Chapter 5185 — Counters to Every Move

With those two setting the tone, all four of the peak Foundation Establishment disciples' matches concluded with astonishing speed. The total time for all of them combined amounted to a mere half-hour, a great deal faster than Xin Yi'an had anticipated.

After the peak Foundation Establishment bracket came the matches for the disciples at the very peak of late Foundation Establishment. Naturally, the one drawing the most attention was Ling Tianyou, who had just failed in his challenge across tiers.

Though among cultivators of his own level there was simply no one who could match his strength, he had just expended a vast amount of true qi on Wei Zhao, and his fighting spirit had taken a hit. More crucially, his moves and patterns had been laid bare for all to see, and such a long stretch of time was more than enough for anyone to devise a counter. With every disadvantage piled together, in the eyes of the onlookers he was no longer a fearsome opponent to be avoided at all costs, but a ripe, easy target, and the other peak late Foundation Establishment disciples were all itching for their chance.

If they could defeat Ling Tianyou today, it would mean far more than a mere victory. More importantly, it would make their names in a single battle, bringing both fame and profit, the benefits of which were self-evident.

Yet reality proved that Ling Tianyou was, in the end, Ling Tianyou. Someone who could become the young sect master of the Thousand Blades Sect was absolutely not a man to be trifled with. His loss to Wei Zhao only served to highlight how formidable Wei Zhao was; it most certainly did not mean he was weak.

At least in front of these rivals of his own level, Ling Tianyou was still an invincible presence. So what if his moves and patterns had been exposed? His Thousand Blades in Flight was not so easily broken, and in truth, against these rivals of his level he did not need Thousand Blades in Flight at all. A casual Hundred Blades Unleashed was already impossible to stop.

Like Wei Zhao and Xue Jianming before him, Ling Tianyou settled his fights with ease in a single exchange. Before his overwhelming strength, these peak late Foundation Establishment disciples could only accept their fate of being crushed one-sidedly. As for making a name for themselves in a single battle, they had truly been thinking far too much.

The matches came one after another, ordered from highest strength to lowest. Next in turn were the disciples of late Foundation Establishment, then peak mid Foundation Establishment, then mid Foundation Establishment, and then peak early Foundation Establishment. Since Xin Yi'an was the only judge, and the venues were limited, only one match could be held at a time. The time consumed was naturally considerable, but fortunately the total number of people was not large, and barring any unexpected incidents, a schedule of one round every two days was quite relaxed.

Without the headline-grabbing figures like Wei Zhao, Xue Jianming, and Ling Tianyou to anchor the proceedings, the matches that followed were noticeably duller. The sole exception was a match in the late Foundation Establishment bracket, for it too featured a figure who drew attention: Leng Leng.

Back when she had first come to the mortal world, she had only been at early Foundation Establishment. Since meeting Wei Zhao, however, her strength had shot up by leaps and bounds. One trip out into the world and back, and she was already at mid Foundation Establishment; now, after several months of bitter cultivation in the Transfer Archipelago, her strength had surged to late Foundation Establishment, and she stood but a hair's breadth from its very peak.

Barely ten months in all. To have vaulted from early Foundation Establishment all the way to late Foundation Establishment — such a miracle might not be without parallel in the future of this pocket world of the ancient times, but it was surely without precedent in the past. And more than that, Leng Leng was no empty rank without substance; her Crushing Ice constitution was one in ten million, and once its advantages were truly developed, it would be no small thing.

Facing ordinary rivals of her own level, Leng Leng managed with ease and delight. Only, to this day she had yet to find a way to fully unleash the power of her Crushing Ice constitution, so her matches lacked the stunning spectacle of Wei Zhao and the others. The whole affair was without danger or surprise, save for a small mishap at the very end: Leng Leng broke through on the spot.

Such a thing was rare, though not unheard of. In the heat of a duel, one's essence, qi, and spirit were all raised to their peak; if one already stood at the threshold of a breakthrough, it was no wonder that one might seize the momentum and break through. The only trouble was that it left an opening for one's opponent.

Her opponent had already been beaten to the point of being unable to fight back. Had Leng Leng not shown mercy, he would long since have been flat on the ground. The moment he saw a chance to counterattack, he cared nothing for propriety or honor and hurried to seize the opportunity. Compared with being cursed as shameless, snatching a victory for himself was the solid, tangible benefit.

But before he could make his move, a chill suddenly ran down his spine, and a strange true qi threaded its way in through the back of his skull. He was scared witless on the spot, and did not dare stir a hairsbreadth even after Leng Leng successfully broke through to the peak of late Foundation Establishment, muttering and jumping at shadows, his face utterly distraught.

Everyone assumed he had been frightened out of his wits by Leng Leng's Crushing Ice constitution. None suspected that Wei Zhao was the hand behind it all.

And so Leng Leng claimed her first victory without danger or surprise, and at the same time stepped over the threshold to the peak of late Foundation Establishment. From the next round on, she would take the stage alongside those peak late Foundation Establishment disciples, and if fortune smiled on her, her next opponent might well be Ling Tianyou!

To make a long story short, by the time all the brackets from early Foundation Establishment and above had finished, a full day had passed. Apart from those disciples who were badly injured and needed quiet recovery, everyone else remained waiting at the sidelines the whole time.

Xin Yi'an had not forbidden them to move about freely; so long as the draw had not yet called their names, they were perfectly free to go back and rest. But no one was willing to give up such a superb opportunity to observe the other disciples. After all, these might well be their future opponents, and only by knowing the enemy and knowing oneself could one seize the initiative.

Qiu Lingshan and the others were watching as well, occasionally exchanging views among themselves. Though none of them entertained any thought of challenging across tiers, and none of the earlier matches had featured early Foundation Establishment disciples — none of them being their future opponents — so that at first glance it seemed they were wasting their effort and would have been better off conserving their strength like the other early Foundation Establishment disciples, yet for them a day of observation had yielded a bountiful harvest.

In the three days before, they had committed to memory everything Wei Zhao had taught them, and had drilled the counter-moves he had devised more than a hundred times over. But that was all theory on paper; whether it would prove useful in practice was still very much in doubt.