Volume 1, Chapter 40: The Sect Tournament (Part VI)

On the arena, Gu Mingyue quickly realized that her current style of attack would not secure her victory. She put away her alchemy furnace and drew a sword instead.

Gu Mingxi, seeing Gu Mingyue brandish a sword, finally relaxed and chuckled softly.

Gu Mingyue had shifted her approach, while her opponent continued to rely on agile movements to evade attacks. Gu Mingxi understood clearly that this opponent intended to exhaust Gu Mingyue’s spiritual energy, hoping to counterattack when she was drained. But, unfortunately for him, he had overestimated himself and underestimated Gu Mingyue; his plan was doomed to fail.

Gu Mingyue unleashed the Cloud Spirit Sword Technique, striking her opponent with rapid, relentless sword strikes. Despite his agility, the opponent struggled to dodge the dense flurry of sword attacks.

As he prepared to counter, Gu Mingyue suddenly closed in and swept him off the platform with a single stroke.

Standing atop the platform, Gu Mingyue regarded her fallen opponent with a light smile. “You placed too much confidence in your agility, but you are not the only one skilled in movement techniques in this world, and your agility is far from the most masterful.”

The referee immediately declared, “Gu Mingyue wins!”

Her opponent’s arrogance blinded him; he assumed Gu Mingyue was merely an alchemist without other combat skills. Underestimating others always comes with a price.

Compared to Gu Mingyue’s somewhat arduous match, the other three disciples swiftly concluded their battles without revealing much of their strength.

For example, Xu Chen, a sword cultivator, only employed basic sword moves, never revealing any special techniques, yet he sent his opponents off the platform with no more than three strikes, demonstrating formidable power.

Lan Ci, a talisman master, used only common talismans, never deploying anything special, leaving others unable to assess his true level.

Yu Wei, meanwhile, relied on just three formations—trapping, killing, and illusion arrays—to dispatch all her opponents throughout numerous matches.

It must be noted that in the sect’s grand competition, one could only rely on personal ability; no external aid was permitted.

This meant that any formations or talismans used had to be personally crafted by the contestant.

No magical artifacts or defensive garments were allowed.

Medicinal pills were strictly forbidden during the matches.

After a while, an elder announced the start of the round of twenty to ten.

Gu Mingxi’s opponent was a female cultivator who had also reached the peak of Qi Refinement.

Wu Zhiyin held a pipa and smiled gently. “Disciple under Master Qiman Zhenjun, Wu Zhiyin, requests guidance from Senior Uncle Gu.”

She came on stage carrying a musical instrument? Could she be a sound cultivator?

Gu Mingxi smiled faintly in return. “Disciple of Lord Yuchen, Gu Mingxi, awaits Sister Wu’s guidance.”

Having guessed that her opponent was a sound cultivator, Gu Mingxi prepared to defend herself.

Wu Zhiyin smiled gracefully and plucked the strings of her pipa lightly.

Though Gu Mingxi was on high alert, she inexplicably found herself drawn into the enchanting melody.

Something was very wrong.

How could she, already on guard, fall victim to such an attack?

A crisp series of pipa notes rang out, drawing Gu Mingxi into an illusion woven by Wu Zhiyin.

Suddenly, she seemed to see a celestial maiden in the sky, reaching out her hand to lead her away.

Gu Mingxi stared blankly at the maiden, uncontrollably wanting to place her hand in hers.

The maiden... where was she leading her? Why?

While Gu Mingxi was immersed in Wu Zhiyin’s illusion, others watching saw her standing dazed on the arena, sighing quietly.

They had witnessed Wu Zhiyin’s previous battles, where opponents were similarly trapped in illusions before being swept off the platform.

Unexpectedly, Gu Mingxi also succumbed to Wu Zhiyin’s illusions, proving how formidable sound cultivators were in spiritual attacks.

Just as everyone, including Wu Zhiyin, believed the match won, Gu Mingxi snapped out of it.

Wu Zhiyin was shocked, and the pipa melody abruptly ceased.

The moment Gu Mingxi regained awareness, she dodged a barrage of sound blades.

Before this, Wu Zhiyin had already drained much of Gu Mingxi’s energy, and her body was covered in blood.

Gu Mingxi immediately drew the Morning and Evening Sword and launched the first move of the Primordial Sword Technique directly at Wu Zhiyin.

Wu Zhiyin, clearly no pushover, sidestepped the initial strike and countered by resuming her pipa playing.

Gu Mingxi continued to apply pressure with the Primordial Sword Technique while secretly forming hand seals.

Wu Zhiyin attacked, Gu Mingxi defended; just when everyone thought the battle would stalemate, a sudden change occurred.

A bolt of lightning descended from the sky, striking Wu Zhiyin.

Focused on fending off Gu Mingxi’s sword strikes, Wu Zhiyin failed to notice the lightning.

Caught off guard, she was pierced through by the lightning, her form reduced to a charred, blackened mass.

Gu Mingxi seemed to see a wisp of black smoke escape from Wu Zhiyin’s mouth.

This unexpected twist caught Wu Zhiyin completely unprepared.

She hadn’t anticipated her undefeated sound attacks would be broken by Gu Mingxi’s combined swordsmanship and magic.

Sword and magic dual cultivation.

Wu Zhiyin swallowed a rejuvenation pill and looked deeply at Gu Mingxi.

Would Gu Mingxi one day grow into a mighty figure like Lord Yuchen?

If so, her defeat today would be no shame.

Gu Mingxi smiled slightly and nodded to Wu Zhiyin. “Sister Wu, thank you for the match.”

After taking the rejuvenation pill and applying a cleansing technique, Wu Zhiyin was restored to her original state.

“I didn’t expect you to master both swordsmanship and magic, and to overcome my sound attacks. You’re formidable—I look forward to our next encounter!”

Gu Mingxi felt a bit uneasy. She had defeated Wu Zhiyin, yet somehow she sensed future troubles.

Could Wu Zhiyin be a battle enthusiast?

From then on, whenever Wu Zhiyin learned a new sound attack melody, she would come to spar with Gu Mingxi.

Sparring is fine, but some of the sound cultivators’ attack melodies were so bizarre that Gu Mingxi’s ears couldn’t bear them.

...Of course, that was all in the future. For now, seeing the outcome, the referee immediately declared, “Gu Mingxi wins!”