Chapter 55: Luck

The woman immediately looked around warily before correcting herself. “Yes, yes, yes. Your mother has a terrible memory and got it wrong. You are A-Ying.”

Hearing this, Jiang Ying’s expression softened slightly. “Mother, you mustn’t make that mistake again. And unless it’s important, don’t come to Yonglu Mountain anymore. I’m doing well. If you miss me, I’ll just ask for leave to go home.”

The woman, draped in jewels and jade, pulled a silk pouch filled with spirit stones from her robes and handed it over. “Yonglu Mountain is a major sect. I was just worried you’d have too many expenses, so I came specifically to bring you some spirit stones.”

“Thank you, Mother. You’re the best to me.” Jiang Ying was just worrying about not having enough spirit stones. She hadn’t expected to suffer such a setback right after entering the sect. She had thought that after breaking through two levels in a row, she would surely secure a spot in the finals. Who would have thought she would run into a brick wall? Only after stepping down from the arena and asking around did she find out what exactly Guochun Peak’s background was.

At this thought, a flash of jealousy crossed her brow before she quickly put on a pitiful, delicate look. “Mother, today is Yonglu Mountain’s Sect Tournament. I broke through two levels in a row, and now I’m at the eighth level of Qi Refining.”

Hearing this, Madame Jiang did not look surprised, as if she had known all along that her daughter would advance. Still, she feigned a look of pleasant surprise. “Is that so? I knew my Bao… A-Ying is the best.”

“But even though I won four matches in a row, I still couldn’t make it to the finals.” Jiang Ying looked disheartened. Heartbroken for her daughter, Madame Jiang immediately reached out to hug her, but Jiang Ying stepped back to avoid it. “Mother, we are at the foot of Yonglu Mountain.”

Only then did Madame Jiang compose herself slightly. “Why didn’t you make it?”

“I ran into… a powerful opponent.” Jiang Ying’s face twisted with frustration, but she held it in. “Mother, I still know too little about Yonglu Mountain. Otherwise… could you help your daughter again?”

For some reason, a look of hesitation crossed Madame Jiang’s face. But the request itself was strange. After all, how could a normal, middle-aged woman like Madame Jiang help a daughter who had already entered the path of cultivation? Could the Jiang Family have some hidden connections in Yonglu Mountain?

“Bao… A-Ying, you know it wasn’t easy for you to enter Yonglu Mountain. Of course I want the best for you, but…”

“Mother! Say no more.”

Madame Jiang fell silent. In the end, she could not resist her daughter’s pleading. She had only this one daughter, so she naturally wanted to leave the best things in the world to her. As for the other one… since she hadn’t crawled out of her own womb, she couldn’t be blamed for being ruthless.

The mother and daughter said their goodbyes. Only when Madame Jiang’s carriage had vanished into the distance did Jiang Ying turn to head back up the mountain.

“Junior Sister Jiang, have you reconciled with your mother?”

As luck would have it, the one guarding the mountain gate today was Senior Brother Chang. The Foundation Establishment Stage matches had not started yet, so he remained at his post. Besides, earning more Sect Contribution Points would allow him to exchange them for more pills and talismans for his own matches.

Jiang Ying was startled, not expecting the gate-guarding disciple to be so talkative. She had never met this person, so she could only brush him off. “Yes, thank you for your concern, Senior Brother. If there’s nothing else, I would like to return to my cave dwelling to stabilize my realm.”

Stabilize her realm? Had this junior sister just broken through? Oh right, she was only at the sixth level of Qi Refining last time. Looking closely now, she was actually at the eighth level. Junior Sister Jiang’s cultivation speed was almost catching up to a single spiritual root. “Congratulations on your breakthrough, Junior Sister.”

“It was just a breakthrough during battle, and it’s not stable yet. It was mere luck.”

This Junior Sister Jiang was surprisingly humble, and she didn’t seem as stiff as before. Senior Brother Chang scratched his head and quickly put the matter out of his mind, returning to his gate-guarding duties.

*

Having witnessed his two friends advance to the finals one after the other, Bian Chunzhou naturally felt a sense of nervousness.

But he was a natural optimist. Even though he really wanted to stand on the grand stage of the finals with his friends, he quickly regained his composure after a brief moment of tension.

Besides, he still had to fight. Didn’t he see that brat Lin Congcong winking at him? He was clearly up to no good. He loved showing off the most, yet he hadn’t gone up to the arena yet. Bian Chunzhou figured he was probably waiting for him to go up so he could knock him down.

“Why is he like this… It’s not like I have a grudge against him, right?”

Wen Xu had fought five matches in a row, even winning against a higher-level opponent. After leaving the arena, he had taken a Blood Recovery Pill and a Qi Replenishing Pill. Right now, he was in no hurry to return to adjust his breathing or reflect on the matches. “He is narrow-minded. It’s not your fault.”

“Right? We clearly mind our own business.”

Chen Zui, however, said, “So what? He’s only at the ninth level of Qi Refining. Can’t you defeat him?”

He made it sound as easy as beating a first-level Qi Refining newbie. Did that even make sense? Although Lin Congcong was annoying, he was still a single-attribute earth spiritual root genius with incredibly high defense.

“You think I can beat him?”

“If you can’t even beat him, why bother trying to make the finals?” Chen Zui spoke bluntly, but his words made sense. Aside from Lin Congcong, Arena D also had five inner sect senior brothers: three at the peak of Qi Refining and two at the peak of the ninth level of Qi Refining. Although he wouldn’t necessarily face all of them, he had to consider the probability.

Speaking of which, the new disciples who had entered the inner sect this year were advancing faster than those of previous years. Bian Chunzhou had the lowest cultivation among the five new disciples, but he was already at the peak of the seventh level of Qi Refining.

“You’re right. Besides, I’m only at the peak of the seventh level of Qi Refining, so there’s no reason to get stage fright.” If he lost, it wouldn’t be unexpected; if he won, it would be a massive gain. Thinking this way, Bian Chunzhou became even more optimistic.

He thought to himself that since he had three chances anyway and had to go up sooner or later, could he really let himself be scared off the arena just because of Lin Congcong?

Bian Chunzhou immediately felt a wave of clarity. Besides, he had transmigrated to a cultivation world; was he really going to let the title of an inner sect disciple weigh him down? Impossible. Male college students^[1] had no shame anyway. It was just a Sect Tournament. Let’s go!

Furthermore, while his cultivation was indeed inferior to Lin Congcong’s, when it came to an actual fight, it was still anyone’s game.

Having completely thought it through, Bian Chunzhou decided to go up immediately. But before he could speak, the referee called out his name: “Bian Chunzhou of Ruoshui Peak, are you present?”

Bian Chunzhou: …Did it have to be this spot-on?! Even a death summons wouldn’t be this perfectly timed!

He turned his head and happened to meet Lin Congcong’s gloating eyes. Only then did Bian Chunzhou realize. Good grief, the senior brother currently on stage looked rather familiar. Wasn’t that Senior Brother Shi Yijian, the inner sect’s relentless overachiever whom he often ran into at Disciples’ Peak?

Speaking of which, when Senior Brother Shi first entered the inner sect, he had faced no less criticism than Bian Chunzhou had.

Bian Chunzhou was heavily discussed purely because of his conflicting spiritual roots, but Senior Brother Shi was criticized because of his mediocre talent. To call it mediocre wasn’t entirely accurate, either. Senior Brother Shi was a single-spiritual-root cultivator, so his talent should have been exceptional. However, due to certain past experiences, his spiritual root was damaged, making his cultivation speed even slower than that of an ordinary five-spiritual-root cultivator.

But Senior Brother Shi had joined the sect very early. With his current peak Qi Refining cultivation, beating Bian Chunzhou… was more than easy enough.

Bian Chunzhou couldn’t help but glance at Chen Zui. “I get the feeling you really want to go up and fight in my place.”

Chen Zui’s eyes lit up. “Is that allowed?”

“Nope. I’m off.”

Chen Zui: …What a pity.

Wen Xu reached out and patted his friend’s shoulder. “Believe in yourself.”

Bian Chunzhou: …I’m not actually that confident.

Shi Yijian had just defeated three opponents in a row. Unfortunately, those three had mediocre cultivation, so he hadn’t expended much of his strength. Seeing a familiar face now, he said, “Ah, Junior Brother Bian, I’ve seen you before.”

“…Senior Brother Shi, I borrowed some notes from you last time. I didn’t expect you to remember me.”

Shi Yijian was a permanent fixture at Liujiang Peak and Disciples’ Peak, wishing he could live and eat in the lecture halls. Not all inner sect disciples had masters, and Shi Yijian didn’t have one, but he was highly open-minded and never seemed to resent his fate.

Hearing this, he replied very frankly, “I don’t remember that, but I do remember you standing up for me.”

Ah… Oh, Bian Chunzhou remembered now. He just couldn’t stand listening to the gossip and had gone over to argue with them. It hadn’t really counted as standing up for him.

“But I won’t go easy on you.”

Bian Chunzhou cupped his hands. “Please guide me, Senior Brother.”

Then, Bian Chunzhou was gloriously knocked out in the very first round. It wasn’t that he didn’t try hard or fight desperately, but simply because Senior Brother Shi was also a water-spiritual-root cultivator. With a higher cultivation level, his Fire in Water couldn’t produce its proper effect at all, because he discovered that Senior Brother Shi could actually draw talismans with his bare hands! Heavens, was that even allowed?! How was he mediocre? He was clearly a total monster!

Bian Chunzhou stepped down from the arena. Just as he was about to seek some comfort from his friends, he saw the blazing fighting spirit burning in both of them, and the words immediately caught in his throat. Then, the referee called out another name.

“Is Lin Congcong of Xilu Peak present?”

Lin Congcong, who had just been gloating and was about to squeeze through the crowd to mock Bian Chunzhou, froze.

Seeing his face change instantly, the sting of Bian Chunzhou’s defeat vanished. “Look who’s laughing now!”

Lin Congcong harbored bitter resentment in his heart, but he had no choice but to go up to the stage to face his formidable opponent.

And then… well, there was no “and then.”

Lin Congcong’s exit from the stage was even faster than Bian Chunzhou’s.

“Inner sect disciple Shi Yijian wins five rounds!”

Having secured his spot in the finals, Shi Yijian stopped defending the arena. He looked incredibly relaxed, as if he had merely gone for a spring outing. Once his results were registered, he quickly left the competition peak.

Before leaving, he even gave a friendly nod to Bian Chunzhou. Of course, when Lin Congcong saw this, his face twisted with jealousy again. He didn’t understand how this guy surnamed Bian could be so lucky. By what right?! When it came to looks, talent, eloquence, and comprehension, where did he fall short compared to Bian Chunzhou?!

Why did everyone seem to want to be friends with him? He was consumed with jealousy. Lin Congcong secretly resolved that he would defeat Bian Chunzhou fair and square in the arena.

He refused to believe he would still be able to smile then!