After Redeeming The Beautiful and Tragic Heroine [Transmigration] - Chapter 33

The sect competition was held in the rear mountains.

Centered around the Spectator Platform, four smaller mystic realms were distributed in four directions, serving as the battlegrounds.

The situation within these four mystic realms was clearly projected onto four spectral screens directly above the Spectator Platform.

These four spectral screens each occupied a section of the sky, allowing the elders to judge whether any cheating occurred during the matches and making it convenient for disciples who weren’t competing to observe and gain experience.

Yu Yuan was currently standing on the periphery of the Spectator Platform.

In the center of the platform was a raised stage, half a zhang (approx. 5 feet) above the ground, called the Four Directions Stage.

The Four Directions Stage was where the Sect Master and the various elders watched the competition.

At this moment, an elder in a purple robe stood upon it, announcing the procedures for the competition.

“Everyone, the triennial sect competition is about to begin. I believe everyone is greatly looking forward to this event, are they not?”

Silence reigned below the stage.

The purple-robed elder’s expression stiffened, but amid the coughing of the elders behind her, she had no choice but to continue her announcement.

“Aside from the usual prize, the top five, including the champion, being allowed entry to the Treasury Pavilion. This year, the elders and I have also set up a reward for four ‘lucky’ disciples in this competition.”

Lucky disciples? Yu Yuan felt like that word should be in quotation marks.

Sure enough, the purple-robed elder quickly explained what “lucky disciples” meant.

“These four lucky disciples are the first four to participate in the matches and subsequently lose. The elders and I feel that since these four charged to the front lines, they are honorable even in defeat. Therefore, we have decided that after they lose their match, they will immediately embark on a journey to the Hehuan Sect to relax and clear their minds.”

“The Hehuan Sect, with its vast misty waves, gurgling streams, and birdsong in the spring ravines, is truly a paradise on earth, a haven outside the mortal world…”

The purple-robed elder shamelessly extolled the virtues of the Hehuan Sect.

Below the stage, including Yu Yuan, everyone was utterly stunned.

Well, I’ll be! The elimination system had turned into a gamble on good fortune?!

If one accidentally became one of the first eight to participate, and then accidentally lost the match, wouldn’t they be completely done for…

The disciples, especially those who were typically cursed with terrible luck, felt their legs trembling, ready to faint at any moment.

However, the elders on the Four Directions Stage seemed to have seen right through their thoughts, as they thoughtfully used spiritual pressure to suppress the few disciples who were about to move, leaving them unable to budge.

After praising the Hehuan Sect, the purple-robed elder rattled off the detailed competition rules.

After finishing, she began the heart-stopping sequence drawing process right in front of everyone.

Yu Yuan swallowed hard, silently chanting in her heart: “Pick me, pick me, pick me!”

They say things often turn out the opposite of what you wish for. She thought that if she wished for it this hard, she would definitely—

She didn’t dare finish the thought, and instead continued to chant: “Pick me, pick me, pick me…”

The purple-robed elder began the drawing.

She brought her two fingers together, chanted an incantation, and a slip of paper flew out of the drawing box. The two names on the slip instantly magnified before everyone.

“First group, Qinglan Peak’s Yu Yan versus Outer Sect Disciple Wei Haoran.”

Wei Haoran? Yu Yan crossed her arms and poked the already half-stiff Yu Yuan beside her, asking softly, “Sister, do you know who Wei Haoran is?”

Yu Yuan mechanically turned her head. A small black-feathered chick on her shoulder simultaneously tilted its head to look at Yu Yan.

“I know, he’s a Shakuhachi player.” Yu Yuan’s voice was dry.

The little chick also croaked a few times with a strained voice.

Yu Yan: …

Seeing Yu Yuan’s precarious state, she quietly comforted her. “Don’t worry, Sister, you definitely won’t be chosen.”

Yu Yuan: “Let’s hope so.”

The purple-robed elder continued.

She drew the second slip of paper and announced, “Second group, Xiyun Peak’s Luo Qiushuang versus Xiyun Peak’s Yun Buxi.”

These two were acquaintances of Yu Yan.

She raised an eyebrow and said to Yu Yuan, “Sister, these two are Dao Companions. I didn’t expect them to be grouped together. If you ask me, whichever one of them loses and has to go, the other will definitely follow.”

Yu Yuan was still immersed in her anxiety.

The purple-robed elder was also getting a little tense.

She couldn’t wait to see which four other unlucky souls would be chosen.

“Third group, Outer Sect Disciple Qin Niang versus Inner Sect Disciple Jia Fangsheng.”

Qin Niang.

Yu Yuan looked up, remembering the young girl she brought back from the Sleepless City.

In the past few days, she had first gone through the escape from the Soul Annihilation Array, and then was confined to the Hot Spring Valley. She hadn’t even had the chance to ask Qin Niang: Is she settling in well at the Miaoyin Sect? Is there anything she needs or is missing?

Yu Yuan felt a pang of self-reproach, but her thoughts were quickly pulled back by the purple-robed elder’s voice.

“Fourth group, Qinglan Peak’s Yu Yuan versus Xiyun Peak’s Qin Beilu.”

Yu Yan: ???

Yu Yuan: !!!

Her pupils trembled, and her eyes were filled with disbelief.

“A’Yan, did you hear that? My name…”

Yu Yuan was on the verge of a breakdown.

Yu Yan was also somewhat distraught.

Her accursed jinx of a mouth shouldn’t have said that Qin Beilu would clash with her sister.

After a brief moment of existential despair, Yu Yuan parted ways with Yu Yan.

She dragged her heavy steps onto the transmission platform in the corner of the Four Directions Stage, standing in the exact center.

A white light illuminated the platform.

Yu Yuan closed her eyes for a moment and found herself standing inside the mystic realm.

The rear mountain had four mystic realms, each roughly the size of two courtyards, with varying environments.

The mystic realm Yu Yuan was in was the Water Spirit Pond Mystic Realm located on the west side of the rear mountain.

A clear, translucent pool of water was surrounded by green trees on four sides, coloring the water a shade of jade.

Yu Yuan stood on the south side of the pool, her feet resting on a lifelike lotus pedestal.

Opposite her was a woman wearing a lake-blue dress.

Her dark hair was tied up high, and coupled with a pair of sharp phoenix eyes, she looked exactly like a valiant, heroic swordswoman.

Except that the spiritual tool she held wasn’t a sword, but a shakuhachi (Japanese vertical bamboo flute).

This was Qin Beilu, the person Yu Yan spoke of daily.

However, Yu Yuan was not well acquainted with her; they were merely on nodding terms.

“Senior Sister,” Yu Yuan bowed in greeting.

Qin Beilu returned the bow respectfully. “Young Sect Master.”

After a simple acknowledgment, neither of them spoke further.

Fortunately, a voice explaining the competition rules quickly sounded in the mystic realm, diffusing the awkward atmosphere between them.

[Competition rules are now being broadcast. All disciples, please listen carefully.]

[Competition rules are as follows:]

[1. Any damage sustained within the mystic realm will disappear upon leaving the realm. Therefore, there is no requirement to stop at a certain point;]

[2. In the four mystic realms, should any of you fall from the lotus pedestal you are standing on, you will be deemed eliminated.]

[3. When the bell tolls, the match will commence.]

The explanation abruptly stopped.

Qin Beilu’s grip on the shakuhachi tightened. Immediately, the moment a deep bell rang, her fingers instantly landed on the instrument.

The sound of the shakuhachi was vast and desolate.

The water in the Water Spirit Pond, accompanied by this sound, condensed and flew up, forming densely packed water awls that rapidly shot toward Yu Yuan.

Yu Yuan’s pupils constricted for a moment. She clenched her fingers and chanted a spell. A talisman flew out from her sleeve, turning into a barrier that barely managed to block the water awls.

Qin Beilu calmly glanced at the talisman Yu Yuan had flown out. Then, her fingers shifted on the shakuhachi, and the myriad water awls abruptly merged, forming a longsword.

The sword was three chi and six cun long (approx. 3.5 feet). Though made of water, it was sharper than a regular sword.

A single fallen leaf was seen gliding along the body of the sword, and when it landed on the lake surface, it had been sliced in half.

Seeing this, Yu Yuan knew the situation was bad.

She immediately flipped her hand, produced her clarinet, and began to play.

A chilling sound drifted out of the clarinet. The longsword visibly trembled slightly, but under Qin Beilu’s control, it steadily stabbed toward Yu Yuan.

Yu Yuan narrowed her eyes, manipulating the sound waves emanating from the clarinet to form a barrier in front of her, crushing and nullifying the longsword’s power.

The two sides were locked in a stalemate.

The disciples in the audience covered their ears, watching the scene and realizing a truth: while celestial music could bewitch the mind, demonic sound could absolutely be fatal!

The audience area was in turmoil.

On the lotus pedestal, Yu Yuan was struggling to deal with the longsword in front of her.

She had utterly underestimated the power of this longsword.

She watched as her heel got closer and closer to the edge of the lotus platform. Yu Yuan gritted her teeth, and sweat on her forehead dripped down, blurring her vision.

Behind her, the black chick was also frantic, flapping its wings and pressing against Yu Yuan’s waist, trying to push her back toward the center of the pedestal.

Alas, no matter how strong its little body was, it couldn’t overpower the aggressive longsword in front of Yu Yuan.

She could only retreat step by step. In the end, almost half of Yu Yuan’s body was pushed off the lotus pedestal, leaving only her two feet stubbornly bracing against the petals of the pedestal.

What should she do next?

Yu Yuan tightly gripped the clarinet, mentally listing the names and functions of all the talismans in her storage pouch. Finally, she focused on a talisman she had thrown into a corner.

She concentrated her mind, summoned the talisman, and stuck it onto the clarinet.

Then, in the next instant, the entire mystic realm, including the Spectator Platform, and even the other mystic realms, heard a chilling, infernal shriek that sounded like the wailing of evil spirits from the eighteenth level of hell.

They wanted to seal their sense of hearing.

But it was too late.

They only heard a buzzing sound, and immediately, their heads began to throb with pain.

Mental attack—terrifying to this extent!

In the mystic realm, Qin Beilu bore the brunt and was also stunned.

She looked at the goose-yellow figure in front of her, dizzy and lightheaded. Her mental control over the longsword was severed.

With the mental control broken, the longsword reverted into a handful of water, falling back into the pool.

Relieved from the pressure of the relentlessly advancing longsword, Yu Yuan stabilized her footing and returned to the center of the lotus pedestal.

She looked down with satisfaction at the talisman stuck to the clarinet and muttered to herself: This talisman called “Are You Crazy Today?” is truly wonderful!

Yu Yuan thought she should definitely research and create a few more talismans like it for contingency.

Qin Beilu was shaken.

Yu Yuan seized the opportunity.

She put away the clarinet, pulled out a “Lightning and Thunder” talisman from her storage pouch, chanted a spell, and sent it flying toward Qin Beilu.

This time, it’s a guaranteed win, she thought.

But in a place she couldn’t see, an imperceptible wisp of spiritual energy dispersed over the mystic realm.

Immediately afterward, a strange wind began to blow furiously.

The wind swept past Qin Beilu, catching the “Lightning and Thunder” talisman and blowing it back toward Yu Yuan.

Yu Yuan saw that the situation was wrong and quickly clenched her fingers, chanting a spell, trying to send the “Lightning and Thunder” talisman flying toward her away.

To her surprise, the wind’s power was too great; she couldn’t control it at all.

Therefore, Yu Yuan made a decisive choice and decided to destroy the “Lightning and Thunder” talisman directly.

This time, she didn’t dare use another talisman.

She gathered her spiritual energy, condensed a spiritual blade, and sent it flying, piercing into the wind.

Unexpectedly, before the spiritual blade could even touch the talisman, it was consumed by the wind, dissolving into air.

At the same time, the wind seemed to have been angered by Yu Yuan, suddenly letting out a fierce howl.

Yu Yuan was startled and took a step back.

But the wind didn’t plan on letting her go.

It rolled the “Lightning and Thunder” talisman and charged directly toward Yu Yuan.

Yu Yuan froze, just as she thought she was about to be knocked off the lotus pedestal, a shadow suddenly stood in front of her.

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