Chapter 333 - Conclusion to the Competition

"At Lingxin," Yujia said with a slight drawl in her voice, "These are but the most basic of techniques taught to students. We are an art school, after all." 

The elder kept glancing at the painting. His hands trembled. "The way you painted the entire composition, the contrast between details and mystery… it is a painting that reflects the inner soul, a painting of true Spirit Resonance! I have not seen a painting of such caliber in… so, so long. You, girl— no, Lingxin disciple— you have true, shining talent."

While her fellow Lingxin disciples were quite smug, as most of them knew of her skill with painting before, those from Guozijian were practically gaping. They muttered amongst themselves, and Yujia knew what they were discussing, though she could not hear them clearly this time. It had to be disbelief. Disbelief that she, as a female, was able to create a painting of this level.

"The winner is clear." The elder announced, "You— Lingxin Pavilion wins!" 

A loud cheer immediately rose up from the Lingxin disciples. Meanwhile, the Guozijian students frowned greatly, shaking their heads and throwing their hands up.

Han Shiche moved forward, slamming his hand on the table with indignance. His eyes darted around as he bit his lower lip. "Teacher—" he hissed under his breath, too quiet for others that were standing at a distance to hear, but to Yujia, who was standing right across, she heard what he said clearly.

"Teacher?" Yujia immediately echoed, raising an eyebrow.

The disciples around her caught on quickly, murmuring the word that Yujia had heard.

Han Shiche stopped. He stepped back, realizing his grave mistake. Yujia wasn't about to let him go so easily, though.

The corner of her lip twitched up. "So, this elder here is your teacher?" Before he could respond, she turned to Ye Yunhe, asking, "Senior Brother, if I remember correctly, didn't you say that the judge for this round would be an impartial outsider? How could it be a teacher from Guozjjian?"

Yunhe confirmed her statement. 

At this, Rong Yuan declared, "This is unfair! A teacher of Guozijian will naturally hold bias towards their own students. If not for my Senior Sister's immense talent, then we would've lost this rigged competition."

Han Shiche held his hand up, hastily replying, "There must be a misunderstanding! It was a coincidence— "

"What misunderstanding? What coincidence?" Rong Yuan scoffed. "Let me guess, the fact that you arrived a whole hour before us was simply a 'coincidence' as well?" 

"That's not a coincidence! It was skill. You all were just slow and incapable. Can't even admit to your losses," a disciple of Guozijian remarked with disdain.

"Incapable? Who's incapable?" Rong Yuan leaned forward, eyes filled with pure rage. "You dare to call this Young Master incapable? You're the one who's incapable. Your entire family—" 

"That's enough." Yunhe stepped in front of Rong Yuan, holding a hand out. He mediated, "Let's remain civil. But… since you claim it to be just a misunderstanding, please explain. Coincidentally, the judge for the second round of the competition is your teacher. Coincidentally, Guozijian also arrived ahead of Lingxin by a full hour. If it was only one of those coincidences, I might believe, but don't you think that these two coincidences, both intended to make Lingxin automatically lose the competition, are too… coincidental? The world does not have perfect coincidences like that, don't you think? Please do clear up the misunderstandings for us, Noble Han."

Yunhe's words left Han Shiche speechless. 

Yujia looked at Yunhe through her peripheral vision, smiling on the inside. 

Now, that was a good way to put it, compared to Rong Yuan's emotionally heated language. Although Yunhe appeared to be looking for a civil explanation, it was clear that he was grabbing onto the weakness of Han Shiche's argument. No matter what excuses the disciples of Guozijian spoke after this point, the fact would remain clear to all: Guozijian cheated on both rounds of the competition. Yunhe's words set the truth in stone.

She was proud that her typically dense senior brother had moments like these. He was getting better with his leadership. 

In search for an explanation, Han Shiche fumbled with his words. It was quite painfully obvious that he didn't intend to be exposed like such. He likely never guessed that his very own teacher would be so moved by a piece of artwork that he would even turn on his own students.  Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click <a href="#!_11701767605489305/conclusion-to-the-competition_52358384363562019">#!_11701767605489305/conclusion-to-the-competition_52358384363562019</a> for visiting.

After a bunch of blabbering on Han Shiche's end, which Yujia did not pay much attention to— she did not care for his flimsy excuses—  Yunhe gave his input, saying, "Since so many faults happened within the competition, I say that we cancel it. Let us not hang ourselves up over winning or losing schools." 

Han Shiche was silent for a moment, then grudgingly replied, "Alright. The competition is canceled."

There were exclamations of anger from the groups of students in both schools, seemingly upset that their hard work climbing up the mountain was simply dismissed with a canceled competition. However, since the leaders of both groups had arrived at this conclusion, there was nothing much that they could do. It would be awkward to continue pressing for a competition at this point. The students exchanged spiteful glares across to their rival group, and after that tense stare-down, Guozijian students finally decided to be the first to go, turning to leave the mountain top.

Their teacher, that biased elder, lingered behind for an extra moment. Holding the edges of Yujia's painting in his hands, he approached her and bowed. "Lingxin Disciple, may I request that you give this painting to me?" he asked.

Seeing such an old man bow down to her, Yujia panicked, swiftly reaching forward to get him to stand straight. "Elder—" she began, then paused. 

This was the same man that moments ago looked at her with the same disdain as the rest of the Guozijian disciples. This was the same man that was barely willing to spare her work even a glance. And now, this man was bowing to her, putting down his pride and requesting that she give him the work she only spent fifteen minutes on.

He was already lowering his pride to this level. For a split moment, Yujia considered rejecting his request and damaging his pride even more, but then, that idea flitted away. She did not want to be so petty and hold grudges against an old man like this. She didn't think that humiliating someone in a situation like this would bring her any good or joy at all, even if it was the same person that dismissed her so easily.

"Elder, you may take it," she told him, giving a solemn smile. "It would be my honor for you to see so highly of my work."

With a purely courteous statement like that, the matter ended. The elder took her painting and left. The Lingxin disciples spent some more time at the top, observing the view and doing some extra art practice, before they, too, decided to leave.

The mess of that competition ended in a surprisingly calm manner. Yujia was quite happy with how things ended up as well. Even though there was no winner in the end, she felt like the experience had been enriching.

However, her viewpoint did not seem to be shared by the other disciples. As they made their way down the mountain, Rong Yuan protested to Yunhe, "Senior Brother, I just don't understand! Why did you have to cancel the competition? We probably could've gathered enough evidence to see exactly how they cheated on the first round to completely destroy Guozijian's face in the art world. Are relations between Lingxin and Guozijian really that important?"

To reply, Yunhe shook his head, speaking loudly that everyone could hear, "This is not a matter of what the relationsh.i.p.s between two schools are like. We had the upperhand in this situation. So indeed, we could've gone through with the competition, but the third round was a luck contest. There's no telling what cheating may occur, or the fact that our luck is simply too bad, which could lead to our loss. That would be like handing a win to Guozijian. Of course, we could've also exposed them for cheating on the spot, but which rumors sound better? Guozijian cheated on a competition, and Lingxin heatedly exposes them, or Guozijian cheated on a competition, and Lingxin deals with it with grace? Rumors are bound to be spread about the competition that has occurred today. We might as well seem as the bigger people in these stories. Stepping back is not always a loss."

Rong Yuan had to agree. Yujia, too, observed Yunhe with admiration. She didn't expect these words to ever come from her senior brother.

Nudging Yunhe with her elbow, she gave him a small round of applause.

He grinned back at her, proudly, leaning to the side and telling her, "Thank you for doing what you did today, Junior Sister. If not for your actions, I'm not sure what would've happened."

"Anytime." She grinned back at him. "Next time, Senior Brother, just know that if you need any help, don't be afraid to speak up. You don't have to carry everything on your own."

His smile softened. "En."