“Li Tianming, 480 points, rank 575.” The preliminary rating was quickly released, and Li Tianming wasn’t sure whether to laugh and cry when he saw the Flameyellow Leaderboard. He hadn’t had much chance to show off against Liu Qianyang when he finished it with just one slap.
The chief mentors couldn’t give him too high a rating when they didn’t really know his limits.
“Whatever. I’ll arrange someone stronger for you now. You’re so famous that it’s easy to find people who want to beat you up,” Mu Wan said.
Liu Qianyang had made Li Tianming the focus of the audience, even if it was a negative example of what not to be. On the bright side, now there was a long line of people queuing up to be his opponent.
“No problem. I’ll go for broke to help my chief mentor earn glory.”
“Give a good performance. A lot of people are looking down on you now.”
Below the other side of the stage, a face-swollen Liu Qianyang was asking, “Why, sis?”
His face was still smarting.
“The Tempest Marshal said not to make things difficult for Li Tianming,” Liu Qing said in a low voice.
The Tempest Marshal was Lin Tianjian.
Liu Qianyang was confused. “Why would the Tempest Marshal take note of such a small figure?”
“Mu Qingqing was next to him. The Tempest Marshal is aware of that incident between them three years ago, so he asked her how she wanted Li Tianming dealt with. Guess what she said?” Liu Qing’s expression was cold. There was no way she felt happy seeing her brother go up to get pummeled.
“What did she say?”
“Mu Qingqing said she’s already forgiven him for what happened and said he had received sufficient punishment three years ago. They were also once friends, so she didn’t want to hound him any further. In fact, she’s happy he’s turned over a new leaf and doesn’t want Lightning Manor to make things difficult for him,” Liu Qing replied.
“How is that possible? He wanted to violate her three years ago!” Liu Qianyang was even more confused now.
“Well, Li Tianming did lose his lifebound beast and suffer ridicule for three years. He has paid a heavy price. It really is a form of magnanimity for Mu Qingqing to forgive him on account of old friendships.”
“That’s too overly kind! Still, big brother Ting won’t forgive Li Tianming so easily. Is he around?” Liu Qianyang asked anxiously.
“He’s in seclusion.”
“Exactly! Big sis Qingqing may have forgiven him, but big brother Ting will definitely teach that guy a lesson once he comes out! We can’t let him make a comeback.”
Liu Qing wasn’t very pleased.“ You’re wrong. He’ll probably listen to her. Anyway, how could a random Li Tianming make a comeback? He’ll always be an ant before Lightning Manor. No one cares about him. Still, this decision is troublesome for your brother-in-law.”
“How so?”
“So long as Li Tianming is alive, the possibility of a rift forming between Lightning Manor and your brother-in-law exists.”
“Hasn’t brother-in-law already received an important position from the Manor and obtained a heavenly will technique?” Liu Qianyang asked.
“A possibility is still a possibility.”
“Why don't we find Bloodflower Chamber and hire a hit on him?” Liu Qianyang said maliciously.
“Not yet. Let your brother-in-law make his decision first.”
“He’ll kill his own son?”
“We’ll see. I do get the feeling he no longer has any emotional attachment to Li Tianming already.”
……
As the brother-sister pair spoke in a corner, a group of people were sitting in one of the private rooms. At a glance, they were obviously of Lightning Manor. All of them were surrounded by an aura of lightning, and were threatening without being angry.
In the highest position, sat a middle-aged man dressed in purple robes. His black hair cascaded down like a waterfall while his eyes seemed to contain pools of lightning. Most striking were his pair of lighting-shaped eyebrows, which spiked up at the ends.
It gave him a fierce look that would frighten any kid who looked at him.
He was the number one marshal of Vermilion Bird, son of the Lightning Seigneur and current Tempest Marshal, Lin Tianjian.
He was also Lin Xiaoting and Lin Xiaoxiao’s father.
A delicate-looking girl, with pure and charming features sat besides him. She was the most popular disciple for this ranking battle, Lin Xiaoxiao.
Besides her sat a gentle-looking young lady in a white dress with blue borders. She gave off the impression of a white lotus, peaceful and natural. A smile from her seemed as cleansing as the spring wind.
“Big sis Qingqing, I feel that this Li Tianming’s strength isn’t bad. Supposedly, he had a six-star lifebound beast,” Lin Xiaoxiao whispered in her ear.
“It seems so. He was in Spiritsource three years ago. Now that he has a six-star beast, he’s stronger than before. It’s normal, he is five years older than you.” Mu Qingqing smiled warmly.
“Five years is nothing. If he runs into me, I’ll definitely help you teach the hooligan a lesson.” Lin Xiaoxiao fumed when she thought of that matter three years ago.
“Xiaoxiao, it wasn’t easy for him to turn over a new leaf. Don’t bully him.”
“Will big sis Qingqing treat him as a friend if you see him again?” Lin Xiaoxiao asked.
“Of course not. It’s no longer appropriate for us to meet, nor is there a need to.”
“I understand. Big sis Qingqing really is magnanimous! If it was me, I wouldn’t have forgiven such a person my whole life!” When she said this, she stood up. “Alright, I should get going for my matches.”
“Xiaoxiao, try and become the prime disciple, like your older brother. I’ve already prepared a room for you in Heaven’s Sanctum. You can live with me once you join,” Mu Qingqing said gently.
“I’ve seen Chen Yao and Li Shufan’s abilities. I feel it’s no big deal as long as they have no trump cards,” Lin Xiaoxiao said confidently.
“Don’t be too overconfident. Now, go!” Lin Tianjian said sternly when he heard their conversation.
“Fine!” Lin Xiaoxiao stuck out her tongue before happily going down. While people often said she was very mature and sensible, she would still act like a child around her family.
Mu Qingqing was still smiling as she sent her off. But no one noticed how the armrest on her chair had been crushed at some point in time.
……
The atmosphere exploded when Lin Xiaoxiao took to the field. She managed to garner the highest evaluation from the chief mentor through two battles. Chen Yao, who had towered above everyone else before now, was finally dragged down to second place by the 950 points Lin Xiaoxiao.
Unfortunately, he didn’t keep number two for long either.
Occult Athenaeum’s Li Shufan took to the field next and was given 920 points, which was also above Chen Yao.
Chen Yao still had opportunities to fight. After another two fights, he made an excellent showing in defeating some third level Spiritsource opponents. Alas, it was only enough to bring him to 900 points.
It meant that there was no point fighting anyone else if he wanted to be the prime disciple. Only Lin Xiaoxiao was left for him to beat. By the same logic, it was the same for Li Shufan who had reached the peak otherwise.
According to past precedents, one had to accept many challengers to be determined as the strongest disciple by the chief mentors. When there was sufficient proof that the top ranker was unshakable, then and only then would he or she be conferred as prime disciple.
While the 950 points given to Lin Xiaoxiao was the greatest affirmation towards her, it also gave the greatest challenge.
Still, only those in the top ten could challenge her, with priority given to the higher ranks.
The one with the highest priority was the second place Li Shufan. However, Lin Xiaoxiao was still safe, as he was biding his time for now.
The ranking battles had only just hit its middle portion and the bottom and middle rankings were constantly changing. Only when those rankings had stabilised would the most spectacular part come!
Li Shufan, Chen Yao and the rest were’t anxious yet.
During this time, Li Tianming had gone through another two battles. He had already gone against a second level Spiritsource opponent. Without exception, all were defeated by a single slap without him summoning his lifebound beast.
He was currently ninety-fifth place with 790 points.
However, he obviously hadn’t shown his true strength yet. Hence, he had much more possibility for upward mobility than the others around his rank.
Mu Wan was getting more excited after seeing his last two battles and hurriedly arranged even stronger opponents.
However, Li Tianming couldn’t wait any longer! It was going to take forever at this rate to fight his way to the top ten. Hence, he decided to give it a try himself.
“Chief mentor, I want to try to directly challenge the third place, Chen Yao!” It was time to let Xue Lan know whether her precious son was a stunning talent or a trash who had grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth.
“Impossible. The top ten are just waiting to challenge Lin Xiaoxiao. They have the right to reject your challenge unless you’re in the top twenty.”
“But hypothetically, what if he accepts?”
“Then you’ll be good to go.”
Li Tianming grinned. He was full of nothing but methods to get Chen Yao to come get some.