Chapter 49
Yu Tai had not planned to attend the second day of the elimination round. She wanted to spend the day finishing the books she had borrowed from the library several days earlier.
But another voice-transmission talisman from Li Shijie completely shattered that leisurely plan.
“Junior Sister, something terrible has happened! Jiang Li is actually competing in the elimination round?!”
Yu Tai set down the book she had only just picked up, her expression extremely ugly.
Why would a disciple of the Upper Realm participate in a Martial Tournament for the Middle Realm? Was he not afraid of embarrassing himself?!
Although Yu Tai did not want to admit it, a faint premonition told her-
Unless something unexpected happened, he was probably coming for her.
After sending Li Shijie a voice-transmission talisman in reply, Yu Tai quickly tidied herself and prepared to leave.
*Are the people from the Upper Realm planning to have Jiang Li kill me, claim it was an accident, then give the Qingshan Sword Sect some compensation and consider the matter settled?*
The System: [But with so many contestants, Jiang Li might not encounter you.]
Yu Tai sneered. [How hard could it be for them to manipulate the draw and match me against Jiang Li?]
As soon as the elimination round ended, the opponents and order of the one-on-one matches three days later would be announced.
If her opponent truly was Jiang Li, then it would prove that Yu Tai’s guess was correct.
The moment she stepped outside, a black-and-white panda heard the movement and swiftly pounced toward her.
“Chirp! Chirp!” *I want to go out too!*
A man in blue robes followed behind Xia Mo.
His exceptional bearing naturally drew the eye, but anyone who saw his exceedingly ordinary face could not help feeling disappointed.
Yu Tai walked over and extended a hand. The man naturally lowered his head and allowed her to touch his face.
“Mm. It seems to work quite well. The texture is rather convincing too.”
The veiled hat was ultimately too conspicuous. When Yu Tai sorted through her Demon Lord father’s belongings that day, she had found this mask capable of changing its wearer’s appearance.
It consisted of only a thin layer that adhered to the face and could transform its features according to its owner’s wishes.
In a few brief sentences, Yu Tai told Shu Li that Jiang Li was participating in the elimination round and explained her suspicions. Then she asked, “What do you think?”
Something flashed through Shu Li’s eyes, but it vanished too quickly for Yu Tai to see clearly.
“Your suspicions are correct, but the methods of those people from the Upper Realm won’t be so simple,” Shu Li said slowly.
Yu Tai waved a hand with easy confidence. “If a god blocks my path, I’ll kill the god. If a Buddha blocks my path, I’ll kill the Buddha. At worst, I’ll destroy my inner core and take everyone down with me.”
She spoke the most vicious words in the most relaxed tone.
Shu Li could not help curling his lips.
Despair seemed to be something one could never find in Yu Tai.
Yu Tai shrank Xia Mo and placed it on her shoulder, then flew by sword with Shu Li to the square where the elimination round was being held.
Yu Tai almost failed to recognize the place before her. Was this truly still the Qingshan Sword Sect’s square?!
The formerly spacious square was packed with people. Most absurdly, every one of them had crowded beneath the central arena.
The sky above was even more terrifying. While flying over, Yu Tai had seen from a great distance the densely packed cultivators riding every imaginable kind of dazzling flying artifact.
Shouts from the betting pools mingled with the cries of vendors pushing carts, filling the lively square with noise.
The central figure responsible for this spectacle stood head and shoulders above everyone else in the crowded arena. Tall and dressed in black with a golden crown, the young man lowered his eyes and adjusted his bracer, completely ignoring the screams of the surrounding female cultivators.
Yu Tai landed in a corner and looked at Jiang Li on the platform. No matter the world, fangirls truly were everywhere.
But just as Yu Tai was about to look away, the expressionless young man, whose eyes had been lowered, suddenly raised his slightly upturned gaze. Across the vast sea of people, his eyes found Yu Tai’s with unerring precision.
At that moment, the surroundings abruptly fell silent.
Those who noticed Jiang Li’s gaze followed it and looked behind them.
Every one of them wondered the same thing: *Who is Jiang Li looking at?*
But when they followed his gaze, they discovered a man in blue robes standing there. His distinctive bearing made many female cultivators’ eyes light up, only for uncontrollable disappointment to seize them when they saw his face.
“Is he an acquaintance of Jiang Li’s?”
“Why is Jiang Li staring at a man?”
“Something just occurred to me… Why do you think Jiang Li doesn’t like being around women?”
“Holy shit! Shut up! Jiang Li might assassinate you!”
The girls who thought they had discovered some incredible secret exchanged looks. When they turned toward Jiang Li on the platform again, their former infatuation was gone, replaced entirely by complicated expressions.
Meanwhile, behind a large tree that no one had examined closely, a girl wearing the disciple uniform of the Qingshan Sword Sect breathed a fierce sigh of relief.
What kind of joke was this? Those people had clearly come down from the Upper Realm especially to watch Jiang Li compete.
She had no desire to draw attention at a time like this.
Only when Xia Mo chirped from her shoulder did Yu Tai realize that she seemed to have forgotten something.
She turned and looked at Shu Li, who still stood where she had left him as though nothing had happened. The corner of her mouth twitched. “Why are you still standing there?”
Shu Li walked over. “Something isn’t right.”
Yu Tai raised an eyebrow, then understood. “They’re making far too great a spectacle of this. If they wanted Jiang Li to ‘accidentally’ kill me, they wouldn’t publicize his participation. With so many people watching…”
“Unless they intend to use this enormous crowd to accomplish something?”
As Shu Li watched the girl before him narrow her eyes and skillfully analyze the conspiracy, his clear gaze suddenly darkened.
What had a young woman like her experienced to face a conspiracy so calmly and even analyze it with such practiced ease?
Yu Tai, happily immersed in the sea of conspiracy theories, suddenly froze.
At some point, Shu Li had closed the distance between them. His cool fingers stroked her cheek as he lowered his head, seemingly about to kiss her.
Watching his face grow larger before her eyes, Yu Tai covered Shu Li’s lips with one hand.
When Shu Li raised an innocent gaze to her, she rejected him with a cold expression. “No kissing. Have you forgotten what you look like right now?”
*I only kiss handsome men. No deal.*
The System: [… Are you the president of the Looks Association?]
Yu Tai: [I am, thank you.]
The System suddenly thought of a question. [Suppose you went to another world where the male lead looked ordinary or even a little ugly, but you needed his righteous qi to survive. What would you do?]
Yu Tai answered without thinking. [I’d kill myself on the spot.]
The System: […] *You win.*
Hearing Yu Tai’s words, Shu Li moved away. Although his expression did not change, his lowered eyes and tightly pressed lips gave her the faint impression that he felt wronged.
Seeing this from its perch on Yu Tai’s shoulder, Xia Mo thought-
*When I take human form, I absolutely have to become a devastatingly handsome man!*