114 Chapter 113: Day before the Final (1/2)

”Aw, man…this is going to be one hell of a battle.”

”Who do you think will win?”

”I dunno, man. Both Wu and Jiao are our friends. We can't support one and not the other. I guess we'll be rooting for them both?”

”Yeah, let's cheer for both of them,” Lian Rou agreed as she broke into Tong Xue and Ban Zhang's conversation. I pretended not to hear them, and focused on speaking to Zhu Jiao, who had just emerged from the infirmary.

”How are you feeling, man?”

”I've felt worse.” Zhu Jiao considered his next words for a moment, and then shrugged. ”But I've felt better as well.”

I grinned back. ”If you're able to complain, then it means you're fine.”

”Of course. Who do you think I am?” Zhu Jiao slapped his chest for emphasis. ”I'll definitely be ready for the final in two days' time.”

Right. I couldn't forget about that. It still felt surreal, and I could hardly believe what was happening. I didn't expect to make it all the way to the final, but now that I was here, I wanted to win. I had come this far, after all. There was a slight hope building in my chest, and I couldn't help but desire that feeling of becoming a champion.

However, my opponent was none other than one of my best friends, Zhu Jiao. There could only be one winner. I doubted the outcome of the final would affect our friendship, but for one of us to prevail, the other had to fall. And having come this far as well, I doubted Zhu Jiao would take well to losing. I definitely didn't.

”Thanks for defeating Bai Ning Xue and taking revenge for me.”

Tang Qi Hong wasn't thinking that far ahead. She was beaming cheerfully, happy that her nemesis and self-proclaimed rival had finally been defeated. No doubt Bai Ning Xue's pride had been taken down a peg, and she would be less…cold and unemotional in future. The myth of her invincibility had also been shattered.

Additionally, there was another cause for celebration.

”Congratulations,” I told an embarrassed Zhu Jiao, who laughed and scratched his head. ”You're finally officially dating Bai Ning Xue, aren't you?”

”Uh, yeah.” Zhu Jiao glanced down, his face red. ”I still can't believe it. It doesn't feel real, you know? I mean, I've been working toward this goal for so long, and now…she's finally my girlfriend. After all this time…!”

He clenched his trembling fist and bowed over, his face scrunched up.

”I…I can't contain my excitement any longer! I want to run around the campus shouting in joy and celebrate! WOOHOO!”

”OI!” Ban Zhang snapped at him. ”I understand that you're delighted and I know how you feel, but we're still in school! And close to the infirmary! Get your feelings under control!”

”Sorry, sorry.”

Even as Zhu Jiao apologized, he was still wearing that silly grin on his face. I couldn't help but smile and chuckle as well.

”You deserve it, man. Heavens know you've worked the hardest.”

”Yeah. And now…” he turned to face me seriously, placing a hand on my shoulder. ”We've one final match, don't we? Don't hold back, bro. we're going all out against each other – promise me that. I don't want you restraining yourself just because we're friends.”

”You know me,” I replied with a grin. ”I'm not going to hold back just because we're friends. I respect you too much for that.”

”Good.” Zhu Jiao nodded and his grip tightened. ”I've always wanted to fight you at your true strength. Whoever wins, no hard feelings for the other party, all right? We'll congratulate the winner, no matter who it is. And no ditching the celebration party afterward, okay?”

”Yeah. If there's free food, I'll definitely be there.”

Zhu Jiao laughed. ”Yeah, you're as stingy as ever. It's a promise then!”

”Now that you mention it…” Tong Xue was looking thoughtful and he turned to the rest. ”Jiao is right. We ought to organize a celebration party after the final. No matter who wins, he's one of us, so that calls for a party!”

”Yeah!”

”I'm in!”

”Good idea.”

Tang Qi Hong, Lian Rou and Ban Zhang agreed without hesitation. Zhu Jiao and I exchanged smiles, and then turned away.

”Well, we had best start getting ready for the final then.”

”Yeah. I don't want any regrets.” Zhu Jiao held up a fist, and I bumped it after staring at it for a few seconds. Sorry, but I wasn't familiar with these sort of hand gestures. It seemed the sort of thing that only popular kids did. And I was old.

Mentally, anyway.

After a few words, we parted and did whatever we could.

*

”Hmm, I wonder if this will be relevant.”

Instead of returning to the dormitory, I had headed to the library to do some research on the Golden Kirin Sect. Tang Qi Hong had mentioned reading about the Golden Kirin Sacred Beast technique somewhere as well as the history of the Golden Kirin Sect, and I believed her. Mostly because I read a book that talked about them as well.

Yeah, it was shortly after Jiao met his master, Qi Lin. I was curious about what sort of sect the Golden Kirin Sect was, and so I went to look for information regarding them. Not to mention, I overheard their conversation…

Qi Lin mentioned the Golden Kirin Sacred Beast technique and how he wanted to teach it to Zhu Jiao. Me being me, I got curious and did some research shortly after I heard that. Of course, that had been almost three years ago, so my memory was rusty. I wasn't like cliché characters who either had perfect memory and remembered something from almost a hundred chapters ago, or had a selective memory that allowed me to conveniently forget things so that the plot could progress. If Zhu Jiao's Golden Kirin Sect martial arts had nothing to do with me, I had no reason to commit them to memory, especially after so many things had happened throughout these three years.

However, he was my final opponent in the tournament, and especially after watching his match against Bai Ning Xue, I knew just how tough he would be. If even Bai Ning Xue couldn't defeat him with her Man and Sword as One technique, which was said to be the ultimate power, then I wondered how I was going to beat him.

Hell, no. I'm definitely not going to use Heaven and Earth Formula.

Even though we promised not to hold back, the Heaven and Earth Formula didn't count. For one thing, it wasn't a technique I learned for the competition. It was a technique for killing, and unless it was a life-and-death emergency, there was no way I would use it against my friend. It was precisely because Zhu Jiao was my friend that I would take extra measures not to kill him.

I wasn't some bloodthirsty villain who killed everyone who got in my way, after all.

Still, this feels strange.

Normally, protagonists of a wuxia or xianxia story would encounter villainous, psychotic characters in the tournament so that they had a justifiable excuse to beat the opponent up and humiliate him in front of everyone. Just like in Eternal Reverence or Peerless Martial God. Tournament arc? Yeah, let's just throw in a list of random characters the readers couldn't even remember the names of, and line them up so that the protagonist could beat them up one by one and boost his ego. Oh, and let's make these random characters as arrogant, unlikeable and annoying as possible, so that the readers could cheer the protagonist on as he beat them up and humiliated them in front of everyone while basking in the praise of the audience.

That was why Li Fu Chen just breezed through every tournament he participated in and always got first place without fail. Who were his rivals or supporting characters? Can't remember them? That was because there were none. If they weren't heroines who would fall in love with Li Fu Chen and become part of his harem, they were just poor bastards who exist solely so that Li Fu Chen could crush them one-sidedly and get praised for stomping supposedly ”talented” and ”genius” opponents. And…they cease to matter after the tournament arc.

And you know what the best part was? After they got stomped by Li Fu Chen in a tournament, after they got hyped and made out to be some five star bone frame or unprecedented geniuses or prodigies or talents that everyone praised to heaven, it turned out that after the tournament they were merely small fries in the world outside their sect. and they ended up having to depend on Li Fu Chen to protect them, after realizing how they were weak and trash when compared to the talents and prodigies of other sects.

Of course, that didn't apply to Li Fu Chen, who ended up crushing these poor ”geniuses” of other sects with little more effort than it took to lift his finger. Honestly, the power levels in that story were utterly ridiculous.

”Sh!”

The librarian glared at me, and I suddenly realized that I had been ranting and rambling under my breath the whole time I was in the library. Sorry.

Well, it's not as if I can write a better story.

Most readers would prefer to read Peerless Martial God, Against the Gods, Eternal Reference, Martial God Asura and I Shall Seal The Heavens than this trashy martial arts story that featured a weak, underpowered protagonist like me, who was unable to crush my opponents convincingly and one-sidedly. I heard that most readers prefer God Mode Mary Sue protagonists.

Too bad, I guess? I'm sorry for not being talented or powerful enough. I mean, if you really wanted to read those, then please go ahead and read the list of stories I mentioned above. I'm sure there were even more than in that list. The better ones tended to be Tian Can Tu Dou's stories like Battle Through the Heavens, Wu Dong Qian Kun and The Great Ruler. Or maybe even Spirit Realm. I mean, I just went through an entire arc that seemed completely ripped off Spirit Realm. The one where I entered the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect.

”…”

The librarian was glaring at me intently now, and I quickly ducked behind a bookshelf. Exhaling wearily, I scanned through the books in hopes of finding the text regarding the Golden Kirin Sect and its history. As the Golden Kirin Sect had been exterminated a couple of centuries ago, there wasn't much contemporary material on them.

If I wanted to read up on them, I had to go through the historical archives. That was fine with me. I love history.

”Let's see…here it is!”

Moving my fingers through the row of books, I paused and smiled when I finally found the book I was looking for. A History of the lost Golden Kirin Sect. pulling the book out, I then brought it to the disgruntled librarian and borrowed it.

”Ah, it's been a while.”

The librarian jumped when a familiar voice spoke up behind her. An old man strolled out from the office and waved at me.

”Oh…! Good evening, Uncle Du Shu Guan.”