87 The End Of The Competition

The competition was nearing the finale. There were only 60 disciples left. Jiang Rou Xuan who had been in the spotlight all this time was thinking about something else other than trying to get a top 50 spot. She realised quite early on that Wang Li Tian's name had stayed the same throughout the competition. The points did not change and he was not out of the competition.

That behaviour was very weird as this was not the little brother of hers. Eventually, Wang Li Tian's name was removed from the competition. Was Li Tian taken out by someone? Jiang Rou Xuan did not know. She could only wait until the round was over to confirm with his little brother afterwards.

A few days after the second month, the top fifty disciples had been revealed. Jiang Rou Xuan and his big brother Jiang Rou Meng had entered the top fifty disciple. Jiang Rou Lang had unfortunately been taken out in the middle stages. There were several familiar faces such as Luo Zhang Yang, the direct disciple from the school of fist arts, Liu Fei Ling, the direct disciple from the school of hidden weapons. Those two came in the same time as Wang Li Tian and Jiang Rou Xuan.

When the surviving outer disciples had finally left the World Artefact, the Wang Li Tian Search Team was still investigating till the very end. They had to do so as it was a direct disciple of a prime elder.

Jiang Rou Xuan left the World Artefact in hopes that she would be able to find Wang Li Tian. Yet, he was no where in sight. There was no news or even a sign that her little brother was here. In her heart, there was a sense of uneasy, but the girl kept it suppressed. She did not want to think of the worse case scenarios.

Rather, she hoped that maybe Wang Li Tian was sent back to the academy earlier as he got injured some how. She told herself that constantly as she made her way back to the training ground at the very beginning. Her mind was convince, but her heart was not.

No. She had to check for herself. Running off, Jiang Rou Xuan left the fifty disciple group, heading towards the Artificing Mountain without stop.

Lan Meng Meng noticed that her friend was missing from the fifty disciples. Immediately, she panicked, "Where did sister Rou Xuan go?!"

Up the mountain, Jiang Rou Xuan's heart was pumping nervously. Her palms were unnaturally sweaty, her mouth was dry. Why was she so worried? Little Brother Li Tian must surely be enjoying a nice meal made by senior sister Shu Yi.

As she finally came into the familiar looking courtyard, Jiang Rou Xuan finally stopped in her footsteps. Xin Shu Yi was outside hanging up her web robes to dry. When Xin Shu Yi saw Jiang Rou Xuan, she asked with a calm smile, "What brings you here, Junior sister Rou Xuan?"

"Is.. Li Tian back yet?" Jiang Rou Xuan voice quivered.

"Huh? Wasn't junior brother in the competition with you? Is he not with you right now?" As Xin Shu Yi spoke, Jiang Rou Xuan's world crumbled slowly.

…

The competition eventually came to an end. Unsurprisingly, the eventual winner was Jiang Rou Meng. The top ten this year contained those cultivators that were already top 50 in the previous competition.

Jiang Rou Xuan did not participate the final stage. She had went back to her Sword Mountain residence and locked herself in cultivation. Even her close friend, Lan Meng Meng was unable to call her out of her cultivation. The news of how direct disciple Wang Li Tian had disappeared during the competition was spread about. Within a few weeks, the news was gone with the wind and everyone had went on with their lives. All except a few cultivators in the academy.

Elder Phoenix was the only one that knew of the truth. He had no plans in sharing this with the other people that were worried.

"When you are back, little Li Tian, you shall shock those that cared for you." Elder Phoenix spoke to himself. That was the best way to repay those that spent many countless night worried. His arms were cursed behind his back as he looked at the bright round moon.

Long Tang Yun sat with his only other disciple in his courtyard. The prime elder was drinking his wine that he kept for such occasions. Xin Shu Yi accompanied her teacher, but did not drink along. The disciple and elder sat in silence as they looked at the same bright moon.

"Shu Yi, I miss your junior brother…" The missing presence of the innocent young boy felt very weird. Long Tang Yun still couldn't believe it even a month after the competition.

"I miss junior brother too…"