Capítulo 26: Remember, Don't Sabotage Yourself
After a while, Bai Haocang's breath receded, and he slowly opened his eyes.
The fierce and terrifying sword aura burst from his eyes, flying dozens of meters into the void before dissipating.
"I still can't reach the level of 'a single thought gives birth to ten thousand swords' and 'a single thought extinguishes ten thousand swords,'" Bai Haocang sighed softly, then calmly said, "Come in!"
A blue-robed steward walked in, bowed his head, and stopped about ten meters away from Bai Haocang. He said respectfully, "Master, there is an urgent message."
As he spoke, he held out an envelope.
Bai Haocang raised his hand, and the envelope flew into his palm automatically. He opened it and carefully read the letter.
"Jiang Heng? Jiang Wenjing's son?"
"Body Refining Realm, killed a True Qi Realm cultivator in direct combat?"
"It seems that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Pass the order, increase the rewards for the champion of the outer disciple competition by ten times."
The young steward acknowledged the order respectfully.
Bai Haocang contemplated for a moment before continuing, "Also, please summon Core Elder Sun Feiyu."
"Yes."
The young steward withdrew.
...
"The Master wants to see me?"
Inside the main hall.
Elder Sun gave a faint nod after glancing at the steward who had come to deliver the message.
Then, with a wave of his hand, a golden longsword flew through the air and suspended itself in front of him.
Elder Sun lightly leaped onto the blade, and his figure turned into a stream of light, disappearing into the sky.
Majestic mountain peaks passed by beneath him.
In no time, Elder Sun landed outside the main hall of the sect leader's cultivation chamber.
The golden longsword flew back to his back and returned to its scabbard.
Elder Sun entered the hall, looking at Bai Haocang, who was sitting on a mat with his eyes slightly closed.
"Master, I heard that you wanted to see me?"
"That's right."
Bai Haocang opened his eyes, his gaze calm and indifferent.
"Do you know about Jiang Wenjing's son, who is now an outer disciple and has shown remarkable talent, even defeating a True Qi Realm cultivator in direct combat?"
Elder Sun was slightly surprised.
"Really? Wasn't he considered a waste? He was only admitted to the sect and made a miscellaneous disciple due to Jiang Wenjing's face."
Bai Haocang looked at him without responding, disappointment evident in his eyes as he shook his head.
"After all these years as senior brothers, I understand your character too well. Today, I just wanted to remind you. Jiang Heng is the sect's seed, and if anything were to happen, no one would escape."
"Remember, do not sabotage yourself."
Elder Sun's face darkened, and he remained silent.
Then he turned around, controlled his sword, and flew away.
On the second morning,
In the outer courtyard square,
A bustling crowd gathered.
In the center of the square, on a massive platform measuring a hundred meters in diameter, Su Qinghe, dressed in white, loudly declared:
"Everyone!"
The crowd fell silent immediately.
"Let me first explain the scoring rules."
"The winner gains one point, the loser deducts one point, if there's no clear winner in ten minutes, it's considered a draw, and neither side scores."
"The top fifty disciples will come up to the stage for drawing lots!"
As he finished speaking, Jiang Heng and the other fifty people quickly ascended the platform and, guided by attendants who followed, began the drawing of lots.
On the side, an attendant continuously announced the results.
"Shi Chengshuang, Number 22!"
"Le Huiyun, Number 13!"
"Jiang Heng, Number 6!"
"Qi Peng, Number 5!"
...
"Exciting! Jiang Heng and Qi Peng are facing off in the first round!"
"Qi Peng is really unlucky! He was severely injured in the first phase of the trial, and it's said he had to take a Minor Healing Pill to recover. But now, in the second phase of the arena match, he's starting with a duel against Jiang Heng, the invincible disciple of the outer sect."
"To achieve good results, Qi Peng can only choose to surrender; otherwise, if he gets injured by Jiang Heng, it won't bode well for what comes next."
At this moment,
In the eyes of most outer sect disciples, Jiang Heng was already considered the absolute top.
Even those who had previously firmly believed that Qi Peng could defend his championship had their convictions instantly shattered when they heard from Su Qinghe that Jiang Heng had defeated a True Qi Realm warrior.
In everyone's eyes,
The champion of this sect competition was no longer in doubt.
What everyone wanted to see was the competition for other rankings,
And the magnificent performance of Jiang Heng, sweeping away all opposition!
Among the crowd, Qi Peng held a wooden sign with the number '5' on it, his face grim.
He had already come to the clear realization that he was no match for Jiang Heng.
Before this, he had contemplated,
What should he do if he had to face Jiang Heng?
Fight him?
That was nearly equivalent to seeking humiliation for himself. If he were to be injured by Jiang Heng, it might also affect his subsequent performances.
Or should he choose to surrender?
If considered rationally, this was indeed the best choice. After all, everyone knew about Jiang Heng's terrifying strength, and surrendering wouldn't be seen as disgraceful.
"Ah, just surrender! The gap in strength is indeed too vast, better to avoid embarrassing yourself."
Qi Peng sighed inwardly, beginning to rationalize his decision.
"Number 1, Diao Gaoyuan, and Number 2, Fu Yunhe, please step onto the stage!"
Two young men leaped onto the platform and engaged in a fierce battle, the sounds of blades clashing and swords intersecting resounding continuously.
In a martial artist's fight, the outcome was often determined in a very short time.
After all, as Jiang Heng would say from his past life, both offense and defense were geared towards high-speed combat.
Before long,
The first two pairs had already finished their battles.
"Number 5, Qi Peng, and Number 6, Jiang Heng, please step onto the stage!"
Jiang Heng leaped onto the stage, his gaze falling on Qi Peng below. He sighed softly:
"A month ago, you and I made a pact to meet in the decisive battle of the sect competition to determine the winner."
"I didn't expect us to meet so soon; it truly is fate!"
"Come up to the stage! Let me see the caliber of the so-called number one disciple of the outer sect!"
Qi Peng's face stiffened, and the word 'surrender' that was about to come out of his mouth got stuck.
He could clearly feel that many people around were now looking at him.
Some with mockery, some with ridicule.
The title 'number one disciple of the outer sect,' which he had once taken pride in, and even been somewhat arrogant about, now, when spoken by Jiang Heng, felt like a sharp thorn deeply embedded in his heart.
"What's wrong? The proud number one disciple of the outer sect wouldn't be too afraid to step onto the stage, would he?"
Jiang Heng's lips curled slightly, revealing a faint, ambiguous smile.
Qi Peng clenched his fists, his face turning red.
Going up on the stage would undoubtedly bring humiliation, and there was a high chance of getting injured, affecting his subsequent matches.
Not going up on the stage, on the other hand, meant enduring the taunts and the peculiar gazes of countless junior disciples.
Almost everyone in the audience, numbering in the thousands, had fallen completely silent, waiting for Qi Peng's reaction.
Beside the platform, Su Qinghe, standing with his hands behind his back, looked at Qi Peng, whose face was changing continuously. He shook his head slightly and evaluated him in four words in his heart:
"Poor mental fortitude."
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
remnantofinfinity
remnantofinfinity Just testing how far machine translation has come
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
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