Jing Yan detected hatred in Jing Lucheng's gaze.
Although many other disciples of the Jing Clan had made derisive comments about Jing Yan and some didn't even lower their voices when they insulted him, no one had gotten up in his face yet.
Jing Lucheng, however, walked right up to Jing Yan as he mocked him. Anyone could tell that Jing Lucheng was picking on him.
Jing Yan gave Jing Lucheng a half-smile and held his gaze. "Whether I take this test or not doesn't have anything to do with you, Jing Lucheng."
"Nothing to do with me?" Jing Lucheng said as his eyes darkened.
"Humph! How can it not have anything to do with me? Jing Yan, you know very well that your rank has been falling for some time now. You have no future in martial arts. But you still want to waste the family's sources for nothing. Thankfully, you barely get any stones anyway. But the more you waste, the fewer people who really need them will get. Now, you tell me; how does it not have anything to do with me? I'm not the only one affected. It has to do with a lot of people in the family!" Jing Lucheng said with a sneer.
The conversation between Jing Yan and Jing Lucheng caught the attention of many Jing Clan members. Now they all turn their gazes to these two.
"Jing Yan, I heard that half a month ago, you got tons of Spiritual Stones at the Ru Yi Pavilion! Well, well. I don't get it. How did someone like you get that many sources? Since you've already got that many Spiritual Stones, and you still come to the family's abilities test for another one or two, is it somehow inappropriate for me to call you shameless?" Jing Lucheng said as he glanced around at the bystanders. He then returned his gaze to Jing Yan. Something savage flickered in his eyes.
After listening to Jing Lucheng's little speech, Jing Yan realized what was going on.
Jing Lucheng was trying to stand up for Jing Yuqin. It seemed like he was very close to her.
Otherwise, Jing Yuqin would never tell someone random about her humiliating experience at the Ru Yi Pavilion.
Only a few people knew that Jing Yan had sold a lot of sources there. Besides Jing Yan, only three people had been present for the actual transaction: the Manager of the Ru Yi Pavilion, Wang He; Jing Yan's uncle, Jing Chenxing; and the last was Jing Yuqin.
Wang He certainly wouldn't gossip about such a deal with others, especially with random people like Jing Lucheng. There was even less chance that Jing Chenxing would tell Jing Lucheng about it. With those two eliminated, Jing Yuqin had to be the one who had told Jing Lucheng about the transaction.
Now Jing Lucheng was trying to give Jing Yan a hard time, probably because Jing Yuqin had encouraged him to. Jing Yuqin, as an older member of the family than Jing Yan, wouldn't do it herself, of course. Yet Jing Lucheng and Jing Yan were of the same generation. Although Jing Lucheng was several years older, if there were conflicts between the two, at least others in the family wouldn't accuse Jing Lucheng of bullying a younger family member.
Jing Yan's heart grew colder after he realized what was going on. "Jing Lucheng, if you want to stand up for someone else, you need to be strong enough. Otherwise, you will end up very miserable. I'm sure you will regret this."
On that day at the Ru Yi Pavilion, Jing Yuqin had obviously been in the wrong, yet now she tried to get revenge by pulling this stunt?
This Jing Yuqin person was really annoying!
"Well, well. Jing Yuqin..." Jing Yan thought to himself. He gave a half-smile, and his eyes were as cold as ice.
"Hahaha… Ridiculous! So ridiculous! Jing Yan, are you not afraid of having your nose stretched any longer than it already is? I would have let you get away with saying something like that when you were at the peak of your power, but now you are useless! How dare you say something like that to me? It looks like I'll have to teach you a lesson today so you'll know your place better," Jing Lucheng shouted and burst out into wild laughter.
He had come to Jing Yan to start a fight. He had only insulted and antagonized Jing Yan so that he would have an excuse. He couldn't simply beat Jing Yan up without saying anything. After all, Jing Yan was the old Patriarch's grandson. But now, Jing Yan had pretty much just given him an excuse for a fight.
The way Jing Lucheng saw it, Jing Yan's rank was at the Third Heaven at most. He probably didn't even need to make any serious moves. He could beat the hell out of Jing Yan simply by moving one of his fingers.
Although Jing Yuqin had seen Jing Yan sell a lot of high-value sources, she didn't believe that Jing Yan actually obtained the sources by hunting Spiritual Beasts by himself.
She couldn't really be blamed for thinking that way. Few people would believe that Jing Yan could kill all those Spiritual Beasts. Even Wang He probably didn't think so.
"My pleasure!" Jing Yan said as he concentrated on his Qi and breath.
He had already been wondering exactly how strong he was with his current cultivation.
As for his rank, he was at the highest point of the Sixth Heaven, and he was super close to the Seventh Heaven. But speaking of combat abilities, he was sure he was way above regular warriors at the Sixth Heaven. He was more than willing to fight this warrior of the Seventh Heaven, Jing Lucheng.
"Jing Yan, come up here and have your abilities tested!"
At that moment, the Fourth Elder's words echoed across the stadium.
"We will continue in a moment," Jing Yan said, glancing at Jing Lucheng with a stony face after the Elder called his name.
"Humph," Jing Lucheng snorted coldly.
Under the gazes of everyone present, Jing Yan walked to the center of the stadium where the testing crystal was located.
"Good to see you, Fourth Elder and Sixth Elder!" Jing Yan greeted the two Elders.
The previous test was hosted by the Fifth Elder, Jing Yuxiang. The Fourth Elder and the Sixth Elder were the hosts of the test this time.
The two Elders nodded pleasantly as they saw Jing Yan.
"Jing Yan, I'm surprised to see you here for the test. I'm also very pleased. At least it means that you haven't given up. As long as you don't give up, there's always hope. You understand?" the Fourth Elder slowly said to Jing Yan.
"I do," Jing Yan said. He knew that the Fourth Elder, Jing Tianying, meant well by saying so.
Jing Yan appreciated Jing Tianying's kindness and encouragement.
"Jing Yan, now let's test your abilities," said Jing Mingzhi, the Sixth Elder.
"Yes!" Jing Yan responded.
Watching Jing Yan walk up to the testing crystal, Jing Tianying and Jing Mingzhi exchanged looks as they both slightly shook their heads.
Obviously, they felt sorry for Jing Yan.
He used to be the genius that everyone was proud of. Yet, for some unknown reason, his rank just wouldn't stop falling. Now he was probably weaker than the most mediocre disciples in the family.
Jing Yan had participated in the test the month before, and both Elders knew that the test had shown that Jing Yan's rank was at the Third Heaven.
"I hope that his rank didn't fall again..." Jing Tianying sighed silently. "Now that the old Patriarch is gone, Jing Yan is on his own. It's a shame that none of us can help him."
There was a deep sadness in Jing Tianying's eyes.
...
"Look! Jing Yan is getting tested!"
"It's started! Want to guess what Jing Yan's rank will be?"
"It should still be the Third Heaven."
"Hehe, how about let's bet on it? I'd say that his cultivation is only at the Second Heaven now."
As Jing Yan started his test, the disciples of the Jing Clan in the stadium all turned their gazes to him. They continued to sneer and make jokes at his expense.