Ch. 45 - Someone’s Cheating

“How’s this possible? Senior Sister Chen Lu losing? “She won? No way! Am I dreaming?”

“My house, my future villa—gone!”

People cried as they lost their bets and ran off, defeated.

On the field, Chen Lu dropped to her knees, staring blankly.

She had lost.

Me? I lost?

Lin Qingyue gasped for air.

She had really done it.

But not by herself—his eyes gave her strength.

“As long as you're watching me… I won’t give up!”

…

Chen Lu lost?

Su Yan was stunned.

He had spaced out and missed the moment it all changed.

Chen was winning—how did she lose?

“Winner: Lin Qingyue!” the referee shouted.

Lin rushed over to Su Yan, her eyes shining, like a happy puppy waiting for praise.

He smiled, ready to cheer—

But then the system interrupted.

[Option 1: Praise her performance. (Reward: Low-Grade Artifact, Precision Wheel Sword)]

[Option 2: Ignore her, watch the match. (Reward: Mid-Grade Artifact, Spirit-Nurturing Blade)]

[Option 3: Scold her, vent displeasure. (Reward: Random Skill Point +1)]

System flipped its norm—first two usually toughest. Now reversed.

He stared in shock, why was the system telling him to scold her?

“Isn’t she your favorite? Weren’t you the one pushing me to be nice to her?”

The system stayed quiet.

He thought about it.

Option one: say something nice—basic reward.

Option two: same level of praise.

“Junior Sister, think you're amazing now? Want me to clap for you?”

“Huh?”

She froze. She just won—why did he sound upset?

With a serious face, he said,

“I get what Master wants. You’re building your strength through battles. But this win? Doesn’t impress me.”

“Why not?”

She was confused. What had she done wrong?

“You charged at a strong opponent—good move. But swinging like that without thinking? Wasted energy. If you didn’t rush, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”

She lowered her head, feeling bad.

Now that he mentioned it, she remembered how the crowd’s noise messed with her.

She tried to act calm, but it made her panic and attack wildly.

So embarrassing!

Her face turned red. She almost hid it in her chest.

[Task complete. Reward issued.]

[Random Skill: Cooking Level +1]

He smirked inside—then soured. Cooking? In a cultivation world?He grumbled at the system in his head, but now wasn’t the time.

The mission was done—it was time to fix things. Hurting her feelings now would be dumb.

He softened his tone.

“Blades don’t care who you are. I just want you safe—no more getting hurt.”

“Senior Brother!”

She was touched and couldn’t find the right words.

What had she done to deserve this kindness? Did she save the world in her past life?

“You know what you did wrong. Let me heal you. You’ve got the next round soon.”

He used the Moistening Art—her cheeks turned pink as her wounds vanished.

He laughed lightly.

“Your turn again. Keep going, but be careful. Don’t rush in again.”

She nodded quickly. She really wanted to hug him, but held back.

A quick hug wasn’t enough—she wanted to be with him forever. But now wasn’t the time for love talk.

…

Halfway through the fights, Lin Qingyue kept winning easily.

No one dared laugh at her anymore.

In the crowd sat a beautiful girl—Gu Yanran, a top student from Tian Yu Peak. She was in the Early Golden Core stage and usually found rookie fights boring.

She was only here to watch her little sister.

She had trained her sister hard to win this tournament. But now? She was getting worried.

“Winner: Lin Qingyue!”

Her full chest shook—Lin had won again. That was her eighth win.

Lin Qingyue was in the finals now. Her next opponent? Her sister.

She was nervous. What if her sister lost?

Three months ago, she would have laughed at the idea—Lin beating her sister? No way.

But now, things felt strange.

She had checked Lin’s power level: Late Qi Refining, unstable aura, just had a breakthrough.

Someone like that should’ve been knocked out already.

But each time she was about to lose, Lin would whisper something like:

“Hundred people’s strength?”

A spell? Some trick?

Gu Yanran frowned. If the referees weren’t there, she’d think Lin was cheating.

One lucky comeback? Okay. Two or three? Maybe.

But every single fight? No way.

“Can my sister really beat her? Should I do something?”

If it were a normal fight, she’d stay out of it. But this was too weird. She felt something fishy was going on.

“And Su Yan… with his good looks, one smile from him could make any girl help him. Did he bribe the referees?”

She stood up. If someone was messing with the results, she’d stop it—for her sister’s future.

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