Eloquent Ascent

With each passing second, the whispers grew more exaggerated as each recognizable disciple arrived. "Ah, there's Ji Feiyang, the lightning maiden," a group of teenagers murmured. "Isn't she beautiful? They say she can split mountains with a single strike!"

A burly man with a booming laughter interrupted them, "Ji Feiyang? More like Ji Fakeyang. She's all flash and no substance. She's all good as a doll!"

His friends chuckled in agreement, though their eyes remained glued to the young woman with the electric aura that seemed to dance around her like a living halo.

Xu Qi glanced at her unbothered form and couldn't help but shake his head. In his eyes, the young woman was favored by the primal elements of lightning. That despite the rarity, it could be seen swirling around her.

Ji Feiyang noticed his gaze. She nodded and put on a small smile as though acknowledging his existence.

'Mhm. There was no reason for her to get worked up on the ignorant.' Xu Qi thought before returning the gesture.

The Test of Competence had indeed become a stage for both the show of power and the spread of rumors. As more disciples arrived so did the tales of their feats, each more ludicrous than the last. It was as if the very air was thick with their stuff of legends, weaving a tapestry of expectations and fears around them. Some were angered, some were embarrassed but everyone continued in their steps.

However, as Xu Qi continued his walk towards the gathering space of the participants, exaggerated rumors about him started falling on his ears like leaves in an autumn breeze each one more ridiculous than the last.

"They say that Xu Qi can charm the birds and worms from the trees with his voice! Can you believe that? One has to cover their ears or he'll take advantage of you!" exclaimed a young man, his eyes shining with excitement as he pointed in Xu Qi's direction. The rumors about him already spread even to the mortal masses.

'I wouldn't say I can charm the birds, but I do have a way with words,' He murmured to himself, the corners of his mouth curling into a wry smile.

Then another one, a young lady with a basket of fruits helping his family sell them spoke up, "Oh I heard of him! Xu Qi, the one they call the Silver Tongue. He can talk to water and ask it to boil itself and it will do it! His words are magical!"

He may be good with words but no one dubbed him as the Silver Tongue! But he could admit that he could really whisper to water and make it boil. However, it would be with the assistance of the primal element of fire.

"Xu Qi?" someone murmured, their voice just audible over the din. "They say he can charm the pants off a dragon with his sweet talk!"

Xu Qi's cheeks grew warmer at the lewd twist to his reputation. He hoped his opponents weren't fooled by such nonsense.

'Whoever's responsible for the rumors about me should be hanged. How did it become too exaggerated?' Xu Qi screamed internally, a hint of embarrassment flushing his cheeks. He had just been laughing about the rumors about the other disciples but now he got a taste of his own medicine. He couldn't help but think 'Ah, so this is how it feels like to be dissed harder than just simply being insulted as trash. At least the insults were true.'

He decided to ignore the rest and continued but before he could get out of their range, he heard another seemingly exaggerated rumor.

This time, it wasn't about him but Xiao Yue.

"Did you say he's also close to Xiao Yue?" A middle-aged man started. "Xiao Yue, the ice queen herself? They say she can freeze a river with a single glare! Sun Yufeng of the inner court tried to court her but she froze him for seven nights and seven days! His dick almost had to be cut off because of frostbite!"

A group of girls giggled at that. Most likely about that last part.

Xu Qi rolled his eyes thinking that there's not going to be a decent rumor. But he couldn't deny the buzz of excitement that rippled through the crowd.

Shortly after that, Xiao Yue emerged from the sky as though she flew here and floated down. She appeared among the other inner court disciples who's going to spectate as well. Her graceful stride exuded an air of untouchable elegance. Her beauty was the kind that didn't just turn heads, it stole breaths away.

Her popularity was truly something else. Her eyes, however, seemed to focus only on one person with a sweet smile playing on her lips.

Who else was it but Xu Qi?

Surprised, Xu Qi almost let out a gasp before returning the gesture. Xiao Yue's face flushed with a hint of pink.

She found him right away as if she's been watching him all this time. Her gaze pierced through the sea of disciples like an ice pick through a frozen lake.

In Xu Qi's mind, the rumor about Xiao Yue's icy demeanor wasn't entirely false. She had the ability to make anyone feel like they've been slapped with a frosty breeze even in the height of summer. Yet her smile was warm and welcoming when it was for him.

Whoever that Sun Yufeng was on the rumor, he couldn't care less. He believed he deserved to be frozen for even trying to court Xiao Yue. If anything, given the chance, he'd cut his dick off himself!

"Look, there's Xiao Yue! They say she's got the coldest heart in the Wandering Palace that even the snowfall bows to her beauty!" Someone whispered again from a different area and the chatter continued to grow.

Although Xu Qi had the urge to run and greet her, he kept his back straight and walked with a calm confidence that seemed to be a stark contrast to the whispers around him. As the outer court disciples gathered in the open space in front of the grand arena, the air was thick with anticipation and nerves.

He looked around and noticed the other inner court disciples. More of them showed up along with some Inner Court Elders and those who recognized them started exclaiming with rumors mixed with truth and exaggerations.

Xu Qi noted some of them whispered in awe at Xiao Yue's presence, their eyes following her every move. She remained unfazed by the attention, her gaze only locked onto him albeit, she was trying her hardest not to be too obvious to other people.

He also took notice of a male inner court disciple trailing behind Xiao Yue. When he focused on the chattering from the spectator, he learned that it was Sun Yufeng.

And sure enough, Xu Qi also became put in his eyes. He was glaring at him with a mix of jealousy and anger. He didn't need to wonder if he was the one from the rumor. Looks like it was true. He was the one who attempted to court Xiao Yue and ended up getting frozen by her. And the evidence of it was his pale lips as though they'd been frozen solid at one point, blood stopped coloring it.

He chuckled internally, imagining the poor guy's plight. His hostile gaze must've come from the rumors of Xiao Yue's favorable treatment of Xu Qi. Or just what he's hearing from the audience stands.

If this was like the cultivation novels that he had read back on Earth, he'd be expecting Sun Yufeng to make things difficult for him in the future. But what's there to fear? He could just be the next Zhang Han.