Chapter 97

Chapter 97: A Slap in the Face

On the grass, Lin Xin’s voice suddenly sounded—clear and ringing, drawing sidelong glances from the spectators.

They had long heard that the Lin and Lu Families were like fire and water. Now that direct heirs of both families had clashed, no one knew what sparks would fly.

Zhou Luo turned sideways, thoroughly startled as he looked at her.

Wearing an expression of fury, Lin Xin fixed her beautiful eyes on Lu An and said coldly, "Show him exactly where the gap lies between the Lin and Lu Families."

Lu An smiled without speaking.

Zhou Luo felt utterly helpless. He stepped forward and lowered his voice: "Third Young Lady of the Lin Family, I have no magical artifact to stake against him."

Of course, this was merely an excuse.

First, the Lin Family’s dignity had nothing to do with him. Second, to hide his strength, he’d intentionally answered several questions wrong and wasn’t sure he could defeat Lu An decisively.

When success wasn’t guaranteed, Zhou Luo saw no point in wasting time accepting such a low-stakes challenge.

"I’ll provide it."

Lin Xin’s voice hardened. A flash of spiritual light shimmered on her pale right hand as a three-foot-long sword manifested in her palm.

The sword gleamed silver-white, its entire blade radiant under the sunlight, exuding a sharp aura.

Golden patterns adorned the hilt, and a pink tassel drifted down—splendorous beyond measure.

This was a top-level first-level magical artifact. Even its faintly visible sword energy alone proved its extraordinary nature.

Unlike Zhou Luo, fierce family pride forbade Lin Xin from enduring Lu An’s mockery.

Win or lose, she had to accept the challenge. Otherwise, if this spread, the Lin Family would become a laughingstock.

Clang—

Lin Xin raised her sword, pointing its tip directly at Lu An across from her: "This is a high-quality magic sword. What will you wager?"

The words "top-level" stunned everyone.

No one had expected the Third Young Lady of the Lin Family would stake a top-level first-level magical artifact—such extravagance.

Lu An’s face swiftly changed color.

Wagering a high-grade magical artifact had never crossed his mind.

Meeting her beautiful eyes, Lu An flipped his palm. A white glow surged forth, revealing a silver treasured sword.

Its aura, though, fared weaker than Lin Xin’s blade.

"My magical artifact is only mid-grade," he declared emphatically, "but I’ll add one vial of a beauty potion and two vials of spirit-boosting potion."

Both the beauty potion and spirit-boosting potion ranked as middle first-level potions.

Combined with his mid-grade magical artifact sword, their value matched Lin Xin’s high-quality magic sword.

Upon hearing their stakes, Zhou Luo froze inwardly, calling himself an idiot.

He’d never anticipated this wager—much less prizes so rich.

Had he known earlier, he wouldn’t have intentionally answered so many questions wrong.

"Fine." Lin Xin tilted her chin upward, her face impassive. "I’ll ensure you regret this decision."

These words made it seem like she was gambling with him, even more confident than the person involved.

"Hmph, you’re the one who should regret it!"

Lu An snorted coldly and turned to leave.

Once he had left, Lin Xin sheathed her sword and looked seriously at Zhou Luo: "You must win because you represent the Lin Family."

"Third Young Lady, I can only say I tried my best before! But… that bet?" Zhou Luo asked tentatively.

"If you win, it naturally belongs to you," Lin Xin said generously.

The corners of Zhou Luo’s lips lifted as he declared solemnly, "Third Young Lady, rest assured, I don’t even take a small Lu Family seriously."

Hearing this, Lin Xin raised her eyebrow.

She thought to herself that earlier, he hadn’t acted like this.

After speaking, Zhou Luo didn’t linger; he turned around directly, returned to his room, and practiced cultivation.

"Lu An’s strength isn’t weak."

Beside Lin Xin, Wang Yu Wei’s voice sounded slowly.

She knew Lu An quite well; he had studied here for three consecutive years, and each time at the Spiritual Pill Conference, he performed excellently, with results always in the top three.

"Do I have another choice?" Lin Xin retorted, but then shifted her tone: "Though…"

She gazed at the tall figure’s back, her beautiful eyes sparkling: "I think he shouldn’t disappoint, right?"

But she wasn’t sure in her heart…

However, she couldn’t tolerate Lu An showing off there and stepping on the Lin Family’s reputation to advance himself!

Not even trying and just backing down wasn’t the style of her, the Lin Family’s Third Young Lady!

Even if she lost, it was better than being mocked by others without daring to utter a word; she was determined!

Just one magical artifact, though painful to lose, was acceptable.

But…

She still hoped Zhou Luo could win!

…

In the afternoon, Zhou Luo appeared again.

At this moment, on the grassland, some people had gathered, with Lu An among them.

Seeing him appear, another Lu Family member deliberately raised his voice and said, "Looks like my cousin will gain a top-grade magical artifact today."

"Absolutely, a small live-in son-in-law, does he really think he has much ability?" Lu An enjoyed these words greatly, revealing a disdainful expression on his face.

Zhou Luo remained indifferent; he walked silently to his own spot.

"Truly the Lin Family’s dog, no, not even a dog, since dogs at least bark twice."

His silence only fueled the arrogance of both; the other Lu Family member mocked openly, saying whatever was most offensive.

Zhou Luo’s gaze turned cold.

Indeed, the most annoying were those flies buzzing in the ear.

Just as he was about to speak, a cyan rainbow pierced through the sky and landed in the field.

Zheng Ting Tao appeared again.

Lu An and the others immediately shut their mouths and stood in their positions with utmost respect, heads bowed, posture extremely humble.

Seeing this, Zhou Luo sneered inwardly several times.

Zheng Ting Tao stood with his hands behind his back, waited until everyone was assembled, scanned the surroundings, then raised his right hand and lightly waved it.

A beam of light shot out from his palm, landed mid-air, exploded with a bang, turned into countless specks of light, and instantly gathered into a light screen.

On the light screen were written everyone’s names and their respective scores.

Among the crowd, Lu An first glanced at Zhou Luo, his extremely arrogant face brimming with confidence.

That expression seemed to say, "This is the first step in trampling you under my feet."

Then, he leisurely raised his head and directly looked toward the top of the light screen.

"First place must be mine."

He gazed over and was startled to see the name in the first place position.

"Zhou Luo, ninety-five points!"

Lu An, who had been smiling, froze abruptly. He stared at the name in disbelief and even unconsciously rubbed his eyes.

How could this be?

How could he be first place?

He was only at the sect for the first time! Why would he have such a high score?!

Lu An felt a chill run through his body, and his heart was roiled by tumultuous waves.

He stared at the words on the light screen in utter shock, completely unable to believe what he saw was real.

The others all saw it too, causing an uproar. Everyone’s face showed expressions of disbelief.

They looked at Zhou Luo as if he were a monster.

Inside, Zhou Luo was also confused.

No.

He had intentionally gotten several questions wrong, so why was he still first place?

For a moment, he didn’t quite react.

Then, he looked at the second place position.

"Lu An, seventy points!"

How come second place only had seventy points?

Zhou Luo immediately realized he had misjudged.

In his eyes, the questions on this written examination weren’t fundamentally different from those at the last Spiritual Pill Conference; since he knew them all anyway, he naturally compared them.

But what was unknown to him was that the sect’s written examination was far more difficult than the previous entry test.

The others’ scores couldn’t even reach excellence; they only narrowly passed.

And his bright ninety-five points was practically slapping everyone in the face.

Zhou Luo hadn’t expected this outcome either.

Feeling everyone’s intense gaze, he shrugged, quite helpless.

Beside him, Lin Xin also saw the results above and was extremely excited.

Although her performance was last place, she didn’t feel sad at all; instead, her smile remained on her face.

That thrill of thoroughly slapping down an enemy, trampling them underfoot, made her heart surge with joy.

She turned her head and smiled happily at Zhou Luo for the first time.

Zhou Luo paused for a moment.

He hadn’t thought that the always proud and cold Third Young Lady would actually smile in front of him one day?

Next to Lin Xin, Wang Yu Wei also looked at him with a smile in her eyes and at her brow.

She thought it was only right; this was the Zhou Luo she recognized.

At this moment, Lu An, who trailed him by a full twenty-five points, had a face as dark as iron, hands clenched tightly, teeth gritted stubbornly.

His previous confidence vanished entirely, replaced by anger and humiliation.

"Wait, just you wait, I will definitely trample you fiercely under my feet!"

Inside, Lu An raged wildly, wishing he could tear Zhou Luo to shreds.

Disregarding everyone’s expressions, Zheng Ting Tao spoke out, "In ten minutes, the top six come to the main hall for the martial skills competition."

After saying this, he put away the light screen and walked toward the building next to the alchemy room.