Volume 1, Chapter 53: The Uneventful Lingshan Tournament

"Sister Qinghan, give Yaoyao another one!"

"No way! You've already eaten one! This is what Master bought for Qinghan!"

"Yaoyao saw it clearly, it was obviously Sister who paid for it herself. Just let Yaoyao have one!"

Li Shiyao brandished her own candied hawthorn, refusing to eat a single bite of it, and insisted on having Ye Qinghan's instead!

On the other side, Su Cheng took out some of his private savings left over from buying groceries and also bought a candied hawthorn for Dongfang Jue to eat.

[Why does this feel like babysitting? I can understand Li Shiyao; she's just a little fool to begin with.]

[Isn't this Dongfang Jue a female general? Isn't she a heroine among women?]

"Hehe, thank you, Sect Master Su." Dongfang Jue smiled like a blooming flower, the look in her eyes giving Su Cheng a very familiar feeling.

A vixen, a royal princess, and a holy maiden—the guardians of the three factions each bringing along a child, blending into the bustling market streets.

If Ye Qinghan alone was enough to turn heads just moments ago, now having three great beauties gathered together drew countless onlookers.

Unfortunately, all three swordswomen carried swords, and the guardians standing beside them looked anything like people to be trifled with.

"Master, would you like to taste Qinghan's candied hawthorn?"

"Haha, this Master won't fight you for it." Su Cheng smiled and rubbed the fox head.

Ye Qinghan chose an inn that looked quite magnificent. Although Lishan Sect had made arrangements within the city, since they were out to play, Ye Qinghan did not want to stay too close to the other contestants.

"Elder Shi, Yaoyao wants to stay in the same room as Sister Qinghan!"

"Sister Qinghan, Jue'er wants to stay in the same room as Sect Master Su!"

"Dongfang Jue, you better believe I'll wipe you out!"

The three guardians exchanged smiles, each harboring their own helplessness. The three of them opened a room each, while the three girls shared one large room.

Those three little ancestors at home were beings that absolutely no one dared to provoke, save for Li Shiyao who was slightly less formidable and occasionally forced to cultivate.

"Good night, Master." Ye Qinghan stood at Su Cheng's doorway, paying her respects with absolute propriety, truly leaving the other two guardians dumbfounded.

Elder Shi looked at the attendant beside her, the look in her eyes seeming to say: Look, that's what an obedient child looks like!

The attendant rolled her eyes, thinking to herself: The one from your household isn't even half as well-behaved as my princess!

Inside the large room, the three girls in their nightgowns giggled and frolicked. Although Ye Qinghan didn't particularly like this Dongfang Jue, at least the other girl didn't harbor any malicious intentions.

As long as she guarded against letting her get close to Master, the rest didn't much matter.

Li Shiyao scurried over to Dongfang Jue, her gaze fixed unwaveringly right on Dongfang Jue's chest, and blurted out a sentence out of nowhere.

"Sister Dongfang, you aren't a boy, are you?!"

The room fell deadly quiet for an instant, immediately followed by the sound of Ye Qinghan's laughter!

"Li Shiyao! Don't you run!"

"Hey, don't! Dongfang...... I was wrong! Sister Qinghan! Save me! Stop tickling!"

Ye Qinghan simply watched as Dongfang Jue straddled Li Shiyao, the two of them piled on top of each other, creating a somewhat risqué spectacle.

Su Cheng's and the bodyguard's rooms were on the left and right, sandwiching the children's room in the middle, while Elder Shi was directly across the hall. Presumably, with Su Cheng and that extraordinary-looking bodyguard around, nothing could go wrong.

The girls played until the middle of the night before finally falling asleep. Separated only by a wall, however, Su Cheng was thoroughly tormented, hearing every single word crystal clear—and Ye Qinghan was the same.

The next day, the girls finished dressing and applying their makeup before finally heading out to the martial arts tournament at Lishan Sect.

It was a very standard elimination tournament rule, though Ye Qinghan had two matches on the first day—or to be precise, Ye Qinghan and Ye Xiaohan.

The spectator stands were abuzz with lively discussions about the favorites to win the championship, and countless proud talents from prestigious backgrounds stood below, looking radiant and spirited.

Ye Qinghan had originally thought she was famous enough; the feat of wiping out a sect single-handedly was unique even among the proud talents. Yet obviously, while the matter had caused a tremendous uproar, there was, after all, no concrete evidence.

The favorites to win the championship were none other than the descendants of major clans and prestigious sects from the Five Domains, naturally including prominent righteous factions like the Heavenly Dao Pavilion and the Sacred Mountain!

The past records of the Heavenly Dao Pavilion had always been quite impressive, and their participating disciples basically all secured top-ten finishes.

"Contestants, enter the arena!"

As the voice of some unknown elder faded away, shouts rang out from the spectator stands!

"Lady Shiyao! I love you!"

"Lady Saintess is truly heaven's chosen! Such looks! She is totally my type!"

Li Shiyao walked up from one side of the circular arena wearing a long white dress, her little feet bare, looking like a fairy descending to the mortal realm untainted by worldly dust.

"Sacred Mountain, Li Shiyao."

On the other side was a minor sect from the Western Domain; never had they expected to run into a cheating anomaly like Li Shiyao! The moment they stepped onto the stage, they wore a bitter expression...

How could they be this unlucky?!

Li Shiyao was ranked in the top 15 of the championship favorites list and ranked number 1 on the beauties list! Even Ye Qinghan, who possessed a naturally seductive bone structure, ranked behind Li Shiyao on the beauties list!

As for the championship favorites list, Ye Qinghan wasn't even on it...

"Wait!"

Li Shiyao slowly unstrapped her small backpack, placed it by the edge of the stage, her expression looking naive and her movements exceptionally adorable.

"Alright...... Bring it on!"

Li Shiyao's grinning expression made it seem as though she wasn't taking this martial arts duel seriously at all.

At the sound of the command, Li Shiyao, who practiced celestial-tier cultivation techniques, instantly went all out. When she didn't attack she was a fairy, but the moment she struck she acted like a little madwoman...

Ye Qinghan watched with great relish. Having practiced celestial-tier techniques, Li Shiyao had indeed grown much stronger! It could be called a qualitative leap!

"This fellow has cultivated celestial-tier techniques, and she's already at the Golden Core stage now!" Dongfang Jue could not help but marvel. Although she herself had stepped up her cultivation recently, she wasn't sure if she could defeat this little fool Li Shiyao.

"Mhm, much stronger than last time." Ye Qinghan's brows curved into crescents, her gaze never leaving the dueling arena, and her body never leaving Su Cheng's embrace, answering offhandedly.

This duel was countless times more intense than the one before the master-acception grand ceremony. That the minor cultivator opposite Li Shiyao managed to hold out against so many of her moves was already quite astonishing!

"Speaking of which, how come you're still at the Foundation Establishment stage?"

"What? You want to try crossing blows with Qinghan?"

"I'm just curious, how come your cultivation progresses so slowly?" Dongfang Jue rolled her eyes. Whenever Ye Qinghan spoke to her these days, she was ready to beat her up at the slightest disagreement...

"I've been too busy acting spoiled around Master."

Actually, Master couldn't entirely be blamed either; Ye Qinghan was quite helpless herself. Ever since she began cultivating the technique given to her by Master, her cultivation level and speed could simply no longer be mentioned in the same breath as ordinary people!

She had exerted tremendous effort, going into seclusion for several full days, before finally breaking through to the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment...

Ye Qinghan figured that with her current strength, she could probably trade blows with a mid-stage Soul Formation cultivator! Though her cultivation level remained merely at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment.

Dongfang Jue, however, had already stepped into the Golden Core stage, and her strength was worlds apart from what it used to be.

Yet she didn't have any matches today, nor did she actually care much about the Lishan tournament; she had merely come to take a look and sightsee along the way because she knew Ye Qinghan and Su Cheng would be coming.

"Doesn't Sect Master Su urge you to cultivate?"

"Urge me? Master only reminds me to eat well and sleep early and wake up early; cultivation and whatnot doesn't really matter."

"Sect Master Su is truly so good to you, Jue'er envies you so much. You can't even imagine what it's like—having people constantly pushing you to study, pushing you into marriage, pushing you to cultivate, feeling like you're rushing through everything you do, what kind of feeling is that!"