Chapter 73: The Top Three

Admittedly, during the Sect Tournament, many disciples in the sect would make breakthroughs right on the battlefield. Without looking too far, Bian Chunzhou and Wen Xu had both advanced by a minor realm. As for breaking through to a major realm, it was not unheard of either; a senior sister from the inner sect at the peak of Qi Refining had advanced to Foundation Establishment during the arena matches.

There were even cases of those at the peak of Foundation Establishment advancing to Golden Core.

The reason everyone was so astonished was that the person who had advanced was Shi Yijian. One had to know that before today, Shi Yijian was the poster child for damaged spiritual roots. If his spiritual roots had not been damaged, he would have advanced to Foundation Establishment long ago.

Although everyone gossiped endlessly, they all understood very well that in a few decades, whether it was Bian Chunzhou with his dual spiritual roots or Lin Congcong with his single spiritual root, they would both leave Shi Yijian far behind.

Yet, just when this perception was about to become deeply ingrained, the inner sect’s Qi Refining holdout, Shi Yijian, advanced.

And it was a triple jump, taking him straight to the late Foundation Establishment Stage. This was really just too exaggerated.

So it turned out this guy had been suppressing his cultivation all along? What, did he dislike the Foundation Establishment Stage and plan to leap straight to the Golden Core Stage in one go?! But why couldn’t he hold back anymore? Could it really be related to those ridiculous rumors?

After all, how did the saying go? The more ridiculous it sounded, the more likely it was to be true.

“Are any of you close with Senior Brother Shi? I really want to know the truth! I’m dying of curiosity here!”

“Sigh, who isn’t? But… no one is. The senior brothers in the inner sect are also anxious to know. After looking around, everyone thinks the person who has been closest to Senior Brother Shi lately is…”

“That Junior Brother Bian?”

“Yes! And some senior brothers said that on the day of the match between Little Grand-Uncle Master and Senior Brother Han Yu, Junior Brother Bian even chatted with Senior Brother Shi by the arena. However, no one knows what they actually talked about.”

“…So, are Senior Brother Shi’s spiritual roots actually damaged or not?”

“Probably not. Otherwise, how could his cultivation make a triple jump? I want that kind of damage too!”

“Keep dreaming. You can have whatever you want in your dreams.”

“…Bah.”

While the disciples of the sect gossiped endlessly, Bian Chunzhou, the “publicly acknowledged” closest person to Shi Yijian, fled straight back to Ruoshui Peak. He couldn’t take it; he really couldn’t take it at all. How was he supposed to know if Senior Brother Shi’s spiritual roots were damaged? It wasn’t like he had crawled under Senior Brother Shi’s bed to spy on him cultivating.

Besides, damaged spiritual roots weren’t impossible to repair. Senior Sister Mingjing’s spiritual roots had also been damaged before, and she eventually repaired them. Who was to say others couldn’t have their own lucky encounters? Furthermore, the fact that he could continue cultivating meant the damage to his spiritual roots probably hadn’t been that severe in the first place, right?

“Even you came to ask me?”

Wen Xu rubbed his nose. “Everyone has a bit of curiosity.”

“Fair enough, but I really don’t know anything.” Bian Chunzhou sighed, hands on his hips. “Didn’t I say last time that Senior Brother Shi looked like a hidden powerhouse? It seems my intuition is pretty accurate after all.”

It was just that it was never accurate when it needed to be, but incredibly accurate when he was just talking nonsense.

“Do you know what the latest rumor in the sect is?”

Bian Chunzhou let out an “Ah?” in surprise. “Since when do you keep up with trends? Wait, who would dare spread nonsense to you?” Did they have a death wish? Did they want to go to Lingyao Peak to dig dirt for free?

Wen Xu smiled and shook his head. “It’s not nonsense.”

“…If it’s not nonsense, then what is it?” Bian Chunzhou looked completely skeptical.

“They say that although you lost your arena match, you successfully prevented your opponent from participating in the rest of the Sect Tournament.”

Bian Chunzhou choked on his breath…

“How is that not nonsense?! Was that because of me?! He clearly ate some kind of super spinach!” Bian Chunzhou was so angry he began to babble incoherently. “So, Senior Brother Shi isn’t participating in the rest of the Sect Tournament?”

“Yes. On one hand, his cultivation exceeds the tournament rules. On the other hand, after advancing to Foundation Establishment, he needs to enter closed-door cultivation to stabilize his realm.” It was also the first time Wen Xu had heard of someone jumping directly from the peak of Qi Refining to late Foundation Establishment. If he could do the same, it would practically mean he was only a step away from returning to the Mortal Realm for his revenge.

“Oh, that makes sense. But in that case, wouldn’t the top ten to top five turn into top ten to top three?” Bian Chunzhou stamped his foot in excitement. “Doesn’t that mean you and Chen Zuizui have locked in the top three in advance? Don’t the top three all get prizes?”

Wen Xu had already received the notice in advance, which was why he had come down from Guochun Peak. “Yes, I was just over at Kaiyuan Peak and ran into Chen Zui.”

Bian Chunzhou looked down the mountain. The vast mist surged, but not a single figure could be seen. “Then where is he?”

“He went back to his peak to practice his saber. He’s facing Huo Shengyin in the next round.”

“Whoa. What about you?”

“I got a bye.”

“And then?”

“Then I’ll fight whoever loses. If I lose, I’ll take third place. If I win, I’ll continue fighting the winner.”

Bian Chunzhou understood. “What about the prizes? Have they been revealed?”

“There are three extra rewards in total: a third-grade spiritual tool, a slot to enter the secret realm in the back mountain, and fifty thousand low-grade Spirit Stones.” According to Kaiyuan Peak, these three would be chosen in order of ranking. “The spiritual tool is provided by the Refining Peak, so it can be custom-made according to the winner’s needs. The secret realm in the back mountain normally requires sect contribution points to enter, and the rules state that only those at the Foundation Establishment Stage or above can enter. However, this slot is an exception to the rule. The winner can enter the secret realm to train even during the Qi Refining Stage, and the elder guarding the realm will provide appropriate assistance.”

“Wow, what a sneaky set of rewards!”

Bian Chunzhou understood immediately. One was a custom-made spiritual tool, and the other was an opportunity to train early. Compared to those two, fifty thousand low-grade Spirit Stones was simply… pure perfunctoriness.

And when he thought about who the top three were, Kaiyuan Peak’s intentions were truly insidious!

“Who decided on these rewards? No wonder they didn’t announce them at the beginning. Turns out they were… pulling this trick.” Bian Chunzhou couldn’t help but lean in closer. “Knowing Chen Zuizui, he will definitely choose the secret realm slot.”

“I’ve fought Huo Shengyin once. Her zither isn’t a perfect fit for her, so she will most likely choose the spiritual tool, though she might also choose the secret realm slot,” Wen Xu analyzed calmly. “As for me, since I have the Wind-Folding Fan, my first choice is also the secret realm slot.”

Bian Chunzhou: …How intense.

Guys, my two best friends are about to tear each other apart for a single slot! When I’m standing below the stage, who on earth should I support?! Help, they’re totally putting me in an impossible spot!

“Are fifty thousand spirit stones really that undesirable?” If it were him, he would choose… well, he would also choose the secret realm slot.

Wen Xu smiled, his aura sharpening. “It’s not that they’re undesirable. It’s just that they don’t have… as you would put it, they aren’t cost-effective.”

A slot in the secret realm was unique, whereas fifty thousand spirit stones were already in his pocket.

“Whoa, this is getting intense,” Bian Chunzhou said, rubbing his hands together. “So, who do you think has a better chance of winning, Chen Zuizui or Senior Sister Huo?”

To be fair, Bian Chunzhou naturally hoped Chen Zuizui would win, but Senior Sister Huo had recently made a breakthrough, and her reputation was soaring. For her to make it into the top three, her abilities were certainly not to be underestimated.

Yet Wen Xu was unexpectedly direct. “Chen Zui.”

“No personal bias?”

“If I were biased, I would probably want Chen Zui to lose.”

Bian Chunzhou: …It seemed their biases were not the same.

But whatever, both were dear to him. Bian Chunzhou stood up and patted his friend’s shoulder. “Good luck. I hope you get what you want!”

Speaking of which, the last time he had heard the phrase “get what you want” was from Senior Brother Shi Yijian. Could it be that because of his wild boasting that day, the man had gone back and figured things out? Surely not. Although he was somewhat narcissistic, he wasn’t that delusional.

Wen Xu gave a soft “Oh?” and asked, “What about Chen Zui?”

“I wish him the same! Hehe, I am Yonglu Mountain’s famous master of balancing the scales.” He stood with his hands on his hips, laughing. “Hahaha!”

Wen Xu: …He was saying weird things again.

The day of the finals arrived quickly. The match for those below the Foundation Establishment Stage started first, which was Chen Zui versus Huo Shengyin.

Chen Zui was a pure close-combat cultivator. His attacks could be described as simple and direct, yet they carried an intensely pressing danger. Once he closed the distance, even those at the Foundation Establishment Stage would have to carefully gauge their own spiritual energy before daring to clash with him face-to-face.

As for Huo Shengyin, she cultivated the Dao of the Zither. Music cultivators were naturally long-range control types, not close-combatants. During her last fight with Wen Xu, the two of them had traded blows back and forth because both favored long-range spellcasting.

But Chen Zui was different. He launched a fierce attack right from the start, completely devoid of any notion of showing mercy to the fairer sex. In his eyes, men, women, young, and old were all the same.

However, this was not Huo Shengyin’s first time facing a cultivator who specialized in weapons. In fact, in the last match she won, Li Anqu had been a sword cultivator through and through.

Huo Shengyin remained calm and unhurried. Throughout the tournament so far, she had only stumbled in her match against the Little Grand-Uncle Master. But that wasn’t entirely her fault. She hadn’t been cultivating the zither for long, so she naturally couldn’t achieve perfect mastery over her music. The Little Grand-Uncle Master’s victory over her was purely because he was far too versatile.

But Chen Zui, as she had gathered from her inquiries, was a complete blockhead who couldn’t understand zither music at all.

And blockheads had their own way of being dealt with.

For the first time, Chen Zui felt his blade sink into a thick, sticky paste. This paste slowed his blade, threw off his accuracy, and even directed his sharp edge toward places it shouldn’t go.

An invisible force bound his blade, making it feel as though it was no longer his own.

Chen Zui was simple-minded, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew immediately that the opponent’s zither music was interfering with his blade.

So this is what zither interference feels like. How does she do it?

Chen Zui swung his blade entirely on instinct. Just as Wen Xu had said, he was not a highly clever person. Rather than relying on his brain to break a deadlock mid-battle, it was better to hone his physical reflexes to the absolute limit, letting his body figure out how to evade danger and strike straight at the heart of the enemy.

He didn’t understand zither music, nor did he understand the mechanics behind it. But that didn’t matter. He had never relied on his brain anyway.

Whether he could win would only be known after the fight! His body would remember the opponent’s strength.

On the stage, the edge of his blade suddenly traced a fluid, eerie arc of light. Like a meteor, it was brilliant and eye-catching, momentarily slicing through the sound in the air, until the next second…

The zither music did not sound again in the next second.

Chen Zui had won. The zither music was excellent, but Chen Zui had been practicing with his blade since he was old enough to stand. His blade and his body had long since merged into one. The music could hinder the weapon in his hand, but it could not obstruct the blade that was part of his very being.

The secret realm slot was bound to be his.

In the next match, he would definitely… Huh? Why wasn’t he fighting Wen Xu in the next match?! He was going to throw a fit.