Chapter 149 : Narrow Victory
Chapter 149: Narrow Victory
“Martial Aunt, that man in black—is he the one you have feelings for?”
In the crowd, a pretty young girl suddenly leaned over to Zhao Xiyan’s side and whispered a question.
Zhao Xiyan remained silent.
Everyone else was focused on watching the duels and didn’t notice them.
Beside the girl, a young boy had also been watching the duel. Upon hearing her words, he immediately perked up his ears.
These two youths were the grandson and granddaughter of the Inspector of Jiangzhou. The boy was named Pan Wenxuan, and the girl was named Pan Shuyi. Though younger than Zhao Xiyan by a few years, their generation was lower, so they had to address her as Martial Aunt.
Pan Shuyi added, “I heard he’s exceptionally talented. Can he compare to Uncle?”
Still, Zhao Xiyan said nothing.
Pan Wenxuan, sensing that she was unwilling to talk about it, gently tugged at his sister’s sleeve to stop her.
Pan Shuyi, seeing that she had finally managed to suppress the pride of this “Martial Aunt,” wore a victorious smile at the corners of her lips.
Originally, she had been the most pampered in the family—the youngest in generation and age, the little princess of everyone’s hearts. But ever since this Martial Aunt arrived, everything changed.
Everyone in the family instantly took a liking to this Martial Aunt, overshadowing her completely. She felt neglected.
No matter how hard she tried in the past few months, Pan Shuyi could never outshine Zhao Xiyan and always fell short. It left her frustrated and angry.
Now, she had finally found her weakness.
Pan Shuyi could now hold her head high.
Bang!
Suddenly, a loud boom caught her attention. On the stage, someone had been struck by a saber and flung through the air.
“Ah—”
She let out a sharp scream, only to realize shortly after that the one sent flying wasn’t dead, not even injured.
Only then did she remember—this was a match within the World’s Number One Tower. How could anyone possibly die?
Soon, another match had its result.
Next, the staff from the World’s Number One Tower announced the beginning of the second round of battles.
Pan Shuyi saw that the man in black had gone up to the stage and beamed, scooting over again, “Martial Aunt, look—your lover is up!”
“Oh no, his opponent is the fifth son of the Qi Family. This guy broke through to Fifth Grade over a year ago, with deep cultivation and mastery of the family’s spear technique. He’s pretty formidable.”
“Your lover broke through to Fifth Grade only three months ago. He’ll probably lose his first match.”
Beside them, Pan Wenxuan found her remarks increasingly biting and couldn’t bear to listen anymore. He coughed a few times forcefully to remind her to stop.
Pan Shuyi completely ignored him. She had been put in her place by Zhao Xiyan too many times. Now that she had finally found her sore spot, she wasn’t going to let go.
She had to ensure Zhao Xiyan would never be able to hold her head high before her again.
Zhao Xiyan said nothing. Her beautiful eyes stared fixedly at Chen Ming on the stage, a trace of worry flashing through them.
Naturally, she knew that those who could take part in the Azure Cloud Ranking contest were no pushovers. Their strength was beyond what Chen Ming’s previous opponents could compare to.
In fact, the mere fact that Chen Ming had qualified for the tournament had already surprised her.
“Martial Aunt, I heard your esteemed father, Lord Zhao, cares a lot about face. If he loses too badly, I’m afraid—”
At her side, Pan Shuyi was still prattling on. Finally, her brother Pan Wenxuan could no longer tolerate it. He tugged her hard and scolded, “That’s enough. Stop talking.”
Only then did she shut her mouth reluctantly.
At that moment, Chen Ming and Qi Wu had finally clashed, exchanging several moves in an instant.
Zhao Xiyan was surprised to find that his swordsmanship had improved greatly. He and Qi Wu were fighting evenly, neither gaining the upper hand.
In just three short months, his strength had undergone a tremendous transformation.
She had lost count of how many times she had been stunned by Chen Ming’s progress. Each time, she had already estimated his improvement generously—yet every time, she had still underestimated him.
She still remembered their first meeting. Back then, his cultivation was only at Seventh Grade, one realm below her.
Now, in less than two years, he had reached Fifth Grade, while she remained at Sixth Grade—one realm below him.
Thinking of this, Zhao Xiyan felt her chest swell with heated blood, once again stirred by excitement, thrilled by his beyond-reason advancement speed.
Some things, when merely heard of, could never compare to witnessing them firsthand.
In Jiangzhou City, most who heard about Chen Ming’s deeds scoffed, dismissing it as exaggeration from merchants of Qingfeng City.
Only those like Zhao Xiyan who had personally witnessed Chen Ming’s growth trajectory could understand just how astonishing his progress was.
What left her incredulous was that after reaching Fifth Grade, his pace of improvement hadn’t slowed down—instead, it had accelerated.
As Zhao Xiyan’s emotions churned, the other four matches on the platform had already concluded. Chen Ming and Qi Wu were still locked in a fierce battle.
Only after surpassing fifty moves did Chen Ming narrowly clinch a win.
“Another narrow victory…”
A strange emotion surged in her heart.
In the past, when her cultivation was higher than Chen Ming’s, she could clearly see that he often held back in sparring matches—deliberately giving his opponents face, before claiming a “narrow victory” after dozens or even hundreds of moves.
Was he holding back now as well?
Zhao Xiyan could no longer tell.
At that moment, Pan Wenxuan exclaimed in surprise, “What a brilliant sword technique. Which sect’s swordplay is this—majestic and elegant, yet vast and ever-changing?”
Pan Shuyi, upon seeing that Qi Wu had actually lost, cursed in her heart. Unable to defeat even a bumpkin who had just broken through to Fifth Grade—what a disgrace.
She was a little frustrated, having missed a perfect opportunity to strike at Zhao Xiyan.
……
【You have defeated an LV58 opponent and gained 12,000 experience points.】
After claiming victory by a single move, Chen Ming cupped his fists and said, “Thank you for letting me win.” Without glancing at his opponent’s flushed face, he stepped off the platform.
The third round of matches was about to begin.
He could feel that many eyes were now focused on him.
He didn’t care too much. As he won more matches, attention was inevitable. Keeping a low profile would no longer be possible.
“Haha, I knew you could do it.”
Feng Siyuan walked over, his face beaming with excitement. Just earlier, he had heard other spectators commenting—none had bet on Chen Ming. It made him feel indignant, though he couldn’t argue with them.
Very few people present were from Qingfeng County. Aside from Zhao Xiyan, he hadn’t seen anyone else. If he started a fight, he’d suffer the consequences.
So when Chen Ming won and those critics were forced to eat their words, Feng Siyuan felt extraordinarily satisfied.
Chen Ming said nothing, watching the third batch of participants on the platform.
Everyone who stepped onstage would become his future opponents—naturally, he had to observe them.
With the protection of peak experts from the World’s Number One Tower, participants held nothing back in their bouts. The matches were ferocious.
Many contestants, even knowing they had no hope of reaching the Azure Cloud Ranking, still chose to compete—for the rare chance to spar with evenly matched opponents.
Such fights were no different from actual combat. Since injuries weren’t a concern, this opportunity was rare. Everyone gave it their all.
Some, even knowing they’d lose, still fought desperately, employing life-risking tactics. “Even if I lose, I’ll make you bleed.”
Soon, five rounds were completed. Everyone had competed.
Chen Ming now had a general sense—his real rivals were the seven seeded contestants, plus Huang Zhuochen, the nameless black-clad man, and another woman surnamed Shen.
……
After the first round ended, they rested for half an hour. Once the contestants had mostly recovered, the second round of matches began.
In the second round, each contestant faced a new opponent.
The most exciting duels were still between the seven seeded contestants.
These individuals were all famous, but had never fought each other. Now that they did, their true strengths were laid bare.
The fiercest battles were between the two who had lost in the previous round. They knew that if they lost again, they’d have no chance at the Azure Cloud Ranking.
As they fought, the heat of battle flared. Every move became lethal—no more grace or courtesy.
Watching this, Chen Ming finally understood why Su Zhi Ning loathed the World’s Number One Tower so deeply.
This style of combat easily bred grudges—especially for the losing side, who would be obsessed with winning the rematch. Over time, these grudges would only deepen.
It must be noted that those contending for the Azure Cloud Ranking were among the most outstanding of the younger generation—the future core of their respective factions.
If their relations soured, the factions they represented wouldn’t get along either.
One could imagine how many future conflicts in Jiangzhou were being seeded today.
Ultimately, those two who had lost in the previous round each claimed one win and one loss.
In the second batch, it was Chen Ming’s turn again. His number was eighteen—last round he faced number nineteen, this time it was number twenty.
His second opponent was even weaker than the previous one. He dealt with the match more easily. As usual, after fifty-some moves, he scored a “narrow victory.”
If he hadn’t noticed that the other four matches had ended, making it inappropriate to delay further, he could’ve dragged it past a hundred moves.
Chen Ming’s style had always been to give others face when possible—to avoid forming grudges.
【You have defeated an LV58 opponent and gained 12,000 experience points.】
This opponent had the same cultivation level as the previous one. The difference lay in their martial technique mastery. But defeating both yielded the same amount of experience points.
……
By the end of the day, a total of five rounds had been completed.
Only then did Tower Lord Chu announce that today’s matches had concluded and would continue tomorrow.
The crowd began dispersing.
Pan Wenxuan remarked with admiration, “Five wins out of five. It’s hard to believe he only broke through to Fifth Grade three months ago.”
Pan Shuyi retorted indignantly, “He’s just been lucky—not running into any truly strong opponents. Just wait. Tomorrow when he meets Luo Xu, he’ll definitely lose.”
Luo Xu was that defiant, black-clad man with overwhelming strength—every match he’d ended within a few moves. Many believed his prowess rivaled the likes of Jiang Shihua and the other seven.
At present, only seven people had five wins out of five. But no one considered Chen Ming worthy of being ranked alongside the other six.
Zhao Xiyan still said nothing. She simply watched Chen Ming’s figure fade into the crowd, her eyes tinged with melancholy.