Chapter 184: The First to Be Wheeled

Dugu Qingli felt a little awkward, realizing she had forgotten to remove it before meeting her Master.

Luckily, despite any inner turmoil, her face remained largely expressionless, making it easy for her to lie: "This was just cut off when I fought the Pei family girl, and I kept it as a trophy."

"Is her hair like this?" Ye Tinglan asked, her voice full of suspicion.

It had been wrapped around her finger for so long that it was hard to tell if it was curly or straight. It just didn't have the glossy black sheen typical of Pei Chuyun's hair; it was quite dull.

Fortunately, Ye Tinglan didn't press the issue. She simply said, "You keep a trophy every time you defeat an opponent? When did you become so vulgar?"

Dugu Qingli replied earnestly, "It's not about keeping a trophy. It's just that after having this, I remembered that Qingli has learned too few spells, which is a deficiency. I want to learn some spells from Master that can work through hair, and so on."

"This type of spell isn't our sect's specialty," Ye Tinglan said. She gently stroked the hair, then suddenly yanked it.

Dugu Qingli was startled. "Master, what did you do?"

"Oh, nothing much," Ye Tinglan replied. "Just pulling this hair. It's like pulling it while it's still attached to her body. Consider it a small lesson for the Pei family girl, for daring to offend my Qingli..."

Dugu Qingli was speechless.

It seemed harmless enough, like pulling his hair just to teach him a lesson.

Let him play around with that seductive demoness!

Far away in his cave residence, Lu Xingzhou was leaning on his bed, reading a book when he suddenly twitched, clutching his crotch and curling into a ball.

Meanwhile, Ye Tinglan continued teaching her disciple, "This is a type of body-substitution spell. I can teach you how..."

Dugu Qingli learned very seriously, thinking that in the future, whenever Lu Xingzhou bullied her, she could pull his hair from a distance.

"Hmm, also leave one for Master," Ye Tinglan said. "This Pei family girl is a bit strange. If I keep a piece of her hair, it might be useful for investigations later." Ye Tinglan took one strand.

Dugu Qingli hesitated, about to speak.

"What is it?"

"N-nothing," Dugu Qingli stammered, bowing. "Please rest, Master. Your disciple will take her leave."

"Wait," Ye Tinglan said. "How many days will you be staying in the capital this time?"

"Originally, it was just to spar and verify my skills against the top new talent," Dugu Qingli replied. "Now that the sparring is complete, I had planned to leave tomorrow."

"Had planned? So what's the plan now?"

"The capital has many influential figures," Dugu Qingli said. "Your disciple plans to challenge some veteran experts who are not on the new talent list but are stuck at the third-grade threshold."

Ye Tinglan thought for a moment. "That won't be very useful. Given your status, most people will be wary of offending me and will give you face. It will be difficult for you to gain true life-and-death experience. How about this: in a few days, the Alchemist Academy will organize a trial. The chosen location will be the first layer of the Demon Subjugation Realm, and you will enter as a protector."

Dugu Qingli was startled. "The Demon Subjugation Realm? Can these alchemy students enter there? Isn't it too dangerous?"

"Someone will protect them," Ye Tinglan said. "Isn't that what you're for? It also happens to suit your cultivation experience. Perhaps the opportunity for you to break through to the third grade lies there."

Dugu Qingli bowed with her sword. "Yes."

"When the time comes, pay extra attention to Lu Xingzhou," Ye Tinglan continued. "There's often trouble surrounding him. What might be a normal trial for others could turn into something entirely different for him. Oh, no need for me to explain; you're already familiar with him anyway."

"...Yes."

From beginning to end, Ye Tinglan never suspected her disciple could have any relationship with Lu Xingzhou beyond their comradeship from the Xia State war.

Early the next morning, Pei Chuyun entered the Imperial Academy, carrying a stack of manuscripts.

As soon as she stepped inside, Qi Tuizhi stopped her. "Miss Pei..."

Pei Chuyun's romantic evening in the wheelchair last night had been ruined by the white-haired person, and her brother had lectured her all the way back. She was already in a bad mood, and her expression immediately darkened. "Young Master Qi," she said, "blocking someone on the street in broad daylight is not the act of a gentleman."

Qi Tuizhi quickly said, "Miss Pei, you've misunderstood. I heard that last night, while you were strolling through the Imperial Academy, Dugu Qingli came to challenge you?"

"It wasn't a challenge," Pei Chuyun retorted. "She's ranked second, and I'm third. There's no logic in someone ranked higher challenging someone lower. It was merely a spar."

Despite her words, her grim expression made it clear to everyone that she was very unhappy.

Qi Tuizhi felt assured and lowered his voice. "Since you also dislike Dugu Qingli, how about we cooperate?"

Pei Chuyun gave him a strange look, thinking, "What kind of cooperation can there be for a ranking challenge? You can't just gang up on someone; even if you win by ganging up, no one will acknowledge you. Killing is even more out of the question. Ganging up to hunt down a National Master's disciple in the capital? How many lives do you have?"

Was he just trying to vent his frustration?

Oh, wait... Pei Chuyun suddenly realized. This fellow was using this 'shared animosity' mentality to form a united front, ultimately just to get closer to her.

The thought made Pei Chuyun feel utterly exasperated. She said with a faint, unreadable smile, "If you want to cooperate with me, first you have to prove you're qualified."

Qi Tuizhi paused, stunned. "Miss Pei, do you mean..."

"I mean, don't you think you can't even defeat me?" Pei Chuyun said, casually handing the manuscripts she was holding to a passerby. "Could you hold these for a moment, please? Thank you."

Qi Tuizhi took a step back. "Miss Pei, you..."

Pei Chuyun elegantly tucked her hair behind her ear. "Pei Chuyun, ranked third among the new talents, challenges Young Master Qi Tuizhi, ranked first. Please enlighten me with your instruction."

Qi Tuizhi was speechless.

Gu Yicheng's remark from yesterday evening, that 'Pei Chuyun probably doesn't have much strength,' still echoed in his ears. Yet after just one night, the beautiful woman was standing before him, smiling charmingly and openly challenging him.

This was right outside the Imperial Academy, with people coming and going. The crowd immediately erupted in an uproar, forming a tight circle, three layers deep, all eager to witness the spectacle.

Honestly, being defeated by Dugu Qingli in a single move, while embarrassing, was quite acceptable to the public. After all, she was a direct descendant of a Holy Land and a disciple of the National Master; no matter how strong she was, it was within people's comprehension.

But this recently recovered Miss Pei truly had no known combat record. Her reputation outside was even that of a talented scholar!

Qi Tuizhi was even more unwilling to accept that he couldn't even defeat the woman he admired. At this point, his pride was also stirred. He said faintly, "Honestly, I, Qi, am unwilling to make a move against Miss Pei... it feels like offending a beautiful woman. But now it seems if I don't show my skill, it will be the beautiful woman looking down on me."

Pei Chuyun smiled slightly, extended a slender finger, and crooked it. "Come."

The sudden charm revealed beneath her dignified demeanor mesmerized the onlookers. Qi Tuizhi's heart even trembled. "Then Miss Pei, be careful," he said.

Without another word, Pei Chuyun flipped her fair hand and struck out with a palm.

Seeing that Pei Chuyun wasn't using a weapon, Qi Tuizhi didn't draw his sword either. He also faced her empty-handed and countered with a palm.

In his heart, he still harbored a faint romantic thought: "Would this palm strike count as touching her delicate hand?"

But before the thought fully formed, Pei Chuyun's palm suddenly shifted. Onlookers saw phantom fingers blossom like flowers, exquisite and ethereal.

A sigh came from the side. "The Pei family's inherited grappling technique! I've seen Pei Yu use it... I never thought it could be so beautiful when Miss Pei uses it. It's a completely different flavor from Pei Yu's unrestrained style."

Qi Tuizhi's desire to meet her palm was too strong, so much so that he seemed somewhat reluctant to adapt to her changing moves and continued to push forward slightly.

Experts in a fight couldn't afford such playfulness. In that mere moment of delay, Pei Chuyun's fingers had already brushed his tiger's mouth acupuncture point.

Qi Tuizhi's tiger's mouth went numb, and he snapped back to reality. His top new talent ranking wasn't just for show; he immediately pulled back his hand and swept his left palm horizontally, attempting to cut off Pei Chuyun's continuous offense.

A blur before his eyes, Pei Chuyun moved like a graceful fairy stepping on waves and was already at his side.

Her fair palm cut back, heading straight for his neck.

"So beautiful... watching her fight is simply a pleasure," someone murmured.

Others found it enjoyable, but Qi Tuizhi certainly didn't.

He even felt a killing intent.

This Miss Pei was definitely not as elegant and composed as she appeared. Her experiences in the martial world 'before being found' were unknown; it was highly likely she had experienced life-and-death situations! Moreover, her application of the Pei family's grappling technique incorporated her own personal understanding and development, not just rote memorization of moves. It contained subtle modifications of profound principles from other schools, making it very difficult for Qi Tuizhi, who was accustomed to fighting the Pei family's grappling technique, to adapt.

Considering when she was found, she hadn't been cultivating Pei family martial arts for long. To have such understanding and subtle modifications, her true strength was definitely not just the apparent fourth-grade lower rank. It was highly probable she was concealing higher-grade cultivation and hadn't even fought seriously!

Qi Tuizhi spun his body, exchanging several blows with Pei Chuyun while retreating. But the numbness in his right tiger's mouth persisted, greatly reducing his strength. He simply couldn't withstand Pei Chuyun's continuous, flowing attacks, feeling increasingly powerless with every move.

With a 'thud,' his back hit a pillar at the Imperial Academy's entrance.

Pei Chuyun joined her fingers like a sword, pointed them at his throat, and her beautiful eyes were filled with a chilling killing intent.

The air fell silent.

A moment later, an uproar exploded.

Although it wasn't an instant defeat like Dugu Qingli's yesterday, it had lasted for only about ten or twenty moves. But Pei Chuyun had displayed fourth-grade lower rank strength, while he, Qi Tuizhi, was a fourth-grade upper rank!

He had been challenged and defeated by someone of a lower rank!

Pei Chuyun withdrew her killing intent, gracefully stepped back, and bowed with a composed expression. "Young Master Qi," she said, "thank you for letting me win."

Qi Tuizhi's face flushed alternately green and pale. He wanted to say that if he hadn't had those 'indecent' thoughts at the beginning and had fought seriously, he wouldn't have lost...

But no matter how he put it, it would be an excuse. He opened his mouth but ultimately couldn't utter the words. Moreover, he strongly suspected that Pei Chuyun was concealing fourth-grade upper rank strength and hadn't used her true abilities at all. If they fought seriously, he might still be the one to lose.

He could only say in a low voice, "Miss Pei is skilled in both scholarly and martial arts. Our previous doubts about your third position on the new talent list were due to our prejudice and ignorance."

Pei Chuyun smiled slightly. "So, if I want to settle the score with Dugu Qingli, I'll do it myself. Young Master Qi, you're not really qualified. Everyone, please move aside. Chuyun is late for class..."

The crowd parted, staring blankly as they watched Pei Chuyun enter the main gate.

Leaving aside how many people now secretly regarded her as a goddess, what repeatedly crossed everyone's minds was: "What's going on with this year's new talent list? How was the number one ranked? In two days, he's been successively challenged and defeated by the second and third ranked contestants."

Originally, the top new talent rank held significant weight, always regarded as the foremost among the younger generation. Few people remembered the second and third ranks; everyone only cared about the champion.

Now, with this happening, the value of being the top new talent was gone, and the position itself would lose its prestige.

"Editor Sheng, being just a young girl, really has no insight. She can't rank a good list."

Someone spoke up in defense of Sheng Yuanyao: "How can you blame Editor Sheng for this? These second and third ranks were unheard of in previous years. Wasn't it Editor Sheng who defied all opinions to rank them so high? Aren't you going to praise Editor Sheng for her keen eye for talent?"

"But the first place..."

"The first place is a replacement," another person argued. "If you want to blame someone, blame the original ranker for putting him second."

"Who was the original ranker?" someone else chimed in. "Didn't the higher-ups review it? This is just making up the numbers..."

"I don't know who the original editor-in-chief was," another said, "but the one who approved it was Head Seat Sheng, wasn't it?"

The discussion immediately ceased.

After a long while, someone meekly suggested, "Has it occurred to you that it's not that Qi Tuizhi is weak, but that these two who suddenly appeared are simply too strong? I saw Dugu Qingli's sword strike at the inn yesterday, and I knew I couldn't block it. And today, Miss Pei's flowing grappling technique? I also know I couldn't handle it."

Everyone fell silent.

That's right. It wasn't that others were weak; it was that these two were simply too strong.

Qi Tuizhi's tragedy was being on the same list as them and unwittingly trying to court them.

This year's Alchemist New Talent list also had such individuals. It was said that Daoist Xuanqing still couldn't accept his defeat. But was Daoist Xuanqing truly weak? He was already very strong... Unfortunately, he encountered the unreasonable Lu Xingzhou and his disciple.

"Lu Xingzhou!" the teacher on the platform angrily slammed the table. "If your stomach hurts, go relieve yourself! Don't keep hunching over in front of me with a constipated look on your face. Are you implying you've already mastered everything I'm teaching?!"

"I..." Lu Xingzhou stammered, his hand clutching, he wasn't sure if it was his lower abdomen or somewhere else. "Excuse me, does Madam Ye have an office? I need to find Madam Ye..."