TGM Vol.1 Chapter 24 – Flower Hairpin Tournament (5)

On the second day, the Flower Hairpin Tournament, which has attracted so much attention, is finally underway.

According to legend, the Flower Hairpin Tournament was originally a competition between the seven peaks of the Shaoyang Sect. Thousands of years ago, the Shaoyang Sect was not like today’s Seven Peaks, but rather was divided into separate territories, like scattered sand.

Shaoyang was passed down until five hundred years ago, when the Head of BenYang’s generation finally united the Seven Peaks to resist their foreign enemy, the Nanshan Xuan Yuan Sect. At that time, the Xuan Yuan Sect was so powerful that it had swallowed dozens of immortal sects in all directions.

And their unstoppable momentum finally suffered a big loss in front of Shaoyang Sect.

Perhaps it was unimaginable that Shaoyang, which was still in a state of internal strife, became united at this critical moment.

The Xuan Yuan faction, of course, is unable to get what they wanted, and ShaoYang also suffers heavy losses. Both sides were greatly injured. It was then that the two sides disputed and have remained at loggerheads ever since.

The two sides plunged into a cold war.

In order to restore Shaoyang’s prestige, the Head of BenYang announced that the Seven Peaks of Shaoyang would no longer be closed to the world, and invited all immortals to challenge the Seven Peaks, with the winner being able to make a request to Shaoyang.

He also invites several highly respected elders from the Dianjing Valley to judge the outcome of the contest.

Gradually, the fame of the Seven Peaks Tournament spread, and everyone who heard of the tournament came to challenge it with great enthusiasm. The Seven Peaks Tournament has become the opportunity for all the major schools to compete against each other.

Since then, Shaoyang has regained its prestige and unity, and the seven peaks have become one, with no more disputes. The original contest was renamed the Flower Hairpin Tournament, and evolved into the current competition in which the winner gets to pin a peony flower on their chest.

The Xuan Yuan faction was devastated by the attack on Shao Yang and has never expanded its influence.

The Flower Hairpin Tournament has been held hundreds of times, and the winners are from all factions, especially Fuyu Island and Lize Palace which have grown rapidly in the last two decades.

The winner of the last tournament was from Fuyu Island, so this time the Fuyu Island disciples are exempt from the first round of the competition and can enter the second round directly.

At this time, the martial arts arena on the summit of Shaoyang Peak had been cleaned up, and the seven gigantic arenas were decorated with silk and satin of various colours, blowing in the wind, which is very spectacular.

The five sect heads were sitting on the chairs outside the arena, talking to each other in low voices. The others were fine, but only the head of the Xuan Yuan Sect didn’t say a word, his nostrils pointed skyward and he didn’t look at anyone. Chu Lei, knowing their usual virtues, didn’t pay any attention to them and only chatted with the heads of the other three factions with a smile.

The open space of the inner ring was filled with young disciples participating in the tournament. The other factions were quite normal, except for the Li Ze Palace, who was dressed in blue robes and masks, attracting many young disciples who had never seen the world before.

The open space of the outer ring is where the disciples and outsiders were watching. The young disciples of the Min Generation of the Shaoyang Sect are not yet old enough to compete in the tournament, so they can only be spectators, along with other spectators of other sects, trying to stretch their necks to look inside. From time to time, the sound of laughter could be heard.

“Hey, look at that girl in the pink dress! It’s from the Dianjing Valley, right? Even the Dianjing Valley can produce a beautiful woman!”

“Yuck, you can’t spit out ivory from a dog’s mouth! You just know which one is the prettiest!”

“Aren’t you looking ? Oh…you don’t look at the beautiful woman, you look at the beautiful man…”

“Go to hell! If the Master hears you, he’ll cut off your tongue!”

……..

When Xuanji heard that many people were discussing which woman was more beautiful and which man was more handsome, he looked up and asked Du Minxing: “Brother, who do you think is more beautiful?”

Du Minxing smiled wryly, “You don’t want to learn from those silly people. We cultivators are the second most beautiful of all. Why don’t you ask me who I think is the most powerful?”

“Who do you think is the best?” Zhong Minyan’s ears were pointed, and when he heard them talking, he immediately joined in the fun.

“Um…” After a while, Du Minxing couldn’t help but look at the two figures in the inner circle, a red one and a white one, and said, “Last time, Pian Pian and Yu Ning from the Fuyu Island, they combined their swords to form an astonishing combination. However, they were still young and lacked strength, so they lost to their fellow disciples. I think their chances of winning this time are very high.”

“Where? What’s Pian Pian and Yu Ning? I want to see it too!” Ling Long is holding a pile of snacks in her hands and she squeezes in.

Zhong MinYan snatches a packet of spiced beef from her hand, smiling as he dodges Ling Long’s fists and legs. “Hey, they are the two most conspicuous disciples on Fuyu Island, one red and one white. The girl is pretty. The combination of their two swords is truly amazing and beautiful. The only problem is that no one from Fuyu Island is attending the first test today, so we will have to wait until tomorrow to see them!”

Linglong squinted at the railing for a long time and finally pouted, “There’s nothing to look at. No one is as good looking as the lady from Fuyu Island.”

Xuanji wondered, “What lady?”

Zhong Minyan handed her a bag of roasted beans, and said, “I asked you to go to Fuyu Island together that year. You were lazy and refused to go. Of course you don’t know. Madam is the Island Lady, the wife of the Island Master. But what is her name? No one knows where she came from. But she was so beautiful that I came back with Ling Long and we couldn’t stop thinking about her. The Island Master is lucky to have such a beautiful woman as his wife.”

Xuanji couldn’t help but want to see her too, after what he said, and she followed the example of Linglong and craned her neck over the railing to look for her. “Then the lady of the Island Master is here at the Tournament? Where is she?”

Zhong Minyan pointed to the place where the Sect Leader was sitting, “It’s right next to the Master of Fuyu Island. Ah, she has a veil on her face this time…That’s right, if she doesn’t cover her face, she will cause a riot.”

Xuanji looked over and saw a slender woman wearing a white veil sitting beside Dongfang Qingqi.

She was wearing a light purple tunic, a long skirt, and long hair like black silk hanging below her shoulders. I don’t see her showing her face or doing anything, but just looking at her like that makes me feel like I can’t take my eyes off her, and my heart is itching for more.

Linglong whispered in her ear, “Are you dumbfounded? It’s not for nothing that the last time Little Six and I were so dumbfounded that we almost smashed other people’s dishes while we were eating.”

Xuanji could only hope for a gust of wind to blow her veil away and see what she looked like.

She was dazedly looking at her, but suddenly she saw a young man with a white robe and long boots, broad shoulders and a thin waist. He went to the place where the Sect Leaders were, and said something, and turned to go, but the Island Lady suddenly beckoned to him, as if asking him to come over.

The man seemed to hesitate for a moment, but he could not resist her beckoning, and at last he went and stood by her side, not moving at all.

“Who is that man?” Xuanji was tired of watching, so she turned her head and stuffed a handful of spiced beans into her mouth to bite into them, talking to Linglong.

“He is a big steward of Fuyu Island. I saw him last time on the island. He looks pretty good. He has a scar on his face, which is a bit scary. He is not a disciple of Fuyu Island, he doesn’t know martial arts, but he takes care of Fuyu Island’s daily life, I heard that he is very capable!”

Linglong is so excited that she pours out all the gossip she’s heard about the “celebrities”.

“Did you see that? The one in black with white trim is a disciple of the Dianjing Valley. He was crying on the spot when he was defeated by Pian Pian and Yu Ning at the Hairpin Tournament.”

“Ah, and that ! He’s a rascal from Xuanyuan. He couldn’t beat us in the last tournament, so he used a hidden weapon. But dad caught him red-handed and he’s still talking! I didn’t expect him to be able to compete again this year. The Xuan Yuan faction is really no good!”

Linglong said fiercely, gritting her teeth.

As soon as the words were uttered, the drums thundered all around the arena, as if thousands of waves were crashing in, one after another, almost shaking one’s heart out of one’s chest.

Everyone knew that the Flower Hairpin Tournament had officially begun.

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