Chapter 21

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Chapter 21: Little Jiu

Upon entering the island, each sect was led to different courtyards to stay.

As the group from Qingliu Sword Sect walked, everyone, except the elder leading them, looked up admiring the beautiful scenery along the way.

Sword Sect had many steep peaks and tall trees, with some flowers and plants, but compared to Blizzard Island covered in a sea of flowers, it was much less impressive.

"Blizzard Island doesn’t have snow, it’s spring-like all year round here, with cherry blossoms covering the mountains. When the wind blows, it looks like snow falling all over the sky, that’s why it’s called Blizzard Island," Martial Sister Mengran explained gently to everyone.

"Look at the lights on these trees, they’re probably magical formations set up by Blizzard Island specifically for enjoying flowers at night, such clever ideas," she added.

Martial Sister Mengran’s insightful comments clearly pleased the Blizzard Island disciples leading the way, who showed a hint of satisfaction in their expressions, thinking that these sword cultivators also understood some elegance…

Then, a few swordsmen behind him stared at the scenery and the swords in their hands, and loudly praised, "Beautiful."

"Beautiful."

"Awesome."

Then it’s gone.

If these boring sword cultivators were asked to appreciate flowers by writing poems, they might never get to experience it in their lifetime. But if you replace the flowers with swords, they might surprise you with a book of 300 poems about cultivating swords in the realm of immortality.

It wasn’t until the disciples from Blizzard Island, with stern faces, led them to their lodging and left, that Senior Bao Pilong curiously asked, "Weren’t things fine on the road here? Why did they just leave as if we owed them money?"

Wen Yun felt ashamed as she replied, "We must have forgotten to invite them to dine with us!"

Martial Sister Mengran gazed at this group of clueless younger martial sisters and disciples with a complex expression.

The advantage of being a genius is focus, but the downside is being too focused. When it came to things unrelated to cultivation, Wen Yun really hesitated to use her brain more.

The morning after arriving at Blizzard Island, Wen Yun stifled a yawn with her hand covering her mouth, unable to resist the habit she had cultivated for centuries – staying up late studying magic again.

Ye Shubai examined the stack of papers she had just painted and asked, "What is this?"

"On the way here, Wen Yun found that Blizzard Island is full of special formations." She casually pointed to a lamp. "Look, that lamp will automatically go out at dawn and light up again at dusk. It’s the same as the formations on the cherry blossom trees outside. Also, there is a Soundproof Spiritual Array in every room."

She listed a few more examples and then excitedly spread out the paper in front of her. "I studied all these formations thoroughly last night. We can set them up at The Tenth Peak later."

In the world of formations, there is an unwritten rule: if you crack a formation, you gain the right to use it. However, the formations on Blizzard Island have always been tricky and eccentric. They usually decipher formations from other places and bring them back to Blizzard Island. They never expected that one day, a sword cultivator they looked down upon would empty their home.

The formations in the two worlds are similar yet completely different. Wen Yun now feels like a mouse in a grain barn, contentedly solving more than ten spirit formations.

Seeing Ye Shubai staring intently at the magic formation, she decided to give him all the drawings of the formations. "I’m really tired. I’ll go take a nap first. Remember to call me for lunch…"

Before she could finish speaking, they heard Senior Zhu Erchong’s loud voice from outside.

"Martial Sister Wen!"

Wen Yun opened the door and solemnly spoke first, "Martial Brother Zhu, I finished practicing my sword before dawn today. You can practice on your own today."

Zhu Erchong was surprised, "Younger martial sister is so hardworking. I have been too lazy!"

Other senior martial siblings also praised her, "Indeed, Martial Sister Wen, the shining sword cultivator. I must follow in your footsteps tomorrow!"

"Martial Sister Wen, remember to call me at sunrise tomorrow!"

Wen Yun, "…"

I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have shown off.

Luckily, Zhu Erchong spoke again, "We’ll talk about sword practice tomorrow, Martial Sister Wen. Today, we didn’t come to practice with you."

"Then?"

Zhu Erchong blushed slightly and whispered, "Younger martial sister, do you still have the magical jade on you?"

The other senior martial siblings behind him also looked expectant.

Wen Yun didn’t disappoint them; she generously took out all her belongings, and the senior siblings’ eyes lit up instantly!

However, at the next moment, the two dull low-quality spiritual jade confused everyone for a moment, and finally they dumbfoundedly looked at Wen Yun, "Is this it?"

She couldn’t help but nodded in shame, "Just this much."

Even though the sword cultivators were all poor, at least everyone was a direct disciple of the three major sects, so they shouldn’t be so poor.

So the senior brothers remained silent, and one of them sympathetically took out some spiritual jade and handed it to Wen Yun, "This should be enough, Martial Sister Wen, let’s go and make some money with us, senior brothers will help you get rich."

"Get rich?"

Wen Yun never expected that when the senior brothers talked about getting rich, it was actually about gambling, but not with cards, but on who would win the first place in this Swordsmanship Contest.

The third son of the Wan family, who was hosting, in a very tempting manner, enticed the crowd, "Here is the top one hundred strength list of this Swordsmanship Contest. Betting just requires one high-quality spirit stone. If you bet on a dark horse and win, hey, you might end up with thousands or even tens of thousands of spirit stones!"

"But Wan San, I see your odds aren’t that high either!"

Wan San squinted his eyes, looked at the person speaking, and chuckled, "That’s because his strength is universally recognized as strong, so betting on him is quite a safe bet, right? Though the odds aren’t high, if you bet a thousand times or ten thousand times, cumulatively, the stakes become high. This is a deal not to be missed. Miss it here and you won’t find this opportunity again!"

The man made up his mind and finally picked up a list of the top 100 people, saying, "Give me a copy, I want to carefully see who is ranked first."

Many people nearby were also demanding copies.

Wan San raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, saying, "Keep quiet! I will say a number–"

Looking around, he picked up a stack of books, "One piece of high-grade spiritual jade… for one book!"

The cultivators all took out space bags to buy books, even Senior Bao Pilong blended in the crowd to buy one and said, "Come on, everyone, let’s see who can get rich!"

Wen Yun also leaned over to look, this book was somewhat similar to the one given to her by the Wan family ancestor, but not as detailed. It only listed the names of individuals and their sects, along with a few simple sentences about their strength.

The strength of the people was also ranked according to the majority’s preferences.

As the sect with the strongest martial power among the three major sects, several sword cultivators participating in the Swordsmanship Contest were at the forefront, except for Wen Yun.

"The one ranked first is Jiang Si!"

Jiang Si showed his prowess in the battle yesterday, unleashing fifteen powerful strikes. His cultivation at the peak of Golden Core stage was the highest among the participants, earning him the top spot and respect from everyone.

"Oh no, this year our sword cultivator was unexpectedly surpassed by the knife cultivator! I don’t want to bet against him!"

"Oh, the second place goes to our Junior Brother Xie!"

Wen Yun raised her eyelids slightly and saw Xie Mian’s name in the second position.

"Qingliu Sword Sect’s Xie Mian, twenty years old, youngest son of the Xie Family, once nameless, now renowned far and wide as a Golden Core expert."

In just a few words, it summarized Xie Mian’s current reputation and status. Now, everyone knows about this talented and extraordinary young genius.

She nonchalantly lowered her gaze, hiding the sharp killing intent that flashed in her eyes.

However, the senior brothers didn’t intend to bet against Xie Mian, not even against their own people.

Their explanation, "We don’t have much spiritual jade. Betting on the names in the front won’t earn us much, not even enough for one sword cultivation session. It’s better to bet on the ones behind, maybe we’ll hit a jackpot!"

"…"

Wen Yun hesitated on whether to praise their intelligence.

When the list was flipped through, the name at the very end was surprisingly "Wen Yun."

"Qingliu Sword Sect Wen Yun, aged fifteen, without cultivation, skilled in formations."

The sword cultivators looked over at Wen Yun, their faces filled with joy, "Martial Sister Wen, no one is betting against you! Your odds are now over three hundred times!"

Upon seeing Wen Yun’s lack of cultivation, even those hoping for an underdog wouldn’t bet against her.

The group from Qingliu Sword Sect was different. They had witnessed Wen Yun’s formidable strength during the sect’s grand competition. These direct disciples all had masters at the Soul Changing Stage. They knew Wen Yun had mastered the legendary Sword Intent Transformation.

That was the ultimate in the legend of swordsmanship!

Martial Sister Wen, after mastering Sword Intent Transformation, defeated the former sect’s top talent, Martial Sister Liu. Now, she practiced swordsmanship every day before dawn. Isn’t her power even greater now?

In their opinion, Martial Sister Wen is not even worse than the second-ranked Junior Brother Xie!

Therefore, they have already started planning how to spend the money they will make after getting rich…

"Doesn’t it mean that if I bet on Martial Sister Wen, I can buy a piece of dark iron to remake my beloved sword after the Swordsmanship Contest?"

"Haha, I no longer care for dark iron, I want to buy a piece of millennium flame stone to reshape my sword!"

Wen Yun helplessly watched as this group of people happily ran over to Wan San’s place, everyone contributing a little bit of money, totaling over a thousand bets placed on her, instantly raising her value.

Watching Wen Yun’s odds approaching the top ten, some confused cultivators wondered, "Who bet on Wen Yun? Is someone not thinking clearly, even if they have money, they shouldn’t be wasting it like this. Didn’t they see that she has no cultivation?"

"Hey, maybe she bet on herself just to save face."

They all came in later and were unaware that Wen Yun had broken the array yesterday, but even if they knew, it didn’t mean they would bet on her.

After all, without cultivation, no matter how profound their knowledge of formations is, they cannot compete with others.

Wen Yun didn’t care about the gossip, but the senior brothers were very angry.

Martial Sister Mengran glared at the people talking, swiftly drew her sword, passed over the heads of those two people, and used her sword to pick up a bag and handed it to Wan San.

"There are still three thousand high-quality spiritual gems inside, I bet on Wen Yun!"

Martial Brother Zhu was puzzled, "Martial Sister Mengran, I asked to borrow money from you this morning, and you said you didn’t have any!"

Martial Sister Mengran’s eyes wandered, pretending not to hear.

It wasn’t just Martial Sister Mengran who had hidden money.

Shen Xinghai, who had been silent, strode forward and bumped into the two people who had just mocked Wen Yun with his shoulder, his eyes as sharp as his sword.

"Get out of the way, don’t block the path!"

Holding a bunch of high-quality spiritual jade, he said in a deep voice, "I bet on Wen Yun too, a thousand pieces!"

Suddenly, Wen Yun became a popular contestant!

Martial Brother Zhu looked at her falling odds, feeling upset, "You both suddenly bet so much, how will I make money for the Eternal Flame Stone later! How will I strengthen my sword!"

Shen Xinghai whispered, "I just can’t stand their arrogant attitude."

Zhu Erchong was still heartbroken, but didn’t say more, just grabbed Wen Yun’s hand, "Martial Sister Wen, let’s go, I’ll accompany you to practice sword! This time we can only win, not lose!"

Wen Yun’s lips curved up, feeling a warm sensation in her heart, making her wide awake without a hint of sleepiness.

"Alright, even if it takes risking my life this time, I will win back the spiritual jade for my martial brothers!"

This touching scene between martial siblings was very moving, but it was seen differently by onlookers.

"These sword cultivators truly excel in strength but have simple minds, wasting thousands of spiritual jade just for face!"

As Wen Yun and others were about to leave, a space bag suddenly appeared next to Wan San out of thin air, with a note on it –

"Offer Wen Yun, ten thousand top-grade spiritual jade."

Wan San stared at the shining top-grade spiritual jade in amazement, repeating sharply, "Boss is generous! Ten thousand top-grade spiritual jade, one million bets, backing Wen Yun to win!"

Wen Yun’s name suddenly surpassed Jiang Si’s, becoming the number one favorite this time!

The crowd was shocked, even the senior brothers were puzzled, wondering who had such insight to compete for money with them.

Wen Yun turned around in surprise, only to see Ye Shubai walking towards her against the flow of people.

She stared at him in surprise, "Are you interested in this kind of thing too?"

Ye Shubai looked indifferent, "Not interested."

Pausing for a moment, he added nonsensically, "I also don’t tolerate it."

He couldn’t stand seeing the person he wanted to protect being mocked and humiliated by others.

Wen Yun understood, her cold face suddenly lit up with a beautiful smile like fresh snow melting under the sun.

The man in white under the distant flower tree also heard the commotion, and at first, he glanced absentmindedly, but when he saw the smiling face, he froze in place.

After a faint sense of joy, a wave of endless fear and coldness surged up, making his blood and soul feel icy, almost causing him to lose all consciousness.

He trembled and moved his lips, silently uttering two words.

"Little Jiu…"