“Precious items, this, this…”
Hearing that, Huyan Yazhi couldn’t help but hesitate.
The formation flags used by Array Peak disciples were usually the most precious treasures they owned, made with various rare materials to improve their quality and increase compatibility.
Huyan Yazhi had already given away her formation flag earlier, so asking her to produce another treasure of equal value was really too difficult.
Seeing this, Lin Huanhuan said impatiently, “Don’t tell me you’re expecting me to put up the stakes? I’m betting on your behalf. If I have to supply the items, forget it—I don’t have this much free time to play games with you here.”
“Ha, fine.” Huyan Yazhi sighed, admitting the logic. Gritting her teeth, she took out all the high-value items from her Qiankun pouch at once.
“With all this, it should be about enough, right, Lady Lin Huanhuan? Please do your best—my entire fortune is here. If I lose again, my neck will have to compete with the roof beam in a tug-of-war.”
“You mean hang yourself!”
Lin Huanhuan waved her hand, unconcerned. “Relax. Since you trust me that much, I’ll definitely give it my all. No way I’ll let you die—after all, you still have to work for me later. If you die, wouldn’t I be at a huge loss?”
Ling Dongdong listened to their conversation and just sneered dismissively, too lazy to argue. In her view, how could Lin Huanhuan and Huyan Yazhi possibly beat her?
She walked over, carefully inspected the items Huyan Yazhi had laid out, repeatedly comparing and weighing their value, and finally nodded in satisfaction. “Fine. Even though the value is still a bit short, considering we’ve been fellow disciples for so many years, I’ll consider it enough.”
“It was enough to begin with! What nonsense are you spouting?!”
Ling Dongdong curled her lip disdainfully and confirmed again, “Let me make this clear first—with so many witnesses here, a loss is a loss and a win is a win. There’s no such thing as a casual, ignorant misunderstanding. Even if you two kneel and beg me later, I won’t show an ounce of mercy.”
Lin Huanhuan shot back with a cold laugh, “I should be the one saying that. No matter what, I won’t go easy on you either.”
“Hmph, then I’ll be waiting to see!”
The surrounding Array Peak disciples, seeing another bet taking place, couldn’t help but crowd around to join the excitement. Normally, there wasn’t this much entertainment to watch.
In fact, Array Peak disciples often made bets among themselves on who had stronger Array Dao cultivation, but staking their own formation flags was rare—not many got that worked up, since formation flags were even more important than their own dao partners.
As for other disciples betting with Array Peak disciples on Array Dao cultivation, that was not just rare; it was practically unheard of—a once-in-a-century occurrence.
So faced with this situation, how could the Array Peak disciples resist their curiosity and not come to watch?
News spread like wildfire through the entire Array Peak. In no time, dozens of Array Peak disciples had gathered, a sea of heads.
These disciples started pointing and gossiping.
“What’s going on? A disciple from elsewhere dares to come to our Array Peak and compete in Array Dao? Is she looking down on us?”
“Let me see who’s so arrogant and bold. When she loses, we’ll humiliate her thoroughly and show her her place!”
“I think I’ve seen her before—she’s from the Lin family, Lin Huanhuan.”
“It’s her? Really? I heard she’s an absolute freak in the sect, her favorite hobby is forcing pretty girls to be her slaves, ordering them around during the day and messing with them at night, leaving them no freedom at all. I thought she’d be ugly, but she’s actually quite pretty.”
“Wow, I’ve been in seclusion on Array Peak and didn’t know about this. Why is she here to bet? Don’t tell me she’s got her eyes on some of our Array Peak girls and wants to make a move?”
“Huyan Yazhi is barely passable, but Ling Dongdong is pretty good-looking. Could she be using this to get close to Ling Dongdong, drug her, and force herself on her? How despicable!”
“I can’t believe such things happen in our Lingyun Sect’s Array Dao. This is terrifying. Let’s just drive her out!”
…
When Lin Huanhuan heard the Array Peak disciples gossiping about her, she couldn’t help but smile knowingly. This was exactly the effect she wanted.
‘Come watch, more people come watch—only then can I bring up the conditions later.’
But when she heard them slandering her again, Lin Huanhuan nearly fell flat on her face. A trace of embarrassment crept onto her face, and she was furious inside.
‘Damn it! Who is it? Who?!’
‘Why has my reputation in the sect become like this? No matter where I go, someone is spreading rumors about me. If I’d actually done something, it wouldn’t be so bad—but I haven’t done anything!’
‘Even Ye Jinxi, whom I kidnapped at first—I’ve stopped messing with her now. Instead, she’s the one trying to mess with me! Are you all blind?!’
Lin Huanhuan raged internally but could only force a calm expression, as if everything was under her control.
Huyan Yazhi glanced at her hesitantly, as if making a huge decision, then gritted her teeth and said, “Lin Huanhuan, I didn’t expect you to have such a hobby… If you’re willing to teach me Array Dao knowledge, I… I suppose I wouldn’t be opposed…”
Upon hearing this, Lin Huanhuan finally lost her composure and yelled, “Shut up! I have no interest in you at all!”
“Alright.” Huyan Yazhi sighed in disappointment. “So it’s really because I’m not pretty enough? What if I use formations to make my face look better?”
Lin Huanhuan was about to curse again when she saw Ling Dongdong looking at her with equal caution. “Don’t tell me you really have your eye on me? I warn you, I have zero interest in humans. I advise you to give up.”
Lin Huanhuan’s mouth twitched. She took a deep breath and said, “Think whatever you want.”
“Since I’m the challenger, I should be allowed to set the rules, right? After all, I’m not even an Array Peak disciple, and I’m challenging you, an outstanding disciple of the peak. You wouldn’t be too scared to let me set a few simple rules, would you?”
Hearing “outstanding Array Peak disciple,” Ling Dongdong lifted her chin proudly and nodded, but still added warily, “It’s fine, but the rules have to be fair, and the competition must be on Array Dao. Otherwise, I’m out!”
“Relax.”
Lin Huanhuan replied with a sly grin.