However, seeing Gu Ningyun’s "weak and powerless" state and her look of relief, Fan An wondered if he was overthinking things.
He swallowed a Return-to-Spring Pill. Without waiting for his wounds to heal, he gave Gu Ningyun a polite bow and left, his back looking a bit frustrated.
Once the martial uncle acting as the judge declared the winner, Gu Ningyun walked back, looking utterly exhausted. She kept muttering to herself, her tone filled with relief.
"I'm so glad that hit. My spirit energy is completely spent."
...
In the final round of the Ranking Matches, moving from the top twenty-five to thirteen, Gu Ningyun drew a bye.
As the competition progressed, the opponents became increasingly powerful.
Gu Ningyun sat leisurely in the spectator stands, watching Wen Xuan and Mu Chenze fighting clumsily on the arena.
Through one coincidence and two strokes of luck—and with the help of pills and talismans—the two of them had managed to narrowly defeat their opponents across three matches, scraping their way into the top thirteen.
It wasn't that no one suspected anything. However, every time a powerhouse cast a suspicious or scrutinizing gaze toward Wen Xuan and the others, they would be distracted by the stunning performances of Jiang Yao and Jun Luo.
Looking at the additional two hundred points they had gained, the five of them exchanged a glance and silently waited for the Arena Matches to begin.
"The fourth and final round of the individual competition: the Arena Matches."
"The participants for the Arena Matches are the top thirteen disciples from the previous ranking round. The matches will take place in Arena One."
"The initial Arena Master will be the disciple currently holding the top spot on the leaderboard for the New Disciple Competition."
"Other disciples may step onto the stage of their own accord to engage in one-on-one matches."
"If a challenger wins, they will become the new Arena Master."
"Note: Everyone must fight one match against each of the other twelve participants. The Arena Matches will conclude once a participant has completed twelve matches. No repeat matches are allowed."
"Each victory grants one hundred points. Anyone who wins twelve consecutive matches will be considered to have successfully defended the arena and will receive an additional four hundred bonus points."
As Perfected Person Ye announced the rules, the atmosphere at the competition grounds instantly grew tense.
The other nine arenas had been cleared, and the thirteen participants were gathered in the waiting area of Arena One.
Perfected Person Ye herself would preside as the judge for Arena One.
Clutching her zither, Gu Ningyun stood behind Wen Xuan and silently scanned the opponents in front of her from right to left.
Aside from the five from Ruiyu Pavilion, three of the remaining eight had left a deep impression on her.
They were Si Puyu, Fu Mingzhi, and Ling Hanbai—three of the top five sword talents mentioned in 《New Disciple Xiaosheng's Remarks》.
Gu Ningyun had watched their matches. If it were purely a contest of swordsmanship without a proper duel, she wasn't entirely certain she could defeat them.
However, with 《Lingtai》 at her disposal, and for the sake of her subsequent plans, she didn't intend to use a sword for this individual competition.
She quietly suppressed the battle intent in her eyes. There would be other opportunities for sword duels in the future; there was no need to rush.
Perfected Person Ye sat cross-legged on the judging platform. Seeing that everyone had arrived, she said, "The current leader of the points rankings is Jun Luo. Jun Luo, take your place on the arena first."
"The rest of you, prepare yourselves. The Arena Matches will officially begin in fifteen minutes."
Before coming to the waiting area, Gu Ningyun had already discussed tactics with the other four in the Prosper Together group.
Just as the fifteen minutes were up, before anyone else could react, Gu Ningyun clutched her zither and leaped onto the arena in a flash.
Two other figures followed close behind her, landing on the stage just after she did.
Gu Ningyun glanced sideways. It was Si Puyu and Ling Hanbai.
Finding themselves a step behind her, the two looked at her, then at each other, and stepped down.
Gu Ningyun chuckled, clutching her zither. "Jun Luo, you're done for!"
She didn't fight Jun Luo head-on at all. She spent the entire match fleeing and dodging while playing 《Lingtai》. After two full songs, she had literally played Jun Luo to sleep.
No one below the arena expected that the Arena Matches—which should have been a display of flashing blades and life-or-death struggle—would begin in such a theatrical manner.
After playing a melody to wake Jun Luo, the same two figures stepped up again. This time, Ling Hanbai was a step faster.
During their fight, Ling Hanbai didn't forget to try and recruit her as they crossed paths. "Gu Ningyun, your melodies are very strong. Combined with your speed, we are indeed no match for you in a one-on-one fight."
"But your melodies have one fatal weakness: they take too long to take effect."
"During the team competition, if even one extra person blocks your path, you'll have nowhere to run."
"Why not consider cooperating with our group? I promise our entire team will protect you."
Gu Ningyun's fingers didn't stop moving. "You know the rules for the team competition?"
"I don't, but it's better to be prepared."
Gu Ningyun said nothing more, focusing on dodging the lightning-attribute sword qi. She manually made Ling Hanbai shut her mouth—and her eyes.
Sensing that she still had half her spirit energy left and that it was automatically recovering, Gu Ningyun feigned exhaustion and swallowed a top-grade Spirit-Replenishing Pill given to her by Wen Xuan.
In the subsequent duels, Gu Ningyun used the same method, playing them all to sleep one by one, knocking them off the arena, and then waking them up.
The gazes of the crowd below shifted from eager anticipation to disbelief, finally turning into numbness and speechlessness.
It was simple: even if they had learned movement techniques, they could only just barely match her speed.
If they used a Swift-Walk Talisman, Gu Ningyun had them too.
Even if their attacks blocked her retreat, she had spells, Fireball Talismans, and illusion arrays to stall them.
Just as Ling Hanbai had said, without two people cornering her, it was impossible to land a hit.
She essentially lacked offensive power but had an absurd number of survival tactics, literally grinding them down until they were exhausted.
Wen Xuan sat to the side, watching the fights with malicious glee.
Hehehehe. During their previous practice sessions, only the four of them had been forced into deep sleep. Now, it was time for everyone else to experience it.
Jiang Yao poked her. "What are you dazing off for? Everyone else has already gone up. It's your turn after Mu Chenze finishes. Get ready."
Wen Xuan's expression stiffened. Fine, she hadn't escaped it either.
After defeating the final challenger, Wen Xuan, Gu Ningyun turned around with her zither and happened to meet Perfected Person Ye's meaningful gaze.
With the eyes of a Golden Core Perfected Person, she had likely seen through their disguises long ago.
Gu Ningyun blinked innocently and tightened her grip on her zither.
After tapping on her tablet a few times, Perfected Person Ye announced loudly, "The Arena Master for the Arena Matches of the 11,680th Xiaoyao New Disciple Competition has been decided!"
"Disciple of Ruiyu Pavilion on Qixia Peak, Gu Ningyun! Relying on her zither melodies, agile speed, and the application of spells, talismans, and arrays, she has defeated twelve consecutive opponents. She has successfully defended the arena and is awarded four hundred bonus points!"
Her voice was infused with spirit energy, carrying across the entire competition grounds.
The fellow new disciples in the spectator stands could finally no longer contain themselves. They all stood up, staring at the young girl clutching her zither on the arena.
"Why isn't she in our group?"
"Can we really not try to cooperate with them?"
"I never would have expected Senior Sister Gu, a support, to take first place!"
"All five members of Ruiyu Pavilion are in the top thirteen. With Gu Ningyun taking the Arena Master title, they're already ahead in individual points."
"It's fine. They won't have such a big advantage in the team competition."
"True. After these Arena Matches, they probably don't have many pills or talismans left."
"Even if they stay up all night refining more, they won't be able to make many in such a short time."
Rate on N.U.
