The Talent Camp intentionally made the ranking duels public, aiming to let others learn from the combat techniques of the strong and to serve as motivation.
The moment Ye Qingyi and Nishimura entered the arena, a thunderous roar erupted from the stands: “Su Mo! Su Mo! We love you!”
Nearly eighty percent of the crowd supported Ye Qingyi, with the female fans shouting their support particularly loudly.
Su Mo shuddered, cringing so hard he could dig a hole with his toes.
Just imagine, a group of girls sitting all around you screaming your name and shouting “I love you,” all while completely unaware that you are actually the real one.
Right now, his eyes were only on Ye Qingyi, wanting to see how she would defeat her opponent.
Shevad, sitting beside him, noticed his focus and immediately felt displeased, thinking this girl named Lin Qianye must also have a crush on Su Mo.
So what if he’s a bit handsomer and stronger than me? Big deal. Hmph!
However, he didn’t show any dissatisfaction. Instead, he tried to grab Su Mo’s attention by offering commentary: “Let me tell you…”
“Shh—” Su Mo made a silencing gesture. “The match is about to start. Focus.”
Shevad felt as disgusted as if he’d swallowed a fly, secretly regretting his decision—I shouldn’t have brought her here.
Amidst the shouts of thousands, Nishimura moved.
He took the initiative to attack Ye Qingyi, immediately pushing his offensive to the limit, his katana aimed straight for her face.
His moves were fierce and ruthless; if the goal was killing, he’d certainly be more effective than in a mere competition.
Ye Qingyi also used a blade and was an offensive fighter herself. Facing Nishimura’s assault, she didn’t yield an inch, meeting him head-on.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Three consecutive clashes, and neither gained an advantage.
Then, Nishimura’s blade suddenly shifted, changing from offense to defense.
Generally, blade techniques emphasize pressing forward relentlessly, going all out. The moment you hold back or retreat in your heart, you’ve already lost.
But Nishimura seemed different. His blade work began to turn peculiar. After watching for a while, Su Mo suddenly realized with a start: This isn’t swordplay!
He had actually integrated sword techniques into his blade style, allowing him to advance and attack, or retreat and defend.
They say the sword favors the unconventional, but Nishimura was a special case, making his blade take the devious path…
Ye Qingyi found it difficult to gain the upper hand, and gradually fell into a disadvantageous position. Su Mo began to sweat for her.
Truly, there’s always someone better, another level higher.
Just then, a chubby youth approached him. Su Mo took a closer look; it was actually the plump youth who had been with Wu Heng before.
His name was Zhuge Zhi.
In Xia Country, anyone with the surname Zhuge was instinctively assumed to be super smart, especially since his name also contained the character “Zhi” (智 – wisdom).
Zhuge Zhi looked at him with a smiling face and asked in his distinctly male, robust voice, “Miss, who do you think will win?”
Su Mo looked at him with interest. “Can I help you?”
Zhuge Zhi gave a mysterious smile, pulling out a stack of betting slips to show him. “You must be here for the first time. Our official arena is running a pool. Everyone can place a bet.”
Official pool?
Since when did this guy become part of the arena officials?
As Su Mo was puzzling over this, Shevad nearby shot Zhuge Zhi an impatient look. “You again? You made me lose my entire stake last time. Now you’re here to scam my friend?”
Hearing this, Zhuge Zhi raised an eyebrow. “Who told you to bet your entire fortune? It’s just a game for fun. You can only blame yourself for taking it so seriously. Hmph!”
“You—!” Shevad was left speechless by Zhuge Zhi’s retort and could only sit to the side sulking.
With the interference handled, Zhuge Zhi turned back to Su Mo cheerfully. “So, want to give it a try? Ten knives per bet, or you can bet one spirit stone. Guess right, you get double back. Guess wrong, the loss isn’t big.”
“Of course, you can bet more if you want. The payout then depends on the odds, but we don’t recommend it—too unpredictable.”
Su Mo glanced at the match. Ye Qingyi had already been forced back by Nishimura with nowhere left to retreat. Her fans were shouting their support desperately, but it was no use.
Gradually, more people started supporting Nishimura, though his support still couldn’t match Ye Qingyi’s.
“I’ll pick Su Mo,” Su Mo said.
Zhuge Zhi was puzzled. “But he’s about to lose! Why would you pick him?”
Su Mo paused for two seconds. “He’s handsome. I like him. Is that not allowed?”
Zhuge Zhi was taken aback, then broke into a wide smile. “Allowed, of course it’s allowed…”
In the end, Su Mo bet one hundred low-grade spirit stones… on himself, because he was handsome.
Heh. There’s no way she’ll lose!
After Zhuge Zhi moved away, he started asking other spectators one by one. Almost everyone bought a slip, perhaps because it was cheap and just for fun.
Su Mo suddenly realized this was actually a pretty good way to make money, since ten knives were insignificant to the people here.
Suddenly, waves of exclamations erupted from the arena. Nishimura had abruptly switched back to offense, catching Ye Qingyi off guard. Using an exquisitely precise combo, he managed to defeat her.
A look of unwillingness flashed in Ye Qingyi’s eyes, but she also seemed resigned, as she had done her best.
At least, that’s how it appeared in the eyes of her young fans.
Only Su Mo was barely holding back his laughter.
Because he could tell that Ye Qingyi hadn’t used her full strength.
Although both had held back, Ye Qingyi had clearly held back much more.
The reason was obvious.
But in the stands, young female fans were still shouting themselves hoarse:
“Don’t be disheartened, baby! We’re your strongest support!”
“Keep going, Mo Bao! You’ll get it next time for sure!”
“Su Mo, I love you! Mwah!”
…
Su Mo was astonished. He hadn’t expected Ye Qingyi to have so many fans here.
If it was just about looks, his face was handsome, but not devastatingly so. She must have done something, otherwise she couldn’t have won over so many young fans.
The main event of the day was over. Su Mo wasn’t interested in the other matches, and most of the audience felt the same, with half leaving directly.
Shevad asked from the side, “Shall we go?”
Su Mo glanced at him. “You go ahead. I have some things to take care of.”
Shevad smiled. “Alright. If you need anything, remember to contact me. Here’s my card.”
He stuffed a card into Su Mo’s hand and waved goodbye.
In his view, Su Mo was a newcomer here without any friends. If she ran into trouble, there was a high chance she’d think of him.
Thinking of him leads to contact, frequent contact leads to a better relationship.
This needs to progress step by step.
After Shevad left, Su Mo headed in a certain direction.
There was quite a crowd there, all yelling things like “Give me your autograph!” It wasn’t hard to guess who was there.
He had originally thought it wouldn’t be easy for him, in his current identity, to get too close to Ye Qingyi and the others. But now it seemed that with a good enough reason, getting close wasn’t a problem at all.
He squeezed through any gap he could find, pushing his way to the front of the crowd just in time to see Ye Qingyi walking out from the competition area, her eyes filled with apology.
The young fans erupted into cheers—some comforting, some encouraging, and some frantically pushing forward just to get a photo with her.
Huo Jingshu and Xia Qingqing acted like her bodyguards or assistants, trying to disperse the crowd as they moved.
Seeing this, Su Mo took a deep breath. As Ye Qingyi approached, he suddenly shouted loudly, “Brother Mo, I love you!”
At the same time, he deftly dodged past Xia Qingqing’s defense, rushed up to Ye Qingyi, and, catching her off guard, gave her a quick, smacking kiss on the cheek.
Mwah!
After planting the kiss, he turned and ran, his cheeks instantly burning hot.