The Scum Is A ***

Xie Lan covered his eyes with his hand as he lowered his head to keep himself from looking. Don't look… it's too painful to look at. He thought when he saw his other disciples approached Lei Qing.

"Shijie!!!" the Xinfaxian Sect disciples called as they ran towards Lei Qing. They saw her pushing herself up from the ground. Her face is red from both embarrassment and impact of hitting the ground. Her nose is bleeding and the blood was dripping to the ground and onto her clothes when she finally managed to sit on the ground. Her eyes are filled with circles because she felt dizzy. 

"Misfortune occurs not only once, but twice." Fei Huang spoke as he smirked at Xie Lan whose face is now blank after what had just happened.

Xie Lan tried to keep his call to avoid losing more of his face1.

"Your sect could've won, but, it can't be helped." Fei Huang said as he shook his head. "Girls are originally… clumsy. You can't blame them." he told Xie Lan as they looked at Tang Zhe who's now sitting up on the stage after he recovered from his shock. 

"Due to an… ehem. Accident. Disciple Lei Qing had gone off-stage." the emcee said. "Winner, Tang Zhe of Huakai Sect!" he announced.

"Da shixiong!!!" the Huakai Sect called as they cheered. They thought Tang Zhe would lose earlier. However, he won.

Meanwhile, Tang Zhe is still out of it. He turned to see Lei Qing whose face is red because of shame.

"Cheng-shidi… sorry." Lei Qing said when they regrouped. "Everyone… I'm sorry. We could've won – " she grimaced and lowered her head because of guilt. "I was too absorbed of the match earlier I didn't notice..." she added and looked away. 

Because of the heated match, both sides didn't notice they have reached the edge of the stage. Tang Zhe tripped on his sword, but luckily he didn't fell off the stage. Instead, it was Lei Qing who went off-stage. If Shan Lu was unlucky, Tang Zhe must've stolen all of Shan Lu's luck. 

"Shijie…" You Rou called as her eyes teared up when she remembered she also lost because she was clumsy. She pasted a Cleaning Talisman on Lei Qing's clothes to clean up the blood and dirt.

"Don't mind it." Cheng Sheng said as she patted their shoulder. "We're already doing great even though we just joined the competition." He said.

"Yes." Fei Yin nodded. "We're only here for experience. No need to overdo it." he said. "Everyone worked hard. You can have rest tomorrow." he told them. Everyone had finished their match. Cheng Sheng is the only one left. 

"No!" they immediately answered.

"There's still Cheng-shidi's match!" Feng Mo said. "Everyone will cheer for him!" he said.

"Yes. We should." Li Tian nodded.

"I'll cheer for Cheng-shixiong the loudest!" Lei Ling said.

"No! I'll be the one to cheer the loudest!" You Rou said.

"No! Me! I'm his apprentice!" Lei Ling retorted. He's referring to Cheng Sheng teaching him by making talismans. 

"I'm also his apprentice!" You Rou rebutted. She's referring to Cheng Sheng teaching her on pill refining and also the Billowing Sleeves Technique. 

"… I can be considered his apprentice, too." Li Tian smiled as he remembered the Voiced and Silent Spell Casting Cheng Sheng taught him.

"You forgot he also taught me, too." Lei Qing smirked as she placed her hands on her waist. She's referring to the Five Palms Technique she used in her match just now. 

"Now that I think about it… Cheng-shidi, you're not fair!" Feng Mo told Cheng Sheng as he looked at him. "You taught everyone but not me!" he pouted.

"… he hasn't taught me anything, too…" Fei Yin said, but everyone ignored him as they fought who will cheer for Cheng Sheng tomorrow.

"As expected. They're resilient." Sun Yi smiled as he and Chen Han watched the Xinfaxian Sect being loud again as they bickered.

On the other side, the Zunjingde Sect, Shanliangde Sect and Qian Lin were also watching them.

"Just like a bamboo… they stand again after beaten down." Jing Bai said as he smiled. Jing Hei was poking Qian Lin's cheek. Jing Kang was still secretly watching Lei Ling.

Gong Xian, still haven't had his match, was still sleeping while sitting. Xi Xing is copying him again. Xi Shi and Xi Ning had already locked themselves up inside their room.

"They're really a lively bunch." Xi Ming said.

On the sect leaders' side...

"No – " Xie Lan, who was watching his disciples from afar, smiled. " – they're just shameless."

"Just like the one who raised them." Fei Huang coolly said as he sipped his tea. Wu Yuan can't help but silently agree. Qian Shan roared in laughter.

The other sect leaders looked at each other and forced a smile when they saw Xie Lan's dark face after Fei Huang rebutted him. 

Zheng Fu Gong, Jing Xian, Qi Ling and Pai Lie looked at Fei Huang making fun of Xie Lan.

"The Xinfaxian Sect sure made this year's competition lively." Zheng Fu Gong said as he looked at the Xinfaxian Sect walking back to their post.

"Yeah. Xie Lan didn't disappoint us." Qi Ling nodded in agreement. They have been waiting for him and his sect to join the competition. 

"They are really interesting." Jing Xian rubbed his beard as he remembered Lei Qing's performance and You Rou's previous performance. "Even their female disciples are strong. Had it not for mishaps…" he said and forced a laugh.

"The Xinfaxian Sect would only have one loss." Qi Ling said as he looked at Lei Ling. "That child is not bad, though. His cultivation is high. He must have it easy to cultivate." He said. "He just lacks exposure and confidence unlike his fellow disciples. He must have already learned it – the hard way, from his match." He explained before he turned to Fei Yin. "Fei Yin is very low-key. He's hiding his strength." he added.

"He won't lose to Xi Ming and Jing Cheng." Zheng Fu Gong said. "Jing Bai and Jing Hei won't lose to Xi Xing, either. Jing Kang proved his strength as a mage. With Chen Han and Sun Yi becoming elders of their sect after the competition, there are more vacancies in the ranking." He said. "As for elder Ho's disciple, Gong Xian, we have yet to see his strength." he added.

"And the last one – " they all looked at Cheng Sheng who was laughing with his fellow disciples.

"Of course, he has to be the strongest of them!" Pai Lie said. He's obviously playing favorite, but it was a sound judgement.

"A sword cultivator and a mage…" Zheng Fu Gong said. "Unquestionably, it would be him." He said.

"We have yet to see his performance." Jing Xian reminded them. "Jing Cheng and Xi Ming definitely wouldn't give the first place to him." He smiled.

"Too bad they missed all each other in this second stage." Qi Ling said. "However, there's still the third stage." he smiled. "It will be an all-out match!" he said.

"Definitely1!" Pai Lie said, expectant.

"…" Su Yuan speechlessly looked at the four elders talking excitedly to each other. Guys, you're making me miss the fun. He thought as he lazily read the names of the contestants for the last match today.

Yunxiao Inn.

"You really came!" Cheng Sheng said with a bright smile on his face as he looked at Shu Mu who arrived.

"WHA - !" Shu Mu glared at him, then Chen Han and Fei Yin. "Are you kidding me? You're the one who wanted me to come!" he told Cheng Sheng.

"That – " Chen Han said.

"Of course I'm expecting you. But I'm also expecting for you to not." Cheng Sheng laughed.

"Cheng Sheng, you - !"

"I really do have something important to discuss with you." Cheng Sheng said, his expression now serious.

The others were looking back and forth at Cheng Sheng and Shu Mu.

"Heh. Aren't you friends with Qian Lin and the others?" Shu Mu asked. He's referring to the Zunjingde Sect and the Shanliangde Sect disciples.

"Yes." Cheng Sheng said.

"Then – "

"But I don't care of what they're thinking." Cheng Sheng said as he looked at Shu Mu. "My business is my business. Even if it's the greatest enemy of mankind, I'll still have a tea with him as long as I have some business with him." He said.

"Ah Sheng…"

"Cheng-shidi…"

"Cheng-shixiong…"

Cheng Sheng ignored them.

Shu Mu grinned. "You're really interesting." He said. "You got me curious. What do you meant by knowing what's going on with my body?" he asked.

"Just as it is." Cheng Sheng said as he made a V-sign with his fingers and placed his fingers around his right eye. They saw his right eye glowed silver. "My eyes can see one's qi. I can't tell you how, but my Spiritual Sense was permanently opened. It's really troublesome…" he sighed.

It was after Xie Lan and Fei Yin forced his soul out of his body he then found after his Spiritual Sense automatically opened. He can close it, but it'll be inconvenient to meditate just to close it because there's danger lurking everywhere and he might be attacked while he had his guard down.

"So? What are you trying to say?" Shu Mu asked.

"There's a demonic qi poison in your body."