Ying was left speechless.
Lu Mingshu was right. The Grandmaster wanted someone who could be taught, and she was already fixed. Speaking of potential, even Ye Mingguang was way better than her.
“So, why are you here? What’s the motive of Pure White Grace Pavilion?” Lu Mingshu bored a hole through her body.
Ying shivered upon being stared at in this manner.
Lu Mingshu wasn’t expecting to actually get an answer from Ying. She looked at the hill that was shining and smiled to herself. “Here… the last battle starts.”
“Senior Sister…” Junior Brother He called out softly, trying to look at Ling Wuxia’s facial expression.
Ling Wuxia currently had a poker face, trying to find her way through this dark riverbed.
After a while, she responded, “Yes?”
Hearing her irritation, Junior Brother He looked at his feet and muttered, “That Lu Mingshu is good, but she’s disliked by her own sect, and she’s always too arrogant. I feel that we need not play along with her. The Grandmaster can surely tell who’s better.”
“Are you asking me to give in to her attitude?”
This tone made Junior Brother He shiver. He slowly looked up to see Ling Wuxia smiling a smile so bright that it was creepy.
“Junior is ignorant, I was just making a random comment….”
Ling Wuxia sighed. “My reputation is nothing, but Ancient Jade Summit’s is more than just this. If she successfully gets the spot, do you think Ancient Jade Summit would still have a place in this world?”
This hit Junior Brother He hard. Senior Sister Ling was the successor disciple of Ancient Jade summit. If Lu Mingshu won this competition, Ling Wuxia would lose her title as one of the top three Harmonization Realm disciples in China. Lu Mingshu had already shone during the Qilin Festival by defeating the barbarians with the two Wei’s. On top of that, Ling Wuxia was absent for the festival. There was already some commotion about how Lu Mingshu compared to Ling Wuxia. Even though they had yet to meet and fight at the time, most people believed that Ling Wuxia was superior. However, if Lu Mingshu defeated her this time…
The successor disciple’s reputation was intertwined with Ancient Jade Summit’s reputation. If she lost, Ling Wuxia’s legend would be no more, and then how would the sects and aristocratic families look at them?
“Senior Sister is right. We have to fight for it. Senior Sister’s ability is obviously the best here, it’s just that Lu Mingshu is good because she knows a lot of weird tricks, not because she’s stronger. However, if we go against her with strength, we would have to worry about all her strange skills….”
“Junior Brother, you’re still young.” Ling Wuxia smile sincerely at him. “That’s exactly why we should take her down with strength – to show that our strength is good enough to tackle whatever tricks she throws at us, and our reputation can be saved.”
“…Junior gets it now.”
Eight people in total and they were all moving toward the same hill to meet.
“Are we supposed to go in?” Huo Feng pointed at the cave entrance.
“Probably?” Zhang Rulin shrugged.
They all exchanged glances, and Huo Feng was the first to say something. “Since none of you dares, I’ll do it!”
He took out a Firefly Stone from his mustard seed pouch and went in carefully.
The others stared at him nervously.
Ye Zhenyan narrowed his eyes. Don’t tell me this idiot would be so lucky as to guess what the Grandmaster wants and end up being chosen? If that happened, we all would surely vomit blood. But I don’t dare to go in first. Thus, Ye Zhenyan shook the thought off and prepared himself.
Huo Feng soon disappeared into the cave. Even after some time, nothing was heard from him. Everyone exchanged glances, and Zhang Rulin was the next to enter, followed by the Ye brothers trailing behind him.
There was four more left. Both Lu Mingshu and Ling Wuxia were unwilling to step in first. Ying rolled her eyes and went in without waiting for anyone. “Childish people who still want to argue now. I’ll go first!”
Since they had joined forces, Lu Mingshu had no choice but to follow after Ying.
Ling Wuxia and her junior brother were last.
This was a sequestered cave that was totally dark. The flowing of the Ming River water made the atmosphere eerie.
Eight people held their breath and held onto their weapons nervously, preparing for any surprise tests.
When they reached the end of the cave, there weren’t any tests like they expected.
The cave in the bottom of the river was not only dark and eerie, but there was also nothing in it at all.
“What’s that?” Huo Feng looked around frantically.
The path was blocked, and the eight of them were now looking around with suspicion.
Creak! A sound broke the silence.
Swoosh! They all prepared to launch an attack.
Silence took over the surroundings again.
Creak! Creak! The creaking sound continued.
The crowd looked over to where the sound was coming from. An item rose up from a mountain of pebbles.
Ye Mingguang jumped up in shock, and Ye Zhenyan glared at him.
The crowd looked over to realize that it was a one-meter-tall… bronze statue?
It was small, but its figure was defined and delicate. It looked like a living thing. The bronze statue carried a small golden basket on its back, but it was unknown what it was.
“What’s that?” Zhang Rulin whispered, looking over at Ling Wuxia.
“Witchcraft,” Junior Brother He mumbled. “Witches know how to make puppets….”
“Will it attack us?” Huo Feng asked. Even though he was an idiot, he asked the most relevant question.
As Junior Brother He was about to reply, the bronze statue let out a creaking sound as it looked at them. “Are you here for an adventure?”
“Is this thing talking to us?” Huo Feng pointed at his nose, not able to believe what just happened. Isn’t this a statue? How is it talking to us? Holy crap.
“Yes,” the bronze statue answered him to everyone’s surprise. The statue sounded like a robot; monotone and the same pause between words. “Are you here for an adventure?” the statue repeated again.
Everyone shared a glance. “We are here to learn from the Grandmaster,” Zhang Rulin answered.
The bronze statue blinked its eyes. “Little Boo understands now; Master was talking about you guys.”
Their eyes shone upon hearing this. This was something the Grandmaster left for them?
“You’re called Little Boo?” Ying asked.
“Yes. My name is Little Boo,” the bronze statue answered slowly.
Ying found this interesting and prompted further. “Are you a human? How can you talk?”
“Little Boo isn’t human.” The bronze statue blinked its eyes. “But Little Boo has intelligence.”
“Intelligence?”
“Yes.”
“What you mean is that you’re same as us?”
“Of course. Master said that, as long as Little Boo is hardworking, I can be just as good as humans, and maybe even better.”
“So-”
“Enough!” Ye Zhenyan rolled his eyes and stared at Ying angrily. We are in a hurry and yet she acts like she’s playing with a kid?
Ye Zhenyan then turned to the bronze statue and asked it softly, “Since you’re intelligent, please tell us how we can meet Senior Grandmaster.”
The bronze statue looked down and pouted. His robotic voice sounded sad, “Can’t meet Master anymore.”
Hearing this, many eyes widened in surprise. Junior Brother He furrowed his eyebrows and interrogated, “What do you mean? Is it that we can’t meet the Grandmaster, or that you can’t see your master anymore?”
“I can’t see my master, and you guys won’t get to meet the Grandmaster.”
Many stared at him blankly, overwhelmed by the answer.
“Is it that Senior Grandmaster is no longer here, or he doesn’t wish to see us?”
The bronze statue blinked its eyes. “Master left.”