Translated by Rachel of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
You XiaoMo rubbed his hands nervously and stared hard at the piece of paper in Zhu Hong's hand. May the gods be with me, he prayed. Let the name on the paper be his, it must be. He promised he would not despise the name You XiaoHa anymore in future.
"This fella is going overboard with the mystery and suspense." TianXin also wanted to know who Zhu Hong picked but after he got the slip of paper, his actions became very slow as if he intended to create suspense for everyone and make them hungry for more.
Zhu Hong didn’t look at the name on the paper slip. Instead, after he was satisfied with having everyone's eyes on him, he took his time to pass the paper slip to the referee. He really didn’t believe his luck was so bad that he would draw a name with less than ten percent chance of being chosen.
The referee calmly received the paper slip and flipped it over to the back. His eyes shifted to the other corner of the slip with the name written on it. When he saw the name on it, his body suddenly shook slightly and an odd expression formed on his face.
This slight movement was immediately picked up by the crowd and soon, the area where the spectators sat started to buzz with excited discussion.
"What is it, what is it, what does the referee's expression mean? So did he get picked or not?"
"What a hateful bunch of people. They only know how to create suspense and make us hungry for more."
"Haha, if he didn’t do that how can he show this historic moment of tension. From what I see, it’s highly likely that he didn’t get picked. The referee always likes to do things to mislead others."
……
Zhu Hong also became slightly nervous from the referee's actions.
"How is it?" He asked.
The referee didn't say a thing but he took out a mini jade plate.
Seeing that, the crowd immediately shifted their attention to the screen on the wall and saw a name slowly appearing behind Zhu Hong's name. You XiaoHa!
The crowd became silent…
"Yes! Fuck, he really got chosen." Tian Xin excited voice broke the silence. She was even more excited than You XiaoMo himself. Even the swear words came out.
Qiao WuXing covered his face in disgrace. This brat was really crazy.
You XiaoMo was so thrilled that he grabbed Ling Xiao's arm tightly. He was too happy to even speak and his hands trembled non-stop. The gods were actually standing on his side.
"Don’t be to excited. This outcome is normal." Ling Xiao held his wrist. Perhaps he was the calmest of his them all. Even Jiu Ye's cool expression cracked slightly. Clearly no one thought You XiaoMo's luck was that good.
On the side, An Qiao spat on the floor. What a lucky bastard he was! Less than one out of ten chance of getting his name drawn and yet he got it! How infuriating!
"Impossible!" Zhu Hong, who had spent a lot of time and effort to prevent this, could hardly accept this fact. The shock on his face couldn’t be wiped off his face easily. He still hadn’t come around to the fact. He specially found ten people and even paid a small price for them and the outcome was this!? Didn’t it just mean that whatever he did was for nothing?!
Faced with Zhu Hong's anger, the referee calmly handed him the paper slip in his hand.
"If you don’t believe it, you can take a look at the result you personally picked."
Zhu Hong didn’t receive the slip of paper but he saw the name on the end of the slip. It was indeed You XiaoHa's name. Blood started to rush to his eyes.
Everyone thought that he was doing this for the Clean sweep victory but he wasn’t. The real reason behind it all was that he had an agreement with Ran Yu from the forty-third floor. If he won all six challenges, Ran Yu promised to do Dual Cultivation with him. In order to have Ran Yu, he was willing to go to any lengths to win. However, he never expected You XiaoMo to suddenly pop up. Furthermore, he was also one of the strongest students that XiaoYao Academy admitted this year.
Before You XiaoMo even challenged him, he already did his research on them. What he concluded was that there were three high level mages who had multi-coloured souls among the new students. If he had to compete with them, they didn’t stand a chance winning. As for the few strong ones, the odds of winning were slim. So to prevent that irreversible situation from happening, he thought of a plan.
His actions did seem to violate the rules of the Academy but even if someone were to investigate it, they wouldn’t find anything.
The nine out of ten chance of not selecting You XiaoMo actually lost to that one-tenth.
Any normal person would find this hard to accept.
You XiaoMo happily walked up the ring and stood in front of Zhu Hong. Zhu Hong knew he shouldn’t take his anger out on his opponent but he couldn’t help it. The way he looked at him was as if he was facing his mortal enemy. He glared at him.
"I’m You XiaoHa, please take care of me and do give me advice." You XiaoMo said lightheartedly.
Zhu Hong was on the verge of vomiting blood. Give him advice! What did he have to teach? It was clear he was bound to lose this match, he might as well concede defeat now. Then again, that would be too shameful. If Ran Yu knew about that…
The referee standing at the side of the ring raised his hand an announced, "Begin."
Zhu Hong opened his mouth to speak but an overwhelming surge of soul force swept towards him. Directly in the path of the soul power, he bore the brunt of the attack. He felt as if his body was crushed by unmovable mountains and it was in that moment Zhu Hong truly felt the gap between You XiaoMo and himself. It was a gap that could not be compensated by any means.
The laughter lines on the youth's slightly childlike face faded, replaced with a stern look. His standing posture slowly went into an attacking stance.
Zhu Hong subconsciously stepped back.
At this moment, he suddenly heard a mocking laughter.
The familiar voice slightly surprised Zhu Hong. He looked towards the direction of the sound and saw a familiar face. He opened his mouth but he couldn’t say Ran Yu's name.
Standing among the spectator lots, Ran Yu looked down at him. The slightly downcast eyes nicely hid the disdain and contempt in them. The people beside him might not have noticed but Zhu Hong clearly saw it.
Why?
Zhu Hong only had this question in mind.
You XiaoMo raised his brows in astonishment. Following his line of sight, he saw a splendid scene. It was a man who could be found with one look despite standing in a crowd. He clearly was a man but he had features that were more bewitching than MaoQiu's flirtatious countenance. If he had to use one word to describe him, that would be a vixen.
At the moment, that vixen was looking at Zhu Hong condescendingly.
You XiaoMo reined in his aura and looked at Zhu Hong who seemed to have come undone.
"Dage, do you still want to fight?" You XiaoMo asked.
You XiaoMo looked at him and it was obvious he wanted to give up already.
Remaining silent for three seconds, Zhu Hong suddenly raised his head and stared at him with bloodshot eyes.
"Fight!"
Just after he finished saying that, his aura had an outburst and he shot towards You XiaoMo like an arrow that just left the bow. His aura did indeed gave people a scare.
You XiaoMo thought he was prepared to give up. Never did he expect him to attack so suddenly. While he might have been caught off guard, he easily grasped Zhu Hong's attack pattern. Zhu Hong was only charging towards him with brute force. You XiaoMo immediately erected a soul barrier. Want to knock into something? Fine, he’d let him knock into something.
Zhu Hong immediately shifted his body. He went around the soul barrier and tried to attack You XiaoMo but he just casually flicked his Resonance Finger. His soul power cut through the air and flew towards Zhu Hong like glowing silver needles. Zhu Hong didn’t dodge it in time and got hit on the shoulder. Dull pain punishingly assaulted his heart.
Zhu Hong kneeled down with one knee on the ground and cradled his injured shoulder. He then stood up immediately and the soul power within him exploded once again. He then continued to charge at You XiaoMo like a man on a suicide mission.
You XiaoMo raised his eyebrows in surprise. This guy couldn't be…
Viewing the competition from the spectator seats was a whole other show altogether. Zhu Hong's perseverance could be seen. Time and time again, he tried to move the mountain that was You XiaoMo but each time his efforts were in vain. The one who ended up all battered and bloody was still himself.
The spectators near the ring watched the scene play out silently.
Many originally wanted to see Zhu Hong's pathetic state after he got defeated but now, they didn’t know how to react. Both him and the spectators knew full well that he couldn’t win, but he still continued. Either he’s foolish or too persistent!
Bam!
Zhu Hong's body was flung into the air and he landed heavily on the ground. A few seconds later, he seemed like he still wanted to get up and fight, just like a cockroach that could never be killed.
You XiaoMo walked forward and shouted at him with furrowed brows, "Hey, there’s tons of guys in the world. You don’t have to be so hung up on one. It may not necessarily be your loss if he doesn’t like you back. You don't have to do this yourself and make yourself feel unworthy. You may not feel bothered but I’m getting annoyed right now with this shit."
Kneeling with one knee on the ground, Zhu Hong spat out a mouthful of blood and turned his head back in Ran Yu's direction to take a look. That someone wasn’t there anymore and he didn’t even know when he had left.
"You don’t have to look anymore. He left much earlier on when you charged towards me. How about this, you admit defeat now. Then I wouldn’t have to kick you off the ring." You XiaoMo said.
Zhu Hong was stunned for a moment.
"Referee, he admitted defeat." You XiaoMo immediately told the referee.
The referee was like, Do you think I’m dead?
Zhu Hong wiped the blood off the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and agreed, "Yes, you’re right, I concede defeat."
"…."
The referee had no words for them.
You XiaoMo looked at the referee with all smiles on his face.
The referee then took a deep breath and declared You XiaoHa the winner.
And that, was how all the drama came to an end.