Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 151 – You, Today

Just as he finished speaking he was immediately drowned out by Grandmaster Wu Zetian’s roars. “Struck himself? Are you trying to say that in this competition, Jing Guanjin gave himself a heavy wound without any reason at all? Are you saying that a noble Golden Core realm master would slip like this?”

The grandmaster’s eyes were cold and dark, as if he would eat anyone who stepped in his way. “I don’t care just what sort of bribes you received. I will definitely investigate this matter. Anyone who dares to cover up the perpetrator will be my enemy!”

Committee member Goodra was pushed to the point of tears. He was someone who had a bit of status, otherwise it would have been impossible for him to become one of the committee members in something so important as the great sea spirit teacher competition.

But in terms of wealth, status, or strength, he was nothing but a speck of dust to a Purple Card sea spirit teacher. A casual flick of the finger could grind him to bits.

“Grandmaster Wu, no matter how much courage I have I would never dare to lie to you. Jing Guanjin really did hit himself…”

Bang –

Before he could finish speaking, committee member Goodra was sent soaring backwards. His thick shell crashed into the hard surface of Prosperity Square, producing a series of sparks as he skidded along the ground.

Crack –

Following that, in the thick and protective shell that the turtle race was famous for, countless small cracks begin to appear as they spread out like a web. This horrified the other committee members, leaving them pale white. All of them gulped. Each of them thanked the heavens that they hadn’t been the one to speak, otherwise they feared they wouldn’t be alive right now.

Grandmaster Wu Zetian’s anger soared to the heavens. “Where is Chairman Xu? He must give me an explanation!”

After Goodra had been sent flying away, the intelligent Chairman Xu finally came up with an explanation.

He produced a health examination proving that Jing Guanjin had overdrawn his strength, as well as proof that his blood loss had come from a singular impact of external force.

Besides these things, there were no other injuries.

Chairman Xu held up a bloodstained spirit shell that was clearly of high quality and solemnly said, “Grandmaster Wu, we have made a comparison. The wound on Jing Guanjin’s forehead completely matches the shape of this spirit shell. Moreover, the competition was carried out upon the altar and everything occurred in a completely sealed area. I have personally inspected the spells and found that there isn’t a problem with them.

“So, I ask that Grandmaster Wu take a look…”

Wu Zetian was shocked silly. As he thought of Jing Guanjin’s last response, the powerful strike that had been filled with confidence and vigor, he realized that it hadn’t been a finger tap at all, but a smash from the forehead!

This difference was rather large…

His face darkened as if it would rain soon. After a long moment of silence, Grandmaster Wu grabbed the spirit shell, clenched his jaws, and then crushed it to powder. He turned and left.

A committee member squeaked out, “That is evidence...”

Chairman Xu interrupted him. “That’s enough. It can be understood that Grandmaster Wu was momentarily overcome with anger. It’s fine as long as we can explain it.”

That spirit shell was just far too volatile!

Once others learned of it, it would surely raise up a storm. He didn’t want to bring trouble upon himself so he had deliberately brought it here so that someone else could destroy it for him.

What happened was just what he hoped for.

It was unknown whether or not Jing Guanjin would live. It was already clear what the result of the competition was. Grandmaster Wu Zetian was brimming with a furious rage. His heart, liver, lungs, kidney, every organ in his body seemed to burn with anger. In this state, the cheers that entered his ears were especially grating and hateful. He looked up. As expected, it was people from Sea Spirit Pavilion.

A black-robed figure was being surrounded by a crowd of people and congratulated.

What an eyesore of a scene!

Grandmaster Wu Zetian’s complexion became even uglier. He walked away.

Chief Manager Wu was ecstatic. At the same time, he was also ashamed of the previous suspicions he had. He swept his eyes around and immediately tensed up.

“Greetings, Grandmaster Wu!”

For the chief manager of Sea Spirit Pavilion to give such a respectful greeting to someone named Grandmaster Wu, there was of course only one such person in the world.

The cheers quieted down and they all lowered their heads in greeting. Seeing this person’s purple robes and the Purple Card at his waist, they all felt anxious within.

After all, this figure that existed on the highest heavens was Jing Guanjin’s teacher. And, he had many negative opinions of their Sea Spirit Pavilion.

He shouldn’t have come to pick an argument, right?

And as they thought, Grandmaster Wu didn’t disappoint anyone at all. He sneered and glared at Qin Yu. “I don’t know what sort of methods you used to win, but I will surely investigate this. You had best make sure I don’t grab ahold of any weakness of yours!”

To maintain a constant high influx of energy for several hours on end, this was something that even a Purple Card couldn’t accomplish. Yet, this Ning fellow had done all of that and seemed completely relaxed at the moment. If someone had said that there wasn’t some sort of trick involved, Wu Zetian wouldn’t believe it even if he were beaten to death.

And even if there hadn’t been any problems, with his status, this Ning fellow could only eat the insult and be suspected by others. Though this might not do anything, Wu Zetian could still feel a bit more comfortable in his heart.

It wasn’t that Wu Zetian was bored, but because he was suffocating on rage and anger. If he didn’t vent some of it, he feared he would choke to death on his fury. Only he knew what Jing Guanjin’s defeat meant and what he had lost because of it.

The Skyspirit power!

This was a dream he had chased after for countless years. It had been so close to becoming reality, but all of a sudden it had become an empty illusion. Wu Zetian already believed that he was being very civilized and self-controlled to maintain his sanity and not tear this mysterious black-robed little boy to shreds.

Just what kind of status did the ten Purple Cards possess? To the common seafolk, they were like living gods.

Thus, when Grandmaster Wu Zetian appeared with a gloomy face, the audience had earnestly quieted down. Even those who were overjoyed to see a frivolous young master like Jing Guanjin suffer had restrained themselves. Their silence was a show of respect towards Grandmaster Wu.

The audience was too far away from Grandmaster Wu, so they shouldn’t have been able hear him. But, this final competition was too important and multiple spells had been put in place in case anyone tried to interfere with the match. Later on, inspectors would find that one of the sea spirit priests had upped the power of a sound amplifying array. It was unknown whether it was because his hand or slipped or not, but it had activated at this exact time.

Thus, everyone could hear Grandmaster Wu Zetian’s voice clearly echoing through Prosperity Square.

In an instant, everyone’s eyes gathered on him.

Wu Zetian was startled, as if he didn’t expect his voice to spread out. But, he soon composed himself.

With his status, he didn’t need to care about such things. Rather, the more people heard him, the more that Ning fellow would be shamed.

His heart felt a trace of joy.

Chief Manger Wu squeezed out a smile. He took a step forwards. “Grandmaster Wu, you must have mistaken something. Mister Ning…”

Wu Zetian said without expression, “Just what are you? When I am speaking, do you think you can interrupt?”

Chief Manager Wu flushed red. He drew in several deep breaths, his smile becoming even more forced.

Yes, even in the face of relentless taunting, he still maintained his smile.

This person was still the third ranked of the ten Purple Cards. Even if he knew that this person was hostile to Sea Spirit Pavilion, he still didn’t dare to provoke him.

This was an instinctual awe and reverence that the countless sea races of the sea region held towards the Purple Cards, a feeling that was produced from their inheritance over the endless years.

Chief Manager Wu was a member of the sea races. So even if he had a high status, he was also no exception.

Leon was infuriated for his teacher and his eyes popped open in anger. But even so, he could only suppress all his thoughts in his heart.

Everyone from Sea Spirit Pavilion bowed their heads with fear and panic.

But there was an exception here. This person wasn’t one of the sea races so he indeed didn’t care about the Purple Card sea teachers. He stood tall with his hands held behind his back, possessing an unparalleled iciness and disdain. Facing this person, the proud Grandmaster Wu Zetian seemed as if he had been struck by a rock.

Qin Yu lightly said, “Chief manager, may I ask who this person in front of you is?”

Chief Manager Wu was stunned silly. Old Sea had personally visited Qin Yu, so he should be well aware of what Grandmaster Wu’s clothes and accessories meant. In addition to this person’s aura and how he had referenced him, how could he possibly not recognize who he was?

His first thought was that Mister Ning was also angry so he wanted to be unruly again.

He began to panic. To insult a Purple Card in front of so many people was an extremely grave matter. But there were some words that shouldn’t be said. He turned and gave Qin Yu a meaningful look. “Mister Ning, this is the third ranked Purple Card, Grandmaster Wu Zetian. You absolutely cannot be disrespectful to him.”

The hidden meaning was: Brother, please don’t make this mess any bigger. Just hurry and lower your head!

Qin Yu nodded, seeming to suddenly understand. “So it was Grandmaster Wu. Luckily the chief manager reminded me of who you are, otherwise I would have thought you were an ignorant old fool who has no sense of etiquette. I was just about to curse you out.” He cupped a hand across his chest as he spoke. “Grandmaster Wu, I don’t really understand what you said just now, but it doesn’t matter much. However, shouldn’t you be hurrying over to check up on Jing Guanjin? How come you’re here wasting our time?”

Chief Manager Wu covered his face and groaned. He knew it would be like this!

The entirety of Prosperity Square fell into a deathly silence. All of the seafolk stared with wide eyes, disbelief clouding their expressions. All of their gazes sent the same message: how dare you!

But asking if he dared to or not no longer mattered. After all, this person had already done it, so of course he dared to.

An ignorant old fool who has no sense of etiquette…

I don’t really understand what you said just now, but it doesn’t matter much…

How come you’re here wasting our time…

These words seemed calm and measured, but there were too many barbs contained within. And, it was that calm and measured tone which signaled that he simply didn’t place this person in his eyes.

Since when had anyone dared to provoke him like this!?

Grandmaster Wu Zetian suddenly calmed down. He said, “Mister Ning, you have truly angered me.”

Hearing these words, the countless seafolk fell into a cold sweat. An electric current seemed to pass over their bodies, leaving them shivering inside.

Following that, besides the Sea Spirit Pavilion people who were paper-white, everyone else’s eyes brightened.

They seemed to have already expected that a lively scene would occur. At the very least, Mister Ning who had offended a Purple Card would be punished. No matter what it was, everyone thought his final outcome would be sad.

In fact, even those from Sea Spirit Pavilion were thinking this. It was just that although the seafolk had guessed the beginning, they were able to guess the end. Everything they expected seemed to have reversed, from north to south, from east to west.

Because at this time, Qin Yu also calmly responded.

“Grandmaster Wu, you have already angered me long ago.”

What did this mean?

Just what did this mean?

To say such ruthless words in the face of a Purple Card?

Following this, the audience learned that Qin Yu not only dared to speak such ruthless words, but even dared to put them in action.

He turned around and looked at Chairman Xu, who had been standing and watching for a long time but had no desire to get involved. “Have the results of the competition come out yet?”

Chairman Xu frowned. He thought that Qin Yu wanted to use this to humiliate Grandmaster Wu, and immediately regretted standing so close to the front. But, he couldn’t avoid the situation. He could only maintain his composure and say in a low voice, “According to the final judgment, Mister Ning, you have won the competition.”

You won, he lost.

But he didn’t mention Jing Guanjin’s name; he still needed to be a bit tactful. He hoped that Grandmaster Wu would be a bit open-minded and wouldn’t bear a grudge because of this.

Qin Yu didn’t know of Chairman Xu’s worries and also his vivid desire to flee the scene. He continued to ask, “So in other words, I already possess the rights to challenge a Purple Card.”

“That is correct. In half a month, you may choose the time…”

Qin Yu interrupted him. “No need!” He lifted a hand and pointed a finger. “You old thing, this young master has found you an eyesore for a long time already. I choose you and I choose today!”