Chapter 24
Chapter 24
There were many inns and shops outside of Sky Cloud Sect but these establishments were operated by the sect’s disciples. Outsiders had no means to get into business there.
With tens of thousands Sky Cloud Sect disciples living in Sky Mountains, needs would certainly have to be to fulfill. Hence, these inns and restaurants became the haven of Sky Cloud Sect disciples.
Abundance Restaurant was the go-to place in Sky Cloud Sect. Even though the dishes there were the best, the price was beyond affordable, hence regular disciples could not afford to dine at such a place.
However, the only ones who could afford a place like this were either genius disciples or highly-skilled masters, as they were the only ones who had spiritual stones at their disposal.
“Senior Sister, please come in.
“Would it be the private room or main hall? The lowest expenditure for the private room is five hundred spiritual stones while the main hall is two hundred spiritual stones.”
A Tier Three Warrior disciple greeted the group of people that had arrived at the entrance of Abundance Restaurant. Judging by the way they dressed, the rest did not look like they were rich apart from Tang Zimeng, who carried herself with a goddess-like bearing.
So, the disciple only greeted Tang Zimeng and ignored the rest including Li Lingtian. With eyes that spoke of disdain towards Li Lingtian’s group, he announced the price tag on the private room and main hall.
“Five hundred spiritual stones?”
Li Lingtian gasped in surprise. His comical gesture left Xue Da and the rest stunned. After all, there was no need for an exaggerated show of emotion.
“Hehe.”
The hosting disciple who had welcomed the group showed his contempt upon noticing Li Lingtian’s reaction and labeled him as another country bumpkin. However, Li Lingtian’s following statement threw a curveball at the disciple.
“Five hundred spiritual stones? So little? Well, there’s no class to that.
“Fine, we’ll make do.”
Li Lingtian smacked the hosting disciple at the back of his head before darting him a steely gaze. This disciple deserved a spanking for acting like a snob.
“Senior Brother, Senior Sister, please allow me to guide you to the private room on the second floor.”
Although the hosting disciple was dumbstruck, he dared not retaliate the slap in the head and he grew fearful instead. Nevertheless, the customers were king so he immediately led all of them up the stairs.
The group walked towards the second floor. The second floor also comprised the main hall but it was surrounded by many private rooms as well. As they had climbed up the stairs and were about to enter a private room, they heard a faint voice.
“If it isn’t Junior Sister Zimeng, what a pleasant surprise.”
Following the faint voice, a young man, who was carrying a supposed carefree smile, walked over towards the group. With his eyes only on Tang Zimeng, the young man ignored the others.
“Xiao Dongqing, it’s you.”
At the appearance of this young man, Tang Zimeng frowned and her smile hardened. It was obvious that she was familiar with this young man.
“Of course, Junior Sister Zimeng, you’re here and we came at the right time. Come, it’s my treat. I won three consecutive rounds today, hehe.”
As Xiao Dongqing only had eyes for Tang Zimeng, he disregarded the rest of the crew. He had come here to celebrate him winning three consecutive rounds in the tournament, so he was naturally ecstatic over meeting the goddess of his dreams.
“Are you motherf*cking blind?”
Li Lingtian struck a palm at him. As a loud blow echoed throughout the second floor, everyone turned their gaze over, dumbstruck by what they saw.
A young man had given Xiao Dongqing, a Tier Nine peak Warrior genius, a slap in the face. The image had surpassed their imaginations.
“You, hit me?”
Without a chance to dodge, Xiao Dongqing felt a breeze against his face followed by a searing sting. That moment had left him in a complete daze.
Picking up an arm to caress his flushed cheek, the young man stared blankly at Li Lingtian. He was still unable to come to grips on what had happened.
“Pft shoo.”
No one knew who cracked up first but suddenly, the other dining Warriors burst into laughter too. Since they were here, they must either be highly gifted or skilled, so they were unafraid of stirring a scene.
“Yeah, I struck you. Come bite me.”
Li Lingtian was rendered speechless. This dumb pig must be knocked out of his wits. This young man was playing with fire by wooing his woman in front of him.
“Die.”
Meanwhile, Xiao Dongqing had returned to his senses. As his face reddened with rage, his body of True Qi intensified as a display of his Tier Nine peak Warrior abilities. The second floor was instantly filled with violent Qi.
He was pleased with himself after winning three rounds in the third stage today. However, he never thought that he would be slapped in the face by this young man, and in front of a large crowd too. He would never hear the end of it in Sky Cloud Sect if he did not cripple this young man.
“You dirty dog, how daring of you to make advances on my woman in front of me? Doesn’t this call for a beating?”
Li Lingtian ignored Xiao Dongqing’s vigor and kept a smile on his face. A Tier Nine Warrior sure had the guts to lay a hand on him.
“What? Tang Zimeng is his woman?”
“It must be a mistake.”
“She’s the goddess of our Sky Cloud Sect.”
“He’s way out of her league.”
The growing clamor was proof that it was much more shocking than Xiao Dongqing getting slapped. The fact that the goddess of every Sky Cloud Sect disciples’ dream was his woman was a harder pill to swallow.
Although Tang Zimeng was taken aback, she was quickly filled with happiness and her glossy eyes fixated on Li Lingtian. This was the first time Li Lingtian admitted that she was his woman.
Even if it were before, Li Lingtian had never proclaimed such a thing even though they were both well aware of their relationship. Moreover, he was in pursuit of Nangong Mingyue for a period of time.
“Impossible. I challenge you to a duel. Junior Sister Zimeng belongs to the strongest.”
Dismissing the earlier slapping incident from his mind, Xiao Dongqing cried out loud. Since the other Warriors on the second floor were upset that their goddess was taken away from them as well, they all banded together.
“Are you out of your mind? I don’t belong to anyone because my heart belongs to Brother Lingtian.”
As though she had to validate Li Lingtian’s words, Tang Zimeng leaned towards Li Lingtian and answered in a soft voice. Although it was a whisper, everyone heard it clearly.
‘I don’t belong to anyone because my heart belongs to Brother Lingtian.’
This sentence caused many Warriors to broke down. With pale faces, they could not hide their envy and jealousy.
“Don’t think highly of yourself because you don’t have an advantage. You’re nothing in the eyes of others.”
Li Lingtian brought Tang Zimeng into the private room after he said those words. Xue Da, Shangguan Linger, and the rest followed suit, leaving behind Xiao Dongqing with an empty look in his face as he lifelessly navigated out of the restaurant.
The other Warriors clammed up. This time, they had completely lost, or perhaps they never lost since they had never participated. After all, it was all one-sided wishful thinking.
However, Li Lingtian’s words struck a chord in all the Warriors. They were so dumbstruck that they were inattentive to where Li Lingtian’s group went.
In the private room, the group had forgotten about the earlier episode as they dug in their meals to their hearts’ content. Tang Zimeng was the happiest of all; she had never experienced happiness like today.
With Brother Li Lingtian’s cultivation on the rise, she, as the fiancée could not be happier for Li Lingtian. Moreover, she reveled in Li Lingtian’s statement that she was his woman.
By the time the group left the restaurant, it was late into the night. Xue Da and the other two went about their ways while Li Lingtian escorted Tang Zimeng back to her residence before he returned to his room.
It was morning the next day when Sky Cloud Square was filled with a multitude of people because today’s tournament would be a fierce one.
There were several hundred participants remaining in the four stages of today’s Grand Tournament. However, the tournament would not conclude on this day as the further the tournament advanced, the longer time the battles would consume.
“Let me announce yesterday’s tournament results. There are four hundred disciples remaining in the first stage, four hundred disciples in the second stage and third stage, and two hundred disciples in the fourth stage.
“The Grand Tournament begins now,” Long Tian announced.
All Warrior Spirits and four Warrior Kings went to their seats before they began to preside over their respective arenas.
Out of Li Lingtian’s group, Shangguan Linger went through her rounds the quickest and made it to the top one hundred. In other words, she could receive a prize if she won one more round.
Chen Yun and Xue Da were both eliminated, so they gathered around the third stage’s arena to root for Li Lingtian.
“Number 1888, Li Lingtian against number 367, Zhong Yun,” Long Tian shouted.
Zhong Yun flew up to the arena and stared down at the Warriors below. He would enter the top two hundred if he bagged one more win, making him a step closer to the top one hundred.
“Zhong Yun, please enlighten me.”
With a bitter smile, Zhong Yun turned his gaze to Li Lingtian who was in the arena. He was well versed in every opponent but he did not have an inkling on this Li Lingtian. It was as though Li Lingtian had appeared out of thin air.
In all three rounds yesterday, it was all a clean-cut easy win as Li Lingtian defeated his opponents with a single Flaming Divine Fist.
“I’m Li Lingtian. Do you still want to go on with this match?”
Similar to yesterday, Li Lingtian threw the young man a question. He was not the least bit interested in a Tier Nine Warrior since his eyes were fixed in the fourth stage’s arena. Only a Warrior Spirit was a worthy opponent.
“Take a guess, between Senior Brother Li and Senior Brother Zhong, who would win?”
“It’s hard to say, Senior Brother Li has won three consecutive rounds with an Amber Tier Flaming Divine Fist while Senior Brother Zhong has mastered a mediocre Spiritual Equipment and Amber Tier superior Great Compassion Palm.”
“I think Senior Brother Zhong has a greater chance.”
After weighing in Li Lingtian and Zhong Yun’s capabilities, the disciples underneath the arena leaned towards Zhong Yun for the win. The victory scale was tipping towards Zhong Yun with his Amber Tier superior skill as well as his mediocre Spiritual Equipment.
“What an arrogant pr*ck. I’ll have you know today that there’ll always be someone better than you.”
Zhong Yun pressed forth an arm, invoking a quiver in the air. A powerful force emitted as he spun his arms. Following the movements of his palms, the air trembled violently.
“That’s right. To be able to cultivate Great Compassion Palm to its Summit, he is one of his kind in the younger generation of disciples in Sky Cloud Sect.”
A few Warrior Spirit Powerhouses were gratified and satisfied to see the change in the atmosphere. Such a gifted disciple added value in strength to Sky Cloud Sect.
“Great Compassion Palm.”
At a loud roar, Zhong Yun’s violent vigor mounted over Li Lingtian after reaching a peak. The disciples who were gathered around the arena immediately moved back.
“Flaming Divine Fist.”
Li Lingtian smiled faintly without a care. He knew that an Amber Tier superior skill cultivated to its Summit surpassed the force of an Onyx Tier skill.
However, it was still not on par with his Flaming Divine Fist. Circulating the Fire Dragon’s Heart within him, Li Lingtian pushed a destructive Flaming Qi to his knuckles. As one in possession of a Flaming Sacred Body, controlling flames came naturally to him.
“Rumble.”
A tyrannical sharp force with endless flames ripped through the air. In the blink of an eye, two furious attacks came into blows.