Chapter 40 - 32. You truly live up to your name, Mu Qingtong.

Chapter 40: 32. You truly live up to your name, Mu Qingtong.Seeing Wei Shutong's serious demeanor, Xia Feng knew it was no use trying to explain. He could only shake his head helplessly, "Old Wei, stop trying to persuade me. I have my resolve." "And you know my temperament too well. Expecting me to bow down to Yan Xujia? Impossible! I won't be a Xia if I don't knock the crap out of his head!" Wei Shutong stared at Xia Feng for a while longer, then his stern expression suddenly relaxed. He patted Xia Feng's shoulder and grinned, "Not bad, you haven't disappointed me." "Here, take this." Saying this, he tossed over a pebble. Xia Feng paused, somewhat speechless, "Come on, Old Wei, are you testing me again?" "It's not exactly a test; I just want to see what you'll choose," laughed Wei Shutong. "Since you've chosen to face him head-on, I'll give you a helping hand." He pointed to the pebble on the table shimmering blue and white, "This is an Unsolvable Stone. Use it at the moment of life or death and it can greatly increase the chances of awakening your Spiritual Artifact." "Ah?" Xia Feng stared blankly at the Unsolvable Stone. Well, it looked like he wouldn't have to buy one himself. "Although I don't have high hopes for you, kid, I still want you to remember something." "What's that?" Xia Feng looked up. "Winning or losing doesn't matter, being stunning is for life!" The middle-aged man with a buzz cut, though middle-aged, was still spirited, and his gaze was serious and imposing as he declared loudly, "Even in defeat, you must stand and lose!!!" Xia Feng: "..." --- In just five short days, the hype for the Justice Duel had grown to an unprecedented level. Weiyang Academy strictly forbade private brawls among students, but guys around eighteen or nineteen were a hot-blooded lot, and a dispute would erupt every few days. That's why Weiyang Academy and the Empire's Church Court had formed a partnership, namely the 'Justice Duels' at the Justice battlefield. The Justice battlefield would open for one day each month to settle disputes among students. As long as both parties wagered something within the legal limits of the Empire and signed the Justice contract, under the watchful eyes of the Justice Star God, no one could escape the contract's sanctions. For this reason, the eighth day of each month was also known as Justice Day. Justice Day used to be quite the spectacle over a decade ago, but with the perfection of the school's regulations in recent years, student disputes had decreased annually and Justice Day had nearly faded from people's view. But today, Xia Feng stood in the waiting room, in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the huge elliptical battlefield outside packed with surging heads of people, experiencing for the first time what 'a sea of humanity' truly meant. Even standing behind the soundproof glass, he could still feel the waves of cheering from outside. The battlefield was as large as three soccer fields, with thirty or so miniature high-speed drones floating sporadically in the sky, their detection eyes emitting a faint red light sweeping across the crowd; those who were scanned had their images projected onto the massive hundred-meter high Sky Dome. Three curved screens of the Sky Dome wrapped around to form a semicircular hat, constantly flashing the faces of different audience members. When they saw themselves on camera, some would pump their fists and cheer, some would whistle and clown around, some would hug and kiss, and some would stack men on top of men... Perhaps the drone controller was grossed out, as the camera quickly switched to a different view. A woman wearing semi-rimmed gold wire glasses appeared in the frame, and when she noticed the camera on her, her beautiful eyes curved into a soft, gentle smile. "Shh—so pretty, this senior sister! Hold on, she looks familiar..." A pink-haired girl was instantly attracted to the woman on the Sky Dome. "Of course she's pretty, that's Mu Shen!" A boy beside her clenched his fist, his eyes shining, "Worthy of my goddess! Her smile is so gentle!" "Oh, right, I remember now!" The pink-haired girl had a realization, "I saw her at yesterday's Spiritual Song Contest national top 100 competition. I even voted for her." "Spiritual Song?" Someone nearby was surprised, "What? Mu Shen entered the Spiritual Song Contest? And made it to the top 100?" The pink-haired girl hadn't expected her classmates to actually know Mu Qingtong. She happily promoted, "Yeah, go check out the latest episode's live replay. Mu Shen made it to the top 100! Although her singing..." Speaking of this, the girl paused for a moment, her face showing a hint of embarrassment, "The singing was a bit unpleasant to the ear, but if you disregard the pitch, it was pretty good." "..." The moment Mu Qingtong appeared, many people at the venue recognized her. After all, the Spiritual Song Contest was very widely broadcast, and a lot of people liked to follow the emotions contained in the songs to feel the stories and emotions that the singers wanted to express. But what surprised Xia Feng was the fact that Mu Qingtong, of all people, had actually made it into the top hundred? Considering her tone-deafness, it was already good enough that she'd made it through the audition of ten thousand participants, but how on earth had she made it into the top hundred? "Wuwuwuwu, Mu Shen is so handsome, I'm so in love~" There were many staff members in the waiting area, who also stood by the window, staring at the Sky Dome and chattering away. Xia Feng was directly squeezed from the front to the back by them, and he watched these utterly unprofessional staff members with his corner of the eye twitching. Alright, he got it now. The Spiritual Song Contest used a public voting system, so whether Mu Qingtong sung well or not wasn't the key point; having a beautiful face that could charm anyone was. But up to now, Xia Feng still hadn't figured out what the heck the Destructive Witch was doing by participating in the Spiritual Song Contest. The director outside the venue was mean; upon spotting an unparalleled beauty, they locked the camera on her and didn't switch away. Because of this, the enthusiasm within the entire venue soared to new heights, with the noise rising like a tidal wave and screams unceasing. "Ah ah ah~ I so wanna be pinned against a wall by Sister Mu~" That was Dong. "Great Lord Mu Qingtong! Please step on me hard!" That was M. "Sigh~ Sigh~" That was... well, use your imagination. "Buzz buzz—" Xia Feng's phone vibrated. It was a text from Wei Shutong. [Adoptive Cheap Dad: Found the name of the account that's driving up the heat of this Justice battle, it's a private ID called 'Hearts'. This person is meticulous and has left no traceable information.] Hearts? The moment Xia Feng saw this ID name, he knew who it was. Mu Qingtong, that brat—when she was being hunted by the Holy Department Investigator on Blood Evil Street a few days ago, she was wearing a mask with a hearts symbol. S~eaʀᴄh the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But what he couldn't understand was why the Witch was making such a big deal out of this situation. Did she want to see him embarrassed? "Buzz buzz—" [Adoptive Cheap Dad: Also, something strange—on the underground gambling scene, your odds are now at 1 to 100, but your fiancée has actually bet a hundred thousand on your winning.] Xia Feng: "..." Okay, okay, okay, Mu Qingtong, so this is how you're playing? Xia Feng massaged his forehead, his eyelids twitching. A hundred thousand, with odds of 100, which meant if he won, Mu Qingtong would pocket ten million directly. Did she have that much faith in him? No, that wasn't right, that wasn't the point right now. The point was that this person had actually, from behind the scenes, blown up the situation, broadening the gambling scope and intending to sweep up everyone's money in one fell swoop. Typical of you, Mu Qingtong. Xia Feng figured, if it weren't for the fear that the bookie would collapse and not be able to pay up, this woman's bet might have been even larger.