Chapter 48 Public Outrage

As soon as Qun Yushu uttered those words, everyone was dumbfounded.

Who was Qun Yushu?

His second uncle was the head of the Qun clan, and his father was the prefect of Jiangling, commanding the military garrison of Jingxiang. At a young age, he had already undergone his second class advancement and was expected to touch the legendary Foundation Establishment realm within his lifetime. The women wishing to marry him could form a line stretching all the way from Jiangnan to Yangzhou.

In theory, Qun Yushu's wife could only be a young lady from a family of equal social standing and aristocratic lineage. Even daughters of prominent gentry families lacked the qualification; she had to belong at least to one of the four great noble surnames.

To marry Qun Yushu could be described as a leap to the heavens in a single bound. Leaving aside such trivialities as a life free from worries about food and clothing and brimming with wealth and glory, even if the woman aspired to the path of a courier, a slight leakage of resources from the Qun family could guarantee her second-class advancement. As long as her innate talent was sufficient, a direct promotion to the third rank would pose no problem at all.

Yet, he wanted to marry a black-belt woman with no family background?

However, upon seeing Jiang Shi's face, everyone felt they could understand Qun Yushu's impulse. Many even wore expressions of regret, wishing they had made the first move yesterday and not missed out on such a peerless beauty.

Shang Xinlei and the others remained silent. Although they had also intended to recruit Jiang Shi, if Qun Yushu offered the position of primary wife as a bargaining chip... they truly could not come up with a more superior condition.

Five seconds passed, thirty seconds passed, one minute passed.

Jiang Shi did not speak; she simply continued practicing with her saber.

Did she not hear, or did she hear and choose not to answer?

The atmosphere grew abnormally awkward, especially with Qun Yushu still kneeling on the ground. He slowly stood up, watching Jiang Shi in silence. Under such circumstances, let alone an aristocratic scion, even an ordinary person treated with such disregard would likely fly into a rage from embarrassment. Consequently, Jie Yuanshao took a step forward, ready at any moment to intercept Qun Yushu should he erupt in violence.

"No, she is simply too breathtaking," Qun Yushu suddenly sighed. "I was a bit angry at first, but looking at this face, I just can't summon any anger. No, I still cannot take her home, otherwise, constantly being angered by her yet unable to stay angry, I'm bound to be tormented to death."

Qian Gongyu nodded repeatedly from behind. Jiang Shi was indeed infuriating, yet it was simply impossible to feel anger toward her!

"Jiang Shi," Chen Linchuan said in a loud voice. "I wish to speak with you on behalf of the Chen family. Might we step aside for a moment?"

Jiang Shi did not speak; she simply continued practicing with her saber.

Chen Linchuan was no carefree playboy like Qun Yushu; he attached immense importance to his own and his family's pride. Jiang Shi's attitude directly caused his complexion to turn as dark as ink, leaving Jie Zilong no choice but to step slightly forward, blocking the space between him and Jiang Shi.

The guests in the background could hardly believe their eyes. To dare publicly ignore a young master of the Qun family and an elder of the Chen family—this, this, this... this was seeking their own destruction! Yet quite a few people were also gloating, as they had long found Jiang Shi—an "extremist" riding roughshod over everyone else under the identity of a black-belt—an eyesore.

People of humble origins ought to honestly act as servants; why jump up and become an eyesore to everyone?

Just as the atmosphere grew increasingly tense, Jiang Shi suddenly halted her training.

As if she had just woken up from a deep sleep, she glanced sideways at the crowd. "You are looking for me?"

"Indeed," Qun Yushu praised. "I had the fortune to witness a beauty wield the saber, and it was truly 'as elusive as light clouds veiling the moon, and as swirling as flowing winds swept by whirling snow...'"

"If there is no serious business, then I shall resume my training."

"Hurry up and make public your secret technique of the Dreamland Woodlands!" someone in the crowd suddenly shouted loudly. "Everyone here needs your secret technique to conquer the mystic realm. If you hoard it and refuse to impart it in order to keep the benefits to yourself, you are offending every single noble and aristocratic family present here!"

Qian Gongyu didn't even need to look; the moment she heard it, she knew it was that fellow Luo Weijin stirring up trouble. But Luo Weijin's words were merely a catalyst; the others immediately followed suit and chimed in one after another—

"That's right, that's right. Everyone can enter the Dreamland Woodlands anyway, so sharing the secret technique causes no loss!"

"The higher everyone's score, the better the rewards, which translates to an enhancement of the state of Liang's strength. You cannot obstruct the development of the state of Liang for the sake of selfish desires; Jiang Shi, you must consider the greater picture."

"We aren't asking for it for free; we can offer compensation."

"It can't be that because the Jie and Shang families obtained benefits, they should prevent the rest of us from progressing?"

Although she had anticipated this, faced with such a surging tide of public opinion, Shang Xinlei still felt somewhat at a loss for how to handle it.

Not only because there were many people on the other side, but also because the Dreamland Woodlands was simply too special—it was limited in duration each year, yet unlimited in the number of participants. Consequently, no one could monopolize this mystic realm, and the more people who raided it, the better.

If a hundred people participated in the mystic realm, a hundred rewards could be obtained; if ten thousand people entered the mystic realm, ten thousand rewards could equally be secured!

It was entirely reasonable for Qun Yushu and Chen Linchuan to attach such importance to Jiang Shi. If Jiang Shi truly possessed a secret technique, she would be equivalent to a strategic, state-level divine weapon, capable of acquiring an incalculable and massive amount of resources from the Dreamland Woodlands every year!

*'This is troublesome now...'* Shang Xinlei thought to herself. *'Even if Jiang Shi claims she has no secret technique, they certainly won't believe her. Until they cut open Jiang Shi's chest to take a look, they will hunt her down like vultures.'*

Put in her shoes, Shang Xinlei had no idea how she would break this deadlock. No, if she possessed the secret technique, she would never have participated in the Dreamland Woodlands so arrogantly from the very beginning. At the very least, she would wait until reaching the third-rank tier to come, and ideally rope in three other third-rank experts to form a four-person team to aggressively farm scores in the mystic realm. By then, what could the dozens of noble and aristocratic families of the state of Liang possibly do to her?

Yet Jiang Shi had come to participate in the Dreamland Woodlands without even reaching the first rank. With such meager strength, lacking friends and family background, it would be a wonder if others did not harbor greedy designs against her.

She simply could not comprehend why Jiang Shi, possessing such natural talent, did not understand the wisdom of biding her time and keeping a low profile to develop. Wouldn't it be far better to grow steadily? Why take such a desperate risk?

Forget it. Although I haven't received a letter from my family yet, I had better protect her first.

The Jie family won't stand idly by either. At least until the Dreamland Woodlands concludes, we are in the same camp.

"I refuse."

Jiang Shi gently nudged the blade's edge, tightened her grip on the hilt, and took a step forward, passing from the shadows into the light.

"If you want to make a move, come ahead."

The clamor instantly died down, and then, like a compressed spring, the crowd erupted into curses ten times louder than before. Jeering, insults, and furious rebukes intertwined, as if they meant to curse Jiang Shi to death.

Jiang Shi said nothing, merely taking another step forward, the white-iron straight saber having already been drawn out a fraction—

"Whoever dares speak another word shall be treated as an enemy of the Qun family!"

Qun Yushu's roar instantly reasserted control over the scene. Shang Xinlei and Jie Yuanshao also stepped in front of Jiang Shi, preventing her from taking any further action.

"It's finally quiet. Truly... clearly it was I who was speaking to Jiang Shi just now. You lot interrupting my chat with a beauty like this—I hold a grudge, you know." Qun Yushu spread his hands and sighed, instantly smoothing over the previously boiling uproar. He turned his gaze back to Jiang Shi. "Jiang Shi, you don't like superfluous words, so I'll keep it simple—on behalf of the Qun family, I invite you to become a guest elder of the Qun family."

"A guest elder of the Qun family receives a monthly stipend of three thousand spiritual jades, five tokens for self-protection, access to the Qun family's internal mystic repository, and a Qun family token granting passage through eighteen mystic realms within the state of Liang. I won't go into detail about the welfare regarding food, clothing, housing, and transportation; I will mention only one point: the Qun family's sole requirement for its guest elders is to step into the third rank with all your might."

"The Qun family will not demand that you hand over the secret technique, nor will anyone force you to surrender it after you become a guest elder. Jiang Shi, what do you say?"