The Martial Arts Conference got rolling in Lark City, smooth as butter. Yvonne Li took Ivy Shen’s advice and went full meme mode—she registered a brand new sect called the Peerless Hunks Sect. With a name like that? Of course the crowd’s attention was instantly hijacked.
Day one, the fighter strutting out was peak eye candy—and not just any pretty boy, but Pinkie, the pink-clad legend from Li Manor. The moment he stepped up, jaws dropped, eyes popped, and the crowd did a collective double-take.
Sure, the guy rocked pink like it was a lifestyle—even if most folks found it a total crime against fashion. But calling him a heartthrob? No exaggeration needed. The real plot twist: why was he soloing the stage, and what’s up with that extra bougie sect name? The crowd’s brains were basically fried.
The gossip mill went full turbo—everyone was suddenly shipping City Mistress Li for Alliance Leader. Rumors flew like confetti: she must be gunning for the top spot, so she sent her own squad to stir the pot. But honestly, as long as the matches slapped, nobody was mad.
This time, the crowd was even bigger than last season—if you wanted to level up, you had to beat twenty people, no joke. The grind was real.
And the next round? Everyone just had to wait till tomorrow—ugh, the suspense!
Pinkie didn’t just win—he speedran the whole bracket, bulldozing through and advancing like it was a walk in the park. The audience was legit shook—nobody clocked him as a martial arts monster. Instant KO, no respawn! Everyone’s inner monologue: thank the heavens we never ticked him off, or we’d be drop-kicked into oblivion.
Pinkie’s signature move? Kicks for days—left, right, up, down, you name it. He basically turned the arena into a pinball machine, sending his opponents flying every which way. Nobody was getting up from that.
So, what did the crowd do? Insta-nickname time! Li Manor Kicker was trending before the last guy even hit the floor.
There were way, way too many matches—Pinkie kicked his way from sunrise to sunset, and the worst part? After every round, he had to sit around and wait, which was a total snooze-fest. His brain had already rage-quit and gone home to Li Manor: Was his mistress eating? Napping? Was there gonna be a party tonight? Pinkie was living for the tea.
"Congrats to Peerless Hunks Sect’s Pinkie for the win!" The elders trailing behind Elder Hua loudly announced the result.
Since the advancement rounds wouldn’t start until tomorrow, as soon as his match ended and the result was read out, Pinkie dashed straight home.
Seeing this, everyone started whispering: that Li Manor Kicker must really be missing the City Mistress, just look at how desperate he is!
Yvonne Li wasn’t surprised at all by his triumphant return—she knew his skills. If he couldn’t even win the prelims, now that would really disappoint her.
"Mistress..." Suddenly, Lanny’s urgent voice came from outside.
"Any news?" Yvonne Li quickly stepped forward to ask.
"Mistress, I’ve found out—there was someone super unusual in today’s matches. She’s never shown up in the martial world before. I compared her height and features with Silver Consort’s old profile, and I’m sure it’s her. She just looks different now, so she must be in disguise." Lanny explained his deduction.
In Lark City, no matter who enters, there are always people watching. Those so-called ordinary folks selling things at the gate? Not so simple—they’re all elite spotters, able to sketch the build and features of everyone who comes through.
That’s exactly why Lark City has stayed so peaceful all these years—if anything suspicious pops up, those spotters always report it right away.
But this time, with the Martial Arts Conference, Yvonne Li didn’t have them report—there were just too many weirdos around. If everyone had to file a report, her poor concubines would drop from exhaustion!
But with this system in place, all it took was pulling up Silver Consort’s mugshot and a rough height estimate—bam, news came flying in: someone with a similar vibe had entered, but her face was totally off-script. #DetectiveModeActivated
Yvonne Li just nodded, looking all serious. "Last time she stirred up the pot big-time. If she showed up with her real face, the whole martial world would be like 'Nope, not today!' Plus, the Alliance Leader is basically out for her head—this year’s top trending goal, no joke."
"Yep, Lanny scoped her out at another ring—her moves? Next-level. Honestly, she was probably holding back, only flexing like thirty or forty percent of her true skills. If she went all out, people would be crying for their moms." Lanny gave the hot take.
"Dang, she’s that OP?" Yvonne Li frowned, brain spinning. But real talk—anyone who can poison half the crowd is definitely boss-level material.
"Mistress, so what’s the game plan?" Lanny was in the loop about last night. He’d doubted Ivy Shen before, but after seeing that tail, it all clicked—blood really does call to blood. You could be total strangers, but once you meet, boom, instant family radar.
"Let’s not spook the snake just yet. We’ll watch her moves and play it smart. Oh, and my sis and her squad are all in snooze mode—bet they won’t surface before noon. Tell the kitchen to level up dinner: extra booze, extra snacks, tonight we party hard!" Yvonne Li grinned, looking like she just won the lottery. Having a sister > everything else.
"No worries, Mistress, your boy Lanny’s got this!" Seeing his boss finally so hyped, Lanny was basically vibing on pure joy himself.
"Good, go give orders and then catch some Z’s yourself."
"Sleep? Nah, I’m good! Later I’ll be your personal sleep assistant, Mistress!"
"Alrighty then!"
*********
This time, Ivy Shen slept like a log, like a baby, like someone who just rage-quit life and finally hit save. #ComaMode
Meanwhile, Ethan Chu? Guy didn’t sleep at all. He just sat there on the windowsill, frozen like a statue—so still, you’d think he was buffering IRL.
Ivy eventually woke up, did a quick room scan, and spotted Ethan Chu spaced out by the window—which, plot twist, faces a tiny lake.
She ninja’d out of bed, tiptoed to the window, and followed his line of sight straight to the lake outside. #StealthMode
Right then, four mandarin ducks were cruising on the lake—two big, two smol. Family goals, am I right?
(Heads up, this chapter’s not done yet ^.^ Click next page for more drama!)
"You still stuck on him?" Ivy blurted, unable to hold back her curiosity. #RelationshipDrama
Ethan Chu snapped out of his daydream, spinning around to face Ivy. "Whoa, you woke up fast! Did I make too much noise or something?"
"Nah, you were sitting here like a silent movie extra—no way you could’ve woken me up." Ivy plopped down beside Ethan, gazing out. "Nobody gets a spoiler for their own future. What’s done is done, so why waste brainpower on old memories? Just keep moving forward, that’s the play."