29 Drastic Difference (1/2)

The next day, the Sect gathered in antic.i.p.ation of the tournament. The 3 Sword Sages and the Sword Saint were seated at a higher vantage point entirely separate from the rest of the Sect. Blademasters waited in the tournament arena while the other Sect members were seated and spectating with no desire to join. At the center of the arena, Guren stood in front of the Blademasters and a.s.sessed them. Momentarily, he allowed a look of disappointment to show but quickly concealed it. A few Swordwielders were also partic.i.p.ating but they were overestimating themselves. This of course, excluded Yidong who refused to agitate Guren any further as he knew he would be seeking death if he had done so.

As the seat reserved for the fourth Sword Sage Guren remained unoccupied, the Sect members began openly speculating and mocking Guren.

”There are two people missing?”

”I understand the Blademasters missing but what about the two higher-ups?”

”The Sword Saintess is on a mission while Guren is not attending”

”You mean Guren wouldn't dare be seen without the Sword Saintess protecting him?”

”What a coward! Hiding behind a woman! Is he even a man!?”

”I wish I could hide behind the Sword Saintess”

”Even Zhuye, Tianli, and Hexiu came”

”Don't forget the Sword Saint as well”

”Compared to them, Guren is just trash”

”Who does he think he is? We should go give him a beating”

”Let's go find him. We'll give him a good thras.h.i.+ng”

The Sword Saint and the two other Sword Sages were also confused as to where Guren was. They knew that Guren would be partic.i.p.ating but not recognize him standing at the center and were confused as to why the Sect members antic.i.p.ated the tournament so highly. They wanted to ask Tianli but he did not reply.

Guren then suddenly interjected, ”No need to find me. I'm right here if you want to thrash me. Of course, you must partic.i.p.ate and be capable of doing so”

The crowd immediately stopped talking as they turned towards Guren in shock. Even the Sword Saint squinted and rubbed his eyes to check if his eyes had begun hallucinating. Zhuye grimaced and murmured with resentment, ”When did that trash get so handsome?”

n.o.body could believe their eyes as they had always thought of Guren as someone with a barely above average appearance due to his despondent gaze and disregard of hygiene as he continued to wallow away in despair at his impaired swordsmans.h.i.+p. Now however, the Guren in front of them had a clear gaze which conveyed his haughtiness that seemed to elevate his attractiveness and exude true strength. Gone was the previous Guren who was somehow completely traumatized by a single loss. Atlas had previously attributed the issue to immense hubris but he had recently surmised that it could have also been due to being possessed and that there might be more going on in the background.

Gawking at the person who had changed so drastically, they then realized why the Sword Saintess was in love with Guren. The men went green-eyed upon seeing the heaven defying visage while the women went wide-eyed. If he was a vase then an empire's treasury would need to be emptied to afford the starting auction price.

Two people in hiding began to smirk upon noticing Zhuye's clear envy. One of them then noted that despite having such an appearance, Guren was not prideful which slightly confused the other as that was the Sin which Guren had resonated most strongly with.

Guren who had been unfazed by the intense gazes had then stepped forward and began to recite the rules.

”Swordwielders and above are qualified to partic.i.p.ate. Registration is unnecessary as the procedure will be straight forward. Each partic.i.p.ant only gets one chance. You can partic.i.p.ate by yourself or if you're feeling incapable, attack in groups of 50. To win, you must disarm me of make me surrender which is impossible”, he paused after saying that and a sinister smirk appeared on his face which seemed to taunt the crowd but also faze them.

He then continued in a matter of fact tone, ”It will be obvious when you lose. To entice you, the reward will be the Sword Sage position or if you desire something else, you can exchange the reward for a request instead”

A few Blademasters continued openly mocking Guren.

”Making him a male prost.i.tute would be more lucrative than being a Sword Sage”

”Can you really fulfill a request that is of the same worth as the Sword Sage position?”