"Haa..." Yuan exhaled deeply, his thoughts drifting toward the past. As he looked out the window, he saw the moon high in the sky, stars glittering all around.
"It doesn't matter," he muttered quietly.
Closing his eyes, he took a slow, calming breath before opening them again.
Yuan's mind settled. He turned his gaze away from the moon, closed the window, and sat down on his bed. In silence, he began to cultivate, continuing until the moon faded and the morning sun rose.
The fourth group was now walking along a stone path toward the training ground. They chatted and laughed together, even Meilan smiled and chuckled a few times.
A warm, friendly atmosphere surrounded them.
When they finally arrived at the training ground, they saw that a few other groups had already gathered. After sitting down to rest, all the teams waited for the teacher to arrive.
They didn't have to wait long.
This time, the teacher didn't carry his usual wine gourd. Instead, he held three long sticks, one of them marked with red.
Leisurely, he walked to the center and gestured for the three groups to gather around. Yuan's group stood and joined the others, forming a semicircle around him.
"Okay, attention!" the teacher called out loudly, lifting the hand holding the sticks."I'll say this only once, so listen carefully! The one who pulls the red stick will go directly to the finals. The other two will fight each other to earn their place!"
Hearing this, some of the students were surprised by the method of selection. A few even voiced their disagreement.
"Teacher, isn't that unfair?" one called out.
Others quickly chimed in.
"Yeah! One group gets to go straight to the finals without proving themselves? That's not right!"
"Please, Teacher! For the sake of fairness, can't you choose a better method?"
The teacher raised an eyebrow and clicked his tongue, clearly annoyed by the protest.
"Why do you all care?" he said sharply. "None of you are going to make it to the finals anyway. Just stay quiet and watch, none of the groups involved have complained." As he spoke, he pointed toward Groups Three, Four, and Five.
"Besides, luck is also an important part of your cultivation journey. So shut up and stand to the side."
At that, the other groups fell silent. Some still looked unhappy about being dismissed so easily, but none dared to argue further. After all, the teacher was a high elder, what could they do?
Turning his back to them, the teacher began mixing the three sticks carefully. After a few breaths, he turned around again, stretching out his arm with a smile.
"Each group will send one member to pick a stick. Decide now."
After a short discussion, Yuan's group chose Haoran to represent them. As the chosen members from all three groups stepped forward and picked their sticks, the result was soon revealed.
"Hahaha! We're blessed by the heavens!" a youth from Group Three shouted gleefully, holding up the red-marked stick.
It was decided, Group Three would go directly to the finals. That left Group Five to face off against Group Four.
Yuan's group sighed in disappointment, they hadn't been lucky this time. Still, Haoran wore a wide smile, his gaze locking onto Haodao.
Noticing Haoran's stare, Haodao sneered and looked away, as if he no longer cared to acknowledge him.
The teacher clapped his hands for attention.
"Group Three, join the others and wait for your turn. As for Group Four and Group Five, you have one minute to prepare. Your time starts now."
With that, Group Five began quietly discussing their strategy and so did Yuan's group.
"I want to fight Haodao. No one else should interfere," Haoran said bluntly, a dark smile spreading across his face. Yuan simply nodded, accepting Haoran's demand without question.
"Alright," Tianyu spoke up next. "Yuxin and I will take on one opponent together, since she can't really fight solo. Brother Yuan, you take two of them. Meilan, you'll handle the last one."
Haoran was the first to nod in agreement, followed by Yuxin. Only Yuan and Meilan remained silent. Before Yuan could say anything, Meilan turned to Tianyu with a serious expression.
"And how exactly do you plan to make that work? Do you think they'll just go along with our plan?"
Tianyu fell silent, clearly unsure of how to respond.
But Yuan smiled.
"You don't need to worry about that. I'll dash in first and draw the attention of two opponents. I'll also provoke Haodao directly, if I push the right buttons, he'll charge straight at me. That will give Haoran the opening he needs to fight him. After that, we stick to the plan. Trust me."
Hearing this, the group nodded in agreement. They trusted Yuan, he had the ability and the confidence to carry out what he said.
"Good," Haoran said with a grin, even letting out a small chuckle. The others began to stretch and warm up as they waited for the match to start.
Then came the teacher's voice.
"Prepare yourselves!"
They formed into a line, with Yuan standing confidently at the front. He gave his teammates a calm, reassuring smile.
Their formation was a bold one. It made their intentions obvious, Yuan would take the lead and charge forward, while the others followed behind and struck where needed.
Tension crept into Group Five's ranks, though they did their best to hide it, but Yuan noticed. Their unease was subtle, but visible. Only Haodao stood arrogantly, unfazed by the pressure.
Both sides focused on one another, tension building as they waited.
And then, the teacher's voice rang out loud and clear "Begin!"
With that, Yuan dashed forward, wooden sword in hand. He veered to the right side, targeting the smaller team directly. Their formation was familiar, it was the same setup they had used last time, two small teams, with Haodao positioned to reinforce whichever side needed help most.
Seeing Yuan charge in alone, the two small teams momentarily focused on him, expecting him to hesitate or retreat, but he didn't.
As their swords came at him, Yuan didn't dodge. Instead, he met their Swords head on, striking with force to break their coordination. Jianhai and Yayang, caught off guard, stepped back instinctively and at that moment, Yuan's plan began to unfold.
Without even glancing behind him, Yuan continued pressing Jianhai and Yayang. He left his back completely exposed.
Just as Jianhai and Yayang braced for a follow up, Tianyu, Meilan, and Yuxin arrived in a blur of motion, covering Yuan's back.
Anbo and Sanye were stunned. Sword strikes came at them before they could react, pushing them back and creating a separation, a narrow path in the middle of the battlefield.
And standing in that gap was Haoran, calmly waiting, a cold smile playing on his lips as his gaze locked onto Haodao.
Haodao hadn't noticed him yet. He was still trying to process the sudden shift in the battle, weighing his next move.
But before he could act, a taunting voice rang out toward him,"Still pretending you're a dragon, Haodao? You couldn't scare a mouse with that grip. Come on, let your big brother teach you what real strength looks like."
"Huh?" Haodao blinked in confusion as he heard his name called, mocked, in fact. He looked ahead and saw the open path in the middle of the battlefield… and at the end of it, Haoran, standing there with a smug grin on his face.
"Weak, you say?" Haodao growled, his eyes narrowing, his knuckles clenched, his breath shook, and his irritation quickly turned into rage.
"YOU!" he roared, pointing at Haoran. "You want to teach me something?" His eyes flared red with rage, and a vein throbbed violently on his forehead.
Haodao's body locked with tension. His jaw clenched so hard it might crack. The insult echoed through his skull like a gong, louder each second.
Without sparing a glance to either side, and with no weapon in hand, he charged straight toward Haoran.
Surprised by the intensity of Haodao's reaction, Haoran blinked, caught off guard. He hadn't expected such a strong response from a simple taunt.
"It worked…" he muttered under his breath, slightly stunned, but quickly resumed his act, grinning confidently as Haodao approached.
And just like that, Yuan's entire plan unfolded perfectly.
Haoran against Haodao.
Yuan alone against Jianhai and Yayang.
Yuxin and Tianyu against Anbo.
Meilan alone against Sanye.
Every piece had fallen into place exactly as Yuan had predicted, no, even better. The plan had gone smoother than he could have hoped.
Yuan hadn't expected Haodao to be provoked so easily, certainly not after just one exchange. He had assumed Haodao might try to assist Anbo and Sanye first, but clearly, the mere suggestion of weakness was enough to push him over the edge.
Seeing Haodao fully engaged with Haoran, Yuan didn't look back again. A small chuckle escaped him as he faced off against Jianhai and Yayang.
"In the end, it doesn't matter how this fight plays out," Yuan thought quietly, deflecting a strike with ease."This fight was over the moment it began. The only question now… is how it will look."