“Is this kid out of his mind?”
Seeing Zhou Ao pointing at Taiping like a fighting dog, Zhao Linglong muttered under her breath.
“Seventh Peak, who will you send to fight?”
Elder Black Dragon’s voice rang out at that moment.
“Elder Black Dragon, please wait while we discuss this briefly.”
Senior Sister Jiang Zhi immediately responded.
“You only have the time it takes to brew a cup of tea.”
Elder Black Dragon nodded.
According to the rules of this competition, the defending side had the time it takes to brew a cup of tea to decide.
However, the disciples around Cloud Pavilion didn’t care about these rules, assuming Xu Taiping was too scared to fight, and jeers filled the air around the Sword Platform.
“What’s with this Zhou Ao? Who let him target Taiping like this?”
Upon hearing the jeers, Xu Ziyan’s face turned sour on the Cloud Pavilion.
Lin Buyu, however, remained expressionless and uttered two words:
“Idiot.”
Beside her, Xu Ziyan felt like crying but had no tears.
She knew all too well Zhou Ao’s petty schemes, but Lin Buyu’s nature was such that if she wasn’t interested in you, she wasn’t interested, and the more you tried, the more she would be repelled.
“I reckon Taiping is going to forfeit.”
Xu Ziyan sighed.
“Not likely.”
Lin Buyu, who had been reading her book, replied without even looking up.
“How do you know he won’t…”
“Seventh Peak’s challenger, Xu Taiping!”
Before Xu Ziyan could finish, Elder Black Dragon’s voice interrupted her.
Hearing this, Lin Buyu’s lips curled into a mischievous smile, and she continued to read her book with relish.
…
On the Sword Platform.
“Taiping won’t have any problems, will he?”
Zhao Linglong looked worriedly at the figure of Xu Taiping stepping onto the stage.
“He knows his limits; he should be fine.”
Senior Sister Jiang Zhi shook her head.
“But I always feel like he’s going to do something foolish, enduring the agony of Soul Cry and hanging that 130-pound iron weight.”
Zhao Linglong frowned at this.
“That’s not something to worry about. The pain of the soul is not like the pain of the flesh; it’s not something you can endure if you want to. Most people faint immediately.”
Jiang Zhi shook her head.
“But there are exceptions. Those cultivators who don’t faint and keep enduring might actually be in danger.”
Qingxiao frowned.
Hearing this, Zhao Linglong’s face changed.
Because the Xu Taiping she remembered was exactly the kind of person Qingxiao was talking about.
Soon, Elder Black Dragon’s voice rose again—
“Seventh Peak’s Xu Taiping has chosen a weight of 131 pounds.”
Hearing this, the disciples of Qingxuan Sect on the Cloud Pavilion who had initially jeered felt their faces burning, but some still looked disdainful.
“No need to watch; he’s surely just going through the motions before conceding.”
“Yeah, he’s just saving face by shamelessly stepping onto the stage.”
Listening to the taunts coming from the Cloud Pavilion, Zhao Linglong’s expression grew increasingly ugly.
But she had no way to refute them, as they had just instructed Xu Taiping to do exactly that.
“Forget those gossips; as long as Taiping can wield his flying sword, that’s mission accomplished.”
Qingxiao saw Zhao Linglong’s worsening expression and immediately offered some words of encouragement.
“Junior Brother is only in his first Seven Peaks competition. In six years, he’ll surely shut all these people up!”
Zhao Linglong spoke with certainty.
“Yes, Taiping in six years will surely stand on his own.”
Qingxiao was also very confident.
“So even for Taiping’s sake, we must win one or two matches in this Seven Peaks competition, no matter what. Without enough heavenly materials and earthly treasures, no matter how hard he tries, he won’t be able to catch up with the disciples from the other peaks.”
Senior Sister Jiang Zhi spoke with determination.
Qingxiao and Zhao Linglong nodded solemnly at her words.
This time, both Jiang Zhi and Qingxiao were prepared to risk soul damage.
…
On the stage.
“Xu Taiping, summon your sword.”
Elder Black Dragon stood with his hands behind his back, looking at Xu Taiping with an indifferent gaze.
“Yes.” Xu Taiping nodded.
He then formed a sword gesture and began to circulate the Heart Technique of sword control.
“Clang!” As a sword cry sounded, the sword he carried on his back suddenly flew out of its sheath and hovered in front of him.
Elder Black Dragon frowned slightly upon seeing the sword.
Xu Taiping’s sword was the rusty sword that Elder Sansan had left in Moon Scooping Lake.
He brought this sword not because Seventh Peak lacked swords, but because Xu Taiping was accustomed to it and didn’t want to switch at the last minute.
To bring this sword, Xu Taiping had promised Elder Sansan that he would carve three thousand more characters upon his return.
Some cultivators with good eyesight also noticed Xu Taiping’s rusty sword.
Some laughed at Seventh Peak for being so poor that they didn’t even have a decent sword, while others mocked Xu Taiping for treating the Seven Peaks competition as a joke, casually bringing any sword to compete.
On the Cloud Pavilion, Lin Buyu and Xu Ziyan, followed by an old man with white hair, cursed upon hearing these comments:
“A bunch of trash, daring to judge my sword?”
However, it seemed that no one around him noticed his presence, as the mockery continued unabated.
“Xu Taiping, if you embarrass me with that sword, I’ll make you copy another three thousand characters when you get back!”
The old man watched Xu Taiping on the Sword Platform below and gritted his teeth.
…
“Ah… Achoo!”
On the stage, just as Xu Taiping was about to have Elder Black Dragon hang the iron weight, he suddenly sneezed, causing the flying sword in front of him to wobble violently.
This immediately provoked another round of laughter from the disciples on the Cloud Pavilion.
“Xu Taiping, are you ready?”
Elder Black Dragon’s face remained stern.
“The disciple is ready.”
Xu Taiping touched his nose and then spoke earnestly.
Hearing this, Elder Black Dragon nodded solemnly.
Then, he deftly picked up a piece of iron weight and slowly tied it to the rusty sword that Xu Taiping was controlling.
“Hum!”
Almost the moment Elder Black Dragon’s hand left the iron weight, the rusty sword let out a tremble.
At the same time, Xu Taiping’s mind felt as if it had been punched hard, going blank.
Following that, the rusty sword plummeted towards the ground.
However, this state lasted only for an instant. Xu Taiping, fighting a wave of nausea and dizziness, made the rusty sword fly up again.
Even just keeping the rusty sword three feet off the ground, he already felt breathless, his chest tight, his heart pounding violently, and his whole body seemed on the verge of fainting.
This was the symptom of Soul Cry.
“Xu Taiping, that’s only a hundred pounds, and there are still thirty-one pounds to go. Can you hold on?”
Elder Black Dragon then picked up another small piece of iron weight.
“If you can’t hold on, you may forfeit.”
He continued in an emotionless tone.
“Huff…” Xu Taiping exhaled a breath of stale air from his chest, then stood up straight again, and with a sharp flick of his sword finger, the rusty sword flew up to Elder Black Dragon again.
“Clang,” the sword flew in front of Elder Black Dragon.
“Ready,” Xu Taiping uttered.
Those who had been ready to laugh at Xu Taiping fell silent at that moment.
Elder Black Dragon did not hesitate and hung another piece of iron weight onto Xu Taiping’s rusty sword.
This time, the flying sword did not fall, but Xu Taiping’s face turned instantly pale as paper.
At that moment, he was controlling the sword purely on instinct.
Thanks to the day after day practice, his sword flying skill had become so proficient.
Seeing this, Elder Black Dragon said nothing but hung a thumb-sized piece of iron weight onto the rusty sword.
“Not one pound more or less, exactly one hundred and thirty-one pounds. Please begin inscribing.”
Elder Black Dragon spoke to Xu Taiping in his unemotional voice.