"Wait," Beihua Wanlei turned around in surprise. "What did you just say?"
"I said that Nanlu Tianzi over there is now a student of my Master," Beimu Fei looked straight into Beihua Wanlei's eyes, not at all intimidated. "I assume you don't need me to tell you who my Master is as well, do you?"
Even without Beimu Fei saying it out, everyone here already knew who her master was.
If Beimu Fei was famous as a member of the younger generation, then her Master was famous as a member of the older generation.
After all, she was the greatest formation master in the entire Scarlet Moon Kingdom, Master of the Beimu Clan, and a direct subordinate of His Majesty the King!
There was not a single influence within the capital that would want to get on her bad side.
Beihua Wanlei sneered as he eyed Lu Tianzi from head to toe.
No wonder this guy dared to stand against him.
So he had a strong backer?
However, the same could be said for Beihua Wanlei!
He was one of the Four Stars of Scarlet Moon City, the future leader of the Lightning Crow Sect, and most important of all, he had the strength to walk the talk!
Considering his current status and future potential, there was not a single influence within the capital that would want to get on his bad side either!
Compared to some random person who came out of nowhere, relying solely on the name of Formation Master Beimu to cover his ass, Beihua Wanlei naturally felt a sense of superioriority.
Beihua Wanlei was not able to sense Lu Tianzi's cultivation level, but even if he was also at the Peak Essence Condensation realm, Beihua Wanlei was not at all afraid.
He had long lost count of the total number of Peak Essence Condensation realm martial artists whom he had beaten to the ground.
Not just him, but every member of the Four Stars, though they were all still at the Peak Essence Condensation realm, no longer had any peers beyond their group who could face them in frontal combat!
"A piece of trash like you is actually Formation Master Beimu's student?" Beihua Wanlei snorted in disdain.
"Piece of trash?" Beimu Fei interjected before Lu Tianzi could reply. "You are the only piece of trash that I see around here!"
Ah… there was still the troublesome Beimu Fei.
Damn it!
Beihua Wanlei turned towards Beimu Fei. "This matter is between Nanlan Qianxue and I. This guy is the one who butted in in the first place! On your account, I can pretend nothing ever happened as long as you bring him away!"
Beimu Fei didn't answer immediately, instead shooting a glance at Lu Tianzi to see how he would react. After all, it was inconvenient for her to act before she could confirm Lu Tianzi's intentions.
"Between you and I? This is the first time I have ever seen you!" Nanlan Qianxue was the first to answer.
She had just about had enough with the other party's arrogance by now. Even if it was one of the Four Stars, she could not bring herself to just remain silent while Nanlu Tianzi and Nanqing Haowen were being treated in such a manner.
"You heard her," Lu Tianzi added. He naturally had no intention to back down either.
"You shut the fuck up!" Beihua Wanlei snapped, but a glare from Beimu Fei stopped him from continuing further.
"Tch!" Beihua Wanlei turned back to Nanlan Qianxue. "Has your father not told you yet? He came over to visit the Lightning Crow Sect a few days ago. At that time, he has already promised me his daughter's hand in marriage!"
"What?" Beside her, Lu Tianzi and Nanqing Haowen could not help but exclaim in shock.
A marriage arrangement by City Lord Nanlan?
There was such a thing?
"The one whom my father has promised you is Qianbing, not me!" Nanlan Qianxue retorted immediately while sneaking a worried glance at Lu Tianzi. "And even so, it remains up to Qianbing to decide if she wants to proceed with the arrangement. There is no need for her to go ahead with it if she is unwilling to do so!"
Nanlan Qianxue was actually well aware of this arrangement that Beihua Wanlei just spoke of.
After all, City Lord Nanlan had always been consistently updating her on the matters regarding the family.
But this was nothing but one-sided communication.
Nanlan Qianxue had always hated how her father went about doing things, and did not wish to be involved with any of his plans. That was the main reason why she refused to remain in her father's Bluenight Palace, choosing to join the Nine Suns Sect instead.
This was also the reason why she was reluctant to reveal her name to Beihua Wanlei initially.
"I am not unwilling!"
Nanlan Qianbing had not been standing too far away, and immediately hurried over upon hearing her name. But as though suddenly realising that her words sounded a little inappropriate, she quickly continued. "If this is father's wish, then I will certainly respect his decision!"
With her sudden entrance, everyone's attention turned towards her.
"So you are Nanlan Qianbing?" Beihua Wanlei asked while sizing her up.
"I am indeed. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Sir Beihua," Nanlan Qianbing let out the sweetest smile she could muster.
But despite her sweet outlook, she was actually cursing at her elder sister non-stop deep within her mind!
How could her elder sister say such a thing?
The other party was one of the Four Stars of Scarlet Moon City! Why would she ever be unwilling to go through with the marriage?
If she happened to not be around, wouldn't this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity be ruined by her elder sister's careless words?
Could it be that her elder sister was jealous of her current situation, and thus tried to sow discord between them?
What a joke!
Her elder sister could dream on!
As long as she was still alive, she would never allow such a thing to happen!
Once she got married to Beihua Wanlei, even if it was just as a concubine, her status in the Scarlet Moon Kingdom would be elevated to a completely different level.
At that time, her elder sister and her illustrious achievements would no longer mean anything before her!
Even that freak Nanlu Tianzi would not be able to take her lightly anymore!
"I see," Beihua Wanlei rubbed his chin in contemplation. "I think… I will change the arrangement! I still prefer the elder one after all!"
"Eh?" Nanlan Qianbing's smile froze.
What did Sir Beihua just say?
He still preferred… what?
Without giving Nanlan Qianbing a second look, Beihua Wanlei turned back towards Nanlan Qianxue. "I choose you over your sister! For that you can rejoice!"
"What?" Nanlan Qianxue could see the obvious shock on Nanlan Qianbing's face. "How can you change the arrangement just as you pleased?"
It seemed that Qianbing was really in favour of this arrangement, so Nanlan Qianxue could not help but feel a little bad about the current situation.
"You don't have to worry about that," Beihua Wanlei grinned. "As long as I, Beihua Wanlei, say the word, anything and everything can be changed! I am pretty sure your father will have no objections about the matter either!"
"Oh I definitely am worried! I am worried about you actually changing the current arrangement!" Nanlan Qianxue snapped back in response. "I have no interest in you whatsoever, so you can forget about it!"
Beihua Wanlei smirked. "We shall see about that. When the time comes, you might just end up begging me not to let you go!"
"Or you might be the one begging us to let you go!" Lu Tianzi interjected once more.
"You basta-!" Beihua Wanlei was about to curse at Lu Tianzi again when a glare from Beimu Fei caused him to stop. "Tch! I am watching you!"
After shooting one last glare at Lu Tianzi, Beihua Wanlei finally walked away from the group, choosing to sit in a corner all by himself. Of course, there were other youngsters who quickly rushed forward to chat with him, trying to seize the opportunity to form connections.
"Thank you for your help, Lady Beimu," Lu Tianzi nodded towards Beimu Fei.
His impression of Beimu Fei had increased slightly after she stepped out to aid him.
"You can just call me by my name," Beimu Fei shook her head. "In any case, I did nothing. But how are you planning to deal with Beihua Wanlei in the future? You do know that just your status of being a student of Formation Master Beimu is not going to be enough to stop him from acting against you, don't you?"
Lu Tianzi smiled wryly.
He did not truly have a plan this time.
What he was intending to do was to try and crush the other party in the upcoming Scarlet Moon Heroes Meet, directly bringing him down from this imaginary pedestal that he was on.
At that moment, their roles would be reversed, and Beihua Wanlei might have to be worried about him instead!
Of course, talk was cheap.
If he were to tell this plan to Beimu Fei right now, she would think that he was out of his mind.
At this moment, a cold questioning tone came from behind him.
"Elder sister, I know that asking you this at this juncture is rather pointless, but I want to hear the truth. Did you seduce Sir Beihua?"
Nanlan Qianbing's eyes were full of hatred as she stared at Nanlan Qianxue.
"What? No way!" Nanlan Qianxue could not believe what she was hearing. "Why would I do that? I have no interest in that Beihua Wanlei at all! Everything that I said to him just now was the truth!"
"Is that so?" Nanlan Qianbing harrumphed before walking away.
From her tone alone, it was obvious enough that she did not believe a single word of what Nanlan Qianxue just said.
"Are you all right with this?" Nanqing Haowen asked Nanlan Qianxue. "Want me to go try and explain things to her?"
Nanqing Haowen had not spoken earlier because Lu Tianzi was already doing the job. But seeing the current situation, he actually felt guilty for being so powerless.
If his Nanqing Family had been a top influence within the Scarlet Moon Kingdom as well, he might just have been able to step out and resolve the issue!
"No, it's fine," Nanlan Qianxue shook her head helplessly. "There is no way that she will believe you either."
"If you say so," Nanqing Haowen nodded.
He did not understand nearly enough of the mechanics within the Nanlan Family to form a clear picture, and therefore was not in a position to advise Nanlan Qianxue on what to do next.
Lu Tianzi felt just as helpless as he listened to the two sisters' exchange.
With the drama involving Beihua Wanlei blown over, the other youngsters watching the show quickly dispersed once more and returned to what they were doing before.
Over time, the number of people within the Battle Arena steadily increased, and the seats were packed fully with people before long.
"Announcing the arrival of His Majesty the King!"
The loud voice reverberated throughout the Battle Arena, and everyone immediately hushed their conversations.
Those who were seated hurriedly stood up as everyone turned their attention to the entrance, where the Scarlet Moon Overlord was taking his time to slowly enter with his retainers in tow.
The Scarlet Moon Overlord was a stout man wearing a thick beard, and looked no more than forty years old. He was dressed entirely in bright red clothes, adorned with rows of gold and jewels.
Ordinary gold and jewels would have been worthless to martial artists, but the Scarlet Moon Overlord had material inscriptions specially placed upon them.
After the enhancement from the inscriptions, these gold and jewels were now considerably precious treasures even in the eyes of martial artists!
But the most significant point about the Scarlet Moon Overlord was that from him, Lu Tianzi was able to sense a power far beyond that of the Origin Core realm.
Yes, the reason why the Scarlet Moon Overlord got his title was because he had already broken past the Origin Core realm, entering the Overlord realm!
Lu Tianzi's eyes widened in shock.
Even after everything that he had gone through, he had once again been too complacent!
And this carelessness might just cost him his life this time!
With all the elders being at the Origin Core realm, Lu Tianzi had taken for granted that the maximum level of the entire Scarlet Moon Kingdom should at most be at the peak of Origin Core realm.
Lu Tianzi never would have expected that the king himself was actually someone who was at the Overlord realm!
He gripped the jade pendant hanging around his neck in nervousness.
Not good!
He needed to leave, as soon as possible, without regard for any consequences that it might bring.
Even if it meant he had to give up on the entire Scarlet Moon Heroes Meet, then so be it!
Currently, he was still hidden among the crowd.
But the moment the Scarlet Moon Overlord chose to sweep his perception over Lu Tianzi, it would be all over for him!