The Science of Cultivation [Xianxia]

Chapter 69: Long Yi’s Qi Art

The second day of the annual tournament hosted by The Orchid Covenant quickly commenced.

The stadium that could hold tens of thousands of people was swiftly filled and all sixty-four remaining contestants were summoned to the center field. They were surrounded by the same arena platforms they had fought on the previous day.

“We will now be drawing the brackets for the third and final stage of the tournament. As many of you may have guessed, the final round will be single-elimination duels! Contestants, come with me!” an Elder announced as he floated in the skies above the contestants.

The elder descended onto one of the elevated platforms. At the wave of his hand, a circular wooden cup appeared tightly packed with the lots to be drawn.

The contestants, one by one, made their way up the platform, at the eyes of the entire stadium. Once everyone was in place, the elder spoke out once more.

“Time to draw the lots. We will go in the order of who had the fastest time in the previous round.” The man’s gaze naturally wandered toward the white-haired boy. “Lian Po, you’re up first.”

The boy in question had his eyes closed and only opened them upon hearing his name. He took a moment to regain his bearings before sauntering up to the elder. He casually picked out a lot from the cup and placed it on the table without bothering to even look at it before stepping back.

The elder didn’t seem to mind and simply scribbled down the number Liang Po had drawn on a piece of paper.

“Next!”

Some took a moment to pray that they wouldn’t draw a bad lot, while some carefully inspected the lots before making a decision. When they took too long, the elder would unleash a sliver of his aura to urge them, and it worked surprisingly well.

It was soon Li Lang’s turn, and he didn’t hesitate to draw his lot right away. After noting the number forty-two, he returned to his companions.

“I got forty-two, but we have no idea what the others got. So there’s no point in hesitating and just pick one,” Li Lang advised.

“U-understood.”

“Got it!”

Some other contestants had overhead Li Lang’s words, and their fellow competitors quickened their pace. The process moved smoothly and quickly and soon all the lots were drawn.

The elder wordlessly flew into the skies again and crunched up the piece of paper detailing the tournament bracket. He then flew it onto the ground below him and formed several hand signs. A circle with delicate markings appeared, surrounding the piece of paper before the earth began to tremble.

A giant stone slab quickly rose from the ground, reaching up to the height of the entire stadium. Inscribed on the slab were exactly the tournament brackets.

“The first match will start at noon. Do not squander your time; use it to make your preparations.”

The elder then flew away, and the crowd descended into an uproar as they all raced to view the brackets with more eagerness than the contestants themselves.

“This valuable time to prepare is more like for them to rake in the bets,” Long Yi grumbled. “Why can’t this thing start already?”

“There’s no harm in having some time to prepare. It’ll allow us to check out our opponent and come up with a strategy,” Li Lang answered with a wry smile.

They glanced up and carefully examined the brackets.

The sixty-four participants were divided into two blocks. All the competitors soon found their names. Some cheered, while some looked downright crestfallen.

As for Li Lang’s group, they all smiled at the fact that none of them would be facing each other for the next two rounds. That was because the reward for a chance to enter The Great Trial of Water Crest pocket realm only required them to place in the top sixteen!

“Do any of you know anything about your opponents?” Li Lang glanced over at his companions.

They exchanged a glance between themselves before both shaking their heads.

“...In that case, we should go out to the gambling stall and ask around. Be sure to cover your faces, too.”

“Sure… but about your matchups.” Long Yi glanced back awkwardly at the brackets on the giant stone slab. “Liang Po is one thing, since you can just forfeit in the third round, but you’ll have to defeat Bai Yuchen. He’s already seen that… ’surprise’ attack of yours, thanks to Wei Ping. Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“That was why we trained so hard these past six months. I’ll be fine.”

Seeing Li Lang unmoved, the trio proceeded to make their way toward the front of the stadium to investigate their opponents.

There were many people racing to place their bets. The entire crowd was filled with chatter about whom to place bets on and information for notable participants. Despite the large gathering, Wei Ping expertly spotted the knowledgeable insider who had been paying attention throughout the tournament.

With Wei Ping in the lead, they soon got the information they wanted out of him after paying a small fee.

The crowds came and went quickly, and soon, noon arrived.

“Let the first matches begin!”

Some names were called forth to each of the eight stages and the single-elimination tournament went on its way.

For the first matches, only Long Yi was called up while Wei Ping and Li Lang spectated.

The tall boy with a youthful face stepped up onto the platform where his opponent and a young man awaited.

“Long Yi vs Wu Meng. The rules are simple. Fight until either party gives up or can no longer continue. If I judge that an attack may cause permanent harm, I will be stepping in, so fight to your heart’s content.”

Both Long Yi and his opponent nodded at the young man’s word and the fight soon began. They both immediately drew their sword and took their stances.

They cautiously regarded each other as they were both in the fifth stage of Energy Gathering.

Unlike Wei Ping and Li Lang, Long Yi had no need to learn their risky tricks in order to overcome his opponents. He only needed to hone his technique and fight his enemies head-on. With his talent and experience in fighting, Long Yi spent half a year honing one Qi art.

At the advice of his companions to focus himself on this one technique, his confidence in it was unshakeable. He had already felt attuned to the Qi art the moment he glanced over at the title of it during his trip to the Bloodwave Conclave’s bazaar. Perhaps it might have been the fact that it was a technique that originated from the orthodox sects, but either way, Long Yi was glad to have chanced upon it.

It was with this move that Long Yi confidently unleashed the opening attack.

He swung out his sword horizontally toward his opponents. His blade shone with a dull light from the beginning and sent out a ranged attack of stone, but in the shape of a crescent moon.

His opponent, Wu Meng, was immediately taken aback at the attack, but managed to parry the Qi art, albeit it pushed him several steps back.

“Look at that arena over there! Someone just used an Elemental Qi art!”

“What? At their cultivation level? That’s quite impressive to be able to use it in combat!”

“What technique did he even use?”

While the crowd was discussing the rare attack among middle-stage Energy Gatherers, Wei Ping couldn’t help but smile proudly at his companion’s display.

“B-boss, that Long Yi s-should be a f-formidable opponent for t-those who are seeing his a-attack for the first time!”

“That’s a given. That Terra Moon Slash he practices has applications that can easily surprise opponents that do not have the ability to protect their entire body.”

They both turned back in the fight, where it became a match of offense and defense. Long Yi continued to unleash his Terra Moon Slashes at his opponent, while Wu Meng parried it all as he closed the distance.

Wu Meng had cleverly focused most of his Qi on his blade as he approached Long Yi. He was in no rush and steadily advanced. That was because offensive Qi arts were known to have high expenditure, so the more Long Yi exhausted himself, the more advantageous it would be for him.

The spectators, who had all been drawn to the sight of a novel Qi art, began to sigh in disappointment at the display.

“He’s just recklessly using the Qi art without a plan and exhausting himself.”

“This Long Yi is too wet behind his ears. What utterly poor application of that technique.”

“I can’t believe one with such a good physique would resort to using a fighting style where he keeps his distance. What a coward!”

However, just as Meng Wu made it halfway and was deliberating on whether he should dash forward to close the remaining distance, Long Yi wound up for a powerful strike.

“Oh, it seems like you don’t want me so close. Come on, let’s see if that full-powered attack of yours will be able to stop me!” Meng Wu proudly taunted.

He swiftly focused even more Qi onto his sword in preparation for the attack. Long Yi repeated his attack once more and Meng Wu grinned at how telegraphed it was. The two cultivators didn’t hesitate to clash head to head. Long Yi released his charged-up Qi slash while Meng Wu prepared himself to receive it by holding up his sword in the attack’s trajectory.

To all the spectators’ surprise, their confrontation ended with the referee stepping in front of Meng Wu and back handing Long Yi’s crescent slash away.

“Winner, Long Yi!”

The declaration was shocking to many, but most of all, to Meng Wu.

“What?! You must be mistaken, referee. I had that!”