Chapter 23: Challenge Now, Shouldn't It Be Too Late? ...
When Mu Fuyun woke up again, two hours had passed.
It was afternoon, and the sunlight above had already evaporated the dew in the mountains and forests without a trace. The lush greenery was wrapped in bright golden light, which was particularly comfortable.
Mu Fuyun sat on the stone for a while, feeling that something was wrong.
She didn't know how long she had been unconscious, but judging by the sky, it didn't seem to be long.
But her Taoist robe was spotless, her whole body felt refreshed, and between her lips, there seemed to be a lingering taste of clear spring water mixed with lotus seed sugar. She didn't feel at all like she had been asleep for too long and was dehydrated after waking up.
She didn't know if it was an illusion, but in her dream, she seemed to sense that there was someone always by her side, and whenever she was upset, she would be comforted quickly.
Maybe this isn't an illusion...
She was thinking in a daze, and before she fully woke up, she felt her stomach was empty and she was so hungry that her chest was sticking to her back.
The last time she fainted was because she had just broken through, her breathing was disordered, and she was extremely hungry. Having learned her lesson, she quickly took out the lotus seed candy she had brought with her and took two of them to her mouth when her vision went dark again.
Only when the sweet and bitter taste melts in your mouth and flows into your stomach can you get temporary relief.
She slapped an energy-saving talisman on herself, stood up with a pale face, and was planning to go back to the hut to change clothes, then go to Qinglu to find some food and wait for the points competition to begin.
But when he walked a short distance, he saw the jade token in the mustard seed bag flash several times in succession.
She thought about it, then stopped, untied the mustard seed bag, and took out the jade token to look at it.
There are not many people who would send her messages on weekdays. Apart from Chu Ye and Song Xinghe, there is only Xu Huaiyan, and the daily routine class reminders of the outer sect class. Such a rapid message might be about something urgent.
Somehow, she had a bad feeling in her heart.
Before she could see the words on the jade token clearly, she heard a familiar, angry voice coming from above her head.
"Mu, Fu, Yun!"
Song Xinghe flew down from the sky above the forest on his sword, his pair of unruly eyes gloomy to the extreme, and his usually unruly figure now looked inexplicably embarrassed.
…
Near the Qinglu trial platform, the participating disciples had already lined up in a long queue.
The names and points on the stone tablet are updated every two quarters, and the rankings of many disciples have risen by several places.
When someone rises, someone else will naturally fall.
If you lose a competition, you will lose points. Some people don’t have many points to begin with, and after losing several games in a row, they are about to be at the bottom. Once the points deducted are below zero, they will be eliminated.
In order to avoid being eliminated so quickly, some people set their sights on Mu Fuyun.
In the three or four years of being in the outer sect, most of the disciples had fought Zhan Yao. Naturally, no one could match her, but even if they lost, they could usually hold out for ten moves. Unlike Mu Fuyun, who was knocked incapacitated after just four moves, it was truly impressive.
At first, due to the natural aloofness of those who practice Taoism, and also because there were elders and senior brothers and sisters from various peaks watching the battle from a high place, no one was willing to take the initiative to challenge Mu Fuyun.
Challenging the weak means you are not confident in your own strength.
However, with the changes in points, face has become less important. Being able to continue to stay on the trial stage, even for just one more day, is better than being eliminated.
The first person to write the three words "Mu Fuyun" on the competition field was a male disciple ranked 73rd in Class C.
When the instructor on the scene called out "Mu Fuyun", many people looked over there.
Some were surprised, some were contemptuous, and some were curious, all wanting to see what the outcome of this competition would be.
But the instructor called out Mu Fuyun's name three times, but he still didn't see him come out to respond. In the end, he had no choice but to declare this disciple the winner.
He won effortlessly, pulling himself back from the brink of elimination and earning himself another chance to compete with others.
The other disciples were surprised and began to be eager to try.
Soon, more and more people chose to fight Mu Fuyun, but she never showed up.
Two hours after the points race began, Mu Fuyun's ranking had dropped from 64th to 77th.
Excluding the three disciples who had already been eliminated, she had fallen to last place. If she lost another game, her points would drop below zero and she would be completely eliminated.
Xu Huaiyan had just won a competition and came to a conclusion. Standing in front of the stone tablet, he felt like his heart was about to jump out of his chest. He kept praying in his heart that no one else would come.
However, things did not go as planned. Soon, the voice of the instructor was heard from the newly vacated competition area.
"Mu Fuyun, Chen Daohe challenges Mu Fuyun." The instructor's voice was extremely flat, without any emotion. He planned to do the same as the previous times. After shouting three times, he would directly count Mu Fuyun as a loser so that he could be eliminated.
He has been an instructor in the outer sect for so many years, what kind of people has he not seen?
He had seen students who suddenly fell ill before the exam and missed the test, or those who would do anything to win the test, but he had never seen a disciple who came in temporarily and didn't even show up for the final test.
Such an irresponsible disciple should have been eliminated earlier. He would never be able to enter the inner gate anyway.
Xu Huaiyan's heart sank. He quickly took out the jade token and sent a message to Mu Fuyun, urging her to come quickly. He didn't know if Junior Brother Song had found her yet. If she didn't come soon, she would really be eliminated.
"Mu Fuyun, Chen Daohe challenges Mu Fuyun."
The instructor had called his name for the second time, and the inner sect senior brother in charge of the same competition venue had already prepared a cinnabar pen to draw a cross on Mu Fuyun's name.
Chen Daohe, who had made the challenge, also sat down on the sidelines, intending to take this time to rest for a while. As long as he won this game, his points would be more stable, and he could then challenge a classmate of equal strength. Even if he lost, he would not be eliminated immediately.
Xu Huaiyan was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. Without caring about anything else, he quickly stood up and said, "Teacher, can you be flexible for a little while? This is Junior Sister Mu's last chance. If she loses this match again, she will be eliminated!"
He has a gentle temperament and is usually polite and courteous. Apart from the two times when he stood up for Mu Fuyun, he has hardly ever had any conflicts with his classmates.
At this time, he was standing in the audience. In order to make the teacher hear him clearly, he raised his voice intentionally, which immediately attracted a lot of people's attention.
"This Xu Huaiyan, is he crazy?"
"Yeah, he always speaks up for Mu Fuyun. It's ok on normal days, but during today's martial arts test, he couldn't tell right from wrong. I really don't know what kind of curse Mu Fuyun put on him."
Even Zhan Yao, who was fighting in the competition arena, couldn't be distracted. While blocking the opponent's sword, he turned his head to see what was happening here.
She was the most dazzling one among the many disciples, and the eyes of several elders watching the battle were glued to her.
The elders came here today and all wanted to see the top student in the Tianzi class. Seeing that she was distracted, they subconsciously followed her gaze and looked towards Xu Huaiyan.
On the field, the instructor looked at Xu Huaiyan, who looked pleading and anxious, and his tone was unusually stern: "Xu Huaiyan, the sect has its own rules, and we won't make exceptions for anyone. Moreover, to be absent for such an important assessment as the martial arts test for such a long time shows that you don't take it seriously at all. I don't think the elders would welcome such a person."
Xu Huaiyan's face flushed a little red, and he wanted to say something to buy some time, but his nervousness was so intense that he couldn't say anything.
The elders on high couldn't help shaking their heads when they saw his anxious and stubborn look.
"This kid is a good prospect, but he's a bit stubborn."
"What's wrong with his personality? I think he's good." Fairy Yaojin Jiang Hanqiu looked at Xu Huaiyan thoughtfully, with a hint of admiration in her tone, "At least, he's willing to fight for his fellow disciples, unlike some people who just want to step on others to climb up."
This refers to people like Chen Daohe who deliberately challenge absent fellow disciples.
People like them are not strong enough and will never make it into the top fifteen no matter what. If they dare to challenge those ahead of them and compete with the strong ones before being eliminated, they will be admired by others.
But they insist on picking on the weak. Do they think that by doing so, the elders will take a second look at them?
Another elder from Taiqing Peak, Qin, disagreed and said, "If we want to fight for it, we also have to see if this fellow disciple is worthy of it."
"The third time, Mu Fuyun, Chen Daohe challenges Mu Fuyun——"
When the instructor called out the answer for the third time, it looked like the outcome was about to be decided, and everyone's interest waned.
Zhan Yao looked at the empty competition stage, a look of disappointment flashed across her face, then she withdrew her gaze and concentrated on dealing with her opponent.
I don’t know if it’s because he was holding his breath, but his moves became more fierce.
Chen Daohe sat on the sidelines, closed his eyes, and meditated peacefully.
The pen in the hand of the inner sect senior brother who was in charge of recording had already landed on Mu Fuyun's name.
"Time is up, this competition——"
Xu Huaiyan clenched his fists, feeling that his heart was hanging in the air and was about to fall.
At the critical moment, the jade token in his hand suddenly lit up, and it was two words from Mu Fuyun, who had not responded until now:
Here it comes.
Xu Huaiyan's eyes lit up and he subconsciously looked up and around.
I saw a very simple long sword, with a whistling sound as the air was rubbed, flying across the blue sky and pointing directly to the trial platform. Under the gaze of everyone, it was steadily inserted between Chen Daohe's crossed legs.
“This, this is…”
Chen Daohe was startled and stared in shock at the trembling sword in front of him, with cold sweat on his back. If the sword had deviated a little more, it would not have pierced the stone surface of the trial platform.
He was stunned for a moment, then quickly grabbed his sword and jumped up from the ground.
At this time, Mu Fuyun, wearing a gray and white Taoist robe and with his hair tied in red gauze, jumped off Song Xinghe's sword, landed on the trial platform, and clasped his fists towards everyone.
"Sorry, I wasted some time on my previous breakthrough. Shouldn't we still have time to compete now?"
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