40

"Song Yan might be an outer court disciple but he is still well versed in cultivation and fighting," Ming Jiu whispered to An Cheng looking a little uneasy.

"I am not sure if Le fang Ling understands what she is up against." He shook his head feeling a little dejected. He was just hoping the announcement event to be livelier but never did he think that the whole situation will lead to this.

"All we can do is wait and see," An Cheng balled up her fingers into a fist in an attempt to calm herself.

She looked at Le fang Ling with worried eyes. In the three days that she had not seen her, Le fang Ling seemed to have grown up quite a bit.

The aura around her had drastically changed, making her appear less vulnerable and less naïve unlike before.

Three days was not a much time for anyone to start cultivation from scratch but it also meant a lot if it was used wisely.

How she spent these three days all depended on Le Fang Ling.

'Do your best!' She sent her well wishes and cheering to Le Fang Ling since that was all she could do at the moment.

Le Fang Ling turned back and saw An Cheng staring at her with concerned face.

'Is she worried that I might mess up?' Le Fang Ling wondered.

Nevertheless, she decided to assure her that she was going to be alright. Unknowingly, her face lit up at the care she was shown and she could not help but smile, her peach blossom shaped eyes narrowed to form a beautiful curve.

'Senior sister! You can count on me!' She whispered in a low voice but her lips movement were readable, especially to An Chneg whose 100% attention was concentered on her at the moment.

An Cheng: "…..", she saw me, didn't she?

An Chneg was a tad bit embarrassed when it was her turn to be caught looking at her like some peeping tom.

"Cough," she cleared her throat and quickly averted her eyes from the sparkling turquoise eyes that were shouting out to her.

"Heh," Le Fang Ling snorted a little bit and started to walk up to the stage where Elder Lin was standing as the main host of the duel.

As for An Lin, he was already kicked out from the stage and currently being coaxed by the female disciples who were staying in a crowd inside the hall.

"That lucky bastard!" Ming Jiu drank back the tears of jealousy looking at the good fortune of his brother.

"But at least I am with the top goddess right now," he soothed his heart looking at the tall and tender beauty standing right next to him.

An Cheng saw the girl smiling at her one last time before she turned away which made her purse her lips into a brief smile.

"By the way, are you two close?" Ming Jiu was little bit curious about the bitter sweet relationship between these three people.

An Lin, An Cheng and Le Fang Ling seemed to know each other quite well but while An Lin hated the shadow of her, An Cheng seemed to be a lot closer to her.

'Cough, the closeness seems a little too intimate as well,' he added the last statement in his heart as he dared not speak it out.

This ambiguous relation had managed to catch his attention from day 1 and today was finally the day he was able to ask it.

"Me and Le fang Ling?" An Cheng raised her eyes and was thoughtful for a while when she saw Ming Jiu nodding his head at her.

"Hmm, I think we are indeed close." She nodded her head after analyzing everything they had been through.

They have had a friendly duel, visited each other's residence, saw each other naked in the bathroom, took her to visit the underground secret chamber of the Eternal Blossom Sect and most importantly…

She also spent some quality intimate time with her pet aka Nagina; that little devil.

Thinking about the happenings of that night, An Cheng could feel the heat all over her face and body.

"Cough, in conclusion, we are close." An Cheng blocked half of her face with her palm and cleared her throat.

"Why and how? Humph, the reasons are unnecessary," she shrugged her head in an unwillingness to talk further about this matter.

Yet, she could not hide the light pink tint on her cheek no matter how indifferent she wanted to act.

'She is blushing!! Whatever did they do to become this close in just a matter of few days?' Ming Jiu was having an internal panic when he saw the flushed pink color on her cheek.

'But, this embarrassed and shy look of senior sister An Cheng is also equally enchanting if not lesser,' he felt his simp spirit rising from within.

*Smack*

He felt a blunt pain on his head out of nowhere, snapping him back to reality. He immediately went to touch the place where he was hit and saw An Cheng glaring at him.

"Senior sister," he mumbled lightly when he saw her expression was already back to normal.

"What?"

"Why did you hit me?" he asked with teary eyes that made him look like a puppy that had been bullied.

"….."

"Your puppy eyes won't work on me so stop looking at me with that expression," she flicked his forehead with her finger.

"But.." he still felt he was wrongly accused and persecuted this time again when he was just admiring beauty.

"Stop day dreaming and focus on what is happening!" She hissed at him and turned to look at the central stage.

"Le Fang Ling," Elder Lin shouted out.

"Song Yang," She also called out the male disciple's name.

"Here!"

"Here!"

Both of them answered her at once as they started walking to the stage from their respective places.

The crowd also had separated to let them through without obstructing their advances.

'What a disciplined group of disciples,' Elder Lin sighed looking at the scene before her.

Everyone looked silently at the two figures climbing the ladders. No one dared to clap or cheer out for them, because this was not some kind of tournament match to figure out winner and loser.

Although Elder Lin said that the duel was a friendly match, everyone present there including Le Fang Ling and Song Yang knew it was much more than what it seemed.

Le Fang Ling had kept her dignity on the line while Song Yang was trying to justify his claims while trying to unmask the face of the junior sister.

Elder Lin looked at the two people who were facing each other and announced, "Before you start, let me tell you the most important thing about this."

"This is your fight so, make sure you use everything to your advantage." She looked at both of them.

"But be warned, if you try to use underhanded methods, it will mean instant banning from the sect."

Seeing that both of them were not opposed to anything she was saying, she took a deep breath and shouted, "Start!"