From among the seated disciples, two youths stood and made their way to the dueling platform.
The first was Mo Lin — an Inner Hall disciple and a distant relative of Core Elder Mo Jian. He was a modestly handsome youth with black hair and calm, black eyes.
But beneath his composed exterior… lay a very peculiar backstory.
Mo Lin never imagined his luck would be this outrageous.
One day, like many love-struck teenagers, he decided to impress a senior sister he had a massive crush on. Naturally, he thought flowers would do the trick — but not store-bought ones.
No.
He believed that wildflowers, plucked by his own hand, would demonstrate sincerity and effort.
So he snuck out toward the woods near the Inner Hall and spent two entire days searching for the perfect flower.
Yet, he found nothing.
Instead, gravity found him — tripping over a root and tumbling into a bush-covered hollow.
There, hidden beneath vines and moss, he discovered a cave.
At first, he cursed his misfortune.
But fate, it seemed, had a twisted sense of humor.
Inside the cave lay a sword — plain-looking and unremarkable.
Mo Lin, curious and sore all over, reached out to grab it.
The moment his fingers touched the hilt, a voice echoed in his mind,
'Child. You are not fated. Give this sword… to a girl.'
Mo Lin shrieked and dropped the sword immediately, running back home like his pants were on fire.
But curiosity is a powerful thing.
The next day, he returned.
The sword was still there.
He picked it up again.
'Child!' the voice pleaded, now sounding slightly panicked. 'I said — give this sword to a girl! Please! I'll reward you!'
Now, Mo Lin was many things — pampered, shy, dramatic — but also secretly a bit prideful and arrogant.
He frowned and declared with a pose, "If I can't have this sword, then nobody will!"
Then, with the brilliance only a he can muster, he stuck the sword back into the dirt and decided to water it, just in case it would grow more swords.
The sword was stunned.
Utterly speechless.
Then it sighed and muttered,
'Wait… wait! Fine! I'll bond with you! Just — just take me!'
Then Mo Lin asked cheerfully, "Okay! What do I do?"
The sword gave up all dignity and instructed him to offer a drop of blood.
Mo Lin, dramatically clutching his hand like he was being martyred, pricked his finger and let a few drops fall onto the blade.
And just like that… the bond was formed.
This was how Mo Lin, proud flower-hunter and accidental cave-explorer, ended up with a mysterious sword.
Whose spirit now occasionally scolds him like a grandma.
On the other side was the second boy — Lin Fan.
Or rather… Harry Jackpot.
You see, in his previous life, Harry was just a completely average youth living on the planet Gaia — a world where monstrous creatures emerged from dimensional gates and were fought off by humans with superpowers.
The people of Gaia, thanks to technology and mysterious "Gate Stones" had developed an advanced society that looked like a cross of sci-fi and superhero genre.
Harry, like any self-respecting teenager, dreamed of becoming a caped hero.
Admired by millions.
Beating up monsters with dramatic poses and a badass signature move while explosions went off in the background.
That was the plan.
But fate had… other ideas.
One night, while browsing the web, Harry left a not-so-polite comment on an online novel which talked about people cultivating and not about superpowers.
Specifically, he typed:
[This story sucks. Why would anyone waste time writing this trash?]
The author replied in his inbox.
Just a single message.
[Why don't you try it, then?]
Harry snorted and clicked the message.
This was his biggest mistake.
The moment he did, everything went black.
Next thing he knew… he had reincarnated into a baby's body in a world full of spirit energy, clans, and cultivation manuals.
Floating before his infant eyes was a glowing blue interface labeled:
[Simple Normal System]
Also known as SNS.
It gave no cheats.
No golden fingers.
Just… polite encouragement and showed his stats.
And the occasional passive-aggressive reminder that he was still weak.
Now, years later, Harry Jackpot — or Lin Fan, as everyone knew him — had trained enough to stand here, opposite Mo Lin.
Two boys.
One with Grandma in sword.
And the other, a Gaialing with a sarcastic system and dreams of glory.
But.
Only one of them would shine tonight.
And maybe this would be the most interesting match in the Tournament.