Chapter 194: Overcoming All Odds, Lower Category Grand Finals

Translator: Minotauruz

Jun Xiaomo had come out victorious twice in a row now. At this moment, every single participant around had come to realize that this cultivator at the sixth level of Qi Mastery was not to be underestimated at all.

Practically every single sect participating in this competition would pull out all the stops and make all forms of preparatory work that they could in order to gain an advantage for their disciples. Among other things, most of these sects would conduct their own research and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each of the remaining participants in the battles.

That said, it was evident that everyone had overlooked Jun Xiaomo’s participation in the Lower Category. After all, how strong could a cultivator at the fifth level of Qi Mastery possibly be?

Yet in the end, Jun Xiaomo’s performance over the last two battles astonished everyone, and several people had the common hunch that Jun Xiaomo was going to be the greatest underdog among the Lower Category battles.

Thus, the blunderous sect leaders immediately called for an urgent meeting with their respective sect elders and peakmasters to analyze Jun Xiaomo’s abilities and come up with the necessary countermeasures to deal with her. At the very least, they needed to better understand where Jun Xiaomo’s advantage laid which allowed her to overcome her cultivation level deficiencies. This would give their disciples participating in the Lower Category battles some hope for overcoming her in the upcoming matches.

Unfortunately, the result of all these emergency meetings in every single sect was the same – there was no appropriate countermeasure.

As the sect leader, sect elder and peakmasters, everyone knew exactly where Jun Xiaomo’s advantage laid – it was none other than her wealth of combat experience. But such a wealth of combat experience was not something that could be simply developed overnight. Even if they forced their disciples to undergo emergency remedial combat training or the like, there was still no way of increasing their combat intuition and judgment to close the gap with Jun Xiaomo’s frightening abilities.

“I really don’t know how that Jun Linxuan taught his daughter all of this. He couldn’t have tossed her into the wilderness to fend for herself before she had even learnt to speak, could he?” One of the sect leaders chuckled bitterly as he remarked.

“There’s no way of telling for sure.” Another sect elder seated beside him casually remarked, “But don’t forget that Jun Linxuan is a renown cultivation fanatic. It’s not an impossibility that he would put his daughter through inhumane, extreme training right from a young age.”

Everyone immediately revealed a look of realization, thinking that they had roughly grasped the truth of the matter.

But the truth of the matter was that even Jun Linxuan found it astonishing how Jun Xiaomo had developed such maturity in her combat judgment and gathered such a wealth of combat experience. In the end, Jun Linxuan found that he could only attribute it to Jun Xiaomo’s experience with her earlier travels outside the Sect.

She must have gone through a lot of hardship to have gleaned so much. Jun Linxuan sighed in his heart.

It must be said that every single sect elder and sect leader of these participating Secondary Sects were all well over a hundred years of age and venerated seniors in their own rights. Thus, they were naturally able to adjudge from Jun Xiaomo’s performance in the previous two battles that it was hardly going to be an easy thing if their Lower Category disciples were to defeat Jun Xiaomo.

And this was how the subsequent few battles panned out as well. Jun Xiaomo was like an undying cockroach – despite her weak cultivation at only the sixth level of Qi Mastery, she was able to avoid most of the attacks unleashed upon her as she bided her time. Then, when she adjudged that her opponent’s reservoir of spiritual energy had largely been depleted, she would begin to launch her counterattack and subdue her opponent in one fell swoop.

Thus, those who were defeated by Jun Xiaomo would invariably describe their experience in battle as “weary”. If they were to supplement that description, they would have added “humiliating”, and “I want to beat her up so very much”.

After all, these combatants all possessed cultivation levels that were one or two qualitative levels higher than their opponent, yet they were slowly and consciously worn down by that opponent without the ability to do a single thing against it – how could one not feel humiliated when it all ended?

Furthermore, having observed the last tens of days of competition closely, everyone began to realize that Jun Xiaomo’s battles generally took the longest time to complete. There was no other reason apart from the fact that Jun Xiaomo was simply too arduous and unrelenting.

She had practically dragged things out with each of her opponents so much so that several opponents had lost their temper at her. Yet all this while, she remained calm and cool as a cucumber.

It was absolutely infuriating.

That said, the number of people who had begun to fall for Jun Xiaomo naturally also grew and grew. After all, she was undeniably beautiful, possessed incredible combat abilities, and her character was not half bad either – who wouldn’t fall for such a person?

And most importantly, her father was even a Peakmaster!

The person who had agreed to rescind the marriage arrangement with Jun Xiaomo must be blind! Such a rare find like Jun Xiaomo was something to be treasured and held closely and securely to one’s heart after all!

Qin Lingyu also found himself in quite the pickle these last few days. No matter where he went, he would always find there to be other cultivators giving him peculiar looks.

He could tell from their eyes that there were looks of pity, exasperation, delight in his misery and even some filled with indignation.

He knew that the reason for these peculiar looks from other cultivators emanated from his history with Jun Xiaomo.

As such, Qin Lingyu also began to realize that he might very well have acted too rashly when it came to the rescission of the marriage arrangement. But there was nothing in this world that could allow him to turn back time. He could only placate himself with countless reminders that he had not made the wrong decision.

Besides, Jun Xiaomo has some vague and ambiguous relationships with several other men. If I don’t rescind this marriage arrangement when I did, would I not be simply waiting to be made a cuckold of?

Qin Lingyu continued to placate himself with such thoughts as he fervently repressed these roiling and toiling emotions back to the depths of his heart.

From the start, he was convinced that he had not wronged Jun Xiaomo at all.

At the same time, even though Qin Lingyu’s expressions were incredibly discreet and clandestine, Yu Wanrou still managed to pick up on the slight changes in Qin Lingyu’s attitude and disposition. After all, Yu Wanrou was one of the people closest to Qin Lingyu.

In the past, Qin Lingyu would always reveal a vile and disgusted look whenever they talked about Jun Xiaomo, as though he couldn’t wait to break off all relations with that woman at the earliest possible moment. But now, Qin Lingyu would always grow taciturn and delve deep into his own thoughts whenever he heard someone talk about Jun Xiaomo.

Qin Lingyu’s sullenness made Yu Wanrou’s heart grow flustered, and a primal sense of danger arose in her heart.

Qin Lingyu was all Yu Wanrou had right now. If Qin Lingyu abandoned her, where would that leave Yu Wanrou? Would she be relegated to live the rest of her life as a nobody? Then what was the purpose of her crossing over into this world and obtaining her spectral demiplane and spiritual spring?

No! I have my own advantage as well. I’m going to make everyone sit up and take notice of me through the upcoming battles! Yu Wanrou gritted her teeth as she declared in her heart.

Yu Wanrou was in the eighth level of Qi Mastery, and she was one of the participants in the Lower Category battles as well.

The recovery pills she possessed had all been refined with the waters from her spiritual spring. They looked the same as any other recovery pills, but the effects of these pills were even stronger than the fifth-grade recovery pill that Jun Xiaomo had used during her battle.

At the very least, normal recovery pills could only treat a person’s wounds and injuries, but Yu Wanrou’s pills that had been refined with the waters from her spiritual spring could not only heal a person’s wounds and injuries, they could even replenish the spiritual energies and vitality of a person’s body.

It was with the aid of these recovery pills that Yu Wanrou had successfully defeated several opponents and earned herself a place in the grand finals of the Lower Category battles.

If not for Jun Xiaomo’s participation in the Lower Category battles, Yu Wanrou’s performance would have been incredibly eye-catching. After all, everyone enjoyed watching the performance of a powerful and beautiful female cultivator.

Unfortunately, Yu Wanrou’s performance undeniably paled in comparison with the dark horse, Jun Xiaomo, who had overcome her cultivation level deficiency and defeated several cultivators at the seventh or eighth levels of Qi Mastery even though she was only at the sixth level of Qi Mastery.

This was a situation where she had been born with a luster but unable to shine. Yu Wanrou had crossed over and been blessed with incredible, heaven-defying resources, yet Jun Xiaomo seemed to be coming out ahead of her no matter what she did.

She could not accept this!

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

That said, Yu Wanrou was not going to be as silly as Dai Yue to think about disfiguring or killing Jun Xiaomo. She appreciated the fact that most people sympathized with the weak. Thus, Yu Wanrou naturally knew that presenting herself with an aggressive disposition would be tantamount to standing in the heart of the storm and making herself a public enemy.

Yu Wanrou was not going to do something as silly as that.

Instead, she wanted to prove on the arena that she was better than Jun Xiaomo. That sufficed for her. At the very least, it sufficed for the moment. Anything else could be decided upon later.

Very soon, the day of the grand finals arrived. Yu Wanrou got out of bed early and put on a thick layer of make-up before leaving the inn. She had always been confident in her looks, and the last thing that she wanted to hear today were comments like “Jun Xiaomo is the most beautiful” or the ilk.

Today was the day of the final Lower Category battles. It was also the day of the grand finals where the champion of the Lower Category battles was determined.

Needless to say, the upcoming grand finals battle attracted far more attention than any other battle did over the last tens of days. The arena was filled to the brim with people, and some audience members were even relegated to standing on the outer circle of the arena to watch the upcoming battle.

What several people found the most remarkable was the fact that the grand finals was going to be between two female cultivators from the Dawn Sect.

The Dawn Sect truly lives up to its reputation. They’re undoubtedly deserving of being the mainstay among the top three of every iteration of these competitions.

However, the Dawn Sect’s Sect Elders and Peakmasters were hardly as pleased as others expected them to be – especially the Second Elder.

Just a few days ago, one of the Second Elder’s personal disciples whom he was hopeful of taking the title of champion was utterly defeated by Jun Xiaomo, and the Second Elder was still reeling from shock. Thus, how could he find it within himself to celebrate the fact that the grand finals constituted only combatants from the Dawn Sect?

Truth be told, it was never within any of their expectations for Jun Xiaomo to obtain the title of champion for the Lower Category battles. After all, they had hoped with all their hearts that Jun Xiaomo would have perished on the arena instead.

“Wanrou, you have to do your best to take this competition. The Pill Cauldron Peak’s glory is entirely in your hands right now.” Yu Wanrou’s master patted her shoulder as he spoke.

“Disciple takes heed.” Yu Wanrou made a respectful fist and palm salute as she bowed slightly. Her eyes were filled with an intense desire to take the victory as well.

The conversations on the other side was the exact opposite of what had just occurred with Yu Wanrou. Jun Linxuan looked indifferently at Jun Xiaomo as he remarked, “Do your best, but don’t push yourself too hard.”

“Yes, father.” Jun Xiaomo responded curtly.

“Don’t just say it! I’m pretty sure you’re going to forget what you’ve just agreed to moments later.” Liu Qingmei chided her daughter as she rubbed her daughter’s head gingerly – Since when has Xiaomo not forced the issue?

Jun Xiaomo chuckled helplessly as she placed her arm around her mother’s shoulders in an endearing manner and shook her gently as she placated, “I’ll make sure to remember it this time~”

Liu Qingmei rolled her eyes at her daughter.

“You can do it, martial sister!” Wei Gaolang pumped his fist into the air.

Jun Xiaomo tousled that young man’s hair as she chirped, “Thanks for your support, Little Lang.”

She was going to do it for all these people. She was not going to lose to Yu Wanrou.

The chief referee stood up and invited both grand finalists to the arena once again. The harmonious atmosphere was stripped away by the chief referee’s announcement, and Jun Xiaomo’s gaze tensed up once again. The aura around her body immediately flourished like a gleaming sword that had just been unsheathed.

Jun Xiaomo took firm and determined steps as she made her way to the arena slowly. Yu Wanrou followed closely behind her and took the stage as well.

Both grand finalists were Dawn Sect cultivators, and both were female cultivators. Everyone in the audience, especially male cultivators, couldn’t help but crane their necks as they sized up these grand finalists with widened eyes.

One was soft and warm like water, while the other was headstrong and aggressive. They were of two distinctive types of personalities...

But it was an undeniable fact that both were beauties in their own rights. Furthermore, the fact that both made it to the grand finals also meant that both possessed immense abilities.

The Dawn Sect’s male cultivators are so fortunate...especially Qin Lingyu. After all, these two female cultivators had at some point in time been romantically associated with him, haven’t they? One was an ex-fiancée, while the other was his current lover – I wonder whose side he’ll take?

Regardless, he’s in such an enviable and admirable position...

Several members of the audience thought this way and cast their gazes directly towards Qin Lingyu.

Qin Lingyu’s cold and suave appearances remained completely expressionless. His eyes darkened, and nobody could tell what was going through his mind at this moment.