Chapter 148: Chapter 148: The Sword Seizing Conference Officially Begins
Lu Sangjiu felt she had been terribly wronged. ’I was just trying to run my stall, so how did I end up in such an awkward, undeserved mess?’
Everyone here was a Cultivator, so even though Liu Xi’s voice wasn’t particularly loud, it was enough to make many people nearby turn and look.
’She figured that many of them already saw her as some kind of seductress trying to steal someone’s man, and the looks they were giving her were all wrong.’
But if she tried to explain herself now, it would only make her look like she was playing innocent... So, she wisely chose to keep her mouth shut and just wait for Gu Jue to clear things up with Liu Xi.
Seeing Liu Xi’s unreasonable pestering, Gu Jue’s expression turned completely cold. "Liu Xi, I’m your senior brother. I can tolerate it no matter how unreasonable you want to be with me, but you can’t take your anger out on others because of it."
"Our business has nothing to do with Mr. Lu. You’ve been rude to her multiple times, and now you must apologize."
’Lu Sangjiu thought Gu Jue’s response was actually quite good. This had nothing to do with her in the first place. If they wanted to cause a scene, they should do it at home behind closed doors. What was this all about, taking their anger out on her in public?’
Unfortunately, to Liu Xi’s ears, his words only made her feel more wronged. She felt that Gu Jue was deliberately protecting Lu Sangjiu.
"Why should I apologize? I won’t!"
With tears in her eyes, she looked at Gu Jue. "Senior Brother, you’ve changed! I hate you!"
With that, she turned, crying, and ran off.
This time, however, Gu Jue didn’t chase after her. He just quietly watched her figure disappear into the crowd, his expression filled with disappointment.
In truth, Gu Jue had always felt he had let his junior sister, Liu Xi, down.
In the past, his mind had been entirely focused on his cultivation, so he’d completely failed to notice that she had developed feelings for him. He’d also failed to see that while she acted docile in his presence, she was arrogant and willful toward everyone else.
By the time he realized it, it was already too late. No amount of lecturing or persuasion had ever been able to change her.
Now, Gu Jue was truly disappointed, and tired.
Lu Sangjiu stood to the side, feeling a bit awkward, especially after seeing the weariness on Gu Jue’s face. After a moment’s hesitation, she spoke up. "Aren’t you... going after her?"
Gu Jue shook his head. "She’s too willful. It’s time to let her think things through."
After he spoke, he turned and gave Lu Sangjiu a serious bow with clasped hands. "My apologies. It is my failure for not teaching her better."
Lu Sangjiu waved her hand, unconcerned. "It’s fine. It’s not your fault."
However, after that ordeal, Gu Jue was clearly in no mood to linger. He simply chose a few items at random, paid, and left.
As soon as he left, Luo Linlang sidled over. "Little Junior Sister, Gu Jue seems like a nice guy, but his junior sister is not an easy person to deal with. You’d better think this through."
Lu Sangjiu was baffled. "Think what through?"
Luo Linlang waggled her eyebrows suggestively. "Aren’t you and Gu Jue... heheh, Senior Sister gets it!!"
Lu Sangjiu was speechless. "Second Senior Sister, a beautiful face like yours really shouldn’t be making such a sleazy expression!"
"Besides, there’s really, truly nothing going on between us. Can you please stop making things up?"
"Don’t you know that sometimes, even if two people have no intention of anything, hearing about it over and over can actually make them start to develop those kinds of feelings!"
"And you saw for yourself, Liu Xi is definitely a handful. You don’t want me to get tangled up in such a messy situation, do you?"
Luo Linlang finally said, a bit sheepishly, "Alright, alright, I get it. But... ahem, there’s something I have to tell you."
Looking a little guilty, she rubbed her nose. "Before... I thought you’d left with Gu Jue, so I might have mentioned it to Eldest Senior Brother and the others..."
Lu Sangjiu: "..."
She finally understood why Eldest Senior Brother and Third Senior Brother had suddenly been saying all those weird things to her.
She facepalmed, sighing helplessly. "Senior Sister, you..."
’Sigh, Second Senior Sister is great in every way, but she’s just such a huge gossip!’
Luo Linlang let out a dry laugh. "It’s no big deal! I just mentioned it casually. I’m sure they all forgot about it the moment I said it. They won’t take it to heart!"
Lu Sangjiu thought about it. It had been over ten days, so trying to explain things now would just be weird. She just shook her head in resignation. "Forget it. If they bring it up the next time we meet, I’ll clear it up then."
’Anyway, Eldest Senior Brother and the others aren’t gossips like Senior Sister, so it probably won’t have any real effect.’
She didn’t let it bother her and continued running her stall until evening. Having sold most of her goods and earned nearly one thousand Mid-grade Spirit Stones, she finally left, satisfied.
After returning to rest and gather her strength for the night, Lu Sangjiu and Luo Linlang arrived promptly the next morning at the tournament grounds south of Muxian Town.
The Sword Seizing Conference was as lively as expected. The vast tournament grounds were packed with a dense crowd of five to six thousand people.
This grand event was hosted by an elder from the Gold and Silver Gate. In addition to a speech from their own Sect Leader, they had also invited a number of famous Cultivators from the Major Sects to observe the battles. Bai Heng and Sword Bu Gui, for example, were among them.
All in all, the opening ceremony lasted for about half an hour, after which the rules for the competition were finally announced.
Everyone had received a numbered token upon registration. The back of the token, however, held another number that remained invisible until today. Only now did the Cultivators from the Gold and Silver Gate cast a spell in unison, causing the hidden numbers to materialize.
The two people whose hidden numbers matched would be paired up to compete, with the matches proceeding in ascending numerical order.
To the left was the division for the Golden Core Stage, where four arenas operated simultaneously. To the right was the division for the Foundation Establishment Stage, with eight arenas running at the same time.
Luo Linlang’s number was quite low—eighteen—while Lu Sangjiu’s was two hundred sixty-three, so her match was still a long way off.
So, she went with Luo Linlang to the Golden Core division to watch the matches for a while.
Luo Linlang’s match was scheduled for the fifth round in the second arena, so the two of them found a spot beside it to watch and wait.
Coincidentally, one of the contestants in the third match at that very arena was none other than Feng Lin.
Lu Sangjiu immediately started cheering for her. "Feng Lin will win!"
Feng Lin glanced over at the sound of her voice. When she saw who it was, she gave a small smile. "I will."
Her opponent, a Body Cultivator, scoffed at this. "Quite the big talk from a little girl. Let’s see if you have the skill to back it up!"
At the referee’s signal to begin, the Body Cultivator immediately charged, swinging a fist the size of a clay pot straight at Feng Lin’s face.
The crowd gasped, everyone thinking Feng Lin was done for.
But to everyone’s surprise, Feng Lin suddenly summoned a Golden Bell and brought it down right on top of the Body Cultivator.
The Body Cultivator was charging too fast to dodge, so he had no choice but to throw a punch at it.
He hadn’t expected the Golden Bell to be so sturdy. His punch had no effect whatsoever. Instead, because he was now trapped under the bell, the impact of his own fist created a massive noise that left his ears ringing.
The Body Cultivator shook his head, growling in frustration, "Hmph, it’s pretty tough... Watch me flip this thing over!"
But before he could even try, Feng Lin, on the outside, had already produced a massive... iron mallet.
That’s right, a mallet like the kind used for washing clothes—an iron club, thick on one end and thin on the other. She held it in her hand and, without a shred of courtesy, began to viciously hammer away at the Golden Bell!
