Chapter 110

Chapter 110: Disappointed Yu Ruan Ruan

Aboard the giant Flying Ship, Yu Ruan Ruan hurried back to her cabin, locked the door, then demanded of the System: “What is going on? Why did it turn out like this?”

She pressed on, voice tightening: “Why is Rong Shu completely unharmed? Did you not say Senior Brother and the others made their move?”

Long before Huo Yi Han began plotting to strike at Rong Shu, Yu Ruan Ruan had already received the System’s warning.

In truth, Yu Ruan Ruan had been secretly delighted, thinking that without staining her own hands with blood, she could still rid herself of the troublesome Rong Shu.

She never expected they would fail.

Just now, when she saw Rong Shu unscathed, Yu Ruan Ruan’s face almost twisted out of shape.

The System sounded puzzled: [That is very strange. By all rights, Rong Shu should not have been able to escape.]

[Perhaps that peculiar aura of luck on her interfered with something unseen and let her slip past the calamity.]

But after hearing this, Yu Ruan Ruan only grew more anxious: “Then what do we do? Is Rong Shu just not going to die?”

A dark, resentful gloom flashed in her eyes. Why cannot Rong Shu just die? Why must she be such an eyesore?

[Luck is finite. If you keep suppressing her, grinding her down, or if you raise Rong Shu’s favorability and then plunder her luck for yourself,] the System advised coolly. [When her luck thins, the next brush with life and death will not be so easy to survive.]

Yu Ruan Ruan did not feel comforted; the more she thought, the more stifled she felt, until her irritation spilled over onto Feng Lin and Huo Yi Han as she snapped at the System: “Those two are useless.”

“A mere Qi Refining fourth-layer cultivator, and they still cannot deal with her.”

Why could they not act personally? Why insist on sending three nobodies who had not even reached Foundation Establishment to do the job, only to botch it?

[If it did not work this time, then next time, go hint to them again,] the System said, a thread of human-like disdain creeping into its tone. [Feng Lin is basically already captured by your charms. Add the influence of that thing on him, and he is nothing but your dog.]

[As for the other three, their favorability is a bit low. Do not forget to keep working on them.]

Yu Ruan Ruan bit her lip: “I know. It is just that Master and Third Senior Brother do not seem to be targeting Rong Shu much. And Second Senior Brother, he…”

Even with the System’s help, she had to admit she had never seen through Huo Yi Han. Among the four, his favorability was the lowest, yet his indulgence toward her seemed no less than the other three. Whenever she spent time with him, an indefinable chill prickled under her skin, though she could not name the feeling.

The System’s voice turned cold and emotionless: [In any case, your most important task now is to shine at the Sect Grand Tournament and crush the momentum of most of the sect’s so-called geniuses.]

Hearing this, Yu Ruan Ruan clenched her palm: “Of course I will.”

In her previous life, Rong Shu had stolen the spotlight at the Sect Grand Tournament. Six years after entering the sect, she broke through to mid Foundation Establishment, and once her name spread, it alarmed the major sect powers. During the tournament she won battle after battle; even against late Foundation Establishment opponents, she often won as the weaker side. Afterward she advanced in one stroke to late Foundation Establishment.

In the Foundation Establishment Stage bracket of that tournament, Rong Shu placed second. At the age of thirteen, already in late Foundation Establishment, she shattered the Southern Wilds’ record for the youngest cultivator to reach late Foundation Establishment. Everyone praised and envied her as a once-in-a-millennium heaven-favored girl, and many assumed she would form a Golden Core before eighteen, becoming the youngest Golden Core cultivator in the Southern Wilds’ recorded history.

But now everything was different.

Rong Shu was merely at the fourth layer of Qi Refining and did not even qualify to participate in the Sect Grand Tournament.

This time, the one destined to dazzle the stage could only be her, Yu Ruan Ruan.

And Rong Shu deserved only to hide in an unnoticed corner, peeking out to envy the true prodigy.

A few more days passed.

As the Flying Ship drew near Cloud Link City, the once-relaxed atmosphere tightened again. The disciples who held entry slots in particular grew both nervous and expectant.

Rong Shu, meanwhile, was as usual huddled in a corner with Cheng Bu Fan and Fu Yong Kang, playing cards.

In these days the three of them had moved beyond mere cards; Rong Shu had also devised a host of board games.

Today, they were playing aeroplane chess.

Just as they were absorbed in the game, Yu Ruan Ruan walked over and opened with a bright question: “Junior Sister Rong, we will be in Cloud Link City soon. Are you nervous?”

Suddenly called by name, Rong Shu looked blank, but she still answered amiably: “Hm? Why would I be nervous?”

After all, she was not the one competing.

She was just along to watch the matches, with no pressure at all.

Over these several days the Flying Ship had never stopped. Although Rong Shu suspected it was Feng Lin who had sent people to kill her, she had not acted rashly.

Because her strength and voice carried no weight against his. Tearing the veil now would be like throwing an egg at a rock. If she revealed her hand early, not only would no one believe her, it would only alert Feng Lin.

Better to keep things as they were, playing the fool.

For now, Rong Shu was in the dark, and Feng Lin was in the light.

Before Rong Shu could finish her answer, Yu Ruan Ruan seemed to remember something; a trace of apology touched her face as she covered her mouth and said with gentle surprise: “Oh, I almost forgot you cannot participate. Sorry. You do not mind, do you?”

Rong Shu shook her head: “I do not mind.”

For that sort of staged fighting meant for spectators, Senior Brother Lin Dao had spoken to her long ago. One could take appropriate lessons from it, he had said, but the moment a true life-and-death battle began, everything about that upright, ceremonial style belonged on the stage and must be forgotten. Your enemy will not bow to you first, then wait for the presiding sect elder’s signal before starting. Nor will he show mercy because you declare you admit defeat.

Cheng Bu Fan shot a sideways look at Yu Ruan Ruan, who was still putting on a show, then said curtly: “Do you have anything else? If not, can you go? Do not disturb us while we are busy.”

Impatience gnawed at him. Was something wrong with this woman, that she kept shamelessly hovering around them all day?

“You…” Yu Ruan Ruan’s expression flickered.

At last she blossomed into a smile again: “Very well, I will not disturb you.”