Chapter 140 – Provoke

“That’s the Alioth Star Lord?”

“Wow, he’s so good-looking!”

“Yes! I also heard that…”

Two female Inner Breath Realm disciples whispered among each other, saying things like, “The queen wanted to marry Ling Wuxia to the Alioth Star Lord, but she didn’t turn up.”

So everyone has already heard about that? Then, Xie Lianzhen’s reputation…

“So what if he’s good-looking?” a young disciple sighed. “The more good-looking he is, the more of a pity it is! He’s like a pearl covered in dust.”

“What’s sad is that he looks perfect, but he has flaws.”

That’s not “a pearl covered in dust,” it’s just a slight blemish….

“…Junior Niece Lu?”

“Hmm?” Lu Mingshu was called back to earth.

Tan Yubing pointed in a direction, “Don’t stare blankly into space, the king of Zhongzhou is coming over.”

As the hosts, he and the queen came to greet the guests personally to show that they valued the Qilin Festival very much.

With a respectable grandmaster in their team, the Nine Jade Palace team was one of the first few to be welcomed.

Along with the crowd, Lu Mingshu stood up and greeted them.

The king of Zhongzhou had a short talk with the chaperone before heading to the next area.

As they passed Lu Mingshu, the queen suddenly stopped in her tracks, “Is this Miss Lu?”

“The queen has good eyesight,” Yin Hong immediately replied. “This is the eldest daughter of out Sect Leader, and the only disciple of Senior Brother Liu Jizhen. In the last Heavenly Door competition, she had an outstanding result by winning against eighteen disciples in a row and getting first place.”

Lu Mingshu gave her a death stare.

Aren’t you being too hardworking as an Elder of the Nine Jade Palace? The queen and king might be noble, but the sect isn’t under their control.

Even though that’s what she really thought, Lu Mingshu still plastered a smile on her face and bowed to the queen.

The queen was very affectionate and held Mingshu’s hand as she scanned her. She smiled warmly at Lu Mingshu, “Such a pretty girl you are! Moreover, you’re so outstanding even at such a young age. Your father is blessed to have you.”

Yin Hong smiled happily, “The queen is too kind.”

Lu Mingshu looked up, “I dare not.”

The alienated tone made Yin Hong’s heart skip a beat. With that attitude, what if she angers the queen?

But in no time, she heard Lu Mingshu add on, “…In front of the queen, how could I dare to say I’ve met the standard?”

This made the King of Zhongzhou smile. He turned to the queen, “This little girl here is sweet.”

The queen turned and glared at the king, “How is she a little girl? Have you not seen how old she is?”

The King of Zhongzhou burst into laughter. He scanned Lu Mingshu up and down and commented, “Indeed talented, and she’s able to keep her composure. If you work harder, you are sure to succeed.”

The praise was so good that even Kang Tian didn’t dare to agree it.

The queen and king looked at each other and headed over to the next area.

It was hard to hide the delight on Yin Hong’s face. The queen praised Lu Mingshu in front of the crowd, showing that she was pleased with her. As long as nothing went wrong, Yin Hong’s job would be done.

“Hmph!” somebody cut her off with a sneer. “Senior Sister Yin seems to be very happy, huh? Are you perhaps from the Seventh Truth Platform?”

Yin Hong’s face turned dark, “You…!”

The Seventh Truth Platform was connected to the king of Zhongzhou directly, and the queen even had a say in what they did. An Tongcheng said what he did to mock that Yin Hong was bootlicking the queen so much that she was acting like her servant.

“Aren’t you too happy? Even if there’s some benefit, I doubt you would be given anything, my dear Senior Sister.”

What An Tongcheng said ticked Yin Hong off, “Junior Brother An, what exactly do you mean? Benefits? I was sent here to build a good relationship with the king of Zhongzhou; where the hell did I do anything wrong, huh?”

An Tongcheng wiggled his eyebrows and asked playfully, “Do you really want me to spill the beans?”

Yin Hong’s face turned even darker.

An Tongcheng laughed at her expression, “If you dare listen, I’m more than willing to spill it!”

Yin Hong was planning to murder this man in her heart. She tried her best to calm herself down, but seeing his smile from the corner of her eyes made her irritated. No wonder Zhou Yinru hates him. This freaking snake, biting people everywhere he goes. I wouldn’t give a damn about him if not for Grandmaster Zhuo.

However, Yin Hong seemed to forget that, among the three chaperones, Kang Tian was here to protect the group, Yin Hong was here because Zhou Miaoru sent her to handle some affairs, and An Tongchen was here because he was representing the Nine Jade Palace.

“Junior Niece Lu,” Tan Yubing nudged her softly, her eyes filled with worry.

Lu Mingshu smiled at her, “It’s okay.”

“But…”

“It’s really okay. What should come, will come.”

Lu Mingshu was calm. Meeting the queen was a good thing for her; only by getting to meet her would Lu Mingshu get to know her and make better plans.

……

As the ceremony continued, a disciple suddenly shrieked, “Look!”

A man jumped onto the roof and stood on the stone tablet.

This guy was tall and buff, and seeing the horns on his head, he was obviously a barbarian.

Arrogantly, he faced the people below and shouted, “I heard that the Chinese martial artists are very talented, so we barbarians are curious. I am here to learn!”

The crowd immediately went into an uproar.

What “here to learn”? His tone clearly told everyone that he was obviously here to fight.

He was provoking them! Everyone had closed an eye since the barbarians arrived, yet now they were provoking them?

“Such an arrogant little bastard!”

“Who the hell do you think you are?”

“Get down from the Hero Ranking!”

“Behaving atrociously at Zhongzhou, do you think that there’s nobody in China?”

This barbarian was not only provoking everyone, he was even standing on the Hero Ranking, showing that he looked down on them.

“The barbarians are finally coming out,” Tan Yubing heaved a sigh of relief.

“Harmonization Realm,” Shao Zhengyang commented calmly. “He’s being sent just as a test.”

“What do they want? Leave their name on the Hero Ranking?” Tan Yubing furrowed her eyebrows. “If they really did leave their name there…”

It would be like slapping the humans right in their faces.

Mankind and the barbarians had been enemies for a long time, and the Hero Ranking was the pride of China, so what would it mean if even barbarians got to leave their names there?

Lu Mingshu shook her head, “I doubt it. If that’s what they wanted, the queen wouldn’t have invited them.”

Lu Mingshu was unaware of what the queen wanted, but she obviously wouldn’t slap her own species in the face. In addition, the king of Zhongzhou was present, and there were no Assimilation Realm barbarians present. If anything happened, the king would be enough to control the situation.

Shao Zhengyang looked at her with praise.

Hanging out with Kou Wei and the rest for such a long time, he obviously knew some inside information, but Lu Mingshu didn’t.

Amongst the commotion, somebody stood up and shouted, “This barbarian, how dare you act so arrogant? Let me teach you a lesson.”

Within no time, the person leapt onto the roof.

Looking at the person, Lu Mingshu widened her eyes in shock.

Him? Yu Kuang? He’s not someone who’s impulsive; why did he jump out?

Lu Mingshu glanced over at the Seventh Truth Platform. None of them seemed worried about Yu Kuang; all of them looked calm. Oh, so that’s why.

The opponent was here as a test, and so was Yu Kuang.