Chapter 14: The Unintended Victor: Shen Zhaoqing’s Bizarre Winning Streak

As the disciple responsible for instruction let out a loud cry, Shen Zhaoqing’s spirit surged.

Here it comes!

She ascended the arena with light, quick steps, amidst the whispered remarks of her fellow disciples—’There goes that good-for-nothing who got onto Tranquil Reflection Cliff through the back door’—bounding onto the stage.

Across the arena, a burly man stood, two heads taller than her and as strong as a bear. This was Wang Tietou, a fifth-level Qi Condensation cultivator.

His `Mountain-Splitting Fist` technique was said to move with the force of a tiger, powerful enough to fell a wild boar with a single punch. As Shen Zhaoqing gazed at his massive, pot-sized fists, she nodded in satisfaction.

‘Indeed, this Senior Brother clearly possesses formidable strength and exceptional skill,’ she mused. ‘He’ll undoubtedly send me flying off the stage in precisely one second, without dragging it out a moment longer.’

“Senior Brother Wang, please guide me,” Shen Zhaoqing said, clasping her fists together with a professional, practiced smile. “Actually, Senior Brother, my spiritual energy is quite weak; I’ll be knocked away instantly. So, please, could you go easy on me?”

Upon hearing this, Wang Tietou chuckled good-naturedly, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth. “Junior Sister Shen, you’re too polite. Fists and feet have no eyes, Senior Brother will… er…”

His words abruptly caught in his throat mid-sentence.

Wang Tietou’s eyes fixated on Shen Zhaoqing, his expression morphing from good-natured to astonished, then from astonishment to unbridled ecstasy.

He felt it!

The bottleneck that had plagued him for a full six months! That accursed spiritual energy barrier, which had prevented his breakthrough to the sixth level of Qi Condensation, had now… now loosened!

An unprecedented surge of inspiration, like a celestial river pouring down, flooded his Sea of Consciousness!

The profound mysteries of the `Mountain-Splitting Fist`, and the earth-elemental spiritual energy between heaven and earth, suddenly felt within his grasp at this very moment!

“I… I’m about to break through!”

Wang Tietou roared to the heavens, his spiritual energy instantly running wild throughout his body. He swelled uncontrollably, like a balloon suddenly overinflated.

Shen Zhaoqing, who had just begun circulating her `Clear Heart Spirit Guiding Art`, was utterly bewildered. ‘What in the world are you comprehending, buddy? We haven’t even started fighting yet! This isn’t how you fake an injury!’

Before she could fully process the situation, a thunderous crash echoed.

Wang Tietou’s spiritual energy completely spiraled out of control, creating a powerful wave of qi that propelled him backward. He was launched directly off the stage.

He arced through the air in a perfect parabola, landing with a loud ‘thud’ squarely beneath the arena, where he immediately fell unconscious.

The entire venue descended into a deathly silence.

The referee disciple in charge of Arena G was stunned for a long moment before stammering out, “Wang… Wang Tietou’s spiritual energy ran wild, causing him to fall from the arena. This match… Shen Zhaoqing wins!”

Shen Zhaoqing was speechless.

“?”

“??”

She stood alone on the empty arena, utterly disheveled by the breeze. ‘This script is all wrong! Where was the promised instant knockout? How did my opponent just spontaneously combust?’

The disciples below the stage erupted into a clamor.

“What just happened? Why did Wang Tietou just fall off?”

“I don’t know, it looked like… he had an on-the-spot breakthrough, then suffered a cultivation deviation?”

“No way, is Shen Zhaoqing’s luck really that good? She won without even moving?”

Amidst the buzzing discussions, Shen Zhaoqing walked off the stage in a daze, feeling as though her worldview had been utterly shattered. ‘It must have been a coincidence,’ she told herself. ‘Yes, definitely a coincidence.’

Thus, she braced herself for the second match.

****

Her next opponent was Zhao Ling’er, a sixth-level Qi Condensation cultivator renowned for her exquisite `Butterfly-Through-Flowers Hand` technique and nimble footwork.

Having learned her lesson from the previous match, Shen Zhaoqing resolved to act immediately upon stepping onto the stage. ‘I can’t wait! I must take the initiative, I must seek defeat!’

“Junior Sister Zhao, prepare yourself!” she bellowed, then delivered a soft, feeble punch. Its speed was so agonizingly slow it resembled a movie played in slow motion, her entire posture screaming, ‘Come hit me!’

Seeing this, a flicker of disdain crossed Zhao Ling’er’s eyes. Her figure swayed, and she darted forward like a butterfly weaving through flowers, her delicate hand rising to strike Shen Zhaoqing’s shoulder.

‘It’s done!’ Shen Zhaoqing rejoiced inwardly, already prepared to be sent flying by the palm strike.

However, Zhao Ling’er’s palm abruptly halted three inches from Shen Zhaoqing. The junior sister, famed for her agile movements, now stood frozen in place, as if her acupuncture points had been sealed.

A look of confusion initially flickered in her beautiful eyes, only to be swiftly replaced by immense delight. That movement barrier that had troubled her for months, the ‘controlling form with wind’ secret of the `Butterfly-Through-Flowers Hand` that she could never quite grasp, had suddenly become clear the moment she caught a faint, almost imperceptible scent of alcohol from Shen Zhaoqing!

“I understand now!”

Zhao Ling’er’s pretty face flushed with excitement, her spiritual energy surging freely within her as it began to circulate wildly. She then took two steps back, her cheeks still flushed, and looked at Shen Zhaoqing.

“Thank you, Senior Sister Shen,” Zhao Ling’er said, bowing with clasped hands in gratitude.

Immediately afterward, she followed in Wang Tietou’s footsteps. Having just comprehended a new realm, and still unfamiliar with controlling her rapidly expanding spiritual energy, she stumbled, her body swaying. Zhao Ling’er executed a ‘Wild Goose Landing on Flat Sand’ maneuver, plummeting off the arena.

The referee announced, “…Shen Zhaoqing, wins.”

Shen Zhaoqing was speechless. Slowly, ever so slowly, she raised a hand and slapped herself. It didn’t hurt. ‘So, this isn’t a dream after all.’

The spectators below had moved past discussion and into outright shock.

“Holy crap! Another one! Another one had an epiphany on the spot and then fell off!”

“This Shen Zhaoqing must be cursed, right? Whoever fights her breaks through, and whoever breaks through has bad luck!”

“Could she be some legendary ‘Child of Fortune’? My cultivation technique hasn’t broken through in ages either.”

The unspoken words that followed were obvious. Shen Zhaoqing, however, had no desire to hear them.

She numbly walked off the stage, numbly awaited her third match, and then numbly watched her third opponent—a senior brother cultivating `Blazing Fire Palm`—suddenly comprehend the profound mystery of ‘Lotus Born from Fire’ the instant he unleashed a palm strike toward her. Unable to control the surging flames in his palm, he burned his own hand, cried out in agony, and leaped off the arena…

“Arena D, number 3, Shen Zhaoqing wins!”

“Arena B, number 1, Shen Zhaoqing wins!”

“Arena A, number 8, Shen Zhaoqing wins!”

Throughout the afternoon, Shen Zhaoqing won five consecutive matches. From start to finish, she didn’t make a single move, nor did she even lose a strand of hair.

Without exception, all her opponents experienced a burst of inspiration and an on-the-spot breakthrough during their battles with her, only to eliminate themselves for various bizarre reasons.

Some suffered cultivation deviations and blew themselves up, others slipped and rolled off, and one even comprehended a new sword technique only to fumble his sword, rip his own clothes, and withdraw from the competition in mortified embarrassment…

The methods were endless, each more spectacular than the last. Shen Zhaoqing’s name, once that of an ignored ‘good-for-nothing,’ suddenly soared to become the biggest dark horse of the Outer Sect Grand Competition.

Standing in the center of the arena, Shen Zhaoqing received the gazes of thousands of disciples—some reverent, some jealous, some fanatical—and felt a dizzying sensation.

She didn’t understand. Shen Zhaoqing truly didn’t understand. Winning streak = constantly on stage = no time to sneak away = no time to go down the mountain = no wine.

“This is absurd,” Shen Zhaoqing declared, utterly devoid of hope, as she gazed at the rings of cultivators surrounding her, all eager to challenge her. “This is truly, truly too damn absurd.”