Chapter 15: Advancing to the Finals (Part 1)_1

"Stop looking, they've already left. Yin Zhu, you have to tell me, what was that weapon you used at the end of today's competition? I feel like I've never seen it before." Sura looked at Ye Yinzhu with a face full of curiosity.

"That thing? It's..." Ye Yinzhu lifted his right hand and pulled up his sleeve to reveal a green bracelet, emanating a soft glow on his wrist. Unlike the Life Protecting Bracelet, which fit perfectly against the skin, this green bracelet was just slipped onto the wrist.

"Wow, what a beautiful bracelet! How much does it cost?" Sura's eyes shone with the luster similar to that of Gold Coins.

Ye Yinzhu said with a wry smile, "All you think about is money."

Sura snorted and said, "Money isn't everything, but without it, everything is nothing. What would we eat without money? And you, a boy, wearing a bracelet." Suddenly, as if remembering something, his eyes widened and he exclaimed, "You're not going to tell me that the bracelet is the weapon you used today, are you?"

Ye Yinzhu smiled slightly and said, "It's called Green Silk. Look." As he spoke, he flicked his wrist lightly, and immediately the green bracelet sparkled, stretching instantaneously into a three-zhang-long emerald silk thread, which, controlled by a faint yellow Douqi, continuously changed shapes in the air—an eerie sight as if it possessed its own life.

Sura, amazed, reached out to grab the Green Silk in the air, and found that it was only slightly thicker than hair, feeling smooth and warm in the hand. When she tried to pull it gently, Green Silk showed no reaction, displaying extreme toughness.

With light movements of his four fingers, Ye Yinzhu created ripple after ripple that recoiled and rewound around his wrist, turning back into the shape of a bracelet, "The place I live is called blue sky and sea, a small area in the Acadia Kingdom. Blue sky and sea is a vast bamboo forest, and in the center of this forest is the Bamboo of Life, the heart of the entire blue sky and sea. There is a core in the middle of the Bamboo of Life, which grows an inch every hundred years—and that is Green Silk. It is considered one of the toughest materials in the world, and it also contains an immense amount of Life Force."

Stunned, Sura said, "One inch every hundred years, this Green Silk is three zhang long, doesn't that mean it's thirty thousand years old?"

Ye Yinzhu smiled and said, "Exactly! Because of that, its Life Force is incredibly vast. Don't look at it as just a thin thread, it can be soft or hard and has countless uses; it can even shatter stones. Its sharpness is second to none compared to any weapon." What he didn't mention was that this Green Silk was the Supreme Treasure of the Zhu Sect. Born with eight fingers, Ye Yinzhu was unsuitable for sword training due to the absence of both little fingers. It took his grandfather, Ye Li, over a decade of research to base a set of special martial skills on the Zhu Sect Martial Arts using Green Silk as the weapon, tailored for him.

Years ago, Qin Shang had agreed with Ye Li that for the next fifteen years, he would not pass any martial skills onto Ye Yinzhu. When Ye Yinzhu left the blue sky and sea, he was already sixteen years old. Green Silk had been in his hands since the year he turned fifteen. Apart from cultivating Pure Qinxin, he spent a year exercising with Green Silk intensely. Green Silk was his martial skill. Based on the Yellow-rank Beginner Zhu Douqi, as the direct disciple of Zhu Sect, Ye Yinzhu, with a dedicated mind, had a learning ability several times that of ordinary people. Although he hadn't yet refined Green Silk to complete perfection, he could at least perform the Zhu Sect Martial Arts that Ye Li had passed on to him. Today, facing the Green Dragon, because Fatty was unexpectedly fast, he was too late to use Sound Blade to counter, and had no choice but to use this martial skill for the first time. If not for the toughness and sharpness of Green Silk, how could it have wounded a true giant dragon with such armored scales?

"So you really practice both magic and martial arts—a Yellow-rank Douqi! That's much stronger than your magic." Sura looked at the Green Silk on Ye Yinzhu's hand, a hint of something different flashing in her eyes.

Ye Yinzhu smiled without saying a word; even though he trusted Sura quite a bit, he still couldn't reveal the secrets of his abilities lightly.

Just then, a knock on the door suddenly sounded.

"Who could it be this late? Could it be Haiyang coming back?" Sura wondered aloud as she got up and went to the other room to open the door.

Nina, clad in a white magic robe, walked in from outside and immediately asked upon entering, "How is Ye Yinzhu?"

"Ah, Director Nina, hello. Yin Zhu has already woken up," Sura hurriedly welcomed Nina into the room.

"Granny Nina, what brings you here?" Ye Yinzhu stood up. The room was rather small, so he had to give up his bed for Nina to sit.

Nina looked Ye Yinzhu up and down, and from the clarity that had returned to his eyes, she could tell his physical condition was good. "You're all right? That's a fast recovery. I really don't know what your body is made of." Seeing that Ye Yinzhu was fine, she clearly breathed a sigh of relief.

Ye Yinzhu scratched his head and said, "I don't know why I recovered so quickly either, maybe my body is just sturdy." Although he said this, he couldn't help but think of that dream which had made his body unbearably itchy, vaguely feeling that the recovery of his body might have something to do with that dream.

"I'm relieved to see you're okay. The reason for my visit today is twofold: first, to check on your physical condition, and second, to tell you some good news." Nina rarely showed a smile, but now her mood was very good, and she hadn't felt this happy in many years.

"Good news? What good news?" Ye Yinzhu asked in surprise.

Nina smiled and said, "Our Divine Music Department has made it to the finals of the newcomer competition."

"Ah? But didn't we only go through six preliminary rounds?" Ye Yinzhu asked, dumbfounded.

Nina proudly said, "Praise Falan, perhaps this is Divine favor. Our Divine Music Department has six victories in six battles, already securing a spot in the finals. Whether it's the Magic Department or the Martial Arts Department, we are the first to advance."

Sura, who was standing by, said, "That's impossible. Even if the Divine Music Department made a surprising breakthrough this year, there are still the Space Attribute, Summoning Department, and Spiritual Attribute departments, all hot favorites! The Divine Music Department has to face them in the last three rounds, which would be tough battles. Can you already determine that the Divine Music Department will definitely win?"

Nina replied, "Of course not. Because, even without fighting in the remaining three rounds, we have already qualified. Both the Spiritual Attribute and Space Attribute departments have decent new students this year, but their strengths are too closely matched. In today's afternoon matches, they fought to a standstill. Among the ten participating students from both sides, including the main players, eight suffered severe injuries and have already withdrawn, forfeiting tomorrow's matches. That means at most they can only score seven victories and two defeats. And those two departments happen to be our opponents tomorrow. By achieving victory without fighting, we'll secure eight wins. Regardless of the last match's outcome against the Summoning Department, one of the two qualifying spots from the Magic Department is guaranteed to be ours. The Summoning Department is also lucky; they only face us, the Divine Music Department, and the Space and Spiritual departments on the last two days of competition, so it's almost certain that they will advance alongside us."

Ye Yinzhu exclaimed with joy, "So, that's the case; it seems that we are really lucky. Granny Nina, don't worry, I will prepare well for the last match against the Summoning Department and strive to defeat them."

Nina shook her head and said, "No, I have already decided to give up on our match against the Summoning Department."

"Why?" Ye Yinzhu's eyes widened.