Facing the ridicule and sarcasm from everyone, Li Mingru didn't say anything and just drank by himself.
After the group of elders said their piece, the helpless Ye Qingluan finally came down from her throne, looked at the teenager below, and said softly with her red lips, "According to Emei's rules, Inner Sect disciple Lin Xiaolu, due to insufficient natural beauty, is hereby stripped of her Inner Sect disciple status and demoted to an Outer Sect disciple."
Having said that, she sat back down and started nibbling on a pear.
The other elders were also no longer looking at the boy below, chatting and laughing as they prepared to leave.
"Junior brother, you can get off the stage now," the presiding senior brother said to the lonely Lin Xiaolu.
He also felt it was quite a pity. Generally speaking, very few people would fail the Qi Condensation first layer test, since all the elders had carefully selected Inner Sect disciples. Lin Xiaolu was probably the first to fail in years.
At this moment, he was about to ask the child to leave the stage.
"I don't accept this!" A tender voice suddenly rang out, stunning everyone present.
The elders who were about to leave also stopped their movements, their gazes falling back onto the child below.
Li Mingru drank his wine silently without saying a word.
At this moment, Fang Wuxiu looked at the child expressionlessly and said, "You were unable to reach the Qi Condensation first layer. According to the rules, this should be the outcome. What grounds do you have to not accept it?"
Below the stage, all the children watched Lin Xiaolu quietly.
Lin Xiaolu stood up straight, his young face flushed red, and angrily shouted at the people above, "On the grounds that I can beat everyone else at the same level as me!"
These words made everyone freeze in astonishment.
The eight-year-old Lin Xiaolu's young face was full of anger. He had heard the elders' mocking words just now loud and clear. The way they called him useless so matter-of-factly irritated him long ago, and now he just blurted it all out. Pointing at the elders on the stage, he continued shouting, "You think cultivators are so amazing? Then have those at the same cultivation level as me fight me! Let's see who's useless!"
On the high platform, the elders' expressions changed. They were baffled that a mortal would dare be so arrogant.
Ye Qingluan, sitting in her chair nibbling on a pear, brightened her beautiful eyes and exclaimed, "What an interesting child, a martial artist actually wants to fight cultivators."
Li Mingru also put down his gourd and looked at the elders with a laugh. "Elders, my little disciple is stubborn by nature. He doesn't accept this. What do you think?"
"Humph!" Zhao Xuanyi snorted coldly, "Not accepting it? Fine! Let's arrange for some junior disciples to let this brat know his place."
The other elders didn't object either. The child was only eight. There was no way he could beat cultivators of the same age. Even Fang Wuxiu thought so.
"Alright, let's make him accept it sincerely!"
He looked at the boy below with a faint smile. "Who do you want to fight?"
Lin Xiaolu looked up at him, then turned to look at the fifty some children below. Then he shifted his gaze back to the high platform.
"Everyone except my sister!"
The tender voice rang out in the Green Phoenix Hall, stunning the entire arena!
Even Li Mingru was shocked!
He had originally wanted Xiaolu to defeat the other children one by one. He didn't expect this brat to be so arrogant as to want to fight fifty by himself!
At this moment, both above and below the stage were astonished.
The host had even frozen stiffly in place.
Li Miaoxin was so shocked she almost stood up.
Was this kid crazy!
On the high platform, the elders sucked in a breath of cold air. A martial artist fighting fifty cultivators—who gave him the guts!
Ye Qingluan looked at the boy, her beautiful eyes shining as she exclaimed at how interesting he was.
After the shock wore off, Zhao Xuanyi glanced at Li Mingru and sneered coldly, "As expected of Elder Brother Mingru's disciple. So arrogant!"
"Just an ignorant brat who doesn't know the height of the heavens or depth of the earth," an elder said while stroking his beard disdainfully. "This old man dares to guarantee that the child will be crippled with one look!"
"Children ah, I can understand his unwillingness in his heart," Elder Talismans Wu Ming said with a smile. "Since he wants to challenge all the children in the academy, let's give him this opportunity. No harm done."
"Heh heh, being defeated by fifty cultivators but still having face to show himself—that's already not bad."
The elders made remarks one after another, not taking this little brat's stubbornness to heart at all.
But Ye Qingluan was getting impatient. She urged, "This child wants to challenge them. Hurry and let the disciples on stage!"
Hearing this, Fang Wuxiu smiled. "Yes, Madam."
He walked to the edge of the high platform and looked down at the fifty some children with his murky eyes. Indifferently, he ordered, "Disciples listen. Other than Lin Xiaoyu, everyone else come on stage to exchange pointers with Lin Xiaolu. Do not intentionally hide your skills. You must go all out until it's settled."
Below the stage, upon hearing the order, the children got up one by one and climbed onto the white jade platform. This scene made Li Miaoxin anxiously want to combust.
This silly junior brother of hers, although his martial arts were quite good, how could he alone fight fifty cultivator children?
Most of these kids had already learned some mystic arts. How could he possibly beat them!
Dongfang Dan, Tang Hanqing, and a few other children closer to Lin Xiaolu stood in the crowd with bitter faces, also not knowing what to do.
The elder had said to go all out. If they secretly held back, would the elders notice?
Yu Chuchu stood at the very front of the crowd, looking at the excited and fierce look on the boy's face before her.
Having reached the Qi Condensation second layer, she could no longer hold herself back from getting revenge right now. She would knock this guy flat with one look!
Behind the fifty some children, Chen Nianyun stood silently.
Already eleven, his gaze was tranquil as he pondered something.
On the high platform, the elders couldn't help but click their tongues in wonder looking at the one versus fifty scene below.
"Let's be fair, the child is only eight this year, yet he can still remain undaunted facing fifty cultivator children. His persevering spirit as a martial artist is truly not bad."
"That's right. And over half of these fifty children are older than him by a few years. Such valiant spirit is really not common."
"Spirit? What use does spirit have!" Zhao Xuanyi sneered coldly, "Among mortals, which seasoned martial artist doesn't have an unfearing stubborn disposition, which doesn't have an unbending backbone? But what use does it have? They are still useless trash! This old man can kill a whole swath of martial arts grandmasters with a wave of my hand!"
Having said that, he looked at Fang Wuxiu next to him fawningly, "Elder Fang, am I not right?"
Dressed in black robes, Fang Wuxiu didn't respond. He stood at the edge of the high platform, expressionlessly looking at the lonely figure below as he gave his own evaluation:
"Mortal flesh, how dare you straight-on look at us cultivators' transformations!"