Tournament (1)

Gu Yueyao quietly watched everything unfold, her expression as still as an unruffled lake.

She truly did not have many requirements for her future other half. After all, she was not the sort of person who revolved around her partner or made them the center of her world. To her, the path of medicine was what mattered most.

But if she really had to choose...

Gu Yueyao tilted her head slightly, a faint smile blooming across her delicate face. Like a flower bud opening in spring, that smile was gentle and captivating.

She turned her gaze toward Wen Jian and asked softly, "Junior Brother, don't you intend to participate?"

At those words, Wen Jian felt as though an invisible hand had fiercely clenched his heart. Like a student suddenly called upon by the teacher in class, his entire body instantly tensed as if facing a great enemy, while his mind buzzed: "!!!"

At the same time, Shen Yuxi also faced a great enemy, just as nervous: "!!!"

Wen Jian hurriedly turned his head away, not daring to meet Gu Yueyao's gaze. He forced calm into his expression. "I am truly not very skilled at fighting, so I shall not make a fool of myself."

Gu Yueyao gently shook her head, her smile still warm. "It is only an exchange. They make friends through martial arts, so we can make friends through medicine. Junior Brother's attainments in medicine run deep. Among the many disciples present, I see few who could contend with Junior Brother in the medical path."

Wen Jian still insisted on declining. "The path of medicine has always been dry and tedious. Everyone is keen on sparring through martial arts. If I alone were to strike out on a different path, I would inevitably dampen everyone's enthusiasm. It would be inappropriate."

Hearing this, Gu Yueyao pretended to look disappointed. She lowered her head slightly, like a flower struck by frost, and said softly, "Could it be that Junior Brother thinks Yueyao lacks charm and looks down on Yueyao, which is why you are unwilling to take the stage and try?"

The moment Wen Jian heard that, he was completely at a loss, his mind turning blank. "!!!"

Shen Yuxi was frantic at the side, screaming inwardly, !!! Fuck, this is a fatal question! Ninth Junior Brother, you have to hold the line! Don't fall for her scheme! If you really agree, she definitely has a way to rig things and make you win! Don't fall for it, absolutely don't fall for it!

Seeing that Wen Jian remained unmoved, Gu Yueyao continued, "Actually, Yueyao understands as well. Everyone present is only willing to take the stage and spar out of consideration for Father's reputation.

How could a renowned and powerful sect with such profound foundations as the Profound Heaven Sect possibly be something our tiny Medicine King Valley could aspire to? " She lowered her head slightly, her voice full of loneliness and helplessness, as though recounting a bitter truth too difficult to put into words.

Wen Jian felt a bone lodged in his throat after hearing this. He was rendered speechless for a moment and did not know how to respond. "..."

Shen Yuxi was likewise left without a word to say. "..."

Lin Huaixu, who had been eavesdropping nearby, could not help secretly praising her. What a splendid retreat to advance! Brilliant!

If not for the occasion, he might even have wanted to applaud this young valley master.

Shen Yuxi was completely dumbfounded. How did the plotline become such a mess? Where the hell have I been thrown? Is this still the Song of the Nine Domains I know?

What did it mean to be a harem-story male lead? Every member of a harem was capable of greatly improving the male lead.

Take this medicine-obsessed Gu Yueyao, for instance. She had originally been a fixed spring of healing in the male lead's party. From the early stages to the later stages, aside from certain special circumstances, every injury large or small suffered by the male lead's group had been treated by her. Now that the healer was gone, where was he supposed to find a replacement?

And judging from things now, this "healer," who should have belonged to the male lead's harem, was actually eyeing their own "cabbage" like a tiger watching its prey.

Shen Yuxi could not help lamenting inwardly for Chu Shihan. Eldest Senior Brother, why is your fate so bitter?

Chu Shihan was still sulking and silently replied in his heart, ...Thanks for the invitation, but I truly do not think my fate is bitter anywhere, and I have never planned to build a harem.

Wen Jian's face flushed crimson. Heaven and man battled within him. After hesitating again and again, he stole a glance at the back of Second Senior Brother ahead of him. In the end, he finally made up his mind and braced himself as he moved close to Gu Yueyao.

He leaned down slightly and lowered his voice. It was as faint as a mosquito's buzz, yet carried a desperate resolve to smash the cauldrons and sink the boats. "Young Valley Master, to be frank, I already have someone I love. The two of us are bound by feelings stronger than gold and stone, and I truly have no desire to participate in such a contest. I hope Young Valley Master will stop teasing me."

As he spoke, his hand tightly clenched the corner of his robe. His eyes were filled with sincerity and determination as he stared directly at Gu Yueyao, hoping with all his heart that she would let the matter rest.

Gu Yueyao paused slightly, and a trace of surprise flashed through her beautiful eyes. She had truly not expected Wen Jian to reject her with such a reason.

It was not that she had truly fallen in love with Wen Jian at first sight or that he was the only one for her. It was merely that she had spent so long studying medicine that life had become somewhat dull, and teasing this junior brother who always seemed desperate to avoid her had struck her as rather interesting.

Wen Jian's attitude of avoiding her as if she were a venomous snake or savage beast made a trace of frustration rise within her. She was not some man-eating monster, so why was he so afraid of her?

Gu Yueyao had immersed herself in medicine from childhood and was exceptionally sharp at observing the minute expressions of the human body, attentive down to the finest detail. She carefully studied Wen Jian's expression as he spoke and was certain that his words were not the truth.

When Wen Jian said this, his eyes held more helplessness at smashing a broken jar beyond repair, with even a faint hint of embarrassment mixed in. She did not know where he had learned this excuse, but in her eyes, it was truly a little stale and outdated.

However, Gu Yueyao was broad-minded by nature. After her brief surprise, she gave a soft smile. Like the warm spring sun, it dispersed the subtle awkwardness in the air. "So that is how it is. Yueyao was presumptuous. Since that is the case, I shall not force Junior Brother."

Even a rabbit would bite when driven desperate. Since he resisted so strongly that he would even use such a reason to brush her off, she was certainly not the sort to demean herself and cling to him without end. There were many men beneath heaven; she could simply seek another fated one.

With that thought, the faint disappointment in her heart gradually dissipated, and her expression returned to its usual composure.

Before Wen Jian could even breathe a sigh of relief, an even greater disaster suddenly descended—

Already has someone he loves? Feelings stronger than gold and stone? Fuck!

Shen Yuxi's inner voice exploded in everyone's minds like a massive bomb, his tone overflowing with disbelief and utter shock. I knew you two were real! No, I didn't even hit fast-forward—Third Junior Brother moved that fast?! Damn!

Then his voice took on several shades more indignation. You did not even tell your senior brother about something this big! How distant! What, dating behind your senior brothers and sisters' backs is fun and exciting?

This barrage of agitated thoughts was transmitted with perfect clarity into every senior and junior disciple's mind. It was so loud and emotionally charged that it seemed ready to burst through their skulls.

Even Chu Shihan, who had always been as steady as an abyss and rarely showed his emotions, was startled by Shen Yuxi's sudden inner voice. The wine cup in his hand trembled sharply, and the cup he had been holding steadily instantly tilted.

Several drops of alluring ruby-colored fruit wine splashed without warning onto his plain lapel, quickly spreading into a dark stain.

Calm down, calm down... Second Junior Brother has never been reliable in matters like this. Do not believe rumors, do not spread rumors...

Chu Shihan silently recited this in his heart, trying to steady himself while hoping that the others would not readily believe Shen Yuxi's dramatic, baseless claims.

But clearly, the junior brothers and sisters did not care in the slightest whether this gossip was true. Almost instinctively, they formed a preconceived judgment that Second Senior Brother's sudden inner voice could not possibly be meaningless nonsense.

At that moment, Lin Mumu and Lin Huaixu, in order to forcibly restrain their nearly bursting curiosity, fiercely grabbed Ye Jingxuan's hands from either side. Their eyes gleamed with excitement and curiosity. Continue! Second Senior Brother! Right now! Immediately! This instant! I want to hear everything!!

Ye Jingxuan was smiling on the outside, but inwardly he was cursing.

He remained silent, feeling only that his two hands were locked tight as though caught in icy iron pincers. The pain was intense, yet he could not break free. They would probably soon become red and swollen.

Help, what was he supposed to do when the senior brothers and sisters above him were all gossip-crazed demons?

Meanwhile, True Person Yu Qing had originally been leisurely holding a teacup and lightly sipping his tea. Upon hearing Shen Yuxi's stream of thoughts, his movements abruptly froze. After a moment, he slowly set down the teacup in his hand.

He gave a soft sigh. The heart he had been holding up had finally died.

Ah, they are all my own children. At this point, all I can do is offer my blessings. True Person Yu Qing sighed inwardly and silently accepted this seemingly established "fact."

Wen Jian was practically on the verge of tears, bitterly crying out in his heart, ...It is not what you think! I can explain!!

His intestines had turned green with regret. He had deliberately lowered his voice to speak to Gu Yueyao because he was afraid that Second Senior Brother would hear and embellish the story before spreading it everywhere. Who could have expected Second Senior Brother's ears to be so sharp that he could even hear words this secretive?

Now things were truly terrible. He had merely made it up casually to avoid Gu Yueyao; it was not as though he truly had someone he loved!!!

And Second Senior Brother! Stop shipping that broken senior-brother-and-junior-brother pairing of yours! Guan Yu and Zhang Fei cannot get together!!!

Wen Jian had already begun imagining the chaos after returning to the sect. Fifth Senior Brother and Sixth Senior Sister would definitely act like loudspeakers and spread this matter throughout the entire sect. By then, all sorts of rumors would likely come sweeping in like overwhelming waves.

He could practically see the curious, probing gazes of his fellow disciples, along with every unfounded guess and discussion.

He was already beginning to regret coming to this Flower-Appreciation Gathering. Spirit herbs could always be found elsewhere if he walked a few more steps, but once his innocence was lost, clearing his name would be harder than climbing to heaven.

Gu Yueyao keenly noticed that Wen Jian's mood had suddenly plummeted, and she asked with concern, "Junior Brother, what is wrong?"

Wen Jian only felt that all hope had died. He completely gave up struggling and answered weakly, "Nothing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with me."

His voice was full of helplessness and dejection, as though all his energy and spirit had been drained away in that instant.

While the farce caused by Wen Jian's words continued to ferment, the long-awaited martial contest officially began.

The first to take the stage was Medicine King Valley's chief disciple, Gu Xiaoyue.

He naturally knew that in terms of strength, he was indeed no match for Chu Shihan, the renowned first disciple of the Profound Heaven Sect. Yet how could he willingly give up so easily? Thus, he voluntarily requested to participate in this contest.

Though Gu Xiaoyue was a medical cultivator, as the chief disciple carefully nurtured by Medicine King Valley, he naturally possessed genuine ability.

He wore a long robe of blue-purple belonging to a Medicine King Valley disciple, its sleeves fluttering as he stood calmly upon the arena. His opponent was a young cultivator from a small sect, whose strength was truly far inferior to Gu Xiaoyue's.

The match began. Gu Xiaoyue moved like lightning, lightly tapping off with his feet and instantly closing in.

He deftly avoided his opponent's attack and, at the right moment, lightly swung the jade flute in his hand. This jade flute looked like an elegant ornament, but it was in fact his personal weapon.

With the sweep of the jade flute, gentle yet immensely powerful spiritual energy transformed into a beam of light and shot straight at his opponent. Before the opponent could react, he was struck by the spiritual energy carried by the flute and sent flying directly out of the arena.

Gu Xiaoyue thus easily claimed victory in the first match, and enthusiastic applause and cheers immediately rang out below the stage.

Shen Yuxi did not forget to spit at him while shipping couples. What the hell, using a flute as a weapon. Anyone who did not know better would think you were a sound cultivator, but you are just using it as a stick. All that posing for nothing.

The cultivation world was already nearly crazed over sparring contests like these. In this world where the strong reigned supreme, who did not enjoy watching a spectacular fight? Even if it were merely two cultivators tearing at each other's hair, the crowd could still watch with great relish.

At this moment, everyone below the stage stared intently at the arena, excitement gleaming in their eyes. Discussions rose and fell one after another, and the entire venue was extraordinarily lively, to the point that they had nearly forgotten that the original purpose of this grand gathering was the elegant appreciation of flowers.

Still, in an occasion like this, since there were no restrictions on the cultivation levels of participating cultivators, it was inevitable that some people who were merely passing themselves off as worthy would slip in.

Some held onto the hope of getting lucky in the contest; others simply wanted to show their faces before the crowd, feeling that it did not matter even if they lost.

Therefore, during the early matches, the disparity in strength between contestants was indeed immense. Some powerful cultivators could often defeat their opponents within a few moves, making the overall competition progress quite quickly.

After winning several matches in a row, Gu Xiaoyue casually swept his gaze toward where the Profound Heaven Sect group was seated during a break between bouts. Only then did he discover in surprise that not a single person from the Profound Heaven Sect had taken the stage to compete.

Confusion rose in his heart, and he secretly mused, Could it really be that I got it wrong? Did they really just come to look at flowers and join in the fun? Surely not? That is the Profound Heaven Sect! How could they truly have come for one or two spirit flowers?

Although the strongest group, the Profound Heaven Sect party, had not entered the contest, this did not affect the lively atmosphere in the least.

Especially those disciples who clearly possessed considerable strength, yet had to rack their brains to make themselves naturally lose and leave after going through the motions. Their performances were simply funnier than the last.

Some disciples deliberately pretended to slip during a match and fell straight to the ground, then declared defeat with faces full of embarrassment. Others could clearly have easily neutralized their opponents' attacks, yet deliberately put on a fragile appearance, collapsing to the ground the moment their opponents lightly touched them.

A perfectly proper contest had, under these people's brilliant performances, become a bustling theatrical troupe, drawing wave after wave of laughter from the crowd below.

Gu Yinchen sat atop the raised platform, watching the lively scene below that had subtly strayed from his expectations. His face grew increasingly gloomy. His face, already constantly tense due to his innate social anxiety, was now nearly as black as the bottom of a pot.

Naturally, he felt that it would be best if he could forge ties with the Profound Heaven Sect. Yet judging from the situation, the other party had absolutely no such intention. He could not help feeling deeply regretful, but such things could not be forced, so he let it be.

Gu Yinchen was no fool. How could he possibly know nothing of his chief disciple's thoughts?

Though he was ordinarily poor at dealing with others and gave off an impression of being wooden, his heart was clear as a mirror.

This Gu Xiaoyue truly displeased him somewhat.

Back then, Gu Yinchen had taken pity on Gu Xiaoyue, who had been an orphan. Not only had he given him his surname, but he had also taught him all the ultimate arts he had learned in his lifetime without holding anything back.

—But what had come of it?

Gu Xiaoyue only thought of pursuing fame and profit. In his studies, he greedily swallowed more than he could chew, learning his skills in a messy, disorderly fashion—many but not refined. His thoughts were even more deep and complicated, and every day he plotted how to curry favor with the powerful and take crooked, unorthodox paths.

He had even set his sights on the position of valley master. Such conduct truly chilled Gu Yinchen's heart.

With such a disposition, he was already unqualified as an heir. What Gu Yinchen found even more intolerable was that Gu Xiaoyue had actually set his sights on his precious daughter, Yueyao.

Not to mention that Yueyao herself looked down on someone like Gu Xiaoyue, even if his daughter were still young and temporarily bewitched by Gu Xiaoyue's honeyed words, as her father, Gu Yinchen would never stand by and watch her jump into a pit of fire.

Now, it seemed that Yueyao was perceptive and clever enough not to misjudge Gu Xiaoyue's character. This gave Gu Yinchen a measure of comfort, while also strengthening his resolve not to hand Medicine King Valley over to Gu Xiaoyue.

It was simply that Gu Xiaoyue's cultivation was indeed not weak among the younger generation. Furthermore, the guests present would more or less show mercy out of respect for their hosts. With that, Gu Yinchen did not have complete confidence that someone would certainly be able to defeat him.

Originally, he had been full of expectation that if the Profound Heaven Sect acted, people like Gu Xiaoyue would be nothing more than clowns leaping about on a stage, utterly unworthy of concern.

Yet who could have imagined that the Profound Heaven Sect, having come to the Flower-Appreciation Gathering with such great fanfare, had truly only come to go through the motions and held no interest in the contest at all?

Gu Yinchen was getting a headache.

He did not want Gu Xiaoyue to truly make it to the end. Among the young talents present, he found it difficult to judge who sincerely admired Yueyao and also possessed enough strength to contend with Gu Xiaoyue.

As things stood... he sighed.

I did not wish to use such a method, but so be it.

Bonus Scene:

When the female lead of this arc set her sights on Wen Jian—

Shen Yuxi: Urgent, urgent, urgent, urgent, urgent! Why is the male and female leads' romance line not moving at all?! Ninth Junior Brother, come back! Our story line is wrong! You are the loser childhood-friend pairing on Third Junior Brother's route! Not cannon-fodder love rival on Eldest Senior Brother's route, hey!!!

Wen Jian: Actually, I have someone I love.

Shen Yuxi: ? I knew our Third-and-Ninth CP was real. A loser CP is still a CP. No breaking it up, no switching it around, no Burning Winter, thank you.

Wen Jian: ...

Gu Yueyao: Even a rabbit will bite when driven desperate.

Wen Jian: Thanks for the invitation, but I am already a spicy rabbit head. I cannot bite even a little.

Shen Yuxi: I shall prove that I do not only criticize Eldest Senior Brother. I will criticize every single person equally. Amen.

Wen Jian: Second Senior Brother, thanks so much. You had better have something wrong with you.