Chapter 23: Senior Brother’s Belly Button is Quite Round
That night, when they returned to their assigned lodgings, Elder Rong called everyone together for another round of stern reminders.
“Every single one of you must bury the ‘pit-digging’ incident deep in your stomachs! Absolutely do not let this leak! Our Mystic Cloud Sword Sect has always been upright and honorable. Such underhanded tricks are not done by us—we are the victims here, understand?”
The disciples chorused: “Understood! We’re the victims too! This was definitely not us—we’re the most honest sect!”
Looking at the disciples below, eyes sparkling and faces full of excitement, Elder Rong thought: …Could you please control your expressions a little? How is anyone supposed to believe you’re innocent like that?
Although this tactic was pretty underhanded, it did manage to mess with a lot of people’s mindset—starting off on the wrong foot can really get to someone.
The Tournament is hosted by a different sect each time, taking turns among the major sects.
Every disciple who participates is aiming for first place, after all, being selected to compete means they’re the elite from their respective sects.
Song Zhen was assigned to the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment groups, while her fellow senior brothers and sisters were divided according to their cultivation levels.
They talk about winning first place, but there are actually many “first-place” winners, since participants are divided into different ranks.
Song Zhen’s goal was to claim first place in the Foundation Stage group. Not long after her master returned recently, she reached the Foundation Stage, her skills.
Song Zhen’s opponent in the first round was fairly mediocre—after all, they were all disciples of similar cultivation levels, and Song Zhen’s talent was on the stronger side.
During their duel, Song Zhen instinctively flicked her sword, and, unintentionally, she cut through her opponent’s belt.
Right there, in front of everyone, the other person’s clothes came undone, and their pants nearly fell down.
Looking at her opponent, red-faced and mortified, Song Zhen innocently glanced up at the sky. She really didn’t mean it—she was just… you know, doing it on a whim.
Besides, her opponent’s reaction speed was just way too slow—she hadn’t even used her full strength yet.
Elder Rong buried his face in his hands, desperately trying to avoid the other elders’ gazes.
He didn’t know Song Zhen. He didn’t know anything!
“Junior Sister Song… if I’m not mistaken, that sword of yours was originally aimed at my lower body, only diverted at the last second to cut my belt,” said the opponent. Though not highly cultivated, he was observant.
Song Zhen awkwardly smiled and denied it.
“No, that was just a slip. Senior Brother, you’re overthinking it.”
She widened her innocent eyes and stared at him. Truly, she was innocent.
The opponent hesitated, but in the end, he believed the Sword Sect’s spotless reputation.
“Maybe I really misjudged… let’s continue. I’d heard Junior Sister joined late but is extremely talented, and now I can see it’s true.”
Song Zhen: “Oh, you flatter me, Senior Brother.”
They exchanged polite words before resuming the duel. At first, Song Zhen restrained herself slightly.
But soon her true nature emerged: her sword strikes were cunning, aimed for weaknesses, with the right hand wielding the sword and the left hand clawing for the throat.
Luckily, she remembered it was just a duel, not a real fight.
In less than half an hour, the senior disciple opposite her was already looking like a walking beggar—how exactly that happened, nobody knew. To make matters worse, Song Zhen had somehow poked a hole right through the cloth on the belly area, revealing the belly button!
The spectators were stunned, and even the elders couldn’t believe their eyes.
In all these years, they had never seen a fight get this extreme—just slashing through someone’s clothes like that. Luckily, the opponent was male; if it had been a female disciple, it would have been nothing short of scandalous.
Staring at the extreely conspicuous hole in his stomach, the disciple’s face turned red and white in rapid succession.
He could tell Song Zhen hadn’t used her full strength. If she had… his clothing wouldn’t have been the only casualty.
Song Zhen rubbed her nose and gave an awkward smile, saying sheepishly:
“Senior Brother… Do you believe me if I say I just couldn’t control myself?”
She really couldn’t control herself. At first, she had meant to poke at his chest, but then thought that wasn’t quite right—so she moved a few inches down and ended up poking his belly button instead.
Not gonna lie, really—this senior brother’s belly button was surprisingly round and his skin
The senior disciple across from her was so furious that his vision went black. He admitted he couldn’t win, fine—but having his clothes slashed like this was just too much!
Trembling, he pointed at Song Zhen, unable to speak a word. In the end, his eyes rolled back and he fainted on the spot.
Song Zhen jumped back in fright, shouting as she retreated, “I didn’t touch you at all! I only touched your clothes!”
She couldn’t possibly be accused of hitting him—she hadn’t even touched a single finger!
Everyone watching Song Zhen’s panicked, flailing reaction was left utterly speechless, not knowing how to even describe it.
The other elders’ gazes toward Elder Rong also changed.
Elder Rong forced a stiff smile, tugging at the corner of his mouth:
“Uh… this is our sect leader’s newly accepted disciple. She’s lively and likes to experiment with sword techniques.”
All of this was Song Zhen’s doing; it had nothing to do with me. If anyone wanted to cause trouble, they should take it up with the sect leader.
The elders exchanged suspicious glances but, in the end, said nothing.
In the following matches, Song Zhen tried hard to control herself. However, her tricky sword techniques were truly hard for anyone to resist—especially since she could teleport in an instant.
If her opponent was a female disciple, she was even more careful, since she didn’t want to compromise anyone’s modesty.
It didn’t take long for everyone to notice her different treatment, which stirred up resentment among the male disciples who had lost.
“Junior Sister Song, don’t you think you’re being unfair? You’re gentle with female disciples but harsh with us males. Isn’t that inappropriate?”
Everyone was an opponent; why should gender matter?
Song Zhen glanced at the pretty young ladies, then at the group of male disciples in their ragged clothes, and said with complete confidence:
“I think it’s perfectly fair—I just like pretty girls.”
“History is written by the victors. I won, so I called the shots. If you’ve got the skill, try and beat me!”
Proudly, Song Zhen puffed out her chest.
Her matches were going extremely smoothly, and her performance was nothing short of outstanding.
Although her sword techniques were tricky and unconventional, the elders still had high praise for her—though they shared one common concern:
“You really need to keep a close eye on this little disciple. If she falls into evil ways, she could be a disaster waiting to happen!”
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