Chapter 53: So Strong

Wen Xu had not expected to be this lucky.

Feeling gazes converge on him from every direction, Wen Xu slowly raised his hand. “Wen Xu of Spring-Crossing Peak. Present.”

Since he was present, he naturally had to take the stage. Of course, given the current situation, everyone believed the judges had practically handed this Junior Granduncle-Master a free victory. No matter how they looked at it, Junior Sister Jiang Ying’s chances of winning had already dwindled to almost nothing.

Come to think of it, this was Wen Xu’s first public appearance.

As the only disciple with a mutated single spiritual root to join Yonglu Mountain in recent years, he had always been a topic of conversation within the sect, no matter how low-key he kept himself.

The moment he stepped onto the platform, another ring of cultivators gathered around Arena B.

Bian Chunzhou and Chen Zui stood at the very front. They did not even need to strain their ears to hear what their fellow disciples behind them were discussing. Geniuses would always be the center of attention in a crowd.

“Can you believe it? I was standing right behind him just now! Heavens, I didn’t even notice!”

“…Yeah. He should be really easy to recognize. You must’ve been too focused on the match.”

“Probably. But that’s the legendary Junior Granduncle-Master? That seniority is seriously terrifying. Can you tell what his cultivation is…?”

“I can’t. Geniuses really are frightening. It hasn’t even been that long. I’m already at the peak of the seventh level of Qi Refining, but I can’t see through him at all. And he’s different from Senior Brother Chen. This one genuinely began cultivating from nothing!”

Talent truly was the most unreasonable thing in the world.

Some people needed years, decades, or even longer to reach a realm that others could touch simply by rising onto their toes. It was best not to dwell on such disparities in cultivation. Think about them too much, and even one’s Dao heart might begin to tilt.

Everyone knew that Yonglu Mountain’s newly minted Junior Granduncle-Master came from the Mortal Realm. Although no one knew how he had stepped onto the path of cultivation, they were eager to see exactly how formidable a mutated wind spiritual root could be in battle.

“His cultivation is higher than yours. Naturally, you can’t see through him.”

Why did everyone have to take a jab at him?

The disciple spun around angrily, then changed his expression at lightning speed. “Senior… Senior Sister Huo. It’s you.”

Huo Shengyin possessed three spiritual roots and had reached the peak of Qi Refining. Although she was an outer disciple, she was considered the person most likely to enter the inner sect through this sect tournament.

When she first underwent the mountain examination, she had yet to embark on the path of a zither cultivator, so she had been assigned to the outer sect.

Later, she happened to enter the Dao of the zither, and from then on, there was no stopping her.

Of her three spiritual roots, her metal root was the thickest, while her water and wood roots were both very thin. Cultivating through zither music suited her perfectly. Rumor had it that, if not for the inner sect’s rules regarding disciple recruitment, Huo Shengyin would have been promoted to an inner disciple long ago.

Strictly speaking, Huo Shengyin had only joined the sect seven years ago. She was twenty-seven this year and merely one step away from the Foundation Establishment Realm.

She had also drawn Arena B in this sect tournament. She had not expected to compete on the same platform so soon as the genius who had joined only last year.

Huo Shengyin was exceptionally beautiful. Cultivators were rarely unattractive, yet even among them, she stood out vividly.

Because of this, she seldom smiled. And because she never showed mercy when she attacked, many outer disciples were afraid of her.

After all, Senior Sister Huo’s zither music really could kill someone sometimes.

That was no joke.

“Watch the match. Unless I’m mistaken, he should be at the peak of the eighth level of Qi Refining, exactly one minor realm above you.”

…Thank you for the information, but that last part was wholly unnecessary. He could manage such simple arithmetic himself.

Still, the peak of the eighth level of Qi Refining?!

Was that for real?!

The disciple immediately locked his gaze onto the arena.

By now, Junior Sister Jiang Ying had recovered slightly and had taken both a Qi-Replenishing Pill and a Blood-Replenishing Pill. Even so, nearly everyone believed it was impossible for her to win this match.

Jiang Ying’s usual weapon was a grade-two, attribute-less spirit sword.

Attribute-less artifacts were highly suitable for cultivators with five spiritual roots. Because they possessed no inherent attribute, their wielders could adapt as they pleased, using whichever spiritual-root art offered the greatest advantage against a particular opponent.

However, achieving this required a cultivator to be highly proficient in all five elemental arts.

Although the five elements countered one another and could grant an advantage, how could someone with only a shallow understanding defeat an opponent who had devoted themselves to studying their own path?

In theory, five spiritual roots formed the strongest offensive spiritual-root configuration.

It could attack and defend, fight at range or in close quarters, and possessed almost no weaknesses.

However, its demands on a cultivator’s comprehension and insight were simply too severe.

With all five cycles of elemental generation and suppression gathered within one person, the cultivator needed to thoroughly master every art and combination belonging to all five spiritual roots. Merely imagining the workload was daunting.

When someone wanted everything, the final result was often that they excelled at nothing.

Therefore, while ensuring that their cultivation continued to advance, most cultivators with five spiritual roots focused on only one or two methods of attack.

Even cultivators with five spiritual roots did not possess five roots of equal thickness. Most commonly, two would be thick and three thin, or three thick and two thin.

The thicker the spiritual root, the more abundant the spiritual power it could accumulate.

That was also why cultivators with single spiritual roots were held in such high esteem.

Wen Xu had heard the outer disciples mention that Junior Sister Jiang’s five-element arts were extremely powerful.

His heart tightened. A spirit sword appeared from thin air in his right hand.

The two spirit swords repelled one another, producing a clear, ringing note that was faintly grating to the ears.

Wen Xu tilted his head slightly, yet he felt no attack from any five-element art.

Did she believe he was not yet worthy of her hidden trump card?

Or was Junior Sister Jiang too exhausted to use it?

“Huh? Wen Xuxu isn’t using the Folding Wind Fan. I wanted to see what it looked like after being repaired.”

Chen Zui’s attention had gone elsewhere instead. “You know Wen Xu’s opponent? Something is wrong with her.”

“What’s wrong?”

Chen Zui was stubbornly literal-minded, but such people sometimes saw things more clearly than anyone else.

Moreover, he was one of only a few people present who had reached the peak of Qi Refining. It was not strange that he noticed first.

“She seems… about to break through.”

Bian Chunzhou’s expression changed instantly. “What? Break through?”

Chen Zui nodded and pointed toward the platform. “Look. Wen Xu noticed too. That’s why he didn’t use a ruthless move the moment the match began.”

Taking advantage of a fellow disciple’s vulnerability during a sparring match would have been thoroughly pointless.

Fortunately, his friend was not that sort of person.

What was this called?

A sudden turn of fortune?

Although cultivators breaking through in the middle of battle was common enough, was this not a little too coincidental?

“Junior Sister Jiang is about to break through on the spot!”

“Amazing! Junior Granduncle-Master actually stopped. Is he waiting for Junior Sister Jiang to finish breaking through before they continue? That’s so gracious!”

“I remember Junior Sister Jiang was at the sixth level of Qi Refining, right? Even if she breaks through, she’ll only reach the seventh level. Didn’t Senior Sister Huo just say Junior Granduncle-Master is at the peak of the eighth—”

“Aaaaaah! Look! Junior Sister Jiang rose by two minor realms in a row! Has she gone mad? How did she dare do that?”

As discussions rose and fell around them, more and more cultivators gathered near Arena B.

Even the cultivators waiting for their opponents on the neighboring platform could not help secretly pricking up their ears.

Was it really going to be this exciting?

It was only the first day!

Junior Sister Jiang truly deserved to be the model of their outer sect. If she won this, then wouldn’t that—

Everyone’s gazes involuntarily fell upon the handsome, blindfolded man holding a sword on the opposite side of the arena.

Junior Granduncle-Master did not seem shaken at all.

Could it be that… he still had a hidden trump card he had yet to reveal?

How exciting!

Hurry up! They loved watching this!

Compared to the spectators’ excitement below the stage, Wen Xu was remarkably calm.

After all, he had already fought someone at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm. Even if his opponent successfully entered the Foundation Establishment Realm right there on the platform, he would not panic.

He could not control how strong or weak his enemy was.

All he could do was make himself stronger.

Jiang Ying had a lovely face, but her personality was exceedingly tenacious.

Any outer disciple who had heard her name knew that she was a woman who cultivated as though her life depended on it.

When others cultivated, she cultivated. When others rested, she cultivated even harder.

Few cultivators were lazy, but even among them, someone able to push herself to Jiang Ying’s degree was genuinely rare.

At that very moment, she was breaking through on the platform, and many of her fellow disciples below were worrying on her behalf.

Fortunately, breaking through a minor realm did not take long.

Before long, Jiang Ying, standing there with her sword, opened her eyes. A sharp gleam flashed through them.

She had clearly succeeded.

“Junior Sister Jiang, congratulations.”

Jiang Ying looked at her opponent’s unchanged expression and felt something catch in her chest. Even so, she answered with proper composure.

“Thank you, Senior Brother. Shall we continue?”

Wen Xu nodded. The spirit sword in his hand flashed with the light of an array.

“All right.”

The interrupted match resumed in an instant.

This time, Jiang Ying attacked at full strength.

Her attacks primarily employed metal and fire arts, though that was hardly surprising. Metal and fire were the two spiritual roots with the greatest offensive power, and they also possessed the largest number of offensive arts.

But Wen Xu had nothing to fear from ordinary metal and fire arts.

After all, his sword-training partners were Chen Zui and Bian Chunzhou.

The former excelled at broad, forceful saber techniques. Even without layering additional arts onto them, Chen Zui’s saber techniques were destructive enough on their own.

The latter possessed water and fire spiritual roots. When it came to dealing with fire attacks, Wen Xu had accumulated a fair amount of experience.

“Why does it look like… they’re evenly matched?”

“They aren’t,” Huo Shengyin said, shaking her head. “Junior Sister Jiang is laying an array.”

An array?

Bian Chunzhou thought that this could not have been more coincidental.

Swordsmanship was hardly what Wen Xuxu excelled at most. What he enjoyed most was secretly stacking arrays. Anywhere an array could be layered, he would layer one—

“Ah, look! Junior Sister Jiang’s Blazing Fire Incineration Array is complete! Junior Granduncle-Master is probably—”

On the platform, scorching flames suddenly erupted with Wen Xu’s position at their center.

The fire spread with astonishing ferocity. In the blink of an eye, it surged toward the sky and completely engulfed him.

It even showed signs of tightening inward.

Scalding waves of heat pressed closer and closer, but Wen Xu—

He smiled faintly, as though he had been waiting all along for the flames to appear.

Beneath the fire filling the sky, he turned the spirit sword in his hand. In an instant, it transformed into a dark, elegant folding fan.

Points of starlight glimmered across its surface.

Upon closer inspection, they formed a spiraling Gale Array.

Then, without the slightest hesitation, he flung the folding fan from his hand.

The Gale Array upon it seemed to come alive. Like an invisible iron palm, it lunged straight at the roaring flames and seized them.

Unable to resist, the fire immediately bent backward and collapsed.

On the arena, the flames surrounding Wen Xu scattered outward in an instant.

One moment, Jiang Ying had been pleased with her handiwork. The next, blistering heat came rushing directly toward her.

She had no time to defend herself.

By the time she reacted, her own array had already forced her off the platform.

“Clang, clang, clang—”

“Wen Xu of Spring-Crossing Peak wins one match.”

At the same time, the flames upon the platform vanished without a trace.

The blindfolded young master stood there holding his fan, not even the corner of his robes damaged.

So strong.

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