Minglong

Chapter 200 Under the Sky

Not long after, on a ship on the riverbank.

Xie Jinhuan sat on the chessboard, gazing out the window at the crowded meeting place on the shore. He had changed into a new robe, and the injuries to his hands had been treated. Delicious dishes were laid out on the small table, and Meiqiu was eating heartily.

After finishing the gauntlet battle, Xie Jinhuan returned his weapon and was taken by Wei Lu to a nearby medical facility to have a renowned healer treat his injuries.

Although his injuries weren't serious, he was indeed exhausted, and his Qi Sea was completely depleted, requiring him to replenish it as soon as possible. Xie Jinhuan had originally planned to return with Bing Tuozi to receive the reward, but unexpectedly discovered that Bing Tuozi had disappeared.

Unable to find anyone, Xie Jinhuan could only return to his residence to rest, using the three-story ship as a base to observe the situation at the meeting venue.

To everyone's surprise, it turned out that Senior Sister Hua truly lived up to her nickname, "Ice Queen." She was incredibly strong. Although her moves were not particularly loud, her movements and techniques were nothing short of ghostly. When fighting her opponents, she looked like a blue butterfly, nimbly weaving through the swords, spears, and clubs without letting her opponents touch her. She would seize any opportunity to defeat her enemies with a single, ruthless strike.

However, this style of play, which relies heavily on dragging and pulling, is very slow. After watching for a long time, he has only played two games, so it's hard to say whether he can catch up with him.

Just as they were observing, a figure emerged from the riverbank, moving with a powerful and swift pace. From a distance, it looked like a ruthless and desireless black sword, rushing toward the ferry.

Xie Jinhuan's eyes lit up, and he leaned out of the window and waved:

"Honghong?"

Sa——

As soon as she finished speaking, the figure leaped onto the ferry railing, then flew into the third-floor window. Her three-foot-long sword was drawn in mid-air. When she landed, she was still in the posture of a female sword immortal with one hand behind her back and the sword pointing diagonally. Even with the curtains covering her face, one could still feel the strong killing intent emanating from her icy face!
"Guji?"

The coal ball, shaking its head, sensed something was wrong. It put down the meat it had just picked up and quietly ran into the inner room, peeking out from the corner of the doorway to observe.

Xie Jinhuan was also taken aback. He glanced at the black-clad heroine's unwavering stance, then decided to close the window to avoid being seen and having the reputation of 'Young Master Xie is actually henpecked' spread.

"Why are you angry?"

Nangong Ye's face was ashen, and his voice was cold:

"What do you mean? Knowing that I don't get along with her, why did you help her just now?"

Xie Jinhuan explained softly that this was the reason:

“You’re competing with Senior Sister Hua for the position of Manor Lord. This is an internal matter within the sect. You’re not even involved. The three of us are, after all, a group. No matter how big our grudges are, let’s get the stuff back first, and then we can fight to the death. If we start scheming against each other before we even get it, and another family gets the benefit, wouldn’t all our efforts be wasted?”

"..."

Nangong Ye knew that there was truth to what he said, but Bu Yuehua was not one of his own, but his mortal enemy. Giving the demoness an advantage would be tantamount to killing her.
Unfortunately, she brought this upon herself, and now she has no one to confide in about it...

"If she really wins, do you think you'll have a chance to take it back?"

Xie Jinhuan said earnestly, "If it falls into Senior Sister Hua's hands, with our relationship, it's much easier to get it than if it falls into the hands of Dragon Cloud Valley or Beacon Mountain Society, right? Even if Senior Sister Hua really doesn't give it to us, Qingming Sword Manor will still benefit, which is better than giving it to outsiders..."

Nangong Ye couldn't explain the reason in detail, nor could he refute it. After thinking for a moment, he sheathed his sword.
"I just checked, her strength has increased significantly in the past year, and she has an 80% chance of winning this battle. You can't possibly be her match."

"If she gets the tiger bone vine, we'll be estranged. I won't even bother with the antidote. I won't be able to defeat her anymore, so what's the point of my antidote?"

This statement truly embodies a manly spirit.

Xie Jinhuan stood up upon seeing this and gently patted his back:

"Winning is a good thing, at least the items are back. I'll figure out a way to ask Senior Sister Hua for them later..."

"want?"

Nangong Ye turned his head:
"What do you want? Are you planning to do what you did to me: slay demons, help her cure her poison, and reform her, then get her to lend you the tiger bone vine? She's different from me. She only thinks about cultivation, has no righteous path, and hasn't been poisoned by any strange poison that requires your help to cure..."

Xie Jinhuan spread his hands slightly: "How can you say 'dealing with you'? I've been sincere from beginning to end. If you're really angry, then I know I'm wrong and I'll correct myself. Tomorrow, I'll fight to the death to win and take back the Tiger Bone Vine. Even if I don't get it, I'll fight to the death to prevent Senior Sister Hua from succeeding..."

"..."

Nangong Ye felt that this was indeed a bit inappropriate.

It's essential to prevent our arch-enemy from succeeding, but we also can't allow Xie Jinhuan to deliberately injure him, as neither side will benefit.

With his arch-rival's half-step into the Super Grade realm and the martial arts skills he just displayed, Xie Jinhuan could easily have made it into the top three, regardless of whether he offered any perks.

She needs to prevent the worst from happening. The best decision she can make right now is to find a way to help Xie Jinhuan win, rather than simply eliminating her arch-rival...

However, this child's foundation is flawless; to increase the chances of winning, one must improve one's cultivation level...

How can one quickly improve their cultivation level in just one day...?

Dual cultivation...

Pshaw, absolutely not!
……

After a long silence, Nangong Ye's anger slowly turned into worry. He sat down beside the tea table, tilting his head and remaining silent. Xie Jinhuan sat down beside him, lifting his veil to look into the cold, icy phoenix eyes. Seeing that the iceberg ignored him, he poured himself a glass of strong liquor and brought it to his face.

"Alright, let's have a drink to calm down. I might not necessarily lose tomorrow; with seven wins, I could very well be ranked number one. The second and third place teams will have to fight one match before I can fight them. In a clash between two strong opponents, there will inevitably be some losses. The advantage is on my side!"

Nangong Ye was in a state of turmoil. He smelled the aroma of wine and wanted to drown his sorrows in alcohol, but just as he raised his hand to take the glass, he saw that this brat had drunk it all in one gulp!

"You... Waaah~"

Xie Jinhuan, with a mouthful of strong liquor, kissed the alluring red lips and then casually pulled the ice cube onto his lap.

Nangong Ye's face flushed red. He wanted to hit this heartless scoundrel, but seeing that the boy was weak and injured, he finally lowered his hand, closed his eyes like an ice cube, and let him be humiliated...

Although the mark of virginity was still there, Nangong Ye had ultimately experienced the pleasures of love, and having tasted the sweetness, he was somewhat unable to maintain his composure after being teased by Xie Jinhuan a couple of times, so he turned his head away:
"You should rest well and recover your strength as soon as possible. I will continue to monitor the situation and analyze how to deal with it after it's over."

Xie Jinhuan shook his head and smiled: "Actually, there's no point in analyzing it. If I can beat them, it doesn't matter whether I watch or not. It's a crushing victory in terms of raw strength. No matter how I analyze it, it's useless. I can't use any underhanded tactics."

Nangong Ye felt that figuring out his opponent's fighting style would always increase his chances of winning.

Moreover, if she stays here to drink with that blond-haired guy, what might happen next is self-evident. What if, while she's making a muffled groan, the vixen comes over after finishing her fight? She'll end up losing both her money and her manhood and being exploited for the rest of her life...

Therefore, Nangong Ye still got up and straightened his clothes:

"It's better to be prepared. You get some rest, but we absolutely cannot lose tomorrow!"

He then quickly went out the door.

Click~
Once the door was closed, Coal Ball hopped out and continued to sway its head and devour its food...
-
The mighty river flows eastward day and night, and the pointed end between the two rivers, seen from the clouds, resembles a withered leaf, blending into the autumn yellow mountains and rivers.

Ants walking on the leaf formed a large circle with a small open space in the middle. Two stronger ants scurried around, occasionally raising a tiny, almost imperceptible cloud of dust.

As the view moves upward along the winding river, eight hundred miles away in a valley, another group of ants is making its way along a rugged road.

The leader was a figure dressed in a black robe, followed by dozens of followers who escorted chained guards who looked like a swarm of black ants carrying a fleshy worm toward their anthill.

Meanwhile, on the boundless plains to the southeast, there was a huge ant nest, inside which countless worker ants scurried through the streets and alleys.

Inside the palace, a young ant, about to become the 'master' of this vast land, was discussing governance strategies with several ant kings. He spoke of the world and its people, carefully choosing his words as if afraid that his words would cause the world to collapse and the land to crumble!

Unfortunately, fate never cared about any of this.

Above the sky, another golden ant, as usual, traversed the vast land and boundless sea of ​​clouds to rest in its cave in the southern wilderness. Passing by the city below, it casually glanced down.

Three years ago, she passed by here and accidentally discovered that something was wrong on a mountain on the outskirts of the city. It seemed that a small evil cultivator was hiding there suspiciously. She went down to look for him, but instead of finding him, she scared the people on the mountain so much that they ran away. So she left.

When she returned, she discovered that a father and son from the secular world had been brutally murdered, and she formed a bond with them.

That courageous and resourceful child kept his promise and ran back alive from the south.

She felt that this child was someone 'favored by Heaven,' just like the Qixia Master a hundred years ago. His talent, placed at the peak of the mountain, could only be described as average, but it was extremely strange!
Even the Corpse Ancestor, who was strong enough to establish a sect and become its founder, suffered a lot of losses at the hands of Master Qixia. In the later stages, wherever Master Qixia was, the Corpse Ancestor would turn around and leave.

It wasn't that the Corpse Ancestor couldn't defeat him, but rather that Master Qixia always had a sudden inspiration, appearing in inexplicable places or pulling out inexplicable things, leaving everyone completely baffled...

She couldn't understand Qixia Zhenren either, but this time she could get a similar person to stand on her side, so the child's father is still an official in Yanjing.

However, that child was indeed rebellious by nature. Upon returning, he defected to the enemy country without saying a word and repeatedly performed great feats, seemingly disregarding his father completely...

This child would give his life-saving medicine to his father, so there's no way he would abandon it. She guessed that he might be under the guidance of a master and playing a big game, so she wasn't in a hurry.

As she passed by the city, she looked down and saw that the gates of the Marquis's mansion on Zheng'an Street near the imperial city were tightly closed, and there were no pedestrians inside.

The Prince's Mansion, which is not far away, is more lively.

A young man who appeared to be the heir apparent climbed out of the locked study window, carrying a vase in his arms, and crouched low as he made his way out...

At the entrance, a butler with a pointed face and monkey-like features was talking to a tall man. His appearance was so unusual that she even knew his name was 'Hou Jun'.

Twenty years ago, this man was considered a rising star in martial arts with some reputation in the Great Qian Dynasty, but unfortunately, he was beaten senseless by the men of Sikong Shitang's son...

Inside the western courtyard, a girl who appeared to be living in peace and prosperity was dressed in mourning clothes, wielding two swords and sparring with a girl in a white dress.

The girl in the white dress was being chased all over the garden; hmm... she's obviously a weakling from the Taoist sect...

The golden-armored figure glanced around, then continued onward through the endless sea of ​​clouds towards the southern border...

---

It's getting late as I write, so I'll consider today a day off. I'll try to resume morning updates tomorrow. I'll make up for the remaining chapter in a couple of days. Sorry.
(End of this chapter)