Chapter 149 : Leverage

Chapter 149: Leverage

That day’s competition schedule dragged on even longer than the previous day’s.

As soon as the final match ended, a crowd immediately surged forward and surrounded Senior Brother Xia so tightly that not even water could seep through, everyone talking over one another as they pressed him about the rumor that he was leaving the sect to get married.

Even Fang Wuqi squeezed into the front row, craning his neck as he waited for an answer.

“Ah… I didn’t expect everyone to know already. Yes, it’s true, but I don’t want to run that far away, so in this grand competition, I must make it into the top eight.”

As soon as everyone heard that, they immediately declared one after another that they would help him study tactics and formulate strategies—the sect’s treasured formation master could not just be handed over to someone else like that. The top eight had to be secured!

And it was at this moment that Nan Yuchen ran over to Long Tao’s side, just as Long Tao had stood up, his face full of relief as he said,

“Luckily, I won’t be running into Senior Brother Xia in the first few rounds. Otherwise, if I eliminated him before the top eight, I’d probably become a sinner of the sect.”

Long Tao looked at the kid in front of him, who was speaking such arrogant words in a humble tone, and could not help asking,

“You’re that confident you can definitely beat Senior Brother Xia? He’s not that easy to deal with, right?”

“I wouldn’t dare say definitely,” Nan Yuchen chuckled, “but Senior Brother Xia isn’t the type of formation master who specializes in combat. Most of his time is spent in the sect setting up ordinary formations. So I still have a bit of confidence.”

“Then in this grand competition, are there any opponents you have absolutely no confidence against at all?”

“Mm… to be honest, there isn’t anyone who’d make me immediately admit defeat the moment I meet them. I basically have some degree of confidence against everyone, just more or less. But there are a few people… who really are too strong. Unless they’re in poor condition, I probably don’t stand a chance. Fortunately, I won’t be meeting those few in the early rounds.”

After hearing this, Long Tao also let out a sigh of relief. It seemed that this kid’s chances of entering the top four were indeed not low.

A disciple at the third layer of Foundation Establishment—even if he was a genius—could not possibly rely purely on strength to reach the top four of the grand competition. In the end, he would still need some luck.

No— not some luck, but a great deal of luck. And Nan Yuchen, this child of destiny, seemed to lack that the least.

“Let’s not talk about me,” Nan Yuchen suddenly lowered his voice. “Master seemed a bit off today. The whole person felt strange.”

At the mention of True Person Mingzhu, Long Tao immediately became alert.

“Strange? It’s not something serious, right? Like being urged to marry, the same as Senior Brother Xia?”

Nan Yuchen could not help laughing when he heard that.

“Master is at Golden Core Great Perfection—who would dare urge her to marry! It’s just that today… she seemed to have something on her mind the whole time, very distracted. And I don’t know if I’m overthinking it, but it looked like she was… um… caught by Senior Sister Zhiying holding some kind of leverage.”

“Leverage? How could you tell?”

“In the past, every time Senior Sister Zhiying clung to Master, she would be pushed away and chased off. But today… Master was actually very polite to her. She even agreed when Senior Sister Zhiying wanted to stay on Moon-Washing Peak and… um… bathe together.”

Talking about his master bathing in front of Long Tao made Nan Yuchen a little uncomfortable, but when he thought about how his master—who normally rejected True Person Zhiying’s requests outright—had actually agreed to something like bathing together today, even he, who was extremely dull when it came to interpersonal relationships, could sense that something was wrong.

“I see. Then she probably really did get caught with some leverage. But it’s not necessarily that. It might be something where she needs a favor.”

“Needs a favor?”

“Yeah. Isn’t True Person Mingzhu about to break through to the Nascent Soul stage? When the time comes, there’ll be protectors, preparations— a whole pile of troublesome matters. Even though the two of them usually look distant, at a critical moment, the one she trusts the most is still that martial niece she’s watched grow up.”

“Oh! That makes sense! Master and Senior Sister Zhiying are both at the late stage of Golden Core, so they must be discussing profound topics related to the Nascent Soul. Sigh… I actually thought Master had been caught with leverage. That was really inappropriate of me.”

“Exactly. How could those two possibly have such vulgar and boring interactions? It must all be very refined or profound topics—like the Great Dao, cultivation, or at the very least, the education of disciples.”

“That’s true. Good thing I came to ask you, Senior Brother Long. Otherwise, I might really have misunderstood Master and Senior Sister Zhiying.”

Just as the two youths were seriously speculating about the “refined” interactions between two Golden Core true persons, the two parties being discussed were sitting in a pavilion on the outskirts of the martial arena.

“Martial Aunt… didn’t you say you’d accompany me to buy new boots? How could you go back on your word again?” Zhiying shook Mingzhu’s sleeve, smiling like a fox that had just done something bad.

“Agreeing to bathe with you was already my bottom line. Don’t push your luck,” Mingzhu said, turning her face away, though the tips of her ears were faintly red.

“Ah… yesterday, in that kid’s dream, you let him knead your feet and do all sorts of things. But when it comes to your martial niece, I can’t even go buy a pair of boots with you. How heartbreaking… Later I’ll go tell Senior Sister Su about this and let her judge who’s right.”

“You! I told you not to mention what happened last night!” Mingzhu suddenly turned her head, her cheeks flushing even redder.

“What’s there that can’t be mentioned? I’ve known you for almost three hundred years, Martial Aunt, and it’s the first time I’ve learned you have such a… secretly lewd side. But you’re so biased— you’d rather go vent in that Long Tao’s dream than come to me. I was clearly willing to help you rub your feet too. Sigh… hundreds of years of cold and noble appearance, and it turns out this is how you’ve been dealing with it all along.”

“Nonsense! I wasn’t… I just occasionally… got bored… and relieved it a little,” Mingzhu’s voice grew softer and softer. “Besides, it was just letting him rub my feet in a dream. It’s not like anything excessive happened.”

“It really isn’t a big deal, but still… how many times has it been now? When I first discovered you entering that guy’s dream, Martial Aunt, I was quite shocked. Unfortunately, you were cautious—after that, you endured it and didn’t act again. But luckily, Little Ying just happens to be that Long Tao’s original maid.”

“So you attached your divine sense to your own disciple just to catch my leverage?”

“Don’t put it so harshly. It was mainly to protect my disciple, and, uh… incidentally catch your little tail.”

At this moment, Mingzhu’s regret was immense. After almost being discovered by Zhiying last time, she had been extremely careful, waiting several months before acting again.

Who would have thought the other party had even more patience, simply waiting all along.

“But I really didn’t expect it. Martial Aunt, your preferred type is actually like that. Honestly, that Long Tao’s cultivation and talent are both so poor—yet he’s always stealing people from me! First you, and then Little Ying.”

……

Back on Long Tao’s side, after Nan Yuchen left, just as he was about to reunite with his family and head home together, an unexpected person stopped him.

He had happened to see this person once before—she was the Golden Core protector of Saintess Yaxi from the Hehuan Sect.

On the surface, she looked like a graceful and charming beautiful married woman. Her features were neither stern nor gentle, but the flow of light in her eyes would, without intention, leak a hint of allure.

At this moment, a faint smile curved her lips. Her gaze fell on Long Tao as she spoke in a gentle tone that nonetheless carried an unmistakable air of command,

“Our Saintess wishes to invite young master for a private talk.”