The shopkeeper did not press the matter further. He simply said to Lian Li in a friendly tone, “Then I wish Young Master Lian’s friend a high ranking in the competition and that he may win fame throughout the world.”
“I’ll take those auspicious words to heart, Shopkeeper,” Lian Li replied with a brilliant smile.
Upon returning to the inn, Yun Huizhou was sitting cross-legged on the bed, regulating his breath. Lian Li stepped lightly as he walked to the table and sat down, pouring himself a cup of water.
After a short while, Yun Huizhou finished his meditation and moved in a flash to sit across from Lian Li.
“Tomorrow, I will be standing with the people from the Qinghong Sword Sect. When it’s my turn to go up, don’t wander off. Just stay with them,” Yun Huizhou said.
“Alright,” Lian Li agreed readily.
***
The next day.
Lian Li woke up at the same time as Yun Huizhou.
Before the sun had even risen, the first thing Yun Huizhou did upon waking was sit cross-legged to regulate his breath.
Lian Li lay on the bed, head turned to watch Yun Huizhou sitting on the other side of the mattress, not moving carelessly.
About half an hour later, Yun Huizhou finished his meditation.
He called for the waiter to bring up water for washing and breakfast.
Because he might have to compete today, their breakfast was more substantial than usual.
By the time they finished eating, the sky had only just begun to brighten with the first hints of light.
The two arrived at the competition grounds.
Many people had already gathered. Yun Huizhou placed an arm around Lian Li’s shoulder, guiding him through the crowd. They soon reached the area where the disciples of the Qinghong Sword Sect were located.
Zhao Honglan was there as well, accompanied by a tall girl with heroic features and a countenance as radiant as morning clouds.
This time, Yun Huizhou did not wait for Zhao Honglan to introduce her, nor did he wait for the girl to introduce herself. Instead, he took the initiative to speak.
He first pointed to Lian Li to introduce him to the girl. “Lian Li.”
Then he said to Lian Li, “This is Miss Qu, the First Senior Sister of the Qinghong Sword Sect.”
Senior Sister Qu laughed and waved her hand. “What ‘First Senior Sister’? I was simply the first among the female disciples to enter the sect; the junior brothers and sisters are just teasing me. The real First Senior Brother is right here.”
She pointed her finger lightly toward Zhao Honglan.
Once the sky was fully bright, a middle-aged man walked into the center of the arena. He cupped his fists toward the crowd and, after delivering an opening speech, used his lightness skill to fly onto a main platform outside the arena.
He reached his hand into a large wooden box and drew out two wooden slips.
There were names written on the slips. Lian Li could not see them clearly, but Yun Huizhou could. Noticing Lian Li squinting with effort, he explained, “Those are names. The names written on the two slips drawn are the opponents.”
Lian Li nodded, then asked, “With so many people and only this one arena, how long will this take?”
“It will probably last for about half a month,” Yun Huizhou said with some uncertainty. He looked at Zhao Honglan and asked, “Brother Zhao, how many people signed up this time?”
Zhao Honglan had overheard their conversation. Knowing that Lian Li was completely ignorant of such matters, he answered in detail.
“Each sect can only nominate three disciples to participate, but some sects send fewer than three. The vacant slots are then given to other rogue swordsmen of the martial forest.”
“Those unaffiliated wanderers come here to register themselves. A rough screening was conducted over the past few days. There are approximately five hundred people whose names have made it into the wooden box at this stage, and all of them possess genuine skill.”
Although those who achieved high rankings were mostly disciples of famous sects, there were always reclusive masters who belonged to no sect but sent their disciples down the mountain to participate in this triennial competition.
This was also the most important stage of the Martial Arts Assembly. Many young swordsmen who did not come from famous sects and had no prior reputation made their names here.
Of course, there were also young swordsmen whose timing wasn’t as fortunate and whose first stop after leaving their mountains wasn’t the Martial Arts Assembly. However, as long as they had true ability, they could always carve out a reputation for themselves within three years.
Lian Li thanked Zhao Honglan, then tugged on Yun Huizhou’s sleeve and asked, “What about you? Which category do you belong to?”
Yun Huizhou stroked his chin and smiled triumphantly. “Regardless of which kind I am, I’ll definitely be in there.”
Lian Li curled his lip, thinking, Isn’t that the same as saying nothing at all?
The matches on the field proceeded quickly. There were almost no protracted battles, which showed that even after the screening, the gap in strength among the finalists was significant.
Yun Huizhou chatted with Zhao Honglan and Senior Sister Qu from time to time. Because Lian Li was a layman, he could only watch for the excitement and couldn’t really participate in the conversation.
But he didn’t mind; he was completely mesmerized by the sight.
Who from the modern world could resist martial arts? Who hadn’t thought about using a Great Lightness Skill to fly to school when they were running late?
Who hadn’t imagined falling off a cliff one day and obtaining a long-lost, peerless martial art?
And who hadn’t thought about showing off in front of everyone after mastering such peerless skills?
Initially, Yun Huizhou would say a few words to explain things to him so he wouldn’t be too bored.
However, he soon discovered that although this person didn’t quite understand what he was seeing, he was more enthralled than anyone else. Yun Huizhou called his name several times without receiving a response, so he eventually left him to his own devices.
It wasn’t until the third day that Yun Huizhou’s name was finally drawn. By this time, there weren’t many names left in the wooden box; the round would be finished today.
Zhao Honglan had already competed on the second day. Senior Sister Qu had participated three years ago and won the top prize that year, so naturally, she did not need to participate this time.
Soon, the two people on the field exchanged names and sect affiliations.
“Zuimeng Island, Yun Huizhou.”
“Yang Jiang.”
Yun Huizhou’s opponent looked a bit older than him. Since he didn’t announce a sect name, he was a rogue swordsman without an affiliation.
Zhao Honglan also gave Lian Li an introduction, explaining that this Yang Jiang was a somewhat famous young swordsman.
As for whether Yun Huizhou was famous, Lian Li hadn’t gone out of his way to ask.
However, after Yun Huizhou’s opponent took the field, Lian Li caught snippets of the surrounding crowd’s discussion.
“I know Yang Jiang. I heard he single-handedly wiped out that nest of bandits outside Xiaobai Town. He received quite a few rewards from the Martial Arts Alliance for that.”
“Yes, I heard of it too. The leader of those bandits had reached the level of a second-class master, and the other two chiefs were third-class masters. There were hundreds of other bandits as well, and he took them all down by himself, rescuing many trapped women.”
“Who is that across from him? He sounds like a sect disciple, but Zuimeng Island—has any of you heard of it?”
“You don’t even know about Drunken Dream Island? Among the twenty-eight Transcendent Masters in the current martial world, five of them are on Drunken Dream Island.”
“Hiss—that powerful? Then wouldn’t Yang Jiang be…”
“That’s not necessarily true. Drunken Dream Island is just a place name. There are many small islands nearby. He might just be a resident from there who doesn’t know any profound martial arts.”
