Chapter 668: Straight to the Finals

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

At last, Tian Yi did not change Lonemoon's name to Zuo Shuming's. It was not that he was unwilling. But the peak that Lonemoon and the others were staying in was already an independent mountain in the eyes of the disciples of Gui Yi Sect. So Yi Qing, the one whom everyone silently acknowledged as the master of that mountain, could also send one person to the compet.i.tion. Zuo Shuming was unquestioningly the one who was sent into the compet.i.tion on behalf of Nameless Mountain.

That's right – this mountain of theirs had remained nameless for too long. Now, everyone was referring to it as Nameless Mountain.

But there was only place for one name. Apart from Tian Yi, who thought highly of Lonemoon, no one seemed to take much notice of him. In fact, if anything, people only saw him as Zuo Shuming's lackey. Naturally, Tian Yi thought that Lonemoon was being cast aside.

The facts proved that friends.h.i.+p could be borne out of cheating. Supremacy Tian Yi wanted so much to take care of Lonemoon that he submitted Lonemoon's name. Lonemoon was thus to compete on behalf of Tian Yi's very own mountain.

Thus, Lonemoon was promised advancement to the finals in the compet.i.tion. There was no turning back!

Lonemoon: “…” Son of a b*tch!

The sect's compet.i.tion was set to begin in three days. Yu Luan specially came to inform Chef of this and reminded him to turn up on the day itself. No matter how he put it, it was clear to the three of them that Yu Luan was putting Chef in a spot. He wanted the latter to recruit several disciples into the Nameless Mountain on the day itself.

Although n.o.body in Gui Yi Sect really wanted to learn sword cultivation, they could still recruit disciples. In the last few years, other sects had begun to recruit more sword cultivators as well. Afterall, there was a Soul Formation sword cultivator in the sect – why would people not want to sign up? Especially since the fiendish cultivator Zhong Yi died, Gui Yi Sect's reputation had significantly improved. Even Tai Yan Sect sent disciples to ask after Yi Qing several times. Now, Gui Yi Sect was not the same as before – it was no longer just known for selling good medicines.

In sum, they were to nurture those who had the talents into sword cultivators. Even those without talents had to be nurtured into sword cultivators. After all, this was a sect of pill cultivators. They had loads of money to support all these people!

Lonemoon was very clear on what Yu Luan was after. In fact, he knew this day would come, eventually. Thus, he set up a sword array in advance and threw Zuo Two Bucks in. After all, no matter how many disciples they accepted into the mountain, the responsibilities would all fall on his head. Chef could be put in charge of the meals, but he could not be trusted with training disciples. As for Shen Ying… Heh heh!

Lonemoon spent the time during the first few rounds of the compet.i.tion training Zuo Two Bucks. It was the kind of training that practically threw Zuo Shuming close to death. Finally, the day before the finals, Zuo Two Bucks pa.s.sed the first level of the sword array. It was then that Lonemoon allowed Zuo Two Bucks to compete.

There were many disciples in Gui Yi Sect, thus the sect compet.i.tion took an entire month. The entire compet.i.tion was split into two events – the pill refinement event and the technique event. There were clear winners and losers in the latter, but the former was a bit more complicated. The Foundation Establishment and Qi Refinement groups were good – they did not know how to refine many pills, so one cauldron of pills did not take more than three days. The Golden Core groups and above were a different story altogether. Golden Core cultivators could refine third-grade pills and above. The time it took to refine such pills was at least ten days.

Thus, the sect compet.i.tion of Gui Yi Sect was not like others – it could not be concluded within three to four days. 20 days later, the list of winners were announced.

Zuo Shuming and Lonemoon only competed in the technique compet.i.tion. It was only when they arrived at the battlefield that they discovered there were more than 50 other compet.i.tors. Among these, most of them were Foundation Establishment disciples. A few of them were Golden Core cultivators.

Lonemoon frowned. He realized that in this so-called technique event, Foundation Establishment cultivators would be mixed with the Golden Core cultivators. This was obviously unfair for the Foundation Establishment cultivators. But what else could be expected of Gui Yi Sect? After all, the pill refinement event was its main focus. There were too few cultivators in the sect who did not train in pill refinement. Thus, there was no need at all to split those cultivators by cultivation.

Lonemoon scanned the group of people on the battlefield. The strange thing was that Shu Yi, the invader, was present as well. From time to time, she would look over at Zuo Shuming. It was almost as if she was prepared to do something to him.

The silly man did not seem to notice anything, however. From the moment he entered the battlefield, he hugged his sword close to his chest nervously. He was not afraid of losing. Instead, he was most afraid of embarra.s.sing Supremacy Yi Qing and Lady Shen Ying. After all, he was here in the name of Nameless Mountain.

Thus, from three days ago, he had been rehearsing his sword techniques in his mind. All he hoped for was that he would not perform those techniques badly. Yet, with the first blow he dealt since he stepped onto the battlefield, he caused his opponent to fly off the stage. Zuo Shuming was not prepared for this. He had not even calmed his nerves.

Huh?

(⊙_⊙)

Was he really the one who dealt that blow earlier? But that person had pa.s.sed out a bit too quickly. It was different from the way Zuo Shuming imagined it!

When he was practising with Brother Lonemoon before, he was always the one who would be thrown off.

Zuo Two Bucks, who was so used to being beaten up with no hope of retaliating, was shocked by his own achievements! Later on, he realized that the sword technique that Brother Lonemoon was training him in was so awesome.

As the compet.i.tion carried on, he became more and more shocked by his own powers. He could hardly believe what he was seeing. The sword technique that Brother Lonemoon despised him so much for could take him right through the various fights in a breeze. Those Foundation Establishment disciples from the same sect could not even deal more than 10 blows in retaliation before they all fell at the mercy of his sword. Zuo Shuming was pa.s.sing through the stages as quickly as a raging current.

He was stunned by his own performance. Never did he imagine that his technique – which had always been despised – was so… awesome.

o(≧v≦)o

The worries in his heart that had grown since the day he found out he was competing were now all gone. In its place was a self-confidence that Zuo Shuming never knew.

Even when he met a Golden Core opponent, he calmly kept his mind on the techniques he needed to use. Fighting against his opponents' suppression, he attacked blow by blow. He emerged victorious!

Everyone in the audience was shocked stiff. He was fighting someone of a much higher cultivation than him – yet he won! This really was an unbeatable sword cultivator. All the disciples in the sect suddenly could not take their eyes off a certain someone seated high above the battlefield. Even his disciples were so powerful. That Soul Formation Supremacy, the sword cultivator, was out of this world.

Even Yu Luan could not help but turn to face Yi Qing and exclaim, “He really is a disciple of the Nameless Mountain. He can even win an opponent of much higher cultivation than he. You really have an impressive disciple!”

Yi Qing, who had been peeling nuts: “…”

Shen Ying, who had been eating nuts: “…”

Meow meow meow?

(⊙ o ⊙)

“Nameless Mountain, Zuo Shuming wins!”

Zuo Shuming looked absolutely confused. He just won a battle he was sure he would lose. And he did not even fight his hardest. Suddenly, he felt like he was dreaming. He looked down at the sword in his hand. For the first time in his life, he felt like a real sword cultivator!

Immense excitement began to well up in his chest. If this was his true prowess, then maybe… Maybe he could win all the way to the end. He tightened his grip on his sword and looked up, his expression bright and hopeful. He could win! He could really win!

That was until… Lonemoon walked onto the stage.

Hehe…

Faintly, he felt like something fell in his chest and broke into pieces. Like a deflated balloon, Zuo Shuming slumped down. All his hopes and dreams were shattered in an instant

Zuo Shuming: “…”

Could he just give up?

There was no need for him to be bullied – there was no need to even compete this time!