Chapter 71: A Formidable Opponent

“Just how long are those two going to keep being all lovey-dovey? Are they ever going to fight?”

Wen Xu fell silent for a moment, then offered a rare word of praise. “The word ‘lovey-dovey’ is a highly inspired choice.” Ever since he heard that ridiculous rumor, he had indeed, cough, been prone to overthinking.

Cultivation was supposed to make a person more ethereal and detached, but ever since he joined Yonglu Mountain, he had become increasingly worldly. In Chunzhou’s words, this was called being down-to-earth.

“Really?”

“Just kidding.”

Chen Zui deflated. He had gotten excited for nothing.

Fortunately, he did not have to wait long. The two on the stage finally began their match. Both were talisman cultivators, and both possessed water spiritual roots. At first, they traded talismans back and forth. Anyone who did not know better would have thought it was… an instructional match. This was just… Chen Zui lacked the vocabulary to describe it.

But while Chen Zui lacked the words, the spectating disciples certainly did not. This gentle breeze and mild rain, this flirting, this… As expected, Senior Brother Shi was definitely giving him special treatment! It was ironclad proof, folks.

Everyone appeared silent, but in their minds, they had already exchanged ten thousand words, and not a single one was repeated. Judging by the growing gleam in their eyes, they were thoroughly enjoying the gossip today.

The outcome of the duel was no surprise. Bian Chunzhou lost, and Shi Yijian was the first to secure a spot in the top five.

“Why do I feel like everyone is looking at me weirdly?” It was enough to give him goosebumps. Surely not, right? He had clearly been holding back. Were these people really that desperate for a ship? Shipping just anyone with anyone was a bit much, wasn’t it?

Bian Chunzhou grabbed his two friends and fled. For the time being, he did not want to have anything to do with Senior Brother Shi. These people really had nothing better to do. They had even dug up minor details like the time he spoke up for Senior Brother Shi in the past. Was that really necessary? Was it?

Then, beneath the stage where Wen Xuxu was set to duel the outer sect disciple Han Yu, Bian Chunzhou ran into Shi Yijian again.

This was just… Senior Brother Shi’s name really didn’t go to waste. He was truly “easy to meet”, wasn’t he?

“Are you about to say that I’m haunting you?”

Bian Chunzhou shook his head vigorously. “I’m not, I didn’t, I definitely didn’t say that! Is Senior Brother Shi here to scout out the competition?”

Shi Yijian shook his head in imitation. “No. I’m here to… How much do you know about this Han Yu?”

“Senior Brother Han Yu? I don’t really know him. I’ve only heard that his family is wealthy, and like Senior Sister Mingjing, he entered the sect through a recommendation spot. He’s generous and sociable. I hear many outer sect disciples have received his help. Although Senior Brother Han Yu’s reputation isn’t as prominent as Senior Sister Huo Shengyin’s, he’s still one of the favorites to win this tournament.”

It was a very official answer. It sounded like a lot, but he had actually said nothing of substance.

“Do you think the Little Grand-Uncle Master will lose?”

Bian Chunzhou was a fiercely loyal friend, so he immediately declared, “How could he!” It wasn’t as if Wen Xuxu hadn’t defeated someone at the peak of Qi Refining before.

“You two…” Shi Yijian liked the sincerity and brightness in Bian Chunzhou, but cultivation was not child’s play. Even in a warm and harmonious place like Yonglu Mountain, there were bound to be deeply selfish people. Or rather, it was very easy for a person’s heart to lose its balance. He wondered if the light in Junior Brother Bian’s eyes would fade in a few years. “Are you very close?”

“Of course. We’re going to be best friends for life.”

The young man before him did not seem to realize just how long a cultivator’s lifetime could be. This was especially true for Yonglu Mountain’s Little Grand-Uncle Master. With his exceptional talent and illustrious lineage, barring any accidents, Wen Xu would become the next Sword Venerable Meixi. Yonglu Mountain also seemed to be intentionally downplaying the Little Grand-Uncle Master’s presence, which was a way of protecting such a brilliant genius. Therefore, whether he won or lost today’s match was not particularly important for the young man who was just beginning to show his brilliance.

He, too, had once tasted what it was like to be a genius. Unfortunately, afterward…

A cultivator’s journey was like climbing a high peak. Along the way, you would see many sights and meet many people. Some would hinder your cultivation, while others would walk with you for a time. But the higher you climbed, the lonelier you became.

It was inevitable.

“Best friends for life? How enviable.”

Hearing this, Bian Chunzhou laughed. “Does Senior Brother Shi also think I’m overestimating myself?”

After all, ever since they joined the sect, plenty of people had accused him and Chen Zuizui of riding Wen Xuxu’s coattails. In terms of spiritual root talent and lineage, Wen Xuxu was in a league of his own. The gap between them did not look so vast right now, but once they reached the Nascent Soul and Soul Transformation realms, the difference would be night and day.

But Chen Zuizui was the type who completely missed the subtext of such remarks. He probably did not even realize how special Wen Xuxu was. In his eyes, Bian Chunzhou and Wen Xu were equals, both simply his friends.

As for himself, he understood the implications perfectly well. But to break off a friendship with his best friend just because of some irrelevant bystanders? He would have to be completely out of his mind to do something so foolish.

…There was really no responding to that. Junior Brother Bian’s words were blunt to the point of being reckless. Shi Yijian turned his head in surprise, only to meet his junior brother’s bright, clear eyes. “Actually, I’ve heard that kind of talk a lot. But other people are other people, and I am myself. Senior Brother, you must be a very ambitious person.”

In other words, a terminal case of “top-dog syndrome^[1].”

“Why do you say that? Having made it to Yonglu Mountain, do you not have any ambition, Junior Brother?”

“I have some, more or less, but definitely not as much as you, Senior Brother.” Bian Chunzhou shrugged. “You’re thinking too far ahead. Don’t you think you’re being too hard on yourself, criticizing your present self for things that haven’t even happened yet?”

Shi Yijian began to marvel at his junior brother’s mental state.

“The present me deserves the best. You all only see Wen Xuxu’s glamorous status and talent, but you don’t see the effort he puts into his cultivation behind the scenes. I see it, and that’s why I’m his best friend.”

Society had rules, and so did the cultivation world. Every cultivator lived by conforming to the rules while simultaneously rebelling against them. Shi Yijian had always believed this, until an absolute oddball appeared.

“So, is the current you the best version of yourself?”

These words were already bordering on a discussion of the Dao and the state of one’s heart. It was obvious this senior brother had yet to reach Foundation Establishment and was feeling lost. Bian Chunzhou thought to himself, Wow, I actually figured that out. Do I know too much?

“If I nod, would that make me seem a bit narcissistic?”

Shi Yijian froze for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing. “Not at all. Junior Brother Bian, the purity of your Dao heart is comparable to a mutated single spiritual root.”

…What kind of novel compliment was that?

“I must take my leave now. I hope you get what you wish for.”

With that, Shi Yijian quickly squeezed his way back through the crowd. Bian Chunzhou scratched his head. Get what he wished for? Did he mean Wen Xuxu winning? It was all rather baffling.

“What are you spacing out for? The match has started.”

Before he knew it, Chen Zuizui had squeezed his way over. Bian Chunzhou looked up at his words, only to find the fight on the stage already dazzling to behold.

Make no mistake, “dazzling” was a literal description of the scene. Good lord, he had heard that Senior Brother Han Yu was rich, but to be rich to this extent was… simply staggering.

Was this pay-to-win cultivation? Was he treating Spirit Stones as if they were worthless?

Bian Chunzhou looked at his friend with some worry, but perhaps because he couldn’t see, Wen Xuxu was fighting with extreme composure.

Wen Xu’s state of mind was indeed very stable. This was not his first time fighting someone at the peak of Qi Refining. Just as his master had said, a duel was not a contest of who had more cultivation base or spiritual energy, but rather a test of how a cultivator controlled their spiritual energy and how flexibly they moved. In plain terms, one had to know how to adapt to the situation.

If a cultivator lacked even the most basic ability to counter and react to moves, then no matter how high their cultivation base was, it was nothing more than a hollow title.

Setting aside Han Yu’s Spirit-Stone-flinging style, Wen Xu quickly realized that his opponent was a very typical talisman cultivator. Since Chunzhou followed the same path, Wen Xu naturally understood talisman cultivation very well.

Unlike Chunzhou’s method of adapting talismans to his spiritual root, Han Yu possessed five spiritual roots of equal thickness. This was also known as the Origin Spiritual Root. The Origin Spiritual Root actually had immense potential, but because one had to cultivate all five elements simultaneously, it devoured Spirit Stones. Ordinary five-element cultivators would focus their cultivation on one or two of their thicker roots, refusing to waste too much energy on the rest.

But Han Yu was rich. He poured Spirit Stones lavishly into every single spiritual root, which meant his cultivation speed was by no means slow. Most importantly, he was not stupid.

On the contrary, he was quite clever. It was only because of his usual reputation as a “wealth-dispensing boy” that others automatically viewed him through a filter of “more money than brains.”

After fighting Han Yu for only a short while, Wen Xu realized that he was dealing with a very shrewd cultivator. The man seemed to be squandering resources wildly, but in truth, he was calculating every move, even managing to land his talismans with high precision right onto Wen Xu’s layered formations.

This was a formidable opponent.

Wen Xu closed his fan to use it as a sword. First form of the Nine Revolutions Sword Art: A Gentle Breeze Stirs.

Truth be told, Wen Xu had never dedicated much attention to swordplay. For one, he felt his talent was mediocre and not worth investing too much effort in. For another, his Wind Spiritual Root made him ill-suited for close-quarters combat.

The combat strategy he had mapped out for himself was to combine layered formations with the Wind-Folding Fan. However, the Wind-Folding Fan had been damaged once due to his own recklessness. Later, Senior Brother Zheng Jin recast Zhe Feng for him, and when Wen Xu received it, he found it had changed.

The aura of the Wind-Folding Fan had originally been fierce and incredibly sharp.

After being recast, however, it became much more restrained. Though it was still wild when wielded, it looked no different from an ordinary folding fan when idle. Yet, this was not its greatest transformation. Its most significant change was its ability to switch between a folding fan and a spiritual sword.

This was undoubtedly a better fit for him, and it had allowed him to win five consecutive arena matches.

However, Wen Xu keenly sensed that this was not the optimal way to use it. While switching fluidly could catch opponents off guard, a sword and a fan were ultimately two different weapons. Switching too frequently would instead prevent him from unleashing the maximum potential of either weapon.

Thus, Wen Xu took up sword practice once more. This time, he began forcing himself to comprehend the deeper meaning behind the sword art.

Why, in the end, was the sword worthy of sword cultivators dedicating their very lives to comprehending it?