Chapter 299: 666

Ah Yue left Qingxin Garden, walking quickly through a long corridor.

After she rounded a corner, a thin, tall figure emerged from the shadows and silently followed behind her. It was none other than Duke Wei, Li Qingtian.

"How does Your Highness feel?"

Duke Wei asked.

After Lu Bai entered the palace, Qin Shiyue had, on a whim, decided she wanted to see this Lu Bai for herself.

After all, he was a True Master Martial Dao under the age of twenty.

In the eight-hundred-year history of the Wu Dynasty, he was the only one.

’However, after meeting Lu Bai in disguise, Her Highness didn’t seem very pleased?’

’Could that Lu Bai have gotten into trouble again in such a short time?’

Qin Shiyue snorted softly and said, "You were right, Duke Wei. That kid isn’t just brazen, he’s also incredibly thick-skinned."

At this, Qin Shiyue paused, her voice tinged with regret. "His Cultivation is only at the Mid Stage of Golden Core Realm. Against Shi Ang and Mo Yuanting, his chances of winning are indeed slim.

If he had another few decades, he could definitely compete with them."

They were all top-tier geniuses, after all. Even a single minor Realm difference was incredibly difficult to overcome in terms of combat power.

What’s more, Lu Bai was a full two minor Realms behind Shi Ang and Mo Yuanting.

Right now, Martial Artists from all over were gathered in the Wu Dynasty Capital City. The arrow was already nocked; the Golden Platform Martial Arts Discussion was imminent and could not be postponed.

"Let’s just take it one step at a time."

Qin Shiyue said, "It’s just a shame that the Desolate Emperor Ancestral Coin might fall into the hands of an outsider."

Duke Wei comforted her, "This is the first Golden Platform Martial Arts Discussion, after all. There are bound to be oversights. As long as this competition can select some of the Wu Dynasty’s own martial prodigies, Your Highness’s efforts will not have been in vain."

-----------------

「Evening.」

Lu Bai was meditating and cultivating in his room when his ears twitched. He heard the sound of the courtyard gate being pushed open.

A faint, sweet scent wafted in.

The food delivery had arrived.

Lu Bai rose to his feet and went out into the courtyard.

Nine palace maids were holding trays with both hands, laden with all sorts of food—several times more than what he’d had for lunch.

With a physique like Lu Bai’s, his appetite was enormous. The lunch he’d eaten had left him feeling not quite satisfied.

Seeing such a sumptuous dinner, he couldn’t help but feel overjoyed.

However, as Lu Bai glanced over the nine palace maids, he didn’t see Ah Yue among them.

’What’s going on?’

’Did she really go and report me to King Wu?’

’No, that can’t be right. If she’d gone to report me, the ones delivering food wouldn’t be palace maids, but a troop of murderous Dragon Guards.’

As his mind raced with wild thoughts, Lu Bai started eating and asked, "Where’s the palace maid from before, the one called Ah Yue?"

"Ah Yue?"

The palace maids exchanged glances and all shook their heads.

One of them said, "There’s no one named Ah Yue among us."

"No one?"

Lu Bai was slightly taken aback.

’Why would a palace maid make up a fake name to trick me?’

’Wait!’

It suddenly dawned on him what that unique quality about Ah Yue had been.

Without a point of comparison before, he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

But now, compared to the nine palace maids before him, it was glaringly obvious.

These nine maids were also carefully selected beauties, but in their plain clothes, they didn’t particularly stand out.

But Ah Yue was different.

Her every move, the look in her eyes, her every word—they all exuded a noble air that she was born with!

She was like a Phoenix that had fallen on hard times and donned sackcloth; underneath the sackcloth, she was still a Phoenix.

Remembering that the current King Wu was a woman, Lu Bai broke out in a cold sweat, his face turning pale.

’It can’t be...’

He truly hadn’t expected King Wu to lower herself to come and see him, disguised as a palace maid and even bringing him food.

He now recalled what he had said to Ah Yue at noon.

Right to King Wu’s face, he’d said he wanted to have a one-night stand with the current King Wu...

No wonder Ah Yue had reacted that way.

’Lu Bai, oh, Lu Bai, how did you get yourself into such a huge mess?’

Lu Bai was on edge. As he muttered to himself, the food he stuffed into his mouth no longer tasted good.

After a little while, unable to bear it any longer, Lu Bai tentatively asked, "May I ask you ladies, what is Your Highness’s name?"

He just wanted to confirm it, hoping he wasn’t just scaring himself.

Hearing this, the palace maids’ expressions turned severe.

One of them frowned and scolded, "How audacious! How dare you ask for the name of Your Highness!"

"Er, it’s just a name. It’s not that serious, is it..."

Lu Bai was helpless.

The palace maids said sternly, "Audacious rogue! You have no manners, yet you still dare to speak so recklessly!"

"Alright, alright, I’m scared. I won’t ask."

Lu Bai quickly waved his hands, grumbling to himself, ’If you knew that at noon I announced my intention to sleep with the current King Wu, wouldn’t you all faint from anger?’

Among the nine palace maids, one wasn’t holding a tray. With a stern face, she snapped irritably, "Hold out your hand!"

"What for?" Lu Bai asked.

"To measure your bone age."

The palace maid slapped her waist, and from it, she pulled out a peculiar, palm-sized stone that was flat and smooth.

This palace maid was actually a Cultivator.

The palace maid said, "Press your palm on it."

’The Golden Platform Martial Arts Discussion requires participants to be no older than one hundred, so the bone age test must be to confirm eligibility.’

Lu Bai placed his palm on the stone. A cool sensation immediately spread from his palm, quickly seeping through it.

Within a few breaths, the Bone-Shining Stone flashed with light, and the coolness on Lu Bai’s palm dissipated.

Lu Bai casually took the Bone-Shining Stone and looked closely. A single circle had appeared in the center of the stone, like the annual ring of a tree trunk.

"Under one hundred years old. You meet the standard."

The palace maid recorded it in a register, then held out her small hand and barked, "Give me the Bone-Shining Stone!"

Lu Bai murmured to himself, ’So this thing is called a Bone-Shining Stone...’

Seeing such a strange and curious item, he couldn’t help but feel a little curious. He reluctantly handed it back, asking, "This stone can’t measure a specific age, can it?"

Perhaps because Lu Bai had been presumptuous earlier, the palace maid didn’t want to engage with him and remained silent with a cold expression.

Lu Bai asked again, "The Bone-Shining Stone can only give a rough estimate, right? For example, one circle means between one and a hundred years old? And if you’re between one hundred and two hundred, it shows two circles?"

The palace maid glanced at Lu Bai in surprise and snorted, "You’re a clever one."

Lu Bai then asked, "So how do we compete? What are the rules?"

"Just wait."

The palace maid said, "After all the participating Martial Artists have been registered, a Digital Token will be issued to each of you in order, based on the combat power assessed by the Dukes. This will serve as the participant’s Identity Token."

The nine palace maids quickly departed.

Lu Bai ate and drank his fill for dinner.

Another day passed.

At noon on the third day, along with the meal, the nine palace maids brought Lu Bai an Identity Token.

Lu Bai took it and saw three lines of text carved on the front.

Lu Bai.

Eighteen years old.

Mid Stage of Golden Core.

On the back was the number ’66’.

According to the palace maid, the Dukes had estimated his combat power and ranked him sixty-sixth.

For this competition, there were nearly a thousand Martial Artists from the Wu Dynasty alone.

Including the Martial Artists from the other Vassal States, the total would definitely exceed one thousand.

For someone at the Mid Stage of Golden Core, being ranked sixty-sixth was already a sign that they held him in high regard.

After all, he had previously slain a Snake Demon at the Cyan Mountain Hunting Ground and, on the street, had single-handedly fought and crippled three True Master Martial Daos from the Mo Country, demonstrating formidable combat power.

"’Sixty-six brings good fortune.’ It’s a nice, auspicious number."

Lu Bai smiled.

His surname, Lu, also sounds like ’six’. Put it all together, and you get six-six-six...