The Kunling Mountain disciple guarding the direction where Chan Shaoting had exited the boundary proved that Chan Shaoting had indeed been defeated, and no one had violated the match rules. Only then did Qin Fujun loudly announce to the public, “Round One, Match Forty-Three, Zhang Zhichen wins!”
The noise in the spectator stands immediately grew louder.
Only then did Yu Qing walk out of the match arena boundary and flash up to the spectator stands.
Qin Fujun also removed the dart engraved with “Zhang Zhichen” and handed it to Yu Qing.
More than half the darts still remained on the background wall. Only a few could still end up in contestants’ hands. Most would be confiscated and destroyed, never to return to the contestants.
After descending the stage, Yu Qing had wanted to return to his original seat. However, upon seeing Long Xingyun, that pretentious wretch, beside his former empty seat, he immediately lost interest in going back. He simply found a nearby empty seat, one left behind after the dead or injured had been carried away.
Thus Long Xingyun kept glancing this way from time to time.
Dust once again filled the match arena. A group of Kunling Mountain disciples quickly entered the field, levelling the pits and hollows created by the fighting. They worked fast and methodically. Kunling Mountain had clearly made preparations for this in advance.
Qin Fujun did not idle away the time either. She invited the contestants for the forty-fourth round onto the stage to verify their identities.
Once everything was ready, the matches resumed. Two more fights followed in succession, and today’s matches concluded with the forty-fifth bout.
As the crowd dispersed, Yu Qing noticed Wen Xin and Xiao Hong stand up and leave. This forced him, who had been hesitating over whether to greet them, to temporarily abandon the notion.
Taking advantage of the dispersal gap, he briefly met with Nan Zhu and the others. He had wanted to ask Nan Zhu to help find out where Wen Xin was staying, but the words reached his lips yet he could not speak them. Furthermore, Nan Zhu and the others were not permitted to linger here, so he did not mention the matter.
With Baili Xin present, the brothers could not say anything extra.
Only when he returned to the small garden where he was staying did Yu Qing remove the cloth mask from his face.
Kui Kui, who had returned with him, looked him up and down and chuckled, “Seems it wasn’t just good luck after all.”
With that, he swaggered back to his own small building. Clearly he had also heard about the three consecutive lucky draws in the Ding District earlier.
Yu Qing, walking back to his own small building, looked back several times along the way and noticed Xiang Zhen seemed to be following him. However, in this garden, people were free to walk wherever they wished, so he could not say anything. It was not until he reached the door of his own small building and found Xiang Zhen still silently following that he could endure it no longer. He turned and asked, “Why are you following me?”
Xiang Zhen’s eyes held an unusual gleam. He cupped his hands in salute and said, “I wish to ask Brother Zhang for some guidance.”
Yu Qing asked suspiciously, “Guidance about what?”
Xiang Zhen said, “What does that realm feel like, and how did Brother Zhang touch upon that threshold?”
Yu Qing immediately understood what he was talking about and retorted, “The so-called sword intent you mentioned?”
Xiang Zhen nodded repeatedly.
Yu Qing became simultaneously amused and exasperated. “I already said I don’t have it. Why don’t you believe me?”
Yet Xiang Zhen cupped his hands again and said, “Indeed, this is Brother Zhang’s private cultivation matter. The related insights are extremely precious and not to be shared with outsiders. I was presumptuous. If I can enter the challenge matches, I will certainly challenge Brother Zhang to a sword duel. I hope Brother Zhang will let me personally experience the flavour of sword intent.”
Yu Qing was rendered speechless for a moment. Finally he sighed, “Suit yourself.”
Anyway, he could not stop the other from issuing a challenge to him in the challenge matches.
Xiang Zhen was instantly overjoyed. He even gave Yu Qing a deep bow before taking his leave with an air of great solemnity.
Yu Qing was thoroughly speechless. He felt that no one in this garden seemed normal. He turned, opened the door, entered, and slammed it shut with a bang.
That night, Yu Qing almost constantly waited by the railing on the second floor, wanting to wait for Chan Shaoting to return. Mainly he wanted to explain things. He still did not wish to fall out with the other party.
However, Chan Shaoting did not return all night. Early the next morning, people even came to tidy up the small building where Chan Shaoting had stayed.
Only then did Yu Qing learn that Chan Shaoting had not even stayed to watch the subsequent matches. He had already left Kunling Mountain. From then on, Yu Qing never saw Chan Shaoting at Kunling Mountain again.
Yet he still had to continue his own journey at the Chaoyang Grand Assembly.
When the morning sun rose, he once again followed the crowd to the match arena and continued watching from the sidelines. Although he had no match today, he still watched very attentively and observed carefully.
The match venue had clearly been reorganised.
This match arena’s location was apparently much higher in elevation than the Ding District. Yu Qing felt that he could see the sun earlier here than in the Ding District.
He still wore his mask today.
He also sensed that the gazes sizing him up seemed to have increased.
He also felt that Long Xingyun seemed much quieter today. He no longer chattered incessantly in Yu Qing’s ear, nor did he sit beside him. Today the two sat quite far apart.
The matches were still fought with great ferocity, and blood was still seen from time to time. Had he not also shed blood yesterday?
There were only five matches today, so they ended quickly. The remaining time was not wasted either. The schedule was rather tight.
Immediately after, the fifty victors were invited to draw lots again.
It was not that Kunling Mountain wanted to schedule things so tightly. Rather, every Chaoyang Grand Assembly had been this way.
For Kunling Mountain, which had hosted more than one assembly, this arrangement felt quite suitable. It could accommodate the distinguished guests’ time. It was not good to make the honoured guests in the VIP seats waste their time. For example, on the first day of the draw, the Empress had not come. So it was better to keep things compact.
When the fifty people once again formed a large circle, Yu Qing, who had already summarised his drawing experience, immediately squeezed in to queue behind his locked target. It was not Long Xingyun. It was a man called Tong Ziwei.
His careful observation of every match earlier had been for this moment. He remembered that Tong Ziwei had won a pyrrhic victory and was quite heavily injured.
The drum sounded. The fifty people linked head to tail and began circling.
When the drum stopped, those who reacted fastest went first.
After one round of darts, unlike last time, no accident occurred. Yu Qing successfully drew Tong Ziwei.
When the card-flipping results came out, they also confirmed his choice.
Instead, Nan Zhu in the spectator stands stared at the card-flipping scene and frowned, muttering to himself, “What is Old Fifteen up to?”
He knew Yu Qing had the ability to cheat at drawing lots. The first time he had not drawn Long Xingyun, that was one thing. The second time he had not drawn him either, which made him somewhat puzzled. He could not figure out what was going on, and for the moment it was inconvenient to seek confirmation from Yu Qing.
Wen Ruowei, who had come down from the stage after revealing her card, subconsciously walked toward Yu Qing again. Although her elder sister had sternly warned her afterwards, she still could not resist passing by Yu Qing’s side and cheerfully offering a comment, “You fought well against that person yesterday.”
After speaking, she quickly ran back to her sister’s side. She had already seen her sister’s extremely unfriendly gaze fixed upon her.
As for what that person’s name was, she could not remember. In fact, she had seen Chan Shaoting on certain occasions before, but she had simply not paid attention.
People were accustomed to looking upward, accustomed to remembering the faces of those above. Few would look downward. They were not used to noticing the faces of those below.
Similarly, Chan Shaoting knew Long Xingyun, but Long Xingyun did not know him.
Yu Qing’s gaze also followed Wen Ruowei’s retreating figure. He felt this woman’s attitude toward him seemed somewhat abnormal. Could she know him?
Of course, he had also noticed that these two women’s strength was extraordinary. Their process of defeating opponents seemed relatively effortless. If he faced them in a match, they would likely be formidable enemies.
When Zhong Ruochen came down after revealing her card, the moment she returned to her younger sister’s side, her sister immediately snatched the card from her hand to examine it.
Comparing the number cards in their hands and discovering they both bore the number “Seven,” Wen Ruowei immediately let out a wail, “How terrible, how did we draw each other?”
In order to avoid drawing each other as much as possible, the sisters had deliberately scattered to different character districts during the previous advancement matches. They had never expected that despite all their dodging, they would still collide. They had never expected to draw each other in the second round of the finals. This was also the last round of drawing lots.
When the drawing ended and the crowd dispersed, Yu Qing’s gaze once again immediately fixed upon Wen Xin’s departing figure. In the end, he met with Nan Zhu and the others again to routinely ask about each other’s situations.
As night fell, the weather suddenly changed. A heavy rain began to fall, a violent storm.
Yu Qing, alone in his solitary room, extinguished the lamp inside. He opened the window just a crack and stood before it watching the storm rage outside, wearing an expression of confused contemplation, letting the drifting rain kiss his face.
Fortunately, the heavy rain came quickly and left completely.
The next day at dawn, it was another bright sunny day with clear skies for thousands of miles. The stone paths on the road were clean, but the match arena was a field of mud. However, this did not affect the continuation of the matches.
Once the matches began, the benefit of the rain was also seen. The arena no longer stirred up scenes of dust flying everywhere.
When the seventh match of the second round began and he saw those two women ascend the stage, Yu Qing immediately became interested.
He could tell these two women’s strength was no simple matter. He looked forward to their duel being able to display true strength for his reference.
Who would have thought that the moment they stepped onto the stage, the woman in the yellow skirt directly conceded defeat. Qin Fujun declared the woman in the white skirt the victor.
Only at this moment did Yu Qing seriously memorise the two women’s names. The woman in white was called Shang Yue. The woman in yellow was called Shang Yun.
Based on the signs that the two were inseparable, plus their names, Yu Qing estimated they were sisters.
In the VIP seats, the Empress, who sat alone in the grand seat observing, suddenly asked lightly, “Sect Leader Zhao, are these two women the pair from the capital of Jin Kingdom?”
Zhao Dengzi was startled for a moment, then immediately nodded, “Your Majesty is perceptive. It is them.”
The Outer Guard Commander Mi Yunzhong also opportunely bent down beside Yan Yi and reported in a low voice, “The one in white is the elder sister. The one in yellow is the younger sister…”
Round after round of rumbling combat continued in the arena. The spectator seats occasionally erupted in exclamations or cheers.
For many spectators, being able to watch such splendid fighting round after round was truly a rare feast for the eyes. They watched without weariness, only feeling that time passed swiftly.
“Round Two, Match Twelve. Zhang Zhichen and Tong Ziwei, please come onto the stage to verify your identities.”
Following Qin Fujun’s loud shout from the stage, a slightly unusual wave of discussion arose again.
“Quick, look, that fellow who defeated the grandson of the Guijian Villa master is on stage again.”
“It’s him, that one who withstood thousands of swords like rain.”
Under the gaze of numerous eyes, Yu Qing and Tong Ziwei successively flew onto the stage. They each handed over their number cards. Yu Qing once again turned his back to the arena and removed his face mask.
After verifying the two people’s identities, just as Qin Fujun was about to invite the two to formally enter the arena, Tong Ziwei suddenly said, “I concede.”
At these words, Yu Qing was stunned and looked at him.
Qin Fujun was also rather surprised. “Please repeat that.”
Tong Ziwei confirmed to her again, “I concede.”
Qin Fujun glanced at Yu Qing and pressed, “Why?”
Tong Ziwei smiled bitterly and sighed, “The injuries on my body are a burden. I have seen Brother Zhang’s strength before. If I were not injured, I could still give it a try. But now, after thinking it over, I will not go on stage to make a fool of myself.”
So that was the reason. Qin Fujun could only ask him to wait a moment, then invited the supervisory personnel over to bear witness.
After confirming there was no mistake, Qin Fujun could only loudly announce to the crowd, “Tong Ziwei confirms withdrawal. Round Two, Match Twelve, Zhang Zhichen wins!”