Chapter 61
On the day of the Martial Tournament final-
Before either contestant had even arrived, the area around the arena was packed with cultivators for hundreds of miles, both on the ground and in the sky.
Cultivators possessed excellent eyesight. Even from half a mountain away, they could see clearly.
No one would have imagined that the most nervous person at such an unprecedentedly grand match was not either of the contestants.
It was He Tianba, who currently sat in the spectator stand at the summit, staring solemnly down below.
*Good heavens, this demon is nervous to death.*
After so many years, his role could finally come to an end.
He Tianba silently reviewed the part he would play later, and his mood became more cheerful than ever.
The reputation he had built over the past several hundred years was simply too good. To prevent everyone from doubting the truth, when My Lord went to kill that damned gay bastard surnamed Li, He Tianba had even deliberately lured away Shen Zhiyou, that undying old wretch.
Once suspicion took root, the slightest disturbance would all but confirm his guilt.
Several people from the other sects could not help glancing at him.
Elder He seemed to be in quite a good mood today…
When Yu Tai arrived, she almost could not find anywhere to land. Only after a sharp-eyed cultivator pointed at her and shouted, “Yu Tai!” did people gradually clear a path.
The cultivators of the Middle Realm shouted, “Yu Tai! Do your best! We all support you!”
The Upper Realm cultivators sneered disdainfully.
“Are you serious? Does anyone actually think someone at peak Foundation Establishment can defeat a peak Golden Core?”
“Nothing more than inferiors celebrating among themselves. Frogs at the bottom of a well.”
Laughter immediately erupted from their side.
The face of the Middle Realm cultivator who had shouted first flushed red. He was furious, yet did not dare speak.
They had been oppressed for too long. The word *endure* was engraved into their bones.
Only at moments like this did they envy the lawless demonic cultivators.
No matter how indiscriminately demonic cultivators killed, they faced neither the restraints of a sect nor the condemnation of so-called justice.
In the suffocating, numb atmosphere, the mocking laughter of the Upper Realm cultivators sounded exceptionally harsh.
“Thank you. I will.”
The clear voice was not loud, yet it miraculously silenced every sound nearby.
Yu Tai nodded at the cultivator who had called out first, her cool, lovely face entirely earnest. Then she glanced at the cultivators who had mocked her.
Inexplicably, although she was merely a female cultivator of the Middle Realm, her gaze carried immense pressure. Combined with the fact that she had a good relationship with several inner disciples of the Zuiyin Sect, the mockers guiltily looked away.
Yu Tai sneered.
See? Only dogs that could not bite knew how to bark.
Jiang Li arrived much later than Yu Tai expected. The appointed time was nearly upon them, yet he still had not appeared.
She glanced toward the spectator stand. The old man from the Zuiyin Sect who always sat there was absent today. Xiao Xin, however, noticed Yu Tai’s gaze and waved at her.
Today was the final match of his most highly regarded disciple, yet the elder had not come. The Zuiyin Sect disciples who were usually friendly with Yu Tai were absent as well.
Something was wrong.
Had something happened to the Zuiyin Sect?
The spectators had already begun growing restless, especially the cultivators who had wagered most of their wealth on Jiang Li in hopes of earning a fortune.
Half an incense stick had already burned. Before much longer, Yu Tai would win by default.
Compared with everyone else, Yu Tai was remarkably calm.
A victory handed to her was still a victory. It was only a little regrettable that she might not get to kill Jiang Li, especially when she had obediently brought the jade token today.
He Tianba in the spectator stand was equally dumbfounded. This was not how My Lord’s script was supposed to go.
If that brat Jiang Li did not come, how was He Tianba supposed to finish his role?
Several drops of sweat ran down Xiao Xin’s forehead. *Jiang Li, please don’t come.*
*Don’t you like Sister Yu Tai? Then don’t hurt her.*
Yu Tai had no idea how many people’s emotions were tangled up in a single final match.
“Time is up! Yu Tai of the Qingshan Sword Sect wins!”
Under immense pressure, the referee shouted the result. Even he was deeply astonished and confused.
Was this match, watched by tens of thousands, truly going to end in such an anticlimactic fashion?
Many people below the platform could not help cursing, their previous fierce support for Jiang Li nowhere to be seen.
The cultivators of the Middle Realm reacted in the opposite way. They began worrying that Yu Tai might be dragged into accusations of an undeserved victory.
When one contestant failed to appear for the Martial Tournament final, the victor could easily be misunderstood.
Especially when the absent opponent was Jiang Li of the Upper Realm’s Zuiyin Sect.
In the spectator stand, Xiao Xin and He Tianba released long, complicated sighs at the same time.
The two people, who had never interacted, froze at the sound of each other and exchanged a glance.
He Tianba sighed from worry.
Xiao Xin sighed in profound relief.
“Xiao Xin, what exactly happened to Jiang Li? Did he return to the Upper Realm?”
Cultivators from other sects had begun questioning Xiao Xin as soon as Jiang Li was late. She answered every one of them by claiming ignorance.
“I don’t know either. He was perfectly fine yesterday.” She feigned confusion and wore a disappointed expression, as though deeply distressed that Jiang Li had simply handed first place to someone else.
Jiang Yibai stood behind Jiang Wenyi, his gaze fixed tightly on the girl on the platform.
When his father rose, he followed.
As sect leader of the Qingshan Sword Sect, it was time for Jiang Wenyi to award the prizes.
Yu Tai’s victory caused everyone who had wagered most of their wealth on Jiang Li to lose everything.
Naturally, they could not accept such an absurd result. Many shouted that Yu Tai was unworthy of first place and demanded that she get off the platform. Even cultivators could not always prevent emotion from overwhelming reason.
Yu Tai remained steadily in place as though she could not hear the voices below.
To protect his sect’s disciple from harm, an older cultivator raised a barrier over the platform, afraid that the furious, red-eyed gamblers might charge up and do something dangerous.
Yu Tai curled her lips.
How ugly. Were these people truly accusing Yu Tai of an undeserved victory?
Obviously not.
They were merely redirecting their anger with Jiang Li toward her.
They could not openly curse Jiang Li, but there was still someone in front of them who had won without fighting.
Was she innocent? No one cared.
The abuse from below grew increasingly vicious. Some even guessed that Yu Tai had used some despicable method to seduce Jiang Li and convince him not to compete.
After all, everyone had witnessed Jiang Li’s attitude toward Yu Tai. Their suspicions were not entirely groundless.
Yu Tai thought that if she were weak and did not have Shu Li, she might genuinely have considered such a method.
When Jiang Wenyi landed before her, Yu Tai ignored Jiang Yibai behind him and his undisguised gaze.
Jiang Yibai had lost to Jiang Li long ago. If the despicable method involved him instead, he would probably have been delighted to give Yu Tai first place in exchange for a smile.
“Congratulations,” the sect leader said.
It was clear that even he had complicated feelings about his sect disciple’s victory.
Or rather, he had never wanted Yu Tai to take first place.
It would anger the people of the Upper Realm.