Extra's Strategy: Cultivate Protagonists, Become Invincible

Apart from some senior disciples in the front rows, most people in the audience had no idea of how many layers this farcical contest was hiding.

While others paid the most attention when Han Xuhan and Chen Yan were fighting directly, those who truly understood this duel's depth strained their ears to eavesdrop on the conversations between the two.

The invisible barrier of arrays around the arena mostly worked as a one-way filter. So, many of them had caught some snippets of their exchanges. And that was enough to leave them gobsmacked.

Chen Yan's relentless tricks, Han Xuhan's endless tactics, and the way they plotted and counterplotted against each other...

Can martial duels be fought like this?

How many tricks do you need to prepare before you call yourself ready for battle?

Not only do you need to prepare your own tricks, you must also deduce your opponent's tricks in advance, and then prepare strategies accordingly!

If any ordinary, unsuspecting foe ever stood in front of either of these two, wouldn't they be played to death?

Among those who understood this much, half of them felt enlightened. The other half felt like they had just encountered a terrifying heart demon...

Xiao Wu, being familiar with Han Xuhan's way of doing things, wasn't affected as severely. He surveyed the crowd behind him, enveloped by noisy discussions and a festive atmosphere, noticing that most of the older disciples had solemn expressions.

"Looks like once this duel is over, Xuhan's reputation will cross a significant milestone. Every senior disciple will know his name before they leave this sect."

Mu Ran shook his head in disapproval. "That might not be a good thing. You know what they say—the prettiest flowers are stolen first!"

Xiao Wu stared at Mu Ran in a state of extreme confusion. "Are you sure that's the appropriate saying? I think you meant to say—the tallest tree falls first."

"If you're not a scholar, don't act like one!" Mu Ran thundered.

Unsettled by his gloomy glare, Xiao Wu hurriedly tried to get Xuanyuan Zhou involved in the conversation.

"Hey, Sister Zhou, since Xuhan had already calculated that Chen Yan was going to rely on the Sweeping Saber Style to fight in this round, why did he enter the arena empty-handed?

He could have borrowed decent combat tools from any of us. Why did he give himself a disadvantage willingly?"

Xuanyuan Zhou hadn't spoken for a long while, seemingly lost in her own thoughts. Only after Xiao Wu insistently nudged her a few times did her eyes regain clarity.

But the scowl that appeared on her face a moment later told Xiao Wu that he had made a mistake.

"Can you not interrupt someone when they're on the cusp of a breakthrough?" she barked.

Xiao Wu was dumbfounded. In his perception, no signs of a breakthrough were visible on her. Her spiritual aura was so stable that he could barely tell that she was a cultivator.

Xuanyuan Zhou exhaled, looking resigned. "Xuhan didn't take any weapons or shields with him because of me."

"....Huh?"

"What? You were behind that as well?"

Both Mu Ran and Xiao Wu leapt to their feet, bewildered. Mu Ran, in particular, almost radiated hostility.

"It's a guess, but the likelihood of it being true is very high," she muttered.

"Back then, when he was ambushed by Chen Yan's followers for the first time, getting his knee broken, we went to visit him in the Infirmary, remember?"

Xiao Wu nodded.

"I berated him quite a bit that night for losing to those mediocre muscleheads.

I told him that if he didn't want to disgrace me, his master, he had to defeat them one by one, teach them a lesson they'd forever remember, and make them grovel at his feet for mercy.

I told him he had to accomplish this by relying only on the martial arts I've taught him."

The dots began to connect in Xiao Wu's head.

"So, that's why Xuhan didn't use a weapon..."

"Yes." Xuanyuan Zhou nodded. "While I was in secluded cultivation, he dragged Chen Yan's entire mountain peak into battle, challenging the disciples there one by one and beating them into submission.

He went from fighting his equals to fighting above his rank, and now, he's already fighting an opponent one entire realm above him. It's... not what I expected back when I was scolding him..."

Xuanyuan Zhou's aura suddenly began to show signs of instability.

"But then of course, he didn't truly do it the way I had demanded it to be done. He used all kinds of tricks and schemes that could've fooled even me.

He fought one battle in the open and one in the dark. But throughout it all, he refined what I've taught him and used it as effectively as possible.

Thinking back, I realize..."

Xiao Wu's scalp began to tingle as he felt the spiritual disturbance in the air.

It was not violent, nor as chaotic as typical breakthroughs of a Mystic Art. The movement of qi around them felt incredibly smooth, as coordinated as a harmonized flow inside an earth vein.

"A breakthrough in the Monastic Path!" Mu Ran whispered in surprise. Amidst his stupor, Xiao Wu could only sigh in envy.

A moment later, both of them looked around warily, fearing that the din and bustle of the crowd nearby would disturb her ascension, or that some ill-wisher would try to intervene.

Fortunately, the phenomenon around Xuanyuan Zhou was too mild and concentrated in a small area, not enough to attract attention in the presence of thousands of excited cultivators. Even the Elders seated at the edge of the arena had no clue.

Lost in her daze, Xuanyuan Zhou had no concerns about such things. And listening to her words, Mu Ran and Xiao Wu could understand why.

Monastic path's breakthroughs were reliant on enlightenment.

A single thought, expanded through introspection and retrospection, could bring about unprecedented change in oneself.

She must have sensed a trace of such thoughts while musing about the situation here. And now she was attempting to reason her way towards that cerebral milestone!

"Looking back, I realize that my thoughts were misguided, founded on an artificial belief and vanity. Why did I have to pressure him into getting his vengeance this way?

Why did I find his own approach to solving this matter lowly?

Since when have I cared more for the means than the ends?

Am I such a principled person? Not at all!"

Thick flow of qi formed a flux around Xuanyuan Zhou. The air suddenly began to emit an earthly fragrance. Sunshine mellowed above her head. The grass under her feet began to grow visibly, exuding explosive vitality and colors.

Mu Ran quietly cast a Mystic Art technique to isolate the abnormality of the five elements, while Xiao Wu set up a qi masking barrier around her to hide the traces of the breakthrough.

Both of them couldn't help but glance at each other and wonder,

'Why does he seem to have a lot of experience in this...?'

"In the end, three thousand paths lead to the dao. No path is greater in my heart, no path is better in heaven's eye. I can guide those with different heart-nature, but I must not tell them what path to take.

I failed to see this truth because I was blinded by my sense of superiority over Han Xuhan.

And my enlightenment today has come because my sense of superiority has been crushed by Han Xuhan."