Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 338 - 75: One World, One Dream

As the rising azure mushroom cloud slowly dissipated, the powdered Qingyu scattered to the ground, as if laying a blue sand carpet on the ground.

The entire arena was silent, the sound of fine sand falling became particularly noticeable.

After an unknown period of time, it was the startled exclamation of a young girl that broke this eerie silence.

"Ah? What’s happening?!"

Shen Qingming looked around in confusion, only to find herself standing outside the circular arena, surrounded by a petrified crowd that was stunned. In the center of the arena, Shen Bailin’s projection remained standing quietly, yet for some unknown reason, a fine azure rain began to fall...

How strange, she remembered being led into the arena by Wang Jiu just moments ago, the ghostly blue gaze of Shen Bailin now sending chills down her spine, why did she inexplicably end up outside the circle? Moreover, her mind felt a bit hazy. Is this... a reincarnation? Did she accidentally traverse back to a few minutes ago?! What a loss, why did she only traverse so briefly?!

Shen Qingming’s awakening also stirred those around her, for a moment, the followers of the Outer Courtyard unanimously turned their gaze, focusing on the referee Shen Herong.

Referee, what do you say?

Shen Herong’s scarred face perfectly demonstrated his feelings at this time, upon witnessing the rising mushroom cloud, Shen Herong’s heart was filled with shock, and the result from the Battle Array Map left him speechless for a moment.

The settlement result of the Battle Array Map showed Shen Qingming victorious, with the time taken... 2 seconds.

Thousands of purified unstable Spirit Stones gathered in one place, simultaneously detonated, the instantaneous explosive power rivaled that of a full-force blow from a Cultivator in the Mountain-Overturning Realm, which is extremely outrageous in a battlefield within the Cloud Flipping Realm.

No matter how extraordinary Shen Bailin’s Ice Meteor Battle Armor was, it could not withstand this explosive impact, the projection was instantly shattered, causing the entire Battle Array Map to tremble and teeter, showing signs of collapse... Fortunately, that group of brutes in the high-tech district did some good while squandering the budget, reinforcing the spatial structure of the Battle Array Map, thus averting the danger of a chain collapse.

Yet, under such formidable destructive power, the detonator Shen Qingming naturally was also shattered instantly, if it weren’t for being in the Dream Transformation Cave Mansion, the Li and Shen families could have erected a tombstone for Shen Qingming.

This outcome should be considered mutual destruction, and strictly speaking, Shen Qingming was at the blast center, definitely perished before Shen Bailin. According to general knowledge, the first to die loses, but the settlement result of the Battle Array Map showed Shen Qingming as the victor.

Of course, the settlement result can’t be said to be wrong, the core of the race is to quickly eliminate the enemy, not preserve oneself. Even self-harm is feasible if it speeds up the victory pace. Shen Qingming’s self-destruction merely pushed self-harm to the extreme, ultimately indeed eliminating Shen Bailin, with a mere two-second duration, calling it an overwhelming victory isn’t wrong.

But... looking at the focused gazes around her, Shen Herong certainly knew what the people of the Outer Courtyard were thinking. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Carrying a slew of Spirit Stones as weapons, self-detonating at the opening, this must surely be a foul play, right?!

Yet before Shen Herong could speak, applause resounded from afar.

"Truly brilliant tactics, truly eye-opening!"

Turning around, he saw the secretary Yi from the Vice City Lord’s Mansion, clapping forcefully, a face full of admiration.

"The tactical design is unorthodox, the execution bold and decisive, congratulations to Miss Qingming for achieving such remarkable results in the racing event!"

The crisp, rhythmic applause, the loud yet elegant praise, the sincere yet dignified smile on his face, all displayed Secretary Yi’s profound mastery of flattery, indicating his luminous future in politics.

But this superb display of professional skill immediately aroused a strong backlash from the Outer Courtyard.

"Have some shame! You can praise such shameless conduct?!"

"Which eye of yours sees the brilliance? This is clearly foul play!"

A few words stirred the emotions in the Outer Courtyard, especially among the young who had worked painstakingly to finally achieve some feats, hoping to gain fame, now seeing the two-second record, felt indignant, as if their record of ten-odd seconds was unworthily sullied.

Facing the furious crowd, Secretary Yi was not at all panicked, rather slightly excited.

As a secretary at the Vice City Lord’s Mansion, he would surely make his mark in politics in the future. With a relatively weak background and cultivation potential, he must have a few special skills to ensure a smooth career path.

Among these skills, adeptly handling mass incidents is undoubtedly the most crucial one.

In the current situation, the people of the Outer Courtyard are dissatisfied with Shen Qingming’s performance, emotions running high, any misstep could lead to an incident, and with the highest-ranking Shen Herong obviously unreliable, it’s up to him to perform!

For a moment, Secretary Yi seemed to be on a highly anticipated spotlight stage, overwhelmingly excited.

"Foul play? Which rule was violated? Does anyone know?"

The moment he spoke, Secretary B utilized the pure True Essence of the mid-stage Cloud Flipping Realm, making his voice overpower the noise of the crowd, becoming the focal point of the entire arena.

Being questioned by Secretary B like this, the protests from the Outer Courtyard immediately reduced by half.

Indeed, although the intuition was that this method of triggering Spirit Stones was a violation, it was hard to pinpoint which specific rule was broken. Among those present, there were very few who had thoroughly read the Battle Array Map speed competition rules...

But after all, they were young people, and their ability to flip through books on the spot was still there. Very soon, someone found a corresponding clause, saying, "No illegal Magical Treasures or tools are allowed in the arena!"

Secretary B sneered at this skeptic, "What do you mean by illegal Magical Treasures and tools? Is there a clear standard?"

"This..."

Secretary B said, "The rules are the boundary circle of the battlefield! Any Magical Treasure or tool that doesn’t meet the rules can’t be brought into the arena, and conversely, as long as it can be brought into the arena, no matter how absurd it seems, it complies with the rules!"

Seeing that some people were still unconvinced, Secretary B snorted coldly, "If you think triggering Spirit Stones is a violation, then is the Divine Weapon Silver Frost with the drawn correct character not a violation?"

This question silenced the Outer Courtyard people immediately.

Using the Gold Melting Pen to draw a correct character to fool the Celestial Eye Array, turning an exclusive Magical Treasure into a shared one, undoubtedly exploited a loophole in the rules. In terms of legal compliance, the people in the Outer Courtyard really couldn’t confidently criticize Shen Qingming’s Spirit Stone self-detonation.

"If you have nothing to say, then quietly accept reality. As members of the Shen Family, what is the most important thing you have all forgotten?" Secretary B coldly glanced around, "Shen Family members can lose, but they never admit defeat! People thoroughly understand the rules, utilize them, think outside the box, and win against you in the speed segment; you should acknowledge their strengths earnestly, learn from their ideas, and then win next time! Instead of noisily refusing to admit defeat! You have been in the Outer Courtyard for at least over two years, and you haven’t even learned such basic knowledge?!"

This righteous reprimand made many from the Outer Courtyard hang their heads in shame on the spot. Even Shen Herong was surprised and let Secretary B control the situation without saying a word.

Secretary B’s words left over a hundred people in the Outer Courtyard hanging their heads in dismay, completely reversing the scene’s momentum, achieving what could be called turning hands into clouds and rain. For a time, feeling accomplished, his heart seemed to resonate with drumming music.

But he also knew that at this time, he must not show a triumphant expression, so he concentrated almost fully on his mind and continued, "There are still four matches left; watch them carefully and see if there are any exquisite tactics and novel ideas we can learn from. Ancestor Shen Kailai said, learning something from failure is more valuable than a victory of mere vanity! I hope you truly understand the essence of this statement!"

After this speech, Secretary B slightly bowed and returned to his inconspicuous position, leaving a group of youths with realizations on their faces.

"Learning something from failure is more valuable than a victory of mere vanity... That’s right, as students of the Outer Courtyard, being able to learn and improve is the key; win or lose is just a vain title, not worth so much concern."

"But, who is Shen Kailai? Why have we never heard of him?"

"A thousand years ago... no, that was Shen Kedi."

"Tsk, truly someone from the Outer Courtyard elite in the past, who went to the Deputy City Lord’s Mansion after graduation; that senior brother is indeed knowledgeable and insightful. Compared to them, we lack a lot; I’ve never even heard of the name Shen Kailai."

Secretary B, listening on the side, pouted. Nonsense, of course, you haven’t heard of him, I made it up.

——

After the commotion subsided, the disciples of the Shen Family Outer Courtyard finally could calmly accept the competition results.

The Li Family people completely surpassed them in understanding and utilizing the rules, achieving overwhelming victory as expected. Now, people were just curious; what kind of unique tactics would the next few individuals have? Would they be able to amaze people as with the self-detonation of the Spirit Stone?

The second person to appear from the Li Family was Li Xinyu.

For this Li Family person with a simple and greasy appearance, most of the Outer Courtyard disciples didn’t know much, but after Shen Qingming’s astounding explosion, no one dared to underestimate the Li Family anymore—who knew what other crazy roads they had?

And in this anticipation, Li Xinyu smoothly entered the battlefield.

The plump face brimming with a secure smile, not taking his Cloud Flipping Realm opponent seriously at all.

With Mr. Wang Jiu backing him, let alone a Cloud Flipping Realm expert, even a Mountain-Overturning Realm expert need not be feared; bind thousands of Spirit Stones, a loud boom, a mushroom cloud rises, Li Xinyu wins! Then he can go to Shen Ruoshi’s centennial birthday feast to eat, drink, and flirt with maids!

Haha, just thinking about it is exhilarating!

The next moment, with the smile still hanging on Li Xinyu’s face, two ghostly blue flames appeared before him as if out of nowhere; Shen Bailin, clad in Ice Meteor Battle Armor and with Cloud Flipping Realm cultivation, had already appeared in front of the plump man, sweeping with a Heavy Sword that had seldom had a chance to be unsheathed in over a hundred battles before.

In a daze, the plump man seemed to see a cross-section of his belly...