CH-16: Settling Debts

Although the winner was obvious, who knows if Ava had a trump card or not.

"Iyana Jiang vs Ava Jiang, start!"

"SCRAM." Despite everyone's expectations, Ava did not faint like Renee did. Though she wasn't quite okay.

'Huh? She is still standing? Is it her cultivation technique or some artefact?'

"Hah! How do you like my new pendant, sis? I wonder what are you going to do now that your only means of attack does not work on me!"

'It was an artefact alright. It was to be expected. Iyana had hurt Renee's soul quite severely. She will have to use many precious medicines to get better, they did not want the same to happen to Ava. Though thinking she is a one-trick pony is an unlucky guess, it would be true if she wasn't a regressor.'

Sure of her win, Ava dashed into Iyana. She had a grin on her face, it did not last long.

-SLAP!

She flew to her right, her confusion evident on her now swollen face.

"Y-y-you! You will pay for this!" She dashed again with fury this time, only to-

-SLAPP!

This time she flew to her left, now even her right side was swollen and red.

"The Clan really feeds you well, sister. Look how chubby you are, I just want to squish them!"

Iyana took the fazed Ava by the hair and her hand was raised again. Each slap echoed through the arena. The Jiang Clan members watching this felt like those slaps had hurt their souls even with the barrier formation that was put before. After a while Ava was out cold, now even her mother wouldn't recognise her with the state of her face.

"Iyana Jiang wins!"

After the referee announced she made her way to her seat.

"You were eating popcorn, really?"

"What? I thought I was in for a good show, who would've thought you would slap her till she faints and end it so soon!"

"So it's my fault you couldn't enjoy my match, is that what you mean?" I heard her cracking her knuckles and did what every man would do.

"Of course not! You misunderstood, I just craved some popcorn that is all. Do you want some?" Taking whatever popcorn I had left, she sat down. We watched the remaining matches like that.

The next day was the showdown. Now it was quarter-finals, and every person here would be rewarded extra. 'I don't know if they can give me something better though.' Your comprehension exam and tournament placement would determine your rank, and depending on your rank you would be given a cave for cultivation, monthly contribution points etc.

-"First match of the quarters, Axel Lin Vs Emmanuel Xue!"

"You ready to lose the beat, you damn poet," I said. He was glaring at me.

-"Start!"

He took out his fan, immediately going offensive. It was a 3rd rank low-grade weapon artefact. Although he wasn't able to use it fully without corresponding cultivation, it was still as sturdy. Having only a normal whip with me I couldn't match it.

'Guess I will have to trust my body.'

I didn't have a weapon so I couldn't afford to give him space, I too went offensive. Emmanuel was blocking my strikes with his fan and seemed like he was dancing while doing so.

'Tch, show-off. Dance to this!'

I grabbed his fan and pulled him, breaking his rhythm. He hadn't expected me to grab his 3rd Rank weapon. Now he was off-beat, I could beat him easily. Although his body was quite good, it didn't excel in strength. He couldn't keep up with my constant attacks, getting hit every now and then. Soon his body couldn't take it anymore and he was knocked out.

"Axel Lin wins!"

I returned to my seat, grumbling.

"You won but still unhappy?"

"It was disappointing... What kind of body is that? No offensive or defensive traits, its whole shtick is having fluid movement. Did his brain go numb because he was harmonizing verses all day every day? And he trusted his weapon too much, even if it was a 3rd rank weapon, he couldn't use its offensive methods with his cultivation. I couldn't even beat him to my heart's content!"

"I didn't know you hated him that much, what did he do?"

"Bastard took my favourite brush during a banquet, and used it to write incomprehensible wrigglings."

"That's it?"

"You wouldn't understand..."

"Sigh..."

The next match was Ye Tian and Rose. I was quite hopeful of her performance. Protagonists like Ye Tian would never be as decisive against women as they would men. They choose to add them to their harems instead. 'I will knock some sense to her if she turns out like that.'

"Ye Tian vs Rose Lin, start!"

The match started with both sides sizing each other, then Rose sprung forward. She had her spear in her hands, the Meteoric Golden Spear, to be exact.

While Ye Tian was still unarmed. They clashed multiple times, sparks flying every time. They were evenly matched until Rose used a battle art. Seeing her use a battle art, Ye Tian also used his movement art, dodging her every strike. Right then he noticed the weak point of her technique and punched, ending her streak of strikes. This reversed the roles, now Ye Tian was in the offensive. He didn't give Rose any chance, slowly driving her closer to the bounds. With one last strike, he sent her off the bounds.

"Out of bounds, Ye Tian wins!"

With that, it would be my turn tomorrow. The guy nearly eliminated every Lin Clan member, as if it was staged.

'Those old farts, how is this randomised? Ye Tian eliminates Lin Clan left and right, Iyana goes against her Clan's geniuses, and not to mention that my beef with Emmanuel is known too. They are really making a show out of us.'

It was Iyana's turn now, she was facing Cerys. It was incredible she made it to the quarter-finals, even if the draws were in her favour. As a commoner, she wouldn't be as well taught as these young masters and young misses.

The match started and Iyana whistled as usual, but Cerys was still standing. She had faced her physique with sheer will.

"Quite commendable, but it is over now." Said Iyana. This time she couldn't take it and fainted. She had no reason to hurt her soul as she did with the Jiangs so she just spoke normally.

"Iyana Jiang wins!"

With her victory, there was nothing left to do here. 'The remaining Mo Clan member will win anyway, and she will defeat him tomorrow.' After taking her from the arena, we went back to the inn together.

"What is your plan for tomorrow?" She asked.

"I don't know, he didn't reveal anything. No weapons no arts, except that movement technique. And I don't know how to break it like he did with Rose's, maybe you could give a hint?"

"No freebies. I don't think he has a weapon though. Even if he had, he wouldn't use it. He tries to lay low, whatever weapon artefact he got from the inheritance must be of high rank. He won't show such a trump card in a non-lethal tournament."

"Even then, he seems as adept at fighting as me, while also having a better body. If I had a weapon I could maybe win, but I don't-"

Knock knock

The door knocked as I was talking. Looking at Iyana I said;

"Come in."

Then a servant entered the room.

"I have brought the Fourth Elder's gift for the Young Master. Fourth Elder apologizes that he can't give it in person as he would be in seclusion, instead, he paid close attention to its creation so Young Master got the best weapon artefact." Said the servant while giving me a spatial pouch. Spatial pouches were another means of storage, compared to spatial rings we had they had less space, and were trickier to use. But they were also infinitely cheaper.

"Convey my gratitude to Fourth Elder if he finishes his seclusion. Here is a tip for the troubles went through."

"Thanks to Young Master for his generosity." The servant bowed and left. I turned to Iyana with a stupid grin on my face.

"You saw that right? I literally summoned it! Let's see what this baddie can do!" She responded to my enthusiasm by rolling her eyes.

I opened the pouch and took out the beautiful whip inside. A manual was also inside. 'So it is called Crackling Steel Bladed Whip.'

"Hey it doesn't have any blades, it's just barbed!" 

I kept reading the manual. 'Oh, so this is its first form. When I inject Qi, the barbs turn to blades. I also can change its lengths with my Blood Qi, and it can even be done while in Body Building realm!' Higher-grade weapon artefacts can rarely be used by lower-realm cultivators to such a degree.

"Now let's look how you hit." I ran out of the inn and went to the City Arena.