Chapter 55

  Upon seeing the so polite Feng Qiexia, Mo Lao was taken aback. Originally, he had heard that a martial artist was challenging them scholars, and he thought it would be some kind of arrogant master, but unexpectedly, it was such a gentle and polite little girl. It really made him somewhat surprised, and his unpleasant expression eased up a bit, but he still spoke in an icy tone: "Feng Qiexia, you're the one who wants to challenge us scholars as a martial artist? A little lass like you is actually so arrogant, isn't that a bit too much?"

  A little girl actually made such a big fuss, all the dignitaries in the city came! It's hard not to disturb him.

  After this incident, Mo Lao felt that his dignity had been severely challenged.

  Feng Qi heard this and immediately looked wronged, his face stern as he said: "Elder Mo, you are wise and discerning. Today's matter really wasn't caused by me. I thought that the young masters of the Feng clan came to Cuigarden to drink tea in good faith, but these so-called men of letters actually slammed their fists on the table and shouted insults, telling the young masters of the Feng clan to tuck their tails between their legs and roll out of the clouds. If this matter gets out, how can the young masters of the Feng clan hold their heads up as human beings in the future?"

  Feng Qiyuan's face turned colder and colder as he spoke, his entire body exuding an aura of evil that startled the scholars.

  The young man beside Na Mo stood in front of him: "This is Cuigarden, don't make trouble here."

  "Hmph!" Feng Qiuye sneered, raising an eyebrow. "We showed you courtesy because you're scholars, but ask him if his behavior is that of a scholar! We, the Feng clan's descendants, came to admire the literary atmosphere of Cuiguan today, but this Mr. Cang repeatedly spoke provocatively, slamming his fist and glaring at us, saying we're just martial artists and telling us to leave with our tails between our legs. Tell me, Mo Lao, even if you have excellent literary cultivation, wouldn't you be angry hearing such words? Is this the kind of thing that you literary scholars should do? Even if my Feng clan's descendants are not well-behaved, we're still from a prominent family. How can they humiliate us like that and still show their faces in public? Therefore, this time, I must challenge you as a martial artist!"

  Mo Lao's face suddenly turned pale, and he glared at Cang Yu and the other scholars with a fierce gaze. Seeing that they all lowered their heads in shame, it seemed that the little girl's words were not wrong. With a displeased expression, he let out a cold hum.

  Although the status of scholars has always been inferior to that of warriors, the two sides have been grinding against each other for a hundred years without much intensification. However, now because of this little girl, everyone in the city is excited and boiling over, so how can this be settled?

  But in the end, he still didn't believe that a little girl had the ability to win, even if she was better than him. He didn't think she could beat these talented people. Suddenly, he put his mind at ease and turned to glare at Cang Yu, saying sternly: "In that case, let's begin the competition!"

  Nowadays, all the big shots in the city have arrived! Even if they don't compare, Mo Lao has admitted it! At the same time, he feels that these little rabbits are getting more and more troublesome.

  Cang Yu responded immediately, but just as he shifted his gaze to Feng Qiexia, a hint of disdain flashed in his eyes. Looking at the crowded Cuiyuan, he suddenly asked, "Why do this?"

  Isn't she afraid of losing face? So let so many people come and watch, it's really ignorant. After today, how can these martial artists lift their heads up to be human beings? How dare they look down on these scholars after watching these martial artists? Hmph!

  He's changed his mind, but Feng Qi won't know about it. However, they'll definitely be disappointed today! Those who look at people with the corner of their eyes always end up losing.

  With a slight raise of his chin, Feng Qisha looked at him with the same disdainful gaze: "Today I, Feng Qisha, will declare war on you scholars as a warrior. How can there be no audience? What's wrong? Is Sir Cang afraid now?"

  Cang Yu's face suddenly turned pale, but she still held her breath and stretched out her hand, making a please gesture: "Miss, please..."

  Wait a moment, he wanted her to know how she lost face in public, humph!

  As soon as he finished speaking, he had already stepped onto the competition platform set up in Cuiyuan. At this time, on the central competition platform, two desks were already set up, with a large green bamboo chair placed on each side. On top of the desks, pens, ink, paper and inkstones were all neatly arranged. By the side of each desk stood a small servant waiting to grind the ink.

  This Cui Garden was originally very large, and it was no problem to accommodate several hundred or even thousands of people. Looking at the dense crowd, Feng Qiuxiang's lips curled up slightly, and no matter what, today was her victory. Seeing the crowded hall, she undoubtedly saw a pile of gold coins. Feng Qiuxiang's eyebrows and eyes curved, and she laughed with great joy.

  "Miss, why haven't you gone on stage yet? Are you afraid? If so, it's still not too late to admit defeat now." Cang Yu suddenly had a look that was asking for a beating, and Feng Jiu was so angry that he wanted to rush up and punch the kid in the face, making him search for his teeth all over the ground.

  Upon hearing this, Feng Qiujie shrugged her shoulders indifferently. The humiliation she had suffered would be avenged sooner or later, so let him continue to act wildly for a while longer! Let's see how he'll clean up the mess later on.

  With a tap of her toe, Feng Qi's slender figure leapt onto the stage, instantly drawing countless cheers and applause, which were naturally all from the Xuan Qi cultivators.

  Cang Yu suddenly let out a cold snort: "A mere martial artist."

  Hearing his sarcasm, Feng Qiuye didn't take it to heart and walked over to a table to sit down. His entire demeanor was neither humble nor arrogant, looking completely at ease.

  Upon seeing Feng Qiuye being so carefree, Cang Yu couldn't help but feel a pang in her heart. Could it be that she was actually skilled in poetry, music, or painting? Otherwise, how could she be so calm and composed?

  But how is this possible? In a continent where the strong are respected, how can the main families who mainly cultivate Xuan Qi allow their own children to learn these things that they consider to be trivial and damaging to one's will?

  So, it's impossible, even if this girl understands a bit, she will never be proficient. But for some reason, when he met her confident gaze, he felt uncertain again, and only felt that this little girl had a mysterious aura all over her body, making it hard to see clearly. At this moment, his eyes flashed slightly, and Cang Yu suddenly spoke up: "Feng Gongzhu, how about we use bamboo as the theme, and combine poetry and painting?"

  Feng Qi's eyes narrowed as she looked at him, thinking to herself that this guy was quick-witted. She had only said they would compete in three rounds, but hadn't specified that it would be just one type of competition per round. It seemed he wanted to have a comprehensive competition with her, testing both their painting and poetry skills!

  Never mind, whatever move she makes, Feng Qi will counter it one by one, what's the big deal?

  "Good!" Feng Qi Xi responded extremely refreshingly, and then invited someone to bring up a cup of hot tea. To the surprised and curious owner of Cuigarden, he said: "Please announce the start, sir!"

  That middle-aged man saw Feng Qiniu, and his emotions were truly indescribably complicated. Originally, he thought that opening his mouth would cost 10,000 gold coins, and he had already been very generous! But unexpectedly, this little girl actually pulled off such a stunt - she had gone to check it out earlier! To enter the Emerald Garden, one person would have to pay 1,000 gold coins, and they were all big shots from the city, seemingly including several masters of great families. This... how did this little girl's charm manage to be so great? It was truly too strange!

  But this little girl's business mind is not comparable to ordinary people. Today, so many people came to Cuigarden, without considering whether she won or lost in this competition, the income alone is probably a considerable figure. At this time, he felt that his offer of 10,000 gold coins was too low! He was secretly regretting it when suddenly the little girl spoke to him, and he couldn't help but be stunned.

  "Uncle, this competition will be hosted by you, okay?"

  The little girl's smile was full of innocence, and her clear eyes sparkled with spirit, as if they could speak, dazzling to the point where refusal couldn't be uttered, and she had already nodded in agreement.

  He stepped up onto the stage, swept his gaze over the crowd below, cleared his throat and declared in a loud voice: "This competition will be witnessed by us at Cui Garden to ensure fairness and justice. The time limit for each match is one incense stick. Now I declare that the first match begins."

  Just as the announcement of the start of the contest was made, a young servant lit the incense.

  As soon as Cang Yu stood up and unfolded the paper, he began to paint with his brush flying. His elegant demeanor immediately attracted countless eyes, and the scholars present couldn't help but raise their chins in admiration. Look! Look! He was indeed the number one young master of Mosel City, who could compare to his elegance and talent? Haha! Her move today was absolutely laughable.

  Look, she's already scared now! Even Cang Yu has started painting with her brush! She's still sitting there drinking tea, isn't it obvious that she won't be able to stay? But she still wants to pretend to be noble, just wait and see how they'll drive her out of Cuigarden later, and then she'll have to swallow her pride.

  "What is this all about, tenth sister?"

  At this time, Feng Fei and others had already done what Feng Qiye had ordered them to do and entered the door, but when they saw Feng Qiye drinking tea on the stage with ease, they couldn't help but furrow their brows in worry.

  "You guys said, won't it be the tenth sister intentionally making money, so she came up with this?" Among them, Feng Liu said in a low voice.

  Everyone listened and suddenly felt that with Shi Xi's temperament, this move was very likely.

  However, as his gaze swept towards Feng Jue Tian and the other family heads in the stands, he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. Although Xie Er's move had earned them some money, if they were to lose this match, their reputation would undoubtedly suffer along with it! Not to mention being ridiculed by those literary scholars who only knew how to talk big, but also being looked down upon by the other family heads in the future.

  I really don't know what's going on in his mind?

  At this time, even the boss of Cuigarden on the stage couldn't figure out what was going on in this little girl's mind. Seeing that Cang Yu Gongzi's painting was almost half done, this little girl was still sipping her tea and didn't move, which made him anxious: "Little girl, the competition has already started! Why don't you pick up your brush to paint?"

  This little girl's previous grandiose words won't be just bragging and pretending to be mysterious, will they? In fact, she can't do anything, so why can't she make a move now?

  Of course, at this time, not only the owner of Cuigarden thought so, but also everyone under the stage thought so. On the side of Wenshi, there were some sarcastic voices coming out, and Feng Juetian's face turned iron blue with anger.

  "Feng, a martial artist is just a martial artist, why pretend to be a scholar? Now admit defeat and slink away with your tail between your legs from this Emerald Garden, and we can end this competition. How about it?" Seeing Feng Qiniu hadn't moved after half a moment, he had already finished drawing half of the painting! The incense was also almost halfway burnt! Cang Yu raised his head, looking at Feng Qiniu with disdain, saying sarcastically.

  Feng Qi lazily raised her eyes, meeting the disdainful gaze of Shang Tianyu. She suddenly raised an eyebrow: "You can't surpass me, hurry up and draw! Otherwise, you won't have a chance to draw later!"

  What? Is he faster than her?

  Cang Yu's one heart, but the scholars under the stage burst into laughter:

  "Haha! Did you guys hear that? That little girl actually said that Master Cang is not faster than her, haha! Hahaahaha! It's really too funny! She hasn't even started drawing yet, and Master Cang has almost finished the painting! And she still dares to say such a thing, is she an idiot?"

  "Isn't this stupid? A normal person wouldn't say something like this."

  "It's just that martial artists are just martial artists, only knowing how to practice day after day, and in the end they actually become idiots. How pitiful! Pitiful!"

  "You..."

  Upon hearing those arrogant words, many of the Xuan Qi cultivators lost their composure! Someone was about to charge over and beat up those youngsters, but was held back by others.

  "This is Cuigarden."

  Yes, Cuiyuan. I heard it was opened by Wen Xiu, the number one scholar in the world, after obtaining special permission from the Emperor. Although cultivators of the mysterious energy are fearless of heaven and earth, they generally don't want to get involved with the imperial family because that's very troublesome. So, they usually won't cause trouble here.

  However, upon hearing those words, the faces of all the Xuan Qi practitioners turned completely black, like the bottom of a pot.

  Phoenix is now regretful for coming here, not only was she blackmailed by his son and lost her gold coins (cough, Phoenix is so wronged, this is all because of the evil child's doing, isn't it? They also said that everyone in the Emerald Garden is treated equally, no favoritism allowed, but what can be done about it?), but she still has to endure such humiliation, it's really detestable! That dead girl, let's see how she'll deal with her later.

  Feng Qi's eyes widened in shock as he felt a chill run down his spine, and he instinctively looked down at the stage. He met Feng Wu Qing's gloomy gaze, and was startled once more. No longer able to maintain his calm demeanor, he stared at Cang Yu with a look of disdain.

  "Don't you believe me? Then I'll come teach you today what real painting is. Nine, bring me a few more brushes."

  Phoenix Nine responded, and immediately got her more pens.

  "Feng Qiexie took over and said with a smile: 'Everyone can watch! I, Feng Qiexie, will only perform once.'"

  The moment the words fell, she slammed her hand on the table, and the painting paper immediately flew up. Feng Qi's ten fingers grasped the brush, her body spun around, and surprisingly entwined with the painting paper in mid-air. A fragrance of ink rose, and she moved her fingers as swiftly as flying, quickly starting to paint.

  Everyone only felt a flower in front of their eyes, a piece of dizziness, a small figure flying around, they couldn't see how she was writing, how she was painting. Finally, with a soft "ding" sound, the girl floated down onto the table, picked up the cup of tea she had been drinking earlier, took a big sip, turned her head back, and with a "pfft" sound, spat it out onto the drawing paper...