Chapter 59: The Offline Competition

An excellent opportunity to date her dream lover was ruined by the sudden appearance of a girl in Happy’s mind. Under Xu Xin’s curious gaze, Happy walked ahead in a daze, neither of them speaking, until they returned to school and Xu Xin dropped her off at the girls’ dormitory.
“Are you okay?”
Xu Xin stood on the dormitory steps, worriedly looking at Happy’s pale face.
Happy forced a smile. “I’m fine. I just need to go back and sleep.”
“Okay, then go rest quickly,” Xu Xin said, waving her hand.
Without hesitation, Happy turned and trudged back to her own dormitory.
“The phone is ringing again!”
Her phone buzzed. It was Xu Xin’s number.
“Hello?”
“Have you rested?” The voice on the other end sounded especially gentle and warm, warming Happy’s previously cold heart. She nodded involuntarily. “I’m feeling better now.”
There was a pause before the other person said, “…See you tomorrow then?”
“See you tomorrow.”
After hanging up, Happy sat down weakly in front of her computer, took a few breaths, and her gaze fell on a name on the Nanhua Jianghu Ranking screen… Her expression shifted from warmth and confusion to pain and struggle. After what seemed like a long time, she finally took a deep breath, her eyes showing determination.
In her past life, she had started by admiring and worshipping her, becoming the woman who left the deepest impression on her—only to end up as the one who hurt and betrayed her. This time around…
Happy sighed deeply, a hint of bitterness on her lips. She sat heavily back on the bed and slowly put on the silver helmet that was as warm as jade.
“I won’t give you another chance to hurt me!”
The scene changed to a valley, with the scorching sun baking the land. The intense heat slightly improved Happy’s gloomy mood.
“Whoosh…”
Not long after standing there, a white homing pigeon appeared in front of her, flapping its wings.
Surprised, Happy skillfully caught it in her palm, carefully removed the note tied to its leg, glanced at it, frowned, and then unfolded it.
It wasn’t written by Xuanfeng Xiao Li or the others—it was a message from an enemy she had met before, someone with whom her relationship had been extremely poor…
The signature at the end was—Nangong Ying.

In the letter, the other party said that Longhu Men did not seek his forgiveness, but would take practical actions to change its long-standing bad habits. Now, Nangong Ying had replaced Long Meng as the deputy leader of Longhu Men and established strict rules and regulations to discipline its members. She offered to use money to make amends for the troubles caused by the two provocations and hoped to have the chance to become friends, even partners, with him in the future.

Happy wasn’t in a good mood, so he paid no attention to Longhu Men’s letter. He simply replied with two words, “Overthinking,” and continued practicing in the valley.

If anyone were around, he would surely perform even better—practicing more fiercely and diligently than before! Not only would his movements be swift and fierce like a gust of wind when using the Cloud Ascending Step, but even when practicing his mental techniques, he would exude a strong murderous aura. If Longhu Men appeared at this time, they likely wouldn’t be able to escape unscathed as they had during the day.

……

The martial arts competition organized by the Nanhua Jianghu Ranking at Nanhua University had a registration deadline the next day. Over four thousand people signed up, including students from nearby smaller colleges as well as alumni from previous batches, making it particularly lively.

For this offline martial arts tournament across various regions, the authorities set up a special route, assigning each registered participant a number so they could enter the competition venue through the city officials.

To test his assumptions, Happy also signed up to participate.

At the city officials’ office in Gusu City, Happy encountered Nangong Ying before the competition began. She too was going to attend the martial arts tournament, though he didn’t know which region she belonged to.

“Uh… hello.”

The proud woman from Yumen Tower, who resembled an immortal, suddenly saw Happy without any preparation. Her heart rate quickened instantly, and she spoke nervously. After taking a deep breath, she realized he seemed to be lost in thought and hadn’t noticed her at all, which annoyed her.

“Hey!”

Her slightly raised voice finally woke Happy up. He frowned, glanced at Nangong Ying, nodded lightly, and said, “Nice to meet you,” before falling silent.

“Are you also here to compete? Which region are you from?”

Noticing that Happy didn’t seem as domineering as before, Nangong Ying relaxed slightly and dared to ask.

Happy calmly wiped his Gentleman Sword without paying her any attention.

“Hmph! If you won’t say, then fine.”

Nangong Ying didn’t dare to say it either. She rolled her eyes in frustration, muttering to herself that the opponent seemed extremely charming and petulant, with a unique allure.
But…
In her opinion, at this competition, the gentleman in blue would surely shine brightly. It wouldn’t be hard to deduce his location from the information published on the official website later.
Though somewhat disappointed and knowing she had no chance of making it to the top ranks, Nangong Ying felt proud at the thought of being able to figure out the opponent’s identity.
They said nothing more until the competition began.
Suddenly, she found herself on an empty arena. Looking around, she saw that the arena was made of solid marble, about four or five meters above the ground, though its diameter was only twenty meters—leaving very little room to move around. There were no spectators either.
Frowning, Happy suddenly remembered Nangong Ying’s outfit. She quickly took out some clothes from herThe bag of heaven and earth bag, drew her sword, swung it a few times in the air, grabbed a triangular piece of cloth, and tied it over her face.
Just as she finished, a figure appeared across the arena…
A girl’s figure.
The system promptly announced:
“In this elimination format, contestants must fight seven rounds. Those who win four or more rounds advance to the next stage!”
“Each round lasts ten minutes. Contestants can quit a round by declaring defeat. If killed or knocked off the arena, they are considered defeated and automatically move on to the next round.”
“The first round features two fighters: Happy, a member of the Nanhua Jianghu Ranking, and Nuomi.”
“…Nuomi?”
“Happy?”
The girl across from her had a pretty face and a graceful appearance. She blinked, seemingly finding the opponent’s name just as funny as Happy did.
But Happy didn’t ponder for long. Remembering nothing about that name, she swung her sword. With a clear ringing sound, she rushed toward her opponent.