163: Arena "bugs" and tactical contamination

The preliminary selection ended, and the list of five hundred qualifying Disciples was released.

All five members of Wen Youyi's team advanced, especially Wen Youyi and Zhao Iron Pillar, whose rankings were quite high, attracting considerable attention.

The name of the Mutual Aid Society spread widely throughout the Outer Sect for the first time, no longer seen as that "eccentric" organization that only knew how to farm and engage in production.

After a brief rest, the more intense and brutal arena tournament began.

The five hundred Disciples drew lots to determine their opponents, deciding victory in one-on-one arena matches.

The winner advanced, and the loser was eliminated—simple, direct, and without any frills.

When the draw results came out, Wen Youyi looked at the name of his first opponent displayed on his jade plaque—Sun Miao, a Disciple from the Water Attribute Courtyard at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer.

"Sun Miao? Never heard of him. Is he strong?" Zhao Iron Pillar leaned over to take a look.

Wang Wu quickly retrieved the intelligence: "He's an elite Disciple of the Water Attribute Courtyard, skilled in the Water Evasion Spell and the 'Thousand Entangling Water Threads Technique'. He is known for crowd control and attrition. It is said that he once used this method to outlast a Senior Brother at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer. His fighting style... is very clingy and very troublesome."

"Crowd control style?" Wen Youyi rubbed his chin, the corners of his mouth curling up imperceptibly. "Perfect, just the thing to test our 'new equipment'."

The arena tournament was held simultaneously on ten huge stone platforms, with many onlookers and thunderous cheers.

When it was Wen Youyi's turn to take the stage, his opponent, Sun Miao, was already standing there.

He was a fair-skinned Disciple with calm eyes, and a faint mist of water seemed to surround his body.

"Ding Zi Courtyard, Wen Youyi, please offer your guidance, Senior Brother Sun." Wen Youyi cupped his hands in a polite salute.

Sun Miao nodded slightly, his tone flat: "Water Attribute Courtyard, Sun Miao. Junior Brother Wen, be careful."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sun Miao formed hand seals with both hands.

Instantly, thick water mist filled the arena.

At the same time, countless hair-thin, almost transparent water threads, like living things, silently coiled toward Wen Youyi from all directions!

This was his signature technique, "Thousand Entangling Water Threads"!

These water threads appeared fragile but were incredibly tough.

Once entangled, they would be like maggots on rotting bone, continuously draining the opponent's spiritual energy and restricting their movement until they were exhausted and defeated.

The crowd below held their breath, all wanting to see how Wen Youyi, who had performed so impressively in the preliminary selection, would deal with such a troublesome crowd-control tactic.

However, Wen Youyi's performance made everyone drop their jaws.

He neither attempted to break the water threads with brute force nor used movement techniques to dodge.

Instead... he stood in place, raised his right hand wearing the "Thousand Mechanisms Hand", and flicked his five fingers against the Void Realm as if playing the piano.

Something bizarre happened!

Those water threads, which originally had tricky trajectories and were incredibly agile, suddenly seemed drunk as they approached within three feet of Wen Youyi.

Their paths became crooked, they tangled and knotted together, and a few even uncontrollably lashed out at the caster, Sun Miao himself!

Sun Miao's expression changed, and he hurriedly changed his hand seals, trying to regain control of the water threads.

But he felt his spiritual energy like a clay ox entering the sea; those water threads seemed to have broken free from his control and became "disobedient"!

"What's going on?!" Sun Miao was terrified; he had never encountered such a situation before!

The crowd below was also in an uproar.

"Why are Senior Brother Sun's water threads in chaos?"

"Is Wen Youyi playing tricks? What Spell did he use?"

"I didn't see him use much spiritual energy at all!"

Only Wen Youyi knew what was happening.

The "Thousand Mechanisms Hand", combined with his own fine-tuned control over energy, plus a bit of "energy flow interference" technique learned from ancient knowledge, allowed him to act like a hacker.

He directly injected a piece of garbled code into Sun Miao's "skill casting" program, causing his "Spell to fail" or even "skill backlash".

In essence, he was using a higher-dimensional understanding to bully the opponent who was still using "traditional programming".

Sun Miao refused to believe it.

With a low shout, his figure suddenly turned into a stream of water and merged into the surrounding mist.

This was his specialty, the Water Evasion Spell, and he prepared to launch an attack from a tricky angle.

But as soon as he merged into the mist, he felt something was wrong.

The surrounding water vapor seemed to become "sticky" and "unfamiliar".

It was as if he had fallen into a pot of boiling glue.

His evasion technique became extremely sluggish, and he was almost "glitched" out of his Water Evasion state on the spot!

Wen Youyi remained in place, only the frequency of his finger movements increased.

He was not only interfering with the water threads but also "polluting" the water-attribute energy field within the entire arena!

For a Cultivator from the Water Attribute Courtyard who relied on the environment, this was simply a dimensionality-reduction strike!

Sun Miao was forced to reveal his figure, his face pale and his breathing chaotic.

His two best methods were being completely suppressed by the opponent in a way he couldn't understand at all.

How was he supposed to fight this?

"Senior Brother Sun, I concede the victory." Wen Youyi smiled slightly, his figure moving like a ghost to appear beside Sun Miao.

He pointed his fingers like a sword, gently tapping the weakest point of Sun Miao's protective spiritual light.

With a soft "poof", the protective spiritual light shattered.

Wen Youyi's fingers tapped Sun Miao's Jianjing acupoint, and with a clever burst of force, Sun Miao was sent tumbling uncontrollably off the arena.

The whole arena was silent.

Just like that... he won?

A Qi Refining Sixth Layer (on the surface), facing a Qi Refining Seventh Layer elite from the Water Attribute Courtyard known for being troublesome, winning so easily, so... bizarrely?

No one even saw what ultimate move Wen Youyi used; he seemed to just move his fingers, and his opponent was inexplicably defeated!

"Wen Youyi wins!" The referee Elder was stunned for a moment before announcing it loudly.

The crowd below immediately exploded!

"What happened? Why did Senior Brother Sun lose?"

"What exactly did he do?"

"This victory is just too inexplicable!"

Amidst the discussions and inquisitive gazes, Wen Youyi strolled off the arena, hiding his achievements and fame.

Zhao Iron Pillar greeted him excitedly: "Boss, that was awesome! How did you do that? I didn't understand it at all!"

Wen Youyi waved his hand low-key: "It's nothing, just discovered a small 'bug' in the opponent's Cultivation Technique operation and made a little use of it."

"Bug? What bug?" Zhao Iron Pillar looked bewildered.

"Uh... just a small loophole, a little flaw." Wen Youyi couldn't be bothered to explain.

In the next few matches, Wen Youyi took this "tactical pollution" to the extreme.

Against a Disciple from the Metal Attribute Courtyard, the opponent's sharp Sword Qi, which usually worked without fail, would inexplicably deflect and dissipate when approaching him.

Against a Disciple from the Fire Attribute Courtyard, the opponent's violent fire Spells would have their power reduced by thirty percent out of thin air, as if they were low on fuel.

Against a Disciple from the Earth Attribute Courtyard, the opponent's defensive barrier, which they relied on for their fame, would experience a brief energy disturbance, allowing him to easily find a weak point...

His opponents fought with extreme frustration, feeling as if their skills had been afflicted with various negative statuses like weakness, silence, and confusion.

They couldn't even unleash fifty percent of their full strength, while the other party was like nothing had happened, always able to find the most tricky angles with the minimum cost and win easily.

Wen Youyi was like a humanoid, self-propelled "debuff" applicator; wherever he went, his opponents were all filled with complaints and doubted their own lives.

His reputation also spread rapidly in a strange way—"That Wen Youyi from the Ding Zi Courtyard is very wicked!"

"Don't ever fight him, he's full of weirdness!"

"Fighting him can give you internal injuries from frustration!"

Even the Elders on the high platform looked at Wen Youyi with astonishment and inquiry.

"This child... his understanding and control of spiritual energy seem to far exceed his Realm."

"He is not using any profound Spell, but rather something like... an interference technique that points directly to the essence of energy?"

"A freak genius, truly a freak genius!"

Elder Black Fiend's face became increasingly ugly.

He had originally arranged for many people to "teach" Wen Youyi a lesson in the arena tournament, but at this rate, the people he arranged would likely be eliminated by this "disgusting" fighting style without even having a chance to touch Wen Youyi!

"He cannot be allowed to keep winning like this!" A cold light flashed in Elder Black Fiend's eyes as he whispered a few instructions to a trusted Disciple beside him.

The Disciple took the order and quietly retreated.

Wen Youyi did not notice the undercurrents on the high platform.

He had just easily won his fourth match and successfully advanced to the top sixty-four.

Zhao Iron Pillar, Wang Wu, and Senior Brother Li also advanced without any major surprises, relying on their solid foundations and excellent "equipment".

Only Senior Brother Zhang, who encountered a strong offensive opponent in the third round, was forced to lose, but he didn't have his heart set on it anyway, so he was calm about it.

"Well done." Wen Youyi encouraged his teammates, "The tough battles are just beginning. Everyone, keep your spirits up; I have a feeling someone is about to lose their composure."

His gaze inadvertently swept across the high platform, briefly meeting the cold, sinister gaze of Elder Black Fiend.

Sparks collided silently in the air.

(End of Chapter)