Chapter 25

"The victor is king, the loser a bandit. Take this!"

As he spoke, he swept out his hand and unleashed Golden Centipede Silver Needles as dense as stars across the sky, sending them straight at Ye Qinghui. The needles turned with uncanny agility and descended from every direction, making them almost impossible to guard against.

Damn it. Now that my father's gone and there's no one to stand up for us, Jiang Kui has joined Immortal Venerable Shen and his lot in their dirty dealings and broken the tournament rules.

First Senior Brother, hurry up and use the method I told you about yesterday. Show him what's what!

They had predicted that Jiang Kui would resort to a hidden weapon once he proved no match for his opponent, and they had prepared a countermeasure. Even so, the sight made Ye Zhenzhen so angry she nearly leaped out of her senior sister's arms.

Ye Qinghui took out a talisman and swept it toward the Golden Centipede Silver Needles. Every needle reversed course and shot back at Jiang Kui.

"A Rebound Talisman!"

Jiang Kui had been smugly awaiting his victory. Caught off guard by his own needles, he was poisoned and collapsed on the spot.

Jiang Buqun, master of the Thousand Mechanisms Palace, flicked his sleeve in bitter disappointment. Jiang Kui's fellow disciples rushed over and gave him the antidote to the Golden Centipede Silver Needles.

Jiang Wan, whom Ye Qinghui had defeated earlier, sprang lightly to her feet on her long legs. She clapped and shouted, "Good! Jiang Kui used a hidden weapon, but instead of hurting someone else, he hurt himself. Serves him right."

She had become Ye Qinghui's biggest fan. Seeing him win made her happier than winning herself would have.

First Senior Brother, someone's taken a fancy to you. Ye Zhenzhen waved her little hands with a beaming smile, sensing some juicy gossip ahead.

When she had read the original book, she had loved the way Eldest Senior Brother seemed like a flower blooming on an unreachable peak. Even if he could not be the male lead, surely he deserved to be the second male lead. Instead, that idiot author had written him as a beautiful, powerful, tragic bit of cannon fodder, given him barely any scenes, and never let him anywhere near romance.

It would be such a shame if that flower never came down from his lofty altar. She was all for pairing Jiang Wan with Eldest Senior Brother.

To her surprise, Ye Qinghui stepped off the platform, scooped her into his arms, and gave her little cheeks a squeeze. "Little Junior Sister, are you that happy I won?"

Ye Zhenzhen: No, that's not... I...

Ye Zhenzhen: This isn't quite how I expected things to go...

Shipping a couple, only to end up in the ship herself

Chapter 25

With Ye Qinghui's Inner Core, Ye Qingyun made it smoothly into the final four.

Before facing Shen Xingyan for a place in the final, he even indulged in the vain thought that he might win. What if beating Shen Xingyan displeased Immortal Venerable Shen? But he and his master had scraped together everything they had to pay the entry fee of twenty thousand Superior Spirit Stones. For the sake of those Spirit Stones, he could hardly go easy on Shen Xingyan.

What a dilemma...

He took several long looks at the tournament's grand prize—the Land-Sea-Air Flying Vessel—and steeled his resolve to give everything he had to win the Flying Boat. Only then did he stride onto the platform, brimming with confidence.

As it turned out, he had worried for nothing.

When he met Shen Xingyan head-on, he discovered to his astonishment that Shen Xingyan had broken through the Golden Core Late Stage and entered the early Nascent Soul stage. Merging with Ye Qinghui's Inner Core had brought Ye Qingyun to the Golden Core Late Stage, but a chasm seemed to lie between Golden Core and Nascent Soul. Before long, he suffered a humiliating defeat.

Goodbye, my great Flying Boat. I'll never get to ride you in this lifetime. Inwardly, he wept a storm of tears.

The finalists were decided. Having defeated Ye Qingyun, Shen Xingyan would face Ye Qinghui the next morning for the title of Tournament Champion at the Immortal Sects Grand Tournament.

That night was quiet.

In the original book, Peerless Furnace Cauldron, Shen Xingyan had already been certain of victory on the eve of the final. He had invited Ye Qingyao out for another tender evening together beneath the flowers and moonlight, even grandly promising, "Once the Flying Boat is mine, I shall give it to you." His words had moved the beauty to tears.

Strangely, this night passed without a ripple. Shen Xingyan did not so much as show his face.

Ye Zhenzhen: ?

What's Shen Xingyan up to in secret?

It was not until Shen Xingyan saw Ye Qingyao at the arena before the final the next morning that he pointed to the Flying Boat and vowed, "Qingyao, if I win the title of Tournament Champion, I'll give you the Flying Boat to prove my feelings."

White Peacock, you want to win the Flying Boat? Dream on. Ye Zhenzhen contentedly chewed on her little hand, eyeing the vessel as if it were already tucked away in her family's pocket. Once she had brought Eldest Senior Brother into the contest, everything seemed to have changed. The outcome would change too! The Flying Boat would be theirs!

The match began.

Shen Xingyan strode onto the platform with his head held high. The Flood Dragon Pattern on his white robes gleamed gold, its claws and fangs bared. He looked spirited and utterly sure of victory.

Ye Qinghui stood in the wind as always, handsome and untouched by the dust of the world, like a flawless piece of jade, noble and cool.

Most of the spectators had staked Spirit Stones they had painstakingly saved for months, even years, on Shen Xingyan. Cries of "Shen Xingyan will win!" and "Young Master Shen is invincible!" rang out everywhere. Only a handful of people—including Ye Zhenzhen and the others from the Kongtong School, Lu Lingxuan of Spirit Sword Manor, and Jiang Wan of Immortal-Ending Hall—had staked hundreds of thousands, or even a million, Superior Spirit Stones on Ye Qinghui.

Luo Bingyao stood close to the platform in a light, airy green Narcissus Dress, cheering on her beloved Shen. Ever since learning that Shen Xingyan liked people dressed in green, she had begun imitating Ye Qingyao. She had even toned down her makeup considerably, but it only made her look like a poor imitation of the original.

She thought she stood out from the crowd like a crane among chickens. But Jiang Wan led a group of long-legged beauties from Immortal-Ending Hall to the front row, where they performed a sword dance in fitted red dresses to cheer Ye Qinghui on. They instantly became the center of attention and left Luo Bingyao in the shade.

No one noticed Luo Bingyao. Not even Shen Xingyan saw her affected attempts to make herself noticed.

After Shen Xingyan and Ye Qinghui exchanged a few probing moves, each was astonished by the other's strength. Ye Qinghui appeared to have no core, but with the help of the Bodhi Spirit Pill, he had not only fully restored his cultivation, he had also absorbed the Dragonblood Stone's spiritual energy and broken through. He was now at the early Nascent Soul stage.

Rankings

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Transmigration into a Book

Power fantasy

Cannon fodder

Everyone's darling