Chapter 217: Yes, I’m a Mute in Real Life
Zhang Sheng couldn’t use potions. This meant the Broken Sect’s greatest advantage was unusable, so he had to go for a quick victory.
So, he didn’t hold back. As Xue Xihe resisted, he unleashed a Palm Thunder strike directly at the scroll painting.
"CRACK—"
A bolt of lightning struck the scroll, hitting the plum blossom tree head-on.
The plum blossom tree trembled violently, its blossoms continuously falling, which proved the attack had dealt significant damage.
The members of the other sects were even more shocked.
"He knows Palm Thunder too?!"
The Palm Thunder Cultivation Technique wasn’t cheap on the market, and it was hard to come by!
Because of its overwhelming power, many disciples coveted it but couldn’t obtain it.
Moreover, Palm Thunder laid the foundation for Thunder Element Techniques, which clashed with many other cultivation techniques.
If one wanted to continue cultivating it, they could only purchase Thunder Element Techniques from then on. But Thunder Element Techniques had always been the expensive and rare kind on the market.
Han Tian knew that the Broken Sect had quite a few good things now.
Fortunately, they had already prepared an excuse. They had discovered how to make Spiritual Wine and had been running a business. On top of that, they’d luckily figured out how to cultivate a higher yield of Second-stage Spiritual Grass.
’Business is good, so what’s wrong with the Sect having a bit of money to help out its disciples?’
’As for how they got the cultivation technique and learned to cultivate Second-stage Spiritual Grass?’
’Of course, the Feique Sect gave it to them. Their Longevity Sect was just a small, affiliated sect, after all.’
Fang Shuiguan couldn’t help but ask Han Tian, "Is he the son of one of your sect’s elders? How does he have so many good things?"
Han Tian said, "It’s just one Magic Treasure and Palm Thunder. That’s not so much, is it?"
"Not so much?" Fang Shuiguan was exasperated. "That Magic Treasure alone represents a hefty price, and Palm Thunder isn’t something an ordinary disciple can get their hands on."
Looking at the silent Han Tian, Fang Shuiguan suddenly had a premonition. "Don’t tell me you know Palm Thunder too?"
Han Tian’s mind raced. "Of course I do. The four of us disciples who came this time are the pillars of the Feique Sect’s Qi Refinement Realm. They give all the good stuff to us first."
’It’ll be exposed later when I fight anyway.’
’Right now, their Sect was relying on Palm Thunder to hold its own. Other techniques on the market were more expensive but not as powerful as Palm Thunder, so why waste extra money on them?’
’As long as no one discovers that most of the disciples know Palm Thunder, this story will hold up.’
’Besides, Wang’an County is safe. Who would use Palm Thunder for no reason inside the county? People only use it when they go out to kill demon beasts.’
Fang Shuiguan came to a realization, then said, "All four of you practice Palm Thunder? Did someone trick you? Once you start with a Thunder Element Technique, you have to keep practicing techniques of the same element, or the Spiritual Energy in your body will become chaotic. The Thunder Element is too expensive, and the techniques are rare. The gains don’t make up for the losses, Fellow Daoist."
It wasn’t that the disciples participating in the competition couldn’t afford it, but this was the main reason they generally didn’t practice it.
The further you progressed, the more expensive it became. Small sects really couldn’t afford to play that game.
Han Tian feigned indifference. "I’m only in the Qi Refinement Realm right now. Why worry about the future?"
Seeing his carefree attitude, Fang Shuiguan couldn’t help but admire his open-mindedness. "That’s true."
Seeing his expression, Han Tian asked, "Aren’t you watching the match?"
Fang Shuiguan smiled. "Fellow Daoist, you still underestimate us. It won’t be easy to defeat our strongest Qi Refinement Realm disciple, Senior Brother Xue, with just Palm Thunder and a single Magic Treasure."
Sure enough, just as he finished speaking, Zhang Sheng’s next few Palm Thunder strikes landed, making the plum blossoms tremble violently.
But it was clear that someone participating in the competition would have more than just a few tricks up his sleeve.
Xue Xihe, briefly trapped by the scroll, watched as the plum blossom trees suddenly transformed into clusters of flowers.
These clusters then re-formed, constantly shifting within the scroll until they merged into one giant sphere of blossoms, which shot directly toward the center of the painting.
Zhang Sheng’s Spiritual Energy was rapidly depleting as he felt an immense force of resistance from within the scroll.
His opponent’s decade-plus of experience at the Late-stage Qi Refining was not something a current player could stand against.
Zhang Sheng gritted his teeth and held on for a dozen or so breaths. He felt the scroll trembling more and more violently and realized his Magic Treasure would be damaged if he didn’t retract it. He had no choice but to recall the treasure and switch back to attacking with Palm Thunder.
But in the next second, a giant tree sprouted from beneath Zhang Sheng’s feet.
This tree was different from the plum blossom trees before. It was completely bare, with nothing on it, yet it continued to stretch and spread. Although Zhang Sheng dodged at his maximum speed, the roots pursued him relentlessly, as if they were impossible to shake.
On the other side, Xue Xihe held a Magic Treasure floating in his palm. It looked exactly like the tree. He smiled faintly and said, "Be careful, Fellow Daoist."
At this point, Zhang Sheng knew he couldn’t win.
He opened his mouth and said decisively, "I... I surrender!"
His opponent was a bit surprised, but Xue Xihe also decisively withdrew his hand.
Fang Shuiguan gave a slight smile, not looking too smug, and said to Han Tian, "Has your sect brother not been in many fights?"
Han Tian nodded.
’The players have only ever fought demon beasts; they have no experience fighting other people.’
Fang Shuiguan: "No wonder. I could see his moves were very unrefined, and he wasn’t very skilled at using his Magic Treasure."
These things all require practice. Just because you know how to use something doesn’t mean you’ve mastered it.
Either that, or it’s purely a matter of talent.
’Besides, their biggest golden finger had been disabled.’
[No potion-chugging? Isn’t that a death sentence for our Sect?]
[It’s acceptable. If a player could beat someone with over a decade of hard cultivation right off the bat, I’d lose my mind.]
[I don’t know about that. Isn’t it mainly that this batch of players isn’t that far behind other Sect Disciples? They just rely on their golden finger to level up fast, so their foundation really isn’t as stable as others’.]
[For someone who’s never fought before, that was a pretty good performance.]
[Sigh, I really thought this was like watching a TV drama. I almost thought Zhang Sheng could win right from the start.]
[Zhang Sheng’s Spirit Root talent must be average, right? I saw his Spiritual Energy depleting so fast, it’s different from when the streamer usually fights.]
[Then what’s gonna happen? Is the streamer screwed too?]
[Is he really mute?]
Zhang Sheng also felt a bit lost.
Although he knew he might lose, being eliminated in the first round without even putting up a fight was a bit hard to accept.
After he came out, An Xiu walked over and patted his shoulder. "It’s okay. We were just here to gain experience anyway. We just heard that Xue Xihe is the Luomei Sect’s strongest at the Qi Refinement Realm right now. It’s normal that you couldn’t beat him."
Honghuang winked and nudged him. "The main thing is they didn’t let us fight a war of attrition. If it was a war of attrition, we’d be invincible!"
Zhang Sheng chuckled at his antics.
On the other side, the commenters on Han Tian’s livestream didn’t really care much about Zhang Sheng’s loss. They were only concerned about one thing now.
They wanted Han Tian to go ask Zhang Sheng.
Han Tian hesitated for a long time before tentatively sending Zhang Sheng a private message.
[Han Tian: Hey man, I’m sorry. I know you’re upset about losing the match, but can I ask you a question? I’ll send you a red packet as a fee for answering; you don’t have to reply if you don’t want to. You know I have a lot of viewers watching my stream, and they just want to ask... in real life, are you really unable to speak?]
Since Zhang Sheng had already chosen to tell Honghuang and An Xiu, it proved he didn’t mind.
So he replied to the private message directly.
[Zhang Sheng: Yes, I’m mute in real life.]
As soon as those words appeared, Han Tian showed them to his viewers.
Instantly, the livestream chat exploded.