"Double swords," Zhu Yanyi smiled. "Then let's begin."
Yue Rong glanced at Zhu Yanyi, confirmed she wasn't joking, and attacked directly. Zhu Yanyi tapped her finger lightly. A golden light flashed. Yue Rong froze in place. Only then did the crowd notice a golden needle embedded in her shoulder.
Zhu Yanyi looked apologetic. "I said I’m good with medicine, but I never said I can’t use hidden weapons. My hidden weapon is the golden needle. Sorry, Senior Brother Yue Rong. Goodbye."
She pushed gently with her hand, sending her sliding off the competition platform.
"That’s cheating!" someone shouted.
Zhu Yanyi raised an eyebrow slightly. "Tell me, how am I cheating? I didn’t have someone else fight for me."
"You said you’d use medicine, but you used needles. Isn’t that cheating?" the man insisted.
"Do you know the idiom 'make a feint to the east, then attack in the west'?" Zhu Yanyi said calmly. "Even military strategy has plans like 'repair the plank road openly, but secretly cross the Chen Cang pass.' How is this cheating? Any strategy that defeats the opponent is a good one. As the saying goes, whether a cat is white or black, if it catches mice, it’s a good cat. You can’t say a yellow cat cheated just because it caught a mouse by surprise. That’s wrong."
When it came to twisting logic, no one could beat Zhu Yanyi. Once she started talking, except for Yan Aohan, no one could match her.
"Besides, on this competition stage, there are no words like 'kindness' or 'letting go.' Isn’t that the experience you taught us over the past three days? Isn’t that the essence you showed in the academy recently? I’m just applying that back to you. If you call this cheating, how would others judge you when you use those tactics? You allow officials to burn houses but forbid commoners to light lamps. Does this behavior look like students of a Sage Academy? Going back on your word, refusing to admit defeat. I feel ashamed for you."
Zhu Yanyi could spin a web of twisted logic effortlessly. The man who accused her of cheating had no time to retort; she was left fuming, nearly exploding with anger.
Zhu Yanyi remained cheerful and relaxed, ignoring their darkened faces. "Besides, I made it clear from the start. In this match, you can choose martial arts, medicine, herbalism, or alchemy. I chose one too. I chose acupuncture, a branch of medicine. Where is the cheating? You must give me a clear answer, or this won’t end."
She spoke with a smile, seeming annoyed by their words. Though her face smiled, her tone was a clear threat.
Her argument was sound. The audience realized she was right. She had stated she could choose any skill, and she chose acupuncture. Golden needle acupoint stimulation was indeed basic acupuncture. No one had expected her to fuse it with her cultivation power. But they couldn’t forbid her from using cultivation, as it was crucial in competitions.
"I’ll be next," said another voice. Unable to win the argument, the competition continued. A girl stepped up. She was pretty, but her arrogant expression made her look conceited. Zhu Yanyi thought she was decent-looking if not for that arrogance, which made her seem overbearing and unpleasant.
Zhu Yanyi raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to introduce yourself?"
"I specialize in formations and talismans," the girl said, looking at Zhu Yanyi. "My name is Chen Zhen."
Zhu Yanyi raised an eyebrow, then laughed. "I rarely use formations and talismans because I lack opportunities. It’s rare to have someone challenge me with them. How about this: if you choose formations, I’ll use formations. If you use talismans, I’ll use talismans. What will you use?"
"Senior Brother Tianyun, don’t you find Junior Sister Yanyi’s behavior familiar?" Mi Xiao asked Ouyang Tianyun softly.
Ouyang Tianyun nodded with a smile. "Wasn’t it like this during the Five Schools Competition? Whatever the opponent used, she used too. That’s how she convinced them completely."
Mi Xiao remembered. "Oh, I see. I almost forgot."
Sikong Xuran asked curiously from the side, "What was the Five Schools Competition like? Tell us." At that time, Sikong Xuran and others were still training in the Liling Arena.
Ouyang Tianyun didn’t keep them in suspense. He explained the situation to Sikong Xuran and the others. "Later, we won. Junior Sister Yanyi contributed the most to our victory."
Sikong Xuran nodded, understanding. "No wonder Junior Sister Yanyi has so many points. It’s because of her effort in that Five Schools Competition."
Ouyang Tianyun grinned. "Exactly. Plus her results in the Bright Forest, her points surpass all of us."
Mi Xiao sighed. "The problem is she rarely exchanges points for items in the hall. She usually exchanges them for common things."
"I know that too," Ouyang Tianyun said seriously. "Last time she went on vacation, she gave all the exchanged items to her parents."
While they discussed Zhu Yanyi’s past achievements, the match above was about to start.
Zhu Yanyi looked generous. "Do you want to set up the formation first?"
"I’ll set the formation. What will you do?" Chen Zhen frowned, unable to understand her intent.
Zhu Yanyi laughed. "What can I do? I can’t do anything. I’ll just wait for you to finish setting the formation, then break it. Of course, to make it fun, when I break your formation, I’ll change it into a different one. Whatever time I take to break it, you must break the new one in less time. Otherwise, you lose."
"Why not you set the formation first, and I break it? Then I change it into a new one for you to break, and we judge by time?" Chen Zhen challenged impulsively.
"Sure," Zhu Yanyi clapped her hands. "If you want me to set it first, as long as you’re not worried about being trapped, I have no objection. Are you sure? Once you’re sure, I’ll start."
"You… set it first." Chen Zhen regretted her words immediately but couldn’t take them back. She spoke seriously, realizing she couldn’t change her mind now.
Zhu Yanyi raised an eyebrow, smiled, and said, "Alright. Since you’ve decided, I’ll start setting the formation."