"Ling Xi, you brave little scum! You dare show that face of yours in my Hundred Herb Hall?" No sooner had his voice left the air, in came Shopkeeper Zhao with thundering footsteps. His gaze sliced through the air between him and Ling Xi as he added in distaste, "
Ling Xi laughed dryly at his threat.
"Oh…. Shopkeeper Zhao. C’mon. Your little establishment already has a new master in waiting! Sure, Gu Ruoyun promised results within a month, but hey! I pride myself as the compassionate kind, so I extended her little promise to two months — just so she could squeeze in whatever little bit of improvement she can do! It’s just that…only you people would be optimistic enough to bet the Hundred Herb Hall on that loser. From the way I see it, that’s just a roundabout way of pleading for me to own this place, man. Don’t you worry, with my guidance though, this place will have its worth doubled!"
When one had the support of the mighty Weapon Refining Sect, there was no need for courtesy and pleasantries — even if the opponent now was someone as formidable as the Hundred Herb Hall. All that they had just could not possibly match the Weapon Refining Sect anyway!
"The Hundred Herb Hall has never seen such a shameless proposal — EVER!" Shopkeeper Zhao was enraged as he balled his hands into fists.
"Aww…Are you finally smart enough to be afraid of what I can achieve now?" Ling Xi smirked.
His words stirred the crowd as they turned their attention to this trespasser. The murmurs started.
"A lower level Martial Warrior? Ling Xi has already broken through to level eight in the Qi Collection ranks, and has now attained the stage of a lower level Martial Warrior! How did I not see that?"
"Damn it! Wasn’t he only at, like, level 5 last month? How did he even attain that stage so quickly?"
"Huh, guess the Hundred Herb Hall got used to underestimating everyone. Now that this kid is showing them what he’s really got, it’s too late for them to eat their words now!"
All eyes were filled with mockery as they started directing their remarks at Shopkeeper Zhao. This unfounded contempt enraged him so much that he wanted to annihilate that son of a bitch right there and then!
The situation was tense as two sides seemed to be locked into a stand-off.
Suddenly, a jaunty laughter was heard. "It’s fine, Shopkeeper Zhao. Let me handle this."
"There you are, Gu Ruoyun. I’ve been oh-so-waiting for you," Ling Xi sneered. His expression darkened immediately like a storm the moment he saw her.
"Now that you’re finally here, the time is ripe — for us to duel!"
"A duel?’ Gu Ruoyun laughed with a tinkle. "Not that I’m against it, but are you really that willing to break your end of the deal?"
"What deal?"
‘If you lose, all properties of the Ling family belong to me, remember? While you’ll have to kneel before me and call me your Master. Plus, the extra benefit of calling that old geezer of yours an old dotard."
"THAT’S BULLCRAP!" Ling Xi’s face unraveled as he retorted in bluster. "I’d agreed to no such terms!"
She raised her brow. "But then… Why else would it be possible for me to bet the entire Hundred Herbs Hall in this duel?"
"That’s…IT!" Ling Xi shouted, his chest about to explode in fire and fury. "That’s some bait you got there, Gu Ruoyun. Do you honestly think that you can defeat me? You’re just a pitiful trash whose best move is gathering Qi. You’re not even an actual Martial Warrior yet! I can give you a hundred lifetimes just to try, and you’d still have no hope against me!"
Let’s face it. Qi gathering did not make one a martial artist. It was a "NOOB’S ONLY!" skill set
The morning sun streamed down onto the young maiden, adding clarity to her lightly curled lips. The breeze danced with her hair as sunlight danced on her carefree grin. Her eyes, clear as a lake on a sunny day, reflected the silhouette of the furious young man before her.
"Looks like you’d finally manned up and admit to making that bet with me. You better not go back on your words or you’re going to be such a disgrace that your family won’t be able to live in the Azure Dragon Kingdom anymore!"
"Hahaha!" Ling Xi laughed before he replied, "I, on the other hand, can’t wait to see you get your ass handed to you. This Hundred Herb Hall is as good as mine! By then I won’t even have to teach you a lesson, the master of this hall would naturally teach you a lesson on my behalf already!"
If that were to happen, it would, of course, spell doom to Gu Ruoyun. After all, this was the only asylum she had right now.
Shopkeeper Zhao rolled his eyes at Ling Xi’s egoistic claims but he said nothing outwardly. "The master of the Hundred Herbs Hall? You mean Lady Gu Ruoyun herself? I wonder what kind of punishment would Gu Ruoyun give to herself? Seriously, forget about teaching others a lesson, this punk here is the one who needs to be taught a lesson," he thought to himself.
Luo Yin was worried nonetheless. She turned to Gu Ruoyun. "Will you really be okay?"
"Please just wait for me by the side."
Gu Ruoyun quickly turned her attention again to Ling Xi. "Alright, shall we begin?"
"Hang on a minute!" He interjected, looking at his opponent in skepticism. "I am afraid that there would be cheating involved. Therefore I have taken preventative measure and I have requested help. If you please, Lady Yun! Elder Hun Fei!"
Swoosh!
Instantly after he made his statement, a flash of white floated down from the air above like a freshly molted petal still with its lingering fragrance. The girl’s hair drifted in the wind along with her white robe. She was like an angelic being descending from the heaven. The crowd was bewitched by this ethereal beauty, yet they also felt compelled to steer their eyes away from her to avoid tarnishing her divine grace with their mortal gaze.
Shi Yun’s eyes were scanning the crowd, however. When she couldn’t find what she was looking for, her eyebrows furrowed a little.
"She can fly?" Gu Ruoyun’s eyes narrowed at Shi Yun’s demonstration. "That’s an ability only Martial Emperors have. Her strength still has a long way to go before reaching that rank! No doubt about it. She had somehow learned the secrets to flight."
Right at that moment, the crowd parted as a group of men marched in with Hun Fei right in the middle, leading the troop. His attention was on Gu Ruoyun. When his gaze found her, a wave of killing intent radiated out of his entire body instantly as the air crackled with his murderous and ruthless presence.
"Gu Ruoyun! As much as I want to settle our scores, today I’m here for little master Ling’s matter. You should know that the duel today is a battle of life and death. Both sides will sign a death waiver. Only fate can decide who shall live and who shall die. No one is to interfere!"
The crowd had gathered here because there was going to be a duel between two formidable clans but no one mentioned a death waiver! What it means was that the duel would only be concluded once one of them died. The only way for a loser to survive this duel was if the victor was compassionate and decides to spare the life of his opponent. Other than that, even if the loser pleaded for their life, it would not have made any difference.
It looked like this time, this Ling family was resolute in killing off Gu Ruoyun.
"Gu Ruoyun!" Luo Yin’s face lost its color as she exclaimed, "You can’t do it! Don’t sign the death waiver!"
"Do it! Sign it, you piece of shit. Just die already so that you would stop embarrassing the Gu family!" That voice came from among the spectators. It was none other than Gu Panpan who was watching Gu Ruoyun with a sinister gaze.
Her father would not have blamed her and her mother would not have almost been divorced if Gu Ruoyun had never existed.
It was all… that bitch’s fault!