### Chapter 40: The Yellow-Haired’s Love Charge Is Still Going!
Cangzhou City was bustling with large families, and although each family only had ten slots, the count added up to hundreds of people. Having them take turns to be tested could easily stretch into the afternoon.
By noon, they had only managed to test seven out of ten tenths of the people; the remaining three would have their tests in the afternoon.
During lunch break, the city lord’s manor provided all the families with private resting rooms and meals.
The Lin Family’s Resting Room.
Right now, the Lin Family’s mood was as flat as a pancake, especially the head elder and Lin Feng; their faces were in worse shape than a wrinkled tissue.
“Blame this cloud man, Yun Zhonghe—he ruined everything! If he hadn’t jumped in like some clown at a circus, our plans would’ve been a success!”
“Now, thanks to Lin Zhongyu’s miraculous performance, she’s got everyone’s attention, family ties or not—it’s almost impossible to touch her father’s position right now.”
Father and son were gnashing their teeth over Yun Zhonghe—what a game-ruining jackhammer! If only Yun’s family wasn’t so d*mn powerful, they’d stand half a chance.
“Are we just going to sit here and watch our chance slip away?” The head elder sighed deeply.
“No, Father, I still have a plan!” Lin Feng’s eyes sparked dangerously as he pulled his father aside, whispering, “This is just the prelims. After that, there’s an actual fight round. The top three fighters get to be the ‘champion’ on different platforms, each able to challenge others, and those others can’t refuse the challenge.”
The selection process was brutal, especially the fighting rounds. Whether you’re a challenger or a champion, once you lose, you’re out.
If a challenger wins, they become the new champion, ready for further challenges or can pick a target themselves. If the previous champion loses, they’re history.
Only the champ who stands last gets into Xuantian Sect, which is the number one sect on the Eastern Continent. They don’t just look for talent and cultivation; they also value combat skills.
After all, the cultivation world isn’t kind; the last one standing is the winner.
Xuantian Sect won’t coddle its disciples like flowers in a greenhouse. They put them through countless trials, so naturally, when they come out, they’re true powerhouses.
In the prelims, since Lin Feng has the highest cultivation, he’ll be one of the champions. For the other two platforms, two more level-four foundation builders are likely to step up.
Lin Zhongyu is undoubtedly talented, but she’s still young. Like Lin Feng and the other champs, they’re in their twenties—naturally higher in cultivation.
“If Lin Zhongyu wants to get into Xuantian Sect, she has to go through me first! No way I let her win. Crush her, and anything might still change!”
Lin Feng squinted his eyes, planning to ruin Zhongyu by fair means or foul—he’d thought this all through already.
“Dad, do you have that pill?”
Lin Feng looked at the elder, who tightened his grip on the pills.
The elder hesitated but eventually passed a bl**d-red pill to Lin Feng, saying, “Use it only as a last resort.”
Lin Feng smirked, “No worries, Dad, just covering all bases.”
The future of the whole Lin family rested on this move. Lin Feng wouldn’t mess around—Lin Zhongyu must be crushed.
…
Meanwhile, in the Yun Family’s resting room…
Yun Zhongtian and his wife, Chen, were overjoyed by their son’s stellar performance. Especially because Master Youyue herself came to give them high praise.
“Without Yun Zhonghe’s help, Lin Zhongyu probably wouldn’t stand a chance. You got yourselves a lucky star.”
Imagine the iceman Youyue actually praising them! Cloud and Chen were on cloud nine; Chen even wanted Lin Zhongyu to stay at the Yun residence.
After all, Zhongyu had broken off from the Lin Family to take part in the trial with Yun Family’s slot.
Plus, Yun Zhongtian remembered the brutal siege during the Beast Tide and felt nostalgic about Zhongyu’s mother, so inviting her seemed only natural.
However, Zhongyu was too shy to stay. But Chen was overly enthusiastic, insisting she stay.
“You can stay with us. You’re good friends with Hehe—make yourself at home,” Chen said, pulling Zhongyu’s hand gently.
Zhongyu couldn’t refuse such kindness; she reluctantly agreed.
“Thank you… aunt…”
She accepted nervously, shrinking back, her face reddening, occasionally glancing at Yun Zhonghe, becoming flustered each time their eyes met.
As a woman, Chen knew exactly what Zhongyu was feeling; her smile grew even brighter.
But Yun Zhonghe was quite unhappy.
Mother, what in the world are you stirring up?
This girl’s the lead lady in the show! Staying at my yellow-haired house? Huáng Àotiān will tear me apart!
He couldn’t imagine how Lin Zhongyu fitting into his place would look.
Fortunately, his mansion was spacious, and he lived separately. Zhongyu could stay in the guest quarters, far enough that he wouldn’t bump into her often.
They won’t make me host her in my own chambers, surely.
“Seems like I need to talk to Àotiān to avoid any issues,” Yun Zhonghe muttered quietly.
Then, Tao Jiu’er appeared behind him.
“Master, I got the news: Lin Feng indeed has plans to take down Miss Lin in the battle round.”
“Just as expected…”
Yun Zhonghe wasn’t surprised. Despite the manga skimming over this plot point, his deep knowledge of web-novel tropes made this obvious.
Tao Jiu’er’s cultivation style let her conceal her presence, and with her expertise in stealth and assassination techniques, she was effectively a top-notch spy.
Zhonghe had assigned her to monitor Lin Feng, and she delivered critical information.
“Well, we’ll see if you lot understand the meaning of ‘cooling off’ after getting wrecked.”
Yun Zhonghe chuckled; he’d gone this far to protect the protagonist. How could he let things go wrong? He anticipated a grand finale where the protagonist romances Huáng Àotiān, and he, as a loyal henchman, would be the best brother-in-crime.
“Master, seems Lin Feng has plans to take down Miss Lin. It may limit Mu Girl’s ability to help,” Tao Jiu’er informed him.
However, Yun Zhonghe waved his hand dismissively, “No rush. I’ll handle this myself! Crush that guy first!”
Looks like it’s finally time to show my strength!
