A System That Beats Death 29 Drastic Difference

The next day, the Sect gathered in antic.i.p.ation of the tournament. The 3 Sword Sages and the Sword Saint were seated at a higher vantage point entirely separate from the rest of the Sect. Blademasters waited in the tournament arena while the other Sect members were seated and spectating with no desire to join. At the center of the arena, Guren stood in front of the Blademasters and a.s.sessed them. Momentarily, he allowed a look of disappointment to show but quickly concealed it. A few Swordwielders were also partic.i.p.ating but they were overestimating themselves. This of course, excluded Yidong who refused to agitate Guren any further as he knew he would be seeking death if he had done so.

As the seat reserved for the fourth Sword Sage Guren remained unoccupied, the Sect members began openly speculating and mocking Guren.

"There are two people missing?"

"I understand the Blademasters missing but what about the two higher-ups?"

"The Sword Saintess is on a mission while Guren is not attending"

"You mean Guren wouldn't dare be seen without the Sword Saintess protecting him?"

"What a coward! Hiding behind a woman! Is he even a man!?"

"I wish I could hide behind the Sword Saintess"

"Even Zhuye, Tianli, and Hexiu came"

"Don't forget the Sword Saint as well"

"Compared to them, Guren is just trash"

"Who does he think he is? We should go give him a beating"

"Let's go find him. We'll give him a good thrashing"

The Sword Saint and the two other Sword Sages were also confused as to where Guren was. They knew that Guren would be partic.i.p.ating but not recognize him standing at the center and were confused as to why the Sect members antic.i.p.ated the tournament so highly. They wanted to ask Tianli but he did not reply.

Guren then suddenly interjected, "No need to find me. I'm right here if you want to thrash me. Of course, you must partic.i.p.ate and be capable of doing so"

The crowd immediately stopped talking as they turned towards Guren in shock. Even the Sword Saint squinted and rubbed his eyes to check if his eyes had begun hallucinating. Zhuye grimaced and murmured with resentment, "When did that trash get so handsome?"

n.o.body could believe their eyes as they had always thought of Guren as someone with a barely above average appearance due to his despondent gaze and disregard of hygiene as he continued to wallow away in despair at his impaired swordsmanship. Now however, the Guren in front of them had a clear gaze which conveyed his haughtiness that seemed to elevate his attractiveness and exude true strength. Gone was the previous Guren who was somehow completely traumatized by a single loss. Atlas had previously attributed the issue to immense hubris but he had recently surmised that it could have also been due to being possessed and that there might be more going on in the background.

Gawking at the person who had changed so drastically, they then realized why the Sword Saintess was in love with Guren. The men went green-eyed upon seeing the heaven defying visage while the women went wide-eyed. If he was a vase then an empire's treasury would need to be emptied to afford the starting auction price.

Two people in hiding began to smirk upon noticing Zhuye's clear envy. One of them then noted that despite having such an appearance, Guren was not prideful which slightly confused the other as that was the Sin which Guren had resonated most strongly with.

Guren who had been unfazed by the intense gazes had then stepped forward and began to recite the rules.

"Swordwielders and above are qualified to partic.i.p.ate. Registration is unnecessary as the procedure will be straight forward. Each partic.i.p.ant only gets one chance. You can partic.i.p.ate by yourself or if you're feeling incapable, attack in groups of 50. To win, you must disarm me of make me surrender which is impossible", he paused after saying that and a sinister smirk appeared on his face which seemed to taunt the crowd but also faze them.

He then continued in a matter of fact tone, "It will be obvious when you lose. To entice you, the reward will be the Sword Sage position or if you desire something else, you can exchange the reward for a request instead"

A few Blademasters continued openly mocking Guren.

"Making him a male prost.i.tute would be more lucrative than being a Sword Sage"

"Can you really fulfill a request that is of the same worth as the Sword Sage position?"

Guren ignored the taunts and briefly glanced upwards at the 2 Sword Sages and said, "For Sword Sages, if they win, they will receive this ethereal alloy"

He then took out an ingot that seemed to resemble steel yet was slightly translucent. It was the material which the robotic Contingency was made from and he had harvested it with great difficulty.

The two Sword Sages could tell the ingot was not normal and likely was of high rarity while the Sword Saint was surprised that he was unable to discern which metal it was made from.

A female Blademaster who was originally a princess of a prominent kingdom stepped forward as the first partic.i.p.ant. She then pointed her blade at Guren and arrogantly sneered, "You would do better serving me in bed. Forfeit to me and I will grant you the privilege of being my Imperial Consort"

She was clearly part of the many which believed that Guren did not become stronger at all, only more like a flower boy.

Guren looked at her with a slightly confused look. Is this body so effeminate that they doubt my strength?

Shaking off such notions, Guren then stated in a colder tone, "Defeat me then, you can request that for the reward. If you are capable of doing so"

The Blademaster's expression darkened as she thought that she was a country toppling beauty. Sure it might not have been up to par with Guren's current appearance but she thought it would have been enough for Guren to rejoice at an opportunity to have his way with her. However, Guren's gaze conveyed disregard towards her appearance instead of desiring it which caused her blood to boil. How is a concubine worth the Sword Sage position?

Gritting her teeth, she then charged towards Guren who suddenly vanished. The next instant, the Steel Slayer suddenly appeared next to her and she barely blocked it. She was caught off guard again when the next swing appeared just as suddenly. Without the ability to follow Guren's incredible speed, she lost within three moves.

[500 Points Added]

"You have potential as you can instinctually determine the trajectory but you lack prowess", Guren said before dismissing the female Blademaster.

The next two Blademasters who deemed themselves better than the first had also tried and failed to take down Guren.

[900 Points Added]

After witnessing Guren totally overwhelm Blademasters more than a few times, they finally accepted that they had underestimated Guren and that his victories were not due to luck. Zhuye's expression only darkened while Hexiu started to feel inferior. The Sword Saint however was still confused as to why Guren initiated a tournament and realized that Guren did not need his protection.

[2000 Points Added]

The Swordwielders which had previously wanted to challenge Guren had already left and apologized to Yidong for disregard his warning. They felt chills down their spines as Guren continually finished everyone in less than 4 moves.

A more timid Blademaster then asked Guren if they could still challenge him in groups. Guren agreed which caused the 11 remaining Blademasters in the arena to form a group.

Executing the battle strategy all 11 had agreed on, they went for a battle of attrition and fought Guren 3 at a time. Guren effortlessly deflected and canceled each move without attacking back. Every time, someone attacking had become fatigued, they would then switch. This continued for an entire hour before the 11 all agreed to forfeit as Guren did not even sweat a single drop during the whole ordeal.

[4500 Points Added]

The entire Sect applauded Guren's performance as even Tianli did not obliterate the Blademasters to such an extent. Tianli had fought 20 Blademasters at once but at the end of it, he was visibly exhausted and could not continue.

When there were no more challengers left, Guren tauntingly looked towards the 2 Sword Sages who remained idle.

Guren then furrowed his eyebrows and signaled toward Tianli who immediately slashed at the seat of the 2 Sword Sages.

The entire Sect exclaimed in shock as 2 unknown figures fled with Tianli pursuing them. Meanwhile, Hexiu and Zhuye stood with glazed eyes as they had been possessed by Spirits of Envy and Pride.