Chapter 331: Tyranny of Talent
Huang Yimun was honestly surprised to make the final ten of the martial division. He definitely wasn’t as talented as his opponents. Of course, the combination of his Body Cultivation and the quality of the scriptures provided by the sect leader closed some of the gap.
Honestly, though, Huang Yimun attributed most of his success simply to being older than his opponents. There was a world of difference between fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds, barely considered adults, and him being twenty. He’d seen more. Experienced more. He’d been in fights where his life was on the line.
That gave him an edge against youths who mainly sparred with their peers in completely safe environments where even pain settings were reduced.
Huang Yimun’s astonishment at making the finals only enhanced his pride at standing on the stage with the finest cultivators the sects on the continent had to offer. With the exception of him, barely being an E with that minus designation, and Zi Delan, all the combatants were members of a big three sect with spiritual roots in the A and B range.
Still, Huang Yimun had barely made it onto the stage, ranking eighth. Zi Delan was even closer not to have made the cut at the very bottom, tenth.
Final ten was final ten, though.
It was almost a year to the day since Huang Yimun first departed Sixth Flawless City, and that version of him would have been absolutely astounded at where he’d ended up. Not only was he a cultivator in a powerful, up-and-coming sect, he was a leader in that sect—the guard captain.
To survive growing up on the streets and transition to earning a living in a respected manner as a mercenary was already beating the odds. To have almost no talent and be inducted into a sect was almost unheard of. To then achieve such success as to stand next to the best of the best was like something from a child’s overactive imagination.
But he had done all that. He deserved to take a moment to reflect on his accomplishments. He only wished that Ye Zan was there to share the moment with him.
The announcer recognized each of the contenders by name, to the cheers of the crowd. The Rising Tide Sect’s section—and the clan’s section for some reason?—went absolutely crazy when Huang Yimun and Zi Delan were introduced.
After the cheering died down, the finalists were ushered off the stage, and the first match began between the top ranked Swift Blizzard Sect member and … Zi Delan. The favorite to win the entire competition obviously wanted to reveal as little of his power set as possible and didn’t use any techniques, fighting instead with simple, clean strikes.
Zi Delan did his best. He kept good concentration and used his speed and strength to his advantage. Small mistakes added up against a superior opponent, though. Being an inch out of position here and a fraction of a second late with a block there led to a fairly fast defeat.