Xiuxian: But It's Not a Game

Chapter 46 The Third Mini-Test: A Decisive Victory (Please Subscribe and Vote)

With the treasure in hand, Su Yu's funds were instantly reduced to only 1 gold and 43 silver, while she still owed 20 gold in debt.

Back home, I used my magic to refine the Nine Aperture Pearl and immediately equipped it, instantly feeling a great sense of security.

It's a pity I don't have any money right now, otherwise I could buy the Nine Paths of Divine Fiend Essence and refine it into it, which would immediately add 27000 defense. Combined with the magic weapon's original 48000, the defense would instantly reach 75000, plus an additional 9% damage reduction, making it comparable to a rare item.

Gang Sha Essence is a special spiritual item that reduces damage taken by 10% for a certain period of time after use. Poor people who cannot afford to buy special tribulation-crossing pills can refine a Gang Sha Essence to reduce the damage from the heavenly tribulation by 10%.

This stuff sells for 30 taels of gold per serving on the market, and nine servings would cost 270 taels.

If you can collect all nine Gang Sha essences, this magic weapon is quite valuable and can be used continuously without replacement until you obtain a seventh-tier defensive magic weapon.

Su Yu opened her mouth and swallowed the Seven Aperture Pearl, taking stock of all the treasures she now possessed.

Fifth grade spirit-gathering robe.

Fifth-Rank Spirit Cage Belt
Rank 6 Black Water Mystic Pearl.

A fifth-grade silver ring.

A seventh-grade golden turtle ring.

The Sixth-Order Magic Treasure, the Nine-Aperture Pearl.

A sixth-order flying sword obscures the sun.

The sixth-order flying sword, Azure Sparrow.

Sealing the spiritual object, the Sea-Suppressing Pearl.

Flying boats, spirit fish, and shuttles.

Looking at the uniformly fifth-rank or higher-level personnel, Su Yu's lips curled slightly; the more she looked, the more satisfied she became.

"not bad!"

Through my own unremitting efforts, I have unknowingly put together a pretty good set of equipment.

In addition to these, there are also sixty-level intermediate Qi Refining techniques, sixty-level advanced Tai Bai Sword Techniques, forty-five-level exquisite transformation techniques, mustard seed concealment techniques, and invisibility techniques, not to mention the like.

This set of equipment is definitely considered quite luxurious among independent cultivators, and their strength is also above the top tier.

"The only challenge before I can formally become a disciple of a sect is Ding Lingyu."

He didn't plan to wait until the year-end exam to take the challenge as originally intended; he wanted to try and see if he could defeat Ding Lingyu in this smaller test.

"If we can defeat him, it will be a perfect ending."

Su Yu reached out her hand and shook it loosely, filled with anticipation for the third mini-exam two days later.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye, and soon it was time for the third mini-exam.

Early that morning, Gu Zhi Qiu and the others rushed over. Upon seeing Zhuang Zhuo, they greeted him with a smile and asked:

"Which position should we bet on this time?"

Shi Ning rubbed his hands together, his face full of anticipation:
"You've changed the odds this year. The odds for third place are 1 to 1.5, second place is 1 to 2, and first place is 1 to 3. Brother Su, which place do you want to bet on?"

Su Yu pursed her lips and said:
"I'm not buying any this year."

Everyone was taken aback, then said in unison:

"What?"

Just as Su Yu was about to explain, Gu Zhi Qiu, who was standing next to her, explained first:

"Because Brother Su wants to be number one this time."

"what?"

"Brother Su wants to be number one?"

"Are you sure?"

The group was shocked and somewhat puzzled.

Su Yu said in a deep voice:

"I'm somewhat confident, but not very confident."

"Well"

"alright."

No explanation is needed; everyone understands and naturally won't blame him.

After chatting for a few more minutes, the group headed out to the guild arena.

The venue was packed with people, and the number of participants for the third time was even greater than the previous one.

However, this has little impact on Su Yu, as he is a seeded player and does not need to participate in the first round of elimination matches.

In the seeded players' rest area below the podium, many of the previous round's seeded players had already arrived. Upon He Shoucheng's arrival, he immediately saw Su Yu chatting with Wei Xia in a corner and waved to them from afar.
"Brother Su."

He walked over and asked with a grin:
"I heard you got a great deal recently, snatched a big boss's head, and must have gotten some good stuff. So, are you confident about challenging Ding Lingyu this time?"

Su Yu nodded generously:

"I have this idea."

He Shoucheng, on the other hand, was taken aback for a moment, clearly somewhat surprised:

"Damn, you really want to challenge Ding Lingyu?"

Wei Xia grinned and joked:
"What, are you looking down on Brother Su?"

"of course not."

He Shoucheng quickly waved his hand and said earnestly:

"I'm just a little surprised. To be honest, we all know how strong Ding Lingyu is. He's not on the same level as us. I really didn't expect Brother Su to have grown to this level so quickly."

Wei Xia curled his lip and said:

"How much resources has the Ding family invested in Ding Lingyu? Brother Su started from scratch. If they started on the same footing, Ding Lingyu definitely can't compare to Brother Su."

Su Yu waved her hand modestly and said:
"Family background is also a part of one's strength."

My gaze shifted to the other side of the rest area, where Ding Lingyu was sitting in the center, surrounded by more than a dozen seeded players talking to him.

He responded to everyone with a smile, his demeanor elegant, his speech refined, and his every move polite, generous, and proper.

As the son of the guild's vice president, he holds an extraordinary position. He achieved first place in the preliminary exams for two consecutive years, which has led many to admire his strength and admire him wholeheartedly. Naturally, he has gathered the hearts of many people and become the center of attention for this year's newcomers.

He Shoucheng followed his gaze to Ding Lingyu, and said with a mix of emotion and envy:
"To be fair, although Ding Lingyu relied on his family background, he himself is quite talented. The Taoist technique he cultivates is a sect-level transformation technique, which requires more than 30 points of innate root bone, more than 20 points of innate comprehension, and more than 30 points of innate six senses. If one's aptitude is not good enough, even if the technique is right in front of him, he cannot learn it."

Wei Xia nodded in agreement:

"indeed!"

He smacked his lips again and said:
"If he can consistently maintain first place in the three small tests and the year-end big test, he'll be awesome, and he'll be at least a vice president of the guild in the future."

"???"

Su Yu looked over with a puzzled expression.

Wei Xia explained with a smile:
"You may not know this, but his pace was planned in advance."

"From the moment you embark on the path of cultivation, you have maintained this overwhelming momentum in your growth. After joining a sect and achieving certain successes, you will immediately become a core member of the guild upon returning from the sect and directly enter the guild's management position."

"Then, after years of experience in multiple positions, he can gradually take over the power of his father, Vice President Ding, and become the vice president of the guild."

"You know about our guild's guild leader election system. The vice president has a chance to compete. With his status and experience as the top player of the year, he has a huge advantage over other competitors."

He Shoucheng smiled and continued:
"Think about it, all his other competitors are his defeated foe, so where do they get the confidence to compete with him?" "Oh!"

Su Yu nodded thoughtfully.

Suddenly, something occurred to him, and he asked:
"If that's the case, what will happen if I defeat him? Will he suppress me?"

"Well"

Both of them were silent for three seconds before Wei Xia spoke:
"It shouldn't be a big deal. They can't interfere from the sidelines in the ring, and they can't rematch. If you win, you win. At most, they'll be annoyed with you."

"Oh!"

Su Yu didn't ask the question again; their expressions clearly showed that they didn't believe he could challenge Ding Lingyu.

Then the conversation shifted to other things.

More than an hour later, I suddenly heard the host's voice:
"The first round of this mini-test is over. The second round will begin in five minutes. Seeded players, please take your positions."

The people who were chatting dispersed, and Su Yu waved to the two of them as she prepared to head to the venue.

As he was going up the stairs, he suddenly felt a gaze on him. He turned around and found Ding Lingyu standing beside him. He smiled slightly and nodded in acknowledgment.

Su Yu nodded in response and walked out of the stairwell into the venue.

As they entered, enthusiastic cheers and applause erupted from the audience, with the loudest cheers coming when Ding Lingyu came out.

Five minutes later, the competition resumed, and seeded players were selected to compete.

Soon it was Su Yu's turn. Her opponent was a non-seeded player who looked somewhat familiar but whose name she didn't know. Judging from the appearance, his Qi Refining level was less than level 50.

The reason these players make it to the second round is that they usually have one or two powerful special items.

Su Yu didn't even need to summon the Azure Sparrow; he easily tore through Su Yu's defenses with a single sword and knocked Su Yu off the stage in three seconds.

Each subsequent round was similar; he easily defeated his opponents with a single sword strike and quickly advanced to the top eight, namely Su Yu, Ding Lingyu, Lan Yiying, Wei Xia, Xu Lulu, Cao Ze, He Shoucheng, and Gu Zhi Qiu, who wielded more than sixty golden-winged centipedes.

Last time, Zhou Xuan lost to Gu Zhi Qiu in the first eight weeks.

With the enhancement granted to Gu worms by the exquisite Qi Refining Technique, Gu Zhi Qiu has unknowingly entered the ranks of experts.

Looking at the top eight contestants, Su Yu would probably rank seventh or eighth.

There's no way around it; everyone who makes it into the top eight possesses a powerful magic weapon, at least a high-quality sixth-tier one. Even with the enhancement of exquisite cultivation techniques, low-level Gu like the Ink Ball Bee can't withstand it; a single strike can wipe out a large number of them.

Although the Golden-Winged Flying Centipede has high HP and defense, its numbers are still insufficient and its level is not high enough to trigger a qualitative change.

The battle continued, and Su Yu first defeated He Shoucheng, then Xu Lulu, and successfully advanced to the semifinals.

Just like last year, the four finalists are still the same four.

Lan Yiying's gaze fell directly on Su Yu, and she said with a smile:

"It seems the rankings will be the same as last time."

Su Yu smiled slightly and shook her head, saying:
"Not necessarily, the rankings may change."

Lan Yiying nodded:
"Indeed, I will defeat you this time."

Just as Su Yu was about to answer, the host's voice rang out:

"First match, contestant number two, Su Yu, will face contestant number three, Lan Yiying. Please step onto the stage!"

Su Yu raised an eyebrow and gestured for them to proceed.
"What a coincidence."

Lan Yiying laughed and jumped onto the stage, with Su Yu following closely behind.

The words had already been spoken before going on stage. Lan Yiying jumped onto the stage and directly revealed her true bloodline form, transforming into a half-human, half-dragon. She slammed her halberd into the ground and stared intently at her opponent.

Su Yu didn't waste any words. He pointed with both hands together, and two sword lights shot into the sky.

"Two sixth-tier flying swords?"

Ding Lingyu's eyelids twitched slightly in the waiting area, but she didn't pay much attention.

As long as the defense isn't breached, one bite, two bites, or ten bites are all the same.

However, his composure crumbled when the countdown ended and his two flying swords instantly swept across the arena, pinning Lan Yiying down and leaving him powerless to retaliate.

Physical strength is equivalent to absolute defense; how much damage can a little physical strength absolutely withstand?

Strength is equivalent to attack, and attack is also strength. The amount of damage a flying sword deals is equivalent to the amount of strength applied.

Last time, Lan Yiying, with her superior strength, was able to easily knock away flying swords and fought her way to Su Yu, where she beat him mercilessly, almost killing him with a flurry of punches.

But this time, to everyone's surprise, Lan Yiying, whose strength had improved even further, tried to get close to Su Yu just like last time. But when the twin swords and the halberd crossed, instead of knocking the flying sword away, they were evenly matched.

The flying sword trembled but managed to block it.

Lan Yiying wielded her halberd with incredible skill, her two flying swords crisscrossing back and forth, slashing, cutting, and twisting, deflecting every halberd strike and having the spare strength to deliver a sword blow from time to time.

Compared to the last time when the defense was just broken, this time a single sword strike dealt over 700 damage, each strike piercing the dragon's scales and leaving a trail of blood.

Lan Yiying was extremely shocked. Relying on her agility to dodge and her skills to block, each sword strike could only deal two or three hits of damage before her power was exhausted. She could not maximize her output by dealing eight hits of damage with one sword strike, just like when fighting monsters.

However, every one or two sword strikes of the halberd were suppressed by Yan Ri, allowing Qing Que to free up a sword to slash down.

His fighting skills were decent, but they were certainly no match for the advanced Sword Qi Thunder Sound, especially since it was a two-on-one fight with two swords, and he quickly fell into a disadvantageous position.

"The power of blood!"

Lan Yiying decisively activated her innate ability, her entire body glowing with dragon scales, doubling her defense and strength. With a swing of her halberd, she knocked away the Sun-Covering Azure Sparrow, and with a flash, she leaped more than two hundred miles away. In a few flashes, she had already killed Su Yu and brought her halberd down on his head.

"boom!"

He destroyed nearly seven thousand defenses with a single halberd strike, but the Nine-Aperture Pearl on his head remained completely still, its light not even flickering.

With a thought, magic power is injected into the magical artifact, and the lost defenses are quickly restored.

The maximum amount of mana a magic weapon can inject is 1% of its own mana per second. Su Yu currently has 5350 mana, so 1% is 53 mana. The mana conversion rate of the Nine Aperture Pearl is 50, which means that 1 point of mana can restore 50 points of defense, and 5 points of mana can restore 2650 points of magic weapon defense. The defense that Lan Yiying knocked off with this halberd can be restored in three seconds.

Lan Yiying's gaze sharpened, and she unleashed a series of attacks with her halberd, just like in the previous round.

But this time Su Yu had the power to fight back. She decisively activated the Sun-Covering Sword with the magical transformation, and the flying sword, burning with the true fire of the sun, plunged into the dragon-man's neck, which was covered with dragon scales, and circled around it.

The glowing dragon scales were cut open, and fresh blood gushed out.

Lan Yiying remained unfazed and continued his relentless attack. In just a few seconds of fighting, he knew he was doomed to lose. Whether he advanced or retreated, he would lose anyway, so he might as well end the battle.

Unfortunately, Su Yu didn't give him a chance. After circling around Lan Yiying's neck, Su Yu reached out and grabbed him. With a flick of his wrist, sword shadows exploded, and a series of clanging sounds forced Lan Yiying back.

With a flick of his wrist, Qingque returned, and the two swords attacked together, forcing Lan Yiying to retreat continuously.

Fifteen seconds passed in the blink of an eye. The true fire of the sun on the Sun-Covering Sword faded, the transformation ended, and Lan Yiying's talent effect also ended.

Lan Yiying, who was struggling to hold on just a second ago, was forced to retreat step by step the next second. In a short while, her body was covered with sword wounds and was covered in blood.

"I surrender!"

Lan Yiying sighed deeply, forced to accept reality.

"Concession!"

"You are indeed stronger than me."

Lan Yiying, being a straightforward man, glanced back at the direction of the podium after conceding defeat and suddenly laughed as if she had just remembered something:
"With your current output, you've already broken through Ding Lingyu's defense. I look forward to you taking him down."

I'll try my best!

"Then I'll wait and see."

The space shifted, and the two were teleported away.

(End of this chapter)