Ma Meilin took another scroll from one of the big shots behind her. The crowd was quieted down, the majority were on the edge of their seats, hands expectedly raising banners. Zhi Ruo was reminded of concerts and football games by amount of people that were focusing their gazes at the contestants.
The tournament was over, the fights were over, but the crowd was still there, on the edge of their seats and excited for the contestants that they were rooting for. The past tournaments weren't like this, the stands weren't as full as before, and majority would have already stood up after the fight ended. However, now, the stands were full and it seems like nobody had any thoughts of standing up and leaving. Rather their enthusiastic attitude made the staff of the tournament feel burdened. Because of Zhi Ruo's eye catching provocations the tournament became very popular. If this keeps up, and Zhi Ruo will attend thThe masked figure returned to Zhi Ruo's side, his hands deftly manipulating the newly acquired scroll. A soft hum escaped his lips as he approached Zhi Ruo, his demeanor seemingly relaxed despite the gravity of their circumstances. "You seem happy." Zhi Ruo raised her head as she nodded towards Alberu, Yu Zhúlín beside her was also looking at the masked man with a smile. Evidently caught up in the euphoria of his recent accomplishments, a self-satisfied smile graced the face of Yu Zhúlín. Alberu spared Zhi Ruo a glance before he nodded. "I am." He said, a quick quirk of his brows before his smile returned to his face, his expressions were hidden though. The only change that Zhi Ruo and Yu Zhúlín saw, was the incline on his head towards their direction. "But not happy enough." Zhi Ruo uttered. There was a twitch on Yu Zhúlín's face, but Zhi Ruo didn't even spare the green haired man a glance. "Who are you to know how happy I am" Alberu rolled his eyes, his hands fiddled with the sc
"As the champion of the tournament, you will receive the following rewards." Ma Meilin started, her hands moved to open the scroll. "You will receive 50,000 merit points, a cultivation sight of your choosing. Of course, it had to be under the imperial family's name. Numerous cultivation resources of your choosing, along with the resources that are meant for the group you are affiliated with. A peerless treasure of your choosing, a title as a noble in the great Guan Wei empire. A peerless treasure of your choosing as well as a compartment that has 20 kilometers in space inside." Joining the tournament has many perks, and Zhi Ruo thought that the rewards were the best part of it. Nothing beats free cultivation resources, she thought. The young miss itched to grab the scroll from Ma Meilin's hands and stop her from talking about what rewards she, Zhi Ruo, got. She doesn't need anyone peeking on what kind of treasure that she had. But alas, the young miss could not move under the light
The others that remainded at the venue could not help but glance at Ye Gu Shi who was laughing with Zhi Ruo in his arms. The younger girl was helplessly covered by her grandfather who was around 7f tall. Ye Gu Shi was tall, but he was considered average in terms of height to other cultivators who towered over 8-9feet tall. "Can you let go," came in Zhi Ruo's muffled plea. But it seemed like the patriarch heard what his granddaughter was saying because he let go with a last laugh. "It's seems like I have to thank you for earning our clan some resources." The patriarch said teasingly said, while guiding the younger girl towards the waiting group. Ravel was quick to summon a robe from nowhere as he approached Zhi Ruo. The girl willingly let her butler put on the embroidered robe on her, while her grandfather was busy laughing smugly. Zhi Ruo could feel the stare of the new guy on the back of her head, so she inclined her head towards the new guy's direction. Only to see such a stone
Yu Zhúlín listened, and he listened well. He seemed to have some few things in mind already when Zhi Ruo turned her head to look at his expression. The deep creases of contemplation on his face was a deep contrast to what kind of expression he usually wore. It caught Zhi Ruo's eyes, but she did not find it displeasing at all. She almost found it relieving that even like Yu Zhúlín could have such expression on his face. That's right, this is what a senior brother's face should look like, Zhi Ruo could not help but thought. It wasn't until she saw that her grandfather's attention went back at her did she raise her head to look at her grandfather in question. "That goes the same for you, you can also look for your grandfather if you want anything." The patriarch said with a soft smile. Zhi Ruo might have not noticed it, however Ravel certainly did. And he found it amusing that the two people in the room pretended to not see the doting look on the otherwise strict patriarch's face.
Yuan Chuanli's jaw loosened up, his fingers pressed against the wood on the table as the expression of slow disbelief was clearly shown on his face. The quick flash of frown on his face was apparent and was clear as day, however, no one was paying attention to his reactions, because nobody even bothered to point it out. On the other hand, Yu Zhúlín had a rather tame reaction because he already expected Zhi Ruo's question. He was just waiting for Zhi Ruo's questions to stop. Until then, his attention was on the food Ravel had given and put on the table. However, Yu Zhúlín felt that it was kinda hard to swallow the food when Ravel's gaze was piercing the back of his neck. Yu Zhúlín thinks it was because he was eating the food Ravel had prepared for Zhi Ruo, but that was just probably his imagination. "How can the merit points be seen again? And how could it be used?" Zhi Ruo's voice drawled out, she adjusted her posture on her seat. Her back was now 'comfortably' ramrod straight.
Yuan Chuanli quietly scoffed, but even after Zhi Ruo heard his clear, but otherwise silent contempt, she did not care, nor did she have any spare energy to care. Rather, she focused her attention to her grandfather who caughed and gave Yuan Chuanli a disapproving but amused look. The young miss has an inkling that her grandfather was already half expecting this kind of treatment. The more Zhi Ruo payed attention to the general feeling that Yuan Chuanli was giving off, the more she realized that he held the same contempt that Tiān Dì held for her when she entered the Sighted Valley. She may not like nor care about that sleazy looking senior brother of hers, however, she will not deny the fact that she will move upon further provoked. Zhi Ruo steadied her demeanor, and met her grandfather's amused look with a even expression hidden underneath that mask of hers. Seeing Zhi Ruo's calm demeanor, the Patriarch could not help but reveal a amused smile. And Yuan Chuanli who was waiting fo
Everyone in the room desolved into chatter, with the expense that Yuan Chuanli had to suffer the stiff and uncomfortable scrutiny of Zhi Ruo. The guy knew that he was a hard person to deal with, he was now starting to realize that Zhi Ruo was the kind of person that would be 'even harder' to deal with. The girl may not show it, but there was an underlying and subtle thing that washed over Yuan Chuanli, that made him know that he was being watched. And it certainly made him uncomfortable. It wasn't great to be the end person to receive the type of treatment that he would usually do on others. There were no words of complaints that can leave his mouth. After all, it wasn't like he could say 'can you stop making me uncomfortable?' won't he be just blatantly saying that Zhi Ruo had an effect on him without even raising a finger. Where would his face go? His face would probably fly off to the distance by the face slap that he was giving himself. As the chatter continued, the door open
The girl slipped inside her room, its size a stark contrast to her last visit. Perhaps it was because she wasn't treated the same as the other contestants this time. Back then, they were all contestants borrowing an aircraft, and the common rooms provided were identical, spartan affairs befitting their temporary status. However, since the tournament was over, she obviously wasn't treated as a contestant anymore. Instead, she was now an owner of this very aircraft, and the best accommodations were naturally reserved for her. The spacious room, adorned with fine silks and gleaming jade accents, spoke volumes of her status. A subtle scent of sandalwood and jasmine lingered in the air, that told Zhi Ruo that the whole thing was meticulously prepared just for her.Zhi Ruo however, with her meager realm (as of now) felt that the room was suffocating from the moment that she stepped inside the room. It was oppressive and suffocating. Like it was like hot water painfully and forcefully