It Was Over Before It Even Began

Listen to these bastards! Was that anything a human being should say?!

They could clearly see he was in a foul mood, yet they still insisted on provoking him. These disciples were lucky their master was Li Shouyi. Under anyone else, they would have been dragged out and had their corpses whipped three hundred times already.

Li Shouyi returned to his room with displeasure written all over his face. After muttering to himself for a while, he let out another miserable sigh.

The system missions clearly offered generous rewards, but all he could do was gaze at the ocean and sigh at its vastness.

A moment later, however, he snarled under his breath, "I refuse to believe I can't find a few good-for-nothings."

Then he got up, opened the door, mounted his flying sword, and vanished from the Cloud Cliff Sect in a streak of light.

He had no intention of watching the remaining matches. Their winning had nothing to do with him anyway. He might as well try his luck outside and see whether he could find a good-for-nothing or two.

Yet before he had even flown beyond the sect's grounds, a notification from the system brought him up short.

"Sudden mission. Host, please review."

"Mission—how can good-for-nothings stage a comeback?"

"If the host's two disciples are defeated in their next matches, the host will receive a reward."

"Mission reward—advance one minor cultivation realm."

"What the fuck!" Li Shouyi exclaimed when he heard it.

His first thought was that the system had malfunctioned.

Why had it suddenly changed its tune?

He checked it over and over before confirming it was real.

Wild delight spread across Li Shouyi's face as he hurried back. Heaven had finally taken pity on him! Advancing one minor realm meant one more chance to stay alive. If those two idiot disciples dared to go against his wishes this time, he would kill them in a heartbeat.

Once he returned to the courtyard, he began shouting, "Lin Shuishui! Su Wan'er! Get out here right now!"

No response?

The situation nearly scared the piss out of him. Li Shouyi hurriedly opened their doors one after another to check. Finding both rooms empty, he swore under his breath.

Shit.

He had known the system would never be that kind.

Then he immediately mounted his flying sword and raced toward the competition grounds.

Lin Shuishui, Su Wan'er, you two had better take it easy!

My enemies will be knocking on my door in a few days. Don't let your master down at a time like this!

While Li Shouyi rushed toward the competition grounds, the next match was already about to begin.

"Number 146, Lin Shuishui, versus number 14, Li Zuoshou. Begin!"

As soon as the referee made the announcement, the spectators below began discussing it again.

"Hey, do you think Li Zuoshou will go easy on our lovely Lin?"

"I doubt it. Everyone knows Li Zuoshou is obsessed with swords. He can't even tell beauty from ugliness. In his eyes, our lovely Lin probably isn't as pretty as the sword in his hand!"

"Are you people idiots? Hurry up and place your bets! Have you forgotten why you came here?"

"Exactly. Who cares about beauty or ugliness? Win some spirit stones first!"

The idiots below the stage finally remembered what they had come for.

They began placing bets like mad. There was no question about it.

They all bet on Li Zuoshou winning. Though his odds were only 1:0.3, that did nothing to dampen their frenzy. Meanwhile, Lin Shuishui's odds were 1:10—a tenfold return.

A few people who liked betting on upsets also put a little on Lin Shuishui, but none wagered much—except Su Wan'er.

This gambling goddess put down a hundred thousand spirit stones on her senior sister winning. The sight of her taking out those spirit stones made the knees of the disciples running the betting pool go weak.

They couldn't help it. This rich lady was simply too irresistible.

If those fellows hadn't lacked confidence in their looks, they would already have started fawning over her.

Up on the arena platform, Lin Shuishui yawned, looking as though she was about to fall asleep.

Across from her stood Li Zuoshou, an ordinary-looking man whose entire body radiated razor-sharp sword intent.

"J-junior sister, make your move!"

Li Zuoshou had little to say. In his world, there was no room for anything but the sword.

"Huh? I get to go first?"

"Since you don't wish to, I'll make the first move."

In Li Zuoshou's eyes, Lin Shuishui's adorably dazed appearance was no different from a skeleton dressed in beauty.

His gaze was resolute, like a keen sword about to leave its sheath.

Yes, that keen sword had already been unsheathed.

A dazzling flash suddenly swept across the platform, making everyone instinctively shut their eyes.

When they opened them again, they saw an astonishing sight.

And that was!

A sword was sticking through Lin Shuishui's body, yet her face showed no reaction whatsoever.

She even looked around with her adorable, wide eyes.

"Heavens above! Li Zuoshou ran our lovely Lin clean through!"

"Has the referee been scared stupid? Get up there and save her!"

"Something seems off. Do you see any blood?"

The spectators cried out in shock at the sight!

Still, some levelheaded people noticed something strange. Although a sword was sticking through Lin Shuishui, no blood was flowing out.

In the VIP seats, Tang Que and Shi Yaoqian exchanged startled glances, their eyes full of confusion.

The two began communicating through private voice transmissions. "Sect Master, have you figured out what's going on?"

"I was about to ask you!"

"Uh, this old man doesn't know either."

Their ignorance didn't matter, because it did nothing to stop Su Wan'er from cheering Lin Shuishui on!

"Senior sister, you're badass! Beat that Li Zuoshou to death!"

Su Wan'er had never underestimated her senior sister. After all, she was someone who could understand their master's intentions perfectly.

Li Shouyi, still on his way: ??

On the platform, Li Zuoshou began recalling his Life-Bound Flying Sword.

Whoosh...

The ancient-looking flying sword flew backward out of Lin Shuishui's body and hovered beside Li Zuoshou.

"Wow, senior brother, your Sword-Controlling Art is amazing!"

"Your mockery means nothing to me. Next comes my strongest killing move. If you can withstand it, I'll concede."

To Li Zuoshou, Lin Shuishui's reply was blatant mockery, but that didn't matter to him.

If his skills fell short, he had nothing to say about losing.

That was Li Zuoshou's Sword Dao.

When it came to being utterly bewildered, though, no one could beat Lin Shuishui. Although she had already reached the Foundation Establishment stage, all she had comprehended of her path of "sleep" was Dreamscape True Understanding. She knew nothing else.

To complete his system missions, Li Shouyi had taught neither of them a thing.

Lin Shuishui's response to the attack just now had also been instinctive. Dreamscape True Understanding allowed her to switch freely between reality and dreams.

It worked on the same principle as Wei Zheng beheading the Dragon King in a dream in Journey to the West.

Thus, what Li Zuoshou had attacked just now was Lin Shuishui's dreamscape. Naturally, her physical body had suffered no harm.

"Go, senior sister! You mustn't disgrace Master!"

Su Wan'er's shout roused the nearly sleeping Lin Shuishui. She seemed to remember how much pressure Li Shouyi had endured, and how many contemptuous looks he had suffered, to take them as his disciples.

Then Lin Shuishui turned and gave Su Wan'er, below the platform, a determined look.

Next, she looked at Li Zuoshou and said, "Senior brother, please make your move!"

"Three Thousand Sword Paths, ten thousand swords become one!"

Li Zuoshou roared in a deep voice. The three-foot sword hovering beside him became two, then three, then countless flying swords circling through the air.

"Merge!"

Li Zuoshou roared again, bringing his hands together with his fingers forming a sword gesture and pointing them at Lin Shuishui.

The thousands upon thousands of glittering flying swords fused in midair into an enormous sword of light, which stabbed ferociously toward Lin Shuishui.

Boom...

"Congratulations, host. Your mission has failed. Please keep trying next time!"

Li Shouyi: ??

This "romance" I'd been waiting for so long was over before it had even begun?