(MC POV)
After that restart, no one questioned Xun Guan when she announced herself so everything was working perfectly.
"I am Xun Guan of Heaven Sect, please allow me to receive some pointers."
No sooner had those words left her lips, the zombie guy immediately punched his fist towards her, using the exact same move as he did with Luna earlier.
Instead of being blasted away like Luna had, Xun Guan withstood the gale and stood her ground without moving an inch back.
As soon as the wind died down, Xun Guan materialised a ball of fire and shot it towards her opponent while circling towards him from the side.
The Han zombie took the full brunt of the blast on his chest, forcing him back a few steps but was otherwise unharmed.
Seems like whatever those researchers did to him also increased his endurance to be able to withstand that.
He shrugged off the attack before punching his fist again, this time conjuring an even bigger gust of wind that blew across the stage.
Once again, Xun Guan stood her ground, the wind only managing to billow her hair and nothing else.
I realised she was using her slime body to anchor herself to the stage by transforming roots to grow out from underneath her feet. At the same time, she would also harden her body to withstand the gale, which was easy to do considering it wasn't a Technique but simply that guy punching the air.
Not bad.
Xun Guan tried to throw a giant boulder at him but the Han zombie simply smashed it apart with a punch before trying the same attack again.
I guess aside from some sense of self preservation, this zombie Practitioner isn't able to adapt to the situation quickly.
Well, that's not going to look good to the investors, assuming they have investors for this of course.
My slime girl quickly realised that her Techniques aren't working against her opponent so she switched to physical attacks instead.
Taking advantage of the lull between his punches, she closed in the distance between them and delivered a kick towards his head.
The zombie Practitioner's self preservation instincts activated and he raised his arms to block the attack.
Xun Guan proceeded to rain a flurry of blows on him, only to have all of them deflected or blocked.
Either this guy had really good close combat abilities before being experimented on or it was something they implanted in him as well.
She attempted another kick at his side but he managed to catch her foot with his arm, trapping her.
Xun Guan's eyes went wide when he had proceeded to pull back his other fist in preparation to deliver another punch again. At that distance, there was no way for Xun Guan to avoid or defend herself.
Just as it looked like the punch was going to hit her, someone leapt onto the stage and blasted the Han zombie out of the stage with a sword thrust.
At first I was thinking it was someone from our Sect who jumped in to save Xun Guan, only to realise the young man was wearing the robes that the Mei Practitioners were wearing.
It was a young man with his muscled chest bared for all to see while a greatsword as long as he was tall was held in his right hand.
Ok… Why did he even jump in to help Xun Guan? Sure, the attack might have hit her but a fatal blow would have caused her to be teleported out of the stage with no injuries so there was no need to jump in. Furthermore, she's also a slime, physical attacks like that wouldn't have worked against her in the first place.
Although I guess this guy wouldn't have known that.
"Woah there, be careful not to let that pretty face of yours get dirty," The young man chuckled while winking at Xun Guan.
My slime girl furrowed her brows at him, "What are you doing? It was a proper duel! How can you just jump in and interrupt it?!"
"Hey, lady. I just saved your life so what gives? At least a 'thank you' would have sufficed."
"I did not need your help," Xun Guan growled.
No doubt my slime girl must feel especially frustrated that her skills had deteriorated to the point that she had to be 'rescued' by someone else.
The Practitioner from the country of Mei ignored her protest and swept her off her feet in a princess carry, "Now now, this is not the place for pretty girls like you~ You should just sit down and watch the men do the showing off~"
Xun Guan did not hesitate to give him a slap across his face before leaping away from him, "How dare you?! Don't even touch me! You--"
I cleared my throat to interrupt her, getting her attention before shaking my head.
Although I might have manipulated some Origins to make people not question her being a member of Heaven Sect, if she got more attention to herself, people would start asking questions.
If she had continued, Xun Guan would be revealed to be a slime girl and then people are going to start asking questions. My disciples would then find out she's been acting as my clothes all this while and the results wouldn't be pretty.
I really don't want to manipulate my disciples' minds if I can help it…
My slime girl thus begrudgingly stepped down from the stage, leaving that Mei Practitioner to stand alone up there.
He grinned, "Haha, I guess I'm taking the stage now~ Well I have to agree with that first Han guy though, I expected more from this event. But that guy was also a third rate too so where are all the strong people at? I came here to test my strength against worthy opponents, yet all I'm seeing are little babies and some third rate Practitioners with strength they did not rightfully gain! Is there no one else?!"
Since he was the second person here to start insulting everyone, the effect wasn't as great as the first one. The difference was that the Han Practitioners felt especially insulted considering he just threw their own words back at them and even called them third rate as well.
The Han Practitioner who had been insulting everyone earlier jumped back on stage again to face him. Since there weren't any rules against someone coming up on stage a second time to challenge someone else, there was no problem with his actions.
The Han Practitioner pointed a finger at the Mei Practitioner, "Don't get full of yourself! I'll show you your place right now!"
The Mei Practitioner swung his sword in a dramatic arc, "Come then! Let's see if you really are the third rate I say you are!"
The two of them leapt at each other and began clashing against each other, the greatsword meeting blasts of energy with the both of them roaring out a challenge.
Behind me, Bait snorted, "What did I tell ya? It's a goddamn dick measuring contest out there."
At least don't say it out loud even if it's true… Good thing no one else heard it…
There's one thing I want to know though…
Where did all these people show up from and how did no one know about them before today? Their levels are definitely beyond a normal Student Practitioner's!
How have they stayed hidden all this while? Did they just drop down from the sky?
Or is it just because I haven't been paying attention to the World outside of my courtyard?
Maybe I should start going out more often…
