The Seventh Day of the Five Regions Grand Competition.
It was a hazy morning with a light drizzle. Jiang Huai held up a Bamboo Bone Umbrella and arrived at the Main Hall of Qingmu Immortal Palace. The rain wasn’t heavy, and the cultivators all had spiritual energy to shield themselves from the drops. He didn’t have that luxury, and didn’t want to get his white robes wet. Rain pattered on the umbrella, making a “shasha” sound.
Today, there were still only three matches. The first was Mu Yao against Gu Zhou. Mu Yao won easily, with no suspense. The second match was Luo Qingyu against Mo Jingzhe. Qingyu’s cultivation level was higher than Mo Jingzhe’s, and her sword was sharp. She was already a genius in sword techniques, and had learned much about the Sword Dao from Jiang Huai. She won with a narrow margin.
The third match featured Jiang Huai. This time, Jiang Huai’s opponent was Gu Ci.
Gu Ci was still wearing a red dress today. Her petite figure was hidden within the fiery red skirt, and her exposed skin was as tender and smooth as milk. She still carried her short hammer in her hand. Her innate Divine Phoenix Sacred Body caused the surrounding fire spiritual energy to coalesce around her. The moisture on the Sword Discussion Platform was evaporated, and mist gradually spread.
Jiang Huai stood opposite her. Water droplets slowly condensed on the blade of his Yening Sword.
“For the sake of those Fire Kite Flower seeds, I can go easy on you by thirty percent,” Gu Ci said, tilting her chin slightly. A hint of pride flashed in her eyes. “No more than that. I said I would beat you up properly for my older brother.”
Jiang Huai chuckled in amusement. Perhaps his laughter was perceived as mockery by Gu Ci, as she couldn’t help but ask, “What are you laughing at?”
“It’s nothing,” Jiang Huai said, shaking his head gently. He withdrew the smile from his face and adopted a serious expression. “No need to go easy on me. Let’s begin.”
The moment he finished speaking, all the fire spiritual energy on the arena exploded. Countless fire snakes burned across the platform, covering almost every inch of land. They assumed Jiang Huai had no spiritual energy and no means of defense. This fire might not harm his body, but his clothes were another matter.
Thinking that someone might have to discuss the sword with her naked, Gu Ci suddenly burst into laughter. Her gaze was locked on Jiang Huai the entire time. Seeing him standing still, letting the fire snakes crawl over his skin, she soon realized something was amiss. Her pupils instantly turned a brilliant gold as she fully unleashed her innate Divine Phoenix Sacred Body, dispelling all illusions.
As expected, the Jiang Huai in front of her had vanished. A glance from the corner of her eye showed Jiang Huai was already close. The moment her peripheral vision caught his figure, Jiang Huai’s eyes met hers, as if he had anticipated this.
The Mirror Flower had little effect on her innate Divine Phoenix Sacred Body, and Jiang Huai hadn’t expected much from it. He silently swung his sword, while Gu Ci swung her short hammer. Although it seemed clumsy, her speed was astonishing. The heavy hammer stirred up a gust of wind. The force it carried wasn’t just in the hammer itself, but formed an impenetrable wall.
Jiang Huai had studied her hammer techniques intently from below the stage, knowing they weren’t as clumsy as they appeared. Thus, he had a backup plan. Just as he expected, his body tilted and twisted in a bizarre posture, narrowly avoiding the hammer strike. The next moment, he raised his wrist and swung his sword. Gu Ci, who had been preparing her next move, was forced to change tactics and block. Thus, Jiang Huai gained the upper hand, his Yening Sword striking her hammer handle repeatedly, making a “ding ding dong dong” sound.
In this manner, Gu Ci was pushed to the corner of the stage by him, step by step. Until, with a heavy hammer strike, she forced Jiang Huai to sheath his sword and leap into the air. In his hand, a crimson longbow reappeared. He drew the bowstring, and fire spiritual energy transformed into arrows, locking onto Jiang Huai’s vital points. Jiang Huai stood his ground. His clothes were not stained by flames because the Yening Sword still held some spiritual energy.
The arrow in Gu Ci’s hand shot out, accompanied by a clear phoenix cry. Jiang Huai had intended to cut the arrow down with his sword, but he hadn’t expected it to split into six just before reaching him. He cut down one, but was too late for the remaining ones. All he could do was adjust his position, making the arrows avoid his vital parts. The arrows pierced his body, turning him into a hedgehog. Fire spiritual energy quickly tried to rampage within his body, but was instantly suppressed by the Overlord Qi within him.
Jiang Huai looked down. The arrows had been extinguished and naturally disappeared. The several bloody holes on his body looked slightly gruesome, but he didn’t react much. The pain was real, though. While he usually cried out loudly when Chu Xianning whipped him, as if he couldn’t bear any pain, it couldn’t compare to cultivating the Overlord Art. Even the pain of the first level of the Overlord Art was less than this. So, he silently raised his head and looked at Gu Ci, who was still floating in mid-air. Gu Ci’s spiritual energy had been depleted by more than half. Jiang Huai gripped the hilt of his Yening Sword, aimed at Gu Ci’s neck, and softly uttered, “Go.”
The Yening Sword was thrown out like a shuriken. The blade whistled through the air with a sharp cutting sound. Gu Ci immediately used her spiritual energy to defend herself, but after a moment, she suddenly realized the force contained within this sword strike was far more terrifying than she had imagined. It was as if Jiang Huai had thrown the sword with all his might. Her spiritual energy shield shattered layer by layer, and her face grew paler. In a short while, she was covered in sweat, gritting her teeth fiercely.
Jiang Huai, at a leisurely pace, consumed two Healing Pills. Combined with the Overlord Art’s terrifying self-healing ability, these minor injuries quickly recovered. Getting injured during a competition was common, and Jiang Huai didn’t care much about it. He wasn’t a perfectionist who needed to win flawlessly. This wasn’t a fight to the death, so he wasn’t that serious.
The Yening Sword continued to fly forward. Gu Ci’s spiritual energy was almost depleted. Seeing the sword edge about to fall on her neck, True Person Qingmu, who was standing nearby, was ready to intervene at any moment. The Yening Sword was a Heaven-tier Spirit Sword. If it were to truly strike Gu Ci’s neck without any spiritual energy to block it, it would be no different from cutting tofu.
“I surrender…”
Before she could resist any further, Gu Ci finally shouted this. Jiang Huai, as if he had expected this, raised his hand, and the Yening Sword flew back into his hand, supported by its own spiritual energy.
Jiang Huai got off the stage. As soon as he landed, Luo Qingyu, Wen Wanwan, Luo Yueguan, and Chu Xianning behind them, almost crowded around him. Jiang Huai scratched his head and said, “I’m fine. I’m not pretending, I’m completely fine. My injuries are all healed.”
As he said this, he lifted his shirt to show them the healed wounds, and only then did everyone feel completely reassured.
Today’s Five Regions Grand Competition had ended. Tomorrow would be the pursuit of the top contenders. Two undefeated individuals would kick off the next day’s events. Jiang Huai’s gaze landed on Mu Jiaoyang, and he noticed Mu Jiaoyang was already watching him.
His gaze was still as irritating as ever. Jiang Huai felt uncomfortable being stared at like that. So, after a moment, he chuckled and looked at Mu Jiaoyang’s cold eyes, slowly saying, “Three moves.”
“What?”
“Tomorrow’s match, within three moves. If you don’t lose, then I lose.”
Jiang Huai’s expression seemed gentle, but his words carried a tone of arrogant provocation. Jiang Huai suddenly understood why villains in stories loved to make threats. It was indeed fun to shout them out.
“Just you?” Mu Jiaoyang sneered. Perhaps his expression was even more contemptuous than Jiang Huai’s. But for some reason, an inexplicable unease surfaced in Mu Jiaoyang’s heart. For countless days and nights, he kept recalling that sword strike he couldn’t dodge. No matter how he struggled or resisted, that sword always hung above his head. He had been training diligently day and night to overcome this inner demon. But at this moment, seeing Jiang Huai’s arrogant eyes, although his instinctive anger made him fearless, the unease in his heart quietly resurfaced.
At this moment, Jiang Huai’s expression was innocent, like a sincere advisor. “It’s better to be mentally prepared to be defeated within three moves in advance than to lose with regret and an unstable Dao Heart when the time comes.”
Mu Jiaoyang clenched his fists in anger, but at this moment, he could do nothing but rage impotently. He stared intently at Jiang Huai. “Tomorrow… do you dare to sign a life-and-death contract with me?”
“I don’t want to kill you,” Jiang Huai shook his head. “Although I really want to teach you a lesson, I didn’t say I had to be so ruthless as to let you die.”
“You don’t dare?” Mu Jiaoyang finally seemed to find something to be proud of.
“You’re the stupid one,” Jiang Huai shook his head. “Your parents will be present tomorrow. Why don’t you ask them if they’re willing to let you sign this life-and-death contract? If they agree, I naturally will agree.”
When Mu Jiaoyang turned to look at Mu Chenyun and Mu Lanyan, who were not far behind him, Mu Lanyan’s expression was complex. After a moment, she gently shook her head at Mu Jiaoyang.
In an instant, Mu Jiaoyang felt struck by lightning. Jiang Huai shrugged and turned to leave.
Jiang Huai arrived at Chu Xianning’s courtyard. Chu Xianning sat on a long bench, clad in a white Daoist Robe. She looked up at Jiang Huai. “What is it?”
“Tomorrow I’ll be discussing the sword with Mu Jiaoyang. I wanted to discuss sword techniques with Master again.” Jiang Huai’s expression was exceptionally innocent. Chu Xianning, however, said, “You have ten percent certainty, right?”
Jiang Huai was both amused and exasperated. Chu Xianning was the person who knew him best in the world, so she naturally understood that he was confident when he was teasing Mu Jiaoyang earlier. However, as his Master, she couldn’t help but warn him, “Everything in the world has variables. Never become too arrogant and complacent.”
“Disciple understands,” Jiang Huai nodded gently.
“Then why did you provoke him?”
“Attacking the mind is paramount,” Jiang Huai winked innocently at Chu Xianning. “He lost to me last time. After being proud for so many years, losing that one time was undoubtedly a great blow. Today, I deliberately annoyed him again. Recently, I just learned a very annoying soul Daoist magic from Mu Yao. If his Dao Heart is unstable tomorrow, the success rate of me using that move will be even higher.”
Chu Xianning’s expression immediately became a little complex. She knew that Jiang Huai always disliked showing off and understood the principle of “a tall tree catches the wind” better than anyone. Therefore, his deliberate provocation of Mu Jiaoyang today seemed particularly strange. But after he explained, Chu Xianning understood. Her ‘bad disciple’ always had a belly full of bad intentions, but he rarely showed them.
