Secret revealed?

Zhangsun Shan and the Tang sect guy stood still facing each other in silence for quite some time. For some reason, the fight began with a test of patience. The one who loses their focus and advances to attack loses the advantage to his opponent.

I know for a fact that Zhangsun Shan had nerves of steel. He should have the ability to perceive the right timing to attack in duels like this, because I distinctly remember having to wait for the attack meter to fill up before making a move. Or else the fight would be highly disadvantageous.

And as predicted, the Tang Sect guy lost his cool first and attacked first. However, he forgot that once a person loses their composure, they are bound to make mistakes. And so he did. The straightforward attack that the guy aimed towards Zhangsun Shan's heart to stop the Qi flow for a few seconds needed precision. However, his hastiness made him lose the pin point precision and he noticed his attack pattern going haywire. It was just the difference of a few centimeters, however he had the feeling that if he missed this, Zhangsun Shan would eat him alive. So, instead of actually going through with the attack, he retreated instead.

Normally, retreating when you have a considerable distance from your opponent because you're aware of your shortcomings are treated as smart. You would have time to reconcile and prepare rather than be a hard head about it and go through with such an attack pattern. However, such a plan doesn't apply to the main protagonist of the World of Cultivation. As soon as he backtracked to his original position, he saw Zhangsun Shan approaching him at a speed that he didn't expect. Although he was using his Qi to move quicker, the handling of Qi by the Tang sect guy was poor compared to Zhangsun Shan. Hence, he caught up with the guy with relative ease and then used Taiyi sect's own ten blossom petal strike on him. This brought tears to my face. This move was one of the first moves that the protagonist re-learns after he lost everything including his cultivation after the Blood Moon Sect's ambush on Taiyi sect.

Ten Blossom Petal strike; a technique which uses the Qi to land ten strikes on one's body within a short time span. Why call it blossom petal strike? Well, it's because of the elegance. Each strike should be hit precisely and if it does hit the intended part, the release animation showed it as if a blossom touched the opponent's body. It was truly a sight to behold back in the game when Zhangsun Shan finally evolved it into Thousand Blossom Petal strike, which actually seemed like it stopped the time. It was great to see that the strike arts still hold up to the unreal looking animations of the game. Who would have thought that I would be able to see such a spectacle!

After this victory came easily to Zhangsun Shan. The ten blossom petal strike incapacitated the Tang Sect guy for a few seconds and he took full advantage of this few seconds. Ah, it was just like this! The Zhangsun Shan in the game did win quickly as well. He believes that speed and precision are the most important things you should possess. He would rather have a quick victory than an elongated slugfest that would attract a few number of people and elevate Tang sect guy's status alongside him. This is not like the pro-wrestling back on Earth; people don't come here to watch a spectacle, they come here to witness pure onslaught.

With Zhangsun han's emphatic victory, the first category's victor was decided. People were clamoring about how Zhangsun Shan was Taiyi sect's new generation talent and how they expected him to win. Many betting people had a smile on their faces because their bets were on point with him. I kinda agree with the sentiment as well. Like, it was obvious that he would win. After all, who else would other than the main protagonist of the story!

Once the fight was over, everyone of his former classmates swung around to congratulate him, excluding Qiu Si and the ones preparing for their matches. That's when I realized that Wang Lei and the villainess were missing. Hell, almost all of the Blood Moon sect's big guys were missing out. I don't know what's going on, but it seems like something sinister is brewing. And since it's sinister things that we're talking about, I'm sure that they are planning to eradicate the Taiyi sect off this planet. Or I might just be wrong about that. But damn, to think that they were planning it all along. If you think about it, yea… sufficient planning is required to destroy one of the most prolific sects around. Although, it would be cool if I'm able to steal the pills from the Taiyi sect in the midst of all the commotion that's gonna happen.

"Hua, isn't that your classmates there?" Father asked once he saw the commotion around.

"Yea…" I nodded my head.

"Then, why don't you go congratulate him as well?" Father suggested. I could only sigh to that. Yet again I had to be near Zhangsun Shan to do such a thing, the person I was desperately trying to avoid. However, if I was that desperate, I would have never arrived here in the first place. And now that I have, I might as well meet Zhangsun Shan and whoever else I wanna meet.

So, I agreed to my father's suggestion and walked towards the victor. Goldy followed me to him; so that was nice. I thought he might just stand around waiting for the next match.

Although I did pose around as one of the classmates congratulating Zhangsun Shan, I didn't want to directly congratulate him to his face. So, I blended into the crowd and shouted congratulations from within. It was cool.

"What the hell are you doing?" I heard a voice directly behind me. I looked back and it was OBVIOUSLY Zhangsun Shan. Like why? Why did he have to come in contact with me?

{Why didn't you tell me?}

[I thought you'd just know anyway. It's not that big of a deal, right?]

I sighed. I didn't like scares like this. And for Goldy to think that being alongside the main character isn't a big deal at all…. Well, he indeed is the ancient gold dragon!

"Well, I was congratulating you." I chuckled nervously.

"You could've just congratulated me to my face." He shook his head in dismay.

{What part of me not wanting to get involved with you don't you understand?}

[Well, you never said that to him, did you? And even if you did, that would be a difficult task. He's the main character. He's supposed to be everywhere.]

I sighed. I guess Goldy's right about that. So, I extended my hand. "Here you go. Congratulations on winning the match, Zhangsun Shan."

Zhangsun Shan stared at my extended hand for a while before shaking on it. "Thank… you?" He suddenly looked at me in shock. I felt it. An uninvited guest trying to take a peek inside me.

"What!" I turned towards Goldy once Zhangsun Shan let go off my hand in shock. He looked pissed off. {Okay, Goldy. What just happened?}

[The bastard just tried to gauge your Qi center.]

{Shoot. Did he?}

[Yea, I didn't expect the bastard to do this!]

{What should I do now?}

[Just grab his hand by some means. The f*cker is shocked. He'll check again once he comes in contact with you. It seems like peeking is his nature.]

Heeding Goldy's words, I just grabbed Zhangsun Shan's hand tightly. "What happened? Why do you look shocked?" I asked. Goldy was right. As soon as I grasped his hand, I felt him peeking at my Qi center. Was the guy always this weird? I didn't know he was such a creep! Anyway, he looked relieved once he checked my Qi center again.

"Was that just my imagination?" Zhangsun Shan mumbled like a BL manga protagonist hoping that the one opposite wouldn't hear it but totally does.

"What?" I too decided to act like the one opposite to a BL protagonist, who totally could hear everything that the main character says, however somehow misses it.

"Oh, nothing." He replied as he quickly took his hand off mine and walked away.

[What the hell is that guy's problem? Doesn't he know that one shouldn't peek at someone else's Qi center without permission?]

{Ah, look who is preaching him! You two are two peas of the same pod for all that matters.}

[Well, I'm different; I'm special. I am a higher existence. I can do stuff like that because I won't get caught stupidly like that.]

{You see, in his defense, he's a special existence as well. And, he wouldn't have got caught if I didn't have your core in me.}

[Hmm, you're right about that.]

{Cool then. Since that's done, shall we go back and watch the next category's fight?}

[Yea!]

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