In the Stargaze Palace, Miao Zhongxia’s talent ranked in the top six. His power was also exceptional. When he was facing the attacks coming from the two disciples of the Archaic Mysteries sect, he did not choose to confront them head-on. Instead, he chose to evade their attacks smartly.
He knew that individually, these two’s power was lesser than his. However, when in combination, they could fight on par with him. Thus, confronting them head-on would not give him a much of a chance to win.
He was waiting for an opportunity, the one chance to launch that critical attack.
Qin Wushuang, Wei Yi and the others who were watching the show beneath the stage appeared relaxed on the surface, inwardly, they were cheering for Miao Zhongxia. They hoped he could take down this fight in a spurt of energy.
With a solemn expression, Zhao Muzhi bit his lips lightly and watched the three figures on the stage. He wanted to help Miao Zhongxia badly and hoped he would win.
If he could win, Zhao Muzhi would have relatively less pressure. He could challenge higher goals without pressure.
Suddenly, a flash of joyful light flashed across Qin Wushuang and Wei Yi’s face. They could see that Miao Zhongxia had found something on the stage. Although the other two opponents moved well together, apparently, Miao Zhongxia had found some openings.
In a battle between elite warriors, once they had found an opening, they would not let it slip away. In fact, Miao Zhongxia’ power was above these two. Soon, he discovered that between the collaboration of Number Three and Four, there would be some slight mishaps in their synchronization when they were retreating from the previous attacks.
Miao Zhongxia had an idea when he noticed this flaw. He took two steps back and lured the other two in. Naturally, those two held a grudge toward the disciples of the Stargaze and followed him.
They also received secret instructions to resist the Stargaze with their full power to prevent them from getting First place in their hometown. Although they would also feel annoyed if the Dragon and Tiger sect were to be the victor, it was much better than letting the Stargaze Palace get it.
Thus, when facing disciples of the Stargaze disciples, their reaction and resistance was different from the easygoing level when they faced the disciples of the Dragon sect.
After Miao Zhongxia had evaded the long blade from Number Three, he slanted his body and waved his sword. This sword attack did not attack Number Three, but went to slash Number Four.
A diversion!
That Number Four did not expect that Miao Zhongxia would give up the closer target and aim for the farther one. He immediately stepped back to defend it. Suddenly, Miao Zhongxia increased his speed and brushed out three sword attacks.
Shua, shua, shua!
In the middle of the sky, three thunder-like sword lights flew in a row toward that Number Four’s three surrounding directions.
"Junior Brother Miao, nice "Treble Waves"!" Zhao Muzhi cheered from afar.
As soon as Miao Zhongxia launched these three sword attacks, that Number Four was forced into a corner and had no place to run. Miao Zhongxia used one backhand sword attack to force that Number Three away. Then, he jumped into the sky and slashed down while holding the sword with both hands.
Shua!
When the sharp temperament flashed in the air, it seemed as if a crack had opened in the sky and swallowed Number Four.
Whoos.h.!.+
Carried by the rolling sword Qi, that Number Four flew down the stage with nowhere to go.
Qin Wushuang and the others who were watching the show let out a breath of relief. He won! For this battle, Miao Zhongxia had won! Even if he could not succeed in fighting one against three, he had finished his task. It would be enough to counteract the result of the Dragon and Tiger sect’s Number Four.
To Miao Zhongxia, indeed, it would be tough to fight against three people. However, Miao Zhongxia still gave everything he had. However, in the path of martial arts, the difference between the slightly strong or the weak could not get offset by bravery and determination alone. In the end, Miao Zhongxia, who had won two rounds, could not win the third one. Although he fought to the last moment against the three people, he still failed to find an opening.
With Miao Zhongxia’s two successes, Zhao Muzhi felt much more relaxed when it was his turn.
In the first two rounds, the battles held no suspense and Zhao Muzhi won both rounds with tremendous momentum. In the third round, although Miao Zhongxia was unable to defeat three people, Zhao Muzhi had his exceptional skills. Soon, he found an opening during the wandering battle and beat the poor Number Four down the stage.
The Archaic sect was depressed, they did not expect Zhao Muzhi’s swift and quick attacking traits.
In fact, the Number Two defender of the Archaic sect did not have much difference in strength with Zhao Muzhi. Initially, they had fought with him for a while with three people’s power. However, this person’s speciality had been suppressed by Zhao Muzhi and as a result, he was able to easily destroy their defense line.
After winning three rounds consecutively, Zhao Muzhi began his challenge against four people.
When the Number One of Archaic’s defending team joined the battle, the situation immediately changed. Regardless of body movement or power, this Number One was on par with Zhao Muzhi. He was even slightly more powerful than him and at about the same level as Zhou Fu.
Earlier, Zhao Muzhi was blindly confident. Why could he not gain as much points as he wanted when the Dragon and Tiger sect had done it? Yet, he ignored the fact that the Archaic disciples would not treat them with as much courtesy as they had the Dragon and Tiger sect.
Thus, when the four of them attacked him altogether, Zhao Muzhi knew that the situation was not going well. Under the leaders.h.i.+p of Number One, the other three only distracted and hara.s.sed him. And Number One was in charge of attacking him.
This way, not to mention using the gaps to attack the others, Zhao Muzhi had a tough time cutting loose from this Number One. With three other elite warriors watching him constantly, Zhao Muzhi could not resist or take a step forward.
Both Qin Wushuang and Wei Yi looked at each other with a bitter smile. As elite warriors, they knew that the Archaic Mysteries sect was resisting to the extreme. They did not plan to let the disciples of the Stargaze off easily.
Inwardly, Zhao Muzhi was also filled with bitterness. He sighed and realised that he was obviously not Qin Wushuang or Wei Yi. When facing four people and with one of them slightly more powerful than him, he could not take them down.
"It seems that it’s only my one-sided wish to gain points." Zhao Muzhi smiled bitterly. However, he also knew that he had already ensured that the Stargaze would not be defeated with his successes from only the first three rounds. After all, the attack team of the Dragon and Tiger sect also need to face the same challenge as the Stargaze Palace. Especially when they faced Zhou Fu’s powerful red silk weapon, Number Three would not be able to get a perfect score.
This way, Zhao Muzhi did not hold back and started to use his Magistrate Brushes to counterattack that Number One. He decided that regardless of wins or losses, he would fight with his style and let the Archaic sect learn about his name.
While facing someone like Zhao Muzhi who fought as if his life depended on it, that Number One did not dare to act recklessly. He decided to fight steadily and as a result, two hours did not seem enough for them to play around.
Until the two hours of time was up, they still did not establish who had won or who had lost.
Only, to Zhao Muzhi who was attacking, he had failed.
Of course, Zhao Muzhi was not depressed. When he fought to this point, he was already satisfied. After all, he had fought to his heart’s content in this fight.
"I am sorry, I really did my best." However, Zhao Muzhi still felt somewhat regretful and said apologetically to Qin Wushuang and Wei Yi.
Wei Yi smiled: "No need to feel sorry, if things go according to expectations, the Stargaze will definitely be the victor of this Friendly Compet.i.tion."
On the defending team of the Stargaze Palace, battles were heating up. On the first round, Number Four of the Dragon and Tiger Sect had won against Huang Chaoyang. Yet, he had failed against the joint attack of Lu Shaonan and Huang Chaoyang.
This resulted in them falling behind Miao Zhongxia by twenty points.
On the second round, although the Number Three of Dragon and Tiger sect’s attack had broken through the defense line of both Lu Shaonan and Huang Chaoyang, they failed under Deng Bohu’s superior defenses.
This way, Number Three of the Dragon and Tiger sect was behind Zhao Muzhi by thirty points.
Up to this point, the compet.i.tion was already over. In both parties, the two Middle Stage warriors did not come out yet. If there were no accidents, these four were devilish existence at earning points.
Indeed, there were no more suspense to the situation. Both Qin Wushuang and Wei Yi had succeeded in earning perfect score. The defense team of the Stargaze team did not put up much resistance and allowed Wei Shenglong and Huang Qinghu to get two perfect scores.
However, it would not affect the entire situation.
After the second cycle, the Stargaze had suppressed the Dragon and the Tiger sect. With two one hundred points, one sixty, and one thirty, they had gotten two hundred and ninety points in total.
The Dragon and Tiger sect had gotten two perfect score, one thirty and one ten points. They had only gotten two hundred and forty points in this cycle and were fifty points behind.
The poor Archaic Mysteries sect did get a perfect score in this round. With another sixty points and two thirty points, their total was two hundred and twenty points.
After a three month long compet.i.tion, the Friendly Compet.i.tion finally concluded.
Then, the final marks were calculated.
For the Stargaze Palace, they had gotten two hundred and forty points in the first section. In the second section with the two martial arts compet.i.tion cycles, they had gotten a total of five hundred and sixty points. Their grand total was eight hundred points. For sure, they had taken first place in grand manner.
This was a historical record, a record that only belonged to the Stargaze Palace!
In the past, they had never won first place in a Friendly Compet.i.tion hosted by the Heavenly Lake Empire!
This time, they had done it and created their own little miracle that belonged to the younger generation of the Stargaze Palace!
For the Dragon and Tiger sect, they had gotten one hundred and ninety points in the first section. With the five hundred and thirty points from the second section, their total points was seven hundred and twenty points. Thus, they placed second.
For the Archaic Mysteries Sect, with the death of Devil Boy, their fighting power had been deeply wounded and all their plans had been ruined. With one hundred and ten points in the first section and the four hundred and twenty points from the second, their total score was five hundred and thirty points. Without question, they had placed last.
This result was within the expectation of the leaders of the Archaic Mysteries sect. After they had learned the devastating news of Devil Boy, they had expected this outcome. However, when the results actually came out and when they saw that the Stargaze had won first place, their bitterness and hatred could not be washed away even with all the water from the river.
Unconsciously, the grudge between the Heavenly and the Great Luo Empire had deepened even further during this Friendly Compet.i.tion.
Currently, Gao Yue was in no mood to contend with the Stargaze and the Dragon and Tiger sect. They only hoped to end this depressing compet.i.tion quickly!
However, before this, they had no choice but to properly conclude the Friendly Compet.i.tion. For example, they must pay out their wagers, sign the new contract for the exploration of the Endless Eastern Sea and celebrate the newly emerged victors.
Whenever they thought about having to celebrate the victorious Great Luo Empire within the Heavenly Lake Empire, Gao Yue, Bai Gujing and the other leaders felt frustrated. Indeed, they could not accept this reality at the moment.
However, they could not break the promise between the three Empires.
Unless…
When Gao Yue and the others thought of a possibility, the blood in their entire bodies could not help but surge up.