Chapter 579: 532 Marsh

"Come, it is time to draw lots."

Outside the two sheds, a dedicated lottery platform had been erected, slightly higher than the ground, which could be considered the center of the entire arena. At this moment, a Sword Guest from Changyi Manor, who was presiding over the event, was calling for the waiting Sword Guests to come out and draw their lots.

The first match was the Sword Guest Bureau; after several changes, this sword fighting match had turned into a chaotic melee. That is to say, everyone would enter a large arena and fight together.

This rule was lively and exciting, but it was prone to chaos, and the viewing experience would be somewhat inferior...

Yes, of course, there was a requirement for viewing quality.

At first, it was not needed; two manors fighting with swords was for the purpose of deciding a winner and a loser—the winner would rise, the loser would fall, and the victor would become a second-tier manor. But with the intervention of the Heart Shadow, more and more people became involved; the spectator stands were built on three sides, and there were almost more participants than people from the Deep Shadow Society. How could they not cater to the audience?

Not only must they cater to the viewing experience, but they must also cater to safety. There were many distinguished guests on the platform, and even some manor owners whose strength was worrying; with the stands being open and unprotected, the aftermath of the sword fighting could not be allowed to affect them.

You have taken the money!

Therefore, after a series of back-and-forth consultations, the current rules were finally formed.

The venue was the Marsh of the Imitation Nether Sea. In the center stood a sun that had been shot through, and beneath the sun was placed a Divine Bow Platform. On the platform was the very She Ri Bow that the Luorizhuangyuanzhuren had used to strike the sun back in the day. By drawing the bow, the divine bow would naturally condense a She Ri Arrow, and whoever used the She Ri Arrow to hit the sun first would be the winner.

The marsh on the map was filled with black fog, making it impossible to see one another, with only eight paths leading to the Divine Bow Platform. These eight paths were not radial; they intersected and varied in distance, like a labyrinth, and one could flexibly change paths upon reaching a fork. Sixteen people would enter from eight directions. Two people at each entrance, who must be from different manors, one in front and one behind. One chasing, one fleeing. The order of the chaser and the runner, as well as the sequence of entry, was determined by the lottery.

This method could ensure that the battle would definitely break out quickly; first, the two people in the same passage would compete, then after the winner was decided, they would compete with the winners from other passages. Finally, there might be only one person left in front of the Divine Bow Platform, or teams from both sides might be fighting each other. The situation would be unpredictable, and the viewing experience would naturally be strong.

However, setting up this venue was not easy. For this sword fighting match, Sunset Manor had spent a fortune, even bringing out the She Ri Bow that had always been treasured and kept hidden, not to mention the cost of building the venue. Sunset Manor did not have much manpower, nor did they have experience with large-scale engineering; how could they build such a large venue in ten days or half a month?

Fortunately, they had tools.

At this moment, the sculpture of the Nether Sea Sunset was pushed onto the plaza. A group of Sword Guests did not know which mechanism they triggered, but the Nether Sea that wrapped around the sun seemed to come alive, turning into thick ink and flowing down continuously. As it flowed onto the ground, the land changed from soil to a marsh, and suddenly, a hundred zhang in circumference became a swampy kingdom. A thin layer of mist rose from the ground, shrouding the marsh.

Just the preparation work of creating the venue made for a grand scene with extremely high viewing quality; the discussions on the spectator stands rose one after another, and the arena had already warmed up.

Of course, in reality, the paths for people to walk in the arena had long been planned, and releasing the marsh now was just the final layer of formality.

This would cause some unfairness; the paths were built by Sunset Manor, the sculpture was owned by Sunset Manor, and the mist was released by Sunset Manor. In fact, Sunset Manor had already obtained the home-field advantage. Even without playing tricks in the dark, just being familiar with the paths alone was already a great advantage.

Sunset Manor also appeared very magnanimous, sending the map to Changfa Manor to show fairness. But the map sent by the enemy was not only something they dared not believe, but instead, they became suspicious—this was also a strategy to confuse the enemy.

Fortunately, Changfa Manor was not afraid; in fact, they, like Sunset Manor, had watched the venue being built.

"So... where is the crux?" Tang Zhao frowned as he looked at the venue that was taking shape.

"The crux... I have already told you the crux!" The white fox on his shoulder, who had returned successfully from this scouting mission, said with dissatisfaction, "Do you think the map I scouted has errors or omissions? I have been lurking here, watching the venue every day, and I have recorded every change in detail to produce a complete map; it is marked clearly down to the smallest details. Even Wu Shayu does not know as much as I do."

Tang Zhao shook his head and said, "No, there is definitely no problem with the venue; everyone has memorized the map. I want to say... where is the conspiracy?"

The map provided by the white fox was similar to the one provided by Sunset Manor, with some small changes but no major problems, which showed that Sunset Manor did not intend to plot against Changfa Manor in this step.

But there must be a conspiracy in this sword fighting match; Sunset Manor had gone back on their word repeatedly, and they must be trying to achieve some goal. Now, although there was news coming back from an inside source, they still had not caught their tail, and even the fact that Xing Cang was the mastermind remained at the stage of speculation, which was truly unsettling.

The white fox pondered and said, "I don't know... didn't you say that the mastermind is very likely Xing Cang? He is participating in this match, and he himself is also in danger, so he wouldn't plot here, right? Perhaps the underhanded move will be in the second or third match. The third match of the Manor Owners' Meeting will definitely be fine, and even if he turns the world upside down, there is nothing to fear, but you... look, your opponent hasn't arrived yet."

Tang Zhao pondered in silence; he had long known that his opponent today was a legendary figure, and he had also obtained information about that person from Pipa and had prepared diligently. But today, the other party did not come, and even at this time, they had not shown their face. Was it arrogance? Or was there an additional calculation?

Gui Rong... is a difficult opponent.

Tang Zhao dared not say he had ten percent certainty, but he had confidence in himself. He only worried that he might be entangled with the conspiracy...

"The lottery is finished. The lot numbers are only visible to oneself; wait for the black fog to rise and go to the entrance alone." To show fairness, the one in charge of the lottery was Jin Jiu, who was an accomplice with Tu Fei in usurping Changyi Manor. For this sword fighting match, Changyi Manor had truly done their best and mobilized their entire force. Even if they collected money and set up gambling dens to take a cut, the profit was not much compared to the effort they put in, not to mention the compensation for the mental damage caused by the contempt they received.

Everyone held the small balls with the lots written on them in their hands and dispersed with a boom. And to avoid being seen, they deliberately did not walk in the direction they were supposed to go.

Tang Zhao's gaze swept across various places, making eye contact with the acquaintances on his side and the strangers on the opposite side one by one.

On his side, Xing Cang, Xing Wu, Xing Qi, and Xing Jiu were all there. Yes, Xing Qi was also there.

In order to participate in the Sword Hero Bureau, Tang Zhao had restored his original appearance to make an appearance, but Tang Zhao is Tang Zhao, what does that have to do with Xing Qi?

This Xing Qi, of course, was not the original Xing Qi called back to make up the numbers, but someone else in disguise. That's right, it was Wei Zhangle. Wei Zhangle had been undercover at Wangliang Mountain for many days and was familiar with everything about Changfa Manor, so naturally, he was handy at disguising himself. Before, he did not act because his strength was insufficient, but Tang Zhao's arrival in the past few days had completely put his hanging heart at ease; his mood was peaceful, and he immediately had a breakthrough in his state of mind, mastering the sword that had always belonged to him.

Wei Zhangle finally became a Sword Guest. After becoming a Sword Guest, the world before his eyes immediately opened up, and things he could not do before, he could do now.

Of course, having just become a Sword Guest, his strength was still somewhat insufficient; his Sword Art could be counted on one's fingers, and his Sword Essence was at the lowest tier. If it were a one-on-one sword fight, Tang Zhao would never have let him go up. But who told them that it was an open-map melee now? Wei Zhangle's sword might not be good at fighting, but it was particularly suitable for saving his life.

He was actually the one with the lowest danger.

Among the others, in the end, except for Xing Shisan, all the Sword Guests of Changfa Manor went up. Although Tang Zhao could pull out enough external help, it would be too strange if his own people did not go up; on that side, a row of white hair, and on this side, a row of black hair—wouldn't that be excluding themselves from Wangliang Mountain? Under the eyes of everyone, it was difficult to operate like that.

As for whether their going up would lower the win rate, this... it did not matter.

With Xing Cang there, it was already seven against nine, and adding Wei Zhangle, six against nine. Adding Xing Wu and Xing Jiu... there were too many shortcomings; it would be strange if they could win.

It was only because the rules this time were that whoever reached the sun first and shot it would win, which made it possible for individuals to show off as heroes, that there was a glimmer of a chance to win; otherwise, they would definitely lose. Therefore, the task Tang Zhao gave to his own people who came to reinforce was: if there is a chance to win, take it; if there is no chance, prioritize self-preservation; there is no need to throw away their lives in vain.

Tang Zhao's greatest expectation for this sword fighting match was to see the deep meaning behind the muddy water and see if this old guy Xing Cang would reveal any flaws in the real sword-to-sword fighting.

As for winning, it could be left to Tang Zhao and Jin Wu. In a best-of-three, it only needed two wins anyway, right?

But when Tang Zhao saw the list of opponents, and saw the name Gui Rong, a thought flashed through his mind: perhaps the first match was not the key for the people behind Sunset Manor?

The real battle would start from the second match.

A legendary Sword Hero of Wangliang Mountain... interesting; since he became a Sword Hero holding the Jingxing Sword, his first time against a strong enemy would start with you.

"Zheng zheng zheng—"

As the mist permeated, the world, which only had black and white colors, became even more gloomy and oppressive. At this moment, a burst of pipa music, like a silver bottle suddenly breaking, tore through the gloomy atmosphere, and immediately after, a vigorous, childish voice said loudly:

"Greetings, Abyss Envoys, distinguished Manor Owners, and honored guests, good morning! Welcome to the sword fighting venue of Sunset Manor and Changfa Manor!"

Tang Zhao heard the voice was familiar and suddenly looked up, only to see a figure like a civet cat jumping up and down on the very top of the grandstand, still holding a pipa, as if holding a solo concert.

It really is taking it to heart.

The Heart Shadow was clearly very excited that it could create such a grand scene, playing the pipa while loudly delivering the opening remarks. It was just that the flowery welcome speech that followed was clearly not something it could say; it should have been a script written for it by Pipa or someone else, and reading it out loudly made it sound a bit stiff.

"The rules for the first match are... okay, now introducing the participating Sword Guests. Sunset Manor's Xing Qing! Xing Chen! Xing Qi..."

One by one, white-haired Sword Guests walked into the arena. Unlike Changfa Manor, Sunset Manor had an all-white-haired lineup. Their attire was similar, all typical Sword Guest attire of Wangliang Mountain, which also made it impossible for the people watching from afar to distinguish who was who.

In fact, being so far away, except for those like Tang Zhao who were truly eye-catching, or those who deliberately wore strange clothes, it was truly impossible to tell the others apart by appearance, and it was not easy to even tell their gender.

Tang Zhao guessed that these white-haired Sword Guests might not all be from Sunset Manor; there must be external help, but since they were all white-haired and all surnamed Xing, it was impossible to tell who was borrowed from outside.

"Next is Changfa Manor, Xing Cang! Xing Wu!... Fang Weiran... Aqin... Mai Fangfei!"