[Scum Villain Fanfic] The Writing Adventures Of Liu Su Mian Hua

#6: The Immortal Alliance Conference

"Liu Shimei" he greeted her. He had his usual courteous smile. "Luo Shixiong" she returned the greeting. Seeing him up close she realized that Binghe had grown into quite a man. She now knew why all the disciples of Xian Shu Peak acted the way they did around him. Even Mingyan's heart was beating fast. "Is Shimei prepared to face the tasks at the Immortal Alliance Conference?" Binghe asked. "I have trained as hard as I can." Mingyan replied as she guided her horse. "But I don't think I'll be able to beat someone who has managed to defeat a giant demon." Binghe smiled nervously, "You still remember that?" "It is not something one can forget. Nobody expected you to win that day." Mingyan looked at Binghe. "But you did." Luo Binghe still had the nervous smile on his face. "Even I didn't expect to win that match." he said. "But that day I realized there are people who look out for me and believe that I am capable of something." He glanced at the carriage at a distance behind them. Mingyan too looked in that direction and found Peak Lord Shen looking back in theirs. "Why is Master Shen looking at us?" she thought. "Or is he looking at his disciple?" She looked at the disciple under consideration and found wrinkles of annoyance on his face. "What is happening?" 

Mingyan was also aware of the other eyes on them: the eyes of all the female disciples riding alongside them. It is never a good feeling to be aware of inevitably pouring vinegar in someone's mouth. It wasn't her fault: she did not wish for or expect Luo Binghe to come and talk to her. "Now you can prove them right by becoming the best cultivator at the Conference." Mingyan couldn't think of anything else to say.  Binghe let out a determined sigh. "I don't know about being the best but I wish to be strong..." Binghe gazed at the skies ahead. "strong enough to protect those whom I care about... those who are precious to me." "That is an exemplary goal to have for oneself." said Mingyan. "I wish you good luck for your performance at the Conference. You are placed among the top disciples of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect. Based on your abilities you can surely rank in the top ten of the Gold List." Mingyan looked at Binghe and found him glancing at the carriage behind them again. Mingyan did the same and found Peak Lord Shen still looking in their direction. Binghe's face again showed hints of annoyance. "Liu Shimei, I feel like you will beat me at the Conference. I don't think I stand any chance." "Well we won't know until we get to JueDi Gorge." said Mingyan. She was genuinely confused. Luo Binghe, who was never found more than three feet away from his Shizun, had chosen to leave his (beloved) Shizun and have small talk with Mingyan. The Shizun kept looking in their direction with no hint of sadness or ire, rather with an expression of enthusiasm, while the disciple kept glancing back at him with a displeased face. On top of that, all the glares of jealous females around them were enough to bore a hole through Mingyan's body. Why did this fate fall upon her! Why was she dragged into this!

"Liu Shimei, there are too many horses riding here, there is a lot of dust flying around." Binghe said with a pleasant smile. The change of expression from annoyed to smiling was unnaturally quick. "It will be better if we ride to the front of the procession. We can continue our conversation as we go." Mingyan shook her head affirmatively. At least it was better than being cursed by glares of jealousy. And so, the two of them rode to the front of the procession.

They didn't talk about too many things since they hadn't really spoken to each other beyond formal pleasantries before that day. Mingyan sneakily nudged the conversation to Peak Lord Shen and was surprised and equally excited to see Binghe's ears turning red as he sang praises of his Shizun's knowledge, abilities, compassion and inexplicable trust in Binghe even when others thought he wasn't worth anything. He held his Shizun in high regard. He told Mingyan how he had misunderstood Peak Lord Shen for a long time as someone who could not stand his presence. "The match against Tian Chui was when I realized how wrong I was about Shizun." he said. "He was the only person who believed I would win. It made me happy. He even protected me, got poisoned because of me..." his voice was full of emotion. "It is because of Shizun that I decided to become strong, so that I can protect Shizun from harm in the future." That was when he realized what he had uttered, and crimson spread on is entire face. "I seemed to have spoken too much." he said as he touched the back of his neck. "That's okay." Mingyan smiled through her veil. "You only spoke what you truly feel, and that is fine. You care about your Shizun deeply. Peak Lord Shen is very fortunate to have a disciple like you." "Then I guess I have no choice but to make Shizun proud." Binghe said as he gazed ahead with a tiny smile.

The procession finally arrived at JueDi Gorge. The main forces at the event were the four prominent cultivation sects: Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, Zhao Hua Temple, Tian Yi Monastery and Huan Hua Palace. However, there were also a large number of lesser known, smaller cultivation sects that were participating. Participants and spectators took their places. Rules were explained and the event commenced. Nearly five thousand carefully selected monsters were placed in an enchantment in the JueDi Gorge and each monster had a bead in their body. The participants had to kill as many monsters as they could within the seven days of the event and place the collected beads in the gold wire on their wrist. The more the number of beads, the higher one's position on the ranking list. The top ten names on this ranking list were then made famous throughout the cultivation world. This was called the Gold List. The elders of each sect watched the event with the help of hundreds of silver ring bearing spirit eagles placed within the enchantment that helped project the goings-on within the enchantment onto thousands of crystal screens placed before the viewing platform. The elders would place bets on disciples they viewed favourably (usually of their own sect) as a form of entertainment. Mingyan sprang into action as soon a she entered the enchantment and began killing all the monsters she came across.

Somehow, some truly demonic monsters managed to infiltrate the enchantment and brought fear and chaos to both the participants and the viewers. The spirit eagles were killed and there was no way to find out what was happening within the enchantment. Plenty of signal fireworks filled the sky. The enchantment could not be opened to let out the participants, as it could cause the monsters to escape and harm nearby villages. The only option was to enter the enchantment and kill the infiltrators. The elders on the viewing platform took this responsibility of saving their disciples. Lives were lost and injuries were sustained. Mingyan helped as much as she could and fought alongside the elders. She survived the mess and returned safe and sound to her Shizun. But the entire gathering was shocked when Peak Lord Shen announced that Qing Jing Peak's disciple Luo Binghe - the very first name on the Gold List ranking board - had been harmed by demons and died. Not even his bones were left behind! Even his sword was reduced to pieces! Peak Lord Shen went about helping the injured and frightened with a pale, emotionless face. The sympathies expressed by others could not help him. He was in a truly pitiable state. After all, he had lost his dearest disciple.