[Half a month later, the fourth round of the dueling competition had concluded perfectly, leaving only the final showdown to begin.]
[Only twelve competitors remained, and their matches would be held at Cloud-Reaching Peak.]
[Of the final twelve, more than half were familiar faces: Sun Miao, the "Heavenly Mansion Star"; the four senior brothers of Cloud-Reaching Peak; Feng Qingge of Jade Splendor Peak; Yuan Shujian of Dragon Head Peak; and Xuanse of Phoenix-Coming Peak.]
[Among them, Cloud-Reaching Peak, foremost of the eighteen branches, shone especially brightly. Including Sun Miao, who also hailed from that peak, it occupied five of the twelve spots. The depth of its strength and foundation was plain to see.]
[Yet the ones who truly drew attention were four disciples who had previously been unknown: Qi Ling of Little Green Peak, Xie Mosheng of Elixir Crane Peak, Jiang Ye of Dragon Fang Peak, and Ziwei of Five-Colored Peak.]
[In past Star-Plucking Assemblies, at most one such dark horse would emerge by the final showdown. Yet four had appeared at once this time, something unprecedented.]
[More astonishing still, all of them had cut through the competition like bamboo splitting before the wind. Having advanced this far, their sharp brilliance was fully exposed, and they were no inferior to the first seven.]
[Meanwhile, the "musical arts" contest on another arena also came to its conclusion today.]
[Duanmu Xiwei was still presiding over this musical arts competition.]
[Today's rules were quite simple: the ninety contestants would each play an instrument, and victory or defeat would be determined by the quality of their music.]
[A flock of strange birds drifted gracefully down around the arena. They had single horns upon their heads and resembled peacocks. These birds were called Music Birds. Legend said they were descendants of Qiuniu, one of the