Chapter 102

Yuan Yao lifted her gaze and saw that the newcomer was none other than Lin Xuechen, the son of Elder Lin Yongping.

"Senior Brother Lin."

Yao Linglong laughed, "Our little junior sister is no longer a little lazy worm."

After being teased repeatedly by the two of them, Yuan Yao feigned annoyance and said, "Senior Sister Yao, Senior Brother Lin, if you keep making fun of me, I'll ignore you."

"Hahaha..."

Several people laughed.

Not far away, Lu Xiangxiang's steps halted; her gaze fell upon Lin Xuechen, and her eyes involuntarily grew a bit colder.

At that moment, she noticed the one-eyed boy a few steps away.

She gave him a slight nod without changing expression, then stepped forward toward Yuan Yao and her group.

Meanwhile, Shiziwen's gaze, as if drawn by a magnet, fixed tightly on Lu Xiangxiang's retreating back.

Immediately afterward, his gaze involuntarily fell upon the high-ponytailed girl surrounded by admiring stars. The girl's features were clear and beautiful, like a fine painting; as if she had heard some wonderful joke, she let out a soft "pfft" laugh.

Shiziwen pressed his lips together.

He suddenly understood why Senior Sister Lu had such a hard time on Tianwu Peak.

If he were Senior Sister Lu, he would surely envy Yuan Yao.

Why does she have it so good?

Everyone dotes on her, protects her.

"This is our master's newly accepted disciple, Lu Xiangxiang." Seeing Lu Xiangxiang arrive, Xiao Lingwei introduced her to Yao Linglong and Lin Xuechen.

"Greetings, Junior Sister Lu." Upon hearing, Yao Linglong extended her hand.

Lu Xiangxiang smiled, reached out, and returned Yao Linglong's handshake.

Yao Linglong laughed, "If you ever get bored, come find me at Tianwen Peak."

Lu Xiangxiang nodded.

Lin Xuechen also nodded and softly called, "Junior Sister Lu."

When Lu Xiangxiang lifted her eyes to look at Lin Xuechen, her expression flickered unnaturally for an instant, but quickly returned to normal as she softly said, "Senior Brother Lin."

Hearing her voice, Lin Xuechen felt his heart flutter inexplicably, and he pressed his lips together.

Yuan Yao asked, "Senior Sister Yao, Senior Brother Lin, would you like to come sit at our Tianwu Peak?"

"Sure." Yao Linglong agreed readily.

Lin Xuechen also gave a slight nod.

Thereafter, the group headed toward Tianwu Peak.

The night grew darker.

At Tianwu Peak, the atmosphere inside the Nanwu Hall was unusually lively; several figures gathered around a round table, all intently watching the die rolling continuously on the table.

"Roll!"

Immediately followed a clear clack of dice, accompanied by a "clang," and the die finally came to a stop.

"How is it big again?! Senior Sister Two, are you cheating?" a handsome-faced youth exclaimed in disbelief.

The girl called Senior Sister Two, hearing this, furrowed her brows; she wore a black headband embroidered with a vivid phoenix, and now she glared angrily at the boy: "Can't you stand losing?"

As she spoke, she swiftly raised her hand and mercilessly slapped the boy's forehead.

"Ow! That hurts… Senior Sister Two, why are you hitting people again?" The one struck was Cang Li, who covered his head, looking resentfully at the hot-tempered senior sister.

Xiao Lingwei snorted, "Who told you to gossip and slander the innocent!"

Having said that, she casually swept all of Cang Li's chips on the table into her lap.

Moreover, the bets of the others also became her spoils; Yuan Yao, Xue Jin, Yao Linglong, and Lin Xuechen all lost this round without exception.

Only Ying Wuji, seated to the side, guessed the number correctly and won a pot full.

"After losing several rounds, who can let my Cangaotian turn fate around!" Cang Li scratched his head irritably.

Yuan Yao nudged Cang Li with her elbow, "This round, stick with me!"

"Definitely not!" Yao Linglong said, "Junior Sister Yuan's luck is notoriously bad, Cang Li, come with me instead!"

Upon hearing, Yuan Yao let out an annoyed hum, hands braced on the table, "I usually have a seventy percent chance to win!"

"You misremembered, at most thirty percent." Lin Xuechen sighed and shook his head.

Ying Wuji lifted his eyelids, his phoenix eyes carrying a hint of smile, yet mercilessly said, "Don't bet with me."

Yuan Yao: "……"

She's just a little unlucky!

"Again!" Yuan Yao gritted her teeth, refusing to believe her luck could be that bad!

Xiao Lingwei shook the dice again.

Yuan Yao narrowed her eyes slightly, "This round, I'm betting big!"

Having said that, she placed her ten medium-grade spirit stones as her bet.

This time, everyone else bet small.

Xiao Lingwei's brow twitched; just as she was about to lower the dice cup, she saw Yuan Yao swiftly move her ten medium-grade spirit stones to the other side like a gust of wind.

"Didn't you say you were buying big?" Seeing this, several people's eyelids jumped.

Yuan Yao chuckled, "I think it's better if I bet with you; your luck is better, right?"

Just as the others were itching to change their bets, Xiao Lingwei slammed the dice cup down with a "bang," her sharp gaze like a hawk's scanning their hands attempting to shift chips, and declared, "Bets are locked."

The few, as if under an immobilization spell, could only grudgingly withdraw their hands.

Xiao Lingwei opened the dice cup, and the pips were revealed.

"Holy cow, how could it be big?!" Cang Li clutched his head in despair.

Several people's resentful gazes were like countless arrows, instantly shooting toward Yuan Yao.

Yuan Yao blinked guiltily, her two index fingers like a child who made a mistake, lightly tapping together, "I'm the one betting with you; clearly it's your bad luck—if you had bet on larger numbers with me, you might have won, haha."

Several people were speechless.

But afterward, they would only dare to place their bets after Yuan Yao had bet.

Moreover, to prevent Yuan Yao from changing her bet, Yao Linglong reached out and tightly embraced Yuan Yao, not letting her move.

Yuan Yao's win rate was indeed low.

Ten bets, nine losses.

Later, Xiao Lingwei couldn't stand it and had Yuan Yao act as the dealer.

After Yuan Yao became the dealer, she instead won big.

Several people suspected her of cheating.

"This dice cup is a high-level spiritual artifact that can isolate spiritual sense and mental power from the outside, and I can't even see it—how could I cheat?" Yuan Yao snorted.

"Enough talk, come on, let's continue."

…

Several people gambled all night.

Cang Li, Yao Linglong, and Lin Xuechen lost terribly.

"I won't gamble with you anymore!" Yao Linglong said through gritted teeth.

"You've said that hundreds of times." Xiao Lingwei laughed.

Yao Linglong slumped sullenly on the table, even kicking out a leg of the stool.

At that moment, a sound came again from the Homage Hall.

Several people's expressions changed slightly.

Yuan Yao quickly gathered up everything.

And when the hall doors were opened, Instructor Zheng Gang from Heavenly Martial Peak saw this scene: the leading girl with a wiped forehead held a bundle of bone-joint long whips, pacing back and forth ahead.

Looking further down, Yuan Yao, Cang Li, Xue Jin, Ying Wuji, Yao Linglong, and Lin Xuechen moved in perfect unison.

They held no weapons, merely slowly demonstrating some technique, their movements light and fluid, naturally coordinated like flowing clouds and water.