Chapter 581: Making Through The Competition
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The few of them even set up several platforms on purposes so that they would be able to display their products to the long line of potential buyers. Lonemoon and the others sat behind while all of this was happening. They relaxed and ate. The time that Chef took to go out and look for ingredients was forcefully increased by Father Niu, from an hour to two hours.
At the start, Yi Qing was unwilling. Although he was used to going out to look for ingredients, he was only used to doing this for Master. On what basis should he be made to sell them? They might be a chef and a foodie, but they had their own pride as well.
"Take it as your salary – I will increase your allowance by three times!" Lonemoon held up three fingers.
"Alright!" The two of them exclaimed in unison.
A certain master and disciple thought, mm, our prides just aren't as important as food.
Thus, the beasts that covered the mystic realm disappeared at a rapid pace. Everyone who entered the mystic realm went away with at least one beast, half a beast, either by using currencies or by investing in the business.
This bustling scene carried on all the way until the eighth day. There were less than half of the people left in the mystic realm by now – of course, less than half of the beasts remaining as well! Now, everybody was getting news of the huge sale through their tokens.
[Attention, attention! We're selling array flags as well! Do you want to make it to the next round? We're selling qualifying array flags for just 1,000,000 void currencies each! We have 30 flags on sale! We'll sell them on a first-come-first-served basis!]
Everybody who heard the message paused for awhile before they realized what was happening.
Huh?
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Holy shit! They were competing! They had completely forgotten that they were competing! All they had been concerned with for the past few days was queueing up. Some even queued up overnight. They had forgotten all about collecting array flags!
The crowd was quite open-minded, however. Now that they had the rare beasts in their hands, they were not too worried about collecting the array flags. After all, not everybody could make it to become first. They had already made a windfall out of the competition! In fact, a significant number of people were so worried that others would still the beasts that they bought, that they went out of the mystic realm of their own accord. Of course, the disciples from the huge academies remained behind. They did have to protect the reputation of the elite academies. There were also other responsible disciples who remained behind. These people stepped forward to purchase more array flags.
Although the array flag business was not as profitable as the beast business, they still managed to sell about 60 array flags.
People outside the mystic realm watched as Immortal Academy Group Three 23 dropped from the top, down to the middle of the board. From 68 flags, they dropped right down to 4.
All the teachers who were crowding around were absolutely confused by now. No matter how hard they tried, they could not figure out why this was happening. The people who had exited the competition early did not spill the beans about what took place inside the mystic realm, for fear that they would have to hand over the rare beasts they bought. They did represent their respective academies after all. As for the people who remained inside until the very end, there was no need to spell it out. Rubbish! All their array flags were bought over. Could they really go out and tell others that this was how they won the competition?
Even Ling Hong and the three others sealed their lips shut when they were questioned outside. All they told others was that they were lucky to have found the array flags at the last minute. At the end of it all, the immortal Academy had no choice but to say that the stone board was faulty, and the numbers displayed on it throughout the competition were misleading. That settled things once and for all.
The first round of the competition came to an end just like that. It went differently from how everyone expected. Only 75 people made it to the second round. That's right! There were over a thousand disciples who entered the competition, but over 20 array flags had not been found.
Shen Ying, who had remained at the side of the river for ten days straight, advanced to the next round. Needless to say, Ling Hong and his three companions, and even Buggy – who did not get a single bite of food – advanced as well.
They all thought it ridiculous that they had advanced to the next round. The ten days passed like a dream. By the time they regained consciousness, they found that they were already in the second round of the competition. In their hands, they were holding bags which contained a frightening amount of void currencies. That was the bonus that Lonemoon had distributed to them earlier.
Lonemoon was probably the biggest winner of the entire competition. In his hands, he was holding void currencies that would be sufficient to feed several people for a long, long time. That was not even including the 60 over I.O.U.s that he had! Overjoyed, he distributed more allowance to Shen Ying and Yi Qing.
He read the I.O.U.s in his hand and thought about the second round of competitions that was coming up in just a few days. Suddenly, he felt 90% confident that they would emerge victorious once again.
————
The second round of competitions was scheduled to take place three days later.
There was nothing else Lonemoon could do to prepare for it. He was planning on bringing Shen Ying, Yi Qing and Buggy somewhere nice to have a good meal. He had not expected to bump into the first person they met in the void – a familiar face.
"It's been a long time, Fellow Daoists!" The man walked over briskly toward them. "Do the three of you still want to go out?"
"Ling Hong, what are you doing here?" Lonemoon scanned the person in front of him from head to toe. In those ten days, Ling Hong was the best salesman among his peers. "What's the matter?"
"I came especially to thank you." Once he finished speaking, he bowed respectfully toward the group of them. When he stood back upright, he said in a low voice, "I have to thank you for dealing with that problem involving the Red Scented Fish Monster earlier."
"Don't stand on ceremony!" Lonemoon smiled. "I said before, you spent good money to buy that before. It has nothing to do with us."
"That might be the case, but if not for your good heart, we would not have been able to buy that." Ling Hong still looked at them gratefully. After pondering for a moment, he said, "Oh right, I came this time to give you news about the next round."
"Oh? Are the instructions out already?" Lonemoon paused. He stepped aside. "Come in and we'll talk!"
He started to lead Ling Hong into the house, but Chef and Shen Ying remained at the doorstep. They both turned to Father Niu with grievance in their eyes.
Shen Ying: Didn't we say we're going to eat?
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Yi QIng: Didn't we say we're going for a huge meal?
Lonemoon: "..." Don't forget what we're here for!
Only Buggy looked confused at the way the three of them were behaving. What was going on? Why was nobody moving? He was hungry! He had only eaten white rice for ten whole days.
"Alright!" Lonemoon glared at the two wastrels. "You can go out and eat. Come back and report the amount you spent, alright?"
"Yes, Father Niu! No problem, Father Niu!" The two of them replied obediently.
They cheered and walked out of the room joyfully, pulling Buggy along with them.
Ling Hong: "..." Why did he feel like Lonemoon was the parent in a family?
"Fellow Daoist Ling, please come in!" Lonemoon led Ling Hong into the house. "Thank you for making the trip down here."
"Fellow Daoist Lonemoon, don't stand on ceremony. They're going to announce this tomorrow. I'm just giving the news to you several hours earlier," Ling Hong said.
"May I know how we're going to be competing in the next round then?"
Ling Hong frowned and said in a low voice, "This round is going to be much tougher than the previous mystic realm. We have to break through the academy's Thousand-Image Array."
"Thousand-Image Array?" Lonemoon paused. "Is that an array?"
"Fellow Daoist, you do know your stuff. The Thousand-Image Array is an array set up by an exalted immortal from the Immortal Academy many years ago." Ling Hong frowned. "Over tens of thousands of years, the array has gone through many changes. It is said that there are over ten thousand more arrays inside that one array. It won't be easy to escape it."
"Oh." If it really was an array, things would be much simpler. Both Lonemoon and Yi Qing were experts at arrays.
Chapter 582: Fish Bones Are Difficult to Digest
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
"Fellow Daoist, please be careful. Not only contestants are going to be in the array this time." Ling Hong's expression changed as he looked up at Lonemoon in a guilty manner. "I don't know if it's because of what happened in the mystic realm either. The academies' teachers are beginning to get suspicious. That's why the Thousand-Image Array will contain not just contestants but also the teachers. Given the teachers' powers, whoever meets with them in the Thousand-Image Array will definitely be eliminated immediately."
"You mean your own teachers will enter the array and take part in the battle?" Lonemoon exclaimed. This was good news. For all they knew, they would have the opportunity to find out where the spirit seed was.
"That's right!" Ling Hong answered. Thinking that Lonemoon was worried, he explained, "The teachers who will be entering the array are teachers who are extremely proficient. I've heard that even Teacher Yan will enter the array. He's the teacher with the highest cultivation in all the academies I don't think it'll be easy to pass this round of the competition."
Lonemoon nodded. He already knew what to do. "Alright, thank you for telling me all of this."
"No problem!" Ling Hong shook his head and answered. "Fellow Daoist, you have helped me so much. I don't know much else – all I can do is help you in these little ways."
Lonemoon smiled. He was going to answer something courteous, but suddenly recalled another matter. "Oh, that's right. You said the last time that you wanted to rescue a friend. How's that now? Has it been settled?"
Ling Hong's face drained of color and he frowned. "Not... yet!"
"Why not?" Lonemoon stared blankly at him. "Are there not enough fish bones? Chef has more. Why not-"
"No! That's not it." Ling Hong shook his head and said awkwardly, "It's not a problem with the fish bones. The Fish King has enough fish already. What's more, they're the most effective fish bones. It's just that... the Red Scented Fish Monster's bones are extremely hard. We can't find something that can refine it just yet So... There's no way we can turn it into medicine to help my friend."
Medicine? Was it not supposed to be refined into a pill?
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"But it doesn't matter. I've already told asked our Academy if I can use their Earth Core Fire. If we're fortunate, we should be able to get everything done in half a month." Ling Hong's smile widened. "With the Earth Core Fire, we will be able to refine the fish bone! My friend will finally recover then." Ling Hong was smiling, but it was obvious that he was still worried. He did not look like he believe everything would go that smoothly.
"All you need to do is to refine the fish bones?"
"That's right!" Ling Hong nodded. "The Red Scented Fish Monster's bones has toxins in it. That's why we need a deviant fire to destroy the toxins before they can be turned into medicine."
"If that's the case..." Lonemoon sighed. On account of the fact that Ling Hong had been of much help over the past few days, he decided to lend a hand. "Perhaps Chef can help with that. I think he'll be able to refine those fish bones for you." What deviant fire could beat the True Phoenix Fire? He was sure that Chef would be able to burn the toxins in those bones thoroughly.
"Are you for real!" Ling Hong's face brightened up as he jumped to his feet.
Lonemoon nodded.
"Well... Well, how about we go and look for Fellow Daoist Yi now then?" After thinking for awhile, Ling Hong added, "I don't know what he likes. Should I... Should I prepare something for him?"
"Er..." Lonemoon pondered for a moment and said, "You should prepare some top-grade... oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar!"
Ling Hong: "..."
What the hell?
——————
Ling Hong had always thought that Fellow Daoist Yi was not easy to talk to. In the ten days since they arrived at the mystic realm, he had not spoken a single word to the four of them. Even to Buggy, who was in the same group as them, Yi Qing was cold. He spoke very little and maintained an unapproachable demeanor.
That was why when Lonemoon said to bring oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar, Ling Hong wondered if those things were sufficient to break the ice. Ling Hong was so worried that he bought more delicacies. With the entire carton, he approached Yi Qing.
The amazing thing was the moment Ling Hong explained the reason for his visit, Yi Qing accepted the carton. He turned around and stuffed the delicacies in Lady Shen Ying's bag. Then, he turned around and said in a serious tone, "Alright."
Ling Hong was a little shocked that he agreed so quickly. By the time it sank in, they were already at Ling Hong's house.
Inside the house, a warm male voice sounded. "Ling Hong, you're here so quickly. Are you sure you thanked them properly..." He stopped mid-sentence when he looked up and saw the group at the door. "You are...?"
It was then that Lonemoon saw the teenager seated on the chair inside the house. He looked about 20 years old, and he was quite pale. Yet, his features were soft. There was a blanket laid out above his foot. It looked like movement was inconvenient for this young man. Very quickly, Lonemoon realized that the nerves in his leg were broken. There were traces of demonic Qi in his dantian.
"Older Brother!" Ling Hong stepped forward and joyfully introduced, "These friends are the fellow Daoists who sold us that Red Scented Fish Monster back in the mystic realm."
Ling Wen Xuan's eyes brightened. He quickly cupped his fists toward Lonemoon and the others. "So you are the fellow Daoists who took care of my brother in the mystic realm. I am very grateful."
"Fellow Daoist, you are too courteous. He has helped us a lot as well. We're just returning the favor." Lonemoon smiled warmly.
"Older Brother, this Fellow Daoist Yi Qing can help us to refine the fish bones," Ling Hong said excitedly. "That's why I brought them home with me."
"Really!" Ling Wen Xuan's eyes widened. A moment later, they dimmed down considerably out of guilt. "Brother Hong, they were already so kind as to sell you the fish. Why are you still bothering them? And with such a simple thing like refining the fish bones, at that!"
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"It's no trouble at all," Lonemoon responded. "We're fated to meet and become friends. Things like refining fish bones don't cost us much as well.
Ling Wen Xuan looked up at them. Seeing that they were genuinely willing to help them, he said, "Well, in that case... thank you, Fellow Daoists. Once I recover, if I am of any use to you, I will repay you!"
Lonemoon smiled politely, then turned back to Ling Hong. "Where are the fish bones? Bring us there!"
"Now? Alright, alright..." Ling Hong had not thought that they would want to get started immediately. He quickly said to his brother, "Well, Older Brother, I'm going to bring them to the medicinal room now." He turned around and led the group to the room.
Once the few of them entered the room, they found that there were all sorts of medicines lined up around it. The room also smelled strongly of medicine. In the middle of the room was a long table, on which several plates and bottles stood. Lonemoon scanned the entire room. The strange thing was, although there were many different medicines, there was not a single spirit herb. All of them were ordinary plants.
Ling Hong headed for the cabinet right inside and undid several arrays and talismans. He opened a chest gingerly. Inside was the remaining fish bones from their meal the other day.
"The fish bones are here." Ling Hong picked up the bones and handed it over very carefully. He said to Yi Qing, "These bones are hard to refine. I've already done my calculations. Even with deviant fire, the least time it would take is seven days and seven nights. That's why I'm grateful for... Eh? Eh!"
Chapter 583: Summoned by a Teacher
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Before Ling Hong could finish speaking, he watched Yi Qing summon flames in his hands The fish bones turned into a transparent liquid before his eyes, which floating within the fire.
He wasn't dreaming, was he? This was... too quick, right?
"A container!" Yi Qing reminded Ling Hong.
Ling Hong hesitated for a moment before he finally responded. "Oh? Oh!" He hurriedly searched for something that could store the liquid. After a few seconds, he picked up an empty bottle from the table and handed it over.
Yi Qing took the empty bottle and poured the translucent liquid into it before immediately handing it back to Ling Hong. Then, he turned to study the other fish bones. In a low voice, he asked, "Do you need all of these refined?" He would do it on account of the container of ingredients that Ling Hong had brought him.
"Huh?" Ling Hong stared blankly at Yi QIng. He nodded instinctively, "I do."
"Mm," Yi Qing responded. Then, the deviant flames appeared in his hands again. He threw the fireball toward the container. Immediately, the container caught fire. The fish bones inside it became refined within three seconds. A translucent ball of liquid floated up out of the container. The container below, however, remained completely intact.
Yi Qing did not bother to ask this time. He raised his hand and caused the ball of liquid to split into 10 different streams, which each ended in a different empty table on the bottle.
"Thank... Thank you!" Ling Hong stuttered his thanks. The thought of helping his brother fully recover filled his mind so that he did not even bother to ask what kind of deviant fire Yi Qing was using. He picked up the essence of fish bones from the table and said excitedly, "My older brother has a cure now! I'm going to brew the medicine immediately!"
Once he finished speaking, he turned and picked out herbs from all around the room. Lonemoon watched and realized that all the herbs Ling Hong was picking were slow-working medicines that could help one to replenish Qi and nurture their cores. Perhaps he had been well prepared for this very moment. After gathering the herbs he needed, he quickly smashed them into powders and juices before mixing them together. He added the essence of fish bones last.
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Lonemoon frowned as he watched from the sidelines. He could not help but ask, "Fellow Daoist Ling, why aren't you refining pills directly?" Although he was using ordinary plants, Ling Hong would still be able to refine pills that would be more effective than this joke of a medicine.
Ling Hong stared blankly back at him and asked in a confused manner, "What do you mean... refine pills?"
"..." Lonemoon could not believe his ears. Ling Hong had not even heard of refining pills. Was he really a cultivator? Suddenly, Lonemoon understood something. Could it be that there were no pill cultivators here? "Do you all use this method to produce medicine over here?"
"That's right!" Ling Hong nodded. Seeing that Lonemoon was at a loss for words, he said apologetically, "Fellow Daoist Lonemoon, are you a teacher of medicine? Could there be... something wrong with the method I used to produce the medicine?" He began to panic.
"That's not it." Lonemoon shook his head. "I'm just quite curious. Can I study medicine a bit more closely?"
"Of course you can!" He handed the bottle of medicine to Lonemoon without hesitation. "My brother will have to consume three bottles of this medicine each time for it to be effective. I have to produce two more bottles." He turned around and gathered more herbs.
Lonemoon studied the bottle and saw that the fish bone essence had become green, and it carried with it the fragrance of herbs. After studying the medicine with his divine perception, Lonemoon frowned. He turned to Yi Qing and asked, "Chef, do you think this medicine is going to be effective?"
"No!" Chef answered immediately. "The fish bone essence can fix his meridians, but there will still be demonic Qi in his dantian."
Lonemoon had the same thoughts. Drinking this medicine will allow Ling Wen Xuan to stand up again, but he would still be unable to cultivate. What's more his own cultivation may be weakened by the demonic Qi in his dantian. It looked like the standard of medicine in the Void Land was unsatisfactory.
Once again, he scanned the herbs all around the room. After pondering for several minutes, he finally understood why there were no pill cultivators here. There were no spirit herbs at all! Pill cultivators used spirit herbs and immortal herbs to refine pills, but there was too much chaos in the Void Land that resulting in no spirit Qi at all in the plane. Instead, there was a clutter of waste all around the plane. That was why spirit herbs could not be grown in a place like that. Naturally, there were no pill cultivators in the plane.
Lonemoon turned to look at Ling Hong, who was still excitedly producing the medicines in the hope that his brother would recover fully. He pondered for a moment, then retrieved a pill that could remove demonic Qi from one's body. Lonemoon slipped the pill into the bottle, then used his immortal energy to mix the pill into the liquid. He took it as Ling Hong's reward for working for them earlier.
Ling Hong finished producing the medicine very quickly. The remaining two bottles of medicine were done in no time. He greeted the three of them, took one bottle of medicine and walked out.
"Older Brother, the medicine is done!"
"So quickly?" Ling Wen Xuan, who had been reading, stared up at his brother in disbelief. The few of them had only gone up for several minutes. "Didn't you say that the bones would take-"
"Fellow Daoist Yi Qing had a special method of refining the fish bones speedily. That was how I managed to produce the medicine so quickly!" Ling Hong explained. He quickly handed the bottle of medicine over. "Older Brother, please have it!"
Ling Wen Xuan nodded. Just as he was about to open the bottle, Lonemoon handed the bottle in his hands to Ling Wen Xuan instead. "Have this bottle first, so that I don't have to keep holding onto it."
The two brothers paused. An apologetic look flashed across Ling Hong's face as Ling Wen Xuan quickly reached out for the bottle, opened it, and drank the medicine. it was not a big bottle – Ling Wen Xuan finished it in a couple of gulps. A few moments later, he felt a warmth rise up, from his dantian. It was almost as if the icy aura that had remained there for a long time had dissipated.
He became overcome with excitement as he took the next bottle and gulped it down. He looked up and stared at Lonemoon in confusion. Then, he continued drinking the medicine until he finished the third bottle.
"Older Brother, the medicine will take about three days to fully kick in," Ling Hong said excitedly. "You will be better in just a few days."
"Mm," Ling Wen Xuan responded. He turned to look at Lonemoon, cupped his fists and said sincerely, "Thank you so much for all of your help this time. I, Ling Wen Xuan, will keep this in my heart forever."
"Don't stand on ceremony," Lonemoon replied.
He lowered his gaze and an odd look flashed across his eyes. He hesitated and said, "Can I ask, earlier-"
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Before he could finish speaking, the sound of a bell ringing came from outside. Suddenly, something red and white burst into the room and charged straight at Lonemoon. It took with it a faint but sharp sword Qi.
"Be careful!" Ling Hong shouted.
Lonemoon raised his fan to fend it off and the light immediately fell to the ground with a ring. They all looked down and saw a golden little dagger on the floor, broken in two.
"This is..." Ling Hong's eyes widened in shock. "Teacher Yan's golden dagger! Why is it here? Could it be..."
His expression darkened as he turned to face Ling Wen Xuan, whose face reflected his own.
Chapter 584: Mouth Shut Till Death
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
"The two of you recognize this object?" Lonemoon asked.
"Of course we do," Ling Wen Xuan answered. He looked up at the group, overwhelmed with guilt. "This is the golden dagger of the academy's law enforcement teacher. He uses it to summon people who have broken the law for a hearing."
The moment he finished speaking, a similar looking white light shot into the room. This time, it stopped right in front of Ling Hong. It did not make any move to attack him, like the previous one did to Lonemoon. The previous one probably tried to attack Lonemoon because of the sword Qi surrounding his body.
"You mean to say that the Immortal Academy is sending for me?" He stared blankly at them. He wasn't even a disciple of the Immortal Academy. What was he sending him for?
"It looks like we've gotten our fellow Daoist in trouble," Ling Wen Xuan said in a guilty manner. "If I'm not wrong, the academy is now sending for you and Ling Hong because of what happened in the first round of the competition."
"The first round?" Lonemoon hesitated.
Ling Hong also reacted immediately, "Isn't the first round already over?"
"But what you did in that mystic realm..." He looked over at Lonemoon and the others and said gingerly, "The competition was too... surprising. It caused the academics to suspect something was amiss, especially because you and Ling Fei were in the third group, yet you managed to obtain over 60 array flags. Of course the academy would look into it."
"Didn't we come to a conclusion on that already?" Nobody in the mystic realm on that day would have told the truth behind what happened, right?
"Most of the disciples who were in the mystic realm that day obviously didn't tell the academy," Ling Wen Xuan said as he frowned. "But someone definitely would!"
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Ling Hong started, as if suddenly realising something. His eyes widened. "Ren Qing!" His expression darkened as he cursed under his breath, "This bastard again!"
"Fellow Daoist Lonemoon..." He turned to Lonemoon, wrecked with worry. "The few of you got into trouble this time because you came to help my brother. That Ren Qing and I have an ongoing feud. That's why he told on you on purpose. If the academy decides to pursue this matter... Please just tell them that we are the masterminds behind this entire thing."
"That's right," Ling Wen Xuan added. "It's us Ren Qing wants to go up against. This has nothing to do with you all."
"You're taking this too seriously!" Lonemoon smiled. There was not even a hint of worry on his face. "We conducted the sale in the mystic realm with our own interests at heart. How can we say it had nothing to do with us? What's more... Is there a rule that states we are not allowed to conduct sales during the competition?"
"..." The two brothers stared blankly back at him. Indeed, there was not.
"So don't worry," Lonemoon said. "The teacher of your academy wants to see me, so I'll go and see him."
"But..." Ling Hong hesitated to say something else.
However, Lonemoon had already turned around to address his two other companions. "Chef, bring Shen Ying back to the inn. Make sure she doesn't get lost! Also... No wandering outside!" With that, he turned back to Ling Hong and Ling Wen Xuan. "We've bothered you today. We'll take our leave now! Fellow Daoist Ling Hong, let's go." They had had no opportunities to investigate the matter regarding the spirit seed thus far. Now that the opportunity had arisen, of course Lonemoon could not let it go to waste.
Thus, the group of them walked up and left Ling Wen Xuan behind, still wrecked with worry.
—————
On the way back to the academy, Lonemoon clarified what happened between this Ren Qing and the siblings from the Ling family. It was all born from jealousy and striking a man when he was down. It was much like how the disciples from the sects back home were always split between those from the inner yard and those from the outer yard. Since the Immortal Academy was so huge, it was only natural that they would be split into different cliques. Those of better quality were in the Heaven group – that was Ren Qing. The Ling siblings' bodies were not of such good quality. Even Ling Wen Xuan's body was considered just average. That was why they were all put into the third group in the beginning. But Ren Qing could not stop the siblings from working hard anyway.
Ling Wen Xuan was a prime example of how hard work pays off. He studied all the different cultivations very closely. Since he was also naturally intelligent, after he entered the Immortal Academy, he grew rapidly. He even surpassed people from the Heaven group. The first one to be displaced by Ling Wen Xuan was Ren Qing.
Of course, he was indignant. But in all of the rounds where they competed, he could not defeat Ling Wen Xuan. Instead, he was always defeated terribly. Later, Ling Wen Xuan even made it into the Heaven group. In the Immortal Academy, the groups all had fixed numbers. This was to facilitate logistical and administrative tasks. Adding Ling Wen Xuan into the Heaven group naturally meant that someone had to be pushed down. And unfortunately, that one person was Ren Qing.
This was why Ren Qing hated the Ling siblings. The two of them had not gotten along since then.
A month ago, when the Immortal Academy went out on a mission and met with a deviant beast, Ling Wen Xuan broke all the meridians in his two legs so that he could not walk ever again. Since there was no hope for a cure, the academy had no choice but to transfer him back down to the third group. Ren Qing naturally was promoted to the Heaven group once again. Since then, Ren Qing had become even meaner toward the Ling siblings. He consistently tried to get in their way of finding a cure for Ling Wen Xuan. This caused conflicts between the two of them to escalate.
After Lonemoon heard all of this, he pursed his lips. He began to imagine the classic scenario of the main lead, the underdog, defeating his bully in the end. He just could not figure out what Ren Qing's motive was. Why did he refuse to let the Ling family off?
Both Ling Hong and Lonemoon chatted all the way back as Ling Hong led Lonemoon to a building. Inside sat a middle-aged man dressed in blue robes. He stared at the two incoming people with a somber expression on his face. Indeed, next to him sat Ren Qing, looking especially pleased with himself.
"Your disciple greets Teacher Yan." Ling Hong bowed respectfully, but Lonemoon remained standing upright. Lonemoon cupped his fists to greet the teacher. He was not a disciple of the Immortal Academy. Of course there was no need for him to bow.
Yan Luo, seeing that Lonemoon had come alone without a teacher, frowned. He recalled what Ren Qing had told him earlier and heaved a sigh before saying in a low voice, "Do the two of you know your mistake?"
Ling Hong's expression changed. He was just about to speak up, but Lonemoon beat him to it. "Teacher, may I ask what exactly our mistake was?"
"You still want to talk your wait out of it!" Yan Luo's expression darkened. He pointed to the man next to him and said, "Ren Qing has already told me all that happened during the first round of the competition. The two of you worked together to disrupt the competition. You even held a sale for the array flags within the mystic realm. You've severely undermined the fairness of this competition."
"Teacher Yan, we don't understand this." Lonemoon smiled even wider. "Since when did we do something like this? How come I don't even know about it?"
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"You're not admitting it now?" Ren Qing interrupted. "I saw it all. You sold each array flag for 1,000,000 void currencies to all of the teams."
"Hey, so it's you!" Lonemoon finally turned to Ren Qing and seemed to recognize him for the first time. Grinning, he said, "That's right. I forgot to ask – you didn't manage to steal Ling Hong's flags in the mystic realm. Did you manage to snatch anyone else's?"
"Since when did I snatch his flags?" Ren Qing stared blankly at Lonemoon.
"Did you not do that right at the beginning?" Lonemoon continued. "Didn't you chase Ling Hong and the others right from the beginning, I thought fighting within the sect was characteristic of the Immortal Academy? Otherwise, Ling Hong would not have joined forces with me either."
Chapter 585: Tit for Tat
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
"You..." Ren Qing was enraged, even Yan Luo's expression had changed as he turned and gave Ren Qing a glare. Though there were many people from their academy participating in this competition and it would be hard to avoid going up against one another sometimes, but it was between academies after all, they usually wouldn't pick on one of their own. Besides, when they first entered the mystic realm, the array flags belonged to no one, to first pick on people on their own side, wasn't this hindering themselves?
"Oh... I've figured it out!" Without waiting for the two of them to react, Lonemoon said, looking enlightened, "Were you unwilling to accept being eliminated, so you came up with some absurd reasons like what selling array flags to frame us, so that you can advance and take our spot?"
"You're spouting nonsense!" Ren Qing panicked. "Everything I said was true, you guys not only sold array flags but also the demon monsters inside the mystic realm."
"Then do you have any evidence?" Lonemoon looked right at him and said, "You want to disqualify us from the competition just based on your one-sided accusations? Then can I tell others that the entire league is manipulated by Immortal Spirit Academy and a total lie!"
"You..." Ren Qing was speechless with fury. He could only look to Yan Luo with cupped fists. "Teacher, all that I said was true."
"Then find a witness." Lonemoon replied forthrightly. "Up to a thousand people participated in the preliminaries and a good number had seen us, can you find a witness to prove that everything you said was true?"
"This..." He looked rattled. "They... They've all been bribed by you!"
"Everyone has been bribed?"
"That's right, it's all of them!" Including his former teammates, no one was willing to come forward with him to expose this person.
"Oh..." Lonemoon nodded, intentionally dragging his voice, looking towards Yan Luo with a shadow of a smile.
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Yan Luo's expression darkened. "That's enough Ren Qing!"
"But Teacher..."
"Shut up!" Yan Luo had a slight headache, his face alternating between a furious purple and pale white, he had naturally figured out the intended sarcastic retort in Lonemoon's words. He had checked on this person called Lonemoon, a disciple from the unknown Invincible Academy, there were totally no big influences behind him to be found. No matter how powerful he was, it was impossible to bribe every single person in the mystic realm, after all, there were thousand students from more than a hundred academies in there. If he was really so capable, why was he still here to participate in a competition.
Actually, when Ren Qing first brought up this matter, he had been suspicious too. After all, openly selling array flags was rather impossible in the first place, this matter affected the fairness of the competition. Firstly, they needed to have extra flags to be able to sell it, it was either they were selling fake flags but every flag had been checked, there were no fake ones.
But if they were to say that just a few of them were able to obtain so many array flags, he did not believe it too. The others did not know about the position of the arrays but as teachers who set the test, they knew. Those array flags were all guarded by monsters, to get it, one would first have to defeat the monster. Even if Ling Hong teamed up with this Lonemoon's team, the most they had was eight people. He recalled the record of more than 60 flags that had appeared on the stone tablet, somehow he just did not think it was possible for them to defeat so many monsters.
However, they could not find the reason this whole time and the other disciples who left the mystic realm all seemed to be intentionally hiding something, so when Ren Qing came to him with his matter, though he knew it was slightly absurd, he still took his words for it.
"Teacher Yan..." Ling Hong had also returned to his senses and quickly stepped forward, saying, "Ren Qing has always been in disagreement with my big brother, after entering the mystic realm, he kept targeting us all the time. His words cannot be trusted at all. This time he did not advance to the second round of the competition, but we did. I think this is him intentionally slandering us, I ask that Teacher Yan investigate the whole matter."
Yan Luo looked even more upset as he grew more suspicious of his previous judgment and turned back to glance at Ren Qing with a stern look.
"I... I did not!" Ren Qing paled, completely flustered. "Teacher, trust me, it's really them..."
"Enough!" Yan Luo cut him off, as if he did not want to listen on anymore. Turning towards Lonemoon, he said, "Young friend, the league is something of great importance, we were worried about the fairness of the competition, that's why we invited you both to make a trip here. Though everything has been cleared up now, I still seek your understanding."
"Teacher Yan, you're overstating things." Lonemoon smiled, but the words he spoke had no intention of letting him off easily. "It's just that your academy's style of handling things has truly amazed me. With just random claims of a disciple, you don't even verify it and the accused culprit is convicted directly. Fortunately, I am not a disciple of your academy! Otherwise, this matter wouldn't have been appropriately settled today."
Yan Luo's already long face was covered with more unhappiness, this time, it wasn't just him, even the academy was completely disgraced. While he continued to blame Ren Qing deep down, he was even more offended that this person did not give him any face at all.
And Lonemoon continued, "Let's not mention that I've never done this, even if I did sell array flags, which rule in the rules and regulations of this competition states that array flags could not be transferred in possession?"
"It's my oversight." Yan Luo could only grit his teeth and apologize. "I ask that you do not take offense!"
"That's simple." Lonemoon quit while he was ahead. "I wonder if Teacher still has any more doubts? Why don't we trash it all out once and for all."
"Of course not." Yan Luo smiled politely. "You have been troubled to make this trip today, both of you may leave."
"In that case, we'll take our leave first." Then he turned and looked towards Ren Qing by the side and said, his words full of meaning, "I believe that Teacher is a fair person, so I trust that the person who had lodged a false accusation will punished impartially."
Yan Luo faltered, only nodding a moment later. "... Of course."
Ren Qing's face turned ghastly pale instantly.
Ling Hong then walked out with Ling Hong.
Until they were out of sight, did Yan Luo drop back into his seat with a frown.
"Teacher, believe me..." Ren Qing hurriedly went forward with a flustered look on his face. "I really did not lie, they..."
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"Alright, you don't need to say anything more." Yan Luo glanced at him crankily. All because of this fool, that caused us to be shamed so badly. "Whether they cheated or not, it will all be told in the second round of the competition." He was also foolish with fury that he believed this Ren Qing, whether they were for real or not, wouldn't it all be clear when they test their cultivation during the second round of the competition?
And earlier that Lonemoon, appeared to be a mere Foundation Establishment level cultivator, but his words and actions were flawless, even before the suppression of him, a Stygian Immortal, he did not bat an eyelid. Such a person made him even more suspicious of his background.
Ling Hong had followed Lonemoon out with a dumbfounded expression, he did not even realize that they had intentionally circled the academy. Initially, he was already prepared to be punished, even to be kicked out from the academy. In the end, with just a few words from Lonemoon, not to mention nothing happened to them, he even managed to push the blame all back to Ren Qing.