Thank you for yielding

On the raised platform to the north, Shao Lingshan's face turned livid as he watched Liu Xingruo get knocked out of the arena.

His hands clenched unconsciously, veins bulging along his arms, and he actually crushed the chair's armrests to pieces.

Ye Zhiqiu, however, felt thoroughly refreshed. Smiling, she glanced at Shao Lingshan opposite her.

"Oh my, wasn't that Liu Xingruo, the West Court's chief inner disciple? He excels at Light-Cloud Movement, the Nine-Palace Sword, and the Cloud-Expelling Palm. His martial skills are widely acknowledged to rank among the top three inner disciples. I never imagined he would be eliminated so quickly. Brother Shao, don't take it out on the chair. That was bought with public funds too."

For knocking Liu Xingruo out of the arena alone, she decided to be a little gentler when she taught Chu Xisheng a lesson later.

Shao Lingshan said nothing. He gave a cold snort and turned his gaze toward another arena.

He had nothing to say now.

He could only hope the West Court's other disciples would salvage his dignity.

In the bluestone arena, Xiang Kui exchanged a glance with Chu Xisheng before continuing to slash at the bamboo leaves.

His voice carried a weight of meaning. "What cunning, Junior Brother Chu! What methods!"

Chu Xisheng felt wronged. Who could help Liu Xingruo's bad luck?

Liu Xingruo had come charging at him just as he gained an initial grasp of the Body of Light-Speed Shadow.

But he reckoned Xiang Kui would not believe anything he said now.

So he gave a derisive chuckle. "That's hardly fair, Senior Brother Xiang. I was honestly minding my own business, cutting down my bamboo leaves, without any intention of harming anyone. If Liu Xingruo hadn't harbored ill intent and tried to ram me, how could I have taken advantage of him?"

Xiang Kui could not help pausing, thinking that Chu Xisheng had a point.

Liu Xingruo's desire to harm another had ultimately harmed himself. He had not expected Chu Xisheng to have been hiding his abilities all along, so he deserved to be knocked out of the arena.

Neither spoke after that, concentrating on slashing the leaves.

They divided the entire arena in two, neither interfering with the other.

That was because more and more bamboo leaves were appearing in the arena, moving faster and faster, until even going all out, the two could not slash them all down.

Chu Xisheng felt much more relaxed now. With a "chief inner disciple of the West Court" beneath him, it would not be unacceptable for him, the rumored "number one inner disciple of the martial hall," to lose.

Once he relaxed, his limbs and movements became freer, and his speed at slashing bamboo leaves actually increased substantially.

Chu Xisheng even had time to look at his system panel.

The bright red negative value in the Martial Dao Points field earlier had concerned him, but he had been adapting to the Body of Light-Speed Shadow while guarding against Liu Xingruo, and had not been able to examine it closely.

Now his Martial Dao Points had become "−1."

Clearly, knocking Liu Xingruo out of the arena had recovered five points of reputation for him.

As Chu Xisheng focused on that number, a piece of information immediately appeared in his mind.

-Redeeming the Body of Light-Speed Shadow has overdrawn a large amount of your blood essence. Bring your Martial Dao Points back to a positive value within one month, or you will die from depletion of blood and marrow and organ failure.

Chu Xisheng frowned, a grave look appearing in his eyes.

He did not doubt the truth of those words in the slightest.

In that case, this system had not awakened talents such as the Body of Light-Speed Shadow and the Pure Yang Thunder Body in him out of thin air. Instead, it had overdrawn the blood essence within him.

Then how was he to replenish that overdrawn blood essence? Through his reputation and people's trust?

He then closed the illusory screen.

Making up that "−1" in Martial Dao Points would be easy, and he still had a month to spare. Chu Xisheng was not particularly worried.

Just then, Chu Xisheng discovered to his surprise that his score was actually thirty-two leaves higher than Xiang Kui's.

An illusory white screen stood to the north of the bluestone arena.

It clearly displayed Chu Xisheng's score as "763," while Xiang Kui's was "731."

At that very moment, all the bamboo leaves in the arena vanished.

"Time is up." The ruddy-faced martial instructor glanced at them. "Chu Xisheng wins! Next comes actual combat. You may regulate your breathing for a moment and prepare."

At this point, Chu Xisheng's Martial Dao Points changed again. There were no fireworks, but they returned to the positive value of "2."

Xiang Kui smiled faintly and cupped his fist toward Chu Xisheng. "Your skills were a cut above mine after all, Brother Chu! I'm impressed."

Chu Xisheng returned the salute with an unusual look in his eyes. "Thank you for yielding!"

He suspected this man had held a great deal back. His true strength should have surpassed Liu Xingruo's.

It was simply that, because of his undercover identity, he did not wish to attract attention.

Of course, this was only Chu Xisheng's conjecture. He had no evidence.

Next, the spiritual light shining down from the blue-green jade disc shifted, and the original eight arenas became four.

Chu Xisheng remained quite composed.

What followed would be genuine, full-contact combat. Against those Three-Leaf disciples, he had absolutely no chance.

But when Chu Xisheng was transported to the bluestone arena on the left, he froze briefly.

He discovered that his opponent was a boy of fifteen or sixteen with dry, yellowed hair.

The crucial point was that the other boy's waist token actually bore only two leaves.

Chu Xisheng paused, then a gleam appeared in his eyes.

If his opponent was only Two-Leaf, perhaps he could try to win a round?

Come to think of it, among the eight arenas earlier, there had indeed been one in which all four participants were Two-Leaf inner disciples.

He had never expected his luck to be this good-

At that moment, on the raised platform to the north.

Shao Lingshan, the West Court's head instructor, Qiu Feng, the North Court's head instructor, and Daoist Zijing, an instructor of the Arts Court, were all looking at Jian Zangfeng strangely.

This Senior Brother Jian spoke of fairness and impartiality, yet cheated without the slightest restraint.

Lei Yuan had also figured out what was going on, and he too looked at Jian Zangfeng speechlessly.

He had not expected the inspector sent by the sect to be so unreliable.

Jian Zangfeng gazed skyward, whistling leisurely and acting as though he did not see everyone on the platform staring at him.

So what if I'm cheating?

His cleverness had backfired today, resulting in an enormous blunder.

If he did not let Chu Xisheng win another round or two and salvage some of Ye Zhiqiu's dignity, how could he have the face to see his beloved?

Ye Zhiqiu, meanwhile, was a little embarrassed. Unable to say anything, she merely watched the four arenas as if nothing were amiss.

Of these quarterfinal matches, Chu Xisheng's was the first to be decided.

The instant the copper coin tossed by the martial instructor landed, Chu Xisheng's Hundred-Forged Light Steel Saber left its sheath with a clang!

The Body of Light-Speed Shadow enhanced not only his movement skills, but also his saber speed.

The doubling of his bodily flexibility and coordination vastly increased his control over his limbs and wrist, and allowed him to bring his hand speed to its utmost limit.

Just as the yellow-haired boy drew his sword, Chu Xisheng's saber flashed toward him.

This time, however, Chu Xisheng precisely controlled the Hundred-Forged Light Steel Saber in his hand, bringing its edge to a steady halt before the yellow-haired boy's neck.

The yellow-haired boy turned pale, but promptly sheathed his sword and bowed to Chu Xisheng with cupped fists. "What a fast saber, Junior Brother. I, Cheng, concede wholeheartedly."

Chu Xisheng likewise sheathed his saber and returned the salute. "Thank you for yielding!"

He discovered that a firework had burst into bloom in his field of vision. His reputation had changed from Ninth-Rank Upper, "unsubstantiated," to Ninth-Rank Upper, "substantiated."

His Martial Dao Points had also risen from 2 to 8.