OneArmedImmortal
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GEV 026: Wins and losses
🕑 Added 2023-07-26 14:58:42 +0000 UTC"The challenged, Zhao Han, has been knocked out and his third seat now belongs to the challenger, Zhao Wei!" The judge announced loudly for all to hear of the inevitable result.
"Zhao Han lost just like that?!"
"Even with his incredible peak of the fifth rank inner strength, he was still no match for Zhao Wei's one move!"
"He's truly a monster!"
"I reckon even if it was Zhao Linglong he wouldn't necessarily have the strength to defeat Zhao Han in a single move!"
"Look he still has his eyes closed. Could it be that he hasn't seen anything from the match?"
"This guy… How pretentious can he get?"
The disciples cast their gazes at the first seat which was occupied by Zhao Linglong. They wanted to know his reaction but his closed eyes and passive face gave nothing away. He seemed to be in a different world of his own, disregarding everything. Nothing else mattered to him.
Despite not getting what they wanted, the spectating disciples had already raised the image of the tournament's shining star, Zhao Wei, inside their minds. Till now, he hadn't shown any of his true strength, making him seem like a bottomless pit. Not to forget that he follows a peculiar code of finishing his opponents with only one fist, well except for Zhao Feng who he had decided to somehow play with.
Zhao Wei had already become the tournament's favorite and they couldn't help but anticipate a blood-boiling match between him and the number one inner disciple, Zhao Linglong.
They couldn't wait for Zhao Wei to challenge Zhao Linglong!
But was he really going to do so?
As for the person of interest, he calmly went over and sat on the unoccupied third seat like an enthroned king.
Zhao Chi who occupied the second seat cast him a side look that mirrored his inner wariness.
Zhao Wei, feeling a gaze on him, turned his head and flashed him a playful smirk.
Zhao Chi felt himself miss a breath. Zhao Wei's smirk made him overthink that he wasn't finished and he was going to be next.
'Shit! Why did I have to look at him? Now this crazy guy has set his eyes on me. I just hope that he won't challenge me since I don't have full confidence in winning against him. Being in the second position is already good enough. This guy feels more dangerous than even Zhao Linglong. It looks as if high cultivation is worth nothing in his eyes.' Messy thoughts ran through Zhao Chi's mind as a cold sweat trickled down his face.
It would be even stupid of him to try and challenge him to test the waters. It was just better to proceed with his initial plan of challenging the first seat. Zhao Wei was bad news that should be avoided.
Seeing Zhao Chi's uncomfortable and worried look, Zhao Wei chuckled lightly just enough to startle him and cause him even more stress.
'What a scared pup!' Zhao Wei shook his head with an amused expression on his face.
He could already see through Zhao Chi's worries. The dude had probably started thinking that he was also aiming for his seat so as to increase his own fame and prestige.
That was something that Zhao Chi needed not to worry about since Zhao Wei had no intentions whatsoever of amassing reputation and prestige.
Zhao Wei had already achieved whatever he wanted. Nothing more nothing less.
Zhao Wei still had three chances of challenging anyone but he had already planned to pass them up.
He had never put the first position in this clan's tournament as something worth taking over. That Linglong guy could as well continue to have it.
What is reputation?
What is fame?
What is short-lived glory?
All of these were nothing in front of his eyes. They served no purpose in his life and grand aspirations.
Zhao Wei thought of those people who won lotteries worth millions or even billions of dollars and then they became rich and famous overnight. But what follows next? Some will wantonly spend all that money and just as they had once become rich, they would take a turn for the worse and become homeless hobos in debt. The fame and reputation that they had previously gained would all crumble as they fall into misfortune which would only serve for other humans to secretly laugh at them.
That was how humans functioned. The higher you climb the harder you fall and the more intense it would serve as joy for others.
As a person from earth, Zhao Wei had seen it oh-so well. Even the people you deemed as your most trusted friends, they would immediately laugh behind your backs the moment you experience a moment worthy of schadenfreude.
Stretching his legs like a cat, Zhao Wei leaned further into his seat and closed his eyes while resting his intertwined hands on his lap.
Then, he went deep into his mind to slowly analyze the [Metal Wall Technique] and understand even the very minute details it contained.
[Primordial Stellar Energy Body Refining Art] needed numerous points of inferences to develop it further. The more body techniques he had in hand the more it would be close to another evolutionary spurt. After remembering some details from the absolute bangers like "Stellar Transformation" , "Lord Xue Ying" and "Top Tier Providence", Zhao Wei had been having crazy thoughts swirling in his imaginative mind about the future of his self-created body cultivation technique.
Zhao Feng looked at the sleeping Zhao Wei and internally cursed his entire generation for taking what he had been aiming for.
Due to Zhao Wei taking the original main character's opportunity from the Blood Red Python's territory, Zhao Feng's peak fourth rank cultivation base was genuine and wasn't hidden by the [Hiding Air Technique]. But even though his cultivation base was at the Peak of the Fourth Rank, his inner strength was at the fifth rank. Zhao Feng could easily fight toe to toe with opponents of the fifth rank.
This fact made him confident of even challenging someone like Zhao Han even though he would have to expose some of his tricks and strength.
Zhao Feng didn't have a good impression of Zhao Han in the first place since he was Zhao Yijian's cousin and Zhao Yijian was his enemy. So he had initially intended to settle the feud in one way or another.
'Now my only way of getting into the top three has been cut off completely. I can't challenge Zhao Chi who has learned many high ranked techniques and similarly trained all of them to the high level. As for that bastard, even if I was given millions of gold taels to fight him, I would immediately refuse!' Zhao Feng seethed silently.
'Now I would have to completely forget about learning a Peak Ranked martial art and a necessary ingredient for my breakthrough to the fifth rank, the blood pill '
A barely discernible smug smile curved on Zhao Wei's face when his senses picked on a particular person's hidden hatred. Even though he was concentrating on something else, Zhao Wei could easily divide his focus into two without needing a mind-related technique.
Zhao Wei's wrath-inducing smug smile didn't escape Zhao Feng's Left God Eye.
'This bastard… Fuck, it was intentional!' Zhao Feng wasn't stupid. He knew that whether it was intentional or unintentional, Zhao Wei had ultimately ruined his plans and he was plainly rubbing it on his face. In silent anger, he gritted his teeth, making his jaw muscles visibly protrude.
Zhao Feng nearly puked blood due to the extreme anger and madness boiling inside him. The Ancient God's Eye was the only thing keeping him in check.
There was simply nothing he could do against Zhao Wei since the bastard was a brute and his fists hit harder than even metal. Zhao Feng could only leave him be.
'Then I am only left with one choice… To challenge the fourth seat. A high ranked technique is at the end of the day still greater than a middle ranked technique. I have to be content with what I get.' Zhao Feng thought carefully after calming himself down.
The events that followed next were that interesting to Zhao Wei.
Zhao Feng took the fourth seat from Zhao Qin and she was forced to step down and take the fifth position among inner disciples but that was also for a short period.
Zhao Yufei challenged Zhao Qin and took her position, making her more sad and disappointed.
The tournament really had many geniuses that could suppress her in terms of strength. The new would always replace the old.
And then again the dethroned Zhao Han proceeded to challenge Zhao Feng intending to at least save his face, only to lose it again. He had had a very bad day. He could only occupy Zhao Yufei's position who had immediately surrendered when he had challenged her.
The direction of the novel didn't derail that much as Zhao Chi still issued a challenge to the first seat, Zhao Linglong.
Like any other mob and stepping stone out there in the worlds of cultivation, Zhao Linglong wore a golden robe and had sharp sword-like eyebrows with an aura of an imperial highness. Something that had deeply amused Zhao Wei.
That guy was even more arrogant than him. But he served as a good source of knowledge for Zhao Wei.
Zhao Linglong's Step Shadow Movement Technique and Peak Ranked Martial technique "Spatial Cloud Finger'' were duly analyzed and memorized. To see through the essence of a Peak Ranked martial technique wasn't that hard for Zhao Wei.
He didn't plan on using them personally but they could serve him very well in improvising his own techniques.
The clan sparring contest ended with no suspense and the prizes and ranks among the new bunch of inner disciples were announced.
The top six ranks were like this from the first position to the sixth position: Zhao Linglong, Zhao Chi, Zhao Wei, Zhao Feng, Zhao Han, Zhao Yufei, Zhao Qin.
As for the prizes, Zhao Wei had muted whatever those below the top three received from his ears since they didn't concern him.
As a result of being in the top three, Zhao Wei had been bestowed a special token that would allow him to pick his techniques without any worry from the martial arts library.
'Women are a source of trouble!' Zhao Wei scoffed lightly and disappeared into the crowd when he saw Zhao Yufei looking for him after the tournament was finalized.
The Linglong guy in whichever universe he was from, he couldn't resist a jade beauty. A jade beauty was always their kryptonite.
Zhao Wei had already seen it from miles away and extricated himself from such a forced plot.
There was no benefit of him clashing balls with such a character if needed be.
What mattered most were the events that would introduce him to the rest of the Fan Universe and leave Sun Feather City behind.
Yet another new beginning awaited him.
***
