"Fraud?" Luo Yi repeated the word in puzzlement. "That's a serious allegation, children. What makes you think the Crimson Snow Sect is committing an offense that'd have such severe repercussions?"
The leader of the Abyss Guild's team replied, "As you're well aware, we landed on this island almost half an hour ago. Since then, we've been searching for the traces that could lead us to the treasure hidden here. However, despite visiting every corner of this floating island, we've not found any signs of it, which begs the question, have the high-level protection arrays sealing the treasure been truly disabled as per the rules?
That seems to be the only logical conclusion."
"Well, I've got an even more logical conclusion for your ears. Maybe, just maybe...your tracing method fucking SUCKS!"
Everyone turned to look at the disciple who had replied. Han Xuhan recognized this talented peer of his. He was the guy who had forced Luo Yi to compensate his martial siblings with a shitton of resources yesterday. His vicious mouth had left a deep impression on Han Xuhan's mind.
Even Xuan Zi looked at him in surprise. Luo Yi appeared to recognize him as well, and her aura immediately shifted.
"I'm sure a sect as reputable as the Abyss Guild wouldn't send their disciples out to hunt with a faulty technique. Her accusations warrant a proper investigation," she said, which led to a low buzz of boos resounding throughout the crowd.
The disciples of the Crimson Snow Sect were beginning to hate this lady with a passion.
But the expression of their hatred did not have the chance to grow into something more meaningful, because Xuan Zi stepped forward on his podium and raised a hand to silence them.
"Disciples, I agree with Madam Yi. An accusation so grave warrants an investigation. We shall hear both sides of the story and reach the truth, all out in the open. Elder Lei!"
One of the elders standing behind him coughed.
"Oh, I forgot he's dead. Elder Mu!" Xuan Zi didn't sound embarrassed.
"..." Worldlessly, a man Han Xuhan recognized very clearly came into view from within the group of the elders.
"Please gather the disciples of the defending team and bring them here."
Elder Mu nodded with an unreadable expression on his face and took out a flying sword from within the folds of his voluminous, colorful robe. Han Xuhan fondly recalled the moment when he had vomited all over it and used its remaining clean parts to wipe his mouth.
Under the eager eyes of the disciples, Elder Mu flicked the sword at the ground with a twitch of his wrist. The sword cut through the air with a short whistle and half of its blade sank into the soil.
Taking a step back, Elder Mu raised a foot in the air and kicked HARD, aiming at the hilt of the sword.
CLUNK!
The sword was flung into the air, whirling its way to the sky, spraying a torrent of mud behind it, nearly obscuring the elder behind.
Han Xuhan blinked.
The dirt and dust cleared up immediately, but the elder was no longer there.
A gasp ran through the crowd as they attempted in vain to look for the elder. He wasn't here, he wasn't nearby, he had disappeared magically.
All of their gazes flickered back to the sword that was whirling past a mountain peak hundreds of meters away.
Could it be?
Having lived among cultivators for so long, Han Xuhan's thinking process had undergone some subtle changes.
He could take an educated guess at the mechanisms behind this magical technique.
And it reminded him of a certain enemy he had faced not long ago. At that time, he had been bewildered by that opponent's terrifying methods. Shen Kai's ability to disappear on the spot and reappear far away from it almost instantly was much alike the legendary skill of teleportation, a technique that scientifically (as scientifically as it is possible in the world of cultivation) was impossible for cultivators at or under the Soul Reformation Realm.
But if he could get to study the principles behind Elder Mu's disappearing technique, maybe he'd find a clue on how Shen Kai was able to accomplish it.
The wait for the defending team to show up was not long. Just a mere minute after Elder Mu's blinding display of movement technique, all of them heard the cries of a poor wretch approaching them from afar.
Seconds later, a black dot made its way past a mountain's topmost part and headed toward the assembly in a curved projectile.
The black dot turned out to be one of their fellow disciples, who was weeping as she held onto the hilt of Elder Mu's flying sword.
100 meters! 50 meters! 25 meters–
Just when all of the witnesses were about to wince upon the realization that she was about to hit the ground at a speed that would turn her into a pile of paste, the sword curved upwards once more, creating a centrifugal force so powerful that she lost her grip on its hilt and zipped toward the elders like an arrow.
Xuan Zi stood his ground and raised a hand lazily as her body flashed past him. His fingers accurately clamped down on her neck, and he dug his heels into the soil to spin her around himself a couple of times like a pencil around a compass.
The spin gave her body the chance to survive the sudden stoppage.
As he dropped her to her feet below the podium, she threw up, which made Han Xuhan feel better. So he wasn't a weakling after all! It was natural for even fourth-layer cultivators to throw up after traveling on that sword!
The sword, meanwhile, disappeared once more in the direction it had come from.
Half a minute later, the spectacle played out once more with a buff, male disciple. He too, threw up.
Han Xuhan's self-confidence received another huge boost!
Third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth...all of them crashed into Xuan Zi's arms in all sorts of embarrassing postures.
The last disciple was accompanied by Elder Mu himself, both clutching the hilt of the flying sword. He was spared some embarrassment because the Elder took his time making a grandiose, slow, descent to show off in front of the outsiders.
"Disciples, why were you not attending the assembly? This was mandatory for you."
"...."
No answers came immediately, making the audience frown. The sect master leaned over from his podium and coughed pointedly, demanding an answer.
"We...we were busy washing clothes, sect master. We didn't realize that it was already time for the assembly," one of them meekly replied.
Han Xuhan took a closer look at the ten disciples and realized that all of them were wearing wet clothes. He was probably speaking the truth.
"I see. That's a minor mistake. I can forgive that. However..." Xuan Zi trailed off, his aura suddenly upsurging, sending a wave of fright across his disciples.
"I cannot forgive a mistake as major as cheating. Tell me, disciples, have you cheated? You've been accused of it by your very first opponent in this tournament. Answer honestly."
The ten disciples looked at each other in bewilderment.
"Cheated how? What exactly is the accusation, sect master?" said the disciple who had been carried over here first. She had recovered her spirits from the shock already, it seemed.
"These disciples from the Abyss Guild have searched our island for half an hour and came to the realization that they could not find any traces of the treasure that your team was supposed to be defending. You have already been briefed on the characteristics of the treasure and the seals that protect it. They claim that if the seals were undone, they would have been able to trace it by now. So now the question is...have the seals on the treasure you've been guarding not been undone?"
As Xuan Zi spoke to her, all ten disciples of the Abyss Guild's invasion team leaped down from the ship and surrounded the defending team. Their eyes, postures, and body language radiated impatience, hostility, contempt, and resentment.
The girl looked rather confused by the explanation. As her nine teammates looked at her work puzzled eyes, she reached into her robe and pulled out a small box.
A gasp ran through the crowd as they realized what that box might be...
"...Is that where you hid it? On yourself?" Abyss Guild's team leader snorted in disbelief. "A pretty cowardly strategy from a sect as powerful as yours, don't you think?"
"If you don't mind, could you use your tracing technique once more?" the girl holding the box asked her. "I'm not quite sure what you're so worked up about..."
"Sure. You're going to be penalized either way."
The leader of Abyss Guild's team was very confident in her approach. And she had all the reasons to be.
If her tracing technique didn't work, it would prove her accusations true.
But if the technique worked this time, it would still mean that there was something wrong with how the box was hidden. After all, everyone had witnessed them casting the tracing techniques as soon as they had landed on the island. Why would it only work now?
Qi shifted around her as she cast her spell. All the disciples nearby could sense a strange movement in the air as the technique was activated.
A huge amount of qi rushed towards the box as if attracted by it magnetically. The box almost appeared to be shaking from the half-material, half-ethereal impact. Soon, a thin layer of fog surrounded the box closely. This fog was entirely made up of qi!
"It worked! So the treasure is indeed in the box! You must have disabled the seals right before coming here!"
A surge of whispers, angry shouts and words of denial rippled out from the disciples of the Crimson Snow Sect.
But the leader of the attacking team looked ecstatic. They had managed to prove their accusation!
However, a familiar cold voice from the crowd of disciples behind her boomed out, silencing the rest of the audience.
"Or maybe just like I said, your technique is simply faulty, or a fluke even, and you knew that fully well. So you accused us of cheating in order to force us to bring out the treasure in front of you so that you can use that gimmick to prove yourselves right. Now you know where the treasure is, and you can ask the overseers of the round to penalize us in some way to give yourselves an advantage. Sounds like a smart plan...But it's a pretty cowardly from a sect as powerful as yours, don't you think?"
"Fraud?" Luo Yi repeated the word in puzzlement. "That's a serious allegation, children. What makes you think the Crimson Snow Sect is committing an offense that'd have such severe repercussions?"
The leader of the Abyss Guild's team replied, "As you're well aware, we landed on this island almost half an hour ago. Since then, we've been searching for the traces that could lead us to the treasure hidden here. However, despite visiting every corner of this floating island, we've not found any signs of it, which begs the question, have the high-level protection arrays sealing the treasure been truly disabled as per the rules?
That seems to be the only logical conclusion."
"Well, I've got an even more logical conclusion for your ears. Maybe, just maybe...your tracing method fucking SUCKS!"
Everyone turned to look at the disciple who had replied. Han Xuhan recognized this talented peer of his. He was the guy who had forced Luo Yi to compensate his martial siblings with a shitton of resources yesterday. His vicious mouth had left a deep impression on Han Xuhan's mind.
Even Xuan Zi looked at him in surprise. Luo Yi appeared to recognize him as well, and her aura immediately shifted.
"I'm sure a sect as reputable as the Abyss Guild wouldn't send their disciples out to hunt with a faulty technique. Her accusations warrant a proper investigation," she said, which led to a low buzz of boos resounding throughout the crowd.
The disciples of the Crimson Snow Sect were beginning to hate this lady with a passion.
But the expression of their hatred did not have the chance to grow into something more meaningful, because Xuan Zi stepped forward on his podium and raised a hand to silence them.
"Disciples, I agree with Madam Yi. An accusation so grave warrants an investigation. We shall hear both sides of the story and reach the truth, all out in the open. Elder Lei!"
One of the elders standing behind him coughed.
"Oh, I forgot he's dead. Elder Mu!" Xuan Zi didn't sound embarrassed.
"..." Worldlessly, a man Han Xuhan recognized very clearly came into view from within the group of the elders.
"Please gather the disciples of the defending team and bring them here."
Elder Mu nodded with an unreadable expression on his face and took out a flying sword from within the folds of his voluminous, colorful robe. Han Xuhan fondly recalled the moment when he had vomited all over it and used its remaining clean parts to wipe his mouth.
Under the eager eyes of the disciples, Elder Mu flicked the sword at the ground with a twitch of his wrist. The sword cut through the air with a short whistle and half of its blade sank into the soil.
Taking a step back, Elder Mu raised a foot in the air and kicked HARD, aiming at the hilt of the sword.
CLUNK!
The sword was flung into the air, whirling its way to the sky, spraying a torrent of mud behind it, nearly obscuring the elder behind.
Han Xuhan blinked.
The dirt and dust cleared up immediately, but the elder was no longer there.
A gasp ran through the crowd as they attempted in vain to look for the elder. He wasn't here, he wasn't nearby, he had disappeared magically.
All of their gazes flickered back to the sword that was whirling past a mountain peak hundreds of meters away.
Could it be?
Having lived among cultivators for so long, Han Xuhan's thinking process had undergone some subtle changes.
He could take an educated guess at the mechanisms behind this magical technique.
And it reminded him of a certain enemy he had faced not long ago. At that time, he had been bewildered by that opponent's terrifying methods. Shen Kai's ability to disappear on the spot and reappear far away from it almost instantly was much alike the legendary skill of teleportation, a technique that scientifically (as scientifically as it is possible in the world of cultivation) was impossible for cultivators at or under the Soul Reformation Realm.
But if he could get to study the principles behind Elder Mu's disappearing technique, maybe he'd find a clue on how Shen Kai was able to accomplish it.
The wait for the defending team to show up was not long. Just a mere minute after Elder Mu's blinding display of movement technique, all of them heard the cries of a poor wretch approaching them from afar.
Seconds later, a black dot made its way past a mountain's topmost part and headed toward the assembly in a curved projectile.
The black dot turned out to be one of their fellow disciples, who was weeping as she held onto the hilt of Elder Mu's flying sword.
100 meters! 50 meters! 25 meters–
Just when all of the witnesses were about to wince upon the realization that she was about to hit the ground at a speed that would turn her into a pile of paste, the sword curved upwards once more, creating a centrifugal force so powerful that she lost her grip on its hilt and zipped toward the elders like an arrow.
Xuan Zi stood his ground and raised a hand lazily as her body flashed past him. His fingers accurately clamped down on her neck, and he dug his heels into the soil to spin her around himself a couple of times like a pencil around a compass.
The spin gave her body the chance to survive the sudden stoppage.
As he dropped her to her feet below the podium, she threw up, which made Han Xuhan feel better. So he wasn't a weakling after all! It was natural for even fourth-layer cultivators to throw up after traveling on that sword!
The sword, meanwhile, disappeared once more in the direction it had come from.
Half a minute later, the spectacle played out once more with a buff, male disciple. He too, threw up.
Han Xuhan's self-confidence received another huge boost!
Third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth...all of them crashed into Xuan Zi's arms in all sorts of embarrassing postures.
The last disciple was accompanied by Elder Mu himself, both clutching the hilt of the flying sword. He was spared some embarrassment because the Elder took his time making a grandiose, slow, descent to show off in front of the outsiders.
"Disciples, why were you not attending the assembly? This was mandatory for you."
"...."
No answers came immediately, making the audience frown. The sect master leaned over from his podium and coughed pointedly, demanding an answer.
"We...we were busy washing clothes, sect master. We didn't realize that it was already time for the assembly," one of them meekly replied.
Han Xuhan took a closer look at the ten disciples and realized that all of them were wearing wet clothes. He was probably speaking the truth.
"I see. That's a minor mistake. I can forgive that. However..." Xuan Zi trailed off, his aura suddenly upsurging, sending a wave of fright across his disciples.
"I cannot forgive a mistake as major as cheating. Tell me, disciples, have you cheated? You've been accused of it by your very first opponent in this tournament. Answer honestly."
The ten disciples looked at each other in bewilderment.
"Cheated how? What exactly is the accusation, sect master?" said the disciple who had been carried over here first. She had recovered her spirits from the shock already, it seemed.
"These disciples from the Abyss Guild have searched our island for half an hour and came to the realization that they could not find any traces of the treasure that your team was supposed to be defending. You have already been briefed on the characteristics of the treasure and the seals that protect it. They claim that if the seals were undone, they would have been able to trace it by now. So now the question is...have the seals on the treasure you've been guarding not been undone?"
As Xuan Zi spoke to her, all ten disciples of the Abyss Guild's invasion team leaped down from the ship and surrounded the defending team. Their eyes, postures, and body language radiated impatience, hostility, contempt, and resentment.
The girl looked rather confused by the explanation. As her nine teammates looked at her work puzzled eyes, she reached into her robe and pulled out a small box.
A gasp ran through the crowd as they realized what that box might be...
"...Is that where you hid it? On yourself?" Abyss Guild's team leader snorted in disbelief. "A pretty cowardly strategy from a sect as powerful as yours, don't you think?"
"If you don't mind, could you use your tracing technique once more?" the girl holding the box asked her. "I'm not quite sure what you're so worked up about..."
"Sure. You're going to be penalized either way."
The leader of Abyss Guild's team was very confident in her approach. And she had all the reasons to be.
If her tracing technique didn't work, it would prove her accusations true.
But if the technique worked this time, it would still mean that there was something wrong with how the box was hidden. After all, everyone had witnessed them casting the tracing techniques as soon as they had landed on the island. Why would it only work now?
Qi shifted around her as she cast her spell. All the disciples nearby could sense a strange movement in the air as the technique was activated.
A huge amount of qi rushed towards the box as if attracted by it magnetically. The box almost appeared to be shaking from the half-material, half-ethereal impact. Soon, a thin layer of fog surrounded the box closely. This fog was entirely made up of qi!
"It worked! So the treasure is indeed in the box! You must have disabled the seals right before coming here!"
A surge of whispers, angry shouts and words of denial rippled out from the disciples of the Crimson Snow Sect.
But the leader of the attacking team looked ecstatic. They had managed to prove their accusation!
However, a familiar cold voice from the crowd of disciples behind her boomed out, silencing the rest of the audience.
"Or maybe just like I said, your technique is simply faulty, or a fluke even, and you knew that fully well. So you accused us of cheating in order to force us to bring out the treasure in front of you so that you can use that gimmick to prove yourselves right. Now you know where the treasure is, and you can ask the overseers of the round to penalize us in some way to give yourselves an advantage. Sounds like a smart plan...But it's a pretty cowardly from a sect as powerful as yours, don't you think?"
