The competition ended with Lao Min Na grabbing the first position with Xiang Feng Ran and Ying Xuan Xie taking up the second and third spots. Ying Xuan Xie was in third place because she magnanimously resigned from participating in her last fight. She modestly said she was happy she was among the top three winners as she had only participated in the competition to gain more experience. Ying Xuan Xie's confession was admired by the people as it meant she was a sensible and gentle young lady.
Xiang Feng Ran missed first place by a whisker. The fight between Xiang Feng Ran and Lao Min Na took too long as they were well matched. The judges decided to end it and choose a winner by using their accumulated scores. Both Xiang Feng Ran and Lao Min Na agreed to this suggestion. Although Xiang Feng Ran came up second, she wasn't downhearted as her main goal was to be in the top three.
?
The people from the Lao Manor and the Zhao Mu Fan were one of the few who were unhappy with the competition's outcome. The anger they felt was enough to eat flies. Zhao Mu Fan couldn't believe the lady he picked and his talented fiancée failed to make it to the top three positions. Something the woman he easily discarded and humiliated managed to achieve.
This matter was an embarrassment. He was ashamed and angered by this that he didn't bother visiting Lao Fei Yan when she was recuperating from her battle with Lao Min Na. The Crown Prince was a heartless man after all.
Meanwhile, Princess Lorient stayed leisurely inside Ninjing Manor oblivious of these happenings. Her daily schedule consisted of eating pastries, learning to play this world's chess with Zhao Li Xin, and watching him play the Gu Qin.
Zhao Li Xin accompanied her daily as he worried about her. It soon became unclear who served who if you watched them. However, everyone at the manor was used to Zhao Li Xin and Luo Ri Yi's weird relationship. No one dared to complain about this as it was a good thing that their lord was happy.
Girsha, on the other hand, didn't inform Lory about his meeting with Arthea. He didn't want the girl to worry. One could forgive his attitude as Lory run away from home the last time she got worried. He didn't want the same thing to happen again as Lory had just started being happy again.
Girsha also kept observing Lao Min Na as promised but he didn't see anything suspicious. He also thought that he would be able to feel it if Lao Min Na carries the marks. The fact that he failed to feel the marks gave him temporary relief.
However, Girsha still felt there was something weird about Lao Min Na. Sometimes it seemed like she disappeared into thin air. Her aura would also disappear making it seem like she didn't exist. She would then reappear from the same air with a stronger Qi.
Girsha suspected this was related to an amulet or armament from this world. He reported this to Lory as he was unsure.
As Lory had limited knowledge about this world, she easily asked Zhao Li Xin about it after making him promise to not ask her how she discovered this information.
"Mystique Realm?" Lory tilted her head at his answer. They were in the pavilion and Lory poured more wine for Zhao Li Xin as he divulged Lao Min Na's secrets.
"That is the conclusion I reached from your description," He said as he lifted his cup elegantly.
"What is that?"
Zhao Li Xin sipped the wine and explained, "Mystique realms are found in spatial rings. Spatial rings are mostly used for storage but some also have spaces within."
"Wow! I've heard of them before... However, my knowledge isn't much," She contemplated.
"That's normal. Such rings are rare. I only know two people with them other than Lao Min Na. They could be more."
"Really? Who else has one?" She didn't know they could be precious.
"The Heaven Gate Sect master, Wei Zu Tian also knows as 'The Sun's Emperor' and the other person is me..." He answered casually.
"You have it too?" Lory was stunned.
Her shock amused him. He gave her a dazzling smile, lifted his thumb, and show her his black jade ring, "I do. Do you wanna see…"
"Where did you find it?" Lory grabbed his hand but didn't dare touch the ring. She had never seen anything like it before, not even in Harland.
"I picked it up…" He said as casually as one did when they talked of picking candy off the street. He liked the way her soft hands warped around his hands. His mood elated and his smile grew wider.
"You picked it up…?" Lory was once again stunned. It was more shocking than winning the lottery.
"Nothing impressive. It was just luck," Zhao Li Xin brushed it off. He also had a few secrets he hadn't shared with her. He smoothly changed the subject "Back to Lao Min Na… Are you sure that's what happened?"
"That's what my source says. Do you know where she found one?" Lory let go of his hand. A lot of questions filled her mind. How did Lao Min Na find something so rare and precious? Did someone give it to Lao Min Na or did she pick it like Zhao Li Xin? But, if she indeed picked it, then Lory also needed to pay more attention when walking outside. Who knew what she could find?
"I don't know. But it explains how her power raised so fast," Zhao Li Xin pondered.
"How?" Lory moved closer to him like a little girl eager for a story.
The lord's mood peaked as he explained, "The mystique realm found in such rings tent to have a different time frame from the one out here. One day here can be equivalent to seven days inside the ring.
This is highly beneficial for cultivators who need a lot of time to increase their power. The dense Qi inside the ring is also higher than out here thus it can increase the speed allowing one to cultivate three times faster than normal."
"Is that why you are so strong?"
"No. I only used the Qi inside the ring to control my poison. However, I cultivated normally."
"Why?" Lory was baffled. How could he owe a treasure and not use it?
"It's a matter of principle. That's all…" Zhao Li Xin could easily guess her thoughts. He was a stubborn man who didn't want to depend on pills, elixirs, or treasures to gain power. He disliked pills and elixirs because they weren't good for a cultivator's foundations.
Those who used pills to breakthrough need more time to adjust to their new power compared to those who achieved it naturally. As for treasures… He hated the feeling of owing his success to an item as it made it seem he was nothing without it. He wanted to be able to be proud of the fact that he accomplished everything with his own natural power.
Zhao Li Xin was an oddball like Lory thought. This world was filled with people who would sacrifice their wealth and family to obtain power. He chose to ignore the 'cheats' he had to use his own ability. Some would call him stupid but he never cared what others thought or said.
"You want to depend on yourself, don't you?" Lory giggled. There were times when her father prohibited her and Lucas from using their Gifts. The king didn't want his children to depend on their powers in case they were unable to use them one day.
The king was strict on this matter as there were rare cases where people lost their Gifts and were unable to survive without their powers. History also taught them of an enemy who once created a weapon that destroyed the powers of the Gifted.
As a precaution the King's insisted on training his children to function without their Gifts, this was especially after Lucas used his Gift to appear in his class in pajamas. Lucas did this after he woke up late one morning yet he had a school test. He panicked and stupidly forgot to change his clothes before appearing in class.
Lory was merciless towards him as she took a picture of Lucas and uploaded it on social media to tease him. Karma came back to bite her one day when she unable to use her powers when she a toothache. Fred forcefully sent her to the dentist. The princess screamed from the pain while there. The screams were loud enough for others to heat them outside the hospital.
"What else does the ring could do?" Lory went back to the ring's functions.
"Depend on the rings grades and the owner's power as this can determine how large the realm can be. The bigger the realm the better it is."
"How about your ring? Is it a high-grade ring?"
"It's fine. I managed to upgrade the ring's quality a year ago, making it better," He casually responded like it was a normal thing. However, someone with a mystique realm spatial ring would vomit to death if they heard him. There were barely any Armament Masters who could upgrade or create spatial rings with a mystique realm.
Creating a mystic realm depended on how high one's Armament Level was. It also depended on the ability to understand space, materials, elements, and one's mental strength. The combination of all this was hard to achieve.
"Sound's amazing to me…" Lory smiled at him. Her pure smile and genuine praises made Zhao Li Xin's face flushed slightly.
"I can make a spatial ring for you but it will only be a storage ring. The mystique realm rings need decades to make and I'm still not strong enough to create such a ring from scratch," He shifted his gaze to her.
"Great! This also means I can easily store all my sweets!" Lory grinned from ear to ear. She didn't know the price for a normal spatial ring was millions of gold taels. Only the rich and noble families could afford to buy them. Spatial rings were also not common and could only be found at auctions at a tripled price. However, Zhao Li Xin chose to easily give her as he would candy.
"Oh. I heard there will be a banquet celebrating the winners of the competition," Lory clapped her hand excitedly as she switched the subject. Her tone turned hopefully, "Have you been invited?"
Zhao Li Xin squinted his eyes, "You want to attend?"
"Yes, if I could," She nodded her head.
Zhao Li Xin could see she really wanted to attend the banquet. He rarely attended royal banquets and avoided them. However, if his little savior wished to attend, he would gladly fulfill her wish. "Then we should go tomorrow."
"The party is tomorrow?" Lory gasped with nervousness and excitement. "Can I come as your personal maid?"
"Sure…" He shrugged.
"Yeah!" Lory raised her fist in the air excitedly.
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