Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 195 - 165: Logical Paradox

December 24, 2017

When the roulette result appeared, the entire venue suddenly fell silent from the fiery uproar.

Tens of thousands of people stared dumbfounded at the cyan name on the roulette, their hearts in a chaotic tangle. Even Li Fengyun on the field, who usually went through the motions and couldn't wait to daydream, was astonished with his mouth wide open.

"Qingming?"

At the same time, who knows how many people murmured in unison, "Shen Qingming!?"

Then more and more people joined in the murmuring crowd, voices rising wave after wave, soon crashing like waves upon the rocks, turning into a chaotic flurry of talk.

"It's actually Shen Qingming!? What's going on here?! Is it a rigged draw?"

"Holy crap, a rigged draw like this? Eliminating one of your own in the first match!?"

"Then what does this mean, according to the lucky draw law, is Wang Jiu going to be eliminated by Shen Qingming?!"

"Could it be the Qian Family's rigged draw!? They've been crazily hyping Qian Ye recently, saying his victory is absolutely certain, is this their move?"

Amidst the chatter, Shen Qingming sitting in the contestant's seat was like she's petrified, her gaze locked onto the jade roulette until Wang Jiu came to her side and patted her head.

"Hmm?"

Wang Jiu pointed at the jade roulette, kindly explaining, "That means you're selected…"

"I know! Don't treat me like an idiot!" Shen Qingming angrily swatted Wang Jiu's hand away, "I'm thinking about what to do now!?"

Wang Jiu said curiously, "According to the rules, you should join me to complete the check-in point outside the arena, and then complete the match under the referee's direction…"

"I…" Shen Qingming gnashed her teeth for a while, shaking her head, "Forget it, I won't bother talking to you anymore! Fight if I have to, am I afraid of you!?"

Then she didn't even change into her Spirit Cat Dance Skirt, wearing her full performance attire, she angrily ran straight to the arena check-in point.

Whatever happens will happen!

All the way, the girl's mind was in complete disarray until the check-in was completed, standing on the arena, she was still somewhat dazed.

"How about it, can we start now?" The referee for this match was a genuinely respected elder who, seeing Shen Qingming's mind wandering, specifically asked.

Shen Qingming was stunned for a while, then nodded in surprise. Only then did she realize that Wang Jiu was already standing at the other end of the arena, giving her a gentle smile.

In an instant, the bit of anger in Shen Qingming's heart disappeared.

Really, why get angry, it wasn't him who drew the lots… and besides, he's always been completely clueless about a girl's thoughts, to hold a grudge against him is purely giving herself trouble.

It is what it is, since this is the draw—even if it was her own dad who personally drew it, there's nothing to complain about, give it her all and then face failure calmly.

Shen Qingming knew her own level very well, not to mention facing someone of Celestial Divine Sword's caliber, she had no chance of winning against most main event contestants. Among the more than two hundred main event contestants, her hard strength was at most ranked around one hundred forty or fifty… Of course, this was not easy, it was a miracle, for she was only 14 this year, and even until a little over half a year ago, she was still in the Mortal Realm.

In just over half a year, she advanced rapidly from a Mortal Martial Artist to the Late Stage of the Wind-Rising Realm, the evolution of her True Essence was unbelievably fast, and with the Immovable Tyrant Body reinforcing her physical body, even against early stage Cloud Surge Realm main event contestants… Though defeat was highly likely, she could at least hold on for a short while.

Actually, at the beginning, she didn't even intend to participate in the competition, as the timing was simply off due to her age, it was just because she got into an argument with Lu Xin and set a mentor bet that she naively imagined winning the grand competition… Looking back now, she really was a reckless kid then.

On the arena, Shen Qingming found herself relaxing more and more as she thought.

"Contestant Shen Qingming, are you ready?" Beside her, the referee was making the final confirmation.

Shen Qingming nodded, her gaze shifting towards Wang Jiu.

"Contestant Wang Jiu, are you ready?"

Wang Jiu said, "Of course."

Shen Qingming began to focus her mind, concentrating her full attention on Wang Jiu, seriously considering how to make an opening move.

If she were to say she could win, that would definitely be a joke, and Shen Qingming had no such delusions. Simply being able to showcase her best side on this rare stage was enough.

The question was, how to gain the opportunity to showcase? With Wang Jiu's overwhelming strength, even if she risked everything, it would be difficult to survive for more than a second. Her most powerful Spirit Cat Swordsmanship and Spirit Cat Fist were all invented by Wang Jiu, and in his eyes, they were no secret at all…

But just as Shen Qingming was caught in her dilemma, the referee waved his arm: "Begin!"

Shen Qingming immediately lifted her spirits, True Essence circulated throughout her body, and just as she was about to unleash it all regardless of everything.

"I concede."

Across from her, Wang Jiu raised his hand high, the white cloth between his fingers fluttering in the wind…

Shen Qingming was shocked at that moment, her internal power fell out of balance. The True Essence in the Late Stage of the Wind-Rising Realm, the explosive power at the entry level of the Third Heaven of the Immovable Tyrant Body, mostly distributed to her left foot, a tenth to her right foot, and with one misstep she flew across the arena like a skipping stone…

However, before she embarrassingly landed face-first, she felt her body move uncontrollably, her hands and feet acting on their own, performing a beautiful aerial recovery that she could never have executed herself, landing stably.

But Shen Qingming couldn't care less about that…

"What did you say!?"

At the same time, the revered old referee was hastily popping his dislocated jaw back into place and stammered, "What did you say!?"

Wang Jiu said, "I surrender."

"Are you sure!?" The old referee rubbed his jaw while looking up and down at the dashing young man, making sure he was serious and not trying to flirt with the referee on the spot.

Wang Jiu nodded, "Confi..."

Before he could finish, Shen Qingming interrupted, "Not sure! I'm the one surrendering!"

As she spoke, she rushed in front of the referee and declared loudly, "I surrender!"

Wang Jiu frowned, "Why are you so rude? Don't you understand first come, first served?"

Shen Qingming said eagerly, "What does this have to do with first come, first served?! Why are you surrendering? Just because I'm your opponent?"

"Not entirely." Wang Jiu explained, "I didn't plan to participate in the main event anyway, so as long as the opponent intends to win, I'd conveniently surrender. Since you were obviously all out just now, I naturally surrendered early to avoid wasting everyone's time."

"This..." Shen Qingming was dumbfounded, "You mean you'd surrender to others too?"

"Yes." Wang Jiu confirmed, "As long as the opponent wants to win, I'd surrender."

"Why!?" Shen Qingming couldn't understand.

The old referee, too, was impatient and took two steps forward to ask, "Why, give a reason!"

Normally, if a participant confirms surrender twice, it's an automatic loss. But Wang Jiu, being the hot favorite to win and in such a promising opening match, couldn't be disregarded so carelessly.

Wang Jiu said, "I'm not interested in the Cyan Cloud Tournament itself; I entered the qualifiers to help a friend prove a point. Personally, I don't intend to play games with a bunch of kids with vastly different skill levels."

"...You mean the Cyan Cloud Tournament isn't challenging enough, so you're unwilling to participate?"

Wang Jiu confirmed, "Yes."

The old referee suddenly felt a choke in his chest, stuck between going up or down. After a long pause, he finally collected himself and asked in a deep voice, "Do you know that in hundreds of years, nobody has dared to underestimate the heroes of the world like this in the Cyan Cloud Tournament!"

"I haven't meticulously reviewed the records of all the previous tournaments, but since you say so, it probably is true."

"So you're still planning to use that arrogant reason to abandon the match?!" As he spoke, a chilling gleam appeared in the old man's eyes, a gaze penetrating like a sharp sword that even cultivators of the Cloud Surge Realm would find hard to withstand.

However, Wang Jiu merely nodded calmly, "Yes."

The old referee was somewhat incredulous, pondering for a long time before finally sighing, "Looks like perhaps we old folks are the ones underestimating everyone. Since you've made up your mind... so be it!"

With that, the old referee swung his arm down...

"Wait!" Shen Qingming firmly grabbed the old man's arm—though the disparity in their strengths made the young girl's face turn red in an instant, the powerful force of the Immovable Tyrant Body still allowed her to barely hold up the referee's hand. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"I object! What is this? If anyone should surrender, it's me. I can't accept a victory like this!" Shen Qingming said with a flushed face, "If we lose, we lose together!"

The old referee glanced at Shen Qingming and nodded, "A spirited child, not bad."

Wang Jiu, however, was not pleased, "What right do you have to surrender?"

"What?"

Wang Jiu said, "Get it clear, between the two of us, I was the first to surrender, and I've already had the referee's permission. So I've won this surrender match, and as a loser, you should uphold basic morals and accept this outcome."

"Huh?"

"If you don't like an unearned victory, then at least accept a justified defeat, right? You've lost in the surrender match to me, so congratulations on winning the opening match; I wish you great success in the upcoming rounds..."

Wang Jiu said while preparing to leave the stage, but was held back by Shen Qingming tugging on his sleeve—of course, it didn't matter if the illusion had substance or not. Shen Qingming stepped right in front of Wang Jiu.

"I still think this isn't right..."

"That's exactly right." Wang Jiu said earnestly, "You need to fully consider your own level of intelligence; if you can't figure it out, leave it for later and focus on dealing with what's in front of you first."

"But..."

"Come on, the referee's waiting for you to confirm the result, go on." Wang Jiu reassured her, patting Shen Qingming on the head. "Trust me, would I set you up for failure?"

The young girl lowered her head, at a loss for words.

"Fine, alright then, this is because you insisted, not because I wholeheartedly agree."