Shen Qian was speechless.
He could understand; after all, it was an order from a prince, and a face-to-face invitation was the only way to show formality. But…
There was no need to pull this stunt at the "Nine Heavens Cup" tournament, was there?
He had strong reason to suspect that Qu Xiangyun did it on purpose.
Although he couldn't sense it, Shen Qian still glanced nervously at Bei Wu's seat.
That's not right either. He and Qu Xiangyun really have no history, so why should he feel guilty?
With that thought, Chen Qian straightened his back again.
"I understand. I will pay a visit to Lord Luoshen after the competition."
However, with everyone watching, Shen Qian couldn't possibly refuse a prince's request, so he immediately nodded in agreement.
Qu Xiangyun nodded and hurriedly ran off the stage. But just before she was about to leave, she remembered something and turned to signal to the referee.
"I concede."
Even the seasoned referee from the Mountain and Sea region was probably seeing this scene for the first time. After a moment of stunned silence, he finally came to his senses and blew the whistle.
"Jiangzhong Army, victory!"
As the whistle blew, Jiangzhong Military Academy became the last university to advance to the final four.
However, there was hardly any cheering or applause throughout the venue; instead, there was only noise everywhere.
Some people were gossiping, some were indignant, and some were questioning... It was a complete mess.
Regardless, the quarterfinals ended with this scene, without any statement from the organizers.
"Our top four universities have been determined: Beijing Military Academy, Shanghai Military Academy, Sichuan Military Academy, and Jiangzhong Military Academy!"
"Let's give them a warm round of applause..."
Shen Qian did not stay on the ring for long; he quickly left while the host was controlling the situation.
Back in the lounge, facing the strange looks from everyone, Shen Qian could only touch his nose and say helplessly, "If I said that there's really nothing between her and me, would you believe me?"
Everyone shook their heads decisively.
Shen Qian instantly lost the desire to explain and said nonchalantly, "Whatever."
"These comments online are truly appalling..."
The group joked around for a while, but they couldn't help but frown when they saw the comments attacking Shen Qian online.
As for Shen Qian, he was too lazy to even look at him. After several battles, in the eyes of most netizens, he was already sitting on the bench because of his lack of strength.
Now that this has happened, it's easy to predict how much others will belittle him.
Shen Qian didn't even need to look to know how awful those words were.
By now, the fact that Shen Qian is a disciple of the Marquis of Jingcheng has already spread online. Coupled with the good relationship between the Marquis of Jingcheng and the Earl of Luoshen, many people probably think that Qu Xiangyun is deliberately supporting Shen Qian.
"The lottery results are in."
Cheng Qingqing didn't care much about these things; she just kept an eye on the draw results in the main stadium.
Upon hearing this, everyone stopped their discussion and looked up.
On the big screen, the remaining four universities have been divided into two arrays.
"Northern Martial Arts School vs. Sichuan Martial Arts School!"
"Jiangzhong Military vs. Shenwu!"
Once you reach the semifinals, there's really no such thing as a lucky draw anymore.
Even though Sichuan University of Technology is not among the top four universities, it has always been a top-tier university, only one step away from being one of the top four.
"Shenqian, why don't you play when we play against Shenwu?"
Zhao Keyi suddenly suggested.
The others were also taken aback, and then they all looked at Chen Qian with expectant eyes.
Feeling the same way, they saw the rumors and gossip online and felt sorry for Shen Qian.
They understood that as soon as Shen Qian appeared, all malice would vanish instantly.
The world will see just how terrifying this boy, who has been silent in the public eye for so long, truly is!
After all, even they themselves didn't know what Chen Qian's limit was, or rather, even Cheng Qingqing and Ning Zhiyuan had never clearly understood Chen Qian's true strength.
“No need.” Shen Qian shook his head and smiled. “My battlefield is not here. Since the seating arrangements have been made, this is your home ground. My presence here is just a safety measure in the strategy.”
Seeing that Chen insisted on going ahead, the others stopped talking.
"Then you can play this match."
Zhao Keyi looked at Geng Qianqiu, the only one besides himself who hadn't made a move yet.
"Um."
Geng Qianqiu said calmly, "You can just watch from here."
In the blink of an eye, an hour of rest time has passed.
The first match in the semifinals was between Beijing Wushu and Sichuan Wushu.
Three people from Beiwu fought, and Ding Yi defeated all three of them with almost no setbacks.
The outcome of the duel was largely as expected. Although Sichuan Wu was in great form this year, the Northern Wu team had three players who were in the top ten of the Hidden Dragon Ranking.
Although there are some hidden dark horses in Kawakami, there are only two who can be called peerless.
"Ding Yi! Ding Yi! Ding Yi..."
With her cool and aloof face, unparalleled swordsmanship, and ethereal figure, the girl unleashed her final sword strike, igniting a frenzied roar from the entire arena.
Even Ouyang Fei and the others joked about Shen Qian, sincerely marveling at how lucky Shen Qian was with women.
Only Chen Qian's smile seemed somewhat forced.
Seeing Ding Yi make a move again, this time he wasn't captivated by her beauty, but instead observed her carefully.
Unlike others who were marveling at the unpredictable nature of Ding Yi's swordsmanship, Shen Qian frowned deeply.
Ding Yi didn't use a sword before.
Or to put it another way, Ding Yi's swordsmanship may seem ordinary, but it contains extremely profound swordsmanship skills.
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