To every member of the audience who had been following every fight of this tournament, Li Yidao’s name was one shrouded with a veil of enigma if not a hidden tinge of terror.
No matter how powerful an opponent he encountered up until today, he would always emerge triumphant by finishing them off with only one single stroke.
One stroke to rule them all, and in every contest, win them.
Whether it was Lin Buyan, the junior chieftain of the Golden Condor Clan, or even the Little Heavenly Devil; he remained victorious as always, defeating every single one of them with only one blow using his saber.
More intriguing was the fact that literally, no one could ever see what happened every time.
The fights always ended before anyone could see his saber or how it even looked.
The rest of the Heavenly Legend contestants, who were also the newest generation of Brilliance Immortal Star Region elites as well as well-learned and erudite intellectuals themselves, had never seen such ways of combat before.
One could even argue that this had long transcended the usual sense of saber combat disciplines.
This was a form of witchery, said some.
Even the envoy of the Heavenly Fox Clan who had been observing Li Mu for quite some time could barely comment too.
What criticisms or mockery that were formerly intended for him was gone – gone with the many enemies whom he had so effortlessly trampled upon with his saber.
What awesome might and power.
And before such overwhelming might and power, so crumbled the confidence and morale of the rest of the other Heavenly Legend aspirants that their place in the ranking of this tournament no longer mattered.
Because without any doubt, Li Yidao was already the undisputed champion of this Heavenly Legend tournament. The rest of the contestants could fight all they want, but hardly any of them had the nerve to take one blow from Li Yidao and his saber.
Could they? Never.
The spirit of rancor and competition blazed in the eyes of the Sacred Acolyte. He desired a fight to see who’s better. But he knew better than to try, for he too, lacked complete faith that he could prevail against Li Mu.
The Saint of the Blood Sea shifted not an inch in his chair as if he saw nothing of what happened to the Little Heavenly Devil. Detached and distant as if he was a stranger. With a dispassionate countenance, he nodded acknowledgedly at Li Mu in the arena like a polite friend, conveniently pretending that he was not an ally of the Little Heavenly Devil who had once done his fair share of heckling at Li Yidao before.
Li Mu was nowhere near amused. He had long wanted to kill the Saint; in fact, he was thinking of challenging him to a fight now to deal with this particular loose end.
Strangely, the Saint stood up suddenly as if he had read Li Mu’s mind. Smiling like a true friend, he said, “What an awesome stroke, Master Li. Allow me to convey my admiration and respect for your skillfulness. I hereby acknowledge you as my superior.”
Li Mu stared at him quietly.
“Is he a woman or a man?! Was it his sixth sense warning him that I was coming?”
The envoy of the Heavenly Fox Clan stood up and pronounced loudly, “Only one challenge for each contestant in this round, Li Yidao. Your turn is over.”
Li Mu peered at the mysterious figure quietly before he retreated down the steps of the fighting ring without any protest.
Thus ended the Ten Heavenly Legends Tournament which had been all of the Brilliance Immortal Star Region’s center of attention.
From within the pool of defeated contestants, the emissary of the Heavenly Fox Clan chose one to make up for the one empty place in the roll of Heavenly Legends.
Coincidentally, it was none other than the Manic Challenger Lin Buyan – the only one of three contestants in the tournament who had survived Li Mu’s attacks.
He himself could not have been any more surprised that he was chosen.
But none of the Heavenly Legends disputed the decision.
At least no one wished to question the decision of the emissary whom everyone guessed to be a King Realm being.
The King Realm – the Realm of power where one alone could easily conquer the whole of the Brilliance Immortal Star Region.
All ten Heavenly Legends were awarded prizes from this King-Realm being – a pill known as Heavenly Fox’s Blessing. It was said that the pill could not only heal one’s injuries but also fundamentally enhance one’s physical constitution and an increase of ten-year worth of powers.
All ten Heavenly Legends were ushered back up into the arena with Li Mu leading at the front.
Among the spectators of mostly officials and members of the imperial family, both the Sixth and Eleventh Princes were doing their best to keep themselves out of view.
Especially the former. Just a few days ago, his moronic shenanigan of leading a troop of his guards to provoke Li Yidao into a fight so that he could have him thrown into the palace gaol so that he could win the favor of the Little Heavenly Devil had backfired.
“Good. I trust that you are all satisfied with your results in this tournament. Go and take a rest for today. Tomorrow, we shall set off for the Ziwei Star Zone. There, you’ll encounter peers and Heavenly Legends greater and more powerful. In return, rich rewards and untold glory await you,” smiled the Heavenly Fox Clan emissary, “Trust that a whole new world is opening its door to you.”
The Brilliance Immortal Star Region’s newest crop of the Ten Heavenly Legends has been born.
Organized by the Heavenly Fox Clan, this year’s tryout tournament has attracted the participation of almost every warrior order and school, including independent talents from unknown corners of the Star Region, allowing this generation of Heavenly Legends to be hailed as the most solid lineup the Star Region has ever seen.
With the curtains now falling over this tournament, the emissary of the Heavenly Fox Clan finally agreed that it was time for news of the tournament’s result to be disseminated everywhere, and news of this spread quickly like a hurricane.
In-depth information of the tournament could be found on Immortal Net, detailing every fight and every round of the tournament, beginning from sixty contestants until the crowning of the Ten Heavenly Legends.
An Immortal Net member under the pseudonym of “The Scholarly Cultivator” left a comment:
“Unbelievable, the Little Heavenly Devil’s dead.”
“Who’s Li Yidao? Please enlighten me!” said one user.
“That’s incredible. I’ve never heard of such a name before. How did he become famous so rapidly?” said another.
“It was said that this man defeated his opponents with one single stroke. No one has been able to survive past that threshold up until now.”
“Sounds ludicrous but it’s true. Not only the Little Heavenly Devil was killed with one blow, but even the junior chieftain of the Golden Condor Clan was also similarly defeated too, having both his talons and his arms sliced off… But I’m interested to know if there’s anyone who could survive one blow from Li Yidao?”
“So anyone with the surname Li is now powerful, eh? First, there is the Wild Broadsword Li Mu, and now Li Yidao, who had just beaten the once undisputed champion of the younger generation, the Little Heavenly Devil. This must be a new dawn for anyone called Li.”
“I wonder who is stronger? The Wild Broadsword or Li Yidao?”
Someone had the ironic sense of comparing both Li Yidao and Li Mu.
Slowly, what started as a discussion about the tournament slowly transitioned into a heated debate between both Li Mu and Li Yidao.
And this would not have been an online verbal tiff worthy of its name without the inclusion of the Wild Broadsword Alliance which has become the most influential fan club in all of the Brilliance Immortal Forum.
“As if there’s any room for argument. For sure it’s the Wild Broadsword. Li Yidao is only a speck of dirt before Li Mu’s power and skill!”
“Yeah. It took only his fist to defeat the Three-headed Hellhound. The Wild Broadsword did not even need to draw his weapon. If he did, even the sky and earth would quake in his presence. There’s no way that Li Yidao can ever take a blow from Li Mu!”
“Li Yidao only became champion in this Heavenly Legend tournament because Li Mu did not come!”
Staunch supporters from the Wild Broadsword Alliance thronged together in a unified front and flooded the entire internet forum with a staggering deluge of new posts and comments, drowning out any other comments and posts that did not agree with them.
That included the few Cultivators who were voicing out on Li Yidao’s behalf.
Finally, the renowned and yet enigmatic member of the forum, the Darkness-repelling Sword, had a few words of his own to say: “Battle power is not the only factor that decides one’s greatness. The Wild Broadsword and Li Yidao are both masters in saber combat and both possess General-Realm powers. Leaving aside the matter of who is more skillful in combat, the Wild Broadsword is known to be a moral and virtuous person. Which is more than what I can say for Li Yidao so far. Who else in this world has achieved the Aspect of Virtue? Based on this alone, I daresay Li Yidao still has much to catch up.”
Hardly anyone could refute such reasonable words.
No one could disagree that the Wild Broadsword was one of the most virtuous of warriors in this era and area.
Even the naysayers could find no reasons to object.
Li Mu was just coming back to his room after a constitutional outside when he found Bi Yan seething with tears.
“Hm? What’s going on? Who’s angered you?” Li Mu teased.
The Ten Heavenly Legends were given a day for rest and recreation. They could leave the palace and attend to personal matters. Gifted to Li Mu as a present, Bi Yan would be a personal maid of Li Mu from then on and she was staying with him at the hotel.
He was just back from the Apricot Forest Apothecary when he found Bi Yan so distraught.
“Those people, Master! They’re terrible!” the little fox girl spat bitterly, clutching a Net Card which she was using to surf the Internet. “Those people! They were raving about how great the Wild Broadsword Li Mu is, and in the process of worshipping him, they sought to belittle and mock you, Master! How could they!”
Li Mu nearly regurgitated the mouthful of water in his mouth.
And here I was, wondering what went wrong?!
He had not surfed Immortal Net yet, hence he knew nothing about the ruckus now raging online.
“Let me take a look.”
The VIP of Immortal Net logged on to his account and once he realized what was going on, he felt immensely amused.
Interesting!
What would these people think if they found out that Li Yidao and the Wild Broadsword were actually one and the same?
He felt proud and touched. His supporters from the Wild Broadsword Alliance had devoutly defended and upheld his reputation and good name with all the zeal and jealousy they could muster, paling no less in comparison to die-hard fans of movie and film stars on Earth. In fact, he wondered if this made him a celebrity of sorts.
He mulled about it for seconds then he posted something.
“My sincerest thanks to you all.”
That was it. Six simple words.
Then he moved to the trade zone of the forum to check on his listings. He had earlier left his goose-feather-shaped broadsword and another saber there for sale.
He had left it there for some time and he never had the time to check on it and what he saw now left him flabbergasted.
His listings had received more than ten thousand bids.
“And the highest bid so far…” For one moment, Li Mu thought his eyes were deceiving him. Someone had offered more than ten times the prices of both his listings to buy his sabers.
“Is this bidder a fool?!
“Ten times the usual price for two second-hand goods?!
“W-what on earth is going on?!”
He tapped on the note left by the bidder, a Cultivator by the pseudonym of “Recluse of the Wild Broadsword Alliance”. The note said: I have nothing but enough money to make myself happy. But I wish to contribute to your cause, Master Wild Broadsword. As a loyal member of the Alliance, I wish only to do my part, and so I hereby offer my fairy crystals and I hope you won’t decline my sincere offer.”
Good Heavens?!
Li Mu stared at the message again, utterly speechless and stunned beyond words.
“Has Fortune begun to smile upon me?!
“From this day, anyone who offends my fans will be an enemy of mine!
“These are my worshippers and my loyal subjects!
“If only I could give this Recluse a kiss on the face!”
