107: Chapter 107: Dispute over Battle Damage

The clouds over the main plaza of Qingheng Sect seemed to hang lower than usual.

As the final team walked out of the simulation space, the combat power assessment phase came to a complete end.

The originally brilliant golden Formation used for proctoring converged its light, transforming into a massive, formless jade wall that hovered above everyone's heads.

Immediately following, a battle report, like a bolt of thunder, left everyone on the scene buzzing with shock.

[Combat Power Assessment · Comprehensive Scoreboard (Real-time)]

1st Place: Hengchuan Peak (Comprehensive Score: 96.5)

Target Achievement: 98 (Task executed perfectly)

Battle Damage Rate: 3 (Almost no damage)

Action Efficiency: 92 (Extremely high)

Collateral Damage: Near 0 (Full marks for environmental protection)

2nd Place: Tianjian Peak (Comprehensive Score: 89.0)

Target Achievement: 95 (Fierce, but with omissions)

Battle Damage Rate: 28 (Camp full of serious injuries)

Action Efficiency: 95 (Extremely fast)

Collateral Damage: Severe (Flattened half a mountain)

3rd Place: Artifact Refining Peak...

The plaza was deathly silent.

Not because Hengchuan Peak won.

But because they won so... "outrageously."

That bright red "3," alongside the glaring "28" of Tianjian Peak, formed an incredibly absurd contrast.

It was as if a group of laborers without armor, holding wooden sticks, had actually trampled a group of heavy cavalry under their feet on the scoreboard.

...

"Absurd!"

A roar broke the silence.

An Elder from Tianjian Peak slammed his hand down, shattering the stone table in front of him, and stood up abruptly.

He pointed at the leaderboard, his finger trembling.

"What kind of first place is this?!"

"Where in a war is there no one getting hurt? That is a battle, not playing house!"

"That group from Hengchuan Peak is clearly afraid of fighting! They are just cowards!"

"They hide when they encounter danger, go around when they meet tough opponents, and only know how to drag out time and exhaust the Yao Beast."

"With this kind of fighting style, they won the score but lost Face!"

His shout was like lighting a powder keg.

Many traditionalist Elders echoed his sentiments.

"Indeed, what a Cultivator cultivates is an edge, the courage to unsheathe their sword!"

"That fighting style of Hengchuan Peak is exactly like a common laborer calculating accounts; where is there any Immortal Qi atmosphere?"

"If this trend is allowed to spread, will all the Disciples of Qingheng Sect become cowards in the future?"

Even in the Disciple seating area below, people began to whisper.

"Although they won... watching it is really frustrating."

"Exactly, we cultivate to be free and unfettered, not to save our lives like dogs."

"That bunch from Hengchuan Peak really looks like a patrol squad, not Sword Immortals."

...

Faced with this overwhelming skepticism.

Sect Leader Ning Chenzhou sat in the main seat, his expression impassive.

He did not refute those grand principles about "Immortal Qi" and "courage."

Because he knew that reasoning with stubborn old fools is like playing the lute to a cow.

He just lifted his hand faintly and pointed at the proctoring Elder.

"Play the recording."

His voice was not loud, but it pierced through the noise.

Hum—

The jade wall in the air split in two.

On the left was the combat playback of an elite team from Tianjian Peak just moments ago.

In the footage, Sword Qi was like a rainbow, and spiritual power erupted; that moment was indeed colorful to the extreme. To snatch the kill, one Disciple disregarded his exposed flank and took a heavy blow from a Yao Beast head-on. Although he killed the Yao Beast in the end, he was sent flying, vomiting blood, his Meridians damaged.

The footage froze at the moment he was carried off the field, miserable and tragic.

On the right was the footage of the "Sharp Knife No. 1" team from Hengchuan Peak.

No eruption of spiritual power, no tragic sacrifice.

Only boring rotations, only precise finishing blows.

Finally, the whole team stood in a row. Except for two people who had some dust on their clothes, everyone was unscathed, and they even took out water bottles from their Storage Pouch to take a sip.

The image froze on their bored yet steady expressions.

Sect Leader Ning Chenzhou pointed at the contrast between the two images.

Then, with a wave of his hand, large characters emerged in the air, the golden light blinding:

[Battle Damage Statistics · Real Data]

Tianjian Peak:

Deaths: 0

Serious Injuries (Lost combat capability): 12 people

Minor Injuries: Everyone injured

Hengchuan Peak:

Deaths: 0

Serious Injuries: 0

Minor Injuries: 2 people (scrapes)

[Individual Arena Stage Data:]

Hengchuan Peak Battle Damage: 0.

Sect Leader Ning Chenzhou stood up, his gaze sweeping across the entire venue, finally landing on the still-grumbling Elder Zhao from Tianjian Peak.

"Elder Zhao."

"You say this is avoiding battle, this is cowardice."

"Then may I ask."

"Are we cultivating to die, or to win?"

He pointed to the battle damage data.

"The rules are written very clearly."

"Battle damage is also a score."

"When the Heavenly Dao judges, it does not look at how beautiful your Sword Qi is, only at how clean your ledger is."

"You can say Hengchuan Peak is unseemly."

"But on their ledger, it is written: 'All members survived'."

"And on your ledger, it is written: 'A field full of wounded'."

"This is the gap."

Elder Zhao was choked into a flushed red, pointing at Sect Leader Ning Chenzhou, saying "You, you, you" for a long time, and finally could only flick his sleeves viciously and sit back down.

He could not refute it.

Because the rules were set that way.

The scores were calculated that way.

In front of iron-clad data, so-called "Immortal Qi" and "Face" appeared pale and powerless.

...

And in Shen Xingzhou's eyes, this was not just an argument, but a judgment moment for the System.

Just at the moment Sect Leader Ning Chenzhou brought out the data comparison.

The System interface underwent a subtle change.

[External Evaluation Party Updated]

[Evaluator ID: A Certain Friendly Sect Observation Cultivator Group (Connected via public Formation)]

[Identity Characteristics:]

Not radicals, but pragmatists who focus on Sect management and resource operations.

[Initial Attitude: Neutral]

[Current Attitude: Cautiously Approving]

[Behavior Record:]

Has saved the "Hengchuan Peak Standardized Fighting Sample" in the internal secret record.

Annotation: "Though lacking Immortal Qi, it is extremely durable. Suitable as a survival template for low-level Disciples and cannon fodder camps."

Follow-up Intention: May cite this case at the next Sect Alliance meeting to discuss as a "Battle Damage Reduction Plan."

[V2.0 Upgrade Progress Detection:]

[Condition: External Evaluation Party ≥ 2] (Current: 2/2)

[Status: ** Preliminary indicators met.]

Shen Xingzhou looked at the lit-up progress bar, feeling a slight relief in his heart.

The approval of that "Observation Group" was more precious than any applause from Loose Cultivators.

Because that represented approval from a "managerial" perspective.

This meant that the Hengchuan Peak model was being viewed as a "technology" that could be promoted, not just a joke.

...

However, just as a coin has two sides.

The more external approval there was, the deeper the internal hostility became.

The wind on the plaza seemed to become colder.

On the Elder's seating area, the expressions on the Faces of those who were mocking earlier had changed.

It was no longer pure contempt.

But mixed with jealousy, fear, and a deep... offended anger.

"What is this?"

A Peak Master said in a low voice, his tone cold.

"According to this, the sword techniques we have painstakingly practiced for hundreds of years are not as good as them filling out two forms?"

"If this model is really promoted..."

"Then who will be willing to painstakingly practice Martial Skills in the future? Won't everyone go to practice that trickery?"

"This is smashing our rice bowls!"

[System Public Opinion: Internal High-Level Sentiment Summary]

[Those who believe Hengchuan Peak "destroys the dignity of the Immortal Sect": +20% (Extremely dissatisfied)]

[Verbal negation, behavioral imitators: Beginning to appear (cursing with their mouths, but secretly writing down SOP key points with their hands)]

[Comprehensive Assessment:]

The model is hated, but also secretly learned.

Because in front of this kind of data, anyone with a brain can see — it is truly effective.]

Shen Xingzhou stood under the stage, feeling those gazes like thorns on his back.

He knew that Hengchuan Peak had won this round.

But it had also completely pushed itself to the opposite side of everyone.

Before, everyone just thought Hengchuan Peak was poor, that was "looking down" on them.

Now everyone thinks Hengchuan Peak is weird, that is "precaution."

When your "weirdness" turns into "strength," then you are a nail that must be removed, or must be annexed.

Just at this moment, the bottom bar of the System interface, that line of habitual gray small text appeared.

This time, its tone carried a trace of imperceptible coldness.

[System Prompt]

[Congratulations.]

"The second external evaluation party has officially recorded your value."

"Your 'Standardized Fighting Method' has already been written into the chessboard of the Nine Provinces Cultivation World as a potential variable."

[Warning:]

"But please note —"

"Within this Sect..."

"You are no longer a 'useless peak' that can be ignored."

"You are more like a — thorn."

"A poisonous thorn stuck in the flesh of the old System; pulling it out will hurt, and leaving it in will hurt even more."

Shen Xingzhou clenched his fists.

A thorn, is it?

Very good.

If one must be a thorn to survive.

Then be the sharpest thorn.

Even if it draws blood, one must nail this set of rules into the brains of these stubborn traditionalists.