Jade Palace.

Obviously, Yin Hong agreed without much thought. The thought of precious gifts made her full of pa.s.sion. Such a good trip! I just had to move my lips and now I'm going back with all this stuff! She had been stuck in a bottleneck for a while, and these gifts could raise her cultivation.

Thinking about it, she couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy.

This girl, she has such luck for the queen to favor her! Even though her life may be hard if she has to live with the queen, but with the Alioth Star Lord as her partner, she would have ample resources for herself. The Seventh Truth Platform is way richer than Nine Jade Palace!

If I were her, would I even still be considering? Who does she think she is?

Whatever, the queen has made herself clear, and no matter what, that girl has to obey. A girl should just accept her fate! Didn't the sect leader's wife accept her fate too? The Big Miss is now married to a poor Fu Shangqin and still fulfilled her wife's duty.

Before the compet.i.tion started, Ding Qingqing came along with her servant girls.

The three chaperones immediately stood up to greet her.

Ding Qingqing gave them a smile. "It's okay. I'm just here to pa.s.s a message."

She then turned to Lu Mingshu. "Miss Lu, Her Highness has invited you over for a talk."

Whispers could be heard. Those who knew what was going on looked at her with worry, but those who didn't looked at her green with envy. The queen must like her a lot! She just sent her a string of Mystic Dewdrops yesterday, and today she invited her for a talk! The main seat is not somewhere just anyone would get to sit!

Yin Hong looked at Lu Mingshu, eyes filled with worry. She was worried that Lu Mingshu would rudely refuse and make Ding Qingqing angry.

But to her surprise, Lu Mingshu stood up without a word and bowed to the chaperones before leaving with Ding Qingqing.

Yin Hong sighed. That's right, just accept your fate. She's the queen after all.

Ding Qingqing looked shocked, but she was fast to plaster a smile on her face. "Please, Miss."

Lu Mingshu followed Ding Qingqing and went to the main seat.

After Ding Qingqing was finished, she bowed to the queen and king. "Lu Mingshu from Nine Jade Palace greeting Your Highness and Your Majesty."

The queen and king both smiled. The queen waved her hand; "Save the courtesy, come sit beside me."

The seat was already open, and it was right beside the queen.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Lu Mingshu bowed before sitting down.

The queen held her hand and took a glance at her. "I really didn't expect you to be so feminine after seeing your fights."

The king of Zhongzhou nodded. "Indeed! If I didn't know, I would think she's the Miss of some prestigious family."

"You're so calm as well even though you're still young."

"Yeah…."

Hearing the praise from the king and queen, State Master Jiayan huffed.

She was angry and embarra.s.sed after Xie Lianzhen exposed her the other day, so from then on, she never went to the Seventh Truth Platform's tent. Now, the seat where Lu Mingshu was sitting was originally hers, which was what she wanted to see least of all.

State Master Jiayan gritted her teeth and stabbed the cake in front of her with a chopstick out of anger.

"Sister, is the cake not tasty?" The younger prince didn't realize that she was angry and asked in curiosity.

"It's tasty! It's very tasty!" Jiayan huffed in anger, then took a piece of cake and stuffed it in her mouth. She imagined that it was Lu Mingshu and bit down hard.

Chapter 186 - Paying the Bet

"Do you go outside of the mountain?"

"Rarely."

"So you practice all day long?"

"Nope. I'll take Little Daze for a walk in the morning then some other ch.o.r.es and studying. I practice in the afternoon and cultivate at night."

"Little Daze?"

"A beast that I picked up. Looks a bit like a horse, and now it's my mount."

"I see…."

Hearing the laughter from the main seats, Jiayan bit harder into her food. What's so funny? All she knows is studying and practicing. Is she a dummy? What does cousin see in her anyway?

Crack!

She bit into something hard and her teeth felt numb. "Ah!" She let out a shriek of pain.

"What happened?" This shriek attracted the attention of the queen and king.

State Master Jiayan spit out an item. Seeing that there was blood on it, she held her cheek and started crying.

"Sister bit the clam's sh.e.l.l!" the prince turned back to his parents.

The king and queen smiled. The king of Yijun chided her, "You're not young anymore, can't you be more careful?"

"There are times where you just miss something." The queen smiled and beckoned Ding Qingqing to come over. "Qingqing, help State Master take a look."

"Yes." Ding Qingqing smiled.

After ensuring that her teeth were alright, Jiayan heaved a sigh of relief. She then caressed her cheeks to sooth the pain. Seeing Lu Mingshu smiling, anger rushed up her heart and she shouted at her. "What are you laughing at?!"

Lu Mingshu looked over at her.

"What are you looking at? I'm talking about you! Am I that funny?"

"Jiayan!" The king of Yijun shouted at her. Doesn't she know where she is right now? Even if you don't like her, this is not an appropriate thing to do in front of the crowd!

"I only asked her a question!" Even father is on her side! Jiayan's face turned red with anger, and she pointed at Lu Mingshu. "Speak up!"

Lu Mingshu gave her a thin smile before answering. "Nothing much, I'm just happy that I won the bet with State Master Jiayan."

State Master Jiayan stared at her blankly for a moment.

"Has State Master forgotten?" Lu Mingshu looked at her. "On the opening day, State Master and I bet in front of the crowd about whether I could get into the New Generation Ranking."

State Master Jiayan had really forgotten about it.

That day when she sent her servant girl to deliver medicine to Lu Mingshu and got exposed by Xie Lianzhen, she had been so upset that she skipped the compet.i.tion for a few days. Now that Lu Mingshu spoke about it in front of everyone, s.h.i.+vers ran down her spine.

The bet! A hundred mystic crystals!

Her first reaction was to look over at her father, the king of Yijun.

"There's such a thing?" The king of Yijun looked at Jiayan in shock.

Lu Mingshu answered before Jiayan could. "Your Majesty isn't aware of it? That day, State Master and I made a bet; if I didn't get into the New Generation Ranking, I'll stop bothering her, and but I did, she'd have to pay me…"

Lu Mingshu didn't complete the sentence, but people who knew State Master Jiayan personally would know roughly how much she bet.

The king of Yijun furrowed his eyebrows. "Jiayan, you have to concede defeat if you lost."

"…yes, father."

After a while, nothing happened. The king of Yijun looked at her oddly. "What are you doing then? Pay the bet!"

State Master Jiayan's eyes brimmed with tears. Where am I supposed to get a hundred mystic crystals!?

Lu Mingshu continued to stare at her without any intention of saving her.

The king of Yijun sighed and spoke up. "Miss Lu, Jiayan's been spoiled by me. I apologize on her behalf if she has offended you."

Lu Mingshu shook her head. "Just a fair bet. It can't be considered offending me."

The king of Yijun smiled stiffly. Is this Miss Lu really that dense, or is she doing it on purpose?

With that, he looked at Lu Mingshu. "I'll pay for Jiayan. How much is it?"

"Not much, only a hundred mystic crystals."

The king of Yijun then turned to the servant next to him. "Go get a hundred… mystic crystals?" The last two words were significantly higher-pitched than his other words. He looked at Lu Mingshu oddly, and then turned to Jiayan

Jiayan didn't even dare to raise her head. A hundred mystic crystals was something that even a Spirit Realm elder might not have. She may have a good life, but all her money had to pa.s.s through the king of Yijun before she could use it.

"Jiayan!" The king of Yijun looked at her in anger.

Jiayan didn't even dare to look up.

"You…!" He was so angry that he started shaking. But he managed to calm himself down. This idiot, why are you so easy to fool? And this Lu Mingshu, even though Jiayan may have hara.s.sed you a bit, aren't you taking things too far?

But Lu Mingshu didn't seem to care what others thought of her and continued to enjoy herself.

The king of Yijun took a deep breath and beckoned his servant over. "Go get a hundred mystic crystals."

The servant did as told.

In a short while, a pouch was in Lu Mingshu's hand.

A hundred mystic crystals was not a small amount. The king of Yijun seemed to stare daggers at her. "Miss Lu, a hundred mystic crystals. Keep it well."

Lu Mingshu didn't count the crystals in front of the crowd, at least leaving him some face.

"Thank you."

Seeing this, the queen gave the king of Yijun a stiff smile and glanced over at the king of Zhongzhou.

…who shook his head in response and sighed.

This girl is indeed very stubborn. She's in this situation and yet she still dared to offend the king of Yijun? Perhaps she never planned to stay in the first place?

"Where's Xing'er? Call him over."

"Yes," Ding Qingqing answered.

Lu Mingshu batted her eyelids. After what happened yesterday, she didn't feel like seeing Xie Lianzhen. After hearing from Wei Chunqiu about Xie Lianzhen's past, she didn't know what to feel or do since her entire plan went down the drain.

But it was the queen's order, so there was nothing she could do.

After a moment, Xie Zhanghui came over, pus.h.i.+ng Xie Lianzhen.

"Elder brother!" The little prince went over happily.

Xie Lianzhen smiled and caressed his head.

It was a warm sight in the eyes of others, but not to Lu Mingshu.

Someone who sees nothing as important, how is he able to pretend that he cares and loves his younger brother?

"King. Queen." Xie Lianzhen slightly bowed to them.

The king of Zhongzhou smiled at him. "Is there any improvement in your cultivation recently? Ah, this…! Are you preparing to break through to the Spirit Realm?"

Xie Lianzhen nodded. "I'll have a try. If I fail, it will be easy to make adjustments."

"That's good. You've certainly trained enough."

The queen then interrupted. "Of course you'll succeed! The compet.i.tion is about to start, Xing'er, come over."

"Cousin, sit here!" State Master Jiayan hurriedly beckoned him to go over. "Watch it with us."

"Yes." The little prince nodded excitedly. "Sit with us, brother."

The queen heaved a sigh of relief silently and plastered a smile on her face. "Ah, go ahead."

Seeing that the queen had no comments, the servant girls prepared the seat for Xie Lianzhen.

At this moment, Xiahou Shan appeared on the rooftop.

Chapter 187 - The Dust has Settled

After the opening speech, Xiahou Shan announced the start of the compet.i.tion between the Spirit Realm elders.

A Seventh Truth Platform elite kicked off the compet.i.tion. He drew a ballot and got an Amethyst Phoenix Pavilion elder as his opponent. This was how the Hero Ranking worked. They drew ballots to choose one's opponent. Once they lost, the partic.i.p.ant would be eliminated, and this continued until they had the top three. Then, they would change to a fight with all the compet.i.tors left to decide the positions.

As soon as the compet.i.tion started, the venue was filled with the gasping of the young disciples.

They were at least able to know what was going on during the matches between the Harmonization Realm disciples, but now, they were totally lost.

Lu Mingshu put a hundred percent of her attention on the match. This was the first time that she got to see a match between Spirit Realms elders so close up.

There was a graph in the Heavenly Wheel to compare the abilities between different worlds. The Spirit Realm should be comparable to the Golden Elixir Realm in other worlds. The Golden Elixir Realm is more powerful than the Spirit Realm in terms of skills, but in terms of stamina…

"…Miss Lu?

Lu Mingshu train of thought was cut off. When she looked up, the queen was smiling widely at her. As if she knew that Lu Mingshu didn't hear her earlier, the queen repeated her question. "Look at the Seventh Truth Platform's sword skills; how are they compared to Nine Jade Palace?"

Lu Mingshu thought before answering, "The Seventh Truth Platform focuses on smoothness. There's not much emphasis on the specifics of how one should do it. Thus, everyone has their own unique or uncommon skills. For Nine Jade Palace, they focus on accuracy, which is different from the Seventh Truth Platform."

"Then who do you think will win?"

Lu Mingshu smiled. "Depends. In a match between ordinary disciples, it would no doubt be the Seventh Truth Platform. But for elites, it depends on who's fighting, not the skill."

Before the queen could say anything, State Master Jiayan sneered, "Oh, interesting. So you're trying to say that Seventh Truth Platform Harmonization Realm disciples are no match for you?"

Lu Mingshu replied slowly, "Didn't I answer State Master's question already with my actions?" Arrogance could be seen in her eyes.

The arrogance annoyed Jiayan, so she replied, "Oh, of course! Senior Brother Wei defeated you very quickly!"

But outside of her expectation, the little prince suddenly added on, "Sister, isn't Senior Brother Wei at the peak of the Harmonization Realm? Sister Lu just entered the Harmonization Realm, so she should be compared with Senior Brother Yu instead."

This angered Jiayan; she never expected to get embarra.s.sed by the little prince. Out of anger, she took a piece of pastry and shoved it in his mouth. "Eat more and talk less!"

"Uh…"

"So if you had a chance to learn the Seventh Truth Platform's sword skills, would you become even better?" the queen asked.

Lu Mingshu pondered for a while before shaking her head. "I am already very familiar with the skill I use, so if I change now, it'll only hurt me. Besides, my strength is accuracy, which fits better with the Nine Jade Palace skillset. The Seventh Truth Platform skillset values freedom, but it's unpredictable.

The king of Zhongzhou cut into the conversation. "Miss Lu, the Seventh Truth Platform's skillset is very free-flowing and unpredictable, but you're very good at that too."

Lu Mingshu smiled thinly. "That's just because I calculated all my attacks, which isn't what the Seventh Truth Platform skillset focuses on."

"Calculated?" The king of Zhongzhou asked in shock. "So you calculated all your attacks and your opponent's attacks during your matches?"

"Yes."

"How could you calculate all that?"

"Everyone has their own style of fighting. Their strength and angles of attack are taken into consideration, and then I find ways to counter them."

The king of Zhongzhou stared at her in confusion.

But the queen seemed to get it. "Ah, no wonder your attacks are always on point, not wasting any of your mystic energy." After a pause, she continued. "Did you use this to command during the fight with the barbarians?"

Lu Mingshu nodded.

The queen thought for a while before shaking her head. "This seems easy, but it's actually hard. Observing your opponents, memorizing their patterns, and then making your own attacks isn't easy. You have to be fast as well. This method is not for everyone."

Watching the match while making some comments, time pa.s.sed quickly.

The Hero Ranking compet.i.tion took up quite a lot of time. There were only five or six matches per day at most before the day ended.

Before the crowd left, the queen held Lu Mingshu and told her warmly. "Come earlier tomorrow, I'll get Qingqing to pick you up."

And the queen did what she said. The next day, Ding Qingqing came to Lu Mingshu's courtyard to fetch her to the main seat.

But everyone in Nine Jade Palace were chilled since everyone already knew the reason behind it.

"This Senior Sister Lu is reaching heaven in a single bound! She was still an ordinary disciple last year, and now she's ranked first in the New Generation Ranking and got the queen of Zhongzhou's attention!"

"Not only that! If she becomes the wife of the Alioth Star Lord, even the sect leader would have to be polite when they meet!"

"Not just 'polite,' the Seventh Truth Platform rules over Zhongzhou, and they are an extremely big sect. How could Nine Jade Palace be compared to them? Their sect leader is way more powerful than our sect leader!"

"Do you think the sect leader's wife would regret…?"

"Hey! Haven't you heard about it? The sect leader's wife is the one who initiated the marriage! She is really nice to Senior Sister Lu even though she's not her own flesh and blood!"

"Are you sure? I once heard that, when Senior Sister Lu was in Green Jade Valley, she had a harder time than us…."

"Maybe it's just a rumor? If Senior Sister Lu's situation was that bad, how did she reach the Harmonization Realm so quickly? And she's so excellent too."

"Hmm, true…."

No matter what others said, Lu Mingshu went to the main seat every day to accompany the queen in spectating the compet.i.tion. She was so cooperative that Tan Yubing thought she had accepted her fate.

Her father and stepmother are determined to sell her out, and the queen's powerful too. What could she do other than accept her fate?

Five days pa.s.sed, and the Hero Ranking was revealed.

Nine Jade Palace's luck wasn't bad. Kang Tian and Yin Hong both went up for a match, but that made no difference. However, An Tongchen made it into the top ten and onto the Hero Ranking.

He met a strong opponent afterward and didn't get into the top five.

But the Qilin Festival was full of elites. If you could make it onto the Hero Ranking, you were already one of the top elites.

During the closing ceremony, the Flying Imperial Palace set up a grand banquet.

During the banquet, the queen brought Lu Mingshu everywhere with her, as if she was trying to send a message to the crowd.

Lu Mingshu ignored the looks of envy and pity. She remained calm as if she wasn't aware of them at all.

After three cheers, the king and queen of Zhongzhou took their leave, leaving the disciples of the different sects to mingle with each other.

Qi Sheng came forward and tugged on her s.h.i.+rt. "Miss Lu, why are you giving up on yourself? I said that I would help you. Why won't you give me a chance?"

After he said that, Kou Wei followed behind him and smacked his head, then apologized to Lu Mingshu. "Ignore this drunkard."

Outside their expectations, Lu Mingshu bowed to them. "I'll remember your goodwill deep in my heart."

Kou Wei opened his mouth to say something but stopped since he felt it was unnecessary. "If you meet any difficulties, feel free to find me at the Heavenly Sea Pavilion." He sighed.

"Thank you very much."

After that, n.o.body came to try to convince her. Even State Master Jiayan didn't find trouble with her.

It was like the dust had settled, and there was no turning back.