The sudden movement and the abrupt change in emotions were unmistakably filled with disdain. This young sect master, if he had just been a little quieter, Lin Zhusheng could have pretended not to see it. But this was just too hard to ignore. His eyes widened in disbelief as he asked, “You really dislike me that much?”

It was so obvious! At least try to hide it a little, young sect master!

Getting up from the ground, Chen Jinghao picked up the folding fan embedded in the peach tree trunk, averting his gaze in the process, and finally said briefly, “…No.”

It really wasn’t the case; he didn’t even know what was going on himself, just instinctively avoiding the earlier action. Perhaps he hadn’t fully recovered from that sword strike, and his heart was still racing a bit. He tucked the folding fan into his waist and lowered his head to touch his face with the back of his hand.

So hot.

—It was no wonder he didn’t dare to meet his gaze.

It was the first time in his life that he had been so openly disliked, and Lin Zhusheng found it amusing. He stepped forward with his sword in hand.

As expected, the person was startled, their expression momentarily dazed.

It was a bit funny.

But this wasn’t the time for jokes. Clumsily sheathing his long sword, it was almost time for the break to end, so he reached out.

A slender, fair hand, with thin calluses on the palm and some joints from frequently holding a sword, but it didn’t detract from its beauty.

This was the first time Chen Jinghao noticed how unexpectedly good-looking his hand was. Not understanding the gesture, he hesitantly reached out to touch the open palm.

But before he could make contact, he was ruthlessly slapped away.

What a silly expression and silly action! Lin Zhusheng confirmed that the person was indeed stunned, and patiently reminded him, “The payment… ah, I mean, the deposit.”

This wasn’t an invitation to shake hands; it was a request for money.

Finally understanding his meaning, Chen Jinghao’s overly heated brain cooled down a bit, and he agreed to the one hundred gold.

With the one hundred gold in hand, Lin Zhusheng was delighted, his eyes curving into a smile as he turned to say goodbye.

His happiness was simple and obvious; his legs moved a bit lighter, and even the strands of hair swaying behind him looked cheerful.

However, after the earlier fight, there were still a few leaves stuck in his hair, and his clothes were in disarray, like a wild person bouncing around.

“…”

He bounced away, his figure hidden behind the peach tree, leaving Chen Jinghao standing in place, slowly looking down at his hand that had been slapped.

It felt a bit strange.

As the break ended, those who had left returned quietly to their seats.

Lin Zhusheng came back quietly, but his outfit was too eye-catching. The second elder’s eldest disciple looked over and asked, “What were you doing?”

Brushing off the petals and leaves from his hair, Lin Zhusheng skipped the reasons and process, simply stating the result: “Making money.”

“?”

Such an abstract answer! The second eldest disciple didn’t understand, feeling that this money seemed hard to earn.

The young sect master of the Qi Sect took longer, returning just in time for the last bit of the break, looking no different from when he left, except for the keen-eyed noticing a tear in his clothing. The tear was neat, not like it was accidentally ripped.

He looked a bit restless, as if he was deep in thought, and after sitting down, he lowered his head to ponder.

Another round of matches began, an important competition for the top spot. While everyone’s attention was on the arena, he slightly turned his head to look at someone not far behind him.

He just happened to witness that person quietly stuffing a snack into their mouth, only to choke on it, quickly grabbing the tea from the elder’s table to gulp it down, and after finishing, slumped back in their seat with a satisfied sigh.

“…”

…Impossible.

Pressing the folding fan against his throbbing temples, Chen Jinghao half-opened his eyes and turned back.

The sword he had swung earlier while making money had consumed too much spiritual energy and stamina. As the competition began, Lin Zhusheng had started quietly consuming snacks infused with a bit of spiritual energy to replenish his strength and spiritual veins, and he hadn’t stopped since.

He hadn’t paid much attention to the competition before, but on the last day, he learned that the boss had also participated in the grand competition and had already reached the stage of competing for the top spot.

He hadn’t cared before, but today he watched the matches a bit more closely.

All he could say was that the fights were brutal; the flashes of swords and blades were hard to see with the naked eye. If it weren’t for the protective formations at the edge of the arena, the stands would have likely been blown away.

The boss ended up being the champion, with the Tian Sect occupying half of the top ten spots.

Once all the matches concluded, the sect masters and elders had no objections, and the winning disciples went to receive their awards.

When the boss went to collect his prize, he was still munching on the sticky rice dumpling shared by Lin Xiaoyou, struggling to eat it, his cheeks constantly moving as he received the award.

Lin Zhusheng had been laughing at the elder’s table, stuffing a sticky rice dumpling into his mouth to taste the flavor, but when he learned that the champion’s reward was ten thousand gold, his smile froze.

His eyes widened in disbelief as he turned to the second eldest disciple beside him, asking in a muddled way for confirmation, “Ten thousand gold?”

It was indeed ten thousand gold, equivalent to one hundred thousand silver.

The boss came down holding the light prize scroll, finally finishing the sticky rice dumpling, and sat back down.

He didn’t seem to care much about the result, tossing the scroll in his hand and just smiling at the congratulations from others.

He had never participated in the grand competition before, and now that he did, he became the champion without any suspense.

The second eldest disciple asked him, “By the way, why did Xu Shixiong decide to participate in the grand competition this time?”

Among all the disciples, his strength was second only to the overwhelmingly powerful Wen Baizhou. If he wanted to take the championship, he could have done so years ago.

“It’s because I ran out of money,” the boss said with a smile, tossing the scroll, “I saw a sword material I liked, but I couldn’t afford it even if I emptied my pockets, and this just happened to help.”

Lin Zhusheng, who had also eaten a sticky rice dumpling, finally freed his mouth after chewing for a while and slowly said, “Impressive.”

“Your master brother is better than me.”

The boss tucked the scroll into his pocket and moved over to sit beside him, saying, “He has plenty of good stuff; you can go extort him whenever you want.”

Lin Zhusheng hadn’t reached the point of extorting his master brother yet. Changing the subject, he asked, “By the way, when will master brother be back?”

That was a good question. The boss thought for a moment and then said, “In a couple of days.”

He smiled, propping his chin on his hand, squinting his eyes and saying, “Missing your master brother?”

He was just joking, his mouth itching as usual, but surprisingly, Lin Zhusheng nodded seriously and said, “A bit.”

He still hadn’t sent the flowers he had prepared, and he didn’t know if his master brother would be back in time to collect the 兰筠花.

“…Crack.”

The boss almost fell off his chair.

The small noise attracted the attention of those around them. He cleared his throat a couple of times to change the subject, asking, “You haven’t interacted with anyone from the outer sect, right… um, except for that young sect master from the Qi Sect?”

Lin Zhusheng said no.

The boss then patted his shoulder and gave him a thumbs up.

With the grand competition over, they had already been away from the sect for too long. After the conclusion, people from other sects began to prepare to leave one after another.

It was the same huge flying boat they had seen before, but this time they were observing it up close instead of from a distance in the woods.

After mixing around for so many days during the breaks, Lin finally did something practical, following the grand elder to send off these guests.

Having faced many such occasions with his father, he was quite accustomed to it, looking familiar with everyone as if they were his own people, smiling more naturally than the boss, whose face seemed to be cramping.

The Qi Sect walked in front when they arrived, but because the two sect masters chatted a bit longer, they ended up walking at the back when leaving.

The other disciples boarded the ship first, and the sect master of the Qi Sect and several elders greeted them one after another. Chen Jinghao walked to the side, only nodding slightly and not saying much. When passing by the grand elder, he glanced sideways at the person standing next to the elder.

The person smiled, and when their eyes met, their brows relaxed, giving a slight nod.

With ordinary features that seemed unremarkable, when he smiled, there was an unexpectedly comfortable feeling that he had never noticed before, a sense of ease that came from deep within.

For a moment, he couldn’t help but look a bit longer. Noticing his gaze, thinking there was something to say, Lin Shifu, who was always straightforward, leaned forward and asked, “What’s up?”

As soon as he spoke, everyone else turned to look. Facing the crowd’s attention, realizing he should say a few words, Chen Jinghao paused and finally said, “Next time…”

“No way.”

Before he could finish his sentence, Lin Zhusheng had already guessed what he was going to say. Every cell in his body rejected it, and he quickly said, “There’s no next time!”

He had heard the term “next time” too many times these past few days; it sounded like an invitation for another match, and he was determined not to have a next time.

This young sect master looked like he had a good head on his shoulders, but he didn’t seem very smart in reality, daring to clash swords directly. Making money was minor, but accidentally injuring a young sect master was a big deal; he was clear on the difference between the two.

“…”

Being so obviously rejected, the not-so-smart young sect master fell silent.

With their simple conversation over, the group boarded the flying boat.

The flying boat floated in the air, gradually distancing itself from the ground, rising above the clouds.

The people on the ground gradually shrank, becoming tiny figures, and finally disappeared behind the clouds.

Leaning against the side of the boat, Chen Jinghao slowly touched his chest, then turned to grab a passing attendant randomly, saying inexplicably, “Show me a smile.”

The attendant was caught off guard, managing to pull a smile.

Chen Jinghao frowned and waved his hand, “Forget it, don’t smile.”

With his unpredictable temper, the attendant had already gotten used to it, putting away his smile and continuing with his own tasks.

Reaching out to touch the seemingly still cold blade at his neck, Chen Jinghao finally snapped the folding fan shut and withdrew his gaze.

The flying boat soared over mountains and rivers, piercing through the clouds at sunset, where the faint sound of swords ringing could be heard, quickly passing by and disappearing into the distance.

Someone leaned against the side of the boat, looking at the swirling clouds, gazing in the direction of the sound, saying, “Is someone from the Tian Sect returning to their sect?”

The person resting nearby said they didn’t know.

The trip to Guiyu City ended early, and Wen Baizhou headed straight back to the sect after finishing.

When he returned to the sect, the grand competition had already concluded, the sun sinking into the distant mountains, and the sky was nearly dark. He found the boss busy restoring the training grounds and the first thing he asked was whether anyone had approached his little disciple during the competition.

Great, even the basic greetings were skipped, and it was straight to the little disciple. The corner of the boss’s mouth twitched as he rolled up his sleeves, saying, “You can rest assured; I’ve been on high alert.”

After Wen Baizhou asked, he left to report back to the sect master. Just a couple of steps out, the boss remembered something and added, “Lin Xiaoyou said he missed you a bit today.”

His departing footsteps paused, and even the floating sword stopped.

“…”

After a long moment, he finally shifted his gaze back, raising his hand to cover his lips, and softly replied, “Mm.”