I became a Sword Emperor in the Martial Arts World

Chapter 141 Accidentally Stealing Someone Else's Opportunity

Hey~

Some of the moss on the clock had been wiped away, but other than that, nothing else changed.

Qin Haoyu was stunned for a moment, then suddenly swung the whip again.

Ding ding~

no response.

Ding Ding Ding ~

Still no response.

Ding ding ding ding ding~

Qin Haoyu brandished his ochre whip, lashing the self-propelled bell wildly. Wang Xuancheng couldn't ignore it any longer and quickly stepped forward to stop him: "What are you doing, whipping a top?"

"There's no reason for it."

Qin Haoyu stared blankly at the ochre whip in his hand. This was a treasure bestowed by Emperor Yan, how could it have no effect?

At some point, Master Zhengyang appeared beside Qin Haoyu. He glanced at the ochre whip in Qin Haoyu's hand and sensed the martial will of Emperor Yan attached to it. Master Zhengyang sighed and said to Qin Haoyu, "Don't bother trying. The will and energy gathered on the Zilai Bell have been exhausted. It won't do you any good if you strike it a hundred times."

"How could that be?"

Qin Haoyu gripped the ochre whip in his hand, almost spitting blood with rage.

Then he remembered the bell he had just heard and looked at Master Zhengyang in horror: "Could it be that Ye Qingzhou and his group rang the self-healing bell?"

Master Zhengyang nodded: "That's right, Ye Qingzhou is truly a genius of unparalleled talent. He was able to comprehend sword intent on his own and awaken the Great Dao Heavenly Sound on the Zilai Bell. Now that the Nine Divine Sounds have exhausted the willpower and spiritual energy stored within the divine object, if you wish to hear the Heavenly Sound, come back in a year."

"One year!"

Qin Haoyu can't wait even a day longer. The Phoenix Cup is just around the corner, and if it's a year from now, it'll be too late.

"Are there any other solutions?"

"I'm sorry, I can't help you."

After saying this, Master Zhengyang turned and left, his graceful figure taking Qin Haoyu's hopes with him.

"Ye Qingzhou!"

At this moment, Qin Haoyu was grinding his teeth to powder.

He even wondered if he and Ye Qingzhou were incompatible, since nothing good had happened to him on either of his two encounters with this person!

As for Ye Qingzhou, he had no idea that he had stolen an opportunity that originally belonged to Qin Haoyu. At this moment, he was making final preparations for the Phoenix Cup.

Xu Lan also encouraged everyone, clapping her hands and saying, "There's still a month until the opening ceremony of the Phoenix Cup, everyone should do their best."

"yes!"

"During this period, we will stay in the Yuelu Mountain Secret Realm for trial training."

Xu Lan was also filled with emotion at this moment. Originally, her idea was to spend one or two years to reflect, discover talents, and carefully cultivate them, and then see if she could lead the team to compete abroad and achieve good results.

Ye Qingzhou's appearance completely disrupted her entire plan.

If this trend continues, Linjiang No.1 Middle School might have a chance to win the Phoenix Cup very soon!

The results came too quickly and too suddenly; Xu Lan was completely unprepared, and now she feels like she's dreaming.

Lu Yifan, Yu Shouping, and Hou Fei were also experiencing similar emotional turmoil.

They hadn't expected to be selected for the Linjiang City team, after all, the gap in strength between them and Yuan Jingfei and other top three martial arts talents from Zhicheng Middle School was still too great.

But today, having heard the divine voice of the Great Dao, and cleansed by the thunderous sound, they not only underwent a cleansing of their marrow and bones, but also experienced a significant improvement in their spiritual understanding.

So the three of them went to Ye Qingzhou together and said, "The Linjiang City team will be selected in ten days. We want to become stronger. Can you help us?"

As a senior in high school, it is undoubtedly shameful for me to ask a junior in high school for help.

However, in order to become stronger, the three of them didn't care about anything else.

Upon hearing this, Ye Qingzhou retorted, "Do you have money?"

Lu Yifan, Yu Shouping, and Hou Fei exchanged bewildered glances when Ye Qingzhou asked them this, before quickly nodding in reply, "We have money, we all have money!"

Having achieved fame and success in martial arts, the three of them must be well-off; they could easily come up with a million or two.

Upon hearing that they were all "rich," Ye Qingzhou immediately put on a smiling face: "If you have money, then we can talk. I'll tailor-make an intensive training program for you right away, guaranteeing that you get what you pay for, and that I'll treat you fairly, young and old alike."

…………

Ten days later, in the team selection competition, Yuan Jingfei, who had previously said she wanted to be Ye Qingzhou's teammate, lost directly to Lu Yifan, who had suddenly become incredibly powerful, on the stage.

At this moment, Ye Qingzhou had elevated his mastery of the wind, mountains, and forests to a level of proficiency, and had also made targeted improvements to his martial arts techniques.

Because his mind and body have been cleansed by the Heavenly Sound of the Great Dao, his current aptitude is not weak even among genius-level martial artists.

Ultimately, all eight members of the Linjiang City team came from Linjiang No. 1 Middle School.

This result was truly astonishing.

Upon learning of this, Principal Zhao Dezhu was overjoyed and wished he could immediately appoint Ye Qingzhou as the director of the fighting center.

Nanjing University, the hidden gem of Yuelu Mountain.

Xu Lan held the schedule, her expression serious and earnest: "The venue for the Phoenix Cup has been chosen; it will be inside Yanling Cave Heaven. According to the schedule, the competition will be held on December 20th."

This means that Ye Qingzhou and his team have a maximum of seventeen days to work together and plan tactics.

To be precise, the tactics were designed around Ye Qingzhou, who was the absolute core of the entire team.

Everyone was completely convinced of Ye Qingzhou's abilities as their captain.

Even Leon, that unreliable, immature young man, bowed down to Ye Qingzhou's sword: "My Master Ye is invincible. Even taking on five people at once is a piece of cake. We don't need complicated tactics. As long as everyone doesn't drag us down, we'll definitely win this round without lifting a finger."

On this matter, Miao Yi didn't argue with Leon, but nodded: "Agreed. I can't even imagine what kind of monster could defeat Ye Qingzhou."

The team members were so optimistic, but Xu Lan, the team leader, could not be so optimistic, because according to the intelligence they had gathered, the strength of their opponents should not be underestimated.

"Don't be arrogant. The rising star teams from other cities are quite strong. Especially the Xingcheng team, which brings together martial arts geniuses from Changjun High School, Nanjing Normal University Affiliated High School, Mingde High School, Yali High School, and Nanya High School. The foundation of these five prestigious schools is still very strong. If you lose the game due to carelessness, you will definitely regret it for the rest of your lives."

At this moment, Xu Lan also put on her airs as the director of the combat center, giving everyone a few instructions, and then finalized the list of members for the Linjiang City martial arts rookie representative team.

Team leader: Ye Qingzhou.

Vice Captain: Miao Yi

Main players: Xu Yuebing, Lei Ang, Zhu Jinfeng.

Substitutes: Lu Yifan, Yu Shouping, Hou Fei.

After the selection was finalized, the next step was to arrange the members for one-on-one arena battles, three-on-three team battles, and five-on-five team battles.

During the competition, the fourteen participating cities will send fourteen teams, with each team having eight slots.

As for how to assign tasks to these eight people, that is up to each team to decide.

At that time, teams that want to win will have to take both individual and team battles into account.

Because of this type of competition, the schedule will be very tight, and the intensity of the matches will undoubtedly be very high.

If a key player suffers a serious injury that is difficult to heal in a short time during the arena battle, it will inevitably affect subsequent squad battles and team battles.

Therefore, personnel deployment and tactical arrangements also greatly test the wisdom of martial artists.

December 18th, 12 PM.

Xu Lan solemnly told everyone that they would be setting off for Jianning tomorrow to participate in the Phoenix Cup competition!

Although the competition will not start until the 20th, each participating team needs to arrive early on the 19th to familiarize themselves with the venue and accommodation so that they can quickly get into battle mode.

Jianning is an ancient city with a long history, and the Mausoleum of Emperor Yan is located here.

Located on the outskirts of the Yan Emperor's Mausoleum stands a large martial arts arena.

Although it cannot compare in scale to first-tier cities like Shanghai and Beijing, Jianning's competition center is still quite prestigious in the province, having won numerous honors and been selected as the venue for the provincial martial arts competition several times.

Currently, organizing a provincial high school martial arts league with over a hundred participants shouldn't be a problem.

As the representative team of Linjiang City, the martial arts prodigies from Linjiang No. 1 Middle School have arrived in Jianning by car and checked into the hotel arranged by the organizers.

In addition to the eight school team members, the teachers leading the team include Lei Ying, a professional martial artist and member of the Linjiang Jishi Medical Association, and Xu Lan, director of the Linjiang No.1 Middle School Fighting Center.

Once the competition officially begins, the principals of all participating schools, including Zhao Dezhu, will surely come to watch the competition and cheer on their students.

In addition, the athletes' families, and even some students and teachers from the schools, will be selected to be cheerleaders at the event, ensuring that the venue, which can seat tens of thousands of people, is completely full.

However, if the Linjiang No.1 Middle School team is eliminated on the first day, then they will have nothing!

That's just how real this world is; if you don't achieve anything, no one will pay attention to you.

"Holy crap, that's a big scene!"

Leon's eyes darted around the arena, his inner chuunibyou (a Japanese term for someone with delusions of grandeur) burning brightly once more: "Master Ye, I don't want to lose!"

At this moment, Leon was filled with excitement. He had always dreamed of being a powerful and influential figure, competing in such a place, with younger students cheering him on, celebrities from all walks of life paying attention, and reporters and media interviewing him.

If we lose, it will be incredibly embarrassing.

"Master Ye, do you think I've ever walked on thin ice my whole life, and will I ever reach the very center of the competition?"

Ye Qingzhou glanced sideways at this idiot, thinking to himself with annoyance, "You're just a nobody, what gives you so much to say?"

"Please register first, then come with me to the hotel arranged by the organizer. After you have settled in, you are free to tour the venue. There will be staff here to guide you throughout the day."

Xu Lan clapped her hands, clearly having already made arrangements.

The hotel next to the Jianning Martial Arts Competition Center is a self-contained complex, like a small athletes' village, originally intended as a place for athletes to stay.

Next to the hotel are more than a dozen training grounds and fighting arenas of various sizes, with all kinds of facilities.

In addition, there is a dedicated restaurant to provide meals, and doctors from the Jishi Medical Association are responsible for checking the physical and mental condition of each martial arts newcomer to ensure the fairness and impartiality of the competition.

When Ye Qingzhou put his luggage away at the hotel, other rising star teams from different cities had already arrived at the venue and checked into the hotel.

Feeling the atmosphere of the competition around them, the students of Linjiang No.1 Middle School were all a little excited, even martial arts geniuses like Zhu Jinfeng and Lei Ang who had competition experience.

"This scale and the atmosphere are indeed much higher in style than the Qinglan Sword Fighting Tournament. I estimate that the intensity will also exceed expectations. It's really something to look forward to."

Ye Qingzhou was already eager to participate in the two upcoming battles.

The captain and vice-captain of the Jianning team, the host province, were also eager to try.

After checking into their room, Liao Yucheng soon found Zhang Chen and asked, "Would we like to visit the fighting arena later?"

"What's so interesting about visiting the ring?"

"Although we're the host team, we've always played in the city before. This is our first time here, isn't it? Shouldn't we familiarize ourselves with the locations of the various competition zones first?"

"Don't worry, there will definitely be staff to guide you, so you don't have to worry about not finding your place."

"That's true."

Liao Yucheng was persuaded by Zhang Chen, but he was still a little restless: "The night is long, we can't just sit here and wait, can we? That would be so boring!"

Zhang Chen chuckled: "I want to go and gather intelligence."

He is a rising star representative from Jianning Jiufang Middle School and also the captain of the Jianning team.

As for Liao Yucheng, he is the strongest newcomer in Jianning No. 2 Middle School this year and currently serves as the team's vice captain. Being from the same city, the two have interacted before, so they are quite familiar with each other.

Upon hearing that Zhang Chen wanted to go out and gather intelligence, Liao Yucheng immediately became very curious: "How do you plan to gather intelligence?"

The competition hasn't officially started yet, and the teams representing each city have limited knowledge of the competitors from other cities. At most, they only know about past competition records, familiar martial arts stances and skill combinations, and backgrounds.

Martial artists like Zhang Chen, who have participated in some small competitions, usually have their videos of fighting in the ring dug up and analyzed in various ways.

However, which young martial arts prodigy doesn't make rapid progress?

Competitions I've participated in, especially those lasting more than a month, are basically not very useful for reference. Even if I stay up all night to analyze all the competitions thoroughly, the results will still be very outdated.

This is an official competition, and the cities and schools behind the participating teams will undoubtedly be mobilized seriously.

If it's an inter-school exchange match, everyone can play casually and save their trump cards for later.

Now that it's a formal competition like the Phoenix Cup, no one dares to be careless.

It's important to understand that the outcome of the Phoenix Cup directly impacts a city's martial arts resources, the amount of educational funding the participating schools receive, and the honors and status they gain within the province.

Zhang Chen was clearly aware of this, which is why he took the outcome of this competition very seriously: "We can try to find a few people to play a few matches to get a feel for each other. Anyway, our team leader didn't say we couldn't play against each other today. What if the team leaders from other schools didn't say that either?"

Liao Yucheng was shocked to hear this. Not revealing one's own strengths and weaknesses before a match and not engaging in intense battles is basic common sense, okay? Do I need a teacher to teach me that?

Zhang Chen clearly had more ideas, and his tone was full of confidence: "Anyway, not many people from other cities know me. I'll pretend to be weak first, and when I encounter a strong opponent, I'll feign defeat. I'll make sure that our Jianning team's trump card isn't revealed."

"Damn, you're so despicable, I like it."

After listening to Zhang Chen's words, Liao Yucheng also thought that this shameless idea was quite good.

As a result, while the other members of the Jianning team went to visit the arena, Zhang Chen and Liao Yucheng secretly slipped away.

The teacher in charge, trusting Zhang Chen as the team leader, didn't interfere.

Before long, the two encountered their target.

"Liao Yucheng, do you recognize the school uniforms they're wearing?"

In the shopping plaza downstairs from the hotel, Zhang Chen and Liao Yucheng passed by a supermarket. Through the glass, they saw two girls in red school uniforms shopping.

One of them, with her delicate features and graceful demeanor, caught Zhang Chen's eye, even giving her a fleeting feeling of attraction: "She has such a wonderful presence. They must be contestants, right? I hope they'll accept the challenge..."

"I don't know him."

Liao Yucheng shook his head, then gave Zhang Chen a strange look, beginning to suspect his motives: "So, are you going there to gather information, or to pick up girls?"

"Ahem, you have to trust my character."

Zhang Chen blushed, but he managed to hide his panicked state of mind.

The two then patiently waited outside the supermarket entrance, hoping the other would come out.

…………

Li Yan'er and Lu Jingyao, both girls, came to the competition venue together as part of Mingde Middle School's "family and friends group".

Star City is rich and powerful, and its five top universities have assembled the strongest lineup. They have even prepared how to celebrate after winning the championship.

In order to demonstrate their overwhelming strength, in addition to the official participants, they also formed a "friends and family group" of two hundred people to come to the scene to cheer on the contestants.

After arriving at the athletes' village, Li Yan'er and Lu Jingyao discussed it and decided to buy some things first, and then go for a walk around the neighborhood.

Since they don't have to compete, they can just treat it as a tourist trip to Jianning.

However, they realized that they seemed to be in trouble.

At this moment, Zhang Chen coughed twice, then walked up to Li Yan'er, trying to appear calm: "Classmates, are you also here to participate in the competition?"

Holding the bag, Li Yan'er shook her head: "No, but I am also a martial artist."

With Ye Qingzhou's guidance, she has made rapid progress recently and is now close to advancing from the elite level to the genius level, so she is quite confident in her abilities.

"Which high school are you from?"

"Mingde Middle School, are you students from Jianning?"

Lu Jingyao thought for a moment, but she had no recollection of any famous schools in Jianning.

"Yes, I am a student at Jianning No. 2 Middle School."

Liao Yucheng nodded.

"I'm from Jiufang Middle School."

Zhang Chen also began to introduce himself, but neither of them revealed their true abilities.

Since they didn't know each other, Li Yan'er and Lu Jingyao were about to leave when Zhang Chen suddenly said, "Hey classmate, I think it's still early. How about we have a little more competition?"

"what?"

Li Yan'er was clearly not expected by Zhang Chen's sudden challenge and was at a loss for how to respond.

Just then, Ye Qingzhou and Lu Yifan happened to pass by, having come downstairs to buy snacks.

Upon seeing his old classmate, Ye Qingzhou took the initiative to greet her: "Li Yan'er?"

(End of this chapter)