"Wait, wait, wait!" Yun Wuchen struggled to speak. "Let's talk this..."
"Talk my foot!" Li Nanzhu didn't give him any chance to speak. She threw another fire lotus at him and even brought out her Fellow Daoist Sword, clearly not intending to hold back.
Seeing this, Yun Wuchen finally became anxious. He hurriedly summoned a Bagua mirror. "Tianyan Protection!"
The fire lotus collided with the mirror surface, exploding into a shower of sparks.
Yun Wuchen looked at the mirror with heartache—this was a magic tool he had saved up three years' worth of contribution points to exchange for!
Li Nanzhu narrowed her eyes. That mirror looked familiar... Right! In the original story, Yun Wuchen used this mirror to block a fatal blow for Cang Dongqing! It seemed these two had already hooked up!
At this thought, Li Nanzhu's offensive grew even more fierce. Dozens of vines burst from the ground, threatening to entangle Yun Wuchen's feet. The latter frantically performed hand seals!
Golden light flashed as most of the vines were severed, but Li Nanzhu's primary target wasn't there at all.
Unbeknownst to him, a water dragon attacked his back directly. Fortunately, Yun Wuchen reacted in time, though he still stumbled.
In the audience, Duan Xianxing laughed so hard he slapped his thigh. "Hahaha! Little Junior Sister is amazing!"
At the Tianyan Sect seats, Yun Xuanji covered his face. "It's over, it's over. My little junior brother's image is completely ruined..."
Yun Xingyan looked at their master's expression. Clearly, the old man's face was incredibly sour right now. He silently mourned for his little junior brother in his heart.
He didn't even need to calculate to know that his little junior brother was in deep trouble once the match ended!
On the arena, Yun Wuchen finally managed to regain his composure. Looking up, he saw Li Nanzhu raising her Wanxiang Brush again. In a moment of desperation, he pulled a handful of copper coins from his sleeve and scattered them into the air. "Money Hexagram!"
The copper coins formed a strange formation in the air, emitting a buzzing sound. Li Nanzhu took a cautious step back—this move hadn't been mentioned in the original story?
Beams of golden light shot out from the coin formation. Just as Li Nanzhu was about to interrupt it directly, Yun Wuchen suddenly spoke as if he had made a great decision.
"Today... is suitable for reconciliation."
Li Nanzhu: "..."
The audience: "..."
Yun Wuchen's handsome face suddenly turned bright red. "F-F-Fellow Daoist L-L-Li... shall we... call it... a day?"
Li Nanzhu's mouth twitched. "Do you think this is a game of house? Go!"
The Seek-the-Dao water arrows shot out from the tip of her brush. Yun Wuchen hurriedly raised the Bagua mirror. "Protect!"
The water arrows were all reflected. Li Nanzhu was prepared and avoided them with a side roll. She could see it now—this guy was just fighting blindly!
"Yun Wuchen!" Li Nanzhu shouted angrily. "Can't you be serious!"
Yun Wuchen looked aggrieved. "I, I... I am being serious... Fellow Daoist Li, let's talk this..."
"Break!" Li Nanzhu didn't listen at all, sending another water blade his way.
Yun Wuchen scrambled to dodge, his magic robes getting sliced in several places. He felt like crying. The 'variable' his master mentioned was way too fierce, wasn't she?
In his desperation, he suddenly remembered his master's teachings—when encountering a variable, one should use constancy to respond to all changes!
Yun Wuchen suddenly stood still, put away the Bagua mirror, and struck a strange pose. "Freeze!"
Li Nanzhu's next spell was already upon him!
Boom!
The fire faded, revealing Yun Wuchen standing in place, charred black all over. His hair had exploded into a bird's nest shape, but he actually hadn't fallen!
He exhaled a puff of black smoke and grinned. "F-Fellow... Daoist Li... now... can, can you listen to me... say a word?"
Li Nanzhu was stunned—was this guy a cockroach?
In the audience, Duan Xianxing was rolling with laughter. "Hahaha! That Roast Chicken Technique is just too perfect!"
Yun Xuanji covered his face. "It's over, it's over. He's going to be beaten to death by Master when we get back..."
On the arena, Yun Wuchen tremblingly pulled out a tortoise shell. "A-actually, I... j-just now, just now, performed a divination..."
Li Nanzhu saw that he really didn't seem to want to fight her, but she still kept her Wanxiang Brush raised warily. "What trick are you trying to pull now?"
"The hexagram shows..." Yun Wuchen looked sincere, though the tips of his ears were red. "W-we... should, should... be friends."
Li Nanzhu: "..."
The referee couldn't take it anymore. "Yun Wuchen! If you don't take this match seriously, I will declare your defeat!"
Yun Wuchen put away the tortoise shell aggrievedly. "I am, am being very serious..." He looked at Li Nanzhu, and his eyes suddenly lit up. "I! I! I forfeit!"
After saying that, he jumped off the arena and ran away in a flash.
The referee: "..."
Li Nanzhu: "..."
The audience: "..."
After a long while, the referee finally snapped out of it. "Arena Number One, Five Elements Dao Sect's Li Nanzhu wins!"
At the Five Elements Dao Sect seats, Duan Xianxing was laughing so hard he couldn't breathe. "Hahaha! Did Tianyan Sect send a stutterer to the competition?"
Feng Qingping was lost in thought. "I don't think that Yun Wuchen is simple. Although he looked pathetic, he managed to avoid his vital points by a hair's breadth every time."
Zhu Yinxi lightly stroked his jade flute. "And that last move, the Fixing Mantra—he took a direct hit from our little junior sister and only suffered superficial injuries. That defensive power..."
"There's something wrong," Mu Wenyan suddenly spoke. "Tianyan Sect has always been famous for their deduction techniques, yet Yun Wuchen didn't use any proper Tianyan arts throughout the match."
Li Nanzhu mused, "He did use the Money Hexagram once..."
"That wasn't an attacking move at all." Mu Wenyan shook his head. "It was more like..."
"Like he was confirming something," Jiang Yifan suddenly interjected.
The group fell into deep thought.
Not far away, the discussions of other sects could be heard faintly.
"Tianyan Sect is throwing the match on purpose, right?"
"I think they just look down on the Five Elements Dao Sect..."
"No, no, I heard that Yun Wuchen is the youngest direct disciple of Tianyan Sect. Maybe he's just lacking in strength..."
Meanwhile, the members of the Sword Heart Sect, who had been watching the match, looked grim.
Especially Cang Dongqing; she gazed at the arena with an unreadable look in her eyes.
...
At the Tianyan Sect's residence, Yun Wuchen was kneeling in the hall with three heavy copies of the Tianyan Orthodox Scripture balanced on his head.
"You vile disciple!" The white-bearded old man was so angry his beard was twitching. "You've completely disgraced me!"
Yun Xuanji tried to help in a small voice, "Master, at least little junior brother wasn't injured..."
"Shut up!" The old man shot him a glare. "Do you think this is a joke? Do we not care about the face of the Tianyan Sect anymore?"
Yun Xingyan weakly raised a hand. "But Master, didn't the hexagram say there would be a variable? Little junior brother was just..."
"I told him to test her! Not to go and make a fool of himself!" The old man grabbed a discipline ruler. "'Today is suitable for reconciliation'? 'Let's be friends'? Do you think this is a blind date?!"
Yun Wuchen looked aggrieved. "B-but the hexagram really did show that..."
"You still dare to talk back!" The discipline ruler smacked Yun Wuchen's palm with a thwack. "Speak! Why didn't you use the Tianyan arts?"
Yun Wuchen winced in pain. "I, I did... the Money Hexagram..."
"That's entry-level stuff!" The old man stamped his feet in rage. "Where was your Heavenly Secret Guidance? Your Wanxiang Deduction? Were they all eaten by dogs?!"
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