Lin Huanhuan decided to be straightforward and smiled. “Since I’m not really a formation peak disciple and I’m not that good at setting up formations, here’s the rule: you set up a formation, and I’ll break it. If I can’t break it, I lose. If I do break it, you lose. You can set a reasonable time limit if you want.”
“Pfft, is that all?”
Ling Dongdong sneered contemptuously. “That’s actually pretty fair. Fine, I’ll accept. No need to set a time limit. As long as you don’t take an unreasonably long time to break it, you win.”
Under the influence of her single-minded devotion to formations, Ling Dongdong never believed that she could lose in formation cultivation to someone who wasn’t even a formation peak disciple. It was like a professional athlete thinking they’d be inferior to an amateur, right?
Not only did she think that, but almost all the formation peak disciples present felt the same way.
Except for Huyan Yazhi and Lin Huanhuan. No one thought Lin Huanhuan would win. They all believed this bet was just a way for her to hand over resources to Ling Dongdong.
Huyan Yazhi shot them a disdainful glance. She felt a bit relieved. If she hadn’t personally witnessed Lin Huanhuan’s terrifying strength, she wouldn’t have believed it either. But the truth was that Lin Huanhuan’s formation skills were monstrous. Beating Ling Dongdong was a sure thing!
“Alright, let’s begin.”
Ling Dongdong immediately took out her formation flags. She stroked them carefully first, then began a hand seal and chant to elevate her state to its peak. Only then did she start setting up the formation.
As the saying goes, even a lion must use all its strength to catch a rabbit. Although Ling Dongdong was confident of victory, she also knew that since Lin Huanhuan dared to challenge her, she must have some skill. If she lost because she didn’t go all out, she’d be so ashamed she’d probably kill herself.
In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Ling Dongdong had already set up a composite formation. Then she smiled and made a “please” gesture. “Go ahead and break it. Don’t suddenly claim you have urgent business and bail out. That would be way too fun.”
Lin Huanhuan chuckled and ignored her. Calmly, she walked into the formation with her hands behind her back.
…
Half a cup of tea later.
With a thud, Ling Dongdong dropped to her knees. Her eyes were blank as she stared at the scene before her. Her face was filled with disbelief. “Th-this… How is this possible?”
“Not only did you break the formation I set, but you did it faster than I set it up! This is an illusion! How is that possible? I don’t believe it! I don’t believe it!”
Just moments ago, Lin Huanhuan had seemed like nothing but a boastful, spoiled brat in Ling Dongdong’s eyes. Now she appeared like an unreachable god, someone Ling Dongdong could only gaze up at from afar.
Ling Dongdong stared blankly at Lin Huanhuan, desperately trying to hide her inner fear with impotent rage.
Lin Huanhuan walked out with an airy grace, casually glancing at Ling Dongdong, who was still raging helplessly on the ground. She just smiled faintly. Huyan Yazhi hurriedly brought a chair and placed it behind her. Lin Huanhuan sat down.
Huyan Yazhi stood directly behind Lin Huanhuan, acting like a lackey. She spoke arrogantly. “Ling Dongdong, you lost, so you lost! What are you still screaming about? Hurry up and give back my formation flags! Don’t tell me you’re going to renege?”
“We agreed beforehand: winning is winning, losing is losing. There’s no joking around about this. Hurry up.”
The surrounding formation peak disciples almost popped their eyes out. Their mouths hung wide enough to stuff in several eggs. “How is this possible? Do people outside the formation peak really have such high level of formation cultivation? What kind of joke is this?”
“I get it now. Lin Huanhuan must have studied formations for a long time beforehand, just waiting to trick Ling Dongdong. And Ling Dongdong’s an idiot for not seeing through it. She’s a disgrace to us!”
“What a waste. She can’t even beat an outsider. How does our formation peak have such a pathetic loser? She doesn’t deserve to be a disciple of the formation peak.”
“I think Lin Huanhuan is pretty good. She’s got some skill. It’d be fitting for her to join the formation peak. That’s probably why she came here, right? I agree.”
The formation peak disciples immediately changed their tune, as usual humiliating the loser and flattering Lin Huanhuan, the powerful formation cultivator.
Hearing this, Lin Huanhuan’s mouth twitched. Even though she was somewhat used to it by now, hearing these formation peak disciples speak still made her cringe a little.
Ling Dongdong’s expression shifted several times before she finally sighed. She stood up, took a long, jade box from her qiankun pouch, and handed it over.
“Th-this is yours. I’m returning it to you. Take it and go.”
“Hmph, hand it over.” Huyan Yazhi patted Ling Dongdong’s head, delighting in the other girl’s humiliated expression. She took the box, opened it, and sighed in relief when she saw the pristine formation flags inside.
She had been worried that after losing her flags, Ling Dongdong would use them carelessly—like as a rag, a shim for a wobbly table, or even step on them if she felt like it. Every time she imagined that, her heart ached. But to think none of that happened… It was great.
“Since you didn’t damage my flags, I’ll graciously forgive you if you work as my slave for free for a few days. How about it? A good deal, right?”
Huyan Yazhi said haughtily, as if she were bestowing a favor.
Ling Dongdong rolled her eyes dramatically and snorted coldly. “What are you so smug about? The one who beat me isn’t you. Why would I need your forgiveness? Lin Huanhuan is the one who won. Just a while ago, you couldn’t even beat me.”
“If I hadn’t already trampled you underfoot and humiliated you, you should be thanking me. And now you’re still daydreaming over here. What an idiot.”
“You!”
Huyan Yazhi pointed at her, trembling. She wanted to retort but couldn’t find the words—Ling Dongdong was telling the truth.
Huyan Yazhi fumed for a few seconds, then simply accepted reality. She flashed behind Lin Huanhuan and said smugly, “So what if I’m latching onto a powerful friend? If you can do it too, go ahead. Hah! You think I care? Your sister is in closed-door cultivation now. Who’s going to stand up for you? Hahaha, laughable!”
“If you’re brave, let’s bet again. This time, we’ll still use each other’s formation flags as the wager.” Ling Dongdong gritted her teeth.
“Do you think I’m as stupid as you? Betting when I know I can’t win? Who would do that? Only a fool,” Huyan Yazhi replied.
“You’re the coward! You’re the waste!”
“And you, relying on someone else to bully others—how dare you say such things? You’ve got some nerve!”
“So what if I bully you by relying on someone else?”
These two were bickering noisily, and Lin Huanhuan found it annoying. Suddenly, a woman in blue appeared beside Ling Dongdong. Her face was somewhat similar to Ling Dongdong’s, but colder.
Ling Dongdong said excitedly, “Sister! You’re out of closed-door cultivation? Great! They’re bullying me! Help me bully them back!”
Seeing this, Huyan Yazhi, who had been shouting just moments ago, immediately shut her mouth and tucked her tail between her legs, not daring to say another word.
The woman in blue stepped forward gracefully until she stood before Lin Huanhuan. Her red lips parted, and she said calmly, “Oh, so you’re Lin Huanhuan, right? You’re the one using your powerful formation cultivation to bully my little sister, aren’t you?”
‘So this must be Ling Xinghe, the senior disciple of the formation peak.’
Lin Huanhuan quickly stood up and bowed respectfully, neither humble nor arrogant. “I wouldn’t call it bullying. It was just a normal bet, and I barely won by a hair.”
“I say it’s bullying, so it’s bullying. Do you object?” Ling Xinghe said with a faint smile.
Lin Huanhuan straightened up and replied calmly, “Since Senior Sister Xinghe puts it that way, then I’ll accept it as bullying. But so what? Are you planning to bully a junior on your sister’s behalf? That wouldn’t be very appropriate, would it?”
The reason she had bowed earlier was out of politeness and respect for a stronger cultivator. Since Ling Xinghe was clearly being hostile, Lin Huanhuan wasn’t about to grovel for forgiveness.
She was already prepared to complain and seek help. But to her surprise, Ling Xinghe let out a light laugh.
“Bullying is bullying, what of it? Her formation cultivation can’t even match someone who practices the Wind Path. She doesn’t deserve to be my little sister!”
“Your formation talent is quite good. You have the qualifications to be my little sister. How about it? Interested? If you say yes, I’ll have your back starting today.”