Translated by Crystal of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
If the Mage Assemblage didn’t occur, probably no one would know exactly how many rainbow leveled high or mid-grade mages there were. Most shied away from the public eye so most were unfamiliar faces.
At first, You XiaoMo thought that with the level restriction placed on this hotel, there wouldn’t be many living there. However, he forgot that high level mages’ haughtiness also grew with their level. Of course, not all mages were like this, but most were.
Thus, when the hotel only accepted third grade rainbow and above mages, many grew a sense of superiority by staying there. Those who stayed elsewhere, weren’t ‘qualified’. With that comparison made, they started to feel superior to others. As the news spread, more and more rainbow mages came to stay at the WuShuang hotel.
So, when You XiaoMo and Ling Xiao hurried over, the hotel was almost full.
Speaking of the WuShuang Hotel, You XiaoMo remembered Qiao WuShuang, Qiao WuXing's cousin, the one who usually stayed in the South Continent’s Beast Transfiguration Guild.
You XiaoMo had a suspicion that the hotel had something to do with Qiao WuShuang.
At first they thought of staying at the ShuangYu Hotel, since there were familiar faces, however, on the way there, they heard the amount of people on the streets there was increasingly enormous. Basically, their feet were right next to each other to the point that a stampede happened. It doesn’t take much to realize that the hotel would be completely full as well, thus they didn’t go and came to the WuShuang Hotel.
When they walked in, there were already a few mages lined up, all here to stay.
You XiaoMo pulled Ling Xiao over and lined up like well behaving citizens. Before them was an old man with completely white hair, a muscular man, and the one in the front was a shorter, hunchback man who looked a bit obscene. Currently, he was talking with the manager.
“Hey old man, you tell me, why can’t I stay in this hotel?” The hunchback man said as he angrily slammed the counter. The counter started to shake violent, almost breaking.
You XiaoMo, who stood at the back tilted his head to look. Others were already used to this type of scene.
Since the morning, there had been at least ten incidents, most believed that they were experts with a high status and deserved to stay in the WuShuang Hotel. Of course, all of these mages were below the requirement.
“Customer, WuShuang Hotel only accepts guests who are grade three and above. You are a grade two mage, thus we cannot accommodate you.” The manager didn’t get angry from the man’s shouting, instead, he was polite and gave equal respect.
“What kind of stupid rule is this?! I am going to stay here!” The hunchback man said unreasonably, with an expression that said ‘I’m shameless’.
The manager replied without rushing and smiled, “Customer, rules are rules. I’m just a small manager, I can’t change them. If you truly want to stay, that’s okay, as long as our young master approves.”
The hunchback man snorted, “Who’s your young master? Call him out!”
The manager smiled, “Customer, unluckily, our young master isn’t here right now, but if you really want to see him, I can tell you our young master’s cousin’s address. He can also make a decision.”
“Cousin? Who’s that?” The hunchback man said in disdain with his arms crossed.
Smile unfading, the manager said, “His called Qiao WuXing, right now, he is in the Beast Transfiguration Guild. If you shout his name out loud by the entrance, someone will tell you. If you don’t know young master Qiao WuXing, that’s fine too. Young master Qiao WuXing’s Shifu is Shen Lao, one of the Elders of the guild, you must know him right?”
Suddenly, the hunchback man felt his legs go weak. Of course he knew, he couldn’t be more familiar with the name.
Shen Lao was famous, as long as one was a mage, they couldn’t have not heard of him. Finding him for something like this? He didn’t have enough lives to compensate for it.
The hunchback man could only dejectedly walk way. To think the WuShuang Hotel had the Beast Transfiguration Guild behind them, no wonder they dared to restrict entrance by level.
The crowd burst into snickers.
Hearing their exchange, You XiaoMo was extremely surprised. To think the WuShuang Hotel was really Qiao WuShuang’s. He only happened to have met Qiao WuShuang once, but he left a favorable impression. Too bad he always stayed in the Southern Continent and they rarely had a chance to meet.
The muscular man and the old man in front of You XiaoMo were grade three and grade four respectfully. They both passed without a problem.
The manager kept his polite and respectful attitude and instantly called over an errand-boy to guide them to the third and fourth floor rooms. The WuShuang Hotel had six floors in total, each corresponding to a mage level. Which was saying, the higher the level, the higher the floor.
Finally it got to You XiaoMo.
Due to the hunchback man incident, there were already two people behind him, waiting.
At first they were quite frustrated, even You XiaoMo, who stood in front of them could feel it. However, probably after hearing their conversation, they all stayed quiet.
“Are the both of you mages?” The manager took a look at You XiaoMo and Ling Xiao. Then his gaze finally landed on Ling Xiao, probably because he looked like the stronger one.
You XiaoMo felt the corner of his mouth twitch, “I am, he is not. Can I bring someone along to stay?”
The facial expression on the manager’s face blanked for a moment as his slightly surprised gaze landed on You XiaoMo.Then he replied, “Of course, just as long as it’s not over two people. May I ask what’s your level?”
The manager wasn’t strong enough so he couldn’t tell that You XiaoMo was stronger than him. But even then, no one dared to lie, since the hotel had its own way of measuring. Sticking to the rules was for the best, in case you wanted to make a fool of yourself later.
You XiaoMo didn’t instantly reply to his question but rather asked, "I heard that the higher the level, the higher the floor. Is there a difference?”
“Of course.” The manager replied with patience, “If a mage was grade five or six, the hotel will offer a more comfortable place for them to stay and there is no cost for staying till the Assemblage is over. Also, our hotel will invite them to a high grade mage’s meeting, for sharing experiences or trading.”
You XiaoMo nodded in understanding. At first, he thought of lying and saying he was a three or four grade mage, since six grade was way conspicuous. Also, with his many enemies, keeping it low was for the best, but since there was a free offer, that’s out of the question.
“May I ask your level?” Seeing that he had no more questions, the manager asked again.
You XiaoMo’s eyes swirled and smiled, “Grade five.”
The manager was dumbfounded.
The crowd of guests who were drinking and talking, while secretly listening in also went silent. Pairs and pairs of shocked eyes stared straightforwardly at You XiaoMo’s face.
Although the higher the level one was, the more youthful they looked, and they could change their ‘age’ as much as they liked, but very little old farts pretended to be young. It was more likely to be mocked at.
You XiaoMo looked way too young, his appearance basically stopped at around eighteen years old. His skin was also bouncy and watery due to the spiritual water’s powers, making him look more like sixteen or seventeen. When he first appeared, everyone thought that at most he was grade three.
But once he said he was grade five, other than being in disbelief, they all started to ponder if it was an old man with grey hair beneath that exterior. There was also some who looked at others with malice. They believed that You XiaoMo was lying so as to take on the free offer as well as the invite.
“Pfff!” Suddenly there were sounds of mocking laughter in the hall.
“Wow people are thick skinned these days!” Someone exclaimed.
Another agreed, “There’s plenty who act recklessly, we’ll just wait for them to make a fool of themselves. I dare say he's not going to make it.”
“Wanna bet? Let’s bet how many floors he can actually get to.” Someone else suggested.
“Okay, I bet on four.”
“I bet on three.”
……
The loud chattering got into You XiaoMo’s ears. He was completely puzzled, was he supposed to fall off the stairs or something? That’s way too stupid, there’s no way he would do that!
“Ling Xiao, what’s going on?” As You XiaoMo followed the manager up, he leaned closer to Ling Xiao and whispered. He felt like there was something everyone else knew but himself. It was such a bad feeling.
Ling Xiao said calmly, “Clearly, the WuShuang Hotel’s floors had been restricted by some kind of an obstacle based on a mage’s level. If you’re a rainbow grade four mage, then you probably couldn’t climb to the fifth floor.”
You XiaoMo rubbed his nose. He was grade six, let’s not even talk about the fifth floor, he could get up to the sixth! The fifth floor was nothing! How dare they say he couldn’t even climb to the third, didn’t they know that looks can be deceiving and you can’t judge a book by it’s cover?!