107 The Final Round 2

Shen Yufeng nodded as she replied, "Alright then, I will wait until the duel is over first. This matter can wait until the duel is over."

Qin Keqin smiled, "That is right."

Then she turned to say to Shi Guanyin, "So who do you think will be able to win this final duel?"

Shi Guanyin smiled weakly, "You know my answer…"

Qin Keqin laughed softly, "Indeed I do."

A few days ago, they had a private discussion together and Shi Guanyin had told Qin Keqin that she had allowed Lu Qingyun to freely take three profound arts out of the Red Heaven Sword Library.

"He had taken out the Flaming Crimson Sword, the Winds Entropy Dance and the Phoenix Burst." She had mentioned to Qin Keqin.

"Mm, I had heard of this Flaming Crimson Sword before. It is actually not a bad sword art. As for the Phoenix Burst, I don't think that he is at that level yet. As for the Winds Entropy Dance, I don't see him putting much of an effort in his movement skills. He may be quick with his body but his stamina may be lacking. Maybe I should make him run up and down the mountains for the next few days?"

Shi Guanyin smiled weakly, "I did a profound aura tracing not long ago. It seems that he had given the Winds Entropy Dance to Lie Xingyuan while he practiced the Flaming Crimson Sword. My disciple Qiuyue had once mentioned to me that she had seen him wielding the strokes of the Flaming Crimson Sword."

"Isn't that good? My Yun'Er will surely rise to the occasion during the core protégé martial tournament." Qin Keqin said dreamily. "Soon, he will be able to shake off the shackles of being a good-for-nothing cultivator."

Shi Guanyin chuckled softly, "Waa, I'm amazed that even sect leader has heard of his nick."

Qin Keqin rolled her eyes as she laughed, "Of course…" Of course she knew about it. The entire New Empyrean City had all known about it as well and when it comes to gossips and rumors, there was no one better informed than Xuan Danfeng. Needless to say, Xuan Danfeng would naturally feed her all the updates.

Shi Guanyin smiled weakly, "However you must know that this Flaming Crimson Sword is an extremely difficult to pick up. Even for me, I need three years to be familiarized with the first stage of the Flaming Crimson Sword. As for the second stage of the Flaming Crimson Sword, most practitioners will require at least nine years or more to attain. As for me, I've only touched just the surface of the second stage. As for the third stage of the Flaming Crimson Sword the Lethal Burning Sword level, it is too hard for most of the practitioners to ever dream of attaining it."

"It is so hard to master this sword art?" Qin Keqin was startled.

Shi Guanyin nodded, "This sword art places a great demand on the practitioner's ability to use profound aura, sword energies and martial power at the same time. There is a reason why we have six martial halls here. No one can be equally good in all three aspects and moreover no one could use all three aspects at the same time. This will require a monstrous genius to be able to do it. Moreover he is only a first realm cultivator…"

Then she sighed softly, "Even my old master has only managed to barely attain to the third stage of this sword art and he took forty-nine years to do so. He had once told me that if he were to just focus on mastering the complete third stage of the Lethal Burning Sword level, he would need another forty-nine years."

Qin Keqin was truly startled as she muttered, "So that means my Yun'Er will surely lose in this martial competition…but he is…" Only she knew that he was now a fourth realm expert but what was the point of having so much profound strength when he did not even have a single good technique to use on his opponents? Her Yun'Er would surely end up as a punching bag for his opponents…

But Qin Keqin was truly the Devil Goddess. Therefore she had secretly approached Elder Ouyang to persuade him to help her to rig the martial competition.

Her plan was really simple; she had planned to let all the possible opponents of her Yun'Er to either have the bad possible luck or to exhaust their profound strength. By the time they were to fight Lu Qingyun, they would not be in their best peak condition.

"Mm, I need to find a weak opponent for my Yun'Er," she had secretly thought.

That weak opponent was Zhang Gang and the rest was history.

But she did not know that it was totally unnecessary to aid Lu Qingyun in secret. She was totally clueless how strong he was during the experiential mission, the night that he had stormed the Solitary Manor and that he had even completely mastered the Flaming Crimson Sword. At the same time, Lu Qingyun was also now a late stage fourth realm immortal celestial and he was the strongest cultivation expert among all the eighteen core protégés now.

She did not know that Lu Qingyun had almost spurt blood because he did not even get a single chance to show off in front of her…

Qin Keqin was now lifting the clan's scepter and shouting to Elder Ouyang, "Let the final duel begins!"

Elder Ouyang acknowledged by announcing aloud, "The final duel. Senior Brother Lu Qingyun versus Leng Qiuyue!"

Lu Qingyun was excited that he could finally have the chance to show off his martial prowess. Finally he could get rid of his good-for-nothing moniker today.

He had never expected that he could reach the final in such a manner and that his opponent would actually be Leng Qiuyue.

As he walked to the martial stage, Leng Qiuyue followed him as well.

Lu Qingyun greeted, "Junior sister, please forgive me in advance first. I don't want to lose and I want to obtain the Divine Profound Pill."

He knew that Leng Qiuyue was strong and she was even a fourth realm expert now. But he estimated that he had a seventy percent chance of winning her. Moreover she had already expended half of her profound strength during the tournament and he was still in a tip top condition.

He had to admit sadly that this fight was unfair for her but this was a duel that he had to win for many reasons.

Leng Qiuyue returned a smile as she nodded, "Senior brother, you don't have to worry at all. Please give me your instructions."

Lu Qingyun nodded awkwardly. Why was Leng Qiuyue suddenly giving him a smile all of a sudden? That was not her usual self. He had remembered her as the icy beauty since day one…

"She must have a secret card under her sleeves. I ought to be wary. Indeed, she is after all a more experienced fighter and will never reveal all her cards in a single duel." He thought and he was saying at the same time, "Please give me your instructions!"

Without much ado, he had displayed a forward sword stance. There was nothing special about this sword stance but it could guard him defensively while he mustered his profound aura…

But before he could even muster his profound aura to show off to the entire congregation and to show off to Qin Keqin especially, Leng Qiuyue suddenly said. "I concede. I am not senior brother's match."

Not only did Lu Qingyun's jaws dropped, so did Elder Ouyang and everyone else!

"I win?" Lu Qingyun stammered, "But we have not even begun…"

Leng Qiuyue smiled, "This is no rule that prevents anyone from conceding and moreover this is an acceptable rule for opponents to concede!"

Elder Ouyang stared blankly at Leng Qiuyue, "You…are sure?"

But Leng Qiuyue had already started to walk off the stage.

Elder Ouyang announced with great awkwardness, "Senior Brother Lu Qingyun has won…"

The entire congregation of protégés had all broken into loud incessant mutterings!

"Senior Brother Lu has actually won the martial tournament? Just like this?"

"Why did Senior Sister Qiuyue concedes to him? It is obvious that she is the stronger of the two!…"

"Maybe because he is the senior brother and she has wanted to give him some face…"

"I have heard rumors that senior brother and senior sister were alone in the wilderness for a few hours during the experiential mission…"

"That is because Senior Brother Qingyun is so dashing!"

"I have won so much money…"

"I have lost so much money…"

"It seems that Senior Brother only wins because he has a handsome look…"

"He is not just handsome alright? He has a charismatic aura that is lacking in so many others…"

"But it doesn't change the fact that he is only a first realm cultivator…"

"I don't believe this result…"

"Either do I…"

"A first realm cultivator has actually won the core protégé tournament. This is the first in the history of the Heavens Ridge Villa and will be unbreakable for a long time…"

"It is impossible to break such a record actually…"

As Lu Qingyun walked off the stage with Leng Qiuyue, they passed by some mutterings that could be overheard by their ears. "Icy beauty senior sister will never smile at anyone. Did you see the way she keeps smiling at senior brother throughout the martial tournament…"

"I think that senior brother and senior sister are secretly seeing each other…"

"For a woman to give up her honor for a man, there must something fishy between the two of them…"

Leng Qiuyue was flushing slightly and her eyes were panicky. She hurried her pace and so did Lu Qingyun when they had overheard the gossips about them.

The reason why Leng Qiuyue had conceded was because she knew how strong Lu Qingyun really was. He had killed the fourth rank Star Desolate Ape with a single stroke when he was an upper third realm expert. Moreover she had heard from Ling Chong and Ling Xiu who were from the Flying Armament Sect that he had killed fifth rank Hundred Eyes Beast as well.

These were feats that she was not able to do even if she were a fourth realm expert. When Ling Chong and Ling Xiu had secretly aided the Heavens Ridge Villa on the night attack on the Solitary Manor, she had personally witnessed how good they were. But even they had said that if Lu Qingyun was here, he would have done better than them.

In the entire clan, only Leng Qiuyue, Ouyang Xue and Lie Xingyuan knew that Lu Qingyun was an upper third realm expert during the experiential mission as he had revealed to them.

Leng Qiuyue had told Nangong Yu, Li Chen and Shi Guanyin that Lu Qingyun was a third realm expert when she was back after the experiential mission but they did not believe her at all. It was because it was impossible for anyone to show progression from the first realm to the third realm in such a short time. If she were them, she would not have believed it either.

Lu Qingyun almost really spurt blood as he walked away with a heavy heart. There was no joy in this victory. Not only did he fail to show off in front of Qin Keqin but he had also failed to shake off the shackle of the first realm good-for-nothing cultivator moniker…

Leng Qiuyue thought, "Why isn't senior brother looking glad at all? He should be happy for getting into the first place and obtaining the Divine Profound Pill, no?"

Qin Keqin was saying excitingly to everyone around her, "Did you all see that? My Yun'Er has actually won. He has won! This is a perfect victory!"

Shi Guanyin was stunned as she muttered, "Why did Qiuyue concede the duel? She would have been the winner and could have the Divine Profound Pill…don't tell me she…"

Yun Xing was smiling weakly, "This duel is totally unexpected…"

Lie Xingyuan was also startled that Leng Qiuyue had concede the match. She thought that she might not lose because she was actually the more experienced fighter.

Yin Shisi said coolly, "This is a most impressive duel."

Everyone except for Qin Keqin reacted in their minds after hearing her: This is a most unimpressive duel…

Qin Keqin was really happy. In fact, she was happier than Lu Qingyun and it was like she was actually the victor in this martial competition. It showed in her alluring countenance and her soft laughs.

Shen Yufeng took the opportunity to say to Qin Keqin, "Congrats to your direct core protégé for clinching the first place."

Qin Keqin returned a heartwarming smile, "Of course. He is the best!"

Shen Yufeng smiled, "He must have defeated many of the top experts before the final round. I wish that I was there to witness it."

Everyone else: …

Everyone else thought except for Yin Shisi: Lucky she was not here. The first four rounds are a joke.

Shen Yufeng proceeded to say, "Fragrance Elder, about the two matters. Can I raise it now?"

Qin Keqin looked at her curiously, "Yes, sure?"

Shen Yufeng waved her hands as she took out hundreds of scrolls from her spatial ring, "The Heavenly Fragrance Princess has offered these scrolls to you as a personal gift. These are the petitions that are sent her from the various people and clans from New Empyrean City. You may wish to know who they are and wish to be on guard against them."

The grand elders were startled as they saw the hundreds of scrolls. That was a little too many complaints. It seemed that there were many that had wanted the Heavens Ridge Villa to vanish from New Empyrean City.

Qin Keqin rolled her eyes before she chuckled, "Burn them."

Shen Yufeng was startled, "Burn them? You don't wish to take a look first?"

Qin Keqin laughed softly, "That won't be necessary. I've probably already made enemies out of the entire city. These petitions are probably just the tip of an iceberg. Moreover, I don't have the time to deal with them one by one. Moreover I am now the Fragrance Elder now and they should be afraid now. Why add on to their fears?"

Shen Yufeng nodded as she said, "Alright then." She was the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing and naturally did not have the time to deal with them. To the people in New Empyrean, she was just a fifth realm golden celestial and the acting sect leader of Heavens Ridge Villa. With the added status as Fragrance Elder now, she got nothing to fear from them anymore.

If she really wanted to deal with them directly, it was as easy as crushing a roving ant for she was a peaked seventh realm expert with almost no equal in the Nine Celestial Fraternity.

"As for the second matter, the Heavenly Fragrance Princess will like to host the upcoming Divine Fragrance Tournament in New Empyrean City and she will like Fragrance Elder to officiate it."

Everyone was startled. The Divine Fragrance Tournament was a most important cultivator event in the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm and it was held every thirty years in different regions of the Divine Fragrance Tournament to allocate cultivation resources and to select potential female protégés from the various celestial clans to join the Patriarch Clan Heavenly Fragrance Villa. Anyone who was below the fifth realm level could participate in it.

Qin Keqin clapped her hands and answered without any hesitation, "My Yun'Er…I mean my Heavens Ridge Villa will surely win the Divine Fragrance Tournament!"

Shi Guanyin and Kong Guxin were exchanging a look in secret. The Divine Fragrance Tournament had never been host in New Empyrean City before. Although New Empyrean City was a second tier celestial city but it was not the most powerful second tier powerhouse in the region. For the Divine Fragrance Tournament to be hosted in New Empyrean City, this was considered to be an extremely prestigious honor in the region.

Shen Yufeng smiled, "The Divine Fragrance Tournament will be starting in a month time. In the meantime, we will be staying here to assist Fragrance Elder in all matters."

All the grand elders and nearby elders that had overheard her had their hearts racing excitingly. Not only would New Empyrean City host the Divine Fragrance Tournament, it was the Heavens Ridge Villa that would be hosting it and the Heavenly Fragrance Heralds were all staying here. This was such a great honor!

Story note:

This chapter concludes the first major story arc which introduces all the powerhouses and major characters of New Empyrean City. The next chapter will begin the second major story arc. Lu Qingyun is still the good-for-nothing cultivator in the eyes of everyone (laughs) and that is why the story titled is The Good-For-Nothing Cultivator (Sheepish Look). Hope you have plenty of laughs during the first major story arc;)