Chapter 51

Chapter 51: The Tournament Begins

Lin Zhao glanced at the spot where Lu Xuan Bing disappeared, then looked at Qu Shu’s expressionless face and let out a quiet sigh.

One side indifferent. The other delusional.

What a mess.

She didn’t know that woman’s identity, but the hostility she’d shown over Qu Shu wasn’t something that would fade. It would fester. A hidden enemy, waiting.

Granny’s voice sounded in her mind. “That brat has a Restriction Seal on him. It doesn’t look like something a cultivator from the Heavenly Phoenix Continent could leave behind. Girl, keep an eye on him.”

Lin Zhao’s brow furrowed. “Could it harm Qu Shu?”

“It feels somewhat like the Otherworld evil thoughts,” Granny said, “but also different. Even Granny can’t be sure.”

Inside Qu Shu’s Sea of Consciousness, a soft, sweet voice chimed.

“Ding! Friendly reminder from the Female Lead Strategy System: Host has achieved the milestone ‘Hero Saves the Beauty.’ Current favorability with the female lead: 30. Host gained points: 60. Host’s current points: 10060. Spend 10 points to buy a strategy item for the female lead?”

Qu Shu answered instantly, “No.”

The soft voice snapped, turning into the rasp of a grubby middle-aged man. “You stingy bastard. Choke on it!”

Qu Shu withdrew the gaze he’d placed on Lin Zhao. He touched the Spatial Ring on his finger and sighed to himself.

Mm. Another 60 points.

Ming Yue bumped his shoulder with clear hostility, then slipped her arm around Lin Zhao’s and clung. “Male. Go away.”

Qu Shu glanced down. Dust had smeared his spotless white robe.

His expression changed.

He stepped back several paces, gave Lin Zhao a small nod, and left on sword flight without another word.

Lin Zhao lifted a hand and waved after him. “Take care.”

Ming Yue’s blood-red eyes tilted up. “Where are we going?”

Only now, up close, did Lin Zhao notice something strange.

Those eyes were lifeless. Unfocused. As if they looked through her rather than at her.

Ming Yue was blind.

“We’re going to the tournament arena to enter,” Lin Zhao said softly. “Ming Yue, do you want to come with me?”

Even after Ming Yue had helped her, learning that she was the Young Lord of Moon Inviting Sect made Lin Zhao instinctively hold herself a little straighter. Some habits, once learned, didn’t vanish easily.

About five years ago, Lin Zhao had rescued a group of children around her age from a Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator’s cave. Ming Yue had been one of them. Her eyes had been dug out long before Lin Zhao arrived.

Back then, Lin Zhao had fought with everything she had, killed the demonic cultivator, and saved the others.

But there had been one little girl—blind, unable to run—who hid deep in the cave and refused to come out.

Lin Zhao had carried her out of that sunless place.

Later, she discovered the child had a Mutated Dark Spirit Root. And because Lin Zhao lost control whenever anything touched Chen Luo Luo’s shadow, she hadn’t felt safe keeping the girl by her side.

So, without letting the people on Yun Ding Peak know, Lin Zhao sent her into Moon Inviting Sect—the sect whose attributes suited her best.

Before sending her in, Lin Zhao had pressed a Universe Pouch marked with a crescent moon into the little girl’s hands.

“You never speak, so I don’t even know what to call you. Since I met you on a moonlit night, I’ll take the liberty of calling you Little Yue. This Universe Pouch can’t compare to a Spatial Ring, but it still holds 10 square meters. There are Spirit Stones and low-grade pills inside. Once you go in, someone will teach you. Little Yue… we’ll meet again someday.”

Lin Zhao had thought that once the little girl grew up, she’d change such a childish name.

She hadn’t expected it to become her official name instead.

Ming Yue’s fingers tightened around Lin Zhao’s hand. “Little Yue,” she said, voice steady and oddly earnest. “My name is Little Yue.”

The blood-red bell around her ankle chimed softly.

Lin Zhao’s throat tightened for a moment. Then she smiled. “Alright, Little Yue. Let’s go together.”

She summoned the Bone Sword and formed a seal. The sword extended, widening until there was room for two.

Ming Yue stepped up beside her. Wind brushed her face. She leaned her forehead gently against Lin Zhao’s shoulder, and Lin Zhao caught the faint scent of orchids on her hair.

“They said nasty things,” Ming Yue complained, blunt as always. “I beat them.”

Lin Zhao rubbed her head, careful and gentle. “Now Little Yue can protect me too. Thank you.”

Praised, the ankle bell chimed more cheerfully.

The tournament venue was a square that could hold a thousand people. By the time Lin Zhao arrived, the disciples were almost all present.

Not long after, a referee checked the glowing points on the jade tokens he’d handed out. Seeing everyone assembled, he used spiritual power to project his voice into every corner.

“Each of you has already received your jade token,” he said. “You’ve seen the score on it. That’s right—this tournament lasts two months and uses a point system. Official disciples start with three points. Tournament disciples start with one.”

His smile sharpened. “If you find spirit herbs or Spirit Beast resources in this arena, you can come here and have a referee add points to your token. Of course, if you can’t find any… there’s only one path left.”

He let the silence stretch.

Then he spoke, delighted by the tension. “Take someone else’s jade token and hand it in. You’ll gain their points as well. If a disciple whose token was taken fails to regain any points within seven days, they will be automatically eliminated.”

A few breaths caught.

“There are no limits on how you take tokens,” the referee went on. “Rely on your own ability. Teachers observe each tournament, but there will always be times they can’t see, or can’t arrive in time. That’s why every tournament sees official disciples eliminated, and there are always deaths among the tournament disciples. You could say this tournament is a life-and-death trial.”

He spread his hands. “If anyone is scared now, you may withdraw.”

Lin Zhao clicked her tongue under her breath. Simple rules. Bloody stench.

But everyone here was a chosen prodigy of the Heavenly Phoenix Continent. Who would retreat because of a few words?

When the referee finished, not a single person moved.

His smile deepened. “Good. Looks like you have courage. Your class is one the Academy Lord has high hopes for. I won’t keep you in suspense—the top five in this tournament will be qualified to join the Continental Grand Tournament!”

Lin Zhao didn’t know what that was, but someone beside her did.

Ming Yue’s slender body jolted, startled despite herself.

Lin Zhao leaned closer. “What’s the Continental Grand Tournament?”

Ming Yue’s fingers flexed around Lin Zhao’s hand. “The Continental Grand Tournament is preparation for the Phoenix Throne Grand Tournament later.”

She spoke carefully, as if laying out a map. “The Heavenly Phoenix Continent should actually be called the Heavenly Phoenix Plane. This plane isn’t just one continent. It’s just that the Heavenly Phoenix Continent is the strongest, so everyone uses that name for the whole plane. But ‘Heavenly Phoenix Plane’ is more accurate.”

She paused, then continued, voice quiet but intent. “In recent years, forces from the Vermilion Bird Continent and the Golden Crow Continent have grown stronger and stronger. They’re more and more dissatisfied with the name. So, once every 10 years, they hold the Continental Grand Tournament—to encourage the successors of the various continents and decide how plane resources are divided.”

“Only the younger generation below Nascent Soul can participate,” Ming Yue said. “It’s also one of the key factors in ranking the major powers of each continent. Moon Inviting Sect rose from a First Rate Power to a Transcendent Power because our young generation placed well in previous Continental Grand Tournaments and earned more resources.”

Lin Zhao stared, stunned.

So many layers. So much sky above the sky.

“I didn’t expect the South Sea Academy to use that as the reward for top five,” Ming Yue murmured, temptation plain on her face.

Lin Zhao understood quickly. “If we participate, not only do we bring resources to the South Sea Academy—we also bring benefits to the forces we come from?”

Ming Yue nodded. “The overall distribution is fairly fixed, but the smaller details depend on what the high-ranking young prodigies choose to do. Gaining benefits for your own faction is an accepted rule.”