Kill Jiang the Flower Thief!

"Hahaha, Brother Hao, I heard you found the Heaven Piercing Treasure Mirror in a cave. We are truly impressed."

"Eh... What's the Heaven Piercing Treasure Mirror worth? If Fairy Lin is willing, I'd give it to her for doing her makeup and painting her brows!"

"Brother Hao truly lives up to his reputation as the senior disciple of Zong Hao Sect. You really are loaded!"

"It's a pity Fairy Lin was molested by that Jiang Lin. I wonder whether her Dao heart will be affected by this Sect Grand Tournament, and whether she'll participate."

"Hmph! Don't mention that Flower-Picking Thief! If that Flower-Picking Thief dares to come, I, Zhao Hao, will make him taste my Zong Hao Sect's ultimate technique—Hao One Finger!"

"May I ask if you're Ye Liangchen, Senior Brother Ye of Unadorned Willow Sect?"

"That's me! I'm the one!"

The man named Ye Liangchen snapped open his fan with a "smack," then flicked up a few strands of his bangs once more...

"Senior Brother Ye, greetings. We are from Black Tortoise City Daily. We heard this is your first time participating in the Sect Grand Tournament. May we ask whether you're confident you can pass the Bewildering Secret Realm's test?"

"Hahaha, what a joke! Who has I, Ye Liangchen, ever feared? I am invincible! Invincibility is me!"

"As expected of Senior Brother Ye—your domineering presence is truly overflowing. However, we heard Senior Brother Ye was knocked flat by a single punch from a woman. Is that true? Could you tell us the details?"

"..."

"Fallen Fairy, I heard that all the disciples of your Fallen Flower Sect are women. And just this morning, Fairy Lin of Dragon Gate Sect was molested by the traitor Jiang Lin. Are you worried..."

"Not worried." The woman whose full name was Luo Caiye said calmly, "If that Flower-Picking Thief named Jiang Lin dares to lay a hand on my junior sisters, we'll make sure he enters standing and leaves lying down!"

"Where is that Flower-Picking Thief named Jiang Lin? Hasn't he come?"

"If that bastard dares to come, I'll avenge Fairy Lin! I'll defend this bright and righteous path!"

"No! Let me do it! Leaving someone like him alive will only bring disaster to more young women! I'll scatter his ashes!"

"Dao brother, you seem to harbor quite a grudge against that Flower-Picking Thief Jiang Lin."

"Fuck! Quite a grudge? It's more than that! I haven't even spoken to Fairy Lin, yet he actually... Ah... This is infuriating!"

"Kill Jiang the Flower Thief!"

"That's right! Everyone should kill him!"

"Kill Jiang Lin!"

"Kill Jiang Lin!"

Young cultivators above the Cave Mansion Realm who were participating in the Sect Grand Tournament for the first time and had managed to reach Black Tortoise City were assigned to various venues for the qualification tests, while Black Tortoise City Square gathered nearly ten thousand cultivators.

The vast square was filled with noisy discussion. There was all kinds of mutual commercial flattery, as well as every sort of comparison—whose cultivation realm was higher, which fairy someone had once seen, and so on.

Of course, the biggest topic was still Fairy Lin Qingwan of Dragon Gate Sect being molested by Jiang Lin in public, and whether that Flower-Picking Thief Jiang Lin would sneak among the Wild Mountain Cultivators to participate in the Bewildering Secret Realm.

Before anyone realized it, and no one knew who had started it, people began declaring that they would kill that Flower-Picking Thief Jiang Lin. Soon, they even began shouting it. The waves of sound rose one after another: first a small group shouted, then an entire section joined in.

Some people had no idea what was going on, but everyone around them was shouting. Not shouting along made them seem out of place, so they joined in as well. In the end, nearly the entire square was shouting.

Some female cultivators from different sects who had close relationships and had been whispering to one another were startled.

Just as these people had been shouting for a short while, someone suddenly called out, "Dragon Gate Sect has arrived."

In an instant, the entire square fell as silent as a sparrowless forest.

After coming to a halt in the sky, the Dragon Gate Sect cultivators flew over on their swords and descended one after another into the vast square. The slender woman at the front, dressed in a light gauze dress, did not land. Instead, she hovered in midair.

The sword-riding woman had long hair reaching her waist. Layers of gauze as thin as mist draped from her skirt, and a golden belt cinched her waist, lending her an air of nobility while accentuating her graceful figure. Her breath was as serene as an orchid's.

A Golden Thread Spiritual Jade rested quietly at her throat, adding an air of refined elegance. A pair of silver butterfly earrings dangled from her ears. A silver hairpin held up her jet-black hair, arranging it into an exquisite willow-leaf bun, while a magnolia jade flower tucked into it made her look fresh, beautiful, and incomparably refined.

"Ah... my eyes..."

Quite a few cultivators secretly raised their heads to look beneath her skirt, only to see nothing at all... Instead, their eyes were injured by sword qi...

"Everyone, I am Lin Qingwan of Dragon Gate Sect. I expect word of what happened to me has already spread throughout the city. I don't wish to say much. Thank you all for your concern, but Jiang Lin is my... a disciple of Dragon Gate Sect! Only I can lay hands on him! Therefore, I hope everyone will refrain from interfering in my sect's affairs and spread the word."

The girl's sweet voice, carried by Spiritual Power, spread throughout Black Tortoise City Square.

After saying this, the girl drifted gracefully to the ground under the escort of the Dragon Gate Sect Lead Elder.

"Fairy Lin, I heard your sect's traitor Jiang Lin took your chastity. Is this really true?"

The moment Lin Qingwan landed, the Black Tortoise City NC News Department, Black Tortoise City Penguin Highlights Department, Old Wave News Department, and various other departments crowded around her.

Black Tortoise City was famous for news and information. The daily newspapers and various rankings of Wutong Province all originated from Black Tortoise City. It could be said that Black Tortoise City was the rooted headquarters of Wutong Province's news organizations.

Listening to the reporters' questions, Lin Qingwan's pretty face flushed slightly as she was about to answer. However, the Nascent Soul Realm Lead Elder pulled the girl behind her, cleared her throat, and said sternly:

"Rumors! They're all rumors! The traitor Jiang Lin indeed isn't dead, and he did appear at the inn where our Dragon Gate Sect was staying, but our Qingwan is pure and innocent! Who spread these rumors?! I'll smash his head flat!"

"Eh? Is that really the truth? But, Senior, I heard Jiang Lin disguised himself as a woman and shared a bed with Senior Sister Lin. About that..."

"That is also a rumor! Qingwan stayed with me the entire night. How could she have been taken advantage of by that bastard Jiang Lin?"

"Senior, our NC News Department always insists on seeking truth from facts. Someone at the inn personally witnessed Jiang Lin kiss Fairy Lin!"

"Ridiculous! While Qingwan was fighting that traitor, she was ambushed because of her fellow disciple's feelings. That scoundrel's arm merely brushed against her cheek by accident. It was only that one moment. The story circulating through the city about him embracing her and kissing her wildly is complete nonsense!"

"Senior..."

"Senior..."

The various news departments of Black Tortoise City attacked relentlessly, firing question after question as they were determined to dig up some explosive material. However, although this Dragon Gate Sect Lead Elder looked young, she was actually an old woman over a hundred years old, and her mouth was sealed tighter than a drum. Not a drop could leak through. Moreover, every word she spoke was carried by Spiritual Power across the entire square. There was no way to add much sensationalism afterward—after all, ten thousand people had heard it.

At last, a Cave Mansion Realm cultivator from the Penguin Highlights Department could no longer endure it and asked directly:

"Senior, I heard Fairy Lin was wounded by love, unable to overcome the tribulation of emotions, and suffered damage to her state of mind, causing her cultivation realm to drop by two levels! Is this true?"