Blood fountained.

A Godhead Palace disciple landed off the stage, drenched in blood. His body was swaying, but he had luckily avoided death. He staggered back to his section and got down on his knees in front of a teacher. “This student was incapable and unable to defeat his opponent.”

The teacher simply grunted. Rather than punishing the student, he allowed him to go back and rest.

As the battles went on, everyone gradually began to understand the rules for this tournament.

If you weren’t strong enough to beat the enemy, you could lose, but backing away without fighting was not allowed.

This was a mentality akin to flashing one’s sword.

The two major sects regarded each other as mortal foes, and death was more acceptable than humiliation, a loss better than giving up. The students now understood what their teachers sought from them.

In today’s battles, the desperate struggle between the students of Godhead Palace and the Seven Absolutions Sect became the center of attention.

Blood spurted, murderous intent roiled, hatred overflowed, and fighting spirit surged.

One after another, Yun Wuji, Mu Yi, Xiao Wen, Lin Wang, and Fang Shiye, the outstanding students from both sects, took the stage and showed off their power. But they weren’t responsible for the real killing. Just as everyone knew, exciting battles normally took place against people who were of equal level, and the same was true for killing. The closer the opponents were in power, the more gruesome the combat and the greater the chance of death.

When the twentieth match had concluded, the students of both Godhead Palace and the Seven Absolutions Sect were almost all covered in wounds.

Godhead Palace had won twelve matches and lost eight. Six of its group had died, three had been heavily injured, and five had light wounds. The Seven Absolutions Sect had won eight matches. Nine of its group had died, four had sustained severe injuries, and three were lightly wounded. Both sides had paid a heavy price, but in terms of strength, Godhead Palace had come out ahead.

“Fifteen people died just like that? Is it done now?” Wei Tianchong muttered.

He hadn’t been prepared at all for the brutality he had witnessed today, so he had been taken by complete surprise when the killing started. The blood flowing and lives ending left him deeply shaken.

Tang Jie didn’t blame him. There were actually a lot of students like Wei Tianchong.

They were still students who spent most of their time in the academy. The word “cruelty” existed only on paper and in their imagination.

Today, their teachers were giving them all an advanced lesson, showing them the callous backside hidden behind the world’s warm exterior.

“Of course it’s not over. The dead still need to be replaced, inheriting the points and fights of the predecessors,” Tang Jie replied.

“You know that’s not what I’m asking about,” Wei Tianchong said.

Tang Jie chuckled and added, “Oh, the surviving students will inherit the hatred and continue the hostility. If that hatred only existed on paper before, they’ve fully experienced it now.”

“You’re saying…” Wei Tianchong looked at Tang Jie.

Tang Jie casually said, “Some of the survivors will eventually become part of the mainstream in their sects, and they will not forget the hatred from today, nor will they permit their disciples to forget. When the time comes, they will use various methods to arrange bloody struggles similar to this, further inciting and creating new conflicts, causing the hatred to continue through generations, never ending until one side is extinct.”

Wei Tianchong shivered. “Then there will never be peace? Isn’t this intentionally creating hatred?”

“Yes, that’s how it’s always been.” Tang Jie smiled. “What do you think hatred is? Hatred is a sharp sword. It can hurt you and leave you in pain, but it is also a source of strength, supporting you and encouraging you to fight on. But it is also an addictive drug, making you desire it, rely on it, and never take leave of it. It is also a tool, a cheap and useful tool…”

Wei Tianchong didn’t understand the concept of addictive drugs, but he got the gist of what Tang Jie was saying.

He wanted to ask more questions, but Tang Jie knew what he wanted to ask and patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t be stupid. Understanding is one thing, but there are some things that you have no choice but to do. There’s nothing shameful about being a tool. To reach the requirements, even an eight- or nine-cycle-Jade-Gate genius will have to be obediently used when the time comes… It’s fine so long as you’re not used for your entire life.”

Wei Tianchong was curious as to where geniuses would be so worthless that they would be willing to be used as tools, but when he considered that Godhead and Seven Absolutions had set up quite a few geniuses of eight cycles or above in today’s fights, he found that he had nothing to say.

He didn’t know that Tang Jie wasn’t even referring to those people on the stage.

After speaking with Wei Tianchong, Tang Jie stood up and walked over to the other spectating students: Liu Hongyan, Shu Mingyang, and Shi Meng were all sitting here. Today’s matches were over, and everyone was about to leave. Tang Jie came over to Liu and Shu and said, “Mingyang, hold on a moment. I have something I need to talk to you about.”

Shu Mingyang was surprised. “What about?”

Tang Jie walked alongside him and whispered, “You saw today’s battle.”

“Mm.”

“If everything goes as expected, then there will also be brutal battles between the Thousand Passions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion, as well as the Basking Moon Sect and Beast Refining Gate. This isn’t a tournament, but mortal combat,” Tang Jie gravely said.

“I understand.” Shu Mingyang nodded. “Fortunately, your opponent isn’t too strong.”

Tang Jie shook his head and said, “I’m not worried about myself. It’s Junyang. His opponent is Helian Hu, and you’ve seen how strong he is.”

Yesterday and today, Tang Jie had seen Helian Hu fight twice.

Today’s fight had been particularly special. While Godhead Palace had been fighting against the Seven Absolutions Sect, Horizon Ocean Pavilion had been engaged in a fierce battle with the Beast Refining Gate, and the most amazing battle of all had been the one between Lan Yu and Helian Hu.

In twenty battles, Horizon Ocean Pavilion ended up with seven wins and thirteen losses, and in that most crucial battle of prodigies, Lan Yu had won against Helian Hu.

Helian Hu had also displayed his strength in this battle, and he had not let down his reputation as number one in the Beast Refining Gate. Putting aside his own strength, he also had three lower-grade Mind Opening refined tigers. Unlike Yiyi and the little tiger, the refined beasts of the Beast Refining Gate were considered part of their strength, so they were allowed to be brought onto the stage like Wei Tianchong’s puppet, while Tang Jie had to leave Yiyi and the little tiger behind.

While Lan Yu had won, it had been an extremely hard-fought victory that had also left him injured.

This was precisely why everyone in the Basking Moon Sect could tell that Cai Junyang had no chance of beating Helian Hu. Not even accounting for the three lower-grade fiend tigers, Helian Hu’s strength alone was enough to beat Cai Junyang.

Hearing this, Shu Mingyang sighed. “Yes, he’s extremely powerful. Junyang… has no hope.”

Tang Jie sighed. “The problem is that Junyang is too stubborn. You know that he’s always believed that it’s better to die in battle than to surrender. Though he hasn’t said anything, while I was sitting next to him, I could see the fire burning in his eyes… He’s excited.”

“You mean…”

“I want you to advise him not to be so impulsive. In the fight against Helian Hu, it’s fine if he loses. He just needs to try his best, and if things start going south, he should quickly leave the battlefield to try and protect himself. From today’s battle, I can see that while the two sects might hate each other, it’s not to the extent where they will leave the stage to chase their opponent down.”

“Why me, though?” Shu Mingyang said in surprise.

“Perhaps because you cherish the world,” Tang Jie said with a smile. “Someone like me who utilizes everything to the utmost telling him to survive doesn’t make much sense and probably won’t have much of an effect. It’s only someone like you coming forward that will make him understand that, no matter how lofty his aspirations are, he has to be alive to realize them, and so he might heed your advice.”

“You’re not afraid that I’ll support him?” Shu Mingyang asked.

“You won’t.” Tang Jie shook his head.

“Oh? Why?” Shu Mingyang curiously asked.

“Because you’re not that sort of person.” Tang Jie grinned.

In the end, Shu Mingyang agreed to Tang Jie’s request, and the two of them went to see Cai Junyang.

At this time, Cai Junyang was drinking in a tavern in Red Plum City. When he saw the two of them come in, he shouted, “If you’re advising me to give up, then you had best shut your mouths now.”

Being silenced before they could even talk, the two of them shook their heads and bitterly smiled.

Tang Jie brusquely said, “I say, what are you doing, being so stubborn? Human life has its rises and falls, so is losing a match really that much of a big deal?”

Cai Junyang shook his head. “I don’t care about losing, but I can’t concede without at least fighting with all I can! No matter how strong Helian Hu is, I can’t just throw away my sword and surrender.”

He thumped his chest and said, “Tang Jie, I understand your kind intentions, but do you recall my battle with Lan Yu yesterday? That guy wanted to hurt me, and even used realm pressure to intimidate me. If you hadn’t called out back then, my will would have been broken, and I would have found it hard to regain my spirit again. Now, no one is trying to keep me down, but we’re trying to keep ourselves down? I can lose this battle, can even die, but I can’t just give up!”

Cai Junyang slapped the table so hard that wine flew into the air.

“Fine. You understand what’s going on more than anyone else. It seems like it’s pointless for us to try and say anything.” Tang Jie shook his head and sighed.

Cai Junyang replied, “So long as you don’t try and tell me to give up, we can still be good friends.”

“Yes, we’ll just watch you die,” Shu Mingyang tersely replied.

“What’s the point in saying all this? Since we can’t convince you, we just won’t try. Come on; let’s drink!” Tang Jie very easily gave up, and he grabbed a bowl of wine and drank it down.

“Yes, that’s what good brothers are about!” Cai Junyang laughed and raised his own wine bowl.

The three of them started to drink together.

The more they drank, the worse the mood became.

Gradually, their faces became flushed, and their bodies began to sway. All of them had worries on their mind.

Finally, Tang Jie lost his patience and stood up first. Slapping the table, he said, “No matter how strong Helian Hu is, is there really no chance of winning? I don’t believe that at all. I think I’m going to help Junyang win this battle!”

He turned and strode out of the tavern.

“Where are you going?” Shu Mingyang asked.

“Don’t worry about me and keep drinking. I’ll be back soon!” Tang Jie replied.

Shu Mingyang hastily got up. “I think you’ve had a little too much. Junyang, let’s go and keep an eye on him so that he doesn’t cause any trouble.”

Cai Junyang drowsily replied, “What sort of problem could he cause…?”

But Shu Mingyang picked him up and took off after Tang Jie.

As the two charged out of the tavern, they saw Tang Jie walking into a small alley.

Shu Mingyang called out to him, but Tang Jie ignored him, so Shu Mingyang could only drag Cai Junyang and go after him.

As they walked a few steps, they saw a person coming from the other side: You Shaofeng.

Tang Jie staggered and fell onto You Shaofeng.

Shu Mingyang instantly knew that this was bad.

You Shaofeng and Tang Jie had always been on bad terms, as everyone knew. Now that Tang Jie had run into him while drunk, things probably wouldn’t end well for him.

What happened next astounded Shu Mingyang.

Not only did You Shaofeng not punch Tang Jie away, he even helped him up.

Even though he almost immediately let go, at least he didn’t punch Tang Jie. Rather, he nervously looked around as if he was worried that someone might see.

Shu Mingyang was shaken and quickly moved himself and Cai Junyang to the side. You Shaofeng saw that no one was around and then did something that almost made Shu Mingyang’s eyes pop out.

He helped Tang Jie up and pulled him into a dark corner, and the two of them started talking.

How could that be?

Shu Mingyang’s eyes bulged out.

Weren’t they mortal foes?

A few moments later, You Shaofeng left Tang Jie’s side, and Tang Jie continued forward.

He lurched forward while Shu Mingyang followed, carrying Cai Junyang on his back, until they arrived at a small alley on the edge of the city.

It was a dark and unfrequented alley. It was already late, and all was quiet. The only presence here was a black-armored puppet loyally standing guard in a corner.

Tang Jie came to this small alley, looked around to make sure that no one else was around, and then took out the Heartbreak Saber from his Mustard Seed Bag.

The eyes that had been turbid from drunkenness brightened in the darkness. He slowly raised his saber and then swung his saber at the puppet.

The black-armored combat puppets of Red Plum City were responsible for keeping the peace and would not attack people without reason. This was precisely why no one could have ever imagined that someone would be so bold as to attack one.

But this puppet was truly tough, and Tang Jie’s full-strength swing on the puppet’s neck only managed to make a dent rather than taking its head. In terms of toughness, it was above Wei Tianchong’s combat puppet.

Puppets were not lifeforms, and so long as their structure and formation were intact, they would be fine no matter the severity of the damage. Thus, while a bystander would have suffered a lethal injury from this sneak attack, it was just an insignificant blow to the puppet.

Even so, the puppet activated its self-defense system. With a clack, it turned around, raised its saber, and swung at Tang Jie.

This novel is available on Hosted Novel.

Tang Jie raised his saber to block, and the impact instantly sent Tang Jie rolling away. Tang Jie wasn’t that weak, so he probably was still drunk and not very steady on his feet.

The puppet strode out in pursuit, reaching out to grab Tang Jie.

Tang Jie rolled to dodge and sent out the golden thread, which coiled around the puppet’s neck where he had made the dent. With a pull, the thread bit around a third of an inch into the neck before stopping.

It turned out that the golden thread wasn’t omnipotent and able to slice away everything. This puppet was incredibly tough, and while the golden thread was sharp, it still wasn’t able to cut open the puppet.

But Tang Jie’s pull caused the puppet to bend over.

Tang Jie proceeded to do something that made Shu Mingyang’s jaw drop.

He started to pull off the puppet’s armor!

Shu Mingyang now understood what Tang Jie was trying to do.

He was trying to get Cai Junyang a suit of armor.

These Grade 3 combat puppets were all wearing the Godhead Armor of Godhead Palace, and while the color had been changed so that bystanders couldn’t tell, everyone who needed to know understood the quality of this armor.

If Cai Junyang wore this armor, he truly could boost his chances of survival by a lot.

The problem was… Was it really a good idea to strip the armor like this?

Tang Jie held the combat puppet with one hand while kicking it in the belly with a foot, but the puppet didn’t give up, continuing to stab its saber at Tang Jie. Tang Jie did his best to dodge, but he was still stabbed a few times, blood pouring out.

But Tang Jie refused to give up, continuing to strip armor from the puppet.

One was a brainless puppet and the other was a guy who couldn’t use his brains because of all the alcohol, so they brawled with each other like children, without any sort of technique at all.

Shu Mingyang knew that this wasn’t a solution, for the puppet would stab Tang Jie to death once given enough time.

Just when he was about to go out and help, there was an azure flash of light from the depths of the alley.

A figure suddenly appeared, holding a brilliant sword that he swung down right on the wound on the puppet’s neck.

In a flash of sword light, the puppet’s tough head sagged and dropped off. It dropped onto Tang Jie and made him groan in pain.

The puppet completely stopped moving.

It was only then that Shu Mingyang saw that the person who had appeared was none other than You Shaofeng.

You Shaofeng had clearly used up a lot of strength with this slash. He took a few moments to catch his breath before kicking at the fallen figure of Tang Jie, cursing, “The moment is almost here, so stop making trouble!”

He stripped the puppet of its armor, weapon, and other useful materials before picking up Tang Jie and disappearing into the darkness.

Shu Mingyang finally understood what had happened, muttering, “So you two weren’t enemies…”

A thought occurred to him, and he blurted out in realization, “That sword!”

He was suddenly enlightened.