Chapter 239: Humiliation
The martial arena was three to four times the size of a football stadium.
It had seats on all sides, an elevated platform in the middle and an open roof.
When Yu Nianzhen and Jiang Yue arrived, almost all the seats were filled.
The seated cultivators were whispering amongst themselves forming a cacophony of excitement.
"I didn’t expect there would be so many people." Jiang Yue said and looked around.
This was the first time he saw so many people in one place.
It was a little amazing but also a little scary.
"The Ice Palace sect sold admission tickets." Yu Nianzhen repeated what he heard from his master.
Jiang Yue rolled his eyes and snorted.
He understood a little of why the Ice Palace sect had made things so big.
Among ordinary cultivators and mortals, Yang Xu was the hero who prevented the invasion of foreign devils.
If his fiancée was secretly snatched, the Ice Palace sect would definitely gain a bad reputation.
By holding a martial contest, the snatching would be above board and no one would find a reason to complain.
However, the Ice Palace sect failed to factor in Yu Nianzhen.
Although he was only at the first level of the origin tempering realm, Jiang Yue believed that Yu Nianzhen would win.
At that time, the Ice Palace sect could only grit their teeth and accept the loss.
When he thought of that, Jiang Yue couldn’t help but smile.
His smile was filled with schadenfreude and Yu Nianzhen shook his head when he saw it.
He had a guess what his husband was thinking and he stretched out his hand to rub his hair.
"The contest has not started yet." He said.
"The ending won’t change." Jiang Yue stated proudly.
If it was someone else, Jiang Yue’s expectations would cripple them.
However, Yu Nianzhen was not pressured at all.
Since he learned about the contest, he had prepared himself to win.
He had never allowed himself to think about failure so Jiang Yue’s declaration was only a statement of what he knew.
"It won’t change." Yu Nianzhen agreed and nodded.
"As expected, you are the most handsome when you are confident."
"I thought I was the most handsome when I am arrogant?"
Jiang Yue sighed and leaned to whisper to his husband.
"You are the most handsome without clothes."
Yu Nianzhen felt hot breath on his neck and his blood boiled.
His hand itched and he subconsciously reached to catch Jiang Yue.
However, reason prevailed and he took a deep breath.
"I will deal with you later." He said in a hoarse voice.
Jiang Yue chuckled and looped his arm through his husband’s.
"I am looking forward to that."
However, before Yu Nianzhen could say anything, another bell rang.
This bell was to let the audience take their seats and participants go to the platform.
"I will take you to your seat first." Yu Nianzhen said.
Jiang Yue hummed and looked around.
As in the banquet hall, the Sea Cloud sect was sitting in a prominent area.
Yu Nianzhen and Jiang Yue hurriedly made their way there and stood in front of the elders.
"Disciple Yu, you don’t have to participate in the contest." Elder Chen said disapprovingly.
She didn’t want Yu Nianzhen to participate and disgrace the Sea Cloud sect.
However, he wasn’t her disciple and she couldn’t control him.
She glared at Yang Xu but the man looked at her with a sunny smile on his lips.
Chen Qing gritted her teeth and then forced herself to calm down.
"Since you insist on taking part, you will go first." She said and Yu Nianzhen almost laughed with happiness.
He wanted to go first but didn’t know how to make it happen.
Now that the elder decided without his intervention, he was quite relieved.
As long as he stepped on that stage, he would never give the others a chance to stand up and humiliate his master.
"This junior understands." Yu Nianzhen said and gave a slight bow.
Chen Qing was a little dissatisfied but she didn’t argue.
After the event, she planned to deal with the two errant disciples and this disrespect would be added to Yu Nianzhen’s crimes.
When she thought of that, a flash of cruelty flashed in her eyes but she quickly hid it.
However, Yu Nianzhen caught it.
He knew the woman was planning something but he could only deal with one thing at a time.
[Be careful of your master.] He transmitted to Jiang Yue.
[I know.]
[Stay close to my master.]
[Don’t worry.] Jiang Yue said and gave his husband a reassuring smile.
"It’s good if you understand." Elder Chen said and then summoned the other participants.
"Disciple Yu will go first, the rest of you can decide among yourselves."
"This disciple wants to go last." Gu Changqing immediately offered.
"Don’t put gold on your face." A young man looked at Gu Changqing and sneered.
"Chu Taichong, what do you mean by that?" Gu Changqing asked angrily.
"Don’t you know what I mean?"
"Are you trying to pick a fight?"
"My ranking was higher than yours in the sect competition. Why should you go last?"
"Why don’t we use the sect ranking to decide the line-up?" Another young man said.
Yu Nianzhen didn’t care about that and he pulled Jiang Yue to stand in front of his master.
"Master, I am about to go down." He said.
Yang Xu nodded and looked at his disciple. After a long time, he nodded again.
"Do your best." He said.
"I know master."
Yu Nianzhen gave his master a deep bow, looked at Jiang Yue and then left the sitting area.
He couldn’t fly in the arena so he quickly made his way down and finally arrived at the edge of the martial platform.
"What is a first-level origin tempering realm cultivator doing here?" An arrogant voice sounded as soon as Yu Nianzhen appeared.
Yu Nianzhen looked at the person but chose not to engage.
He didn’t have to explain himself to anyone.
All he needed to do was step on the platform and defeat everyone who went up to challenge him.
"Senior brother Zhao, this one thinks his life is too long and came to die." Someone said and the surrounding contestants broke into laughter.
"Young boy, I advise you not to step on that platform. This is not a place to mess around."
"I agree." Yu Nianzhen said and looked at the person who gave the advice.
The look was condescending and the person was taken aback.
"A first-level trash dares to look down on me?" The person said angrily and clenched his hands into fists.
He was about to hit Yu Nianzhen when someone stopped him.
"He is Yang Xu’s disciple. Isn’t it enough to teach him a lesson when you get on the arena?"
"Aren’t I worried he will die before my turn?"
At that, the group erupted into laughter but Yu Nianzhen wasn’t affected.
He just looked at them and remembered their faces.
When the time came, he wouldn’t give them any face.
While they argued, more and more people arrived in the area beside the platform.
Not only were there male cultivators but also female cultivators.
Their ages varied but it was easy to see that Yu Nianzhen was the youngest and with the lowest cultivation.
When all the participants arrived, a beautiful woman suddenly appeared on the platform.
Yu Nianzhen couldn’t see the woman’s cultivation but her qi presence was similar to the elders he encountered in the Lu family residence.
’Should be the mid-level of the core formation realm.’ He observed but didn’t dwell on it.
"My name is Lin Qian and I will be in charge of the martial contest." The woman said and the audience broke into applause.
The image stones had already been turned on and the martial arena was projected to various cities in the Ice Palace region.
At this time, millions of cultivators and mortals were crowded in city squares to watch the martial contest.
"In our Cangxing world, everything is decided by strength. Only the strongest deserves the precious flower of our Ice Palace sect."
When this was said, cheers rang out in the crowd and Lin Qian winked with a sly smile on her lips.
"Only the last man standing deserves the honour of becoming a Taoist companion with junior Bing Lan."
Yu Nianzhen was nauseated by what was happening but nothing showed on his face.
He just looked at Lin Qian and waited for her to continue.
"Elder Yang is our Bing Lan’s fiancée." She said and boos echoed around the martial arena.
The Ice Palace sect clearly wanted to humiliate Yang Xu but the man did not change his expression.
He just smiled and looked unaffected.
"If anyone objects, all they need to do is challenge elder Yang’s champions. Whoever wins will face more challenges and the last man standing will win the beauty." Lin Qian said with a smile on her face.
