Chapter 164: A War

　　Six-colored streamers containing healing substances provided nourishment to damaged meridians. After a day of hard battling, the body finally got some rest and was recovering.

　　The Heavenly Wheel was such a treasure. It had these six-colored streamers that allowed medicines to be fully effective even if they weren’t in the real world. In addition, time in the Heavenly Wheel passed slowly, giving her enough time to recuperate from her injuries.

　　That was how Lu Mingshu had been coping with the constant and difficult matches these days.

　　After the essence of the medicine had been fully absorbed, Lu Mingshu opened her eyes and exited the Heavenly Wheel.

　　The new name-list had been placed on her table. Not even a day had passed, and the layout had been totally changed. Almost all the names in the top ten yesterday were replaced by elites, with only a few left hanging on near the last few positions of the top ten.

　　Because of that, her name, which was still currently in first place, was especially eye-catching.

　　Fifty-eight points, forty-two points, forty points – Lu Mingshu, Wei Chunqiu, Kou Wei.

　　Neither of them had challenged her, letting her hold first place.

　　That was because Wei Chunqiu had promised to go easy on her, and Kou Wei looked after her like she was his junior sister. Because of their courtesy, she was still able to stay at the top.

　　But Lu Mingshu was clearly aware that this was temporary. No matter how much courtesy they showed, they wouldn’t just give up first place. Sooner or later, when they had challenged everyone else, they would come for her… unless she was no longer in first place by then.

　　She was also clearly aware that she wasn’t a match for either of them. The chance of her winning over them was almost zero.

　　However, she wasn’t going to give up even though she was almost guaranteed to lose.

　　She sat down and cleared her thoughts. Lu Mingshu then started studying the name list, crossing out the ones she had already fought and comparing the rest with the book Xie Lianzhen gave her to make a smart decision. She then drew a star beside each competitor that she wanted to go against.

　　Today, she gained twenty-two points, while Wei Chunqiu and Kou Wei gained thirty-two and thirty respectively. Even just looking at their ability to gain points, she still lost to them.

　　Tomorrow was the day where she should start challenging the higher-ranked competitors. Lu Mingshu needed to fight at least five matches to ensure that she gained more than fifteen points.

　　In addition, she would have to be careful about getting challenged by others. Other than Wei Chunqiu and Kou Wei, there were still competitors much stronger than her out there. It was hard to say if anyone else was eyeing her points, and if they succeeded, they would get close to twelve points. That was enough to tempt anyone.

　　Lu Mingshu closed the name list and went to bed.

　　The following competition schedule was going to get harder as days passed. She had to ensure that she had the energy to fight.

　　…

　　Day five of the challenger’s fight, and it had developed into a worrying phase.

　　Competitors who had a lot of points were becoming fewer, so the chance of gaining points today was lower.

　　Tan Yubing lost two matches continuously, so she decided to withdraw from the competition. Her name was then crossed out from the name list.

　　It was also tough for Shao Zhengyang. He was in a good state and rather lucky yesterday. He managed to clinch the sixteenth position. He continued to win two matches today and moved to the twelfth position. Unfortunately, due to being injured, he lost the subsequent match and dropped to the fifteenth rank.

　　Shao Zhengyang went back to the tent drenched in sweat and exhausted. Seeing him so wrecked, Lu Mingshu commented, “Senior Brother Shao, try to rest more. It would be better if you fight less rather than lose.”

　　Shao Zhengyang nodded while wiping his sweat with the towel that the servant passed him. He then gulped down a big bottle of water before answering, “Yeah, you’re right. I was too anxious. Thank you, Junior Sister Lu, for your concern.”

　　After the Heavenly Door competition, no matter how hard he tried to be friendly, she treated him with a tepid attitude. Shao Zhengyang clearly knew that it was because of what he did, and that’s the reason why he started treating her nicely; he felt guilty.

　　Lu Mingshu didn’t respond.

　　Shao Zhengyang then went to recuperate before coming back to the tent.

　　In this period of time, Lu Mingshu fought again, and her points increased to sixty-five.

　　At the same time, Wei Chunqiu points increased to fifty-three and Kou Wei to fifty-two. They were in hot pursuit.

　　Shao Zhengyang took a look at the name list, then turned toward Lu Mingshu. “Junior Sister Lu, your points now are enough to secure you a top ten spot.”

　　Before Lu Mingshu could reply, Tan Yubing commented, “Yes, that is the case, but Junior Niece Lu has finally come this far after so much hard work. It would be a pity if she stops competing now.”

　　“I’ll be blunt, and please don’t get angry, Junior Sister Lu.” Shao Zhengyang pointed at the name list. “Even though Wei Chunqiu and Senior Brother Kou have not challenged you, it’s inevitable if they want to clinch first place, and your chance of winning against them…”

　　Lu Mingshu shook her head. “Senior Brother Shao is just stating the facts, why would I be angry? I’m indeed no match for them both.”

　　“So why don’t you just stop fighting now? If you stop now and let both of them overtake you, then they won’t have to challenge you. As for the others, you still stand a chance against them.”

　　Shao Zhengyang made a valid point. He always looked at things from a general perspective and considered things in a tactful way that allowed him to always find the best way out.

　　If she continued to accumulate points, Wei Chunqiu and Kou Wei would have no choice but to challenge her, and as soon as one of them challenged her, the other would as well. Where else would they find so many points? Losing two rounds would cost Lu Mingshu thirty points in total.

　　It was easy to lose points but hard to gain back. At this point, the competitors who possessed a lot of points were all elites that she didn’t have much chance of defeating.

　　However, if she stopped challenging people now and allowed Kou Wei and Wei Chunqiu to overtake her, then there wouldn’t be a need for them to fight her, and they could just fight for first place among themselves.

　　In that case, given her points now, there was no doubt she would be in third place. Even if there were others who wanted to challenge her and she lost, she would still be able to sustain fifty points and get into the top five.

　　Furthermore, she reached the Harmonization Realm only a year ago, this was her first time participating in the Qilin Festival, and she was only sixteen. There’s no doubt she would become well-known if she was in the top five.

　　It was the same situation that Yue Lingyin was in back then. However, Lu Mingshu fought way more than Yue Lingyin just to get a similar result.

　　Shao Zhengyang was saying this all for her own good. It was a competition, so who would teach someone else how to benefit? Everyone wanted to place in the New Generation Ranking after all.

　　Lu Mingshu understood that, but she shook her head anyway.

　　Seeing her response, Shao Zhengyang furrowed his eyebrows. “Junior Sister Lu, I’m telling the truth. This method can help you get what you want, so why bother…?”

　　“Junior Nephew Shao, let her be.” Tan Yubing smiled at him. “I told her all that before, but she has her thoughts, so just let her be.”

　　Shao Zhengyang nodded and sighed. “Okay.”

　　“Thank you for your advice.” Lu Mingshu smiled at him. “I know that you are worried for me, but this isn’t a competition to me – it’s a war.”