Seeing her come back, the three chaperones were filled with smiles. Of course, for different reasons.
Kang Tian gave her a few words of encouragement; “Good job. You made us proud. Continue to work hard and strive to win the challenger’s fight.”
On the other hand, An Tongchen gave her criticism; “It was a mistake showing off your skills. Take note of that. All the participants are good.”
“Yes,” Lu Mingshu nodded and went back to her seat.
She understood where he was coming from. Revealing her ability now would make it harder for her to fight in the upcoming rounds since the opponents would be on guard against her, making it harder for her to win.
However, Lu Mingshu had already prepared for what was going to happen ever since she went to fight in the arenas. No pain, no gain, and this will get me to my goal.
The competition during this second day was much more interesting. Some participants were secretly taken note of.
The third day was the start of the second round. Anyone who didn’t win the first round but was confident in their ability would be given a chance to fight again.
Lady Luck finally stood on Shao Zhengyang’s side. His opponent in this round was just so-so, and he won the round and managed to advance to the challenger’s fight.
In the Heavenly Wheel, Lu Mingshu picked out two strengthening seals from the wooden wheel.
The first seal allowed her to see through invisibility, while the second one increased the power of illusions.
She sighed. These two seals have preconditions in order to activate them.
For example, she could only use the first seal when her opponent became invisible. In China, most martial artists would only focus on martial arts. Invisibility was not part of martial arts, and only some remote sects would practice it. This strengthening seal was totally useless if the opponent didn’t turn invisible.
For the second one, one would need to know illusion-related skills to be able to use it, and Lu Mingshu obviously didn’t know any.
The challenger’s fight starts tomorrow, should I use the strengthening seal? But according to those who have participated before, the competition usually lasts around five or six days, and the seal only lasts for one.
Somebody then knocked on her door.
Lu Mingshu exited the Heavenly Wheel and went to open the door.
A servant girl was standing outside. “Miss Lu.” She stretched her hands out and showed a piece of jade. “Someone requests to see Miss.”
Under the moonlight, the Flying Immortal Palace looked like a palace made out of glass – clear like crystal. Nothing more beautiful could be imagined.
However, Lu Mingshu wasn’t in the mood to admire the scenery. She followed the servant girl like a zombie. After passing by many gardens, they went into a greenhouse that was filled with flowers.
“Please wait here, Miss. This one will get back to you soon.”
The servant girl left, leaving Lu Mingshu alone.
Lu Mingshu scanned the surroundings. The greenhouse was built in a very special position – it was on the protruding part of the cliff, and three of its walls were part of the cliff. The roof was made out of coloured glass. One could see the starry sky, the mountains, and the river from the greenhouse, and it made one feel like they were suspended in midair. The greenhouse was well-built, and it was the perfect destination for scenery viewing.
“Miss Lu, it’s the dead of night, and yet you are at such a place. How can you leave your guard down?” A low voice came from the back.
Lu Mingshu turned around to see a man in a wheelchair slowly coming into the greenhouse.
The lanterns at the side shone on him under the reflection of the glass. The guy had a beautiful face, and his skin was as smooth as jade. If this wasn’t Xie Lianzhen, then who else could it be?
“There’s nothing to fear when you’re not guilty of anything,” Lu Mingshu replied.
“Hah,” Xie Lianzhen chuckled. “Miss Lu always makes me feel ashamed of myself.”
Lu Mingshu looked at him coldly. “Did the Alioth Star-Lord call me over just for this?”
Her reply made Xie Lianzhen mock himself. “Miss doesn’t seem to be very patient with me.”
“Just as you said, it’s the dead of night and in such a location, so let’s cut to the chase.”
“…” Xie Lianzhen fished a book out of his sleeves. “I thought that you might need this.”
Lu Mingshu raised her eyebrows and took the book. She flipped open the book to see an entire page about Kou Wei. From his full name, sect, and age, to his unique skills, strengths, and fighting style. It then ended with an evaluation of his total capability.
She continued flipping to realize the other pages had the same content for different people.
Lu Mingshu closed the book. “May I know, what is Alioth Star-Lord’s intention in giving me this book?”
“Don’t you need it?”
Of course, she did. After the preliminary, every participant who managed to get into the challenger’s fight was now an enemy. Who to take on next and how to fight was an important strategy that one had to take note of. The Nine Jade Palace had prepared similar material for her, but it was very rough.
If Lu Mingshu wasn’t wrong, this should be a top secret file of the Seventh Truth Platform that shouldn’t be leaked to outsiders, especially with this timing.
“What does Alioth Star-Lord want then?” Lu Mingshu got right to the point. “I doubt it’s money. Why would the Alioth Star-Lord need money from me? I couldn’t afford it anyway. So, what do you need me to do?”
Xie Lianzhen’s eyes widened; “You think I’m selling the information?”
“You’re not?”
Xie Lianzhen sighed and answered gloomily, “Can’t it just be that I’m nice?”
Lu Mingshu smiled. “You’re the Alioth Star-Lord, one of the Big Dipper Seven Star Lords… are you sure this is something you should be doing?”
Why do I feel that she’s taunting me…?
Xie Lianzhen tried to hide his disappointment. “You said to not promise something if I can’t do it, right?”
“So what?”
He then sighed. “I don’t want to break my promise, so I’m here trying to help you as much as I can because this is what I promised.”
Lu Mingshu nodded, “Good reason.”
Xie Lianzhen let out a laugh. “So, is Miss still worried?”
“I only know that I would have to pay back anything I owe.”
“So you just don’t want to owe anything to someone else?”
Upon hearing that, Lu Mingshu started to think hard for a while. She then kept the book in her sleeves. “I will owe when I need to.”
Xie Lianzhen smiled.
“Normally, the challenger’s fight will last for about five or six days. The best strategy is to not fight for the first three days. Since you did well during the preliminaries, people will take more notice of you, and the people who want to get into the New Ranking will try to avoid you for a while. You should start during the fourth day or else your points will be too lacking. As for how to choose an opponent, I believe you are clearly aware.”
Lu Mingshu nodded. “Thanks a lot for the information.” She paused a while before continuing, “If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave first.”
The wheelchair moved back silently.
When she reached the entrance, Xie Lianzhen suddenly shouted for her, “Miss Lu!”
Lu Mingshu turned back to look at him. The reflection of the dim lights shone onto his face, making his eyes look brighter than before.
The beautiful face under the starry night was so gorgeous that it would shake one to the core.
“Do you want to reconsider it?”
He didn’t explicitly say what “it” was, but Lu Mingshu immediately knew.
Maybe because of the atmosphere, she suddenly felt that her heart had stopped. However, she regained her consciousness quickly and shook her head. “Sorry, but thanks.”
“Sorry” for rejecting, and “thanks” to show her gratitude.
Xie Lianzhen looked down. “Sorry for asking too much.”
Lu Mingshu then bowed to him before leaving.
She then disappeared into the dark, no longer visible to Xie Lianzhen.
A teenager wearing the Seventh Truth Platform uniform came into the greenhouse.
“Young Master.”
The smile on the pulchritudinous face was long gone, replaced with a gloominess that did not go well with the beauty.
He gently stroked the jade in his hand and started thinking aloud; “She’s not reconsidering even under such a situation. Am I really that bad that I can’t even get a young girl’s heart?”
The teenager then slowly pushed the wheelchair out of the greenhouse. “No ordinary girl would be able to move you.”
This put a smile back on Xie Lianzhen’s face, and he regained his grace.
“You’re right. The difficulty is what makes it interesting!”