Even if the swordsmen needed no rest, the spectators still needed food and drink.
"Why did the Heavenly Matriarch lose..." Changsun Jue was bewildered.
He turned his head, because that was what Cui Zhaoye had told him.
But Cui Zhaoye was silent too. After a long while, she said, "Because Yan Feiqing was too strong."
"Didn't you say the Heavenly Matriarch was the strongest, and Fellow Student Pei had less than a twenty-percent chance of winning?" Changsun Jue ate the crisp pastry strips Changsun Che handed him and said worriedly, "Now that Yan Feiqing is even stronger than the Heavenly Matriarch, doesn't that mean Fellow Student Pei can't win?"
"...I don't know either." Cui Zhaoye propped her chin on her hand in some distress. "Who could have imagined Yan Feiqing had mastered Qingwei Origin Descent? In any previous year, he would have been assured of first place."
Beside her, Qu Xin said, "We should change our name to the Yan Feiqing Fellowship."
"No, we shouldn't," Cui Zhaoye said.
"Isn't he assured of it this year?" Changsun Jue asked.
"...Probably eighty percent assured this year too." Cui Zhaoye brought her other hand up to support her chin as well, her voice muffled. "But there's that Yong Ji, isn't there? Who knows? Besides, what if Lu Wei suddenly turns out to have mastered something too?"
The pastry in Changsun Jue's mouth lost its flavor. Changsun Che offered him another strip, but he raised a hand to refuse it and said glumly, "Eat it yourself, Brother."
Changsun Che was bewildered.
Pei Ye did indeed need something to eat. He came down from the seats, where a beautiful woman in a cloak was already waiting beside the Sword Platform with a food box.
"Thank you for the trouble, Xianfang." Pei Ye approached, but