"The Evil Star Sect wins!"
"The Evil Star Sect wins the second bout!"
"The Evil Star Sect wins the third bout!"
The announcements rang out almost simultaneously.
And hot on his heels, yet another had concluded.
The winner of the first bout was none other than Sect Master
Clearly, the moment she stepped down, she heard the consecutive announcements. It instantly dawned on her — the Evil Star Sect had won again, and this victory meant that they had finally secured a seat!
"We… won?" Han Shuang still sounded somewhat uncertain.
Jiang Chen nodded with a smile, while
Elder Ge and Elder Xu had lost, as expected, without any real suspense. But by now that no longer mattered. In this battle, the Evil Star Sect had trounced the Thousand Battles Sect with ease, claiming victory in the second round.
This result, once again, left the Divine King's Manor thoroughly astonished.
The Scarlet Water Divine King gazed at the Evil Star Sect's side with considerable interest. "Rather intriguing. Those three are genuinely interesting. I've come to realize that it's not just the two elders — even that little girl Han Shuang is beyond my reading."
"Han Shuang? Hasn't she always been like that?" one of the Divine King's Manor elders asked curiously.
"Heh. She has always been like that, but don't you think she might also be hiding her strength? If she were truly only at the seventh level of Divine Dao, how could she rise to every challenge and win each battle just as she needs to?"
No one had an answer for that.
Indeed, if she were merely at the seventh level of Divine Dao, that would be baseline strength on a stage like this — nowhere near enough to win every single fight.
Even at the eighth level, it would be difficult to guarantee victory in every bout.
"Now that the Divine King mentions it, that little girl Han Shuang really is a bit peculiar. And the strangest part — she's clearly so young, so why was she engaged to the Evil Star Sect's former sect master? And after the engagement, before they ever even held the wedding ceremony, the former sect master perished. Could there be more to the story?"
People had begun speculating rather irresponsibly.
The Scarlet Water Divine King chuckled. "These are minor affairs, after all — matters of the subordinate sects. So long as they don't cross the line too egregiously, we at the Divine King's Manor should refrain from excessive interference."
With the Scarlet Water Divine King's words, the matter was effectively settled.
"Then what about this contest?" someone ventured cautiously.
"Of course they win. They prevailed through their own strength — fair and square. Are you suggesting you'd call it cheating?"
"Ha ha, we wouldn't dare, wouldn't dare! We defer entirely to the Divine King's judgment."
And so, in stunning fashion, the Evil Star Sect had ridden the momentum of a dark horse to defeat one powerful foe after another, seizing a seat for themselves. The result was truly extraordinary — no one had seen it coming.
Joining the Evil Star Sect in their victory was the Jade Buddha Sect, which claimed the other seat.
When Han Shuang stepped forward to receive a Scarlet Water Token, her eyes had gone slightly red. It was plain to see just how emotional she was.
Only four sects remained to compete for the top three positions, which simplified matters considerably.