Chapter 4201 — Huang Xiaotao's Astonishing Battle Prowess

"What? He's that spineless, and you still think highly of him, Grandfather?" Shangguan Lan'er asked in surprise. Though she was glad Yu Dayong had surrendered of his own accord, it was entirely because of Wei Zhao; under ordinary circumstances, she would have nothing but contempt for such a gutless man.

"Spineless? I suppose you could call it that. But put another way, you could also call it wisdom. Yu Dayong saw the situation clearly—though they are both early Golden Core, he is no match for Wei Zhao. Rather than take a meaningless risk, better to admit defeat outright. That, too, is a kind of wisdom and courage," Shangguan Tianxia remarked.

"That counts as wisdom and courage? I really don't get it," Shangguan Lan'er said, sticking out her tongue cutely.

Shangguan Tianxia chuckled and said no more. Someone like Yu Dayong would never grow to Wei Zhao's heights, but that did not mean he was utterly worthless.

A man who knows the times and understands when to advance or retreat is likewise a rare talent. He might not blaze with the dazzling brilliance of a heaven-defying prodigy like Wei Zhao, but many matters were all the more steady and reliable when placed in his hands.

Of course, this already touched upon the art of employing people, which was beyond the grasp of a little girl like Shangguan Lan'er. Naturally, Shangguan Tianxia would not waste his breath casting pearls before swine.

The inner-sect tournament's singles competition had a hundred matches in the first elimination round, all to be finished within a single day to decide the top hundred outright. If they were fought one after another, even racing on without pause until dawn the next day would not be enough, so the first elimination round was conducted with many matches running simultaneously.

At the North Island arena, besides the platform where Wei Zhao stood, there were four backup platforms nearby, with five matches proceeding at once. Wei Zhao's was unquestionably the first to finish, while on the other four platforms the fighting was in full swing.

Among those four simultaneous duels, one featured none other than Huang Xiaotao.

Her opponent was also a newly advanced early Golden Core outer-sect disciple named Wu Bufan—though he was from the Mystic Mechanism Pavilion, not the Azure Cloud Pavilion.

Her luck in the draw had been quite good. Across the whole field, early Golden Core was the lowest tier, and her opponent was an outer-sect disciple who had only recently broken through, his strength likely at the very bottom.

But Wu Bufan was, after all, a disciple of the Mystic Mechanism Pavilion and likewise an early Golden Core expert. His experience was far more seasoned than that of Yu Dayong of the Azure Cloud Pavilion. Between combatants of equal strength, experience could play a decisive role in determining victory or defeat.

Men like him were old hands—even with only a half-chance of winning, they would fight tooth and nail to turn it into a full chance, or better. They would never simply surrender like Yu Dayong. And besides, his opponent was Huang Xiaotao, not the famed newcomer king Wei Zhao!

By seniority, Huang Xiaotao was also a newly advanced early Golden Core expert, and moreover an outer-sect disciple of the weak-foundationed Azure Cloud Pavilion. Judged purely on experience, Wu Bufan, a Mystic Mechanism Pavilion disciple, had the better odds.

The two took their stances on the platform. Wu Bufan had initially felt some wariness toward Huang Xiaotao, but when he saw her draw a bow and arrows, he burst out laughing.

This was no deep mountain forest—this was an arena, a hundred zhang of open space in every direction, utterly without cover, and a one-on-one duel at that. To bring out a bow and arrows in such a setting, when any expert of the same level could dodge them with ease—was that not absurd?

Then, when the referee gave the order and Wu Bufan saw Huang Xiaotao's figure begin to blur, yet fail to vanish completely, his laughter grew even heartier.

He could tell this was clearly a concealment technique, but in this open, unobstructed setting it could not fully take effect—it only made her figure slightly indistinct. What the hell was the use of that?

"A word of kind advice: this junior sister from the Azure Cloud Pavilion had best just concede. Bringing that technique and those weapons onto the arena is downright embarrassing. Better to bow out gracefully and spare yourself pointless injury," Wu Bufan said in the manner of a seasoned elder, his tone dripping with aged condescension.

If her odds had originally been six-to-four, then now that Huang Xiaotao had revealed her technique and weapons, they had become eight-to-two—or even nine-to-one!

In today's opening match, he, Wu Bufan, already had it in the bag.

"I appreciate your kindness, but I'd still like to try," Huang Xiaotao said from beneath her veil, her voice neither cold nor warm.

Dragged along by Wei Zhao to join the inner-sect tournament this time, Huang Xiaotao had never expected to place well; so long as she could help Wei Zhao in the doubles competition, she would be more than satisfied.

But that did not mean she had no ambition whatsoever in the singles. Soft on the outside, firm within—her character had never been weak. Even without coveting a ranking, she would absolutely give it her all.

"Tsk tsk, young people these days just don't know what's good for them." Wu Bufan shook his head, his lips curling in a cold sneer. "Fine, then. Today I'll teach you properly that this arena is simply no place for an ignorant woman like you!"

With that, Wu Bufan struck suddenly—but Huang Xiaotao was faster. Before he could even move, a pitch-black arrow came whistling toward him, its speed far beyond his imagination!

Huang Xiaotao's arrow speed had always been extraordinary, and now that her strength had reached the early Golden Core stage, it was naturally even more remarkable. Especially since Wei Zhao had made a point of finding time these past two days to teach her the knack of channeling true qi into her arrows—by now her arrow speed had essentially reached the limit of the great bow in her hands, and ordinary people simply could not react in time.

Fortunately, they had started far enough apart, and Wu Bufan just barely managed to react, narrowly dodging the first arrow. Even so, he broke out in a cold sweat—one slip, and that arrow would truly have sealed his throat!

On the arena, life and death were not accounted for. If Huang Xiaotao really did finish him with a single arrow, not only would she bear no responsibility, she would instead earn others' admiration.

From that moment on, Wu Bufan dared not be careless again. After dodging the first arrow, he hurriedly seized the opening to pounce at Huang Xiaotao. It was common knowledge that archers were poor at close combat—so long as he could close the distance, Huang Xiaotao would still lose without question.

But Huang Xiaotao clearly would not let him have his way so easily. Distance was an archer's lifeline, a truth she understood more deeply than anyone. In countless jungle adventures past, she had several times nearly been caught at close range by spirit beasts—in this regard, she was a veteran of a hundred battles.

Huang Xiaotao moved swiftly on her feet while loosing an arrow from time to time, cutting off Wu Bufan's path forward!