Chapter 74: Seconded

“Be patient. Wen Xuxu has to beat Senior Sister Huo first before he can fight you.” So after fighting all this time, the winner didn’t even understand the rules of the finals. Unbelievable. That was just so Chen Zuizui.

Chen Zui gave a quiet “oh” and silently began to wipe his saber.

Seeing him fall silent, Bian Chunzhou couldn’t help but tease him. “But if he loses, you’ll be number one in the division below Foundation Establishment.”

Chen Zui’s expression was completely matter-of-fact. “He won’t lose.”

Although Bian Chunzhou felt the same way, how could this blockhead be so sure? Senior Sister Huo was incredibly formidable. If he were the one facing her, he would most likely lose.

“Are you wondering why I’m so sure?” Chen Zui actually looked a bit smug. “I already taught him how to break her zither notes. He couldn’t do it before, but now he can.”

All fancy tricks should be broken with sheer force. This was Chen Zui’s offensive philosophy. It seemed simple, but because of its absolute simplicity, it was actually the hardest to counter.

“You mean his sword?”

Chen Zui nodded honestly. “Of course. He should have started practicing the sword long ago.” That overlapping array was powerful, but it wasn’t nearly as satisfying as a real blade. He couldn’t wait to face Wen Xu in a duel.

Bian Chunzhou: …I don’t really understand you weapon maniacs, nor do I want to.

Because their spiritual energy had been depleted during the previous fights, and to ensure fairness, the match between Wen Xu and Huo Shengyin was scheduled for the afternoon. By then, Huo Shengyin had recovered to her peak condition. To her, tripping up against the same person once was enough. A second time… fuck, she tripped up again!

Multi-talented geniuses were seriously so annoying! During their last arena match, the Little Grand-Uncle Master’s swordplay could only be described as having just scratched the surface. Now… forget it, goodbye! Geniuses were just so incredibly annoying!

Fortunately, making the top ten was enough to advance to the inner sect. Huo Shengyin calmed her agitated heart. Fifty thousand Spirit Stones was fine; at least she wouldn’t have to worry about cultivation resources before reaching Foundation Establishment.

Still… losing twice in a row to disciples who had only entered the sect last year left Huo Shengyin feeling a bit dejected.

Ever since she embarked on the path of a zither cultivator, she had been surrounded by flowers and praise. Almost everyone in the outer sect believed she was guaranteed to enter the inner sect. Her talent in zither cultivation was unparalleled, with few able to match her. Hearing it so often, even though she was relatively level-headed, she couldn’t help but feel a bit proud, complacent, and even smug.

But now, she saw that in a great sect, geniuses were indeed… each one more monstrous than the last.

Huo Shengyin decided to adjust her mindset. She had originally wanted to push for Foundation Establishment, but thinking of that fierce senior brother surnamed Shi whose cultivation had jumped three levels in a row, she decided she should polish her state of mind first. Still, cursing those annoying geniuses in her head a couple of times wasn’t asking too much, right?

Cursing aside, she still had to watch the final match. She had heard that Junior Brother Chen and the Little Grand-Uncle Master were close friends. Seeing friends fight each other was quite entertaining. She loved to see it, and in a way, she had helped bring it about.

Huo Shengyin amused herself with these thoughts, while the other Qi Refining disciples nearby gossiped even more wildly.

“Are the disciples who only entered the sect last year really this strong?”

“Otherwise, how could he be our Little Grand-Uncle Master? Fighting his way into the finals at the ninth layer of Qi Refining is insane!”

“…Exactly. Others have only been on the path for a year and are already fighting in the finals of the Sect Tournament, while I…” The clown was me all along.

“If you put it that way, there’s no point in talking! How can we even compare?”

“Fortunately, I have a good attitude. It’s only natural for the Little Grand-Uncle Master to be this powerful. After all, he’s going to be the face of our Yonglu Mountain in the future!”

“It’s too early to say that. Besides, the Little Grand-Uncle Master seems rather cold and detached. On the other hand, Senior Brother Chen Zui is steady and solid. I’m rooting for Senior Brother Chen!”

“Cold and detached? Look no further than Senior Brother Bian over there. The Little Grand-Uncle Master even…”

“Even what?”

“Well, this isn’t verified, but when evil cultivators were discovered down the mountain last time, the Little Grand-Uncle Master used a protective talisman given by the Divine Venerable just to save his friend! That was a Body Integration Stage talisman… Just thinking about it makes my heart ache.” A Body Integration Stage protective talisman could be exchanged at an auction for enough resources to cultivate all the way to the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage.

“Really? He just used it like that?” Wouldn’t the Divine Venerable be angry?

“It’s about fifty percent likely to be true. The senior brothers from Kaiyuan Peak were talking about it, saying that some tower belonging to those evil cultivators was completely leveled.”

“…Who would have thought? The Little Grand-Uncle Master is so generous! I’ve changed my mind. Is it too late for me to go and cling to his thigh now?”

…Go back to sleep. You can have whatever you want in your dreams.

As they chatted excitedly, the final match of the Sect Tournament finally commenced. As a mutual friend of both competitors, Bian Chunzhou had naturally secured a spot in the front row early on.

Good grief, it certainly lived up to being the finals. The crowd was packed three layers deep, a solid wall of people. He had just spotted Senior Sister Huo across the way, squeezed into the second row. Fortunately, he had plenty of experience from school sports meets in his past life, so he wasn’t fazed at all.

However, standing too far forward had its downsides; it made it easy for people to recognize him.

“Senior Brother Bian, who do you think will win?”

Although you’re being very polite, your Senior Brother Bian really doesn’t want to answer your question. This was practically the equivalent of asking whether he would save his wife or his mother if they both fell into a river. Thus, Bian Chunzhou pretended he hadn’t heard clearly. “What did you say?”

…Senior Brother Bian, you look so pathetic playing dumb. How could a cultivator possibly not hear clearly!

Bian Chunzhou simply ignored the disciples around him. In any case… who was he, the master of neutrality, to be afraid of anyone? Whether Chen Zuizui won or Wen Xuxu won, he would be happy for his friend.

Of course, after the match, he might have to… maybe he should prepare his congratulatory lines in advance?

As Bian Chunzhou’s thoughts drifted, he heard a junior brother beside him cry out in surprise, “Wow, a duel between saber and sword, how exciting! Look over there, aren’t those the elders of Sword Peak? And Saber Peak’s too! Even the Little Martial Uncle of Lianqi Peak is here! There are so many people!”

Chen Zui’s saber was undoubtedly fierce and powerful. People often had a long-standing misunderstanding of the saber, believing that because it was a single-edged weapon with its tip always pointing forward, it was the most loyal companion in its master’s hand, one that would never betray them.

But in reality, though the saber seemed to have a low barrier to entry, mastering it was as difficult as ascending to the heavens.

Because it was single-edged, most of its moves revolved around chopping. Thus, the saber was actually a weapon that required great precision. If a bladesman did not even know how to calculate the angle of entry, he certainly had little talent.

Chen Zui, of course, did not use his brain to think about how to swing or angle his blade. That was far too complex for him. In a sense, the path of the saber that suited the vast majority of people was actually the least suited for him.

The path he walked was the path of instinct.

Heaven was fair. Smart people had paths they could walk, and what about the not-so-smart? Naturally, they had their own methods. As the saying goes, diligence makes up for a lack of talent, and the clumsy bird flies first. But Chen Zui was not a clumsy bird; he was a bladesman born to wield the saber.

The saber was like his brain, his third hand, his shadow. Cultivators who had fought Chen Zui all shared a common realization: Senior Brother or Junior Brother Chen’s saber seemed simple and unadorned, yet it was exceptionally oppressive.

The simple and unadorned one was Chen Zui himself, while the oppressive one was the saber in his hand.

As Chen Zui’s close friend, Wen Xu had naturally served as his training dummy, just as Chen Zui and Chunzhou had served as test subjects for his array stacking. He knew Chen Zui’s strength and talent very well. In fact, the quality of Chen Zui’s spiritual roots had very little effect on him; at least, Wen Xu had never seen him incorporate earth or metal spells into his saber strikes.

Therefore, Chen Zui was a pure bladesman. He disdained using spells to embellish his path of the saber, nor did he rely on sudden epiphanies or insights. His progress was built entirely on his own swings.

An overnight genius was terrifying, but a blade guided entirely by instinct was even more fearsome.

Moreover, Chen Zui’s cultivation was a whole minor realm higher than his. Wen Xu tightened his grip on Zhe Feng, then emptied his mind completely. Against such an opponent, thinking too much would only hold him back.

He might as well fight with abandon. His heart was not so fragile that it could not handle a single defeat.

Once he stopped overthinking, Wen Xu’s sword grew even faster. The sword was like the wind, and the wind followed like a shadow. Sword shadows flickered around him, making it almost impossible to tell which flash of light was the actual spiritual sword, Zhe Feng.

If he were facing a clever opponent, they might have already started to worry. But Chen Zui would not. He had an extremely simple, single-celled mind; all his combat relied on absolute physical instinct and intuition. He could even intercept the sword strikes with ease.

In a way, he was a terrifying opponent.

And indeed, he was.

But Wen Xu’s resolve did not waver because of this. If he himself believed his opponent was invincible, then why even step onto the stage? One could not be completely bound by cultivation realms. What he was looking for was that single sliver of opportunity.

On the stage, the light of sabers and swords flashed fiercely. Yet, in truth… it was rather simple. Since the fight began, neither Chen Zui nor Wen Xu had used a single spell. The two of them were purely clashing with the strength of their weapons.

“Isn’t Little Grand-Uncle Master an array cultivator? When did he secretly learn the sword?”

“…You’re asking me? How should I know? Maybe his cultivation day has a hundred and twenty shichen [two-hour periods].”

“Seconded.”

“Seconded +1.”

Bian Chunzhou silently shouted in his heart: Seconded +10086^[1]!

Although he knew as a friend that Wen Xuxu had been practicing his swordplay diligently, this progress was a bit too rapid. Moreover, he was clearly fighting better now than when he first stepped onto the stage! This wasn’t just his imagination, right?

This was certainly not Bian Chunzhou’s imagination. As Wen Xu’s opponent, Chen Zui felt it most directly.

“You’ve improved again! Are you using the wind to catch the trajectory of your sword? No, wait, it’s the other way around. You’re using your sword to catch the movement of the wind…”

Chen Zui’s brain had rarely been so active, but in the next moment, he found himself entangled by the wind. It wrapped around him like a fine, dense fishing net, binding everything except his saber.

Chen Zui: …I hate fighting smart people like you the most. You always target my weaknesses. Annoying, so annoying, hehe.