Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 106 - 89: Three Strategies—Upper, Middle, and Lower (Second Update)

Chapter 106: Chapter 89: Three Strategies—Upper, Middle, and Lower (Second Update)

August 23, 2017

"So, here’s the deal, I bet with Lu Xin that if I can win on my own strength at the Cyan Cloud Tournament, she’ll become my disciple. If I lose, I’ll become hers. So... Ah Jiu, help me out, will you?"

Wang Jiu looked at Shen Qingming, who had come to him earnestly seeking help, along with a special package of exotic spices she bought from the condiment store, and after pondering for a moment, decided to seriously think up a solution for her.

"I’ve interacted with Lu Xin a few times. Overall, she’s not what you’d call an excellent cultivator. By stricter standards, she’s a complete mess. But on the other hand, she does have the excellent heritage of the Lu Family. Having been married into the Li Family for many years, she’s familiar with the Li Family’s cultivation techniques and also has Zhao Yan as a close friend, which means she likely has an understanding of the Zhao Family’s heritage as well. Besides, as the main wife overseeing the household affairs for so many years, she’s got a broad perspective. She’d make a more than adequate teacher, so you just need to earnestly follow her to learn cultivation..."

Shen Qingming almost wanted to dump the entire spice package on his face.

"This isn’t the kind of help I want! I want you to help me win the championship at the Cyan Cloud Tournament!"

Wang Jiu paused, "You want to win the championship at the Cyan Cloud Tournament? Hmm, it’s not impossible. Hold on while I think and come up with a few plans."

"Can you really do that!?" Shen Qingming didn’t expect Wang Jiu to agree so quickly and even mention multiple plans!

Honestly, this sort of outrageous thing that defies common sense was something even she didn’t dare hope for. Who would have thought... this Celestial Divine Sword truly is remarkable! It was worth it signing the master-servant contract with him! Being his ride is just delightful.

After a moment, Wang Jiu nodded and said, "According to your request, I’ve first come up with three plans, ranked from most to least feasible."

"Sounds great!" Shen Qingming was eager to hear Wang Jiu’s clever strategies.

"Considering you want to win using your own strength, the simplest plan of me taking to the stage for you is a no-go. But as an alternative, I can help you deal with all your competitors from the sidelines."

"Wait, what do you mean by ’deal with all the competitors’..."

"Through various means, including violent ones, render your competitors unable to compete, ensuring you win the championship without a fight."

"Ha!?"

"As far as I know, past Cyan Cloud Tournament contestants are at most at the Peak stage of the Cloud Surge Realm, and I can currently take on at least three at once. Considering there’s still a few months until the Cyan Cloud Tournament, I should be able to take on thirty by the time it’s here, based on my progress rebuilding the Sword World. Besides, if a fight does break out, it doesn’t have to be in a straightforward manner. With my rich combat experience, I can easily eliminate all your competition."

"..." Shen Qingming was dumbfounded, "This is your plan?!"

Wang Jiu said, "This is the most practically feasible plan. As long as all the competitors are incapacitated off-stage, losing their fighting power, you could win the championship even if you were blind and crippled."

"You’re the blind and crippled one! Plus, do you think the sect officials are blind too?! I’d get punished for that kind of behavior!"

Wang Jiu said, "I’ve considered that as well. However, referencing past tournament situations, the Holy Sect Envoys never interfered with off-stage incidents, so there’s no need to worry about interference from the Holy Sect."

"Oh my God, you actually gave this serious consideration?!" Shen Qingming was practically awed by the audacity of this Celestial Divine Sword, "Okay, even if the Holy Sect didn’t interfere. But the Cyan Cloud Tournament is the focal point of the entire QingCyan Cloud yun City with so many people watching; I’d definitely be cursed at!"

"Criticism is just criticism, off-stage factors don’t influence match results," Wang Jiu said, "Given your strength, even if your dignity is trampled and your pride insulted, winning the championship would totally be worth it."

"... Is there another plan?"

Wang Jiu said, "Another plan would be to use cryogenic technology to freeze you at age 19, unfreeze you five years later, and participate in the 2027 Cyan Cloud Tournament, where your strength should easily secure the championship."

"The 2027 Cyan Cloud Tournament!?"

Wang Jiu said, "Your bet with Lu Xin doesn’t specifically require winning this year’s Cyan Cloud Tournament. Winning the 2027 championship fulfills the bet just as well. The only problem with this plan is whether freezing you at age 19 would be approved by the Holy Sect Envoy. Considering that by 2027, I should have regained around 10% of my Peak Stage power, subduing one Holy Sect Envoy would be a cinch."

Shen Qingming resisted the urge to duel with Wang Jiu and asked quietly, "What’s the third plan?"

Wang Jiu said, "The third plan requires the least investment but is the least reliable... It goes like this: since your bet with Lu Xin didn’t clearly define the Cyan Cloud Tournament, we could fund a knockoff ’Cyan Cloud Tournament’ ourselves, with you as the sole contestant, and the championship would naturally go to you."

"Isn’t that self-deception?"

Wang Jiu said, "But strictly speaking, even if you deceive yourself, it still satisfies the terms of the bet. If Lu Xin has any self-respect, he should accept the loss gracefully."

Shen Qingming retorted angrily, "In that case, I’d be the one with no shame!"

Wang Jiu said, "With your realm in cultivation, talent, and comprehension, making such a bet is quite shameless in itself, so the default premise is that you can easily sacrifice your unnecessary dignity."

Shen Qingming was so angry she slammed the table, "Your dignity is what’s unnecessary! Can you stop belittling me and help me think of a reliable plan!"

Wang Jiu was immediately at a loss, thinking to himself this mount is really hard to satisfy, this isn’t acceptable, that isn’t acceptable, almost like menopause hitting early... If that’s the case, the reliable method might just be feeding her some hormone-regulating miraculous elixirs?

While Wang Jiu was seriously considering the fourth set of medication plans for Shen Qingming, the young girl finally calmed down and said softly, "Sorry, Ah Jiu, I’ve troubled you again... I was indeed too unreasonable just now. The Qingyun Tournament is a grand event that happens every ten years; winning the championship isn’t that easy. I’ll go find Lu Xin to apologize tomorrow; I actually wanted to thank her, and somehow it turned into an argument."

Pausing for a moment, Shen Qingming said somewhat self-deprecatingly, "Someone like me, a 14-year-old Cultivator, really shouldn’t expect much from the Qingyun Tournament."

Hearing this, Wang Jiu couldn’t help but question, "Speaking of which, the design of the Qingyun Tournament is very unreasonable; why doesn’t anyone protest to the Saint Sect?"

"Huh? Why is it unreasonable?"

"The Qingyun Tournament is held every 10 years and requires participants to be under 20. What about those who are fourteen or fifteen and just starting cultivation? Or those who are eleven or twelve? Aren’t they doomed from the start to be unrelated to the Qingyun Tournament? This age limit really doesn’t make sense."

Shen Qingming smiled and explained, "That’s not the original intention of the Qingyun Tournament. According to its initial design, it should be held every year, or at least every three years, to ensure no talent around Qingyun City is overlooked. But starting fifty years ago, for ten consecutive years, the champions of the Qingyun Tournament didn’t place in the Saint Sect competition in Heaven-Reaching City, which led to widespread questioning of Qingyun City’s Immortal Cultivation level. So the Saint Sect gradually reduced the frequency of the Qingyun Tournament. Then, thirty-five years ago, contestants representing Qingyun City in the Saint Sect competition were exposed for cheating. So, to punish, the Saint Sect decreed that the Qingyun Tournament would be held every ten years for the next fifty years."

At this point, Shen Qingming said somewhat helplessly, "This also blames the Li Family for poor management. Previously, the Qingyun Tournament and the Saint Sect competition in Heaven-Reaching City were basically hosted by the Li Family. Whether it was organizing the event or the final results in the Saint Sect competition, they were relatively guaranteed. But... starting from my grandfather’s generation, Patriarchs generally neglected their duties, either focusing on studying history or immersing in Sword Dao comprehension, ignoring worldly affairs. The Qingyun Tournament was completely handed over to the Lu Family and even the Qian Family to manage, and it instantly became riddled with loopholes. So by my generation, the situation has become very bad."

Shen Qingming shook her head somewhat helplessly, "What a waste of good resources. The champion of the Qingyun Tournament can ask the Holy Sect Envoy any three questions, and they basically answer all questions. This opportunity, let alone for an individual, even for a family..."

Before she finished speaking, Wang Jiu interrupted very seriously, "You can ask the Holy Sect Envoy questions? That’s never been written in the rules?"

Shen Qingming said, "It’s an unwritten rule; the Holy Sect Envoy isn’t obliged to do so, but this practice has been followed for many years. What’s the matter?"

"Hmm..." Wang Jiu didn’t answer but seriously considered how to take advantage of this opportunity to converse and ask questions with the Holy Sect Envoy.

To someone like Shen Qingming in the Immortal Cultivation Realm, conversing with the Holy Sect Envoy is probably to ask some non-technical cultivation questions, but for Wang Jiu, the opportunity to converse with the Holy Sect...

As he was thinking, Shen Qingming sighed again.

"...In any case, I’ve given up on the Qingyun Tournament." As she spoke, the girl shrugged self-deprecatingly, "I’m not one of those reincarnators born with memories from a previous life. Wanting to outshine everyone and win the Qingyun Tournament champion at 14 is indeed too far-fetched."

Before she could finish, she was once again interrupted by Wang Jiu very seriously.

"Wait, reincarnators with memories from a previous life?"

Shen Qingming said, "Oh, that’s just a legend. I just heard someone vaguely mention it... You know the Golden Jade Tournament in Golden Jade City, right? It’s a martial arts tournament for cultivators similar to the Qingyun Tournament. About twenty years ago, there was an incomparable genius who participated in the competition at fifteen and won the championship with an overwhelming advantage— that was a particularly high-caliber tournament, where even the third place in other tournaments would have been enough to win. This only made the fifteen-year-old champion appear even more exceptionally talented and unparalleled. Then, many people suspected her of being the reincarnation of a mighty being, starting cultivation from birth with memories of a previous life. But these things are just gossip without a shred of hard evidence, even though that fifteen-year-old champion truly was somewhat monstrously strong..."

However, Wang Jiu wasn’t focusing on this point.

"So, according to your understanding, if such reincarnators indeed exist, they’re eligible to participate in such age-restricted cultivator tournaments, right?"

Shen Qingming thought for a moment and said, "There’s no reason they couldn’t. The rules shouldn’t restrict reincarnators from competing. Although I’ve never heard of such people existing, haha."

Wang Jiu nodded and started to ponder, "Indeed, if we interpret the rules literally, even reincarnators can compete... If that’s the case..."

As he spoke, Wang Jiu fell completely silent. After a while, he looked up at Shen Qingming and said.

"I think I have a way to help you win the Qingyun Tournament."

"...I don’t want to hear it!"