By now, seven people had gathered in the square: Ye Qingyi from the Qian realm, Kusagami Red from the Kan realm, Black from the Gen realm, Sato Mami from the Dui realm, Sakurai Mei from the Li realm, Vail from the Xun realm, and Su Mo from the Kun realm.
One more person—from the Zhen realm—had yet to arrive.
Everyone assumed it would be Yuan Tianxiu, Su Mo included.
Among the seven already present, aside from the unconscious Ye Qingyi, they had split into two camps: one side consisted of Black and Vail, while the other was made up of the hosts—Sato Mami, Sakurai Mei, Kusagami Red, and Su Mo.
Kusagami Red was the first to challenge Vail. In Su Mo’s impression, Vail was the more innocent type—but that didn’t mean she was timid. She accepted without hesitation.
Kusagami Red gave a refined smile. “Please!”
And the two immediately clashed.
Seeing this, Sakurai Mei tilted her chin toward Black. “You wanna fight or not?”
Black shot her an icy glance and simply ignored her.
“You—you—you’re ignoring me?” Sakurai Mei felt utterly humiliated.
Sato Mami placed a hand on her shoulder and said calmly, “Don’t rush. Once everyone’s here, there’ll be plenty of chances to fight.”
Sakurai Mei clicked her tongue and walked over to Su Mo, muttering under her breath, “Just a brat. Acting all cool. I’ll knock those teeth right out of your mouth later!”
Su Mo reminded her, “Mei-nee, don’t take him lightly. He’s incredibly strong—his actual combat ability doesn’t match his cultivation level.”
Back when Su Mo had held back part of his strength, Black had practically pinned him down and pummeled him. At the time, they were both C-rank. And Su Mo had already been nearly unbeatable below B-rank back then—which went to show just how terrifying Black’s power was.
Sakurai Mei wasn’t convinced. “He’s just a kid. How long has he even been B-rank? He probably hasn’t even gotten used to his Spiritual Sea yet. What’s there to be afraid of?”
Then she leaned in and whispered secretly into Su Mo’s ear: “Okay, he is strong. I’m just trash-talking. That cold, aloof attitude of his is so annoying—like he thinks he’s some brooding CEO or something. So pretentious!”
Su Mo couldn’t help but laugh inwardly, and gave her a discreet thumbs-up.
The fight between Kusagami Red and Vail was heating up, with everyone else watching on the sidelines. Su Mo took the chance to quietly check on Ye Qingyi’s condition. Her breathing and heartbeat were normal—she just hadn’t woken up yet.
Her soul took a heavy hit, he thought, but that walnut voluntarily merged into her body, probably to help heal her. It should be fine.
He propped Ye Qingyi against a stone pillar and turned his attention back to the duel between Kusagami Red and Vail.
Might as well learn something while he watched.
Kusagami Red had broken through to B-rank two years ago, while Vail had only been there for a few months—yet the two were trading blows evenly.
The more Kusagami Red fought, the more excited he got. And when he got excited, he just couldn’t stop talking: “Vail, little sister, you seem a bit lacking here. It’s all brute force, isn’t it? If you keep this up, big brother here might just win.”
Vail remained completely unfazed. “When brute force reaches a certain level, all techniques crumble before it.”
“Oh, really? How about a bet, then?” Kusagami Red grinned.
The two paused their fight. Vail wasn’t even out of breath—cool and composed as ever. “Bet on what?”
Kusagami Red thought for a moment and quickly came up with an idea. “Alright, how about this—we settle it within three moves. Whoever gains the upper hand wins. The loser, being the less skilled one, has to become the winner’s disciple. What do you say?”
Vail considered briefly. “Fine.”
Kusagami Red’s smile stretched wide.
“Then, little sister Vail, you’d better pay attention.” His expression suddenly turned serious as the longsword at his back slowly slid from its sheath. “Because my sword—is very deadly.”
Su Mo’s eyes narrowed. He could clearly sense Kusagami Red getting serious. The moment the sword left its scabbard, a torrent of sword intent surged forth, sending a chill down everyone’s spine. If Vail weren’t a Chosen One, Su Mo could already predict the outcome of this bout.
Sakurai Mei casually remarked to Su Mo, “Don’t let his pervy, goofy act fool you. When it comes to real skill, I’ve always respected him. His swordsmanship is practically divine—ordinary B-ranks are no match for him.”
“Mei-nee thinks that highly of him?”
“Anyone who knows him well does.”
Su Mo stayed silent, remembering that night when Kusagami Red had been stuffed into a sack and dumped in a landfill.
Ah… the gap in strength is just too wide—it always makes him look weaker than he really is.
“And you? Do you favor that white girl more?”
Su Mo nodded. “She is a Chosen One, after all.”
Sakurai Mei shook her head with a sigh. “Ah, kids these days—so hung up on flashy titles…”
Su Mo suddenly said, “How about we make a bet too? See who calls it right?”
Sakurai Mei’s eyes lit up. “Sure! Let’s bet a meal. Loser pays—how’s that?”
“That’s awfully casual.”
“What else? Betting too big between us sisters isn’t good—might hurt the friendship.”
“Alright, deal.”
Just as the two of them settled their wager, the first move of the other match began.
Kusagami Red controlled his sword with his mind—a three-foot-long blade surging forward, wreathed in overwhelming sword intent. On the other side, Vail’s approach was far simpler: she just planted her feet and threw a punch. At the same time, her eyes turned completely white.
She was planning to catch the sword barehanded.
Sato Mami and Sakurai Mei looked confused. Su Mo and Black, however, wore calm expressions—as if to say: “You wouldn’t understand how strong a ‘cheat’ ability is unless you’ve got one yourself…”
BOOM!
The sword intent erupted like a tidal wave, engulfing Vail’s seemingly fragile frame. Kusagami Red’s lips curled slightly.
Then, suddenly, his heart clenched—because she had vanished from his perception, as if she’d never existed.
No, not vanished—she was moving so fast that by the time he could even register her presence, she had already changed position.
“Not good!” Kusagami Red, alarmed, hurriedly recalled his sword to counter—but it was too late. She was already there, faster than a phantom, and he had no time to defend.
BANG!
Both the front and back of Kusagami Red’s clothes were blown open, and a deep trench—dozens of meters long—appeared in the bluestone floor behind him.
“I lost…”
Kusagami Red swallowed hard, silently cursing in his head: These Chosen Ones are absolute monsters. Might as well be cheating. They leave no room for us regular folks at all.
He sheathed his sword and, with a grin, bowed deeply to Vail. “Greetings, Master. Wherever you go from now on, this disciple will follow—dutiful and without complaint.”
Vail frowned. She hadn’t expected him to aim for this. She replied flatly, “The bet was about becoming a disciple, but it never said the master-student relationship would be established right away. So I can choose not to accept you. Therefore, we have no such relationship now.”
Kusagami Red: =͟͟͞͞(꒪ᗜ꒪ ‧)
Even the always-icy Black cracked—his lips twitching repeatedly, barely holding back a laugh.
Sakurai Mei, on the other hand, burst out laughing without restraint. “Kusagami Red! Look at you now! Smarter than everyone, and you still outsmarted yourself!”
But Su Mo noticed something else: That guy wasn’t going all out.
