A few matches transpired before it was finally my turn. My opponent turned out to be someone from the Azure Water Sect, a lady by the name of Sui Mei.
She pointed a sword at me the moment I stepped onto the stage, her qi bristling furiously. Water blades were forming around her, and when the referee gave her a warning look, she pulled back her water blades reluctantly.
I didn't understand why she held such a grudge against me. I had never met her before, didn't even know who the hell she was. No, wait…now that I thought about it, she looked kind of familiar. She was one of the Azure Water Sect disciples who followed Bai Ning Shuang around, and was part of Lan Bei Er's group when I met them at the Verdant Forest, and also when they visited the Lan estate for the auction so long ago.
Be that as it may be, I still had no idea why she harbored such a grudge against me.
"Let's have a bet, if you dare," Sui Mei said, still pointing her sword at me. "If you lose, you'll have to divorce Junior Bei Er immediately."
"Why the fuck would I do that?!" I yelled. "And why are all of you so obsessed with my marriage with Bei Er? Just leave us alone!"
"I knew you were a coward," Sui Mei sneered. "Someone like you isn't worthy of Junior Bei Er. Divorce her right now!"
I shook my head in disbelief. These people were insane or obsessed. They had to be. There was no other explanation.
"Why do you care so much about other people's marriages?!" Someone from the audience yelled. "Just shut up and begin the match already!"
"Yeah, other people get married, it has nothing to do with you! Why are you such a busybody? Go get married yourself! Why you care so much about other people's husbands?"
"Yeah, just begin the match already," I grumbled with a glance at the referee. He sighed and nodded. Sui Mei immediately launched herself at me, her numerous water blades raining down on me. I glanced up with a sigh and responded with Shadow Sword Storm.
Shadow swords clashed against water blades, both hails of projectiles exploding and dissipating harmlessly overhead. Then Sui Mei reached me, her sword thrusting toward my chest.
"If I can kill you, then Junior Bei Er won't have to divorce! She'll just be a widow and can marry someone else!"
"I don't think that's how it works," I said, stepping to the side and allowing her sword to go past me. "I'm pretty sure that in this era and setting, a widow can't simply marry another man because she has married into her husband's family. Unless her in-laws allow her to carry out a post death divorce to free her of her responsibilities to her in-laws, or the royal family or government permits it, she can't just marry another man. It doesn't work like in modern times."
"Shut up! Then she'll just have to divorce you after you die!"
Either way, she wanted me dead. This was getting ridiculous.
Swinging my hand, I struck her with a basic attack that would probably have killed her normally, but her body exploded into countless droplets of water. I watched, amazed, as the water all flowed away and reformed to her human body some distance away.
"Oh, that's a neat trick."
"You can't defeat me!" Sui Mei hollered, raising her sword and attacking once more. "My Sacred Water Body technique renders me invulnerable to all physical attacks!"
"Uh huh," I said wearily and smacked her sword aside. Even the weapon appeared to be made of water, splashing into moisture when my hand shattered it. However, Sui Mei looked appalled and stunned by the destruction of her reforming sword.
"How the hell are you able to break a sword with your bare hands?!"
My only response was to kick her, dismantling her body into several tidal waves that quickly splashed away to reform elsewhere. She coughed out some blood when she regained her human form, clutching her midriff where I had kicked her earlier.
"How!? You shouldn't have been able to hurt me…"
"There's no such thing as an invincible or invulnerable technique, otherwise everyone will learn it. And other techniques will be useless before your elemental technique." I shrugged. Sui Mei spat and then thrust her sword at me once more, more water blades following her strike.
I weaved through them, not even bothering with Shadow Sword Storm this time. The water blades broke apart against the ground, turning into vapor or moisture that drifted across the arena. Then Sui Mei's sword stabbed through the air where my body was, only for me to kick her. She defended herself reflexively, her body blowing up into water before surging away and reforming some distance away.
Dropping to her knees, she coughed out more blood, her eyes wide.
"This can't be! You're just trash!"
Refusing to believe the outcome of the battle in front of her eyes, she propelled herself forward amidst a titanic tidal wave, but I simply punched it. The tsunami broke apart the second my fist smashed through its core, splashing all over the ground and pooling harmlessly at my feet. Then I smashed Sui Mei's sword with my elbow and slapped her face, sending her watery body hurtling across the stage. She hit the ground and turned into a puddle before reforming.
Despite her watery regeneration, her cheek remained swollen. At least her neck didn't snap like Jian Shen's in the first round.
"Ha ha ha ha! She called him trash, but she's the one being thrashed!"
"Why are all of brother Hei Ye's opponents so deluded?"
"I feel like they are forcing themselves to play some villainous role and act evil so that he's justified in slapping their faces later."
"How?! This is impossible!" Sui Mei wiped the blood from her mouth and rubbed at her swollen cheek. "How are you overwhelming my Sacred Water Body techniques!?"
"A battle between cultivators is a battle of qi," I replied with a shrug. Sui Mei began trembling under my overwhelming gaze, feeling as if she was staring straight into the face of death itself. "My qi will crush whatever petty tricks and techniques you might use."
Sui Mei shuddered and backed off for a second, and then her mind snapped. With a scream, she charged at me again, her sword swirling with a whirlpool. I watched her close in on me, but didn't move a single step.
Instead, I caught her sword with my fingers, and then snapped the blade. The metal then dissolved into water, spilling on the ground in droplets. Sui Mei stumbled forward, only for me to punch her in the face.
I didn't care if she was a girl. I still had no intention of pulling my punches. Spinning around, I kicked her so hard that her body exploded into water, resembling the T1000 from that awesome Terminator movie.
Noticing that the puddles of water were moving a lot slower now, I patiently watched and waited for them to reform. Sui Mei was bent over on the ground, no longer able to stand up straight. She wheezed and heaved, crouching on all fours and spilling blood. She winced and clutched her solar plexus.
"My ribs…even with my Sacred Water Body technique, they remain broken…"
"Who's the trash now, eh?!" One of the spectators taunted from above.
"Ha ha ha, talking so big, calling other people trash, declaring that she'll kill him and demanding that he divorces his wife, but now she ends up getting beaten up to such a pathetic state!"
Sui Mei seethed and tried to get up, only for her watery body to be blown apart by a storm of shadow swords. For a moment, it appeared as if she was pinned to the ground, impaled by the black blades despite her crumbling body dissolving into water to slip away. A few seconds later, she reformed some distance away, blood streaming down multiple wounds where my Shadow Sword Storm had punctured her.
"You…" she spluttered. I cocked my head and took a step toward her, and she held up her hands. She was so pitiful that she couldn't even conjure her sword anymore. Blood dribbled from her mouth, spilling onto the ground. She took a deep breath and shuddered, but the defiance remained in her gaze. "Fine, I acknowledge your strength. There are very few people in our generation capable of competing against you. Your power is overwhelming, and you probably have the highest cultivation realm among the youngsters. I surrender."
"The match is over!" The referee was quick to capitalize on the opportunity to end the match without bloodshed. I didn't intend to kill anyone in the first place, though. "The winner is Hei Ye!"
"She finally opened her eyes to reality!" One of the spectators exclaimed in shock.
"Hey, at least she's not groveling," another spectator said. "I thought she would be begging for mercy or something."
"Even so, you're not worthy of Junior Bei Er!" Sui Mei insisted. "Strength is pointless without background! You're a nobody, you have no status, no money, and no backing! What's the use of Junior Bei Er marrying you? You're just someone leeching off her status as the next castellan of Azure Cloud City! What do you have to contribute to her family when you have no social status or backing?"
"Senior Sui Mei!" Lan Bei Er shouted from her spectator seat. "You've gone too far! If it weren't for my husband, I wouldn't have succeeded the position of next castellan! The Yun family and perhaps the Cang family would have taken the position of castellan from my father! It was only because of my husband passing all three trials on my behalf that the position of castellan remains with the Lan family! So don't talk as if you know anything!"
"So what?" Sui Mei sneered stubbornly. "Anyone you marry could have helped you pass the trials anyway. Senior Cang Qiong, for example, would have easily pass the trials on your behalf, and he has social status, wealth and backing to boot! What does this Hei Ye have?"
At least she was no longer calling me trash.
"No backing, huh?"
Everyone glanced up at the young voice, especially me. I blinked, hardly believing what I was hearing. Why would he be here…?
Huang Qian Jin strode down the steps of the spectator seats, accompanied as always by his shadow, Hui Ying. The butler stayed one step behind his young master, one hand placed on the front of his robes. I gaped at the both of them, wondering why they were here. They weren't from any of the seven major sects, I was sure of that.
"You…" Sui Mei stammered, turning pale. Huang Qian Jin turned to fix her with an indifferent stare.
"What if were to say that brother Hei Ye is my sworn brother? Will you insist that he has no backing?"
"What?!" the spectators were in an uproar.
"Hey, who's that kid?" One of them whispered. "Why is he dressed so flamboyantly?"
"Are you stupid?" His friend snapped, smacking him in the head. "How can you not recognize the fourteenth prince?! That's Huang Qian Jin of the royal family, and his steward, Hui Ying!"
"Say what?! What is the fourteenth prince doing here?!"
"Not many people know about him…the fourteen prince always keeps a low profile."
"Yet he's coming out to the open to declare Hei Ye as his sworn brother?! What's going on?"
While everyone murmured excitedly, I couldn't help but gape at Huang Qian Jin. What the fuck!? He was the fourteenth prince!? Why didn't he tell me?! Then again, why would he tell me? It wasn't something he would want to boast about.
No wonder he was so rich. He was from the imperial family ruling over Huang Kingdom. I should have known when I heard that his family name was the same as the name of the kingdom. Good heavens.
"So…" Huang Qian Jin continued to stare at a shivering Sui Mei, ignoring my shock. "Are you going to insist that my sworn brother is not worthy of his wife?"