(Not So) Friendly Sparr (3)

During the afternoon of the following day, Long Ming and Wu Yuying arrived at the location where the gathering was taking place. The gathering was happening in a corner of the Lin family residence's courtyard. As they approached the area, they could already see several people chatting and drinking. Everyone was seated at tables around a large arena. As they arrived, they quickly drew the attention of all the other guests.

"Who is this man?" Everyone seemed to have the same thought as they looked with shocked expressions at Long Ming and Wu Yuying. Especially, Long Ming noticed several other young men looking at him with enmity and antipathy, as well as many young women looking at him with interest and curiosity.

Being stared at by so many people, and in such intense ways, was a completely new experience for Long Ming, but he wasn't sure how he felt about it yet.

Observing all those faces, Wu Yuying quickly spotted a familiar face among them and, along with Long Ming, approached one of the tables in particular.

At that table were two girls, both very beautiful and dressed in a way that further accentuated their beauty, enough to dazzle any man with just a simple glance. Observing the face of this duo, Long Ming recognized one of them, a lovely girl with brown hair, whose expression showed a kind of surprise and amusement as she watched them. It was Xie Mei.

"Oh! I didn't expect you to bring him here too, Ying'er. Did he really manage to seduce you?" Xie Mei spoke provocatively to Wu Yuying, while greeting her.

"Don't say that! He's just a friend. Besides, he's only accompanying me because none of the other members of my family wanted to attend this gathering," Wu Yuying hurriedly tried to explain.

"Ahem, aren't you going to introduce your friend, Ying'er?" one of the other girls asked suddenly, looking with obvious interest at Long Ming.

"Oh, of course. He's Long Ming, a guest of my Wu family," after these words, Long Ming approached the girl who had spoken earlier and greeted her with a small kiss on the back of her hand.

"Pleasure to meet you. Could you please tell me your name?" Long Ming asked in a gallant manner.

"Hehe, I'm Mei Li," she confirmed, her cheeks slightly flushed. Looking at her face, Long Ming unconsciously gave a small smile and said, "Nice to meet you, Mei Li."

After this brief introduction, they sat down again and started chatting.

"By the way, you came from a distant city, didn't you, Long Ming? If I'm not mistaken, it's Cui Shi, right?" Xie Mei suddenly spoke after a few minutes of conversation.

Long Ming watched her carefully and seriously, reflecting on how (and why) she had obtained this information. But as it didn't seem to make sense to lie about this matter, he decided to confirm.

"That's right. Cui Shi is a city quite far from here, I'm surprised you know it," he said with surprise and honesty.

"I think it's important to know the cities nearby. Even though Cui Shi is considerably far away, it's still possible for some problem to reach this city. Don't you think?" she spoke subjectively. Long Ming felt his heart stop for a brief moment with this speech, feeling an even denser aura of mystery arise around this girl.

"It makes sense. But for that, an absurdly large information network would be necessary," he then replied, still staring at her deeply.

The two began to stare at each other for long seconds before their attention was simultaneously drawn to a young man who stepped onto the arena.

"Ahem! Hello, everyone! For those who don't know me, I'm Lin Che, the host of this little gathering. I'm very happy that so many people have accepted our invitation, as this is a very important moment, not just for me, but for all of us and, who knows, even for all of Jianshang. Here are all the young masters who will lead their families in the future, the future leaders who will take this city forward! And that's why I think this day is so important because it will allow us to get to know each other so that we can help each other when that day comes," the young man delivered a passionate and charismatic speech, exciting everyone present.

"Strange, shouldn't the host be Lin Wan?" Long Ming thought, furrowing his eyebrows. As far as he knew, the host of this meeting was usually the young master of the Lin family, who, in this case, was Lin Wan. Reflecting on this matter, he began to feel a difficult-to-describe feeling, but one that certainly made him see this absence as important.

"... And what better way to get to know each other than through a friendly fight? That's why I announce the start of the challenges! For those who don't know yet, these challenges are quite simple. Anyone who steps onto this stage can challenge someone else to a little duel. Since it's a friendly event, the use of weapons is not allowed, and any participant will lose if they fall to the ground or give up. If you try to seriously and intentionally harm someone, you will be penalized and will have to compensate your opponent with a value proportional to the injury. Also, if you win a duel, you can challenge someone else," he then explained the rules of the main event of that day.

Long Ming found this duel interesting and, after hearing that the duels were about to begin, started looking for a specific person in that area. After a brief search, he found a young man wearing a white outfit and with a dissatisfied and arrogant expression.

"Found you," that young man was, logically, He Jun. The moment Long Ming stared at him, He Jun also seemed to have noticed him and stared back at him even more intensely and angrily.

"Heh, seems like you almost want to kill me," Long Ming thought as he smiled mockingly.

"So, who will be the first to step onto this stage?" as they stared at each other, Lin Che finally asked who would be the first challenger.

In response, He Jun stood up from his chair and, with his palm raised, said, "Please, allow me to start this important event," there was a threatening smile on his face as he spoke those words.

Lin Che then nodded slightly and stepped down from the arena.

"Long Ming, as promised, I challenge you to a duel!" He Jun arrogantly declared after stepping onto the arena and pointing his finger at Long Ming.

"Duel? When did you two meet?" Wu Yuying asked curiously, looking puzzled at Long Ming. In response, Long Ming began to smile embarrassedly and said, as if apologizing, "Perhaps, he requested a duel where I would hand over your hand if I lose. And as it seemed rude to reject a duel proposed by someone as important as him, I decided to accept."

"What the hell did you bet—"

"Did you bring the manual I asked for?" Long Ming interrupted Wu Yuying's question.

"Of course," He Jun took out a book that was under his clothes. Then, with a nod of agreement, Long Ming stood up and walked towards him.

"Long Ming! What the hell did you bet?!" Wu Yuying stood up from her chair and questioned Long Ming

, obviously stressed.

In response, Long Ming turned around and, as he stared at her, said, "Don't worry, I won't lose something I never had to begin with, in an innocent bet like this," then he turned his gaze back to the arena and jumped onto it with a simple leap.

"How can I trust that this manual is really yellow-grade?" Long Ming asked as he surveyed the arena. It was a relatively small space, about 15 meters long and 10 meters wide.

"I believe Lin Che can attest to the authenticity of this book," He Jun spoke, then asked Lin Che to do this favor. Seeing no reason to refuse, besides being quite intrigued by this duel, he decided to act as the intermediary.

So, he took the book from He Jun's hands and, after analyzing it for a few seconds, stated loud enough for everyone to hear, "I confirm that this manual is of yellow-grade, more precisely, it's a lower-grade yellow-ranked sword manual!"

"See? I've proven that my part is correct. Now how can you promise that you will fulfill your own role?" He Jun then questioned, a confident smile enveloping his face.

"Heh, I can assure you that Lady Yuying will be completely amazed if you win against me!" Long Ming spoke loudly. As he spoke, he felt increasingly strange because this was a reward disproportionately large compared to the yellow-ranked manual. Moreover, even if Long Ming asserted, how could he be 100% sure about how Wu Yuying's reaction would be? And even if she were impressed, that wouldn't guarantee that she would fall in love with He Jun, and there was nothing Long Ming could do about it.

Of course, he wouldn't say any of this to He Jun, as he might become demotivated and give up on the bet... ahem, on betting a yellow-ranked manual.

After Long Ming finished saying such things, everyone seemed to be confused and shocked. And Wu Yuying seemed even more irritated by Long Ming's assertion, but she decided to stay quiet. Xie Mei also looked surprised by this, albeit for a different reason, and began to observe the arena with more interest.

Looking at the other participants, Long Ming noticed some young masters with expressions of shock and even envy. He could imagine what they must be thinking, something like: 'damn, why didn't I think of that before!', and that almost made him start laughing. But he suppressed such emotions and focused back on He Jun.

"I suggest you give up, Long Ming. In case you didn't know, I'm at the peak of the Qi Refining Realm and I will reach the half-step stage at any moment!" He Jun proclaimed arrogantly.

"Just reached the peak, huh? Heh, looks like I didn't completely lie with that statement. You really could amaze her by defeating someone one stage above," Long Ming thought internally, slightly disappointed with He Jun's cultivation.

"Congratulations. Anyway, shall we start?" Long Ming spoke with little interest. His indifferent attitude stirred a mixture of emotions in He Jun, mainly hatred for feeling humiliated, but also a kind of apprehension because Long Ming didn't seem impressed by his cultivation.

"No, he must be just bluffing," with this resolution, he affirmed, "Let's begin."

The next moment, Long Ming appeared in front of He Jun and punched him in the stomach, arching him in the air, and then struck his cheek. These two blows lifted He Jun into the air and, at the same time, spun him at a 90-degree angle.

Without hesitating for another second, Long Ming grabbed his arm and collar and threw him to the ground.

Even though the difference between the peak stage of the Qi Refining Realm and the half-step stage of the Qi Gathering Realm is not so high, in principle, after all, it would only be a matter of sensitivity with Qi. This difference becomes substantial in practice because when using Qi, the cultivator becomes noticeably stronger, capable of performing deadly and practically indefensible techniques for a cultivator in the Qi Refining Realm; as happened in this case.

Furthermore, even if it weren't for Qi, overall senses, as well as mobility and reaction speed, are also improved when reaching the half-step stage. In other words, the cultivator becomes a much more efficient fighter.

"... I win," Long Ming affirmed as he looked at He Jun's confused face. Then he turned to Lin Che and said, "He seems fine, just shocked."

"Ahem, Long Ming wins! And as they had bet, I will hand over that yellow-ranked manual to Long Ming!" Lin Che spoke the next second, coming out of his stupor. Then he climbed onto the arena and handed the manual to Long Ming.

"Thank you, Lin Che, for officiating this little bet. And thank you very much, He Jun, for giving me this precious gift; and it's not even my birthday!" Long Ming teased cheerfully and prepared to leave the arena.

"Wait! Long Ming, I also challenge you to a duel!" when Long Ming was about to leave the arena, another person climbed onto it and challenged him.

"Oh! You?" Long Ming opened a big smile upon recognizing the face of the one who had challenged him.