CHAPTER 45: CHAPTER 45: TWIN DRAGON DUO

In the evening, Xiangjiang Hotel.

The five members of the Swordsmanship Club finally gathered together, even Leon, who was the most unsociable, rejoined the team, and they soon started discussing the day’s competition results.

Zheng Zigang was the first to pour out his grievances to everyone: "Ah, three wins and two losses, I’m afraid it’s going to be tough to advance."

He was already in his final year of high school, and with the next tournament, he’d surpass the age limit, so this was his last chance. Unfortunately, his skills were too weak, making it impossible to hope for a spot in the top sixteen.

The other four, Ye Qingzhou, Leon, Xu Yuebing, all had five victories and no losses. Only Lu Yifan was a bit unlucky, in one round he faced Liang Sheng, the seeded player from the Li District and a top eight contender. Known as the Illusion Sword, his Yin Skill reached a mastery level, excelling in spiritual interference and all kinds of illusion techniques.

Lu Yifan had no means to dispel the spiritual illusions, so on stage, he was passively beaten the entire time, losing with no suspense.

As for Xu Yuebing, her luck was good, not encountering Zhu Jinfeng, the champion favorite from the Kunn District, thus she retained her undefeated status.

"Master Ye, you’re not one of the seeded players in the top eight? The organizers really have no sense."

Leon couldn’t help but complain.

Xu Yuebing sighed upon hearing this: "It’s the old tradition; the seeded players in the Sword Fighting Competition are either newcomers who ranked in the top eight last year or some players who create hype and publicity before the tournament to gain fame."

In essence, human society is a vast arena of fame and fortune.

Even in the seemingly fair Martial Arts World, there are various unspoken rules.

Of course, for the Sword Fighting Competition to become increasingly popular, the organizers, Mingjian Group, have to maintain some dignity by upholding the genius-level standard.

If a competitor doesn’t even have genius-level skills, then sorry, even if your father is an elder in the Elder Council, you won’t worm your way into being a seeded player in the top eight.

Actually, even worming your way in does no good, because if you become a seeded player but fail to advance, it’s even more shameful.

Ye Qingzhou smiled calmly: "It’s alright, I wasn’t planning to lose anyway, whichever group I’m in won’t make a difference."

Leon nodded deeply in agreement, very much approving Ye Qingzhou’s words: "Indeed, the players who end up in the same group as Master Ye are the ones who are truly unfortunate."

As they chatted, Xu Yuebing let out a smile, a mischievous expression appearing on her face: "Ye Qingzhou, you seem to have become famous in the comment section on the official website."

"?"

"Surely, Master Ye’s skill has been revealed?"

Upon hearing this, everyone logged into the official website forum and quickly found the post about Ye Qingzhou.

The discussion was quite heated, ranking third among all posts, right behind topics about Zhu Jinfeng and Liu Dingjian, the two champion favorites, and even featured a special red "hot" tag by the moderator.

Ye Qingzhou also took out his phone and clicked on the post.

Actually, there wasn’t much content, just a few pictures and a small paragraph of text.

However, the content was quite explosive, all describing Ye Qingzhou’s victories in the five battles during the day. The person posting obviously thought Ye Qingzhou won entirely by luck, with opponents mysteriously making some elementary mistakes and then losing the match.

From start to finish, Ye Qingzhou didn’t even draw his sword.

Moreover, the poster humorously matched Ye Qingzhou with Golden Dragon, creating a "Sword Duel Twin Dragons" oddball combo.

Among the Twin Dragons, Golden Dragon is the Unbeaten Dragon.

As for Ye Qingzhou, he’s given the endearing title "Dragon of Disastrous Fate."

Ye Qingzhou looked at it, bewildered: "Thinking I win by luck, shouldn’t I be called the Lucky Dragon instead?"

Xu Yuebing rolled her eyes at Ye Qingzhou in exasperation: "It’s obvious they dislike you and deliberately paired you with that oddball Golden Dragon as a CP."

One can’t blame Xu Yuebing for such sarcasm; it’s really because Golden Dragon’s reputation in the Martial Arts World is somewhat embarrassing.

Under the guise of an ordinary martial arts genius, Golden Dragon theoretically should be a hot commodity.

Yet even now, not a single Martial Arts School has extended him an olive branch.

After all, Martial Arts isn’t farming; its essence is competition and combat.

Golden Dragon flees without a fight against strong foes; with such spineless behavior, naturally, no one holds high hopes for his future.

Leon, browsing the comment section, was delighted, almost snorting in laughter: "Master Ye, someone’s already posted betting odds on when you’ll suffer your first defeat."

"Oh? There’s such a good thing!"

Ye Qingzhou hurriedly started discussing with Leon about placing bets; only a fool wouldn’t profit from a ready opportunity, how could they not exploit the giving lamb thoroughly?

Meanwhile, Zheng Zigang, while griping about Ye Qingzhou’s lack of a champion’s demeanor, also took out his entire living expense fund, betting that Ye Qingzhou would advance undefeatedly.

After all, being against Ye is a job, being Ye’s father is life.

After placing bets, Zheng Zigang sincerely looked at Ye Qingzhou, grasping his hand deeply, earnestly pleading: "Godfather, you absolutely must win!"

At that moment, Ye Qingzhou seemed to see the shadow of Brother Wen in him.

...

Sword Fighting Competition, the second day, Kan District.

No drum resounding through heaven.

No firecrackers sounding in unison.

Yet the atmosphere onsite was still rather lively, with even more spectators than yesterday. Clearly, the "Sword Duel Twin Dragons" post attracted quite a bit of traffic to Ye Qingzhou.

Even advertisers started reaching out proactively, wanting to negotiate endorsements with Ye Qingzhou.

The internet is like that, black popularity is still popularity, with traffic and attention, one can make money.

"Number 223, Gao Dong from Shimen First High School against number 404, Ye Qingzhou from Linjiang First High School."

On the stage stood two youthful figures.

"Are you Ye Qingzhou?"

Gao Dong had a square face, confident but carrying a hint of teasing: "One only relying on luck won’t get far; to advance in the Sword Fighting Competition, it takes skill. Meeting me, it’s your bad luck."

After speaking, he hoisted his sword on his shoulder, stood with legs apart, leaning forward slightly, adopting a bizarre stance while lifting his left arm and mockingly beckoning Ye Qingzhou with his finger: "Bring your attack, I’ll give you three moves."

Ye Qingzhou remained unaffected, merely glancing at him, already understanding his opponent’s technique and strategy.

’His weapon is the Two-Handed Sword, judging by the stance, he probably excels in Upper Route Swordsmanship; strong power but slow techniques, hence he’s provoking to enrage me into approaching and entering his attack range...’

The tactic is correct, and he understands utilizing wisdom, far more skilled than the random competitors Ye Qingzhou previously encountered.

’In that case, I suppose I’ll take this somewhat seriously.’

Out of respect for Gao Dong, Ye Qingzhou, who had previously refrained from using any Martial Techniques, decided to make an exception this time.

Heart Sword.

Activated!

With a single thought, Sword Qi surged immediately.

At this moment, Gao Dong, appearing frivolous yet internally focused, set in the initial stance of the Mid-Tier Martial Skill Pan Guard, faced Ye Qingzhou without a trace of carelessness.

All that talk of allowing three moves is just tactical deception.

As soon as Ye Qingzhou steps within his Two-Handed Sword’s attack range, he’ll instantly be faced with Gao Dong’s powerful strike.

Just as Gao Dong, waiting by the tree for his prey, was confident of his victory, a sudden severe pain arose from his abdomen.