Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 197 - 167: How a Ghost Father Is Made

December 24, 2017

A single sentence from the Holy Sect Immortal Envoy made the atmosphere on the chairman stage even more silent, and somewhat eerie.

"Uh, Immortal Envoy, did you just say?" The elderly man with a long beard beside him was dumbfounded and nervously asked.

At the same time, countless pairs of eyes were fixed on the milky white mask, waiting for his next words.

After a while, the Holy Sect Immortal Envoy suddenly turned his head and said, "What did I just say?"

This left everyone more confused, and the nearby old man with a long beard looked at the big shots in the first row of the chairman stage. After exchanging looks, they gave him a signal to continue probing, not to stop.

The old man with a long beard looked pained, secretly hating himself for sitting in the last row... When entering earlier, he thought he could benefit from being close to the Holy Sect Immortal Envoy, gaining some advantage from proximity. Even a trace of Holy Sect aura would be a great benefit.

Who would have thought he would be grilled by a group of real Cyan Cloud elders!

But now he had no choice but to accompany with a smile and said to the Immortal Envoy, "You just mentioned capital punishment..."

"Capital punishment... is it?" The voice of the Holy Sect Immortal Envoy seemed hollow and ethereal, puzzling everyone.

At this moment, Li Fengyun suddenly spoke, "Xin'Er, in this kind of situation, isn't it when someone accidentally reveals their true thoughts and then struggles to cover it up with a mysterious demeanor?"

Lu Xin almost wanted to hold his head, "Please stop talking! I feel like you're exhausting all your brilliance from the past few years!"

"Moreover, the way this person speaks always gives me a sense of déjà vu... speaking of which, Immortal Envoy, have we met somewhere before?"

The Holy Sect Immortal Envoy remained silent, ignoring the question.

Li Fengyun, however, felt more and more that his guess was correct, furrowing his brows as he tried to recall past events, a flicker of insight appeared in his mind, "Could it be you're..."

But the Holy Sect Immortal Envoy interrupted at this moment, "I'm saying, discussing how to handle Wang Jiu is truly laughable. If he is indeed in the wrong, just follow the protocols to deal with it. If not, do you intend to sentence him to capital punishment based on public opinion?"

The old man with a long beard quickly shook his head, "Oh no, we wouldn't dare. It's just that his actions are unprecedented and highly consequential..."

"Does this unprecedented situation violate any rules?"

At this point, everyone present understood the meaning of the Holy Sect Immortal Envoy. What is not forbidden by law is permitted – this is the prevailing understanding in today's Xiangzhou. Although Wang Jiu's actions were shocking, with ongoing consequences, since there was no prohibition in the rules, then...

The old man with a long beard smiled, "We will certainly remember the Immortal Envoy's teachings."

"...Um, I mean, are you sure it doesn't violate any rules? In other cities, inciting discord through passive competitions leads to penalties."

The old man with a long beard was puzzled, contemplating for a moment, "Well, generally speaking, passive competition is dealt with by suspension, but with the Qingyun Tournament being held once every ten years, suspension is negligible. On the other hand, regarding suspensions, there is a rule that if external factors lead to an opponent's passive competition to ensure victory, that disqualifies the competition. To put it that way, Shen Qingming's upset elimination of Wang Jiu indeed has too many inexplicable aspects. Does the Immortal Envoy mean to revoke Shen Qingming's competition qualification..."

"Of course not!" The Holy Sect Immortal Envoy firmly denied, "I mean, the rules and regulations should be adapted to the local context. QingCyan Cloud yun City has its own unique environment and shouldn't care about other cities' regulations."

"We understand, Immortal Envoy."

"Alright, having seen the opening ceremony today and the opening match, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave. See you at tomorrow's main competition."

With that, the Holy Sect Immortal Envoy's figure flickered, and he disappeared.

This left dozens of Cyan Cloud elders on the chairman stage looking at each other in amazement and uncertainty.

Only Li Fengyun frowned deeply, "I still feel like I've seen this person before."

Lu Xin was already exasperated, "…Of course you've seen him. Half a month ago, when the Immortal Envoy first arrived at QingCyan Cloud yun City, he came knocking on our door!"

"So that's why he looks so familiar."

——

With the chairman stage reaching a consensus, the huge commotion caused by Wang Jiu gradually subsided.

After all, with the glorious tradition of the Koi Principle spanning over a hundred years, Wang Jiu's act of conceding during battle was not considered particularly shocking. People gossiped while accepting the fact that a major contender for the championship was eliminated in the first round.

Even without Wang Jiu, this QingCyan Cloud yun Tournament was still exciting. The young geniuses Qian Ye, Lu Fangchen, and Li Wanqing, whose strengths far surpassed their peers, were like stars in the night sky, illuminating the promising future of the QingCyan Cloud yun Tournament.

Many said that if these three could showcase extraordinary skills in the competition and leave a deep impression on the Holy Sect Immortal Envoy, perhaps the Qingyun Tournament could resume its past glory of being held every five years or even annually.

If that happens, there would no longer be talk of 'ten years to sharpen a sword'—but that would truly signify the prosperity of QingCyan Cloud yun City.

Late night on the 24th, tens of thousands of spectators in the martial arts arena gradually dispersed amidst heated discussions, each returning home, but everyone's thoughts remained on the field.

The 25th marks the first day of the main tournament. Who knows how many exciting scenes will unfold again!

——

Noon, December 25, 2017, clear skies.

On the morning of the first day of the main tournament, outside the martial arts arena, there was still a massive crowd, with various vendors diligently weaving through, selling snacks and drinks at ten times the usual price, yet sales remained brisk.

And this time, the martial arts arena didn't keep everyone waiting too long. When the morning sunlight became bright, the main gate of the arena rumbled open, allowing tens of thousands of spectators to swarm in.

The entire Qingyun tournament schedule is expected to take 10 days, with over 200 contestants to be whittled down to the ultimate champion after 8 rounds of elimination. These 10 days seem ample, but considering time for contestants to rest and recover, and some matches that could last a whole day and night, the schedule remains quite tight.

Therefore, the organizing committee did not arrange any extra programs, holding only a very simple ceremony on the morning of the 25th to commemorate the ancestors who built QingCyan Cloud yun City, like Li Yesu, and then proceeded directly to the group matchups.

The grouping method remains top vs. bottom, middle vs. middle. Without the favor of the lucky carp superstition, generally speaking, the chance of an upset is quite low. So, spectators watching the first day of the tournament didn't have high expectations for any upsets.

Yet, surprises kept popping up, as if the curse of the lucky carp persisted.

——

Among the contestants, Wang Jiu held the latest matchup chart and a Recording Talisman, analyzing the competition situation for his mount, Shen Qingming.

"According to the schedule, your opponent should be this person named Shan Heqiu."

Shen Qingming, however, was not in the mood to look at the matchups, as the various gazes around made her feel a bit uncomfortable.

"Hey, I'm telling you, are you just going to sit here so openly..."

Wang Jiu frowned: "Is there a problem? There are no rules stating that eliminated contestants can't continue to watch matches from the contestant seats."

"That's not what I mean..."

"Or are you disdainful to discuss tactical issues with a defeated opponent like me?"

Shen Qingming had a look of "what kind of nonsense are you talking about."

Wang Jiu explained, "It's a common human flaw, valuing apparent results more than reality. And in the emotion of self-deception, confusing apparent results with truth."

"What?"

"Let's take a simple example. Suppose there is a grand scale competitive event, and the host team, originally quite weak, uses home advantage to bribe referees, allowing their team to continuously defeat much stronger opponents and achieve results that don't belong to them. Should the host feel proud of this?"

Shen Qingming said, "Certainly not. Such a victory is more shameful than defeat."

"Unfortunately, you humans tend to enjoy the victory, regardless of how it comes, winning is everything. So if you treat me as a defeated opponent, and yourself as an invincible genius girl who defeated the Celestial Divine Sword, I can understand."

"...Do you really see me as so unworthy?"

Wang Jiu explained, "Please don't misunderstand, I didn't mean to look down on you. This is a common human ailment."

"Let's get back to the point, you continue talking." Shen Qingming sighed, rested her face on her hand, and started to seriously listen to Wang Jiu explaining the key points for the upcoming matches.

Because she really didn't want to hear more stories about human flaws.

Wang Jiu shrugged regretfully, as he had just prepared three classic chapters about human weaknesses.

However, indeed now they should focus on the upcoming events, as Shen Qingming's match is set to begin soon according to the schedule.

Wang Jiu himself was eager for the upcoming matches.

Tournaments like Qingyun's, with their lower level, indeed rarely piqued his interest. Back when he was the Nameless Sword God, he won so many tournament championships. But, remotely controlling a mount with an intelligence quotient of only 3.3, going up against numerous opponents considered top-tier geniuses of this era, and ultimately winning the championship, now that's interesting.

Such excitement stems from the instincts of living beings, which in terms more familiar to humans might be...

Hoping for the son to become a dragon, the daughter to become a phoenix?

Shen Qingming, good luck.