Besides the heads of the two great Divine Ability clans, the leaders of several merchant associations and renowned Divine Ability experts from Qingyuan Market had all accepted invitations to attend and watch the grand event.
In the seats farther back were young scions of some of Qingyuan Market's Divine Ability clans. Unlike the restraint shown by those important figures, they were much more casual, looking down from above as they commented on the various Divine Ability Halls and listed their most promising talents.
At the center of this circle of young scions were, naturally, the direct descendants of the Li and Yan Clans.
Zhou Fuling was among them, seated right in the middle. A steady stream of young men surrounded her, eager to curry favor, making her dark brows knit slightly with impatience.
"Haha, I say, you fellows ought to rein yourselves in. Miss Fuling has only just arrived in Qingyuan Market. There will be plenty of chances to meet her in the future. If you offend her with such forward behavior and leave our beauty with a poor impression of Qingyuan Market, that would be a shame." Seemingly sensing Zhou Fuling's mood, a young man in black spoke up with a smile.
The young man had a handsome face and a quiet voice, but he exuded a certain pressure. He also clearly commanded considerable respect within the circle, for as soon as he finished speaking, the young men fawning over Zhou Fuling stopped.
Seeing this, Zhou Fuling's slender brows relaxed slightly.
"Hehe, Fuling, this is my elder brother, Yan Qing. He's the foremost talent of our Yan Clan's generation. He has a High-Grade Divine Ability Bone and successfully condensed a Divine Ability Dharma Mark a year ago, becoming the youngest Great Divine Ability Practitioner in our clan," Yan Zhizhi said with a delicate laugh from beside Zhou Fuling.
"Zhizhi, don't heap such wild praise on me. I'm passable enough among Qingyuan Market's younger generation, but Miss Fuling has seen and learned much. How could such a small achievement catch her eye?" Yan Qing said with a somewhat helpless smile.
Hearing this, Zhou Fuling gave Yan Qing another look, then nodded slightly in acknowledgment.
On Zhou Fuling's other side, Li Shuang drew a young man forward and introduced him. "Fuling, this is my cousin Li Mu. He's also one of the finest talents of our Li Clan's generation."
"M-Miss Zhou." Though the young man named Li Mu was reasonably good-looking, he was clearly not as talkative as Yan Qing. He even seemed a little awkward.
Seeing how he behaved, Li Shuang felt somewhat helpless. Her family had told her earlier that day that Market Master Zhou Xuan's niece happened to be a suitable match in both age and family background, and had asked her to help her cousin grow closer to Zhou Fuling.
Zhou Fuling, however, did not mind. She returned their greetings graciously, and after several conversations, she gradually grew acquainted with the direct descendants of the two great Divine Ability clans.
As Zhou Fuling dealt with the others, her beautiful eyes more often turned toward the Divine Ability Halls' tower ships on the lake.
Noticing where Zhou Fuling was looking, Yan Qing smiled faintly and said, "There isn't really much to see at this hall meet. The masters of the third-tier Divine Ability Halls generally won't take action, and among the Great Divine Ability Practitioners from the various halls, only a handful have attained any real mastery. As for the Divine Ability Practitioners at the Bone Refining Realm, they're an even bigger pile of mediocrities."
Zhou Fuling shook her head at this. "A disciple with a High-Grade Divine Ability Bone has appeared among Thunderfire Hall's Bone Refining Realm disciples this time. He might be worth watching."
Yan Qing smiled faintly. "That would be Lu Ming, wouldn't it?"
He had clearly already learned this from Yan Zhizhi.
"Zhang Yue has already eaten Thunderfire Hall out of house and home. How could it still afford to support someone with a High-Grade Divine Ability Bone? Besides, it's only been about a month since he opened his bones, hasn't it? Who knows whether he's even finished his second round of bone refining? What a pity. Thunderfire Hall is going to ruin a high-grade talent."
"With his strength, Thunderfire Hall probably won't send him out to guard a flag. Wouldn't that just hand the other Divine Ability Halls a weakness to exploit?" Yan Qing remarked carelessly.
Zhou Fuling glanced at him. She had previously heard that the Yan Clan had once wanted closer ties with the Li Clan, so they had selected Yan Qing from their younger generation to marry the Li Clan's eldest young lady, but the latter had flatly refused.
And as it happened, the Li Clan's eldest young lady was very close to Lu Ming.
With that grievance between them, this favored son of the Yan Clan naturally could not have anything good to say about Lu Ming.
"Perhaps."
Zhou Fuling did not argue with him. After all, she had only met Lu Ming twice and did not know him particularly well. Judging solely by how long he had been cultivating, perhaps he really would not appear at the hall meet.
Boom! Boom!
By now, the drumbeats over the lake were growing louder and more urgent, and earthshaking cheers rose from all around the shore.
Zhou Fuling fixed her gaze on the lake. The tower ships floating there had begun to move, cutting through the waves toward the mountain at its center.
What a sight it was, a hundred boats racing for the lead.
The hall meet had begun.
"Go!"
On Thunderfire Hall's tower ship, Lu Jin gave a low shout and shot into the sky. At the same time, he swept his sleeve, and a torrent of Primordial Qi rolled out like a gale, lifting Lu Ming, Gao Yu, and Yuan Da and carrying them down toward a platform carved into the sheer mountain face.
Lu Qingyan and Lu Jinglei were already Great Divine Ability Practitioners. Though they could not soar through the air as freely as Lu Jin, they could use their powerful Primordial Qi and the lake wind to ascend the mountain.
"Brother, do your best! If you win, I'll use my pocket money to buy you pastries!"
Lu Mengmeng stood on the tower ship, her little face bright red as she shouted at the top of her lungs.
As soon as she finished, Zhong Ying exclaimed in surprise beside her, "You still have pocket money? Where did you get it?"
"Uh..."
Lu Mengmeng froze. In her excitement, how had she forgotten that Mother was right beside her?
Amid the sky-filling cheers, the sounds of rushing wind rang out one after another as the flag guardians of the many Divine Ability Halls all appeared on the platforms.
On the top floor of the Lakeview Tower by the lakeshore.
"Huh? Why did Hall Master Lu send Lu Ming up there too?"
Li Yan looked toward the combat platform occupied by Thunderfire Hall, where she spotted a familiar young figure. Surprise immediately appeared in her eyes.
"This is far too reckless. Even if Lu Ming has a High-Grade Divine Ability Bone, how long has it been since he opened his bones?"
"Even if they want to use his High-Grade Divine Ability Bone to build up their reputation, this is too risky. If someone deliberately gravely injures Lu Ming now, it will inevitably affect his cultivation progress and damage his foundation."
Li Yan frowned slightly and sighed inwardly. She thought that perhaps Thunderfire Hall's current plight had driven Lu Jin to try to recover some of its prestige by making use of Lu Ming's High-Grade Divine Ability Bone.
In the seats behind her, the young man named Yan Qing also spotted Lu Ming. He was a little surprised, then smiled and shook his head, saying to Yan Zhizhi and the others beside him, "That old hall master of Thunderfire Hall has probably been driven mad by Zhang Yue leaving the hall."
The scions of the Divine Ability clans around him all burst into laughter.
Zhou Fuling did not laugh. She gazed from afar at the young man's upright figure, recalling how Lu Ming had quietly obtained those pills at the Half-Pill Shop.
This time, did Lu Ming really have some trump card, or had he... been forced into a role he was not ready for?
Three Golden Gang Sword Hall flags had been planted on the platform at the very top of the mountain in the lake. It stood above all the other platforms, the position of the leading hall.
Lin Changkong, the master of Golden Gang Sword Hall, stood calmly on high, looking down over the entire scene, his face unruffled.
His gaze swept toward Thunderfire Hall, where he spotted Lu Jin's elderly figure.
"So the middle flags really are being guarded by the brothers Lu Qingyan and Lu Jinglei. But they actually sent out Lu Ming for the lower flag?" As Lin Changkong surveyed Thunderfire Hall's combat platform, his gaze lingered on Lu Ming in mild surprise.
"He's only been opening his bones for a month. Even with a High-Grade Divine Ability Bone, how far could he have gotten? Has Lu Jin gone senile, or has he decided to let the broken pot smash?"
"Or does Lu Jin also know that Thunderfire Hall has no other cards to play, so he can only force Lu Ming to display his High-Grade Divine Ability Bone and recover as much of their reputation as possible?"
A thoughtful look flickered in Lin Changkong's eyes, but he soon shook his head. None of it mattered, because Lu Jin could never have imagined that at this hall meet, they would not only face a challenge from Red Sand Hall, but... Golden Gang Sword Hall had already marked them as prey.