Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
Unlike the singles matches two days prior, a massive maze had appeared overnight on the Heaven-Reaching Peak square.
This maze was personally constructed by several Spirit Transformation Elders of the Profound Firmament Upper Sect to serve as the arena for this year’s duo tournament.
The thirty-two teams ascended the large arena used for the singles finals, waiting for the elders to announce the rules of the duo tournament. Ye Luqing spotted many familiar figures.
Among these thirty-two teams, nearly half had chosen an array cultivator for their support role.
Ye Luqing even saw three or four Elder’s True Disciples from Azure Sky Peak. She hadn’t seen these people at all during the singles matches; it seemed they had come out of seclusion specifically for the duo tournament.
In addition, Chu He, Lian Tianliu, Tang Hongdao, Mo Li… the strong competitors from the singles matches had also chosen to continue on into the duo tournament.
Unlike the tightly scheduled singles matches, the two-plus days of rest were plenty for them to recover their condition. For disciples at their realm, there was no one who didn’t desire an Earth-Tier treasure to increase their capital for breaking through to the Spirit Transformation Stage.
Furthermore, upon winning first place in the duo tournament, both members of the team could choose an Earth-Tier Technique as a reward.
Without exception, the thirty-two teams all looked towards the giant maze, curious about what special features this year’s duo tournament arena and rules would have.
Since the duo tournament focused more on testing cooperation and adaptability, the format changed every year.
“There are fluctuations of spatial law,” Chu He said.
As a Direct Disciple of Myriad Arts Peak and the person present closest to the Spirit Transformation Stage, his words immediately drew the attention of the crowd.
“Spatial law… Does that mean we might be randomly teleported inside for a free-for-all battle?” Lian Tianliu, standing nearby, raised an eyebrow.
The duo tournament two years ago had been a chaotic elimination battle. Back then, Lian Tianliu had good luck, never running into Xiao Qingxuan and Ye Luqing’s team, smoothly entering the Top Four before being eliminated.
For the past few years, the duo tournament had been purely a matter of luck; whoever encountered Xiao Qingxuan later ranked higher.
“A f-free-for-all? I, I’m most afraid of free-for-alls…”
Tang Hongdao’s voice from the other side was soft and sticky, a hint of timidity showing in her eyes, making her appear pitifully endearing.
Upon hearing this, however, the people around her all stepped back, afraid of touching Tang Hongdao.
This body cultivator girl was indeed cute, provided she didn’t activate the Barbarian God Manifestation.
A Body Cultivation True Disciple plus the Barbarian God Manifestation was most suited for large-scale battles. Add in an array cultivator or pill cultivator support to provide a continuous stream of True Qi, and she became practically invincible in chaotic free-for-alls.
However, besides the contestants on the field, the disciples in the surrounding viewing stands were also extremely curious about the tournament format.
After a long moment, a white-robed elder floated down from the elder viewing stand above and began announcing the rules for this duo tournament.
This maze had four entrances in total: East, South, West, and North. Eight teams would be assigned to each entrance and then randomly step into one of the eight entry points.
Every two adjacent entry points led to a corridor, making the two teams each other’s opponents.
…
Two teams entering the same corridor had to determine a victor before the door at the end of the corridor would open, allowing the winner to proceed to the next corridor.
This series of fights would continue until only one team remained for each direction. The winning teams from the East, South, West, and North entrances would then become the Top Four teams for this tournament.
After the Top Four teams were determined, two randomly assigned matches would decide this year’s champion.
After hearing the rules, the thirty-two competing teams each formed their own plans.
“A compressed format that finishes everything in a single day, huh…” Lian Tianliu mused.
In previous years, the duo tournament might slowly play out over three to five days. He hadn’t expected it to be compressed into a single day this time.
To go from the Top 32 to champion, they would have to win five matches in a row within an extremely short period.
Now, the Top 32 teams were all well-coordinated prodigies of the sect, their strength completely incomparable to the intensity of the selection trials.
Chu He by his side also appeared lost in thought. On the surface, it didn’t seem too different from a standard duo arena match. But with the entire tournament compressed together, the intensity was doubled, and the uncertainties would also greatly increase.
But all thirty-two teams shared only one thought.
No matter how the format changed, the constant was that the strong would always remain strong.
…
A quarter of an hour later, the thirty-two teams prepared to enter the random entry points via spatial teleportation.
After the Executive Referees inspected their items and passed them, they could be teleported into the maze.
Unlike the singles matches, the duo tournament allowed each person to carry one weapon, one magical artifact, and two pills.
This was to simulate real situations encountered during missions outside, where an enemy’s equipment might simply be better than yours, rather than solely testing individual ability as in the singles arena matches.
Therefore, after the rules were announced, the crowd could still adjust their magical artifacts and pills to best suit the format.
Ye Luqing carried the Soul Nurturing Pill, used for restoring Spiritual Power, and the Heavenly Sword Unyielding Pill, used for replenishing sword qi.
As an array cultivator, once her Spirit-Gathering Array was activated, she didn’t need to worry about True Qi. She only had to manage her Spiritual Power and her trump card, sword qi.
Just after she handed over her weapon and magical artifact for inspection, the executive referee returned them to her.
“You’re Junior Sister Ye of Azure Sky Peak, right? Why are you using a sword as a weapon instead of a Formation Artifact?” The steward looked at Ye Luqing with a face full of suspicion.
“What’s wrong with a sword? Who says an array cultivator can’t use a sword?” Ye Luqing retorted.
“It’s fine for you to use a sword… But there’s also a problem with your sword sheath.” The executive referee flipped the sword sheath over, inspecting it closely. “If my eyes don’t deceive me, this should be a Formation Artifact of considerable grade.”
“Strictly speaking, you’re carrying a Spirit Sword and a Formation Artifact. That’s already over the limit.”
Although the stewards of the Profound Firmament Upper Sect were only at the Nascent Soul Stage, most of those who could remain within the sect were well-experienced and knowledgeable.
“What do you mean? It’s perfectly reasonable for a sword-wielding swordswoman to have a sword sheath, isn’t it? Where else would you have me put my sword?”
Ye Luqing gave a light snort, snatched back her sword and sword sheath, and fastened them to her waist.
The steward beside her was rendered speechless by Ye Luqing, thinking to herself, You’re not a swordswoman at all! What kind of swordswoman carves array runes on her Spirit Sword?
“Then how do you explain this?”
The steward picked up a small branch tied to the hilt of Ye Luqing’s sword.
Although she didn’t recognize the Seven Emotions Branch, it was also engraved with a formation, clearly making it another Formation Artifact.
“Eh, this is where your knowledge falls short.” Ye Luqing wagged her finger and explained, “This is a sword tassel. I always tie it on like this.”
“Look, look. He has one too.”
She pointed at the Spirit Sword of a sword cultivator nearby. Tied to the pommel of that Spirit Sword was also a red tassel.
“I…”
The steward was instantly rendered speechless, then shook her head.
“Junior Sister Ye, you’re trying to bring in three items at once. I need to go consult an Elder.”
To simulate real combat conditions, the duo tournament did allow some borderline behavior, not being as rigid and strict as the singles matches. Overall, it was quite tolerant.
But Ye Luqing’s behavior had gone far beyond mere borderline. If she really did this, what were the other competitors supposed to do?
A long moment later, that steward returned after inquiring and relayed the Elder’s decision to Ye Luqing.
“Junior Sister Ye, Elder Qi said you can only keep two out of the three items. They’ll be combined and counted as one weapon.”
“If you bring all three in, they’ll count against your magical artifact quota.”
