“To think our skills would be put to use even after death...” Heart-Snatching Sword Immortal sighed.
“Hmph. Fitting for old ghosts like ourselves who refused to pass on naturally.” Ocean Shattering Sword Fiend responded.
“If this trash could even comprehend 1% of my martial arts, perhaps I'll have something of a disciple.” Heart Immortal floated behind Teammate A as he placed his ghostly hand on the boy’s skull.
“Ah, you did die without any descendants or disciples.” Ocean Fiend remembered before chuckling. “Fool.”
“Even with all my talent and strength, it was meaningless against foes that I couldn’t even touch. Specters are such unfair creatures...” Heart Immortal cursed.
Teammate A and Teammate B looked at each other as both of them felt something flowing into their heads. Knowledge. Knowledge of martial arts the both of them knew they never practiced. Martial arts that were strong, powerful, and completely out of reach for nobodies like the two of them. Even the basics of these sword arts were enough to outclass the peak of their current sword martial arts.
However, the process wasn’t that simple. In exchange for this knowledge, they had to suffer in return. High-level sword techniques like those belonging to the Heart-Snatching Sword Immortal and the Ocean Shattering Sword Fiend aren’t techniques that could simply be comprehended and understood even with detailed instructions of performing them. This was knowledge accumulated over an entire lifetime being transmitted through the delicate and still-developing brains of their juniors.
So, it was understandable for those who knew what was happening to see them scream uncontrollably while pleading for mercy and forgiveness. Li Li certainly knew considering he was the one to order the two old ghosts in the first place to help the two. The referee was quite confused about whether he should start the match or not with the two boys suffering from mental ailments. With an excited expression on Li Li’s face, he waved the referee’s concern off.
“Let’s go!” Li Li told him.
“Very well. Begin!” The referee started the match.
Li Li pulled out multiple talismans from his storage ring and tossed them all in the air just like his mom did in her first match. This didn’t stop the enemy team from charging forward together as a group. If anything, it seemed to only encourage them in their decision to end things fast and quick. It made sense after all. Teammate A and Teammate B still have yet to recover from learning the sword techniques from Heart Immortal and Ocean Fiend. Having to deal with only one spirit beast compared to a spirit beast and two cultivators as a group of three sounds like a bargain!
“I got it!” One of the male cultivators shouted as he threw something into the air toward the falling talismans.
Everyone watched as a small red bead glowed with a bright red light before combusting into a large fiery explosion that swallowed up the talismans, destroying them before they could be activated. Relief flowed through the eyes of their members as they saw the ashes of the talismans floating down. All three members of the enemy team surrounded Li Li with their swords. There was no hesitation in their movements nor their resolve. Seemingly, all three struck with the intent to kill. Holding nothing back.
‘We can’t afford such luxuries after all...’
‘We’re facing up against a monster’s pet.’
‘Is the pet of a monster, a monster as well, or just a pet raised by a monster?’
Li Li smiled with the look of an innocent child. He blocked the first strike from the front with his finger, the second strike by pinching the blade with his other hand before it could penetrate his side, and the third with his hair gripped around the blade and handle of the attacker. All sorts of emotions sprouted up in those watching the amazing display of skill from both teams. The disciples watching from the stands were incredibly impressed by the overwhelming skill shown by the young spirit beast in the form of a child but at the same time not that surprised either. However, that didn’t dampen their excitement or joy at looking at such a thing.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
The elders on the other hand analyzed both teams with close scrutiny. Impressed with the preparation showed by the first team and excellent teamwork in focusing on the superior enemy without holding anything back. Sure, the spirit beast was also impressive in how it stood up to the three but remember, this tournament was about teamwork. And as far as they could tell, the spirit beast actively crippled his teammates before the match began and tried to take on the opponents by himself. At the rate this match was going, it seemed to be clear for a majority of the elders who the winner should be.
However, many eyes wandered over to the Supreme Commander. They all knew he had a soft spot for the Little Monster. But none of them knew if his soft spot would extend to rigging matches in her favor when they were clearly not. So, they kept their mouths shut and wouldn’t decide anything until the Head Elders decided in the end. Wouldn’t it be too tragic if they spoke the truth only to suffer needlessly for it?
“You guys aren’t bad!” Li Li complimented honestly with a nod.
The three didn’t let their emotions take hold of them. The blonde guy who attacked from the front surged all of his qi throughout his body and blade before continuing to slash, cut, and stab at Li Li. The black-haired guy who came at Li Li’s side activated his martial arts technique, lightning sparked from his blade. The girl who tried to stab Li Li from behind simply released her grip on her sword that was tangled up in Li Li’s snow-white hair and pulled out another sword from her storage ring before swinging it at him once more.
“Whoa... You guys really aren’t bad compared to all the other teams I've seen.” Li Li was genuine in his opinion.
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The battle between the four continued for over multiple exchanges. Bets were made over how long the three could last against the Little Monster’s spirit beast. Some said two exchanges, others said five, very few could have imagined that the three would have made it to over twenty exchanges! The boy was playing with the three instead of taking them seriously! This pissed off several people who were betting on a low number of exchanges but only caused them to be scorned by those who were aware of it from the beginning.
“Of course, he was playing with them! What kind of superior foe would compliment his opponents?!” He Wenqing mocked as he happily grabbed his earnings from the bets.
“Hohohohoho!” Lin Shu arrogantly laughed like the noble women she saw back home as she also grabbed her winnings.
“...” Xiucai thought if they had eyes, they could’ve clearly seen that the spirit beast was going easy on them.
“Yes! Hahahahaha! I have never seen so much money at once!” Runt’s eyes seemingly turned into coins as he greedily pocketed his earnings.
“Here you go, Little Bro!” Jue tried to give her money to Runt but he didn’t accept them.
“I don’t need it. I have my own.” Runt wasn’t rejecting her money due to some useless sense of pride or anything. He just felt that someone as slow as her should have more money rather than less of it.
“Shouldn’t you stop them?” Ying looked over at Lei Zhi.
“There’s nothing wrong with children just having fun.” Lei Zhi responded.
“Aren’t you afraid they might get addicted to gambling?” Bing chuckled.
“I’m more afraid of the trouble they’ll attract by being too good at gambling rather than that...” Lei Zhi laughed.
If they ever decided to forego their sight to learn his Auxiliary Art, Blind Man Can See, there would be very few gambling games they could lose. He doubted that Shu or Wenqing would ever consider it. Xiucai was another matter, however. With his background, he might go through with blinding himself for the sake of more power. Lei Zhi couldn’t reasonably tell the boy no but he would rather none of his pupils learned the technique. If this martial art got into the hands of someone like Xiucai, his assassination abilities would rise over a hundredfold. It was more powerful than Lei Zhi initially thought when he first gained it. At the time, he simply was happy he could ‘see’ again. The world wasn’t just darkness anymore but something that could actually be seen and experienced.
“I guess that’s true.” Bing nodded. “Let’s remind ourselves to never let those four go off on their own without some restrictions.”
Ying snickered as Lei Zhi didn’t believe such precautions were necessary. While they were young, he didn’t think any of them were foolish. Runt and Xiucai would do well in reigning in Shu and Wenqing’s adventurous spirit. If they couldn’t, they would at least make sure it didn’t escalate to something they couldn’t deal with. Both Runt and Xiucai were cautious young men who didn’t like to attract trouble or attention to themselves.