Love & Redemption
Chapter 173: Volume 4 Hua Meng’s Sudden Rift - 30 Conference (Part 2)

Chapter 173: Volume 4 Hua Meng’s Sudden Rift Chapter 30 Conference (Part 2)

On the following day, the people from Dianjing Valley also arrived, and the small Fuyu Island became bustling, not to mention the various feasts that were held. Although the Xuanyuan Sect was absent this year, their reputation had always been poor, and the other sects were quite happy without them this time. The young disciples from the various Sects gathered together, chattering and laughing, which made for a lively atmosphere.

Today, Linglong’s skills came into play. The disciples from the Shaoyang Sect were generally reserved and shy, but Linglong alone was versatile and a good dancer. She quickly got along with disciples from other sects and brought back a lot of new intelligence. People who had called her Miss Chu during the day switched to calling her Linglong by evening.

Xuanji had always admired her for this ability. When dinner was over and they returned to their room, Linglong organized the information she had gathered about the competing disciples and read it to Xuanji, who felt both intrigued and overwhelmed; Linglong even knew whether someone had more or less hair, and whether they preferred sour or spicy food.

"Shoot, I didn’t manage to ask about the disciples from Lize Palace. Those masked weirdos, they avoid women like the plague, as if I’m going to eat them!"

Linglong, fuming, turned to see Yu Sifeng sitting nearby and complained to him, "You’re laughing! I’m talking about Lize Palace! They are all so odd!"

Yu Sifeng smiled and said, "The palace rules forbid casual contact with women. Besides, all that trivial stuff you asked about isn’t much use for the Flower Pinning Conference. Truly useful information wouldn’t be so easily divulged."

Linglong waved the little booklet in her hand and retorted, "How can it be useless! It all depends on one’s abilities. I managed to ask about the types of weapons and techniques they are good at!" Saying this, she suddenly smirked and looked slyly at Yu Sifeng, "You’re considered a person from Lize Palace! Come on, how about you reveal some information?"

Yu Sifeng, caught between laughter and tears, finally said, "I’m not sure who exactly is participating. However, Lize Palace excels in light body skills with quite unpredictable moves that often catch opponents off guard. If you want to beat them, intensify your sword moves and use powerful, overwhelming strategies for effectiveness."

Linglong, seeing that he was only voicing noncommittal generalities, knew that he was always a tough nut to crack. Asking him further would be futile as he was determined not to reveal anything; hence, she gave up.

Given that the Xuanyuan Sect was absent this year and there were many young disciples from other sects of suitable age but few with significant abilities, the senior figures of the sects decided to reduce the number of participants to ten per sect, decreasing from the usual sixty to forty. This reduction in numbers made the schedule less tight than before, giving them more time to watch the battles and to better assess each sect member’s potential.

The first match of the Flower Pinning Conference was set to start early the next morning. Among the four of them, only Xuanji was participating. Zhong Minyan’s name was originally on the list, but since he was no longer considered a disciple of the Shaoyang Sect, his name was automatically removed.

Although Xuanji was the one participating, Linglong was the most nervous, talking incessantly all night long. She was worried about Xuanji losing, getting hurt, and wished she could fight on her behalf. Xuanji, nearly falling asleep, kept nodding until her head spun.

When Linglong finally tired of talking and went back to sleep, Xuanji breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to tidy up and go to bed, there was a knock at the door. Thinking Linglong had come back to share more information, her head felt thrice its normal size, and she reluctantly dragged herself to open the door, only to see Chu Lei standing outside.

"Father?" Xuanji was stunned for a moment before quickly stepping aside, "Father, please come in."

Chu Lei shook his head and said, "I won’t come in. Just a few words of advice, and you should rest early too. Although the conference rules allow the use of spiritual beasts, yours is truly astonishing, and I hope you won’t use it. It could easily cause injury."

Xuanji quickly agreed, "Okay. I wasn’t planning to let Tengshe join the competition anyway. He won’t be of any help." He would only hold her back.

Chu Lei continued, "Xuanji, my child, I never knew before that you possessed so many unique traits, not only being able to use Bengyu but also having tamed Tengshe as your spiritual beast. At this point, your sights should no longer be on just the Flower Pinning Conference. I didn’t come to urge you to give your all this time. You must understand, the conference is not about fighting to death but rather a contest of abilities. I hope you measure your strength accordingly and do not make a great mistake in a moment of impulse."

He was worried that Xuanji, with her strong competitive spirit, might face an unbending opponent and resort to severe measures. Just like Wu Tong last time, who used forbidden Immortal Technique and ended up targeted by everyone.

Xuanji had thought he came to lecture, and was taken aback that he was actually advising her not to take drastic measures. It took her a while to respond, "That... Father, don’t worry. I will heed your advice."

Chu Lei nodded, paused for a moment, and then smiled softly, "The last Flower Pinning Conference, you were still a child. Dad really didn’t expect that you’d be the first to achieve something significant. Do you remember your troublesome behaviors as a child?"

Xuanji’s face reddened, and she whispered, "Why bring up childhood matters, Dad? I’m not even sure if I deserve the word ’achieved.’

Chu Lei sighed, turned his back, took a few steps, and spoke in a deep voice, "Xuanji, the night before your mother gave birth to you and Linglong, I had a dream. Vaguely, there was a deity who tossed a radiant pearl at me. I was overjoyed seeing the beautiful, lustrous pearl. When I woke up, you and Linglong were born. Therefore, I always believed that one of you would eventually make a significant mark, not just be ordinary. As a child, you were quite lazy, which was troublesome. Linglong, on the other hand, was eager and aggressive. To be honest, your mother and I always thought Linglong would be the one to succeed, so we unavoidably favored her a bit more and overlooked you. Have you ever resented your mother and me?"

Xuanji softly said, "If I say I never resented you, you’d probably think I’m pretending. But honestly, I’ve never given it much thought. Haha, I don’t really care about it. Dad, do you think I’m heedless?"

Chu Lei sighed, "Extremely intelligent people always have their peculiarities. He Yang once warned me about this, but it’s only in recent years that I’ve come to understand. Xuanji, do you ever feel that there is something extraordinary about you?"

Xuanji was shocked, thinking he knew about her past life identity. Her heart was thrown into disarray. If they all knew, would they shun her? Treat her as a monster? Would they grow distant, ignoring her forever?

Chu Lei said again, "I saw how skillfully you used Bengyu and even tamed a Divine Beast, so there must be something exceptional about you. Although your father has watched you grow up, he doesn’t understand this aspect of you at all."

Turning around, he saw Xuanji’s face, pale and flushed by turns, hesitating for a long moment before she trembled, "I... I’m no different... just like everyone else..."

Chu Lei smiled and said, "You child, is there anything you still need to hide from your dad?"

Xuanji hurriedly said, "No! Really, there’s nothing different!"

Chu Lei patted her shoulder to comfort her and said gently, "Let it be. You should rest early. You need to draw lots early tomorrow; don’t delay that." He turned and walked slowly away, Xuanji staring blankly at his retreating figure, suddenly clutching her head and scratching fiercely. His questioning made it impossible for her to sleep! Was it all over? Had her father discovered something? Should she not have brought Tengshe along? Or should she not have used Bengyu?

She thought about it all night, until the early dawn slightly broke outside the window, she fell asleep from sheer exhaustion but was soon woken up by the excited Linglong to get up and wash, her eyes red and dizzy as she went to draw lots.

The Martial Arts Arena was already filled with people. Dongfang Qingqi had finally revoked the order that banned random people from the island, instructing the disciples to record the names and sects of the visiting guests and bring them onto Fuyu Island in batches. Thus, before the conference officially began, the arena was already packed.

Following the old rule, Dongfang Qingqi loudly said a string of formalities, right after which the Kui skin drums boomed from all four corners, and forty competing disciples began drawing lots from the box, then went to register their numbers with Valley Master Rong.

Suppressing a yawn, Xuanji drew a slip of paper, unfolded it, and saw: "Ding Mao." She handed the slip to Chu Yinghong, who checked it, confirmed it was correct, and then let Valley Master Rong record it in the register. Chu Yinghong saw Xuanji’s red eyes, looking very tired, and couldn’t help asking softly, "What’s wrong, didn’t you sleep well last night?"

Xuanji shook her head, about to speak when suddenly she heard a low voice behind her, "Bing Yin."

In the first round of the Flower Pinning Conference, the matches were arranged according to the number drawn: A against Yichou, Bing Yin against Ding Mao, and so on. Hearing that her opponent had arrived, Xuanji instinctively turned around and saw a blur of blue robes; the person was tall and elegant, shockingly it was her senior brother, Du Minxing.

"Ah, senior brother!" Xuanji didn’t know whether to feel relieved or depressed. How come her first match was against one of her own? Should she try to win against him? Or should she not release the Samadhi True Fire and let him win the first round?

Du Minxing turned around and gave her a slight smile, saying softly, "My opponent is actually junior sister, I hadn’t expected this."

Xuanji murmured, "Senior brother please be gentle... don’t, don’t really let me win."

This sounded very childish, making everyone around laugh. Du Minxing also smiled and said, "There are no kinships in a martial contest, junior sister should not hold back either." Saying this, he patted her head gently, as he used to do, then turned and walked away.

Unable to resist, Xuanji followed him and softly said, "Senior brother, why have you been ignoring me lately? Did I do something to make you unhappy?"

Du Minxing looked down and smiled softly, "How could that be? Senior brother just came out of seclusion, and you just returned to Shaoyang Peak; we just haven’t had the chance to meet." Then, he suddenly turned his head to look up at the giant wooden building. In the crowd, Yu Sifeng stood out distinctly with his handsome, impressive features, making many women blush. He, however, was smiling only at Xuanji. Du Minxing lowered his eyelashes and said, "You’ve grown up; you no longer need your senior brother to take care of you like when you were a child. There are better people to worry about you now."

This was said in a very cryptic way, leaving Xuanji unsure of how to respond, only able to stare sadly as he walked away.

From the wooden building, Linglong called out loudly, "Xuanji! Go for it! We’re rooting for you! Don’t lose!" Xuanji turned back to wave at them, then heard Elder Heng Song from Dianjing Valley loudly starting the conference, "The Flower Pinning Conference begins. A and Yichou, go to the Eastern Arena. Bing Yin and Ding Mao, go to the Western Arena..."

As soon as Xuanji heard her name, she immediately gathered her spirits, controlled her sword, and in the blink of an eye, soared up to the massive stone pillar on the west side. Du Minxing was already standing opposite her, beside him the Elder Song from Dianjing Valley who would judge their match.

The huge stone platform towered a hundred feet high; clouds and mist swirled just over their heads, seeming almost within reach. Xuanji’s hair and clothes were twisted and turned by the wind, whistling loudly, clinging to the edge of the platform, like a lotus dancing in the wind, as if it might be blown away at any moment.

Her delicate and beautiful appearance pierced Du Minxing’s eyes like needles. He finally couldn’t bear it, bowed his head silently, feelings of all sorts pouring through him. Scenes from her childhood flickered through his mind. It was just in that instant, he neglected her, and from then on, he had completely lost her, unable to return to the past. The girl who once clung to his sleeve and called him senior brother tenderly, he had truly lost her.

Master Song loudly commanded, "Hear my signal—begin the match!"

As soon as the voice fell, Xuanji with a "clang" drew out Bengyu, formed a Sword technique with her fingers, and looked at him from a distance. Neither of them wanted to make the first move. (To be continued, for further details, please visit www.qidian.com, more Chapters are available, support the author, support genuine reading!)