Chapter 179 - Leave it to Me
"Ah!" Cries could be heard.
The crowd went ballistic as they watched the human trio, who once had the upper hand, get pressed down by the three barbarians with such a… barbaric method. It was such an idiotic method, but there was nothing they could do.
"This can"t continue! What should we do?" Inside the Seventh Truth Platform"s area, Yu Kuang racked his brain to think of an idea.
He turned and saw Xie Lianzhen out of the corner of his eyes, sitting there and looking at the rooftop like it was none of his business.
Over the past two days, Yu Kuang had acc.u.mulated a lot of emotions, and seeing Xie Lianzhen acting like it had nothing to do with him made Yu Kuang feel displeased. He raised his voice and called out to Xie Lianzhen, "Senior Brother Xie, you look very calm, huh? Do you have any good ideas, perhaps?"
Xie Lianzhen looked back at him. "It"s just a small skill. As long as they exhibit their normal standards, they"ll be fine," he answered calmly.
"Oh? Is that so? This Junior Brother is very stupid, I"ll need Senior Brother Xie to enlighten me."
Yu Kuang"s voice wasn"t soft, and the disciples near him were all looking over now.
Xie Lianzhen indeed had a questionable position in the Seventh Truth Platform. On one hand, he deserved the position because he was in the direct line of descent after the fifth clan master, the previous Alioth Star Lord"s true disciple. Him taking over the position was something that made perfect sense. On the other hand, he had some physical defects and rarely made an appearance, so a lot of people felt like his authority didn"t carry much weight.
They obviously knew that Yu Kuang was provoking him, and they were curious to see how Xie Lianzhen would respond.
"Combining three into one sounds powerful, but if you look at it from another point of view, the fight is now a three-on-one instead of a three-on-three. Two heads are better than one, so it won"t be difficult for three people to team up and defeat an opponent who"s stronger."
Yu Kuang furrowed his eyebrows. "Senior Brother Xie, didn"t you see what they did? Three into one, one into three - if they try to fight it as a three-on-one, the other two harpies will just spread out and make it a three-on-three again."
"Even easier then. Weren"t they just beating them in a three-on-three?"
Yu Kuang was taken aback by his answer. "It"s a transformation! The point is that they can transform at any time now!"
Xie Lianzhen smiled thinly. "How is it easy to transform from three into one? Especially when they depend on the resonance of their blood vessels. It isn"t enough to just have a good grasp over the technique because they each have their own tempos. If even one goes down, that"s the same as losing an arm."
If the disciple thought Xie Lianzhen was just playing with words earlier, this reply could seen as opening their eyes to many different possibilities. The Seventh Truth Platform disciples were now pondering over the possibilities.
"Easy to say," Yu Kuang retorted, not wanting to lose, "but do you think that Senior Brother Wei wouldn"t be aware of that? If you want to break the opponent"s tempo, you have to restrain them with pure ability. If they could do such a thing, they wouldn"t be having a problem in the first place."
The disciples who were listening to the conversation secretly agreed. Breaking your opponent"s tempo wasn"t some unknown method, but it was easier said than done.
Xie Lianzhen shook his head. "That brings us back to the fact that this is a group fight. If it was a one-on-one, it"s obviously hard to forcefully break their tempo. However, in a group fight, you don"t need to forcefully restrain them, you just need to break their coordination."
Just like a precise machine; as soon as one gear is out of place, the whole thing breaks.
Yu Kuang was left speechless. After thinking about it, it did make sense. However, the theory was great and all, but three harpies who had excited their blood vessels were way too strong. You couldn"t even touch them directly, so breaking their coordination would require perfect observation skills and accuracy. A three-on-three was much more complicated than an individual fight. Just understanding your teammates wasn"t enough for them to identify a gap so easily.
Looking at the match on stage, Yu Kuang prayed for his Senior Brother silently.
Wei Chunqiu was feeling frustrated now. The residual effect from his previous two matches still hadn"t faded away yet, and now he was stuck in this kind of situation. He wanted to use his strength to forcefully break the coordination between the harpies, but he was still worried about the problem with his mystic force, and he couldn"t make up his mind about what he should do.
After another attempt, they were still unable to break their coordination. Wei Chunqiu shook his head and turned to his other two teammates. "We can"t continue like this or we"ll reach a point where we have no more mystic force left to fight."
Hearing his words, Kou Wei nodded in agreement. "Yeah. We should risk it."
Both of them exchanged glances and saw the firm determination in each other"s eyes.
"By force?" Wei Chunqiu asked.
Kou Wei nodded slowly. "I"ll try to trap two of them."
That way, Wei Chunqiu and Lu Mingshu could cut into the same point at the same time, and they would have a better chance to succeed.
"But you"ll have to face enormous pressure."
"That can"t be helped anymore." Kou Wei sighed. "As long as you both succeed, even if I get injured, it"ll be worth it."
True, it"s way better than dragging the match out.
Wei Chunqiu was about to agree when he was cut off by Lu Mingshu; "Not necessary."
Both turned to her at the same time. "You have a solution?"
Lu Mingshu nodded. "We just have to mess up their tempo and destroy their coordination. If we can find the right timing, it will be easy."
Her accuracy was something that Kou Wei and Wei Chunqiu had both experienced. Especially Wei Chunqiu; he had personally experienced Lu Mingshu disrupting his tempo.
"But…"
"If both of you believe in me, then just leave it to me."
Kou Wei and Wei Chunqiu turned to look at each other before agreeing.
"Okay, Miss, we will listen to you."
The match had lasted for quite a while now, which gave Lu Mingshu enough time to collect all the data she needed. She glanced over to the rooftop and pointed toward the center. "Are you both familiar with Bagua?"
Both nodded. The Seventh Truth Platform was a Taoist sect, so Wei Chunqiu would know the Bagua by heart. As for Kou Wei, he was familiar with Bagua too since the Heavenly Sea Pavilion had done research on ancient martial arts skills.
"Let"s set that as the center and mark it with the bearings of Bagua; Heaven, Earth, Fire, and Water, etcetera. In a bit, you will both go wherever I point and follow my instructions. Is that okay?"
Kou Wei hesitated for a while before nodding in agreement. "Sure. Since we have decided to follow your plan, then let"s do it. "
Wei Chunqiu had no objections either.
"When I shout 1, that means Senior Brother Kou Wei, and 2 is for Gentleman Wei. Please remember that and act immediately. We might lose our chance if we aren"t fast enough."
"Yes."
"1, go to the center, 2, go to the side!"
The trio immediately split up.
Kou Wei stood in the center firmly while Wei Chunqiu leapt up.
Lu Mingshu stood on the same line as Wei Chunqiu, but no more than twenty feet apart.
She shouted out loud, "1, defend, 2, attack!"
Kou Wei"s water dragon gushed up and surrounded his body.
Wei Chunqiu"s mystic light congealed into a sword, and the tip started blinking.
At the same time, Lu Mingshu slashed her sword energy down and pierced through.
The second harpy was close to Wei Chunqiu and attacked him, while the other two attacked Kou Wei.
"What are they thinking?" The crowd"s jaws dropped. "Handing command over to Lu Mingshu? Can she do it?"
"Oh no! Kou Wei"s being double-teamed!"
This is absolute nonsense!
Chapter 180 - This is True Ability
The first harpy"s fist twinkled in the air, and the stone hatchet created a surging energy wave, aiming for Kou Wei.
"1, retreat to Thunder!"
Kou Wei transformed into a dot as the five dragons swept him up and moved him through the air. The next minute, he was at the Thunder position.
"Joint attack!"
As soon as Lu Mingshu gave the command, they all rushed up to attack.
Wei Chunqiu"s sword-energy reached first. The lotus-like sword-energy hit the second harpy straight on. Lu Mingshu followed behind Wei Chunqiu, but her sword-energy was delayed behind Wei Chunqiu"s, so her attack arrived right when the harpy counterattacked.
Lastly, it was Kou Wei"s turn. The second harpy"s stone hatchet struck Wei Chunqiu"s sword-energy, and the shockwave forced Lu Mingshu to retreat. Before the second harpy could do anything else though, Kou Wei"s water dragons arrived.
The first and third harpy turned around immediately to block Kou Wei"s water dragons.
"2, defend!"
Wei Chunqiu pulled away and waved his sword at the two harpies.
Lu Mingshu was behind him by a second. Both attacks were like connected waves, surging up violently.
Hua!
In between the sword-light, the second harpy was struck by a water dragon. Kou Wei waved his fan, and a golden ray of light appeared. Suddenly, the water dragons turned into an icy spike!
The second harpy"s move became sluggish due to the attacks, and he didn"t know what to do.
Cheers could be heard.
"Strike, strike!"
"Good combined attack!"
"Wei Chunqiu and Lu Mingshu are in charge of stalling them, and Kou Wei is the main person attacking. Smart!"
"Hahaha, that"s right, little barbarians. What makes you think that you have the brains to fight us?"
However, Lu Mingshu didn"t feel a sense of happiness. This was just the start; there was still a lot more work to do to defeat the barbarians.
"1 to Water and 2 to Heaven!"
Lu Mingshu attacked once more and shouted, "1, attack!"
The icy spike suddenly rose.
"2, cut." The sword slashed down, cutting off the connection between the first harpy and the second harpy.
Since the second harpy was attacked by Kou Wei, he couldn"t keep up with the tempo, and he became slower by half a beat.
Lu Mingshu dodged the third harpy"s energy wave.
Mystic energy was the harpies" weakest point, which caused their attacks to be rather slow. As long as one could dodge the energy wave, they would be fine.
Lu Mingshu called out for Wei Chunqiu to attack again even before his previous attack finished.
"2, change attack."
Basically, Wei Chunqiu changed his sword stance and combined with Kou Wei"s ice spike.
Lu Mingshu launched an attack and diverted the first harpy"s attack. Wei Chunqiu and Kou Wei then took the chance to break the coordination between the second and third harpies.
Such a great chance!
"2 to Wind and continuous attack!"
In no time, the tables were turned. The second harpy was like a displaced gear, and now he was out of the coordination between the harpies.
This unforeseen circ.u.mstance stunned the crowd.
"…that"s fantastic!" After a while, a disciple gasped.
"Yeah, it seems like nothing special at first, but…"
He scratched his head in fascination and turned toward the stage once again. Everything was good now. After Lu Mingshu took control, the trio found their tempo and took control of the match.
"I didn"t expect Lu Mingshu to be this capable!"
"Yes! Actually, even in the previous matches, her strength could already be seen," a disciple a.n.a.lyzed. "She"s still weak in terms of actual ability, but because of her accuracy, she managed to find the right time to use her spiritual tool. If she wasn"t so precise, she would have lost to Kou Wei as soon as the match started."
"You"re right. It"s obvious even from the match with Wei Chunqiu. She"s not skilled in terms of speed, but she was still able to keep up with his tempo because of how observant and precise she is."
"It"s kind of scary that she"s just a Harmonization Realm newbie…."
This coordination changed many perceptions of Lu Mingshu. Those who had already seen potential in her were now surprised with her precision, and the others could no longer say anything bad about her.
The facts were right in front of them. If she didn"t have the ability, Kou Wei and Wei Chunqiu would never have let her lead. As soon as she took over, the match went a lot smoother.
"Oh no!" a disciple suddenly exclaimed.
The three harpies were starting to get annoyed at the fact that some humans were going to overpower them. With a roar, the harpies prepared to mount a joint attack. They dash toward one of them and ignored the other two.
And their target was Lu Mingshu!
The three harpies looked at Lu Mingshu with hatred. It"s all because of her! She kept running her mouth and now we"re losing! They chose to target her because the harpies could tell that she was the key factor, and they also wanted to vent their anger on her.
Irritating! Let"s just deal with her first!
Energy waves gushed up to the sky like blood.
Wei Chunqiu and Kou Wei turned pale with fright upon seeing this scene. "Be careful!"
Lu Mingshu looked up. The red light was s.h.i.+ning brightly due to the exciting of blood vessels, and it reflected in her eyes. She twitched her wrist and drew out a sword flower.
"Get ready for a joint attack."
The two Wei"s looked at each other and hesitated.
This was a perfect chance. The harpies" attention was now on Lu Mingshu; i they could take control now, they would surely win.
Wei Chunqiu and Kou Wei exchanged a glance. Wei Chunqiu snapped his fingers, and his secret skill appeared in his palm.
Kou Wei nodded to signal that he was prepared as well.
Mystic force surged out of Lu Mingshu"s body. The mild golden mystic light reflected on Lu Mingshu"s ice-cold face, and the energy wave caused her sleeves to rise. It was obvious how small Lu Mingshu"s body was, but she was still standing straight and upright.
When the b.l.o.o.d.y light and mystic light clashed, she abruptly activated her sword stance. Lu Mingshu leapt up into the sky, and a mysterious expression flashed past her eyes. The spiritual tool was thrown, and the light from the talisman wrapped around her sword energy and moved out in a crisscrossed direction across the stage.
The sword energy hovered around the stage and covered it as a sea of b.l.o.o.d.y light swallowed Lu Mingshu.
Cries of alarm and surprise could be heard. Many covered their eyes in fright to avoid the b.l.o.o.d.y scene.
But the b.l.o.o.d.y scene that they expected didn"t happen. The only thing they saw was that Lu Mingshu floated up from the sea of b.l.o.o.d.y light.
"What can she do now?" A disciple was like a cat on hot bricks now. "The harpies are so strong. Will she be torn to shreds?"
"Can"t she just… take it easy? Why does she want to risk her life?"
"Well, she did that to take first place too."
Unconsciously, the comments on Lu Mingshu had become less harsh. After she reverse the match, she had proven her ability. Even though she was in danger now, the harshest comment she received was that she was too impulsive. n.o.body dared to truly criticize her again.
"Eh, it doesn"t seem like it. Look!" Somebody realized something on stage was out of place.
All they could see was the b.l.o.o.d.y light enveloping the stage and the continuous energy wave. Lu Mingshu could be seen floating in the mist as if she was stuck between them, but she was just firmly floating there by herself.
There was sword-light surrounding her, along with a mild golden light. Floating b.l.o.o.d.y light, weaving a crisscrossed web.
"She didn"t get swallowed up!"
"Look at that, it"s a talisman!"
Using her sword as a medium to get the talisman light out of the spiritual tool. This was exactly what she did during the match against Kou Wei. The crowd looked at the stage with antic.i.p.ation. Can she use the same method to control the harpies now?
Many gasped in amazement. "How did she achieve this?"
It was unbelievable. The b.l.o.o.d.y light created by exciting the blood vessels extended into the distance. She is being enveloped by the sea of b.l.o.o.d.y light, so why is she still okay?
"Tempo. Gap," Xie Lianzhen whispered to himself.
These three harpies may look like they were now an integrated whole, but they were not the same person to start with, so there would definitely be a gap. Once it was found, their lack of unity would only pull them down.
Now!
Wei Chunqiu raised his sword and smeared something on it. A light flashed and exploded into a powerful sword stance.
At the same time, the temperature suddenly fell as the area was covered in snow!
Chapter 181 - Freedom Without Debt
In no time, the snow had submerged the whole rooftop as if the season suddenly changed from spring to winter in the blink of an eye.
The sharp ice spike and the hissing of sword-energy arrived with a loud bang.
The three harpies turned back in a hurry, but they were too late.
Rays of mild golden talisman-light appeared along with the sword stance and weaved a web in the sea of b.l.o.o.d.y light.
The web was going to shatter and smash the power gained by exciting the blood vessels.
Boom!
Tons of snow fell to the ground.
The hiss of sword-energy followed after the boom. After the continuous noises, a lotus manifested from the sword and blossomed among the sea of b.l.o.o.d.y light.
Bone-chilling wind whistled, the earth quaked, and the mountains shook. Even huge waves surged from the river below the mountain from the shockwave.
After the sudden onslaught, the venue became peaceful again.
Puuuuu!
A puddle of blood could be seen on the floor. Wei Chunqiu stumbled and held himself up with his sword.
He had not fully regained his strength yet, but he forcefully activated his secret skill. His blood and lifeforce in his body churned, and he could no longer contain his injury.
Kou Wei was no better. Five Dragons Playing with a Pearl - this skill required a lot of mystic force. Kou Wei also froze his water dragons, which also consumed most of his mystic force. Kou Wei was now as pale as a sheet of paper and looked like he might faint.
Looking over, the b.l.o.o.d.y light had disappeared, and the harpies looked like they were almost dead. They clearly had no more energy left to fight. Wei Chunqiu and Kou Wei heaved a sigh of relief. They suddenly thought about Lu Mingshu and hurriedly looked around to check if she was okay.
All they saw was Lu Mingshu floating in the middle of the air, collecting back her spiritual tool. She then dropped to the ground like a feather as if nothing happened.
Not only were the spectators bewildered, Kou Wei and Wei Chunqiu were as well.
She was acting as bait and all that, but how could she not be even slightly injured?
Lin Zixin stepped onto the rooftop and went to ask the harpies a few questions.
The three harpies ignored him. The first harpy struggled to stand up and turn to his fellow teammates before waving his hand. "Let"s go!"
The second and third harpy struggled to stand up. They went back to their tent without saying a word.
In an instant, the crowd gave the trio thunderous applause.
Everybody present, from the servant girls to the disciples to the Spirit Realm experts, had smiles on their faces and applauded for them loudly.
This match brought glory to mankind. Especially for Lu Mingshu, she proved that ability wasn"t just about skills and basics. Without her observation skills, they would not have been able to win this match so impressively, if at all.
In terms of contribution, she definitely deserved first place on the New Generation Ranking.
"Miss Lu, how are you?" Kou Wei asked with concern when he regained some energy.
Lu Mingshu shook her head. "I"m fine."
"Are there any injuries?"
"No."
Wei Chunqiu sighed in relief and admiration. If she was inaccurate even a tiny bit, she would have received serious injuries.
The three of them bowed to the spectators and went back to their respective tents.
Smiling like the Ches.h.i.+re Cat, Lin Zixin announced the result. "The match for today ends here. Ladies and gentlemen, you can now make your way back. Tomorrow will be the start of the fights for the Hero Ranking. Please look forward to it. Have a good rest everyone."
The disciples were still full of energy, and they went back to their rooms in groups while still discussing the match that just ended. Even the Hero Ranking fights, which was the main attraction of Qilin Festival, was no longer that attractive.
When the Qilin Festival ended and the New Generation Ranking was announced to the world, this match would be a delight to the world!
They had witnessed a legend!
As for Lu Mingshu, she was tired to death, and she didn"t even have enough energy to speak. When she got back to her room, she immediately shut the door and plopped down on her bed.
The last three matches had drained all her energy.
She lay down on her bed, allowing herself to relax while the six-colored streamers surrounded her and recharged her.
After some time, when Lu Mingshu opened her eyes, she realized that something was out of place.
The Heavenly Wheel… has lit up?
She looked forward and saw that the s.p.a.ce that she had been banned from was now lit up again, and the floating island could be seen clearly.
She scanned her surroundings and stopped on the center of the Heavenly Wheel.
Lu Mingshu looked at the tree as it turned into many rays of light. The lights flowed down and congealed into a phantom wooden wheel.
In the middle, there was a number on it - forty-seven.
The number was green.
Lu Mingshu stared blankly at the number for a while. "Xiao Sang."
"Yes?" Xiao Sang answered immediately.
"Did I pay off all my debt?"
"Yes."
Lu Mingshu felt surreal. I owed a thousand and two hundred points the last time I checked, along with interest. How did I manage to pay off everything?
"What happened? Where did all the points come from?"
"Every win in the real world will give you points."
"Then why didn"t I receive anything previously?" Lu Mingshu asked blankly.
"The Qilin Festival counts as one match. The match just ended, so we only just calculated the points."
Lu Mingshu, who was now used to being to debt, couldn"t accept it for a moment.
"May I know how exactly I earned the points?"
"Yes." Xiao Sang answered slowly, "Your points for this compet.i.tion acc.u.mulated from the first round all the way until it ended for a total of three hundred. You got first place on the New Generation Ranking, so an additional three hundred points. In the last fight, you lead your team to victory against the barbarians, which earned you another six hundred points. You also managed to upgrade your strength, so one hundred points for that. So, in total, you earned one thousand and three hundred points."
No wonder! One thousand and three hundred, subtracting the one thousand, two hundred, and fifty-three would give her change of forty-seven.
"I placed first in the Heavenly Door compet.i.tion too, but I didn"t even get a hundred points back then. Why do I gain so much now?"
Lu Mingshu was confused. Comparing both compet.i.tions, the Heavenly Door compet.i.tion had of a personal impact. She changed her mindset, and she learned Physical Manifestation of Sword Intent. She also pushed herself to the limit by winning eighteen fights in a row.
"Because you only changed yourself during that compet.i.tion."
Lu Mingshu stared blankly into s.p.a.ce. Only changed myself? She couldn"t understand.
She flashed back to the times where she fought in the arenas. The challenge at the rune-carving shop earned her the most points even though it had the fewest spectators. So… did the Heavenly Wheel perhaps want her to change the world around her?
The Heavenly Door compet.i.tion was internal to her sect, but the Qilin Festival was the biggest festival in China, so the impact was definitely different.
Becoming a successor disciple of Nine Jade Palace wouldn"t create much attention, but placing first on the New Generation Ranking would.
And defeating the barbarians would bring more than twice as much attention as that for sure.
"So, is it…?"
Lu Mingshu decided to ignore that matter for now. "Xiao Sang, I can use the Heavenly Wheel now, right?"
"Yes."
Lu Mingshu reach out to the wooden wheel. The originally-gray areas were now lit up once again.
She went into the forum and found a familiar number.
"Brother Six."
Brother Six, who was a business specialist that spent most of his time in the Heavenly Wheel, immediately came over. "Finally! Little Sister Seven, where have you been? You were gone for so long. Is everything fine?"
She had been in debt for half a year.
"Not really, I was delayed by something," Lu Mingshu answered vaguely. She then got to her point. "Brother Six, I need your help."