Chapter 175: Who’s Afraid of You?

　　Lin Zixin’s voice bombarded the whole Flying Imperial Palace. However, there weren’t any cheers for Kou Wei; the entire venue was silent. The crowd was still shocked at what they saw during the match.

　　After a while, the Heavenly Sea Pavilion disciples started clapping and cheering for Kou Wei, eventually followed by the other spectators. Finally, the crowd was cheering and clapping.

　　This was indeed the best match they had ever seen.

　　The match between Kou Wei and Lu Mingshu made many people doubt Kou Wei’s true ability; “Maybe he actually isn’t that good.”

　　After they witnessed this match though, nobody dared to doubt his ability ever again.

　　And even though Wei Chunqiu lost, they had witnessed him fighting against Kou Wei mercilessly.

　　“Kou Wei won after all. After this match, he’s truly the best in the Harmonization Realm.”

　　“Such a pity!” his senior sighed. “He’s the best, but he was unable to get first place.”

　　“That’s just a false reputation. Everyone here clearly knows who’s real first.”

　　“But after years and years, who will remember the second place and third place when people bring up the New Ranking?”

　　“Senior Brother, you worry too much.” The guy chuckled. “So what if she’s first? It’s just the Harmonization Realm. With Kou Wei’s and Wei Chunqiu’s ability, they will definitely break through to the Spirit Realm. Who will care about the NewRanking when they are going to be on the Hero Ranking?”

　　“That’s true….”

　　The New on Ranking was just a list of names. The Hero Ranking was the thing that was actually carved into stone. If they reached the Void Realm and got onto the Sky Ranking, then their names would leave a mark for generations to come.

　　But not everyone was so negative. Some saw the potential in Lu Mingshu. “Even though Lu Mingshu only defeated Kou Wei by luck, it’s not like she’s weak. She defeated everyone else except Wei Chunqiu, but she’s only been in the Harmonization Realm for a year and she’s only sixteen years old. After some time, she may be just as good as Kou Wei and Wei Chunqiu. Perhaps she will take first place consecutively? That would be impressive!”

　　“Hey, you’re right! I wonder how good she will become.”

　　The updated name list was released, and Lu Mingshu was obviously ranked first.

　　“All Harmonization Realm disciples please take note. If anyone still wants to challenge, please send in the name to a clerk quickly. After an hour, if there is nobody registered for a match, the challenger’s fight will come to an end!”

　　Generally, nobody would register for a match at this point.

　　If there was a person that someone wanted to challenge, then they would have already done so. All that’s left would be people from their own sect or those who were too strong for them. Even if there was someone left, it would be pointless to challenge someone if there wasn’t at least twenty points at stake.

　　Moreover, after witnessing this fight between the two Wei’s that was so marvellous and beyond comparison, who would still have the mood to fight?

　　An hour passed, and as expected, nobody registered for a match. Li Zixin then slowly walked up to the stage and announced the end of the challenger’s fight. “The Qilin Festival has officially come to an end! The top ten with the most accumulated points will make it onto the New Ranking, to be announced to the whole world!”

　　Lin Zixin then took the name list and went to the main palace.

　　The king of Zhongzhou was smiling broadly as he took the name list and copied it.

　　Lin Zixin went back to the stage and read out the names. “The New Ranking for this Qilin Festival: First – Nine Jade Palace, Lu Mingshu, ninety-nine points. Second – Heavenly Sea Pavilion, Kou Wei, ninety-six points. Third – Seventh Truth Platform, Wei Chunqiu, ninety-six points…”

　　After he finished, Lin Zixin smiled broadly at the crowd and clapped. “Congratulations to the top ten competitors! Other than being announced to the whole world, there will be a great prize for you too! Remember to collect it!”

　　The atmosphere became relaxed. Seeing that the sky was dark now, Lin Zixin started to announce the end of the day with a short speech, but someone suddenly leapt up behind him and abruptly cut him off.

　　“Hold on!”

　　A green and black complexion, horns on the head, and a weird accent… it was a harpy!

　　The crowd jumped up at the sight of the harpy.

　　During the preliminary, the barbarians joined the competition. Everyone was exceptionally careful of them back then, afraid that they would clinch a bunch of top ten positions, which would have been a humiliation to mankind. However, as soon as the challenger’s fight started, the barbarians lay down their flag and stopped beating their drums. None of them had any matches. Slowly, they were put to the back of everyone’s mind with the thoughts of “If the King of Zhongzhou invited them here, he obviously would make sure they didn’t mess up the festival” and took them as normal spectators.

　　Who would have expected that the barbarians would suddenly make an appearance right after the competition ended? What on earth do they want?

　　Lin Zixin was fast to recover from his shock, and he plastered a smile on his face. “Good evening, noble guest. Do you have something to say?”

　　“Indeed!” The harpy looked young and extremely arrogant. “My race was invited to this festival by the queen to have a look at China’s best martial artists. Our barbarian race’s elders have told us that there is no honour in the strong bullying the weak, so we didn’t compete with you all, but now that the competition is finished, I can challenge your powerful martial artists without it being considered bullying the weak now.”

　　Before Lin Zixin could reply to him, the disciples in the tents were all worked up and started to jeer.

　　“Bastard barbarian! What’s with this arrogant claptrap about not bullying the weak, huh!? I’ll bash you so badly that your mother won’t be able to recognize you anymore!”

　　“This is our Qilin Festival – China’s Qilin Festival. What’s wrong with you? Are you only here to be a public nuisance?”

　　“Don’t you only have brute force? Brute force is worthless!”

　　“If I don’t beat you up until your face blooms, you will never know how red a flower can be!”

　　Hearing all the insults, the barbarian didn’t flare up at all. Instead, he casually waved his hand and shouted back to the disciples. “You Chinese people are funny. Who is more powerful? Just fight and we will know! What’s the use of flapping your gums? Just fight me if you’re unhappy!”

　　Many seethed with anger upon hearing his reply. Most of their eyes were now on Wei Chunqiu and Kou Wei. How good would it be if they were willing to go and give this little piece of shit a lesson?

　　As for Lu Mingshu, not many dared to mention her. The barbarians had an advantage in terms of their lineage and raw power. Kou Wei and Wei Chunqiu would obviously be able to take them down, but Lu Mingshu? She had a very obvious weakness with her basics, and the barbarians would be able to take advantage.

　　Damn it! Why is she in first? How are we supposed to provoke the harpy now?

　　“Junior Niece Lu…” Tan Yubing look at her worriedly.

　　Lu Mingshu shook her head. “Let’s see what Mr Lin has to say.” She pondered over the next step in her heart. Her current ability didn’t matter; what mattered was that she was currently ranked first, and the barbarians’ challenge would obviously involve her somehow. If she didn’t accept the challenge, it wouldn’t reflect well of mankind. It was okay to make a mistake anywhere else, but not when it concerned about the prestige of mankind.

　　Lin Zixin looked over to the main palace. Seeing an indication from the king, he turned to the harpy with a smile. “This noble guest, may I know how you want to challenge us?”

　　“Call up your three best!”

　　“Three fights?”

　　“Yes! You all send out three, we send out three too. That won’t be considered bullying, right?”

　　“Come on, man! Who’s afraid of you!?”

　　“That’s right! Our Senior Brother Wei doesn’t fear you!”

　　“Neither does Senior Brother Kou!”

　　The Seventh Truth Platform and Heavenly Sea Pavilion disciples argued loudly.

　　As for Nine Jade Palace, the disciples remained quiet. The barbarians are so strong. Can Lu Mingshu handle them?

　　Their silence angered Tan Yubing. She stood up and rooted for Lu Mingshu, “Who’s scared of you!? Our junior may be young, but she’s not afraid!”