Chapter 210: Chapter 207: Discussing Swords in the Tianjiang Arena the Day After Tomorrow_1
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Princess Fulan's gaze turned towards the two elders fallen in the heart of the arena, her inner rage intensifying. Mixed within that fury was, in fact, the mortification that had pushed her past her threshold, sparking her wrathful embarrassment.
Of course, she recognized the two old men before her; they were the respective stewards of the Bai Family and the Fang Family. To her astonishment, at the very moment she had been humiliated, these two stewards had confirmed the legitimacy of Fang Ren's results.
In her view, it was tantamount to them saying, "You deserved to be humiliated."
Observing the expressions on the faces of everyone in the stands, as well as the turned away looks of the competing students below.
At that moment, Princess Fulan finally understood why, when her senior brother had announced her own achievement of crafting a third-order intermediate-level pill, everyone's words seemed to lack conviction.
She also now realized why, when Fang Ren claimed he could teach them all about pills, her fellow Tiandao Sword Sect disciples had laughed uproariously, yet no one else in the crowd had shown the slightest perturbation.
It turned out that since the moment her Alchemy Talent was revealed until now, everyone here had always been laughing at her!
She had thought her barrage of remarks would leave Fang Ren utterly disgraced, yet she, like a clown, had been performing a ludicrous act before the crowd!
She had once derided Fang Ren for being unworthy to participate in the regional finals, yet who would have thought that a genius capable of concocting an Upper Level Pill of the fourth order would need to bother with such preliminaries?
Seeing this, a Tiandao disciple named Sen Mo immediately stepped forward, bowed respectfully to Chen Cheng and Lin Bozhong, and then said to the Seventh Elder, "Seventh Elder, is the pill Young Master Fang concocted during the examination still available? I am very eager to see it.
This is not because I doubt the elders' words, but the Upper Level Pill of the fourth order truly takes me aback and I am somewhat incredulous."
"Young Master Fang's pill happens to be with me."
The Seventh Elder said, and began to retrieve a small jade bottle from his chest, handing it over to the Tiandao Sword Sect Disciple named Sen Mo.
Sen Mo took the jade bottle, untied the red ribbon, and a golden pill slipped from the bottle into his hand, continuously emitting a dazzling brilliance.
"This aura... it is indeed of the Upper Level," Sen Mo frowned.
Princess Fulan also hurried over, gazing at the fourth-order pill in Sen Mo's hand. Her hands clenched tightly into fists, and she bit down hard on her teeth.
The presence included Tianjiang Aristocratic Students and family members, and even Chen Cheng of the Bai Family and Lin Bozhong of the Fang Family were there. Fang Ren had no need to falsify anything; any deception would be a disgrace to the entire Fang Family, and there was no question about that.
The Tiandao Sword Sect disciples collectively fell silent. The impact of this revelation was so profound that the shock and disbelief in their hearts left them unable to react for a long time.
A mere twenty-two years of age, and capable of crafting an Upper Level Pill within fifteen minutes! If he were to continue growing at this rate, it was entirely reasonable to believe that this person could create the first-ever sixth-order pill in history!
This was no laughing matter.
Feeling everyone's gaze upon her, a smile began to emerge from Princess Fulan's angry face. Her eyes, filled with hatred, looked at Fang Ren, "I never imagined Young Master Fang would have such a predilection for playing dumb to catch the wise. Fine, I'll accept it.
After all, Young Master Fang has the strength, and today he had the audacity to choose me as his stepping stone, so as to amplify his own glory. Truly bad luck. Previously, Young Master Fang even mentioned that he was taught to be unassuming from childhood. It seems that Uncle Han has taught this virtue incorrectly."
With a twist of her words, Princess Fulan turned Fang Ren into a schemer who, while possessing talent, lacked the character, using others' honors to elevate his own illustrious status.
Fang Ren remained unaffected, looking at Princess Fulan, who was now sardonically amused out of sheer frustration. He felt no joy; what he wanted was Princess Fulan's life, not these petty schemes.
However, he was currently unable to kill Princess Fulan; all he could do at this point was to make her lose face, shatter her pride, and leave her in agony.
"Princess Fulan, I mentioned before that I believe I have been quite modest so far," Fang Ren said. "If I were to be any more high-profile, it would be disrespectful to Princess Fulan."
"I've always held back some modesty towards Princess Fulan," Fang Ren continued, after his uncle Han had taught him to hold a reserve.
Princess Fulan's inner anger gnawed at her, but on the surface, she coldly laughed, "Young Master Fang has such strength, so whatever he says is arguably correct. However, it's undeniable that today Young Master Fang's goal was to trample me underfoot and stand on higher ground."
Fang Ren said, "I do not recall having such an intention before stepping on stage. I simply wished to speak with the beautiful Princess Fulan, but instead, I was assailed by her barbed words. I was merely defending myself."
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No matter how the topic was spun, it seemed that Xia Fulan was at a disadvantage.
Seeing this, Lin Bozhong hurriedly stepped forward with a smile and said, "Princess Fulan and Young Master Fang are both geniuses of the new age. In the future, they must make great contributions to humanity's struggle against the Void. Therefore, today's incident should only be considered a case of 'no discord, no concord.'"
Upon hearing this, the Tiandao disciple named Sen Mo immediately laughed and said, "Steward Lin speaks well. Today, junior Fulan and Young Master Fang indeed came to know each other through conflict, but there's one more point that needs to be turned over and laid out in the open. Young Master Fang previously stated that he is modest and speaks the truth.
Now, having seen this fourth-order elixir, I believe Young Master Fang's words and am convinced. However, Young Master Fang also said that he is superior to Sister Fulan in the Way of the Sword as well, and just as I believe Young Master Fang in his Alchemy, so do I believe in his Sword Dao."
At this, another disciple of the Tiandao Sword Sect also hurriedly spoke up, "Indeed, I too believe that such a modest and honest person like Young Master Fang would not tell lies. Since he claimed to be superior to Sister Fulan in the Sword Dao, it must be that his Sword Dao is also as unique and genius as his Alchemy.
I truly look forward to a spar in Realm between Young Master Fang and Sister Fulan, and we all hope to witness another 'Sword Dao genius' besides our senior brother."
When Bai Qi heard these words, she felt extremely upset, "Senior brothers and sisters, are you really doing this too?"
"Bai Qi, Young Master Fang's words must have their reasons, and we simply believe in him," Sen Mo said.
Everyone listening sighed to themselves, seeing that Young Master Fang had stirred the ire of the entire Tiandao Sword Sect by bullying Xia Fulan. After all, she was the princess of the Tiandao Sword Sect, and having her face slapped in front of so many people, how should the disciples of the Tiandao Sword Sect respond?
It seemed that in the days to come, Young Master Fang would be in quite a bit of trouble. However, because of the support of the Fang Family, the Tiandao Sword Sect wouldn't dare to take his life directly, but deliberate difficulties would certainly be inevitable.
Hearing this, Xia Fulan's cold smile grew even thicker as she said, "Young Master Fang earlier claimed to have given me five percent face concerning the matter of the pills. As for this Sword Dao matter, I quite like that Young Master Fang is not leaving me any face. I just wonder if Young Master Fang would be gracious enough to honor me with this? After all, Young Master Fang is very well-mannered."
Fang Ren remained unperturbed. Today, he had definitely offended the Tiandao Sword Sect. Thinking about the persecution Mu Huanqing had faced and the impediment Song Mobei posed to his marriage with Mu Huanqing, as well as today's close relationship between the Tiandao Sword Sect and Indra Sky,
Each of these was a sufficient reason for him.
When Bai Qi saw them making it difficult for Fang Ren this way, she became anxious and immediately said, "Sister Furong, I already apologized on his behalf to you before the results were announced. Now you being so unrelenting…"
But before she could finish, Fang Ren interrupted, "I too am quite eager to spar with Princess Fulan in the Sword Dao. However, calling it a spar seems somewhat improper. Let's call it a class instead, as after all, classes are free on my side."
Fang Ren's words left Chen Cheng and Lin Bozhong, who were just about to speak up to prevent the situation from escalating, completely stunned. With Fang Ren himself putting it that way, what more could they say to resolve this?
Bai Qi grew even more anxious. She couldn't understand why Fang Ren was intentionally throwing himself into the line of fire.
"Good!" Xia Fulan said with a cold laugh, "Since Young Master Fang has already spoken these words, a promise is a promise, hard to take back like a galloping horse. I will gladly attend this free class from Young Master Fang. Only, when the time comes, who will be the teacher remains to be seen!"
Fang Ren shook his head, "Princess Fulan seems to be a strong cultivator of the Yingyue Realm, but right now, you seem quite eager to fight with me, a person devoid of True Qi and a mere mortal. It's a bit beneath you, Princess Fulan."
"What do you mean? Could it be that Young Master Fang is scared now?" Xia Fulan asked.
"I have been without a Spiritual Root since I was young, and have no True Qi to cultivate, so my Sword Dao is only what this mortal can reach. If, during our spar, Princess Fulan uses True Qi, I think we can skip the class. Just let me lie down and admit defeat," Fang Ren said. "Therefore, we must set a condition for our duel: no use of True Qi is allowed."
"Ha! Young Master Fang really is quite thorough in his concerns. Though it also seems to suggest that Young Master Fang is a bit cowardly," Xia Fulan retorted. "I, Xia Fulan, never said I'd compete with you on the level of Realm, only Sword Dao. Let's do as you say and not use True Qi during our spar."
"Then let this matter be settled," said Fang Ren. "Tomorrow, at the Tianjiang Pill Contest finals stage, I look forward to a spar with Princess Fulan there."
After hearing his words, Xia Fulan nearly burst into laughter outright.
This Fang Ren really didn't know whether to live or die!
Even without using True Qi, her cultivator's physique as Xia Fulan could easily crush him, a mere mortal. And as for the Sword Dao, she was naturally talented among her peers, with the exception of Song Mobei.
In her hands, Fang Ren would be torn apart in the blink of an eye!