The city of Qianlian was not, as Bai Shengyi and the others had initially guessed, "cleared out" by the Shenqi Academy. The city was bustling, with cultivators of all kinds coming and going, any one of whom, if picked at random, would likely be at the Foundation Establishment stage or higher.
The Shenqi Academy had not arranged unified accommodation, and Bai Shengyi's group visited several inns, all of which had no vacant rooms.
"If this place is full too, we'll just find somewhere random, right?" Bai Shengyi asked the others.
Feng Wuya frowned, "Let's look a bit more. Right now, all I want is a good bath." His clothes had gotten dirty at Qianlian Sea, making him feel uncomfortable all over.
"Such a fuss," Luo Feihua muttered under her breath.
Feng Wuya glared, angered, "Luo Feihua, what did you just say..."
"Don't argue. I think Fellow Daoist Bai is right. Instead of wasting time like this, it's better to rest well," Li Shiqing said sternly. "After all, judging from the first three trials, this year's assessment is harder than in previous years. We need to be prepared."
Bai Murong gently agreed, "Sister Li is right."
Feng Wuya and Luo Feihua exchanged a glance. They had intended to agree with Li Shiqing, but now they pretended nothing had happened.
The scene fell silent for a moment.
Bai Murong gnashed her teeth in frustration. Were these people deliberately targeting her?
"Waiter, do you have any rooms left?" Bai Shengyi asked, approaching another inn.
Even though she had already inquired at several establishments and had a general understanding of the strength of the cultivators walking around Qianlian City, she was still a little shocked to see that the waiter in front of her was at the sixth level of Qi Condensation.
"Honored guest, we're all out," the waiter said with a friendly smile. "However, we still have one table available in the lobby. Would you perhaps..."
"Waiter, we'd like to order!"
Before the waiter could finish speaking, a familiar group of people descended from upstairs and took the table the waiter had pointed to. Leading them were Sun Mingyu and Qin Zhao.
Sun Mingyu spotted Bai Shengyi and tilted her chin up, "Oh! Bai Shengyi, aren't you quite capable? Why are you only arriving in the city now? And you haven't even found a place to stay?"
She sneered at Bai Shengyi, her gaze like ice picks, as if she wanted to pierce Bai Shengyi into a sieve.
"Let me tell you, all the inns in this city are full. But if you're willing to beg me right now, I can give you this table to rest." Sun Mingyu linked her arm with Qin Zhao's and said coquettishly, "Brother Zhao, what do you think?"
Qin Zhao dotingly replied, "Whatever makes you happy, Yu'er. You're so kind."
"Ugh!"
Bai Shengyi felt a sourness rise in her stomach.
"Where did these scumbags and bitches come from? So greasy, it's disgusting!"
As she spoke, she waved her hand near her nose and stepped back, saying to the others, "Let's go quickly. If we stay any longer, I'm afraid it will affect my Dao heart."
"Hahaha! Let's go, let's go," Feng Wuya, who loved to stir up trouble, waved his small handkerchief in agreement, "Shengyi, don't just say it for yourself. I'm disgusted too."
Chu Tianle didn't understand and asked, "Shengyi, since the academy hasn't made any rules, why don't we just deal with these two right here..." He gestured to his neck.
Before Bai Shengyi could speak, Sun Mingyu couldn't sit still. Both scared and furious, she pointed at Bai Shengyi and said, "Bai Shengyi! How dare you! I am the Grand Princess's County Princess, and Brother Zhao is a Prince of the Great Ning Dynasty. If you dare to deal with us, you and the Bai family will have to face the retribution of the Grand Princess's Mansion and the Great Ning Dynasty!"
"I'm so scared!"
Bai Shengyi hadn't intended to pay attention to the jumping Sun Mingyu, but upon hearing her words, she couldn't help but let out a series of cold sneers. "I've already dealt with you before, and yet I'm still alive and well? It seems your value and Qin Zhao's are nothing special."
"You're talking nonsense! You..." Sun Mingyu was about to make a move towards Bai Shengyi when Qin Zhao held her by the waist.
Qin Zhao gently soothed, "Yu'er, don't fall for her tricks. This woman is cunning and devious. She's deliberately trying to provoke you."
After speaking, he looked at Bai Shengyi again and sighed softly, "Shengyi, you truly disappoint me more and more. You're no longer the Bai Shengyi I once loved. I truly regret that for your sake..."
"Stop it!" Bai Shengyi sneered, "Qin Zhao, don't disgust me!"
The Samsara Brush appeared in her hand. Bai Shengyi couldn't help but twirl it, and with her right hand, she drew out her long whip, pointing at Qin Zhao. "Do you think you're such a good person?"
"Back then, relying on my affection, you used my things to please the Empress and the Emperor. You used my Bai family's resources for your cultivation, and all the while, you'd find fault with me and hook up with the adopted daughter of my Rongguo Duke's mansion behind my back."
"Furthermore, if you truly loved me, you wouldn't have disgraced the Qin family so much at the Empress's birthday banquet a few days ago!"
"Bai Shengyi!" Qin Zhao frowned tightly when he saw Bai Shengyi was really about to attack, "Don't be like a madwoman..."
"Slap!" Bai Shengyi directly whipped at Qin Zhao's feet!
Qin Zhao, startled, flung Sun Mingyu's hand away and quickly retreated.
"Pfft!" The cultivators watching the commotion in the hall couldn't help but snicker, finding Qin Zhao too cowardly for a man.
Most of these people had higher cultivation than Qin Zhao, so their laughter was unrestrained.
Qin Zhao, having lost face publicly, his gentle expression twisted, "Shengyi, it's fine if you hate me, but Yu'er is innocent..."
"Slap!"
Bai Shengyi whipped again.
Qin Zhao pulled Sun Mingyu's hand and retreated. Sun Mingyu's guards behind her quickly stepped forward to face Bai Shengyi defensively, only to discover that Bai Shengyi had merely flicked her whip towards the ground.
"Hahaha!"
The hall erupted in laughter.
"Bai Shengyi! I'll kill you!" Sun Mingyu, having never endured such humiliation and mockery, channeled her spiritual energy and lunged at Bai Shengyi with a palm strike.
Bai Shengyi curled her lips into a cold smile, revealing her sharp little canine teeth.
She signaled for the others not to intervene, and lightly dodged the attack. "Waiter, someone is fighting and causing a disturbance in the inn. Aren't you going to do something about it?"
"Immediately, honored guest, please wait!"
The waiter said, then rushed forward in a few steps and pinned Sun Mingyu's hands behind her back. "Guards, escort these individuals out. Our inn cannot entertain such cultivators."
Sun Mingyu, who had been thinking of tearing Bai Shengyi's face apart just moments ago, was suddenly apprehended. She was utterly bewildered!
"Why! It was Bai Shengyi who caused trouble first! Are you people unreasonable?" Sun Mingyu was thrown out of the restaurant, shouting hysterically.
Qin Zhao felt embarrassed and wanted to persuade Sun Mingyu to leave first, but he heard Sun Mingyu say, "Brother Zhao, please help me. They're bullying people!"
He still relied on Sun Mingyu's Foundation Establishment guards. After considering it, he stepped forward, biting the bullet.
But then he heard Bai Shengyi's cold, mocking voice.
"You two came to stay, didn't you understand the rules here?" Bai Shengyi sat in their original seats and smiled faintly. "This is Chongya's establishment. You cannot use any spiritual power to fight within."
Otherwise, she would have lost control and whipped these two to death long ago.