"Welcome to the last day of the second stage of the Intersect Competition!" the emcee said. "Today, elder Pai will pick the contestants for the matches!" He said as he gave the boxes to Pai Lie who looked enthusiastic.
Everyone already knew he wanted to see Cheng Sheng's performance. They already have heard him declaring during the night banquet of the preliminary stages when the winner was announced, he was dissatisfied because Cheng Sheng chose the martial arts test instead of Array Drawing where no one had passed. He wanted for Cheng Sheng to demonstrate his skills right then and there but the other elders of the Alliance, as well as Xie Lan, Chen Jing and Wu Yuan, stopped him. The Array masters are greatly lacking in number compared to the masters in the other areas of the alchemy. Aside from Pai Lie, there's no one else who masters in alchemy nor there's anyone who is knowledgeable in alchemy. Not until Cheng Sheng appeared.
"Elder Pai looks excited." The audience said as they smiled. It's as if they can feel Pai Lie's excitement.
"And happy." They added.
"He would, since Cheng Sheng is guaranteed to have his match today!" they laughed, but it's not a mocking laugh. They're just amused of Pai Lie's behavior. It must be tough for him since he's the only one who mastered in arrays. And he is alone, since he had no one to talk to about the arrays. Now that Cheng Sheng appeared, everyone could understand his enthusiasm.
"Yeah. And he will be the one who'll be picking Cheng Sheng's name." they said.
"You guys… aren't all of us excited? After all, it's the genius mage of the Chen Clan!" someone said.
"You're right. There'll definitely be a good show to watch!" they said and smiled at each other.
"Cheng-shixiong… everyone's cheering you on!" Lei Ling exclaimed as he looked around and felt overwhelmed of how high the tension today.
"Not just me. It's because today's the last day." Cheng Sheng shrugged as he looked around while waiting for Pai Lie to pick the contestants' name.
"First match!" Pai Lie said, his eyes are shining in excitement. "Youxiwang Sect, Sun Yi!" he said. A bit of disappointment registered on his face but he didn't lose hope. "Opponent. Huakai Sect - !" he said and read the disciple's name. Even though it wasn't Cheng Sheng, but his mood wasn't dampened. Cheng Sheng will definitely have his match today, since it is the last day!
"Sun-shixiong, good luck!" You Rou said as she raised her fists and nodded at him in encouragement.
"We're cheering you on!" Lei Ling said.
"Aren't they lovely?" Sun Yi whispered to Chen Han, then he smiled at the Xinfaxian Sect disciples. "Thank you." He told them and jumped on the stage at the same time his opponent did.
"Sun-shixiong will win, right?" Li Tian said when he saw Sun Yi's opponent looked strong. It's someone from the Huakai Sect, after all.
"Of course he will." Chen Han assured his fiancé, Li Tian. "Sun Yi might look carefree, but in fact, he's as strong as me. Look." He said as he looked at the stage.
Everyone turned, only to be greeted by a strong gust of wind that came from stage after Sun Yi rushed towards his opponent and gave him a hundred strikes.
"Amazing!" they exclaimed in awe.
Sun Yi's opponent can't find any openings nor any chance to counterattack. Sun Yi flashed like a lightning and attacked him! "UGH!" he cried when he felt his stomach was kicked. Then, the next second, he felt his body was flying in the air. "ACK!" he cried when his back hit the wall.
"OOOOH!!! Youxiwang Sect is crazily strong!" the audience cheered and made a round of applause as Sun Yi smiled.
"His opponent is also strong, too, to receive those punches from Sun Yi." Someone said.
"That's right. The Huakai Sect are all tough people. Wasn't it shown when Tang Zhe received the Xinfaxian Sect's female sword cultivator's fast attacks?" they asked. They're referring to Lei Qing.
"Yeah. Even though he won by an accident, but it wasn't determined who will win between him and her." somebody said.
"That's right. That's right." They nodded in agreement.
"Winner, Sun Yi of Youxiwang Sect!" the emcee announced.
"YEAHHH!!! Sun-shixiong!!!" the Xinfaxian Sect disciples cried as they waved at Sun Yi who turned and also waved back at them. Then, Sun Yi left the stage for the next match.
On the other side, Jing Cheng and Xi Ming watched the Xinfaxian Sect and the Youxiwang Sect as usual.
"Second young master Sun is really terrible." Xi Ming said. "If not because he's already married to sect leader Wu, the Sun family and the Shanliangde Sect would take him back even if it's already this late." He said, his expression serious.
Jing Cheng nodded. "He and Chen Han will be an elder in the Youxiwang Sect after this competition. There'll be more vacancy left in the rankings." He said.
Jing Bai was closely listening while Jing Hei and Qian Lin were playing around beside him. Jing Kang, as usual, acted as an admirer of Lei Ling as well as a spy to the Xinfaxian Sect and Youxiwang Sect.
On the other hand, Xi Ning finally recovered herself and she looked calm now as she watched the match. Xi Ming must have persuaded her to overcome her psychological shadow and come here. She's sitting beside Xi Xing and Gong Xian, now looking composed. Xi Xing and Gong Xian are sleeping again. Meanwhile, Xi Shi had never come back. He chose to remain inside his room to avoid humiliating himself after he lost to Li Tian.
"The Youxiwang Sect will have a brighter future because of how excellent their future elders." Zheng Fu Gong told Wu Yuan who had a faint smile on his face.
Don't judge that Wu Yuan is disappointed. Instead, he's overjoyed. A faint smile is the greatest extent his face can show his emotions. "Thank you." He told Zheng Fu Gong as the other sect leaders also congratulated him. Wu Yuan felt very proud of Sun Yi. Even if Sun Yi would show a poor performance, he still would love him. The moment he had decided to give himself to him, he vowed to never let go of him.
"Sun-shidi. Congratulations." Chen Han told Sun Yi. "You've worked hard." He smiled.
"Thank you, da shixiong." Sun Yi said.
Chen Han laughed. "When we become elders, you cannot address me like that anymore." He told him.
"You're still our da shixiong." Sun Yi smiled. "Even Yuan agrees." He said and they looked at Wu Yuan who was looking at them. His usually cold eyes are shining.
Chen Han laughed. "You make us both proud." He told Sun Yi and patted his shoulder before he went back to Li Tian. He stared at Li Tian who was talking to Feng Mo before he smiled and held Li Tian's hand.
"Chen Han?" Li Tian called when he felt Chen Han held his hand. Chen Han leaned towards him and his face blushed when he thought Chen Han would kiss him.
"I can't wait to make you mine." Chen Han. "But I will patiently wait until you're ready." He said and stared at Li Tian's cute red face. "And when it happens, that day, you should change your address to me." he told him, his voice gentle.
"W-what… what should I call you?" Li Tian asked in a fluster. He lowered his head to avoid Chen Han's gaze.
Chen Han chuckled. "I'll leave it to Ah Tian." He told him and held his hand tight as they watched the third match that's about to start.
Feng Mo stared at Chen Han and Li Tian, his gaze is blank after they blinded him by their PDA1 and fed him dog food. Ah Bai… I want to see you! He thought and cried in his heart. However, that's impossible. Since only Fan Wen was left in the sect with the disciples, he had to protect the sect alone. However, since they found out Wu Bai is Wu Yuan's uncle who was disowned by their family, he told Wu Bai to secretly protect their sect and the Xinfaxian in case something happens.
Feng Mo sighed as he crossed his fingers. I hope everything's okay back at home. He thought and shook his head to concentrate on the matches. I have to work hard for the sect! He thought.
Cheng Sheng saw Feng Mo's worried expression and he kept his silence. "Is there something wrong, Cheng-shidi?" Fei Yin asked.
"… there's nothing." Cheng Sheng answered and turned to face the stage to watch the third match. It's not as if he hadn't thought of Xinfaxian and their sect. He felt relieved he had strengthened the barrier of the Xinfaxian. If something happens, he'll be the first to know.
But, of course, like Feng Mo, he hopes nothing will happen to their home.