ETR | Chapter 73

Even though these were "youngsters" several generations younger than Qin Lou, seeing this scene, he couldn't feel at ease.

Whenever it involved Xiao Xueman, Qin Lou's heart would shrink, and this was something he could never change in his lifetime.

In Xiao Xueman's eyes, who had lived for so long, they were naturally children, but even the youngest in the Five-Person Competition were adults.

Moreover, with so many people, many questions they asked could be solved by the judges. There were one or two hundred judges at the Five-Person Competition, at least two by each arena, enough for them to ask. Yet they insisted on pestering Xueman, clearly with ulterior motives!

One by one, don't think I can't see through you!

Qin Lou stood there with a dark face, silently sulking, but he really had no grounds to drive them away.

However, when the people present saw him standing there, it was impossible not to recognize him as Wang Tian Dijun. Whether out of tact or fear, the noisy environment suddenly quieted down. Everyone exchanged glances and quickly slipped away.

When Xiao Xueman wasn't angry, he was genuinely gentle. His face was quite deceptive, showing no signs of his fierce side. He wasn't stingy in teaching others, but it had to be one by one. Suddenly being surrounded made his head ache a bit.

But seeing Qin Lou come over and the crowd around him disperse, he couldn't help but find it amusing.

"Why did you come over to scare the kids?"

“I didn’t scare them. I didn’t even say a word, they left on their own,” Qin Lou started with a bit of fire in his heart, his voice a bit loud, but facing Xiao Xueman, his voice got smaller and smaller, losing his confidence, ending in a mutter, “Instead of focusing on the competition, they’re just thinking about other things.”

Xiao Xueman’s situation hadn’t spread widely in the Upper Realm before the Blue Sea Competition, so when he attended the judges’ meeting, some people didn’t recognize him.

Now, probably no one wouldn’t recognize him.

In another sense, the Blue Sea Competition, besides being a competition, was like a large-scale matchmaking event. Contestants weren’t just competition machines; they were young people.

Rarely could such outstanding young people gather together. On the field, they were opponents, but off the field, they could admire each other, become friends, or even lovers, which was something all major sects were happy to see.

In the past, contestants discussed strength, but privately, they also talked about a few eye-catching individuals. Those contestants from major sects with strength were definitely popular.

During the individual preliminaries, there was already a vague trend, but at that time, the discussion was about the contestants.

At some point, the focus shifted from the contestants to the judges.

It wasn’t that judges weren’t discussed before. After all, the judging panel consisted of famous, stable, and knowledgeable individuals, a level above the young contestants.

The Spirit Realm Continent generally admired strength, and many liked the judges. Xiao Xueman had been discussed before when he was a judge, but not as fervently as this time.

Previously, when Xiao Xueman was a judge, he had a fierce reputation, just like Qin Lou. Now, no contestant dared to ask Qin Lou for advice.

But now, most young people knew very little about Xiao Xueman. Even if they heard a few words, the most direct first impression was of him teaching that time, naturally thinking he was gentle, pretty, and easy to talk to.

Even if they didn’t dare have those thoughts, being able to say a few more words to the chief judge was good.

Qin Lou had heard about this before seeing the actual situation. The problem was, there was a bit of a backstory to Xiao Xueman’s popularity.

Among the judges, only Xiao Xueman had no sect or family. Now that he was coaxed out by Yu Zhengrong, many sects were secretly hopeful.

Yesterday, Qin Lou went to the Wangtian Immortal Gate’s station as usual to see the contestants. Lu Ming, who was in the same group as Xiao Wan, had a face full of hesitation.

Qin Lou told him to speak directly.

“…That snarky snake demon in the same group said Xiao Shixiong is a good friend of the Fox Clan’s clan leader and will go to the demon clan to take a position,” Lu Ming was so angry his cheeks puffed up, “And someone from the arena said Xiao Shixiong came here because of President Yu, and after the competition, he’ll become an elder at the arena. They’re talking nonsense!”

In front of the Dijun, Lu Ming didn’t dare say much, but he retorted immediately.

The Wangtian Immortal Gate was the unshakable number one sect, and everyone in the sect knew that without Xiao Xueman, there would be no Wangtian Immortal Gate.

Xiao Shixiong would never go to other sects or families!

Lu Ming hadn't had much chance to talk to Xiao Xueman and didn't know him well, but he knew the reason behind Xiao Wan's low ranking that day and respected him as an opponent.

He had a significant connection with the Wangtian Immortal Gate, so how could he be taken away by others?

The pavilion master of Lu Ming's pavilion was a confidant of Qin Lou. He often saw the sect master during this period, so he wasn't as restrained as others. After telling Qin Lou about this, he mustered the courage to add a sentence.

"Dijun, you must bring Xiao Shixiong back!" he whispered, "You must! Go for it!"

Qin Lou: "..."

He wasn't angry. Lu Ming was still young, like Xiao Wan, and sometimes his thoughts were inevitably naive, not knowing the complexity of emotions. People can't really be "taken."

He wanted to, but maintaining the status quo was already difficult, and going further was even harder.

Xiao Xueman had heard more rumors about himself than Qin Lou.

"You're not here because of this, are you?" Xiao Xueman stared at him and asked.

Qin Lou lowered his head, not denying it.

"I won't join any other sect," Xiao Xueman sighed and said, reassuring him, "No matter which sect. As for matters of love, don't even think about it. And Qin Lou, do you think I haven't been tormented enough by you before?"

Qin Lou: "..."

Although Xiao Xueman's last sentence sounded like a reproach, his tone was soft, not angry, and it sounded comforting. Anyway, Qin Lou felt a bit better, and the fire and anxiety in his heart dissipated a lot. He even wanted to invite Xiao Xueman to eat with him.

"I'm going to talk to Xiao Wan today, really don't have time," Xiao Xueman gently pushed him away, "Go do what you need to do."

After taking a few steps, he stopped and looked at Qin Lou, sighing, "Do you really need to be jealous over something so inexplicable?"

Xiao Xueman's tone remained soft, with no sign of anger. He had been busy lately, but his mood had been good. And when Qin Lou carefully considered this sentence, he felt even happier.

He really didn't need to be jealous of these people. What he and Xueman had been through, how could these people compare?

Though they didn't eat together, the road back to the Wangtian Immortal Gate station and the arena guest room was a shared path. Xiao Xueman wouldn't bring up Qin Lou's little emotions again, talking to him about the competition instead.

The Wangtian Immortal Gate had definitely sent teams to participate in the Five-Person Competition, two teams per age group, all selected from within the sect. Their strength was not weak, and some were even potential champions in Xiao Xueman's eyes.

“I watched their competition yesterday,” Xiao Xueman said. “They’re doing well, don’t need much guidance from me. Each has a clear direction, and their cooperation is excellent. But I feel they become a bit restrained when they see me, wanting to speak but not daring to say much.”

Qin Lou didn’t know what to say. Lu Ming was still young and a bit naive, not thinking too much. But other Wangtian Immortal Gate contestants were probably repeatedly reminded by their pavilion masters before coming out, very aware that Xiao Xueman wasn’t as simple as his gentle appearance suggested.

“I’m not complaining to you. They’re all excellent kids,” Xiao Xueman said. “I just want to say, even if I’m angry, it’s about the matter at hand. They haven’t done anything wrong, so they shouldn’t be so cautious. It’s unnecessary.”

Look how scared the kids are.

Qin Lou: “I understand, I’ll talk to them properly when I get back.”

The main issue was the attitude of the pavilion masters. No matter what, he and Xiao Xueman were friends now. The relationship between the Wangtian Immortal Gate and Xiao Xueman didn’t need to be too close, nor should it be deliberately distant. Just keep it normal.

As they talked, they reached a fork in the road, leading in different directions. Xiao Xueman and Qin Lou were about to part ways when Xiao Xueman suddenly took out a small medicine bottle and handed it to Qin Lou.

“By the way, this is for you.”

Qin Lou didn’t expect to receive something from Xiao Xueman before leaving.

“Medicine. I refined it. It’s useful for you,” Xiao Xueman explained. “Being the chief judge is tough, requires energy support. You have some old injuries, taking this will help.”

When they went to the Thirteenth Heaven, Qin Lou said he was fine, but during the seven days of the preliminaries, Xiao Xueman sat next to him, feeling something was off.

As Qin Lou said, it wasn’t a big deal, or Xiao Xueman would have noticed. But he did have some old injuries, and although he stopped giving it to Xiao Wan, he had used it for three years before, and replenishing it wasn’t just about those three years.

Qin Lou’s issue wasn’t a big deal for a Spirit God level, but even with strong recovery abilities, it took time.

Since he had done it for Xiao Wan before, and now happened to be in the First Heaven where materials were easy to find, Xiao Xueman, knowing this, didn’t ask much and quietly used his spare time to make this. Today, Qin Lou happened to come, so he handed it to him.

After giving the medicine to Qin Lou, Xiao Xueman didn’t say much, planning to leave. But Qin Lou, looking incredulous, stared at him, seemingly forgetting to thank him.

Xiao Xueman sighed inwardly, calling him a fool, and didn’t care what he thought, lifting his foot to leave.

He had walked quite a few steps when Qin Lou seemed to come to his senses, running over like a child, hurriedly hugging Xiao Xueman from behind, then quickly letting go.

“Um… what I mean is,” Xiao Xueman turned to look at him, seeing Qin Lou’s whole demeanor exuding joy, “Thank you, Xueman, I’m really happy.”

Xiao Xueman looked at him, smiled lightly, and said, “I know.”

When he left again, Qin Lou didn’t stop him.

He stayed where he was, clutching the small medicine bottle, unable to find words to describe his emotional rollercoaster, just repeatedly walking that stretch of road, as if to etch the scene that just happened into his memory forever.

Xiao Xueman didn’t see what happened afterward. He quickly returned to the arena guest room, where Xiao Wan naturally greeted him happily, along with Yun Rong.

The three of them just happened to chat about the competition while eating.

They were genuinely exhausted during the preliminaries, but after those seven days, neither the individual nor the two-person team draws had them facing too strong opponents, making things noticeably easier.

So today, Xiao Wan and Yun Rong even had time and leisure to talk to Xiao Xueman about other things, but that was because Xiao Xueman happened to catch them when he returned.

Xiao Wan was still staying in the guest room provided by the arena. Xiao Xueman had been staying in the judges’ rest area due to his work and hadn’t returned for a few days.

Today, with a bit of time, he came back to check on his son, only to find a few people acting suspiciously in front of the room.

When they saw Xiao Xueman approaching, they were startled, quickly placing something at the door and running off.

They were clearly contestants. Xiao Xueman, seeing they didn’t seem malicious, didn’t chase after them.

He looked down at what they left at the door, finding a small note attached, saying—A gift for Xiao Wan.

Xiao Xueman: “…Sigh.”

My son is quite popular too.