Bab 810: No Time to Digest

Yuchi Bing Xia forced himself to calm down. Anyway, Liu Cheng had already spoken up. He had to acknowledge it but still somehow get around him saying things that would reflect on the Yun Zou Sect badly. "Liu Cheng, ah, let us clear up this up first. Such an incident, naturally, it can't just be dismissed with taking Elder Gongxi away. I should at least say a few words."

Liu Cheng's gaze swept toward where Qiu Ling and Jing Yi were still standing huddled together and he nodded with a grim expression. Anyway, a moment more wouldn't make a difference. That person … He probably hadn't expended too much energy in that fight anyway. So one couldn't really say that he would have time to restore it. After all, there was nothing to restore.

Yuchi Bing Xia almost heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Liu Cheng's nod but he held back just in time. He couldn't let others see just how relieved he was or things would be troublesome.

He turned back to the other Elders and gave what he hoped to be a rueful smile. "We had hoped that this competition could be used for our disciples to exchange some pointers and gain experience but, alas, things turned out this way. I have to apologize for what just happened.

"Many of you might still remember that incident in the Leyuan region. As I said previously, the one who was imprisoned there was the fiance of Grandmaster Zhangsun's disciple. We all know that incidents like this can deeply influence someone. Although Jing Yi's cultivation level has risen, it isn't very stable and after almost losing him once, Qiu Ling just can't help but fear that things might go wrong if his fiance had to fight in this kind of condition. He got too emotional about this and thus the fight got a little out of hand. I hope that everyone can understand now where we were coming from when we tried to dissuade Elder Gongxi from insisting on having Jing Yi take part in this competition."

A few of the Elders murmured but who would dare to say out loud that Yuchi Bing Xia was twisting words and logic? Obviously, he did have a point somewhere in there but it was really putting it too simple.

Yes, Elder Gongxi had insisted on having Jing Yi fight and yes, some excuses had been brought out as to why that wasn't possible but in the end, it remained a fact that an Elder of another sect had been gravely injured in a fight with a disciple. That was what they cared about! Well, not that Elder Gongxi was injured. After all, that guy was insufferable. He could go and die for all they cared. No, the more important fact was that a disciple had been able to injure him to that extent. What did that say about that disciple? What did that say about the sect that the disciple was part of? That was what they wanted to know!

Yuchi Bing Xia knew exactly what was going through their heads so he didn't bother to say any empty words about it. "Well, Qiu Ling still seems a little out of sorts. I think we should let him and his fiance retreat first so they can spend some time alone." He saw Liu Cheng straighten up and rushed to continue speaking before the disciple had any chance to say something. "As we said before, we're a little short on talented disciples but I'm sure that we can find a disciple that would be able to take the spot of Qiu Ling in the competition. I just don't know if the Elders are willing to have it in the first place considering what just happened. It might be in poor taste to continue now that such an accident occurred."

Liu Cheng wanted to speak up but the Elders had already started debating. On one hand, they wanted to report about the situation of Grandmaster Zhangsun's disciple but, on the other hand, they also wanted to stay and make sure that they would have a chance to find out more about that lucky coincidence that the Yun Zou Sect had encountered.

Actually, could it be that both of them were connected? After all, it had only been about five years since the Gathering of Practitioners. Although Grandmaster Zhangsun's disciple had been strong back then, it hadn't been to this exaggerated point. So could it be that this lucky coincidence had actually managed to promote the strength of one of their disciples to this degree?

Some of them couldn't help but think of the rumor that they had heard: Apparently, the Sect Master's head disciple Yu Jin was currently in closed-door cultivation. When that person emerged, would he also show such an exaggerated increase in strength? They were fearful of what the answer might be but they couldn't help but want to inquire.

With everybody speaking over each other, Liu Cheng had no chance to say what he wanted.

At that moment, a disciple rushed onto the training grounds and hurried toward the seat of the Sect Master, cupping his fists and bowing. "Greetings, Sect Master. New guests have arrived at the gate."

Yuchi Bing Xia raised his brows. "Another guest?" Who could that be? All the first-tier sects were already there and the highest-ranked second-tier sects had also appeared. The ones lower on the ranking shouldn't have any reason to come here. So who else would show up? He glanced at Grandmaster Zhangsun, hoping for him to dispel his confusion.

Zhangsun Xun Yi looked in the direction of the gates but the white, feathered boat couldn't be seen from their seats. Still, since the artifact had been heading in their direction, they should be the guests that had come over. "Is it the Liu He Alliance?"

He only asked lightly but the three words 'Liu He Alliance' managed to draw the attention of the bickering Elders.

Come again? The Liu He Alliance? At the Yun Zou Sect? Was there something happening they didn't know about?! This really was too much! They needed to be given a bit of time to digest the old news first, alright?!