Chapter 445: Innocent Mu Rong

Big Pao’s eyes gleamed, as he liked the sound of those words. This was the reason why he wanted to be friends with Lulu, as she could be absolutely tyrannical.

“Ling Que, Ling Que, I love you! Ling Que, Ling Que, you’re the best!”

“Ling Que, Ling Que, I love you! Ling Que, Ling Que, you’re the best!”

…

The cheerleaders’ loud clamor had cleared out a wide area around them. This made Big Pao’s trio quite noticeable.

“What are you guys doing?” A young woman who looked like the leader glared at Big Pao. The other females looked over as well, but only a few of them did so. The majority continued chanting their rally. They were rather professional with their behavior.

Big Pao coughed and then seriously asked, “Everyone, how much would it cost to hire you girls?”

Coco cast a worried glance towards Ling Que, as he was indeed rather handsome. It was actually possible that these girls genuinely liked him. Her senior was too straightforward and should have probed into this topic more gently.

“One star essence per person, per day,” the young lady answered in a firm manner, stunning both Coco and Lulu. That had just been too fast—couldn’t they restrain themselves a little?

Big Pao was taken aback. “That’s too expensive!”

The lady contemptuously replied, “We follow someone as they wander the universe. Is that really too expensive?”

Big Pao felt that there was some truth to her words, as these girls did indeed have to follow Ling Que around as he wandered across the universe. A bit more than 300 star essences per year was not too much of a sum, as it truly did require great effort to shout and cheer, and the girls needed to risk their lives as well. However, there were just too many of these young women. There were at least a hundred of them here. Big Pao turned to look at Lulu.

Lulu generously waved a hand. “Hand the money over and hire them for a day.”

The young lady held up a hand. “Hold on, we will betray Young Master Ling Que if we accept your employment offer. You need to pay the penalty as well. A hundred star essences.”

Big Pao’s lips stretched; there was a penalty to break their contract as well? Ling Que was too shameless.

Lulu sneered as money appeared in her hands. It almost seemed as if she was truly made of money.

Beneath the Skyfall Cascade, Ling Que was feeling quite content as he had fortunately showed up at the Starfall Sea at a good time. Otherwise, he would be suffering from boredom back at the Lingling clan. His times there could not compare to the delights of braving the universe’s dangers. He looked up and saw Qin Chen on the screen, and then looked across to see Lu Yin. He would have to defeat each one of them, and he was especially looking forward to fighting against Qin Chen, an expert on the Top 100 Rankings. Once Qin Chen was defeated, Ling Que himself would step onto the Top 100 Rankings, which would be a perfect chain of events.

As for whether or not he actually wanted to wed the Sea King's daughter, that depended on her appearance. He would never do it if she was unattractive. However, there was one aspect that made things a bit difficult—if he ended up retrieving the Sea King's Trident and then declining to wed the Sea King’s daughter, Ling Que would undoubtedly offend the Sea King. Although the Lingling clan did not fear anyone, it was still better to avoid offending the Sea King as he was famous for being extremely terrifying.

As Ling Que thought about his situation, he noticed that the area had suddenly become very quiet.

Hold on, where are the passionate cheers? Ling Que suddenly felt that something was amiss. When he turned to look at the shore, he saw that his cheerleaders were… gone!

“Lu Yin, Lu Yin, I love you! Lu Yin, Lu Yin, you’re the best!”

“Lu Yin, Lu Yin, I love you! Lu Yin, Lu Yin, you’re the best!”

…

Beneath the southeastern Skyfall Cascade, an impressive group of cheerleaders had arrived. Their fervent shouts chased everyone away, causing them to have a neat vacated area to do their formations.

This didn’t happen only at the shore, but also at the area underneath the Skyfall Cascade. Lu Yin and the other participants were frightened silly.

Lu Yin looked sluggishly at the shore. What was going on?

Suddenly, everyone within the Sea King's Dome stared dumbfoundedly at the screens that were showing what was happening at the southeastern Skyfall Cascade before looking back around to Ling Que. What did this mean? Had the cheerleaders had a change of heart?

No matter who it was, everyone was attracted by this commotion, including Hai Qiqi, Hai Dashao, and even Starsibyl. Everyone was bewildered.

Michelle slapped her forehead as expression turned to one of helplessness, while Hui Daynight, Zhao Yilong, and the rest all looked stupefied. They had assumed that Big Pao and Lulu had been joking, but they had actually followed through on their words.

Lu Yin wanted to open his mouth to speak up, but he did not even understand what was going on. His face was a perfect mix of bewilderment and blankness.

“Seventh Bro, I’ve always felt that humans are the most shameless creatures. What did you do when you screened me? Also, why do I feel like I was screened for a long time, but only a day seems to have passed? Tell me, were you spending money to gather these women? That’s too narcissistic,” the Ghost Monkey commented.

Lu Yin suddenly felt his head begin to ache when he saw Big Pao at the shore, who gave him a thumbs up. In that instant, Lu Yin realized what had happened and charged straight for Big Pao.

“What are you doing?” Lu Yin asked indignantly. He felt like he had become the laughingstock of the entire Sea King's Dome, and he was truly angry about it.

Big Pao puffed his chest out. “Relax! With Senior around, no one can beat your momentum.”

“I don’t want them! Get rid of them!”

“No can do. We’ve already paid. I mean, they really think you are the best and truly love you.”

“Cut the bullshit and have them ruin someone else’s things! Don’t forget—we’re here to avoid being killed, not to actually participate in this selection.”

“Junior, whatever we do, we must give it our all.” Big Pao looked seriously at Lu Yin.

Beside the two young men, Coco encouraged Lu Yin while Lulu held herself proudly. “I’ve already paid them, so don’t waste it.”

Lu Yin was flabbergasted, but he suddenly felt like something was off about the whole situation. Even if Big Pao and Lulu were bored, they would not have done such a thing, especially since they were currently being chased by killers. The only logical conclusion was that they truly wanted him to become the Sea King’s son-in-law, and they had drawn the attention of the entire Sea King's Dome onto him as a part of their plan.

“Are you guys forcing me?” Lu Yin’s tone turned very cold.

Big Pao’s face changed, and he awkwardly asked, “Junior, what are you saying?”

Lu Yin’s tone grew even colder. “You guys are trying to make me the center of attention so that all of the Sea King's Dome, including the Sea King, focuses on me. Your objective is to force me to go all out in this selection, right?”

“Junior, don’t spout nonsense. No one’s forcing you to do anything. Even if you intentionally fail, no one could say anything since you control everything,” Big Pao replied seriously.

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. “The focus right now is on that group of girls. They are Ling Que’s, but

you intentionally snatched them away. With his personality, he will definitely find some way to create trouble for me. If I don’t go all out, then I’ll be defeated without question, and the entire universe will then rank him as stronger than me. I can’t accept that, which must have occurred to you guys.”

Big Pao appeared embarrassed, and he glanced at Lulu, who rolled her eyes, though she did not reply.

Only Coco looked at Big Pao in shock. “Senior, weren’t we just playing around?”

“Hmph, they were indeed playing around, but playing with me.” Lu Yin’s attitude had soured now, as he disliked it when others tried to force him to do something. Big Pao and Lulu were right, as he definitely could not accept being ranked below Ling Que, and it was for no other reason than because Ling Que had previously been praised by the Daynight clan during the Daynight Feast. He was the person who Nightqueen Yanqing had used to strike at Lu Yin’s reputation.

Big Pao spread his hands apart helplessly. “Junior, you think too much. With Qin Chen around, you might not succeed even if you go all out.”

“Exactly, don’t think too highly of yourself,” Lulu added on.

Lu Yin glared at the duo. “No matter what, get these girls away from me, or else I’ll break off all relations with you two.”

“Is it that serious?” Big Pao felt like the situation was ridiculous.

Lu Yin turned to leave, as he truly could not stand the cheerleaders. Although each one was young and beautiful, the overall situation was just too embarrassing.

However, there was actually someone else who was even more indignant than Lu Yin: Ling Que. He knew that he had just become a joke in the eyes of countless people, because they now knew that he had bought those cheerleaders. This reveal was just too embarrassing. “Lu Yin, you idiot, watch out.”

“Senior, what should we do now?” Coco was lost.

Big Pao had a headache, as he did not know what to do either.

“We’ve already paid for the service, so we can’t waste it,” Lulu said. She then looked at the screen in the air. She seemed to suddenly think of something as she looked at Coco. “I remember you saying that Mu Rong is here too, right?”

Coco nodded and looked at the screen showing Mu Rong sympathetically.

Shortly thereafter, at the bottom of the southwestern Skyfall Cascade: “Mu Rong, Mu Rong, I love you! Mu Rong, Mu Rong, you’re the best!”

“Mu Rong, Mu Rong, I love you! Mu Rong, Mu Rong, you’re the best!”

…

Everyone was rendered speechless.

Lu Yin and Ling Que were both stunned.

Mu Rong had been calmly standing in the water up till now, and he had not looked up even once during the commotion that had occurred before. But at this moment, he was also stumped as he looked at the nearby group of girls shouting his name. He did not know what to do, and appeared to be momentarily at a loss.

Michelle stared ahead of herself blankly, and then at Mu Rong’s dazed expression. She didn't even know what he was thinking, as Mu Rong had always had a detached mien. His cold aura had only intensified after his emotional episode, and he had sealed off his feelings. Who would have thought that this emotionally numb person would suddenly have a squad of cheerleaders? Michelle could not handle the intense contrast in image.

“Who would have thought that the final winner would be Mu Rong. One really can’t judge a book by its cover,” someone sighed.

The event was clearly the selection for the Sea King’s son-in-law, but the entire atmosphere had been turned into a clown fest that involved snatching cheerleaders.

Everyone discussed the cheerleaders, and they all forgot about the Sea King's daughter.

Hai Dashao was beyond furious, and he glared at the group of cheerleaders.

Hai Qiqi was also angered because she had been forgotten. She was the leading lady of this event, after all.

Ling Que glared at Mu Rong. So it was you, you scoundrel. Don’t even think of running.

Just like Michelle thought, Mu Rong was indeed emotionally detached. Although he was embarrassed by the cheerleaders, he managed to regain his composure and appeared to completely disregard them.

The cheerleaders now had someone to support, and it was Mu Rong.

At the bottom of the southwestern Skyfall Cascade, the shouts of “Mu Rong, Mu Rong, I love you! Mu Rong, Mu Rong, you’re the best!” persisted to the end of the selection.

Lu Yin glanced at the screen showing Mu Rong in admiration. So this is Mu Rong? He appears to be unflustered and looks quite impressive. As Lu Yin pondered the situation, he glanced at Ling Que on another screen and saw that the man’s rage could not be concealed. Lu Yin felt slightly sympathetic towards him, as it would be rather pathetic if this brat lost his marbles just because his cheerleaders had been stolen.

This farce caused the night of the Sea King's Dome to lose its peace as the minutes slowly trickled away.

When the first ray of sunlight peeked out from the heavens, the strength that blocked the Skyfall Cascades finally vanished. Everyone eagerly looked at the screens, as the selection process had officially begun.

Beneath the five Skyfall Cascades, all of the participants looked up towards the summit of the Skyfall Cascades in unison.

Water rushed down the mountain, but it was nothing to these powerhouses. Each of them was normally extremely fast. However, right now, they were only slightly faster than regular cultivators since the space around the waterfalls had been stabilized to the point where no one could tear through the void.

The entire void had been toughened through an unknown method so that it was sturdier than the outside world’s. The participants could forget about tearing through the void here, and the space here was actually so sturdy that they couldn’t even retrieve any of their items from their cosmic rings.

This discovery stunned the crowd, as it was the first time they had seen such a situation.

Cosmic rings were formed when super powerhouses compressed space into a certain size. In theory, it was not much different from a secondary dimension like the Shenwu Continent. In order to retrieve something from within the ring, one had to break open the dimension. The space around the Skyfall Cascades had been suppressed through absolute strength, which meant that even cosmic rings were unusable.

The effects weren’t limited to just that; since the space in the area had been greatly stabilized, everyone’s speed, strength, and destructive power had been reduced by just as much. For example, an Explorer may normally be able to destroy a planet with their strength, but if they were next to the Skyfall Cascades, there was no way they would be able to do that.