The imperial martial arts tournament runs on quite a tight schedule. Some matches are decided in just a few mere moves, while others may duke it out for an entire day and still not reach a conclusion.
To avoid such situations, some plans are set in place beforehand. For example, when one bout ends, another is started immediately. As such, as soon as Jia Yunfeng lost, the next two took to the ring in less time than it takes to make a hot cup of tea.
The emperor sighed from where he sat for Hua Shan’s sect leader’s loss.
“Jia Yunfeng… Why doesn’t he train properly when he’s the sect leader of a major sect in the martial world?! My imperial martial arts tournament has just started and the orange prince’s manor has already lost a skilled member. How ominous.”
He looked around and his eyes found their way to the orange prince. He slowly smiled and asked: “What do you think, Cheng’er?”
The orange prince met the emperor’s gaze. Without revealing any misleading expression, he respectfully said: “Jia Yunfeng isn’t diligent towards practice. I had wanted to get rid of him for some time now. I can now use this as a reason to substitute him. Thank you for asking, father.”
“That Xiang guy’s strength truly is incredible though.” Shen Yiren interrupted. She chuckled coldly: “Beyond the Heavens Edge is incredibly sharp while Hua Shan’s sect leader is powerful, and yet he wasn’t even able to cut him. You sure are very competent to be able to find such talent, your highness.”
The orange prince suddenly felt a jab to his heart. He naturally understood everything that took place in the ring just then, but because today was an important day, he was afraid the girl from Liu Shan Men would see through his ploys and thus changed the topic.
“Xiang Baitian is a quick learner. It is an honour for him to receive your praise, Vice-captain Shen.”
But he just saw the emperor shake his head with a dejected look. The orange prince hesitated for a moment but still decided to ask: “What’s wrong father?”
“I’m fine.” The emperor waved his hand and in a tone showing he wasn’t too accepting of the results, and said: “It’s just that I thought Jia Yunfeng would last until end. I made bets with a few people beforehand. I just lost three pieces of suet jade to your maternal uncle because of the two of them.”
Orange prince: “……”
Does he suspect me or not? The orange prince was spinning.
The emperor’s eyes suddenly lit up: “Oh? Who are the two girls entering the the ring next?”
Two peerless beauties attracted the gaze of the emperor and the crowd. One had a bow, and the other a sabre. The bow was all silver. Rarely is there ever anyone who enters a ring-fight with a long-distance weapon. The sabre emitted a bright light and a cold aura. The cold energy was no less than Hua Shan’s famous weapon, Beyond the Heavens Edge. As a matter of fact, it was sharper.
The orange prince took a look and without surprise said: “One of them is part of your entourage, Ye Luo, a specialist in archery with outstanding martial arts skills. She’s made a name for herself in the last two years. The other one……”
Shen Yiren continued: “You have met the other contest, your majesty. He is my subordinate, surname Su, first name Xiao. He is currently Liu Shan Men’s Bai Hu.”
“Su Xiao…… Oh! The kid that once threatened Cheng’er?” The emperor suddenly laughed, “I heard he’s been all the rage recently. I heard he arrested a Yi rank warrior within the Qilin Guards’ ranks, and had him locked up at Liu Shan Men for a few days. Is that the kid?”
Although the emperor appears to not take anything to heart, he’s actually well aware of things. He remembers all these sorts of things.
Shen Yiren panicked to explain: “Please allow me to explain. There was a reason for it. I previously reported……”
The emperor laughed and stopped her: “It’s fine, it’s fine. Today is the imperial martial arts tournament, not a day where we’re trying to get square. Take a look for me and let me know what you think of Yiren’s judgement. Let me know if the kid is qualified.”
He’s done.
I’m serious.
Su Xiao is dead meat!!
Miss Ye Luo’s achievements were recorded in the Black and White Reflection.
Ye Luo isn’t a second rank Jia-rank warrior for no reason. The first reason is because Tie Hanyi’s brain is roasted and won’t ascend the ranks, thereby blocking her path forward. The second reason is because she’s a Tie Zhen Divine Marksmanship specialist.
No matter how good a person is at archery, it’s still just archery. What Miss Luo learnt however, was a totally different beast.
Tie Zhen Divine Marksmanship is a style that originates from Dzungaria. I heard of it since Mount Daluo is close to Dzungaria.
It’s a unique style that fuses internal arts with archery.
The archer doesn’t fire actual arrows, but arrows made from qi energy. This style that adopts an original approach was designed specifically for close-quarters combat. The practitioner uses a specially made bow. Upon combining it with the exclusive mental cultivation method, they can fire arrows with their qi energy. While the qi-arrows don’t have a long range, they are more lethal than real arrows at close-range. So the style practically has an unfair advantage in a ring-fight.
Ye Luo could still win within ten moves even if Su Xiao and Ye Luo were to engage in an empty-handed fight. Bow and arrow versus sabre……
Fortunately-
“Brother Su, while we may be acquainted, this is a competition, so I won’t pull any punches.” Ye Luo’s smile was gentle and pretty. She held her silver bow, “The wind could wound your handsome face. It’s not going to be good if your face gets hurt. Are you sure you want to fight with me?”
Ye Luo confidently flaunted her leisure attitude as a Jia-rank warrior would. It’s understandable why Ye Luo is looking down on him. From what I’ve seen, Su Xiao can’t even make it into Liu Shan’s Elite Rankings. At best, he’s between the Bing and Ding rank.
Su Xiao himself hesitated a bit too. Su Xiao never thought he’d make it into the finals either. I told him not to force himself too. I think he understood what I meant. It’s enough to just say some stuff about going easy on him and lose in a respectable way.
But before he could speak, the audience below applauded loudly. If you listen closely, you’d notice that it was all females cheering.
“Bai Hu Su! You must win!”
“Kick that wanton woman out!”
“Are you talking to Bai Hu Su? Are you qualified to?! Are you qualified to?!”
“Why is that girl such a slut?! How dare she seduce our Su Xiao?!”
“Get lost bitch! Get lost!”
If you listen in closer, you’ll find out that the contents of what they were shouting were rather nasty.
Actually, they were unbearable.
Not long after “Get lost bitch!” it was like a choir belting out in the flying fish pavilion.
Su Xiao, my boy, why are all of your fans so rude?
And you miss… Did you forget the emperor is here watching?
Su Xiao finally stupidly said: “Miss Ye, please go easy on me.”
“……”
Ye Luo didn’t say anything, but she nearly crushed the bow in her hand.
A moment later, Ye Luo smiled and asked: “Of course I will, go, ea-, -sy, on, you! Oh, right. Brother Su, have you heard of a particular style?”
Su Xiao blinked and asked: “What?”
“Tie Zhen Divine Marksmanship.”
…… Yep, Su Xiao is dead meat.
“Tang Ye.”
“Present.”
“I’m going to lose when I get up in there. I’ll be leaving the rest to you.”
Tang Ye curiously asked: “Where are you going, big bro?”
I pat him on his shoulder and looked at him with a compassionate gaze you would use to look at a child in the family that hasn’t grown up: “Don’t be like this. You have to grow up eventually.”
“……”
I silently prayed for Su Xiao in my heart to at least not get sent flying in one move. I suddenly heard a grunt.
The groan was like a bolt from the blue to my ears. It clearly came from a girl. The beautiful soft voice made me associate it with an alluring woman who was somewhat upset, angry and exasperated, yet tired and weak. But most importantly, the voice was very familiar. It was Boss Shen’s voice. Why is Boss Shen like this?
I looked in her direction and noticed her beautiful face was completely pale with her eyebrows pulled together tightly, and her flower petal lips pursed together tightly, a sight that pricked my heart. What’s wrong with her?
She’s not competing, so what happened?
I followed her angry gaze and looked at the ring closest to us.
“Ah!! Fuck, me!!”
Tang Ye standing next to me too was exasperated: “What’s wrong with him?!”
Tang Ye and I were flustered.
We and Boss Shen shared the same sight.
On the ring closest to us was Captain Song, our dear Brother Bastard. Wait, no, I should now call him “shameless Brother Bastard”. He was lying motionless on the right as if he had already passed out. Next to him stood a Qilin Guard posing after throwing a palm strike and resetting his energy.
If Brother Bastard didn’t get knocked out in one palm strike, there are only two other possibilities: one, Brother Bastard likes sunbathing in a ring, and two, the Qilin Guard is a retard that thinks his pose is cool.
When did this happen?
Brother Bastard went and got whooped by an ordinary guard before he even got to meet with Long Zaitian!!