Chapter 215: Before the Competition

Sui Zaihua followed the young girl and walked out.

"Let's part here." The old man looked at the setting sun in the west and smiled faintly, "I wish you both all the best, and we will see each other again during the martial arts competition."

After saying that, he gathered his clothes and went outside the office.

"What did he say?" After the two saluted and sent the old man off, Pei Ye turned his head and asked the young girl.

Li Piaoqing sighed: "Compared to Qijiao Shang Huaitong, it turns out I am the one stepping on the threshold of the Sword Academy."

"It's already very amazing, you are much younger."

"Yes... but aren't you the same age as me?"

"You can't compare with me." Pei Ye smiled.

Li Piaoqing rolled her eyes at him and walked outside the office: "However, Lord Sui is still inclined to want me, just... there are some problems on my side."

"What?"

"Because... I am the successor of Cuiyu."

"Can you put Cuiyu's affairs aside first? Isn't it good to go for further studies for two or three years?" Pei Ye looked at the young girl, "The situation is about to stabilize now, and you are still young, you can go to a higher place."

"It's not just that I'm tied up with affairs." The two left the office and stood on the street. Li Piaoqing looked at the setting sun flying west, "This is a matter of regulation. My identity in the rivers and lakes is too heavy, so things... have some obstacles."

"... Oh." Pei Ye then remembered that the Dao-Opening Society was an organization established by the Thirty-Three Sword Sects and the Great Tang. Those who could enter were disciples of the Thirty-Three Sects and Great Tang citizens with clean identities.

Pei Ye, who had no sect, could enter, but if he added the identity of a rivers and lakes sect, he would have a certain independence. At this time, wanting to enter the Dao-Opening Society would be hindered by both sides—first, since your sect is not in the Dao-Opening Society, why should the Thirty-Three Sword Sects allow you to learn their sword techniques, wouldn't that be stealing a teacher; second, since you inevitably have the identity of a sect disciple before a Great Tang citizen, the court's all-out cultivation would have doubts.

This was naturally the court's means of weakening the rivers and lakes and gathering sword talents, but for a girl like her who was dedicated to her sect, she had to lose this opportunity in the choice.

"Is there no room for accommodation?" Pei Ye frowned, "Can't Qijiao Shang Huaitong enter?"

"Of course there is. Especially for small sects like ours that don't have much fame, the Thirty-Three Sword Sects and the court don't really care much." Li Piaoqing jumped onto the carriage at the door, and Pei Ye didn't enter the carriage, just sat beside her.

The young girl flicked the whip lightly, and the carriage moved along.

"Lord Sui said there are three ways. First is special recruitment by the Sword Academy, meaning no matter what your identity is, the Sword Academy wants you. There are still quotas this year, but I don't have that aptitude; second is court recommendation, meaning the court recognizes that you will be beneficial to the Great Tang and doesn't mind your rivers and lakes identity, opening this path for you. I think this path can be tried, because Cuiyu and the Prefecture Office have always had a good relationship."

"What about the third?"

"The third is to find one of the Thirty-Three Sword Sects to recommend you. Didn't the Seven Serpents find Kongdong?" Li Piaoqing sighed lightly, "But Cuiyu has no sects in the Dao-Opening Society that we know, and we can't afford much money."

"... Oh." Pei Ye nodded slowly, thinking: "I'll ask for you when the time comes."

"Ask? Your friend?"

"Right."

"... Then if there is a way, remember to call me to chat, don't owe too many favors yourself."

"... We'll see." The carriage traveled a distance. Pei Ye looked at the restaurant on the street and suddenly said, "Wait, today is September 2nd... I have to book some accommodation."

"Ah? What?"

"I invited relatives and friends from Fenghuai to watch the martial arts competition." Pei Ye said, "They should arrive in two days."

"Ah, but if you book now, the price is already very high." Li Piaoqing tightened the reins, "How much money do you have left?"

"Fourteen taels, and seven hundred and something wen."

"Are there many people coming?"

"Not many adults, mainly twenty or so children."

Li Piaoqing looked at him in surprise.

"They are from our Fenghuai martial arts school." Pei Ye said, "The children have always been in the mountains, I want to let them see the world in the city."

"Oh... then just stay in Cuiyu's mansion."

Pei Ye hesitated: "Too much trouble, they are all country children, very naughty."

"What's that? We still have to buy "Cicada Sparrow Sword" from your school, of course we have to build a good relationship."

Pei Ye smiled: "Then okay."

The carriage moved along. Pei Ye was no longer as unfamiliar with everything as when he first arrived in Bowang. The structure of this city had gradually formed in his heart, and he had impressions of many buildings. At this time, passing a four-story small building, Pei Ye smiled immediately: "Is that the venue for the martial arts competition in front?"

"Yes." The young girl responded crisply.

Sure enough, after passing the willow shade, it was the huge square he saw when he first entered the city. All kinds of merchant stalls and peddlers had been cleared to the outermost periphery, and five huge frames had been set up in the middle, and many people were shuttling and busy among them.

"Once the stone and wood are filled in, there will be five arenas," Li Piaoqing said.

"It's actually this big," Pei Ye exclaimed. With such a massive platform, the surrounding houses looked like toys in front of it; it was truly not the same thing as the "arena" in his impression.

"Combined?"

"Yeah. The martial arts competition lasts for four days. The first day is 128 into 64. With four platforms like this, each fighting 16 matches, it can be finished; the second day is 64 into 32, then the four platforms will be merged two by two, so two large platforms, also fighting 16 matches; the third day is 32 into 16, and this is the real meat of the show. The winners can get iron fish talismans, and many people only come to watch on this day. On this day, the platforms will not be merged, still two, but one more round needs to be fought, that is, after deciding the top 16, they have to fight out the top 8 in the afternoon; the fourth day, the two platforms will be merged again, and the eight people will fight on this only, largest platform, all the way to decide the champion."

Pei Ye's gaze swept slowly. This huge square could accommodate tens of thousands of people. Its location was also very clever, it was a falling ground, so standing on the surrounding streets, rooftops, and even sitting in restaurants, one could watch the arena, which was very suitable.

"Then what is this extra platform for?" Pei Ye pointed, four platforms were put together, and the fifth one had a not-short or long distance from them.

"Oh, this is a secondary field." Li Piaoqing said, "It's a second chance for those who have lost a round. This platform is never dismantled, and even during the martial arts competition, the competitions on it never stop—because the losers' competitions are very long, and there is only such a platform."

"Is there a chance after losing?"

"Of course, although the Prefecture Office will try its best to stagger famous experts in the early stage, it can't take care of those who have good strength but no name. For example, if a student in the Dragon Gate class meets you in the first round, wouldn't there be nowhere to complain."

"... So that's it, then how do these losers fight?"

"It's simple, to put it bluntly, it's 'double loss is fixed'. The 64 people who lost in the first round will fight another round to decide the 'upper 32' and 'lower 32'. The 'lower 32' will be completely eliminated, and the results of this martial arts competition will be finalized—not a single win. And the 'upper 32' will get the qualification—to fight a round with the 32 people eliminated in the next round of the winners. The 'lower 32' decided in this round will also be completely eliminated, and the victory in the previous round will not count, and the results will still be not a single win." Li Piaoqing said, "And the 'upper 32' who won will form the 64 strong of this martial arts competition with the top 32 of the winners, and get the reward of 'winning one round'. After that, these 32 people will decide the 'upper and lower 16' again, and the upper 16 will fight with the 16 people eliminated... and so on."

Pei Ye nodded slowly: "I understand, that is to say, even if you unfortunately lose a round, you can still work hard to stand out among the losers, and then you can get a chance to grab someone else's ranking."

"Not bad."

"And for the winners of the first round, if they lose in the 64 into 32, they actually can't guarantee that they are the 64 strong. They still have to face a challenge from the losers. If they lose, they will retreat to 128, and if they win, they can keep the 64."

"Exactly, exactly." Li Piaoqing smiled and nodded, "You are much smarter than Senior Brother Chu Nian. I was so angry when I told him last time. However, the losers' challenge only goes up to the second place."

"Can't compete for the championship anymore."

"Naturally not. Think about this rule, it's actually only those who have lost who need to accept the challenge of those who have also lost a round. The champion is won by all wins, naturally there is no worry." Li Piaoqing said, "And the champion should be the first of this session. Since they have lost, no matter who they lost to, how can they say they are the strongest?"

"... That's the principle. As long as you lose once, you naturally don't deserve to be the champion."

Li Piaoqing looked at this vast field and suddenly sighed: "Shoulder to shoulder, a sea of people and thunderous voices... no wonder many people, even if they have no intention of officialdom and no opportunity, break their heads to come and fight a martial arts competition—being able to get the cheers of Bowang City here can be considered not in vain for a lifetime of hard study."

Pei Ye also looked at it quietly, as if he had seen the scene where the arena was formed and tens of thousands of people were watching.

He had never been in this realm.

Until the carriage moved, Pei Ye came back to his senses, and the young girl beside him smiled: "Almost forgot one thing!"

"What?"

"Need to measure two sets of clothes for you!"

"... Ah?"

"Are you going to wear this to fight in the martial arts competition?"

Pei Ye looked down. This was one of the two sets of clothes he brought out from Fenghuai, which had long been washed clean, and he only wore it today to attend the Luzhou Poetry Gathering. It was indeed a bit thin and white, the material was not good, and the style was old.

"It's okay, how beautiful do you have to be to fight?"

"This is not just fighting, it's also showing your face." Li Piaoqing drove the carriage and turned into a street to the west, "I'll take you to the one I often go to."

Pei Ye was still a bit resistant: "I didn't change clothes when I went to the Luzhou Poetry Gathering."

"That's because I didn't take care of you."

"..."

After turning around, they came to a storefront, a blue stone alley, wooden doors and black eaves, very quiet around. Li Piaoqing jumped off the carriage, pulled the still hesitant young man, and pushed the door with her other hand, smiling: "Sister Xu?"

The young woman washing cloth in the courtyard stood up, looked at the young girl at the door in surprise, and shook the water droplets on her hands: "Piaoqing! It's been a long time since you came to make new clothes."

"Hmm... today is not for me." The young girl smiled, "It's for this young hero."

"Oh?" The woman surnamed Xu responded and looked, sized the young man up, and turned her flowing eyes back to the young girl and smiled, "This must not be a newly entered disciple."

Li Piaoqing smiled and pushed her into the room: "Quick, go pick a style, we are in a hurry for something later."

"Oh? In a hurry for..." The woman whispered a laugh in the young girl's ear, and Li Piaoqing slapped her.

Pei Ye didn't know what they were laughing about, just kept smiling and followed behind, and then entered the room, and was stunned by the dazzling sight. Red, yellow, green, blue, white, purple, cyan... each primary color derived many secondary colors, and each was different in length, thickness, hardness, softness, roughness, and smoothness.

There were nearly a hundred kinds, and this was just what was placed on the surface.

Fortunately, the young girl didn't make it difficult for him to choose from them, just let the woman keep taking out finished clothes for him to change, and then the young girl nodded or shook her head after watching, and the woman recorded it on paper. Finally, after measuring his body carefully, the two gathered at the table and whispered with rulers and pens, constantly changing the patterns on the paper.

Pei Ye, who was no longer being handled, strolled in this shop and saw many finished clothes mounted on the wall, which indeed showed quite fine craftsmanship. After walking two steps, Pei Ye paused, only to see a light and fluttering goose-yellow skirt coming into view, just not far from the one the young girl was wearing. He turned his head to call Li Piaoqing to see, but saw the young girl and the woman discussing with great interest.

Is making clothes that interesting?

Pei Ye strolled forward again, but saw a familiar man's suit, placed in the center. This one made Pei Ye stop for a longer time, because it was actually the one Zhao Zhang wore at the poetry gathering today.

Pei Ye smiled. He was still wondering how this shop, which looked unpopular, made a living, but now he understood—open for business and eat for three months.

Then he shuddered and subconsciously covered his money bag.

Holding this worry, Pei Ye turned slowly and walked to the two women, looking at the patterns of the two long robes that had slowly taken shape on the paper without saying a word.

It really looks good.

Li Piaoqing looked up and smiled: "Do you like this style?"

"It looks good... what material are we using?" Pei Ye asked sideways, naively thinking that the bulk of the money was still on the fabric.

The woman glanced at him and smiled: "Does the young master have any fabric he likes? I can make clothes according to the young master's specifications."

"Ah..."

Li Piaoqing "pfft" laughed, seeing through the young man's thoughts at a glance: "Don't worry about it, I'll pay."

"No, no, no, how can that be."

"Why not, from now on in Bowang City, all your expenses will be covered by Cuiyu, it's settled."

Pei Ye naturally disagreed, but he couldn't beat her on this matter, so he smiled helplessly: "... Alright."

When all the details were settled, the sky was already dark. Even though the woman refused, the young girl still put down a deposit of one tael.

Pei Ye secretly clicked his tongue at this number—a deposit of one tael, the clothes would cost at least two or three taels of silver.

He really felt that clothes were fine as long as they could be worn, and there was no need to spend so much. And another thing that the young man couldn't understand was that the young girl had quite a high interest in dressing him up.

It's not dressing herself—is there a lot of fun in dressing others?

Until hearing a soft cat meow beside him, Pei Ye turned his head, only to see a cat raised by the woman squatting on the table. And unlike ordinary cats, this one was actually wearing a finely tailored dark green literary shirt, a jade pendant hanging from its neck, and a small crown on its head. The way it sat still was really as cute as pine wind and crane posture.

"... Hmm?"

Pei Ye tilted his head, his eyes bright.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 216 =====

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