"She does have talent in cultivation, it's not a surprise since she's said to be second only to the Crown Prince. This is also her first time participating in the Goodwill Tournament I heard. Apparently, she's never made a fool of herself concerning matters of cultivation, at least, not yet." Shen Tianyu obediently sat down beside him and released an evil smirk upon her last statement. "So, of course, the Emperor Jing would promote her to a princess. However, he probably didn't want her to get too big of a head and only gave her the title of Junzhu instead of Gongzhu(1). Even so, her family still spoiled her so much her head can't even fit through our doorway." Shen Tianyu laughed at her own joke. Rong Jian just smiled softly.
She got up from the couch. "I really need to go register now. I reckon the line is long, I should get it over with." She then clapped her hands as if realizing something. "That's right. I should bring an umbrella just in case." She called one of the servants working during the day to get an umbrella for her that fit her outfit. He came back with a pinkish white paper umbrella with a few branches of peach blossoms painted on it. Other than that were a few peach blossom flower and petals scattered sparsely on the pinkish white canvas.
She took the umbrella's bamboo handle and turned to Rong Jian as the servant walked away. "Are you coming too?"
"Of course. How could i leave Tian'er to walk the streets alone? I'd be worried about some uncouth men harassing you." Rong Jian also stood up.
"Then, are you signing up for the tournament too?" She raised an eyebrow.
"If Tian'er wants me to, of course I will."
She went over to lightly slap his shoulder. She then put her hands on her hip and puffed up her cheeks. "I'm seriously asking you. Don't answer in such a roundabout way."
"But I was answering seriously." Rong Jian replied with a hint of longing in his eyes, as if he wanted to reach out and pinch her cheeks.
Shen Tianyu started lightly hitting his chest out of frustration. She was annoyed but she didn't want to accidentally hurt him, his defenses weren't up.
Rong Jian just laughed and let her hit him. "Of course I'm registering. That way, I can make it easier for Tian'er."
"What if we end up fighting each other?" She asked, not stopping her fists. She had no doubt that as long as there weren't any abnormalities they would fight each other sooner or later. She knew Rong Jian was powerful and she was confident in her own abilities.
"Then, I'll concede to you." Rong Jian responded without hesitation. This kind of small competition, he really had no ambitions of winning it. If it wasn't because his wifey had a bet with that idiotic Junzhu, he wouldn't even bother with the Goodwill Tournament itself, much less an Election Tournament.
Shen Tianyu finally ceased her light pounding, her hands on her hips again. "You can't do that! I want to fight."
"Tian'er... I'm a Golden Core level, you know?"
"So what? Cultivation base isn't the only factor in a cultivator's strength. I'm aware you have a higher cultivation base and are, perhaps, more skilled than me. But I still want to try and test my limits. It'll help me see where I'm at and, in the future I can choose more carefully who I need to seem obedient to and who I can be arrogant in front of. Besides, it's not everyday one gets to fight a Gold core level martial artists with a guarantee that you won't get seriously injured." Shen Tianyu reasoned with a confident smile.
Seeing the determination in her eyes, he could only sigh and agree. "alright. If we do go up against each other, I'll fight you. However, if you look like you can't go on anymore or you're going to injure yourself, I'll concede immediately."
Shen Tianyu giggled. "Okay!" And she walked towards the doorway of Jing City's Lavender Palace, with Rong Jian following her. They walked towards the City Square where the registration for the election Tournament was to be held. It was currently only morning, barely past dawn so she didn't need her paper umbrella yet. They arrived at the town square after the time it would take to burn a stick and a half of incense (2). The City Square was a really grand plaza, just like anything else one would expect of a capital city. It housed a plaza in the middle that was 10 li(3) large. Though it was big, it was usually used to settle disputes between cultivators. Street performers were't allowed to use it to perform either. So, it was just really unnecessarily large, the size merely ther to show off the country's wealth and power.
'Rather than showing off your wealth with stupid and needless architecture like this, it would be better to concentrate on enriching the lives of the citizens. Only a kingdom on the edge of decline would show off their wealth like this, as if trying to hide the fact that they were on decline.' Shen Tianyu thought when she saw this plaza. She admitted it was huge but she wasn't awed by it. In her view, this was wasted tax money. She looked around the Square with a bored expression, as if she wasn't impressed by the size of it at all.
There plenty of people bustling about. Street vendors selling their wares, employees of established businesses trying to advertise, commoners looking around the wares or just staring at the Square in wonder, people standing to the side of the road talking and so on. On the North side of the Square, facing the Imperila Palace was a big crowd, with more people than the other corners of the Square. Though there were a lot of people, one can clearly distinguish that they were standing in line.
'Looks like that's where the registration is.' Shen Tianyu ugh as she walked over there. There were a sparse amount of guards along the lines to maintain order. There wasn't one guard stationed at a little distance from the line, to deter any suspicious activities or unwanted harassment of cultivators by the common people.
"Halt!" The lone guard shouted at the approaching couple. "State your business!"
Shen Tianyu smiled amiably. "We are here to register for the Election Tournament."
1: 1st-rank princess, most commonly heard title
Something like this: https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1SHiSlsjI8KJjSsppq6xbyVXaq/JPY-Pink-Bottom-Paper-Umbrella-Spring-Season-Peach-Flower-Blossom-Paper-Parasol-Young-Lady-Take-Photo.jpg_640x640.jpg
2: 45 min.
3: 5km