Bai Yunsheng took a deep breath.
So, if Zhou Yulong really is living a third life, then his reaction is justified. Then does that mean my knowledge of the original novel is useless? I don't think so... Because apart from his attitude towards Li Yuhua, nothing much has changed!" he thought to himself, putting his thoughts in order.
He decided to observe Zhou Yulong for a while to make sure that he had regressed for the second time.
Luo Shengli looked at everyone gathered and solemnly declared:
"I am glad to welcome you all to the preliminary rounds of the martial arts tournament! I see many talented young warriors, so let's not waste time and begin!" the old man said and, having folded several seals, transformed the area, turning the empty clearing into something similar to the Colosseum.
"Let me briefly explain how the preliminary rounds will be held!" Luo Shengli said after he had built seats for spectators around the "ring", and he himself stood on a high balcony.
"So, since many people came to the tournament, it was decided to hold one-on-one fights over the course of five days. Those who win twice will receive a chance to get into the main tournament!
As soon as the old man finished, he made a few seals and moved everyone to the spectator seats.
"So, the first match is between Xie Yuan and Zhou Yulong! Get ready!"
A young man in dark blue clothes with his eyes closed smiled sweetly and took a fighting stance. Zhou Yulong pulled out his sword and stood opposite him.
"The rules are simple:
1) Do not kill or inflict mortal wounds;
2) If one of you surrenders, the other one will win;
3) If one of you steps out of the ring, the other one will win.
4) The victory will also be counted if the opponent loses consciousness.
5) As long as it does not threaten the life and health of a person, any method of fighting is allowed!" Luo Shengli explained.
***
"Xie Yuan... I heard about him... The young heir of the Golden Mine merchant union. I heard he's quite skilled in hand-to-hand combat! That idiot Zhou Yulong won't have it easy... — Li Yuhua, who was sitting next to Bai Yunsheng, said in a thoughtful voice.
Bai Yunsheng didn't answer because he knew that this guy had no chance against the protagonist.
"There's no point in watching any further. Zhou Yulong and Li Yuhua will easily pass the selection rounds, so there's no need to worry about them. And I don't want to watch some NPCs fight..."
Bai Yunsheng closed his eyes and sighed, and began to meditate.
Li Yuhua didn't like being ignored so easily, and snorted as she continued to watch the fight.
*Inhale*, *Exhale*
Having concentrated, Bai Yunsheng began to circulate qi energy within himself.
He felt a stream of warm energy flowing through his veins, while colder energy flowed under his skin.
"Although cultivating by inviting dark energy helps to quickly accumulate qi energy, the problem is that, unlike spiritual energy, dark energy only flows through the body, and an excessive amount of it can destroy it! So I will have to create a foundation, or rather a second core of qi..." Bai Yunsheng thought to himself.
Opening one eye, he saw Luo Shengli announce the start of the fight, and Xie Yuan and Zhou Yulong immediately pounced on each other.
The narrow-eyed man took a step forward and extended his fist towards Zhou Yulong. A shockwave flew from his fist, which knocked Zhou Yulong back.
Mountain Tiger Roar! - He shouted and waved his hand, releasing waves of blades at the protagonist.
Zhou Yulong did not lose his head and pulled out his sword, taking a deep breath.
Second Lotus Technique: Horizontal Slash! - With one swing of his sword, Zhou Yulong dispersed his opponent's attack and quickly attacked him.
Xie Yuan somehow dodged, and as soon as he dodged the last swing of the sword, Zhou Yulong suddenly kicked him in the stomach. The blow knocked the air out of Xie Yuan's lungs, but he quickly recovered.
Just as Xie Yuan was about to attack Zhou Yulong again, Luo Shengli declared the end of the fight.
"The fight is over! The winner is Zhou Yulong!"
Xie Yuan looked at Luo Shengli in surprise and was about to ask a question when the old man silently pointed down.
Looking at the ground, Xie Yuan's eyes widened. He had stepped outside the ring and suffered a defeat because of it.
Bai Yunsheng sighed, chuckled to himself, and continued meditating.
During this time, 10 fights had already passed. The young warriors shouted out different techniques and gave it their all, but their battles reminded Bai Yunsheng of a fight between homeless people behind a garage.
In the 13th fight, Li Yuhua and some monk. Before the match, he made nasty comments towards her, tried to flirt with her, and openly hit on her.
That's why, as soon as Luo Shengli announced the start of the 13th match, without further ado, Li Yuhua drew her sword and attacked her opponent. The girl's multiple attacks overwhelmed her opponent without a chance.
She didn't even give him a chance to surrender and continued to attack. And because she struck with the back of her sword, the only wounds she left on the monk were bruises.
Result: After more than 15 minutes of beatings, the monk somehow managed to give up and the fight ended with Li Yuhua winning.
Another 6 fights passed and finally it was Bai Yunsheng's turn.
He entered the arena and in front of him stood a young man with long black hair and dark eyes. He wore black clothes and had an earring on his right ear. On his belt hung two long swords, and his face was adorned with a cheeky grin.
"My name is Fan Zheng and I am the one who will become the greatest swordsman in history!" he said loudly, smiling widely.
Bai Yunsheng did not hear him and as soon as Luo Shengli announced the start of the fight, with one easy movement Bai Yunsheng threw five thin needles towards the young man.
Because the needles were too small, no one noticed them, and if they had hit, everyone would have started asking why Fan Zheng had suddenly lost consciousness. But only "if"!
As soon as the needles came close to Fan Zheng, he swung his sword and deflected the projectiles.
Bai Yunsheng was surprised by this, but without giving him time to counterattack, he decided to move forward.
In one lunge, Bai Yunsheng closed the distance between them and swung his fist.
Fan Zheng didn't have time to react before he was slammed into the ground, and when Bai Yunsheng hit several acupuncture points, the young man lost consciousness. Bai Yunsheng's victory.
***
As soon as the last match ended, Luo Shengli announced the winners of the first qualifying round. Naturally, Bai Yunsheng, Li Yuhua, and Zhou Yulong were among those who passed.
— Well, since the results have been announced, it's time to disperse. The selection round will continue tomorrow at the same time with new participants. Those who couldn't pass don't worry, because two days before the martial arts tournament itself, there will be another day of fighting to give those who couldn't pass a chance! — said the old man, stroking his beard and announcing the end, he went to Luo Shengli and the other elders to agree on the results.
The people who participated in the fights began to disperse. Some were annoyed by the defeat, some were happy with the victory, and some gained valuable experience.
Bai Yunsheng and Li Yuhua were already leaving this place and Zhou Yulong, not wanting to be left behind, followed them.
"The preliminaries are over, so I still have three weeks before the actual martial arts tournament starts. Perhaps instead of training in needle throwing, I should create a core for dark energy..." Bai Yunsheng thought to himself as he walked out of that place.
"What are you planning to do, Mr. Bai?" Li Yuhua asked with a sweet smile on her face as she walked next to him.
Zhou Yulong was surprised by her such a reaction, but decided to remain silent.
"Is this really the Yuhua sister I know? Since when can this ice girl smile like that?" was spinning in the boy's head as he looked at her with suspicion.
"Nothing special... Don't worry..." Bai Yunsheng answered her indifferently.
Li Yuhua frowned at his indifference, but decided to remain silent.
***
As soon as the three of them reached the main gate of the city.
After passing through the gate, Bai Yunsheng left them alone and headed towards Lei Jiangxue's residence.
Li Yuhua gritted her teeth as she saw the boy disappear into the crowd, leaving them behind.
Zhou Yulong saw her frown and decided not to touch her.
*Haa...*
Li Yuhua took a deep breath and headed towards the hotel where they were staying.
"Hey, wait..." Before Zhou Yulong could finish speaking, he collided with someone. He managed to catch the person just before they fell.
"Be careful!" Upon closer inspection, he realized that it was a young girl.
The stranger shuddered and moved away from him.
"S-sorry, I wasn't looking at the road..." She began to make excuses, but Zhou Yulong calmed her down.
"It's okay, the main thing is that you're not hurt!" he said with a sweet smile on his face and helped her collect the food she dropped.
Li Yuhua, seeing this, snorted and continued to walk away, and Zhou Yulong sighed and smiled sweetly at the unknown woman.
"Excuse me, allow me to digress!"
He helped her collect the dropped food and, bowing politely, ran after Li Yuhua, leaving the girl alone.
She looked at his back for a while before turning in the other direction.
***
After a while, Bai Yunsheng arrived at Lei Jiangxue's residence.
Going through the gate, he entered the building, where he was met by servants.
"Mr. Bai, Miss Jiangxue is waiting for you in the bathhouse!" one of them said in a professional tone, bowing her head.
Bai Yunsheng himself raised an eyebrow and sighed.
"So what did she need me for? Is she really going to nag me for bringing Xiao Ran home? If so, isn't it too late for that!? It's unlikely to be for my visits to brothels, considering that Bai Yunsheng from the novel was famous for walking up women's skirts!"
After finishing his mental monologue, Bai Yunsheng nodded and headed towards the bathroom.
When he got there, he opened the door and walked through it.
There was a large room inside with a view of Mount Wangmei. The room itself was quite ordinary and even modest in decoration, and there was a bathtub closer to the window. Although it looked more like hot springs.
After looking around, Bai Yunsheng turned his gaze to the one who invited him.
Lei Jiangxue was sitting in the bathtub, not yet fully taking off her clothes. Her back was facing Bai Yunsheng, and he could clearly see the dragon tattoo.
Turning her head slightly, Lei Jiangxue's red eye met her husband's cold, dark eyes.
"You came... I was waiting for you..." For a moment, her lips curved into a small smile, and although her face was expressionless, a storm of emotions was floating in her eyes.
She extended her hand and called him enticingly.
"Come here and take a bath with me..." She spoke in a soft voice that was completely unusual for her.
Bai Yunsheng simply looked at her for a while, trying to understand her motives, but when he couldn't think of anything, he sighed and slowly entered the bathtub, taking off his clothes.
Finding himself in just his shirt, he sank into the water up to his waist and settled down.
"Why did you call me? Do you need something?" he asked in an indifferent voice, as if he didn't care about the whole situation.
Lei Jiangxue just chuckled and sat down next to him.
"Now do I need a special reason to spend time with my husband?" she answered his question with a question.
Her voice was sweet, and her eyes were fixed on him.
Raising her right hand, she slowly ran it over Bai Yunsheng's body, tracing the contours of his muscles and squeezing them lightly. Bai Yunsheng himself didn't react to this at all, allowing her to continue her "exploration".
"I've been watching you this whole time…" she began, looking at him… "Ever since you started training, I thought 'have you really reformed?' However, the fact that you still went to the brothel disproved those thoughts…" she chuckled, weakly squeezing his chest.
Bai Yunsheng didn't respond. Placing his palm on top of her hand on his chest, he weakly squeezed her hand and looked at her with a calm face.
"Don't you care? You always turned a blind eye to it, since you never cared about me… So what changed?" he asked in a low voice, looking into her eyes.
That rare smile on Lei Jiangxue's face disappeared and she sighed, moving away from him.
"You're right… I always turned a blind eye to it because it wasn't worth my attention…"
The girl walked out of the bathroom and looked towards Mount Wangmei. Her robe fell to the ground and she was now completely naked.
Her gaze was directed into the distance and although Bai Yunsheng could not see her face, he could clearly feel the tension emanating from her.
Her shoulders were slumped and if he looked closely, he could see that she was trembling.
With a sigh, Bai Yunsheng splashed water on his face, running his hand through his hair and said in a calm voice with a hint of indifference.
"Then what changed?"
A while passed in silence. Everyone collected their thoughts and with a deep breath, Lei Jiangxue looked at her husband. Her eyes were filled with sadness.
"I... I want to fix our relationship..."
Everything around became silent. All the sounds around disappeared, as if the entire world had been shocked by her words. Bai Yunsheng's once distant and indifferent gaze was replaced by shock and disbelief.
"Are you... Are you serious now?" — He asked quietly, looking at her, but seeing the determination in her eyes, he sighed and ran his hand through his hair, closing his eyes and looking down.
— Yeah, it's not every day you hear something like that from him...
Lei Jiangxue was embarrassed by these words and wanted to say something, but she didn't know what.
— I don't mind, but are you sure about this? — Bai Yunsheng asked her after a short pause, not knowing how to react to this proposal.
"Yeah... So what should I do now that this wasn't in the novel? Well, considering that my sister didn't go into much detail about Lei Jiangxue, maybe this moment could have really happened... Besides, considering that she would become Zhou Yulong's future enemy, most likely Zhou Yulong's beating of Bai Yunsheng was the reason for this path..." — Bai Yunsheng thought to himself, trying to give meaning to what was happening now and suddenly it dawned on him.
"Wait... Zhou Yulong should have beaten me up the first time we met when I was supposed to hit on Li Yuhua, but I didn't do it and he didn't touch me in the end. If her becoming a villain is really because of me, then did I just get rid of a future antagonist???"
"Although, it's unlikely that she became a villain for that reason, considering that she doesn't care about Bai Yunsheng!" Bai Yunsheng thought to himself and nodded.
Suddenly, he felt a touch from behind. It was Lei Jiangxue, who laid her head on his and sighed.
"Well? Are you willing to start all over again?" she asked, inhaling his hair.
Bai Yunsheng sighed and nodded silently, deciding not to rack his brains over it.
Lei Jiangxue only smiled in response and hugged him from behind, burying her face in the top of his head. This kind of tenderness was a stark contrast to Lei Jiangxue from the original novel, and it couldn't help but irritate Bai Yunsheng, but he kept his composure.
"Now that we've decided to start our relationship over again, promise me one thing..." She paused to collect her thoughts and continued.
"Stop making a relationship with other women!" She said in a very cold voice that sent shivers down my spine, although Bai Yunsheng himself didn't show it.
"Aha. And here's the Lei Jiangxue I know. Glad to see that she's okay!" Bai Yunsheng chuckled to himself and nodded.
"Okay... I can promise that..." he replied with a slight smile on his face.
The corners of the girl's lips curled into a slight smile and she nodded, stroking his hair.
"That's good! Also, stop going to brothels. I'm annoyed by your growing reputation that overshadows your past one!"
Bai Yunsheng only chuckled in response to her words and mentally said:
(I was planning on not going there for a while anyway and staying at home to cultivate and create a second qi core!)
"Okay, I'll stop!" — Bai Yunsheng replied, a slight smile appearing on his usually melancholic face.
Lei Jiangxue nodded, and Bai Yunsheng could clearly feel her tension easing and her relaxation.
They spent the rest of the time together, bathing and talking to each other, completely different from their former selves.
And although their attitudes towards each other had changed, it was clearly for the better...
To be continued...