Chapter 53: THE FIFTH DAY

CHAPTER

53

THE FIFTH DAY

JIEYUAN

—∞—

For how set the Gleaming Nobles had been on killing him, they seemed to have laid off altogether since the tournament began. Or at least put their business with him on hold.

Four days had passed since his first duel, and there hadn’t been any assassination attempts since. The Xiyunfeng Clan also hadn’t gotten up to anything, despite his suspicions about them. Sovereign Zhihao, at least, was definitely up to some funny business, even if Jieyuan hadn’t managed to figure out what exactly it was.

This was just the calm before the storm—Jieyuan had little doubt about that—but for the time being there wasn’t much he could do besides enjoying it. And it was a good thing he hadn’t gotten pulled in any other matches yet, because these last few days the tournament had taken up pretty much all his time.

“She’s going to lose,” Jieyuan said.

Down on the center stage a sixth-sign Viridian Death Cultist—one Baisenzhou Houliao, of the same clan as High Protector Tangqiao—fought another sixth-sign from the Gleaming Stone Sect, a female core disciple Jieyuan had seen a few times before, mostly around Yongyi. Liangshibai Feiyuan. Topaz-eyed.

The other stages were empty. Concurrent fights were no longer needed, as time wasn’t an issue anymore. There’d only be eight fights today, each with a rather lengthy break afterward, the initial two hundred and fifty-six contestants having been narrowed down to a mere sixteen.

“She will,” Yongyi agreed, not taking his eyes off the arena floor, yellow eyes narrowed. He had just come back from a duel against another sixth-sign from the Radiant Gold Sect. Yongyi had won, of course, and currently looked about as roughed up as a newly minted coin—just about pristine, really, like he hadn’t just fought another sixth-sign, but instead gone for a lovely little stroll. His opponent, on the other hand, was probably still unconscious and being treated for an acute case of blood loss.

Yongyi’s win—and the manner of his it—made it clear his first duel hadn’t been a one-off thing. Not at all.

They were standing by the railing, pretty much in the same location on the viewing floor they’d taken for themselves that first day and kept on returning to all the days since. Yongyi to his left, Meiyao to his right.

“She’s trying to do what you did in your first duel,” Jieyuan said. Like Yongyi, Feiyuan had Gleaming Stone Containment, but she wasn’t half as skilled with it as he was. She couldn’t put up the barriers fast enough to block her opponent’s sword—let alone pull off any of the more complicated tricks Jieyuan knew Yongyi to be capable of, even if he hadn’t had to use any of them yet in the tournament.

The Viridian Death Cultist, Baisenzhou Houliao, had his glowing green aura on and was currently in the process of mercilessly hacking away at his opponent. His weapon was a wooden sword, which seemed to be a copy of the one used by the Viridian Death Cult woman Yongyi had faced in the first round.

But Houliao was much more skilled—not to mention level-headed—than that woman, and Feiyuan was much less skilled than Yongyi. She was doing her best, but she could barely get any attacks in.

Yongyi frowned, still focused on the lower floor. His hands were gripping the railing. “It’s not like she has much of a choice.”

Jieyuan had seen him sparring with Feiyuan yesterday, in the Gleaming Stone Palace’s training room. Jieyuan had an inkling that Yongyi and Feiyuan were rather close. Closer than their shared family name on its own would warrant. The two of them were third cousins, or something like that. He wasn’t clear on the details.

“In any case, Houliao’s good,” Jieyuan said. “You think either of us will be fighting him tomorrow?”

Today was the fifth round, and Jieyuan was still in the running. He would’ve liked to say that it was sheer, overwhelming power and skill that had gotten him so far. And he’d definitely improved these last few days—he’d done pretty much nothing but train.

But the truth of the matter was that his win streak really came down to luck—or, more precisely, to however it was that the upper echelons of the four cabals went about divvying up the next day’s duels.

So far, he’d only fought fifth-signs. Not just that, in the second through fourth rounds, his opponents had been among the worst performers of each round. The strongest of the three had only been about as good as the core disciple he’d faced in the first round—who, as Jieyuan later found out, had been one of the strongest fifth-signs of the Radiant Gold Sect’s delegation.

Meiyao glanced over at him. Out of the three of them, she was probably the least interested in this particular duel. She didn’t need to get a grasp of how Houliao fought, because there was no chance of her facing him.

It wasn’t that she was out of the tournament—she’d be having her duel later today, same for Daojue and Yunzhu. Rather, from what Jieyuan had heard, during the pre-tournament negotiations, the cult’s higher-ups had been quite vocal about not having any of theirs face her.

And in the unlikely event that it did happen? The cultist she was up against would probably throw the match before even getting on the stage.

He’d seen Meiyao walk past Viridian Death Cultists a few times, and they’d bowed to her. And when they weren’t bowing they were staring at her with honest, fervent worship in their eyes.

“You’re sure you’ll be getting through, then?” she asked.

No, was his immediate thought.

“Sure am,” Jieyuan said. “After all, it’s not like I’m paired against one of the top contenders for first place.”

It was luck that had gotten him so far. And today, that same luck had just about run out.

His crushing victory on the first day of the tournament had made the elders of the Gleaming Stone Sect realize he wasn’t there just for his heavenly affinity. That he actually had a shot at good rank. So they’d taken to helping him prepare for his matches. Which included giving him somewhat privileged information. He wasn’t sure that was allowed, but he’d be surprised if the other cabals weren’t all doing the same.

Because of that, he knew that his duel would be coming up just after this one. Knew, even, whom he’d be fighting. Palace Head Yiming had pulled him aside earlier, before they left, and given him the details of his upcoming match.

And things weren’t looking good for him.

Meiyao quirked an eyebrow. “You’re telling me you don’t have a plan for her?”

There was something to the way Meiyao said plan. Jieyuan knew what that was about. Knowing whom you’d be fighting one day in advance could very well mean the difference between victory and defeat. To him, that was even more so than it was for your average cultivator.

Just because he couldn’t use Absolute Will Command during the fight didn’t mean his realmskill was entirely useless in the tournament, as he’d first assumed.

Three days ago, when he was told the name of his opponent for the second round, an idea had come to him on the spot—using Absolute Will Command to simulate fights with his upcoming opponents. It was feasible as long as he’d seen them fight at least once. Given the lack of reference material, his mental models were far from perfect, but still good enough to give him a significant edge.

Lucky match-up asides, that particular application of Absolute Will Command had been key in getting him this far. The way he fought, like he knew his opponent’s moves ahead of time, had even gotten him a reputation of sorts. It was to the point he was starting to tread a bit of a thin line, as some people were already starting to suspect he might have a realmskill. One with predictive powers, or something along those lines.

But it wasn’t to the point he couldn’t explain it all away as being just that good. In this case, Meiyao’s and Daojue’s presence served him well—they made him stand out a lot less.

“Of course I do. But whether it’ll be enough is a bit of a different business.” He actually had a pretty solid model for this round’s opponent. He’d seen all four of her fights so far, and in the previous round she’d revealed both her realmskill and her weapon’s prime gear-skill. Best as he could tell, she didn’t have any other tricks up her sleeves. He’d also supplemented that with the models he’d created for all the other Xiyunfeng Clan disciples he’d seen fight so far.

And it was only because of how good his model for his upcoming opponent was that the plan he came up with had the slightest chance of working.

The battle below finally came to an end as Houliao drove his sword deep into Feiyuan’s stomach. Jieyuan saw Yongyi cringe. Yongyi’s hands, still gripping the railing, were white with force—and for once, Jieyuan found sense in the palace’s decision to transmute their entire palace, because if the railing had been of mundane steel, Yongyi would’ve crushed it just now.

Drawing his sword back, Houliao mercifully disengaged, standing in place as Feiyuan slumped down, crumpling, clutching her belly. Stomach wounds weren’t deadly for cultivators, not like they were for mundanes, but they still weren’t something easily treated. Anything involving organ damage would require treatment more nuanced than just popping pills.

If Yongyi got to fight the Houliao in the next round, that might very well lead to the first murder in the tournament.

The proctor got on the stage and announced Houliao’s victory.

A trio of Gleaming Stone Sect were already headed down, and for a moment Jieyuan thought Yongyi would join them. But Yongyi just remained there, staring down at the stage.

“She’ll be fine,” Jieyuan said.

Yongyi just hummed, softly, staring down at the stage, his yellow eyes seemingly gleaming under the brightgold radiance that surrounded them.

Houliao got off the stage. The Gleaming Stone Sect elders picked up Feiyuan and carried her away. The proctor looked up toward the viewing floor.

“Haoyujin Jieyuan, of the Gleaming Stone Sect.”

—∞—

As Jieyuan walked over to the center stage, he eyed the woman approaching from the opposite side of the floor. Jieyuan took his time, and she didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry, either.

Xiyunfeng Caoluan. Jieyuan tested the name in his head. It wasn’t just her name that Palace Head Yiming told him this morning. The palace head also gave him a jade book with all the information the sect had collected on her. Sovereign Zhihao and his son were from the ruling household of the Xiyunfeng core bloodline. Caoluan, on the other hand, was from a branch bloodline—and the only cultivator of her household, at that.

On the other side, Caoluan reached the stage and jumped up onto it. Jieyuan followed suit just moments later.

He looked Caoluan over. What stood out the most about her was her height. Standing only two inches or so shorter than him, she was about as tall as Yunzhu and only slightly taller than Meiyao. Beyond that, there wasn’t much more to her appearance. She had the hard looks of the Xiyunfeng Clan. Strong-jawed, with pronounced brow and narrow, sharp eyes.

The only other thing that drew the eye was the light-green sash she wore over the waist of her black robes, marking her as a mere inner disciple of the Xiyunfeng Clan.

As the proctor went over the rules of engagement—that was still a thing, and Jieyuan suspected that part of it was to give the competitors time to ready themselves—Jieyuan drew the Shifting Feathers, and Caoluan slid her sword out of its sheath. 

Though they were already five rounds into the tournament, and it was common knowledge what prime skills their artifacts had, they kept the gear-shroud on their weapons, making their properties impossible to tell through soulsense. That was partially out of custom. But also because it was always a good idea to keep your opponent guessing if what you’d shown so far was actually everything.

Across him, Caoluan looked intent, studying him back just as he studied her. He couldn’t expect any underestimation from her. That wasn’t something he’d been able to count on since his first duel. Just as he wouldn’t underestimate her.

The three biggest dark horses in the tournament were him, Meiyao, and Daojue. According to Palace Head Yiming, it wasn’t the first time in the tournament’s history that a fourth-sign had made it to the fifth round. It was, however, the first time three fourth-signs managed to pull that off. And no fourth-sign had ever gotten to the sixth round—something that Jieyuan was pretty sure would no longer be true by the end of the day.

What he wasn’t sure was if he would be the first to break that particular record.

Jieyuan steadied his breathing, eased his grip on the Shifting Feathers, and went over his plan for the fight one last time. Saw it all in his mind’s eye.

The lineups of the Radiant Gold Sect and the Viridian Death Cult were fairly straightforward. Dayang was the Radiant Gold Sect’s undisputed champion, and Houliao the Viridian Death Cult’s. In the Gleaming Stone Sect’s case, it was supposed to be Yongyi—or, barring that, Yunzhu, who as it turned out could probably give Yongyi a run for his gold in terms of martial ability—but Jieyuan’s, Meiyao’s, and Daojue’s presence had muddled things up.

Caoluan mirrored them in the Xiyunfeng Clan. The fourth dark horse, the fourth underdog. She was a fifth-sign—the only one currently in the running. He, Meiyao, and Daojue were at fourth-sign, and everyone else was at sixth-sign. Jieyuan would’ve rather fought any of the other sixth-signs over her, though. Because last round she’d beaten a sixth-sign from the Radiant Gold Palace, and done so without taking injury.

Jieyuan wasn’t sure Meiyao would be able to beat her. Even Daojue winning against her wouldn’t be a sure thing. In terms of martial ability, Jieyuan would put her roughly on his level—far more outstanding a talent than Xianjun, who’d previously been regarded as the best the Xiyunfeng had produced in decades.

To top it off, she was only twenty-one years old. If the tournament had happened two years from now instead, she might have been one of the rare few seventh-signs ever to participate. And she’d done it with just second-order heavenly affinity.

Jieyuan let out a slow exhalation. He had his work cut out for him, all right.