Chapter 217 – A Gathering of Stars (2/2)

“I heard he is responsible for scaring the newbies this year. Who do you think he is going to send to fight the newbie?” A figure wearing a faded cyan robe, with his hair done up in a bun, caught the most attention.

Out of all the cultivators on the black dragon list, Qing Mu the Spiritualist was one of the most famous. But his fame was mostly for his narrow-mindedness and his lack of empathy. However, compensated by his strength and craftiness, his relationship with the other listers remained peaceful on the surface.

“San Chan, Zui Yue, Xia Ming!” Qing Mu quickly scanned the crowd, spotting the trio he found interesting.

“Hey, it’s been a while. I honestly don’t remember the last time this square was filled with people!” San Chan laughed and said. “Now that the kid has beaten Zhou Kuang, who are you going to send next?”

The trio were curious, excited for the first time in a long while.

“Jin Kui.” Qing Mu smiled and turned to his side, patting a boy with golden har on his back.

The trio nodded in unison, but again, only San Chan spoke out. “Yea, Jin Kui is an appropriate choice. If you’ve picked anyone stronger than three-star returned prime level, the newbies will not humble themselves even if he lost.”

Although San Chan said it was appropriate, he thought the complete opposite. ‘Jin Kui is the strongest cultivator at three-star returned prime level within the palace, or maybe even within the

Dynasty!”

The trio dropped the thought of tradition being changed as soon as they heard Jin Kui’s name; they almost knew for a fact that the fight was over before it even started.

Jin Kui did not rank high on the black dragon list, but nobody in the palace had not heard of his name; it represented the very limit of the three-star returned prime cultivation level.

“Qing Yao is here!”

“I didn’t think she would come.”

“It is her!” Qing Mu, San Chan and Zui Yue looked towards the sky.

Qing Yao was undisputedly considered the goddess of Million Star Palace, but some of the veterans had been in the palace for years without witnessing her face even once. They were all excited at first but then shocked to see that the legendary beauty was not exaggerated in any

sense.

Her skin was glowing like snow through her white robe, and her ink-black hair fell undone behind her back. Both of her wrists were decorated by a bracelet, and she was wearing a plain silver ring on her left pinky. Simplistic but divine.

“Qing Yao!” With a trace of admiration on his face, Qing Mu headed towards his goddess. Ever since they’ve met, Qing Mu had volunteered to become her cultivation partner, but she had turned it down each and every time.

“Spiritualist.” Qing Yao nodded, her crystal clear eyes inhabiting a dismissive coldness.

Qing Mu felt a sudden embarrassment, reminded by her eyes of the distance between them. He was not satisfied by their relationship, but he was too proud to show his weakness.

“Where is Ye Wei? Is he still here?” Xue Er winked playfully, glancing down onto the the square as she hopped around Qing Yao.

“Oh! There he is! Qing Yao, look! That’s him!” Xue Er pointed at where she had her eyes set, screaming excitedly.

“I see.” Qing Yao followed the finger and looked down, neither excited nor disappointed.

“This is interesting, right? A newbie who came this far.” Qing Mu casually twiddled his ring, smiling awkwardly as he tried to make a conversation.

“Just curious. You know, tradition and all.” Qing Yao replied coldly, not making the slightest effort to sugar-coat her indifference.

“We will see. He is strong but way too raw. Jin Kui, go on and play with him for a bit.” Qing Mu crossed his arms behind his back and took a deep breath, pretending to be calm.

Jin Kui could read Qing Mu’s discomfort but couldn’t guess the Spiritualist was romantically disappointed. ‘He does not look pleased… What have I done now?’

The three-star returned prime Warrior nodded to Qing Mu, thinking the arm-crossing was a signal telling him to give Ye Wei a hard time.