Chapter 103: World Three [17]

Registering for the Martial Arts Tournament posed no difficulty for Luo Yuezhu. Gathering information was much the same.

Where there was a market, there was demand. The clever ones had long ago compiled a so-called Top 100 List, recording the names of those widely considered to be the strongest.

Depending on the price, the level of detail in the roster varied. A list with only names cost one tael of silver. A list with names, ages, sects, and other general information cost ten taels of silver.

A list that, building on the ten-tael version, also included their customary weapon techniques, battle records, and rough estimates of internal energy cultivation cost ten times that price: one hundred taels of silver.

To an ordinary person, one hundred taels of silver was already a huge sum, enough to buy a small courtyard house in a relatively remote county town.

Luo Yuezhu was naturally not short of such silver. Whether it was the silver her master slipped her or the profits from the shop managed by Little Mu, she could casually produce ten thousand taels of silver without a second thought.

But having money was one thing. Luo Yuezhu had no intention of being a Sucker. Instead, she dressed as low-key as possible, appearing in bustling Restaurants and tea houses to gather news while observing if there were any groups pooling money together to buy the hundred-tael list.

After three days of such stakeouts, Luo Yuezhu finally encountered one such group.

Their inner strength cultivation was around twenty to thirty years. They looked travel-worn, likely having come from quite a distance to participate in the Martial Arts Tournament.

A party of six: two women, four men. The two Heroines seemed to be sharing a room, while the four men were sleeping in an unremarkable communal room. Whether this was due to arriving late and finding no vacancies, or because their purses were empty, was unclear.

Once she’d roughly figured out their situation, Luo Yuezhu took the initiative. Using the excuse of sharing a table for a meal, she tentatively proposed her idea.

“You must all be here for the Martial Arts Tournament as well, correct? I wonder what you all think of the Top 100 Roster that nearly everyone seems to have a copy of?” Luo Yuezhu asked.

Standing nearly one meter seventy, Luo Yuezhu wore a pale blue cross-collared robe, her hair adorned with a simple hairpin. A Pouch and a Long Sword were tied at her waist—the most common attire seen on the streets right now.

“To compile data on so many people, the Top 100 List must have a powerful Backer behind it. Otherwise, the Martial Arts Alliance would never turn a blind eye to it,” one of the Heroines was the first to offer her opinion.

“If possible, I’d also like to purchase a copy. But the ten-tael version is barely useful, and the hundred-tael one is far too expensive,” the other Heroine said.

After chatting along these lines for a couple of exchanges, Luo Yuezhu presented her view. “Buying one copy alone is indeed not very cost-effective. But if five or six people buy it together, that works out to less than twenty taels per person.”

“For instance, if I bought it together with you all, we could each pay fifty taels,” Luo Yuezhu gave an example.

“That won’t do. There are six of us here, and only one of you. Each side paying fifty taels would be too unfair to you,” said the first Heroine who had spoken.

“Then how about we find a few more people who want to buy the Top 100 Roster and purchase it together?” Luo Yuezhu suggested. “My memory is fairly good. Once I have it, I’ll only need to read it three times to memorize it. Then I can leave the roster with the rest of you.”

“That method isn’t impossible. Just ask around on the streets; I’m sure there will be takers,” one of the men agreed with Luo Yuezhu’s idea.

A hundred taels of silver wasn’t considered a huge sum for Jianghu practitioners, after all, their weapons alone cost at least several dozen taels to forge.

But again, having money didn’t mean they were willing to be suckers. After walking around the streets together, they did indeed find two more groups needing the detailed Top 100 List data.

It’s worth mentioning that one of these groups was the very same burly man who had previously tried to buy the last superior room at a higher price.

The burly man seemed to recognize Luo Yuezhu. When their eyes met, he looked quite embarrassed and took the initiative to introduce himself.

“Shi Lei. I was quite offensive a few days ago. I hope the Heroine can forgive me,” Shi Lei said somewhat awkwardly.

He truly hadn’t harbored any malice back then. He had purely wanted to take better care of his junior sister.

In fact, he had done just that. At least half the silver he brought had been spent on his junior sister. Of the remaining half, another half had gone to his bad-tempered Junior Brother.

This left Shi Lei a little short on funds, forcing him to join forces with more people to buy a copy of the Top 100 roster.

They were all short on money. After sitting down and discussing it for a while, they quickly settled on the price.

Since Luo Yuezhu only needed to look at it, she would pay ten taels of silver. She would have two hours to read the document once it arrived.

As for the other three groups, they would each pay thirty taels. Once they had the roster, they would split up the task of copying its contents, working quickly to complete reproductions of the Top 100 List.

Seeing this, Luo Yuezhu even offered them an idea, suggesting they could make several extra copies and sell them later at a lower price.

“That method was thought of long ago. The people who put together the Top 100 List specifically made markings on each page that are difficult to counterfeit. Without these markings, there’s no guarantee whether the content on that Top 100 List is true or false,” Shi Lei said while copying.

“Plenty of people tried to fabricate nonsense after seeing how well the Top 100 List sold. But they were quickly found out. If the Martial Arts Alliance people hadn’t arrived in time, the counterfeiters would have been beaten to death.”

Only after Shi Lei’s explanation did Luo Yuezhu fully understand the situation.

People were indeed willing to sell identical copies of the Top 100 List at a low price. But it was impossible to guard against swindlers trying to pass off fakes. So people preferred to spend a bit more rather than risk buying a phony.

Theoretically, after finishing their copy, you could keep the copied version for yourself and sell the original to recoup a significant amount of silver.

But the human heart is unfathomable. Even though selling the original could bring in quite a bit of silver, those people were unwilling to let something they’d spent a hundred taels on be bought by someone else for eighty.

Letting someone else gain a twenty-tael advantage felt like being cut twenty times. They were as unwilling as unwilling could be.

Luo Yuezhu could understand their reasoning, but no matter how she thought about it, selling it was the real way to minimize the loss.

“Just as you said, the human heart is unfathomable. Some people simply can’t stand seeing others get ahead. They’d feel that the twenty taels they lost would be earned by the other party. Perhaps that person could then sell it on for ninety taels, making their own perceived loss even greater,” Jing Ke explained briefly when she heard her little disciple’s confusion and puzzlement.

“Now that you’ve memorized the contents of the Top 100 List, did you manage to find out any information about the Right Protector?” Jing Ke asked.

Luo Yuezhu shook her head. “Yangzhou is, after all, the headquarters of the Martial Arts Alliance. The Devil Sect probably wouldn’t come so early. I think they don’t plan to abide by the rules set by the Martial Arts Alliance and honestly register for the Martial Arts Tournament.”

“Is that so? Then how do you think the Right Protector will act?” Jing Ke asked.

“If I were a member of the Devil Sect, I would certainly wait until the top ten or the Champion is decided before making an appearance. Directly defeating someone who has been selected through layers of challenges is far more shocking than fighting your way up step by step,” Luo Yuezhu analyzed. “If the Devil Sect’s scheme succeeds, the Martial Arts Alliance’s prestige will plummet.”

Luo Yuezhu concluded, “Therefore, I don’t necessarily need to specifically search for the Right Protector’s whereabouts. As long as I seize the Champion title, I will have to fight him.”

Jing Ke nodded, approving of her Little Disciple’s reasoning. “So, what’s your plan next?”

“I want to spar with you, Master. Or rather, I want Master to apply some pressure on me. Ideally, let me experience the feeling of defeat,” Luo Yuezhu said with utter seriousness.

To defeat all participants and become the Champion required not only sufficient strength but also a mindset that didn’t underestimate any opponent.

Luo Yuezhu wasn’t sure she could guarantee she wouldn’t underestimate an opponent in every single fight. But she knew very clearly that after experiencing defeat, she would certainly become more cautious and discover her own shortcomings.

Hearing this, Jing Ke didn’t immediately agree. Although she’d always been strict with her little disciple, she had never truly fought her seriously. Their exchanges had always been watered-down sparring sessions.

But her disciple’s words made a lot of sense. The best way to make a person mature rapidly was to let them taste failure.

“Alright. But if I, your Master, defeat you, remember not to cry,” Jing Ke said, deciding to grant her Little Disciple her wish.

“Master, rest assured, I am already a grown-up,” Luo Yuezhu stated, her gaze extremely resolute.

—

Yangzhou City was bustling with people coming and going; there was certainly no way to spar freely and openly.

So Jing Ke chose a bamboo grove in the outskirts, where few people ventured, as the place for her sparring session with her little disciple. Jing Ke’s customary weapon was the Long Sword, and her little disciple’s was also the Long Sword.

There’s a way of fighting while holding back, and a way of fighting without holding back.

Having confirmed her little disciple wanted to taste defeat, Jing Ke held nothing back. Her opening sword strike used seventy percent of her power, forcing her little disciple into a pathetic, scrambling defense. Her robes were repeatedly grazed by the tip of her master’s blade.

In less than a hundred moves, the Sword in her little disciple’s hand was mercilessly shaken from her grip by Jing Ke’s force. If Jing Ke hadn’t pulled back her inner strength in time, her little disciple would likely have had to take the hit directly.

“Master, you’re so strong,” Luo Yuezhu said, her eyes sparkling as she looked at her master.

She seemed to have miscalculated one thing. Being defeated by her own master didn’t produce any sense of frustration at all. All she felt was pride.

As expected of my Master. Truly too amazing.

My Master should be this powerful. She should be the one who can, just like that, so effortlessly, defeat me.

“Hmph, want to try again?” Jing Ke raised an eyebrow. Why wasn’t her little disciple discouraged at all? This wasn’t how a defeated person was supposed to act!

“Yes! Master, wait for me to catch my breath for a moment!” Luo Yuezhu said, quickly retrieving her fallen sword.

After resting for about a quarter-hour, Luo Yuezhu was brimming with energy once more, responding to her master’s attacks with even greater effort.

Lost? No matter, just do it again!

Weapon knocked away again? Not a big problem, just do it again!

Thus, Luo Yuezhu improved at a speed visible to the naked eye. In just ten days, she went from being defeated within a hundred moves to being able to withstand over two hundred moves.

Jing Ke was also astonished by her little disciple’s rate of progress. She even started to wonder if starting this type of teaching earlier would have made her little disciple grow even faster.

But this thought merely flickered through Jing Ke’s mind. Her little disciple’s growth speed was already very fast. There was no need to make her experience the taste of failure every single day.

She wanted to raise a confident, free-spirited little disciple, not a war machine. There was no need to let her little disciple become a tightly drawn bowstring.

—

Just like that, after ten days of high-intensity combat, the preliminary rounds of the Martial Arts Tournament began.

The tournament grounds were laid out on a grand scale, but the competition format was simple: dueling platform matches.

The first round lasted seven days, with one hundred platforms in total. Each person could challenge once per day. The platform master received a quarter-hour rest period after each challenge they successfully defended.

Such a rule was somewhat unfair to the platform masters, but holding a platform was itself a chance to make a name. If your strength couldn’t even rank within the Top 100, you were better off guarding a platform early on. Perhaps you might still gain an opportunity for fame.

After hearing the specific competition rules, Luo Yuezhu understood perfectly: the most effort-saving, time-saving approach was to challenge a platform master on the seventh day and then effortlessly advance past the preliminaries.

But Luo Yuezhu’s goal was to become the Champion. If she couldn’t even withstand seven days of successive wheel-battles, what right did she have to compete for first place?

Therefore, once the competition officially began, Luo Yuezhu chose a platform and became a platform master, ready to defend it continuously for seven days.

Luo Yuezhu didn’t mention the Heavenly Derivation Sect by name. She only said her sect had withdrawn from worldly affairs and no longer concerned itself with the Jianghu. Everyone could simply consider her a Rogue Cultivator.

The tragedy of Squire Luo’s family—eighteen souls lost—had occurred over four years ago. So for the absolute majority of people, the name Luo Yuezhu was very unfamiliar, perfectly matching her self-described background.

She had been living in a reclusive sect and only came out to join the excitement upon hearing about the Martial Arts Tournament.

But for those who had been paying attention to Jing Ke all along, the name Luo Yuezhu sounded exceptionally familiar.

Whether it was the upper echelons of the Martial Arts Alliance or the high ranks of the Devil Sect, they all knew Luo Yuezhu was Jing Ke’s Disciple. They knew she was very likely the next generation’s Sect Master of the Heavenly Derivation Sect.

Thus, certain individuals hidden among the spectators began to take serious notice of Luo Yuezhu, intently studying her every move, particularly her martial techniques.

“Do you see that? This is the heritage of the Heavenly Derivation Sect. In less than five years, they can cultivate a genius like this,” Yin Honglian couldn’t help but exclaim, glancing at Ye Wenxin, who was seated beside her.

Ever since the two had agreed to Jing Ke’s condition, Yin Honglian and Ye Wenxin had seemingly been at loggerheads, running into each other far too often.

After trading blows several times, both sides gained a deeper understanding of each other’s disposition. Slowly, they developed a fairly decent friendship.

Of course, this friendship was strictly confined to private settings.

When acting as the Devil Sect’s Right Protector, Yin Honglian still carried out the missions assigned by the Cult Leader, causing trouble for the Martial Arts Alliance.

Similarly, when Ye Wenxin, as the Hall Master of Vermilion Bird Hall, encountered Yin Honglian, she still unhesitatingly drew her Sword to clash with the other woman’s long whip.

“The Heavenly Derivation Sect was once the undisputed Number One in the World. The fact that it hasn’t disappeared to this day is proof enough of its heritage,” Ye Wenxin said in a flat tone.

“However, Luo Yuezhu’s temperament and talent are also quite good. If she meets a good Master, given time, she can also be someone whose name moves the Jianghu.”

Yin Honglian didn’t dispute this. “Heroine Ye, if I’m not mistaken, this Martial Arts Tournament is probably your Master paving the way for you, isn’t it?”

“The rule that only those under forty can participate excludes many Sect Masters and Elders of various sects,” Yin Honglian said. “Through the Martial Arts Tournament, you become an Honorary Elder. Then, after some time passes, your Master will gradually transfer the reins of power into your hands.”

Ye Wenxin did not deny it, tacitly admitting the point.

Seeing this, Yin Honglian smiled. “So, do you think you’re a match for Luo Yuezhu?”

“That person just now should have been the twelfth one defeated today, right? After all this time, the girl hasn’t blushed or lost her breath. It seems she hasn’t used up much inner strength at all.”

Yin Honglian was absolutely one to revel in chaos, for her task this time was precisely to prevent Ye Wenxin from becoming the Champion of the Martial Arts Tournament.

If necessary, she would appear to interfere and disrupt the other’s bid for the title.

But looking at the situation now, Luo Yuezhu was also aiming for the Champion title. It seemed she herself might be able to slack off a bit.