Chapter Four: Tang Yi Cheats

The cultivation level of Hua Shaojie and his two companions was only at the early stage of the Spirit Tranquility realm. The three of them could be considered somewhat talented, as they reached this stage after just one hundred and twenty years of training, relying solely on their respective family’s techniques. Their families were all medium or small clans, and their cultivation methods were considered rather poor. Thus, the Hua, Lü, and Ding families did not possess many magical treasures to equip their younger members.

Hua Shaojie’s current equipment included a low-grade spiritual flying sword, a basic defensive artifact, and several Earth movement talismans suited to his family’s technique. Lü Zhengyang and Ding Pengfei’s gear was almost identical; the only difference lay in Lü Zhengyang’s fire-type constitution, which meant he cultivated fire techniques and used fire talismans, while Ding Pengfei employed wood talismans.

Tang Yi never missed a single match, eager to observe every bout. He wanted to better understand the true nature of combat in the cultivation world, to have more confidence when he himself would eventually fight.

In the afternoon, Lin Jiang began his matches, fighting four rounds with no suspense. Lin Jiang’s current fighting style was shamelessly direct—he would engage in close combat from the start, freeze his opponents with his supernatural abilities, and force them to surrender. Elder Lu was so delighted he couldn’t stop grinning. Due to Lin Jiang’s swift matches, and at his request, three extra rounds were added. The first two proceeded smoothly; his opponents surrendered after only a few moves. But the next match proved to be a tough one.

Lin Jiang’s opponent this time was a cultivator at the late stage of Spirit Tranquility, who wielded a top-grade spiritual defensive artifact. Lin Jiang’s supernatural abilities were ineffective against artifacts of top-grade or higher. This meant Lin Jiang had lost his advantage in supernatural attacks.

Moreover, his opponent was a formidable adversary, possessing powerful metal-type techniques and wielding a peculiar double-headed curved blade shaped like a propeller. He was known as Feng Wanli, the “Dreaded Crescent Blade of Ghosts.”

Once Feng Wanli confirmed that Lin Jiang’s freezing technique would not affect his top-grade spiritual artifact, he threw the double-headed blade and chanted an incantation, uttering “Grow.” The blade immediately elongated fivefold as it caught the wind.

The enormous blade swung directly at Lin Jiang. The arena was only ten meters wide, leaving Lin Jiang no room to dodge. As the audience watched, believing Lin Jiang would be either killed or severely crippled, something extraordinary happened. Lin Jiang transformed into a puddle of clear water, swiftly flowing from the heap of clothing left behind toward Feng Wanli. Feng Wanli, convinced his opponent would surrender, had just retrieved his blade. But to his surprise, Lin Jiang had vanished, leaving only a pile of clothes. In that moment of distraction, Lin Jiang, now water, trapped Feng Wanli in a sphere formed by his own watery body. Although Lin Jiang could not attack Feng Wanli’s defensive artifact, he managed to isolate Feng Wanli from both his artifact and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Feng Wanli’s double-headed blade could no longer be controlled and reverted to its original form, falling to the ground.

This method of attack frustrated Feng Wanli to no end. He was like a man sealed in a vault, unable to replenish his spiritual energy. If this continued, Lin Jiang would suffocate him. Helpless, Feng Wanli conceded defeat. Lin Jiang, victorious, had to roll up his clothes and weapon in his watery form and rush back to his residence at the Talent Selection Courtyard at a speed like a waterfall plunging three thousand feet, drawing laughter from the crowd.

The next day, Hua Shaojie and his two companions each had a match. Tang Yi found it hard to keep up; he decided to watch only Hua Shaojie’s bout, since he wasn’t familiar with the other two.

Hua Shaojie’s opponent was an attractive female cultivator, a beast tamer. Beast tamers specialized in partnering with spiritual beasts to fight alongside them.

When Tang Yi saw her release her spiritual beast from its pouch, he thought, “It’s over. Hua Shaojie’s first match and he’s already facing an expert. His ranking will surely be at the bottom unless he cheats.”

Hua Shaojie frowned at the opponent’s beast. Though it was only a spiritual beast, it was a rare Black Wind Crimson Tiger. The Black Wind Crimson Tiger was covered in black fur, with a pair of fiery red wings on its back. Although the young tiger possessed wings, it could not yet fly, but moved as swiftly as the wind, reportedly able to reach speeds of five hundred kilometers an hour. Once mature, its wings would allow it to soar through the skies, and if it cultivated to the Divided Spirit stage, it could even fly in the void.

This Black Wind Crimson Tiger was currently at the Fusion stage, not yet at the Nascent Soul stage—still immature, which gave Hua Shaojie a slight sense of relief. Nevertheless, he dared not hesitate and immediately deployed his previously unused defensive artifact. As soon as the artifact was activated, the beast followed its master’s command and pounced, slashing at the protective aura. Though it didn’t break the shield, it forced Hua Shaojie to retreat more than ten steps, a clear testament to the beast’s strength.

The female cultivator’s name was Gu Zhenzhen, a celebrity within her sect, the Gu Spirit Gate—a family-style sect that accepted outsiders as disciples, but only the Gu family could govern it. Gu Zhenzhen was one of the candidates for future sect leader. The Gu Spirit Gate specialized in beast control, and Gu Zhenzhen was particularly fortunate, as she had formed a Heart Alliance pact with the Black Wind Crimson Tiger in her Radiance stage—a pact regarded as the highest bond between beast and cultivator.

Gu Zhenzhen pressed Hua Shaojie relentlessly, commanding her beast to attack while sealing his escape routes with talismans. Hua Shaojie nearly crashed into the arena’s protective barrier several times. If he touched it, the barrier would flash red and he’d be considered as having exited the arena, thus losing.

No one, not even Hua Shaojie, realized that each time he should have hit the barrier, Tang Yi discreetly used his supernatural abilities to nudge Hua Shaojie slightly away.

Tang Yi was helpless; the beast tamer was too difficult, fighting with her was like facing two opponents at once. Hua Shaojie had lasted this long only due to his skill.

“I need to come up with a plan—let Hua Shaojie win without anyone noticing I’m cheating. That’s truly difficult!” Tang Yi sighed, watching the motionless pair and beast in the arena. He entered a temporal trajectory, tugging at his hair and pondering a solution.