In addition to the heads of the two great Divine Ability Clans being present, several chamber of commerce presidents and renowned Divine Ability experts of Qingyuan Ward had also arrived by invitation to witness the grand event together.
Seated slightly further back were the young disciples of Qingyuan Ward's various Divine Ability Clans. Unlike the restrained demeanor of the prominent figures, they appeared much more relaxed, looking down to critique the various Divine Ability Halls and counting down the standout figures among them.
Naturally, the core circle of these young disciples consisted of the direct descendants of the Li and Yan families.
Zhou Fuling was among them, positioned right in the center. She was surrounded by a constant stream of young men trying to curry favor with her, causing her to knit her delicate brows in slight annoyance.
“Haha, I say, you guys should restrain yourselves a bit,” a young man in black said with a smile, seemingly noticing Zhou Fuling's mood. “Miss Fuling has just arrived in Qingyuan Ward, so there will be plenty of opportunities to meet in the future. If you offend her with such rudeness and lower her impression of our Qingyuan Ward, that wouldn't be good.”
The young man had a handsome face, and though his voice was not loud, it carried a subtle pressure. He was clearly quite influential within the circle, as the young men who had been trying to curry favor with Zhou Fuling immediately stopped talking when he finished speaking.
Seeing this, Zhou Fuling's brow relaxed slightly.
“Hehe, Fuling, this is my older brother, Yan Qing,” Yan Zhizhi, who was beside Zhou Fuling, giggled. “He is the number one youth of our Yan family's current generation. He possesses a High-grade Divine Ability Bone and successfully condensed a Divine Ability Dharma Inscription a year ago, becoming the youngest Grand Divine Ability Practitioner in our Yan family.”
“Zhizhi, don't exaggerate,” Yan Qing said with a helpless smile. “I am merely decent among the younger generation of Qingyuan Ward. Miss Fuling is someone of great experience and knowledge; how could such a minor achievement catch her eye?”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Fuling took another look at Yan Qing and nodded slightly in acknowledgment.
On Zhou Fuling's other side, Li Shuang saw this and pulled a young man forward, introducing him, “Fuling, this is my cousin, Li Mu. He is also one of the outstanding talents among this generation of our Li family.”
“M-Miss Zhou,” the young man named Li Mu stuttered. Although he was decent-looking, he was clearly not as talkative as Yan Qing, appearing somewhat awkward and quiet.
Seeing his behavior, Li Shuang felt a bit helpless. Her family had told her today that Ward Master Zhou Xuan's niece happened to be a perfect match in terms of age and family background, and they had instructed her to help her cousin get closer to Zhou Fuling.
However, Zhou Fuling did not mind. She returned the greetings politely, and after a few rounds of conversation, she gradually became familiar with the direct descendants of the two great Divine Ability Clans.
While dealing with the crowd, Zhou Fuling's beautiful eyes drifted toward the tower ships of the Divine Ability Halls floating on the lake.
Noticing her gaze, Yan Qing smiled slightly and said, “To be honest, there isn't much to see at this Hall Meet. The Hall Masters of those Grade 3 Divine Ability Halls basically won't make a move, and only a handful of the Grand Divine Ability Practitioners from each hall are actually decent. As for the Bone Refining Realm cultivators, they are just a bunch of mediocre fools.”
Hearing this, Zhou Fuling shook her head and said, “Among the Bone Refining Realm disciples of Thunderfire Hall, a High-grade Divine Ability Bone has emerged this time. That might be worth watching.”
Yan Qing smiled faintly. “You mean that Lu Ming?”
He had obviously learned of this information from Yan Zhizhi.
“Thunderfire Hall was already drained dry by that Zhang Yue. How could they afford to nurture a High-grade Divine Ability Bone? Besides, he only underwent Bone-Opening about a month ago, right? Who knows if he has even completed his second bone refining yet? What a pity; this High-grade talent is going to be ruined by Thunderfire Hall.”
“With his strength, Thunderfire Hall shouldn't send him out to guard a flag. Otherwise, wouldn't they just be presenting a glaring weakness to the other Divine Ability Halls?” Yan Qing evaluated nonchalantly.
Zhou Fuling glanced at him. She had previously heard that the Yan family had wanted to forge closer ties with the Li family in the past, so they had selected Yan Qing from among their youth to propose a marriage alliance with the eldest daughter of the Li family, but she had flatly rejected it.
Yet, that eldest daughter of the Li family happened to have an extremely close relationship with Lu Ming.
With this layer of resentment, this genius of the Yan family naturally wouldn't have anything good to say about Lu Ming.
“Perhaps.”
Zhou Fuling did not argue with him. After all, she had only met Lu Ming twice and was not particularly close to him. If one judged solely by his cultivation time, he indeed shouldn't be appearing at the Hall Meet.
Dong! Dong!
At this moment, the sound of drums beating across the lake grew increasingly loud and rapid. Earth-shaking cheers also erupted all around the shores.
Zhou Fuling focused her beautiful eyes. She saw the tower ships floating on the lake begin to move, cutting through the waves as they headed toward the lone peak at the center of the lake.
It was a spectacular sight of a hundred vessels competing in the stream.
The Hall Meet had begun.
...
“Let's go!”
On the tower ship of Thunderfire Hall, Lu Jin let out a soft cry. His figure soared into the sky, his sleeves waving as his majestic primordial energy swept out like a gale, carrying Lu Ming, Gao Yu, and Yuan Da along to land on one of the platforms carved out of the sheer cliff.
Lu Qingyan and Lu Jinglei were already Grand Divine Ability Practitioners. Although they could not fly freely like Lu Jin, they were able to scale the mountain by riding the lake breeze with their powerful primordial energy.
“Go for it, Big Brother! If you win, I'll use my allowance to buy you pastries!”
Lu Mengmeng stood on the tower ship, her little face flushed red as she shouted at the top of her lungs.
Just as she finished speaking, Zhong Ying, who was beside her, asked in surprise, “You still have an allowance? Where did it come from?”
“Uh...”
Lu Mengmeng froze. In her excitement, she had completely forgotten that her mother was right beside her.
Accompanied by a succession of rushing wind sounds, the flag guardians of the various Divine Ability Halls all made their appearances on the platforms amidst the deafening cheers.
On the top floor of the Lake-Viewing Tower by the lake.
“Huh? Why did Hall Master Lu send Lu Ming up as well?”
Li Yan stared at the Duel Platform occupied by Thunderfire Hall. When she spotted the familiar figure of the youth, astonishment instantly surfaced in her eyes.
“This is far too reckless. Even if Lu Ming has a High-grade Divine Ability Bone, how long has it been since his Bone-Opening?”
“Even if they want to use his High-grade Divine Ability Bone to generate momentum, it is far too risky. If Lu Ming is intentionally injured right now, it will inevitably affect his cultivation progress and damage his foundation.”
Li Yan's brows knitted slightly, and she let out a silent sigh. She figured Lu Jin might be trying to leverage Lu Ming's High-grade Divine Ability Bone to regain some prestige due to Thunderfire Hall's current poor situation.
In the seats behind her, the young man named Yan Qing also noticed Lu Ming's figure. He was slightly surprised at first, but then he shook his head with a laugh and said to Yan Zhizhi and the others beside him, “That old Hall Master of Thunderfire Hall has probably been driven mad by Zhang Yue's departure.”
The surrounding disciples of the Divine Ability Clans burst into laughter.
Zhou Fuling did not laugh. She gazed at the upright figure of the youth from afar, recalling how Lu Ming had quietly obtained those pills at the Half-Pill Shop.
This time, did Lu Ming truly have some sort of trump card, or was he... simply being forced onto the stage?
...
On the platform at the very peak of the lake mountain, three flags of the Golden Gang Sword Hall were planted. This spot sat at the head of all the platforms, representing the position of the champion hall.
Lin Changkong, the Hall Master of the Golden Gang Sword Hall, stood calmly at the highest point, looking down over the entire venue with an unperturbed expression.
His gaze swept over Thunderfire Hall's position, where he spotted the elderly figure of Lu Jin.
“So the middle flag is indeed guarded by the two brothers, Lu Qingyan and Lu Jinglei. But they actually sent that Lu Ming for the lower flag?” Lin Changkong's gaze swept across Thunderfire Hall's Duel Platform, pausing on Lu Ming with slight surprise.
“A month since his Bone-Opening—even with a High-grade Divine Ability Bone, how far could he have gotten? Has Lu Jin gone senile, or is he just giving up entirely?”
“Or perhaps Lu Jin knows that Thunderfire Hall has no other cards to play, so he can only force Lu Ming to display his High-grade Divine Ability Bone in an attempt to salvage whatever reputation they have left?”
A trace of contemplation flickered in Lin Changkong's eyes, but he quickly shook his head. None of this mattered, because Lu Jin could never have imagined that during this Hall Meet, not only would they have to face the challenge of Red Sand Hall, but... the Golden Gang Sword Hall had already marked them as prey.
Rate on N.U.
