Chapter 60: My First Match

Chapter 60: My First Match

After parting from the servant boy, I headed to the sect to report in.

I had only just entered the virtual world and was still unfamiliar with it, so I’d been careful at every turn and shielded the consciousness in my head — which meant, of course, that I couldn’t receive the memories left behind by the original host. Lucky for me, I’d run into this servant boy, Liu Tanzhuang, or I’d have understood nothing at all.

Once I took in the original host’s memories, I settled into the role easily enough. So, following Miss Yuan’s reminder, I went to the sect to sign up for the match.

The reason I’d agreed so readily was simple: I was flat broke.

I’d assumed entering virtual spacetime meant pure enjoyment. Turned out, in this world too, life ran on money. No money, no immortal pills. No immortal pills, no way to raise your cultivation or advance in rank — nothing left but hard labor at the bottom for whatever wages you could scrape together. I was a guard, and I still earned less than the maids and servant boys. That did not sit well with me at all.

So even though Uncle had told me my first trip in was only to see the sights, and that I shouldn’t rush after money — how was I supposed to see anything without money? I couldn’t very well settle for being some exhausted wage hand.

I’d just come through the Ziyun Sect’s gate when I saw Eldest Senior Brother Shi Youcheng walking toward me. Seeing me enter, he said, “Miss Yuan’s maid Xiaocui came by just now — said you’d agreed to the match?”

“Yes, Eldest Senior Brother. I agreed. If I don’t fight, the Grandmaster will throw me out of the sect, and paying work isn’t easy to come by right now either. I turned it over and decided to take the chance. Worst case, I lose five achievement points.”

Shi Youcheng lowered his voice. “You’re thinking too simply about this. That rank-three fighter from the Jianghai Gang, surnamed Huang — I know him. He’s actually rank-five ability, but he holds himself back from advancing on purpose. Partly because he likes the taste of beating people. Partly because the Jianghai Gang’s playing a longer game — building big wins out of small ones. Once Huang beats you, he keeps fighting his way up, one man racking up win after win, the points stacking as he goes. But if he advanced in rank, he’d only get to win one match, and everything after would get hard for him — everyone’s got a signature skill or two tucked away. Your record so far hasn’t been good. Without some skill of your own to fall back on, what exactly are you planning to fight with?”

“Thank you for the guidance, Eldest Senior Brother. My martial skills may not amount to much, but I once learned an invisibility technique. I don’t know if it’ll be of any use.”

“Invisibility is the most common technique among elite people. All the other side needs is same-frequency sensing, and they’ll see straight through it. In a match, it’s basically worthless.”

“Then let me ask you something else, Eldest Senior Brother. Do you know of the Sweepers, in the Mundane World? Their purge groups — set against our sect ranks, what would they count as?”

Shi Youcheng considered this. “You actually know about the Sweepers? Good thing I’ve been to the Mundane World myself, served there as a liaison officer once. Their martial skills come from Wisdom Capsules — carefully chosen combat techniques, starting at rank five at the very least, though never higher than rank nine. Mainly because the Sweepers have to face real assassination attempts out there, and the Mundane World has its own real experts, so they need techniques that actually work. The true bodies of elite people, on the other hand, tend to be intellectuals. They use Wisdom Capsules too, but the thing’s no use in the virtual world — all they’ve got is their consciousness’s memory of it, and that leaves them nowhere near as iron-blooded as the Sweepers.”

Rank five as a starting point — that gave me something to hold onto at last. I’d beaten Min Long of the purge group myself, which put me somewhere around rank seven at the least. Rank eight, even, wasn’t out of the question.

“Thank you for the guidance, Eldest Senior Brother. I have a better sense of things now. My invisibility technique’s a bit different from the usual sort — he may not be able to pin me down so easily.”

I said this because when I’d used invisibility against the Soul Hunters, I’d shielded my brainwaves entirely, and they had never once found me. Only Uncle, by some method I still didn’t understand, had managed to see through it.

Seeing how confident I was, Shi Youcheng said, “Well then. Since you’re set on fighting, I won’t try to talk you out of it. Save me a scolding when the Grandmaster hears of this.”

“In the virtual world, no one can easily know another’s true self, so there aren’t many who’ll help out of pure goodwill. Eldest Senior Brother is one of the decent ones. Song Chenfeng will remember this favor.”

After bowing my thanks to Shi Youcheng, I went to see the Great Grandmaster and sign up, brimming with confidence.

The Great Grandmaster of the Ziyun Sect was an elderly man surnamed Zhong. The instant I stepped into the rear hall, I saw him wave a hand and shatter a rockery outside the hall from a distance, then rage at someone standing there. “The Dao Alliance and the Jianghai Gang have gone too far! In previous years, it was the Grandmaster duels that decided things. This year they suddenly want the disciple matches counted cumulatively into the score. Our side has a gap at rank three — we’re bound to lose that point outright. This isn’t fair.”

Just then he noticed me and knew at once I’d come to sign up. “Chenfeng, you needn’t fight after all. The Dao Alliance has changed the rules. We don’t have to compete on their terms. Worst case, we hand this Heavenly Palace back to them and move to the Jianghai Gang’s territory.”

“Please calm your anger, Great Grandmaster,” I said. “The Heavenly Palace took several generations of our sect to win. To give it up so easily would be a hard thing to live with. Let this disciple compete and try. It’s better than admitting defeat before the match even starts.”

The Great Grandmaster’s anger hadn’t cooled. “What you say has some reason to it, but the Sect Master and I have already worked the numbers. Between him and the Jianghai Gang’s Sect Master, the duel’s evenly matched — we might even hold a slight edge there. As for the disciple matches, in years past they were mostly warm-up affairs before the Grandmaster duels, the two sides merely wagered a little money, and we generally came out a touch ahead of the Jianghai Gang even there. But things have shifted these past years. Our disciples keep advancing in rank, one after another, leaving that gap at three, and the rank-two disciples can’t fill it. That point, we’re bound to lose. I’d thought putting you forward meant losing one point wouldn’t much matter. But I never expected the Dao Alliance and the Jianghai Gang to change the rules on us — insisting on weighting the disciple-rank scores more heavily, and secretly activating that rank-five Huang, who had been hidden for years, to face you at rank three and fight his way up from there. That way, we’ll lose at least two matches running. This is plainly the Dao Alliance tipping the scales for the Jianghai Gang, trying to help them seize back the Ziyun Heavenly Palace in one stroke.”

Watching the Great Grandmaster’s fury, I suddenly vanished before him, shielding my brainwaves as I did, and said, “Great Grandmaster. Can you sense my presence right now?”

With that, I slipped silently behind him, wanting to see whether his detection could pin me down with any accuracy.

At first the Great Grandmaster paid my invisibility little mind. But as he turned same-frequency sensing on me and still found nothing, his surprise began to show.

I kept myself fixed at his back, turning as he turned, never once letting him catch me.

For a moment he showed a flicker of delight. Then, quite suddenly, the delight curdled into anger. He began lashing out in every direction, blast after blast, smashing the surrounding courtyard walls to rubble.

Still, he could not find me.

If even the Great Grandmaster couldn’t locate me, he stood to lose some face before onlookers. Fortunately, only one trusted subordinate was present to see it.

I let myself reappear before him. “Great Grandmaster. My martial skills may not be much, but my invisibility technique is indeed somewhat different from others’. If I can fight that man Huang to a draw at rank three, he won’t be able to keep fighting his way up. On the total score, we may not necessarily lose.”

Only then did the Great Grandmaster shake off his embarrassed fury. “Good! Good, good!” he cried. “Never would’ve guessed it — your martial skills may not amount to much, but that invisibility technique of yours truly outstrips the rest. I nearly couldn’t sense you myself! Excellent. If you can fight Huang to a draw this time, the Ziyun Sect will reward you with one gold-patterned pill. I will personally add a red-patterned pill as well. Together with the ten points for competing, you’ll come away with quite a haul. What do you say?”

“My thanks for the honor, Great Grandmaster. I won’t disgrace this task. I will give the sect everything I have.”

The Great Grandmaster laughed. “Good. Go and rest now — no need to stand guard. I will inform the Sect Master of this as well. The match won’t be held for another three days. See that you don’t fall apart out there when the time comes.”

“Rest assured, Great Grandmaster. Whether I can defeat him, I won’t promise. But a draw, I am certain I can manage.”

The Great Grandmaster turned to his trusted subordinate. “Xie Zhangping. Go now and tell the Dao Alliance and the Jianghai Gang we accept their terms. And you, along with Song Chenfeng, remember this well — Chenfeng’s signature skill must never reach outside ears. Go.”

The subordinate and I both bowed our acknowledgment and withdrew.

Once outside, Xie Zhangping turned same-frequency sensing on me without so much as a word of courtesy, and said, “Song Chenfeng. When did you get so strong?”

“Senior Brother should know my martial skills aren’t much. I’ve failed to advance through several assessments. So I’ve had no choice but to study and strengthen my invisibility technique instead, over and over, hoping to protect myself in the match.”

Xie Zhangping only smiled at me, then turned and walked off.

Watching his back as he went, I felt a sudden, uneasy premonition. This man, I thought, was very likely no good at all.

Three days later.

The match between the Jianghai Gang and the Ziyun Sect was held in the Heavenly Palace Square of the Ziyun Sect.

Heavenly Palace Square sat on the lowest tier among the many cloud-borne palaces. Guests from every sect could watch from all directions — from the palace halls, the carved balustrades, the walkways, the stages. The Dao Alliance, the authorities, and the various religious orders had all sent important figures to preside over the match.

The Ziyun Sect’s Heavenly Palace had not originally belonged to the Ziyun Sect. It had once been held by the Jianghai Gang and the Tianshi Dao. In time it became the prize every faction fought over, and after round after round of contest, the struggle finally narrowed down to the two houses with the greatest overall strength — the Jianghai Gang and the Ziyun Sect.

The Ziyun Sect had won it, by the narrowest of margins.

Its position was so favorable that every faction had long regarded it as a mark of honor.

So for this match, both the Ziyun Sect and the Jianghai Gang had sent out their strongest lineups. Aside from the rank-three slot, which everyone knew for the broken gap it was, every other rank drew heated attention.

Each match ran half an hour. Victory went to whoever knocked the other off the arena. Injury or death settled things quickly. A draw meant neither side held a clear advantage, and the outcome was decided instead on hit points.

The competition opened with the rank-one and rank-two matches.

Though the skill on display at those low ranks was nothing much, the fight over the Heavenly Palace drew plenty of eyes all the same. The fighters traded blow after blow, giving everything they had, and the crowd watching was large.

As expected, the Ziyun Sect came away with one win and one loss.

When my turn came for the rank-three match, I saw a great many people had gathered along the balustrades — and the Jianghai Gang’s off-field disciples, in particular, had stationed four men at each of six points: above, below, front, back, left, and right.

One glance told me this formation was built entirely around my invisibility.

Invisibility was something all elite people knew, so the rules placed no restriction on spectators using detection methods. Much like a soccer match, where the crowd has every right to shout from the stands — it wasn’t against the rules.

This six-sided ring made it plain someone knew my technique ran deep, and meant to leave me nowhere to hide. The moment the Ziyun Sect’s Great Grandmaster saw the formation, his face went pale green.

Someone had clearly learned my signature skill ahead of time. And that day, when I’d demonstrated my invisibility before the Great Grandmaster, only three people had been present — the Great Grandmaster, myself, and Xie Zhangping.

I certainly hadn’t been fool enough to tell my opponent what my skill was. Which left only one man.

Sure enough, the Great Grandmaster’s gaze snapped toward Xie Zhangping, who stood watching the commotion. Xie Zhangping caught the look and scrambled to hide himself behind one of the Jianghai Gang’s own Grandmasters — who, in turn, shot the Ziyun Sect’s Great Grandmaster a smug, provoking smile.

That alone was as good as a declaration of Xie Zhangping’s betrayal.

The Great Grandmaster and the Sect Master of the Ziyun Sect exchanged a glance, their faces so dark with fury you could have wrung water from them. But at this stage of the match, there was clearly nothing left to be done about it.

By then I was already standing on the arena. The spectators had caught on too, and drew in around us, murmuring among themselves. What should have been a match with no suspense at all had turned, in an instant, into the spectacle of a whole crowd of Jianghai Gang disciples closing ranks to help their man corner one unranked Ziyun Sect disciple. The whole scene took on a strange, uneasy edge.

The Jianghai Gang’s fighter, the one surnamed Huang, stepped onto the arena as well. He shrugged off his outer robe, baring a body wrapped in muscle, and walked toward me with a smile.