Chapter 54: Twice

Sometimes, I really want to fight all you geniuses to the death!

Objectively speaking, Junior Sister Jiang’s leap from the sixth level of Qi Refining to the eighth was an enormous breakthrough. Everyone also wanted to see the underdog persevere and pull off a stunning reversal, but... her opponent was simply too strong.

For a Qi Refining cultivator, an array that unleashed such a fierce inferno was practically certain doom. Yet Junior Granduncle-Master had countered and defeated her as though it were nothing—and he had done it so beautifully, so cleanly and decisively, that the duel was already over before they had even blinked.

Perhaps Junior Sister Jiang herself felt that her defeat was unreal. One moment, victory had been firmly in her grasp; the next, she had lost outright. So all that back-and-forth just now... had only been an illusion?

Why did this Junior Granduncle-Master seem a little devious?

That did not stop everyone from admiring the strong, however. In fact, with advantages like being Divine Venerable Chengwei’s disciple and possessing a mutated spiritual root stacked together, Wen Xu would have been mocked instead if he had not performed with enough dominance and strength.

For a genius, his performance was perfectly normal. After everyone finished marveling, they calmly accepted it.

Junior Sister Jiang Ying, on the other hand, had faced four opponents without losing and had even broken through in the middle of battle. Although she had lost to Wen Xu, there was no shame in losing to a genius. Besides, with Junior Sister Jiang’s—no, Senior Sister Jiang’s—current cultivation, passing the preliminary round would not be a problem.

Jiang Ying was a lone wolf. She devoted all her time to cultivation, so she had no particularly close friends among the inner disciples. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, she bowed slightly and left the arena grounds.

“Why do I feel like Senior Sister Jiang has changed a little?”

“...She has, but I can’t put my finger on how. Maybe she’s just taking things more seriously because of the sect tournament.”

“That makes sense. Look at the arena! Senior Sister Huo has gone up!”

Senior Sister Huo? Senior Sister Huo Shengyin?

What was going on with Arena B today? Was this some kind of ultimate battlefield? One was a newly risen genius among the inner disciples, while the other was universally acknowledged as the strongest outer disciple. What, were they staging the finals today?

Everyone looked toward the calm-faced Junior Granduncle-Master standing in the arena and thought... being a genius was not easy either.

“Outer disciple Huo Shengyin requests instruction from Junior Granduncle-Master.”

Huo Shengyin stood nearly as tall as a man. A guqin as long as she was tall rested across her back. She removed it with one hand and placed it before her, plainly eager to begin.

It was worth noting that a Mountain Ghost coin earring hung from her left ear. She touched it now, as though performing a ritual for good luck before the match.

Wen Xu was “blind,” of course, so he could not notice such a detail. Thanks to having a know-it-all for a friend, however, he had heard the name Huo Shengyin before. From the moment she stepped into the arena, he knew that this opponent was in an entirely different weight class from the last one.

Jiang Ying had possessed five-element spiritual roots and had known nothing about his methods of attack, which was why he had been able to defeat her in a single strike.

But a guqin cultivator?

Wen Xu had never fought one before.

When the duel began, both sides were cautious. Huo Shengyin naturally knew that her cultivation was higher than his, but she had never underestimated any opponent—especially not a genius who could not be judged by common sense.

Unexpectedly, Huo Shengyin’s music was not fierce. It could not even be called aggressive.

Yet although it seemed gentle, it tyrannically filled the entire arena with notes. Every movement gave Wen Xu the sensation that he had stepped into enemy territory. Even someone like him, who loved layering arrays, could not break free for the moment.

“It’s here! Senior Sister Huo’s Three Absolutes Guqin Melody!”

“The Absolute Gentle, the Absolute Lingering, and the Absolute Soft! When her melody reaches full bloom, Senior Sister Huo reaps her victory!”

“It’s over, it’s over. This time, Junior Granduncle-Master—huh? Did he break free for a moment? I didn’t imagine that, did I?”

“...I saw it too!”

Wen Xu had indeed broken free for an instant.

Thanks to pretending to be blind, his hearing and sense of smell now far surpassed those of cultivators at the same level. In other words, Huo Shengyin’s music inflicted one hundred and twenty percent of its normal force upon him.

But precisely because of that, the lingering melody could not cause him to sink into it too quickly.

This style of music was more like slowly boiling a frog in warm water. To Wen Xu, however, the water was already a little too hot, allowing him to wrench himself free for an instant.

Wen Xu also knew how to play the guqin. But as one of the Six Arts of the Gentleman, his playing was only good enough to fool outsiders. To a true expert, a highly skilled musician who invested no emotion into the music could only be called someone who manipulated an instrument.

Huo Shengyin, by contrast—

She was the exact opposite.

That was right. Wen Xu had secretly opened his eyes, though only for an instant—the same instant in which he had broken free of the melody.

One instant had been enough.

He had seen everything clearly.

“Ah—what is he doing? Why do I feel like he—”

Even Bian Chunzhou could not help breaking into a cold sweat. “Chen Zui, unless I saw wrong, did Wen Xuxu just seal off his own hearing?”

“You did not see wrong.” Chen Zui was never stingy with explanations when it came to combat. “It is a good way to counter a music cultivator’s attacks, provided you can do what he does and predict your opponent’s attacks through the wind over the arena.”

Bian Chunzhou: ...Thanks, but I don’t have that ability.

In fact, there was only one cultivator with a mutated wind spiritual root on all of Yonglu Mountain. This ability was uniquely Wen Xu’s, and Senior Sister Huo probably had not expected her music to—

Wait, that was not right.

Music penetrated every opening. Although Junior Granduncle-Master appeared unaffected now, only his mind was free of its influence. His body remained inside the music.

Could it be that he had already found a way to break through the successive barriers formed by Senior Sister Huo’s melodies?

That could not be possible, could it?

Even geniuses had to obey at least a few basic laws!

How long had they even been fighting? Besides, Senior Sister Huo was at the peak of the Qi Refining Realm. Could he not at least show some sign that he was fighting above his level—

“Ah—Senior Sister Huo, watch out!”

During Wen Xu’s match against Jiang Ying, cultivators near the front had noticed that he had not exchanged his spirit sword for a ritual fan. Instead, the spirit sword had transformed into a ritual fan in a single thought.

Now, at this very moment, the fan instantly turned back into a spirit sword.

Everyone held their breath as they watched him pivot again and again, executing sword forms without pause.

Someone knowledgeable immediately recognized the technique.

“It’s the Nine Revolutions Sword Art! But it seems different somehow! Everyone, look at the wind over the arena—”

What was wrong with the wind?

The spectators carefully extended their senses. Then they realized—

The guqin’s music penetrated every opening, yet it had neither shape nor form.

The wind was also shapeless and formless. But whenever it encountered anything else, whether tangible or intangible, their collision produced force.

Wind itself could take any shape.

When it became powerful enough, it could also alter the shape of anything.

That naturally included Huo Shengyin’s music.

As the sword forms unfolded, the wind instantly threw the melody into chaos.

Huo Shengyin’s reaction could not be called slow, but the notes she had already released could not change at once according to her will. Although she altered her guiding technique as quickly as possible—

The situation that had favored her was shattered in an instant.

Geniuses really were the most irritating people in the world.

But if he thought this alone would be enough to defeat her, he was wrong.

Zheng—

The music turned shrill and cutting in an instant, bitterly cold like the harshest blizzard beneath the heavens. One moment it was soft, the next unyielding, making it impossible to determine where the next attack would come from or how it would begin.

“...My god, Senior Sister Huo has gotten even stronger!”

“Tell me about it! Even the weather in June would have to fall to its knees and call her Father!”

Did her music really have to change this much?

Combined with the difference in their cultivation, Junior Granduncle-Master appeared to have very little chance of winning this match, although... he was undeniably formidable too.

But as unpredictable as the music was, Wen Xu’s wind was no less so!

When it came to bitter cold, nothing surpassed the wind on Spring-Crossing Peak.

At that moment, Wen Xu abruptly gained an insight.

Having broad experience truly was wonderful.

Had he never fought someone at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm, he would never have studied how to push his spiritual power to its absolute limit.

Had he not received instruction from a master in the Body Integration Realm, he would never have learned so many forward-looking principles of combat.

And lastly, had he not worked so hard at his studies in the past, he would never have known—

Senior Sister Huo’s music still contained a flaw.

In a duel between cultivators, nothing was more dangerous than allowing one’s opponent to see through a weakness.

Wen Xu guessed that Senior Sister Huo had not been studying the guqin for very long—certainly no more than ten years.

He had encountered extraordinarily gifted musical talents before. Most possessed exceptional music, but technique... required time to accumulate.

Senior Sister Huo’s musical attacks were indeed tremendously powerful, but they were ultimately controlled by a person. The art of manipulating a guqin was exceptionally complex.

The moment her control slipped, his opportunity would come!

Wind and music intertwined over the arena.

Those who did not stand within could not understand the dangers lurking on every side, but—

Their hearts were clenched just the same!

After a long time, the battle finally came to a stop.

Both contestants had ceased attacking, but—

“Who won?”

“Referee, say something already!”

“You can’t leave us like this—”

Just as the crowd was preparing to turn their fury on the referee, he finally announced, “Wen Xu of Spring-Crossing Peak wins his second match!”

Bian Chunzhou immediately burst out with a curse.

“Holy shit!”

Even Chen Zui’s eyes burned with excitement. He looked as though he wished he could leap onto the stage next.

“What a pity. I should have been assigned to Arena B.”

...It showed.

He plainly wished he could split himself into four people and fight in all four arenas at once.

As the dust settled, Huo Shengyin stood panting, supporting herself against her guqin. One of its strings had snapped.

She had already done everything she could.

“I lost.”

“You let me win.”

Wen Xu was not in particularly good condition either, but at least he remained standing through the strength of his own will.

“I want to know where I lost.”

Wen Xu did not conceal the truth. In fact, his victory in this match had depended partly on opportunism.

“Senior Sister’s previous opponents probably knew very little about the art of the guqin.”

Huo Shengyin immediately understood.

A genius with exceptional gifts was not frightening.

A genius whose knowledge extended across countless fields was.

Her loss in this match was not unjust.

After sending off his second opponent, Wen Xu soon received his third, fourth, and fifth challengers.

Perhaps the first two had simply been too strong, because the next three unlucky opponents selected at random were all rather... easy to defeat.

Before long, he secured a place in the next round.

Meanwhile, Jiang Ying had not returned to her cave abode among the outer disciples to rest.

Instead, after receiving a communication talisman, she hurried down the mountain.

The moment she reached the foot of the mountain, a middle-aged woman seized her arm and asked softly with concern, “Baozhu, you weren’t hurt, were you?”

At those words, Jiang Ying’s expression changed instantly.

“Mother, what are you talking about? I’m A-Ying. There’s no Baozhu here. You called the wrong name.”

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