This round between Juling Sect and Wushuang Sect had turned into a battle of endurance.
By the time their drawn-out fight finally ended, the results from the other arenas had long been decided.
After the second round, only four sects remained. These would now enter a round-robin stage. Each victory earned one point, and the final ranking would be decided by accumulated points.
Aside from Wushuang Sect, the other three were all long-established super sects.
Xinghe Sect.
Jingshi Sect.
Wanli Sect.
Among these, Xinghe Sect held the number one position among the super sects.
Jingshi Sect ranked second.
Wanli Sect was fifth.
Of the top four sects, only Ziyun Sect had been knocked out early, eliminated in an upset when they faced Wushuang Sect. The sect ranked fourth had suffered an unlucky draw against Xinghe Sect and was crushed. From this, it was clear enough—these rankings did carry real weight. At the very least, they were a fair reflection of strength.
Lin Xiao stood and announced the next stage: a three-day round-robin.
Then, before Yun Jin could latch onto him for another conversation, he hurried off without looking back.
Yun Jin smacked her lips in regret.
What was with these people? Was everyone truly so busy?
She quickly looked around for someone still nearby.
The Xinghe Sect Master, Liu Hua, gave a cold laugh. "Sect Master Yun, with the round-robin beginning, it seems our disciples are destined to clash."
Yun Jin's eyes lit up. This Liu Hua was truly a good man—he didn't shun her and had even taken the initiative to speak.
It had been a long time since Yun Jin had felt such friendliness. She quickly replied, "Sect Master Liu, rest assured. For the sake of our deep friendship, I hereby declare on behalf of Wushuang Sect that we will never be the ones to strike first!"
Her Emotional Value gain was a measly two hundred.
Yun Jin blinked, startled.
Why was Liu Hua's mood suddenly so steady?
Liu Hua looked at her calmly. "Just because others cannot break through the Hun Yuan Secret Art does not mean Xinghe Sect's disciples cannot. When the time comes, I fear your so-called invincible among peers will be revealed as a complete joke."
Yun Jin gazed at him with open admiration. "I understand. Xinghe Sect has that earth-grade offensive secret art—easy to learn at entry, but difficult to master deeply. I'd wager most of the Foundation Establishment disciples competing today have trained in it. Sect Master Liu, your foresight truly runs deep!"
Liu Hua only gave a faint smile.
Many knew Xinghe Sect possessed such a technique.
Many also knew they often used it in group battles.
But so what?
With overwhelming strength, everything else became irrelevant.
"Let us hope your disciples can hold out a little while," Liu Hua said with a smile. "Otherwise, winning too easily would strip the victory of meaning." Having delivered his line, he vanished from sight.
Yun Jin was left stunned.
He actually strutted off after one dramatic flourish?
This Liu Hua… could he be even more of a showman than her?
She, Yun Aotian, would never accept defeat in theatrics.
Just you wait. One day she would outshine him.
Other than Liu Hua's smug confidence, everyone else had already left.
Yun Jin glanced around, found no one to chatter with, and regretfully left the stage.
These days, even showing off was hard.
Still, it was no problem.
Wushuang Sect had disciples recording every match. Later, with some editing, this would become another glorious film.
This could even start a whole new series.
The first: Wushuang Sect: First Signs of Brilliance.
The sequel: Wushuang Sect: Peerless Beyond Compare.
And the next: Wushuang Sect: Battle at the Pinnacle.
If they ever ran out of material, she could always make Wushuang Sect: War Reignited.
Yun Jin sighed at the thought.
If only the seniors of Wushuang Sect were still alive.
How happy they would be to see their sect's name soon to resound across the Four Seas and Eight Desolations.
How proud they would feel, watching such lively, adorable disciples.
Such a pity. Truly a pity.
-
The next day, the three-day round-robin began.
Sure enough, one more Sect Master failed to appear on the high platform.
Yun Jin sighed again.
"Sect Master Feng! Why must you take things so hard? Even if you coughed blood yesterday, couldn't you have at least done it again today?"
Thankfully, kind-hearted Sect Master Liu was still present.
Yun Jin immediately stationed herself at Liu Hua's side, grinning. "Sect Master Liu, have you had breakfast?"
Liu Hua only sneered. "Sect Master Yun, enough with your pointless chatter. The rules of the round-robin state that the highest-ranked sect faces the lowest-ranked sect first. This opening match will be Xinghe Sect versus Wushuang Sect. Watch carefully—you will learn what true invincible among peers looks like."
Yun Jin froze.
She, the queen of theatrics, was actually being told to watch someone else show off?
Recovering quickly, she grinned. "Sect Master Liu, do you know why I've managed to jump around so much and still live so well?"
Liu Hua gave her a sidelong glance.
Did she really know she was that noisy?
Yun Jin's face turned solemn. "Because every boast I've ever made… has come true."
Liu Hua: "???"
Yun Jin leaned closer to explain. "I can tell you're trying to copy my style, flaunting your brilliance in front of others. But there's a knack to it—you can't just force it awkwardly. Tell you what, I'll open a Showmanship Class. You can enroll. Since we're acquaintances, I'll even give you a discount. Only ten top-grade spirit stones!"
Liu Hua's lips twitched.
"Fine, five top-grade spirit stones," Yun Jin slapped her thigh. "But surely you don't expect me to teach for free? I'm willing, but you can't be that shameless."
Liu Hua's chest rose and fell rapidly.
At last, he delivered her a beautiful combo: five hundred and ten Emotional Value in one burst.
Yun Jin finally showed a satisfied smile.
"Sect Master Yun, enough empty words. Watch closely."
Liu Hua sneered again.
On the arena platform, the battle between Wushuang Sect and Xinghe Sect had begun.
Though this was a round-robin, everyone knew the truth.
The result of this fight would decide who placed first in points.
If Xinghe Sect could not break Wushuang Sect's defenses, no one else could either.
The clash began.
For the first time in this tournament, Xinghe Sect's disciples summoned their life-bound artifacts.
Yun Jin's eyes narrowed.
Their life-bound weapons were ten swords.
Among the Four Great Holy Lands, Kunlun Sword Sect was famed for its ferocious sword arts.
But sword was king among all weapons. Even in sects with other specialties, sword cultivators remained common. Everyone knew sword cultivators boasted the strongest offensive power.
So Xinghe Sect had hidden this trump card all along.
At the edge of the platform, Liu Hua's lips curled into a subtle smile. He deliberately glanced at Yun Jin. Yun Jin immediately noticed and gave him an encouraging look. "Sect Master Liu, you're amazing. I didn't see that one coming either."
Liu Hua only sneered again.
This hand had originally been prepared for Jingshi Sect. Now, it would serve to shatter Wushuang Sect's turtle shell.
Every secret art had its limits.
Ten disciples, all at the Foundation Establishment peak.
A combined secret art, ranked among the strongest at this level.
And with the most devastating life-bound weapons of all—swords.
With such a lineup, what possible reason could there be for failing to break through?
===
If you didn't catch the joke, 'Long Aotian' is character name that often associated with arrogance, shamelessness, narcissistic, and love to show off.
---
Didn't I just say yesterday that I found a bunch of new novels that caught my interest? Well… after a quick search, I already have 59 new novels on my list. Most of them are in the 15–200 chapter range, so not too crazy length-wise.
And yeah, like I mentioned before, for casual reading I usually rely on the Google Translate extension. I'm honestly too lazy to "think" when I'm reading—if I read raw Chinese, my brain has to actually work, but with English my brain just automatically processes the meaning without effort (￣▽￣).
But here's the thing… I've kinda gotten used to how bad MTL translations can be. If you've read enough MTL, you know exactly what I mean (lol). And since my eyes are now spoiled by my own translations, whenever I read raw MTL I'm like, "Hah? What's going on??" (－‸ლ). Basically, my comprehension for raw MTL has gotten worse.
Of course, I can still manage stuff that's not too messy—like modern settings, or maybe some xianxia. But when I tried reading 杀道侣后,修仙界恶女成魔门老祖 (After killing her Taoist partner, the evil woman in the world of immortal cultivation became the ancestor of the demon sect), I could follow along and understand the gist… but wow, it was painful to read (ಥ_ಥ).
So in the end, I decided to just pick it up for translation instead (After Killing Dao Partner, the Villainess Becomes the Demon Ancestor). Each chapter's word count is short, kinda like The Invincible Money-Grubbing Fairy or The Cube Queen's Apocalypse Feast. Right now it's at 184 chapters and still serializing. Honestly, at my pace, I'll probably finish catching up with it in just 2 days.
And maybe after that, I'll add a couple more serialized novels from the batch I found yesterday during my novel hunt. Decisions, decisions…
Oh, and one more thing! From now on, I'll also try to make my novel covers as close as possible to the original ones. Of course, sometimes I might still make my own version too, but I'll do my best to stay faithful to the original designs (*≧▽≦).