Chapter 288: Treacherous

In the fifth match, Horizon Ocean Pavilion finally managed to get a win.

In the sixth match, Lan Yu fought against Cai Junyang.

There was a blue flash as Lan Yu appeared on stage, his hands held behind his back. He cut quite the impressive figure, rather like a hegemon gazing down at the puny mountains from high above. Even Tang Jie had to stop himself from giving a thumbs-up and saying, "Impressive acting!"

There was a thunderous cheer from the audience. It appeared that Lan Yu had quite a few admirers.

In contrast, the Basking Moon Sect side was constantly urging Cai Junyang, "Be careful, and don't try and force it if you can't beat him."

Cai Junyang grunted, "Can you not underestimate me so much? Whether it's win or lose, I actually have to fight to find out."

He jumped onto the stage.

With the ring of a bell, the battle began.

Cai Junyang acted first, spiritual energy surging, and the air suddenly thickened. Cai Junyang became like a fish swimming through water as he shot toward Lan Yu, his sword giving off silver waves. This was none other than the Pilewave Sword he was so skilled at.

Lan Yu chuckled and casually thrust out a palm. "Break!"

With this one thrust, the clouds of spiritual energy were pushed back like the ebbing tide.

This move also left Cai Junyang greatly shaken.

Realm pressure!

Realm pressure was a sort of overwhelming pressure that allowed one to render many spell arts ineffective when they came from someone at a lower cultivation realm. Realm pressure was truly a gap that could not be surmounted with numbers—at least not without absurdly high numbers.

But realm pressure only existed in the higher realms, which made it so that the higher the realm, the more difficult it was to fight above one's level. But in the lower realms, realm pressure was extremely rare, which was why there were many examples of Spirit Sea beating out Mortal Shedding.

This was a problem of strength control. For example, if one pitted a high schooler against an elementary schooler, the high schooler could often answer problems with just one look. But an older class of kindergarteners trying to answer the questions from a young class of kindergarteners might spend ages staring fruitlessly at the question.

Lan Yu having realm pressure was truly a surprise. The moment Cai Junyang realized this, he knew that he had no chance of winning.

But he had a tough personality that didn't easily concede. As his spiritual wave was broken, he thrust out his sword several times, and the 19 Star Sword emerged in a dazzling burst of starlight.

The 19 Star Sword was a technique that Xiao Biehan had developed in his early years and modified several times afterward. It was extremely powerful and had many variations, so even Lan Yu didn't dare to take it head-on, despite his realm pressure. He raised his hand and thrust it at the air.

As his hand struck the air, a shield of azure light appeared.

The Azurine Shield was a very ordinary spell art that was taught in many sects.

But this ordinary Azurine Shield stopped Cai Junyang's 19 Star Sword cold. The nineteen points of starlight exploded against the shield, but once the starlight had dissipated, the azure light remained.

Everyone was stunned by this sight.

Was this the power of realm pressure?

It was clearly a stronger spell art, but under realm pressure, it couldn't even break through the Azurine Shield.

"How… how is this possible?" Cai Junyang stared in disbelief at his sword.

He didn't feel very conflicted about losing to Lan Yu. After all, this was the number one genius of Horizon Ocean Pavilion who had cultivated for many years, surpassing him in both talent and time. Losing to him wasn't shameful at all. But while a loss was a loss, he at least had to make it exciting, had to show off his pride and dignity.

Thus, before going onto the stage, he was determined to go all-out. But Lan Yu had breezily undone everything. The gap in strength was far more immense than he had imagined, and his confidence had been dealt a savage blow.

Lan Yu clearly didn't care about what he was thinking, and he thrust a palm at his chest.

Still lost in thought, Cai Junyang was about to get hit when someone suddenly shouted, "Turn to the left and swing!"

Cai Junyang acted purely on instinct, dodging to the left while stepping forward with his right foot and swinging his sword down, releasing a crescent of sword energy at Lan Yu.

This counterattack had come very abruptly, and Lan Yu clearly hadn't been expecting the dazed Cai Junyang to be capable of striking back. Alarmed, he frantically thrust out his left hand, releasing a wave of energy to clash with Cai Junyang's sword energy. But there was no realm pressure this time, and the palm energy and sword energy neutralized each other. Attacking in panic, Lan Yu had failed to gain any sort of advantage in this exchange.

At the same time, Cai Junyang charged forward, raising his sword and swinging it down again.

The 19 Star Sword again.

This time, Lan Yu did not dare to use the Azurine Shield. He quickly backed away while forming hand signs, and moon-white arcs of light shot at Cai Junyang's star swords.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Moonlight and starlight collided in a string of resplendent explosions. Cai Junyang heedlessly charged forward like a tiger, swinging his sword over and over, using the 19 Star Sword again and unleashing a brilliant array of starlight.

Cai Junyang felt like this was the closest he would ever be to defeating Lan Yu. If he could keep up this ceaseless offensive, he might be able to knock Lan Yu off the stage, so he expended all of his spiritual energy into an explosive storm.

But under the dazzling starlight, Lan Yu was like a storm petrel in a tempest, freely flying around, breaking through waves and riding on the wind. It was a simply stunning sight.

No matter how fierce the storm, it could do nothing to the storm petrel, and the storm would eventually come to an end.

Finally, a small gap appeared in the storm of starlight Cai Junyang had created—a gap that signified Cai Junyang was running out of spiritual power.

At this moment, Lan Yu finally made his move.

He pointed at that gap in the starlight storm.

Karmic Cycle Finger!

All of the starlight vanished as a fingertip jabbed into Cai Junyang's chest, punching a hole into his body.

"Aaagh!" Cai Junyang cried out as he flew off the stage.

"Junyang!" Everyone rushed up to support him.

Cai Junyang threw up blood, and it was clear that this single finger had wounded him badly. But he still smiled and said, "I'm fine… I won't die… Just now… who said that…"

"It was me," Tang Jie said. His leg was serving as Xu Miaoran's pillow, so he couldn't go to Cai Junyang's side. He said, "There's no pressure if he can't keep up his act."

Lan Yu clearly had only a basic grasp of realm pressure, and he could only activate it when he met a certain condition.

This condition was to be as immovable and imposing as a mountain.

It was like how some people only seemed to have the majesty of an official when they started acting like one, while the true bigshots exuded majesty without putting on any airs.

Alas, he couldn't fool Tang Jie's insight.

Tang Jie's advice had allowed Cai Junyang to make a counterattack, and while it had been an ordinary strike, it had thrown Lan Yu's mind into disarray and broken his realm pressure, allowing Cai Junyang to get the upper hand for the moment. Otherwise, in a real battle, Cai Junyang would have had a rather ugly loss.

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"But it was this that caused you to get injured," Tang Jie added.

"This injury is nothing." Cai Junyang spat on the ground. "An army can't afford to lose its morale, and his realm pressure just now scared me silly. If you hadn't told me how to counterattack and I had been pushed off the stage like that, I would probably be traumatized for the rest of my life. From then on, with my confidence destroyed, I would find it hard to advance in cultivation, and I would probably lose any will to fight upon seeing him… This Lan Yu is very vicious!"

Cai Junyang was no fool. With just a little thought, he had understood why Lan Yu had used such a method on him.

He wanted to mentally destroy him!

"It's probably because of Miaoran," Tang Jie sighed. "This guy is quite tricky. Another person would have been yelling and fighting, or else they would have attacked you more fiercely as a form of revenge. But his move was more inconspicuous and less likely to be noticed. It was no wonder he struck out so swiftly, not even deciding to wait around. If he waited until you were out of spiritual energy to strike, he wouldn't be able to heavily injure you. While you still have spiritual energy, you still pose a threat to him, allowing him to use that as an excuse to use his full strength… In the end, it was my fault."

"But you also saved me, so we're even." Cai Junyang didn't mind. Someone came up and carried him off to be treated.

With Lan Yu beating Cai Junyang, Horizon Ocean Pavilion had its second victory, and they all cheered. But his right hand was injured, and his arm had been struck several times by the attacks of the 19 Star Sword.

Just as Tang Jie had said, he could have waited around until Cai Junyang was even more tired and there were even more openings, allowing him to get away without any injuries.

But he refused to wait precisely because he sought this danger!

It was only this way that could let him heavily injure or even kill Cai Junyang!

Thinking this, Tang Jie looked at Lan Yu, and the latter returned with an icy gaze and naked killing intent.

Tang Jie couldn't help but say, "Miaoran, your senior brother is quite the insidious sort."

"Mm, that's why I don't like him," Xu Miaoran mumbled out from her place on Tang Jie's lap. She didn't seem surprised in the slightest.

"But there are times when my methods are also quite insidious…" Tang Jie replied.

"Oh, that's different…" Xu Miaoran said, closing her eyes.

"How is it different?"

"…ugh, it's just different, okay?" Xu Miaoran kicked him, her face turning red. "You're not allowed to ask that anymore."

Tang Jie heartily laughed, and this scene of affection between him and Xu Miaoran only deepened the resentment in Lan Yu's eyes.

Alas, he would not have a chance to take the lives of the Basking Moon Sect's people again.

In the seventh match, Horizon Ocean Pavilion was defeated once more.

In terms of individual strength, Horizon Ocean Pavilion had actually always been high up among the six major sects. But it had a smaller population, and its vassal sects were lacking. If it were only the top three of the young students that were being selected, Horizon Ocean Pavilion could have made a complete sweep, but the twenty-person quota and the limitation to men turned Horizon Ocean Pavilion into the weakest sect.

Only Lan Yu had been able to win a solid victory, and most of the other Horizon Ocean students lost to their Basking Moon counterparts.

Eleven matches had now played out. The Basking Moon Sect had won eight while Horizon Ocean Pavilion had only won three.

In the twelfth match, it was Wei Tianchong's turn, and he faced Zhou Weixiao of Horizon Ocean Pavilion.

"Senior Brother Zhou cultivates the Windbreak Divine Gate Mantra. His attacks are formidable, and he could be considered one of the stronger students of Horizon Ocean, ranked ninth. Your Young Master Wei will not be able to win this one." Xu Miaoran had woken up after her nap and was now pointing at the stage.

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"That's not guaranteed," Tang Jie replied. "In my view, Young Master Wei has a very high chance of winning."

"Cheh, only nineteenth among the Basking Moon students." Xu Miaoran pursed her lips. "No matter how weak my Horizon Ocean Pavilion is, it's not so bad that the ninth will lose to your nineteenth, yes?"

Tang Jie casually replied, "Rankings, hmm… You can't ignore them, but you can't completely trust them, either."

Among the twenty students of the Basking Moon Sect, Peng Yaolong was ranked first. He was at the Hundred Refinement Period of Mortal Shedding, and after two years of cultivation, he was the undisputed rank one. Tang Jie had sparred against him once, and if he didn't use the golden thread or the Devil Crushing Fist, he would eventually lose after fifty moves.

Second was Tang Jie. Tang Jie had become very famous after the True Inheritor struggle, and many people had heard about how he had single-handedly held the Devil Crushing Path. Thus, while he was only at the Spirit Sea Tier, people still placed him at rank two.

Third was Ye Tianshang, who was also in the Hundred Refinement Period. Tang Jie had once fought against him, and they had been evenly matched and fought to a draw.

In this aspect, the ranking was generally reliable.

But there were always exceptions.

Wei Tianchong was an obvious one.

The strength assessment of Wei Tianchong was based on the spars he had had with a few people upon arriving at Red Plum City. As Wei Tianchong's most important source of strength, his Grade 3 combat puppet, had been in Tang Jie's possession, much of his power was missing. Even so, he was still at rank nineteen and had not been beaten so badly that he was the absolute worst. It was clear that he had made huge progress in terms of his personal strength.

And what was a Grade 3 combat puppet?

That was the equivalent of a typical Mortal Shedding Realm Nine Revolutions expert.

Without considering the spirit stone expenditure, it could fight against students on Peng Yaolong's level.

Without resorting to lethal moves, not even Tang Jie dared to say that he could definitely win against Wei Tianchong and his puppet.

Zhou Weixiao was clearly unaware. As Wei Tianchong came onto the stage, he said with disdain, "Merely a young master that relies on the work of your servant student. I advise you to concede before it's too late."

Wei Tianchong said nothing, only let out his puppet.

The moment the puppet appeared, it made a booming stomp and punched at Zhou Weixiao.

Zhou Weixiao raised his sword to block, but he felt a sweeping strength that sent him flying back, and he instantly knew that he was in trouble. But he reacted quickly and flew back onto the stage, thinking to himself, This puppet is strong!

He hadn't even finished the thought when the puppet's body flashed, and it charged at him again.

Zhou Weixiao formed a spell with his left hand and pointed at the puppet. He sought to hold down the puppet with the spell while sending a wave of sword energy at Wei Tianchong. But the puppet was wholly unaffected, and in fact, its eyes flashed with electricity, and a bolt of lightning cracked down onto Zhou Weixiao.

Not good!

Zhou Weixiao only had time to think about dodging before the lightning bolt struck him.

At least he had cast his barrier before going onto stage, so he wasn't too badly injured. But the lightning bolt did succeed in paralyzing him.

It was only a moment of numbness, but it was enough for Wei Tianchong to unleash a surging energy from his sword.

"Changfeng Thirteenth Style, Wind-Facing Slash!"

A harsh sword light and a wild fist struck Zhou Weixiao, and a brilliant explosion of light announced the end of this battle…

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