Chapter 211: Nicknames are an Art

So noisy… this commentator.

After sending her opponent flying with a single kick, Miss Vilyric didn’t pursue further but instead waited in place for the referee to formally announce the result, secretly grumbling in her heart.

Though she understood that the commentator’s job is to amp up the atmosphere, even if it means exaggerating and being a bit chaotic, as long as it resonates with the audience, it’s considered a success…

But standing in the positions of an onlooker and a participant, obviously feels different.

Moreover, the reason for her aggressive style was simple: hitting people directly felt satisfying, and since this was only the early stage of the finals, there was no harm in holding back her true abilities.

Even though Vilyric didn’t necessarily intend to compete for the championship, since that Eastern Yuan Holy Monarch, Shangguan Qiuming, had specifically sent someone to provoke her, not giving him a show of power would be rather unreasonable.

As a Priestess, her innate strength and agility weren’t particularly high, with her usual stats hovering around just over 10,000 points. If not for the Mask of the God Fox, she might even be outdone by Min Chen, who had reached level 80, putting her roughly at the level of a normal melee class around level 60 or 70.

As for why she could tear apart the opponent’s binding formation so easily, it was due to the sacred artifact, Feather Garment of Glararia. As long as the damage doesn’t reach the immunity threshold, Vilyric could completely ignore any accompanying effects; things like catching swords barehanded or bouncing back with her body were all thanks to it.

And she had tested that threshold many times: it had to be level 70 and mastery of simulation laws to break through, so

no matter what, dealing with opponents under level 50 meant, even if they had some quirky tricks, it was more than enough.

Vilyric had no intention of killing in the match—there was no need for that and it would disqualify her—so she only delivered a swift kick to the face of that former rival Taoist.

With the raucous cheers from the audience and the referee loudly announcing the result, the black-haired girl turned and returned to the inner area.

Beating a seasoned seeker with such overwhelming force should raise quite a stir and chain reactions; she’d need to be more cautious when stepping out next.

…

That night.

Having completed the first round of matches and moving into the second round with the 216 selected contestants, Vilyric and the others returned to their temporary lodgings.

As expected, all three of them who participated in the martial contest achieved victory, but the average skill level of the competitors was surprisingly high. Besides Vilyric, Murong Yun also faced a seeker as his opponent in the draw.

Both were at the initial level of their arrival in this realm, and after a fierce battle, Murong Yun narrowly clinched victory with his inherited Kai Tian Palm.

However, both he and many astute onlookers could see that while his opponent gave it their all, it wasn’t truly life-or-death; they simply didn’t want to get hurt here. Seeker practitioners always had some trump cards; in a life-or-death scenario, the outcome might have been uncertain.

On the other hand, Xiao Kong had better luck, facing an opponent even weaker than the whip-wielding woman Hong Yan had dealt with before. This one dropped like a rock after a single strike from her paw, causing quite a stir at the time.

After all, Miss Cat Daughter was the first-place winner from the preliminaries and was famous in every sense. Her overwhelming performance further proved her strength, making her a hot contender for the championship in public opinion.

As for how Priestess knew all this…

“Vilyric! Look, look! This was given to me by the innkeeper’s daughter! It’s the latest issue just published tonight!”

A certain young cat girl dashed in from outside, slapping a magazine titled “The 32nd Four Saints Selection Tournament Journal — Special Edition of the Eastern Yuanzi Kingdom Finals!” onto the table. The lazy white cat Miao Miao, curled up on the bedside, was suddenly attracted and jumped onto the desk, curiously gazing at the colorful cover with the Priestess.

“Meow meow meow?”

“These people are really idle… By the way, when did you become friendly with the innkeeper’s daughter? She actually gave you this?”

Miss Xiao Kong proudly put her hands on her hips.

“Hmph, did you notice my charm? She’s a huge fan of mine, what can I say? I’m just that amazing~”

“I remember someone said they needed to be low-key when outside… don’t you have any self-awareness at all?”

Shaking her head helplessly, Vilyric set down her reading material and tried to open the exquisitely illustrated magazine that undeniably caught attention, with the fine print at the bottom reading “Published by Lingyin News Agency.”

The first page featured a massive close-up of Miss Cat Daughter after she obliterated her opponent in a single move during the day, taken from some front-angle shot by unknown means, decorated with flashy text that read: “One Hit Kill! The First Cat Demon Girl in the Preliminary Rounds Makes a Comeback! One Strike to Victory! May Become the Dark Horse of This Tournament!!!”

“Meow?”

With another confused sound, Miao Miao instinctively licked her paw, tilting her head, seemingly puzzled as to how her owner ended up on paper.

“It’s got a bit of flair, doesn’t it? No wonder it’s named after Lingyin…”

Casually making a remark, Vilyric flipped through one or two more pages, quickly scanning the content written on them.

As expected, it detailed Xiao Kong’s few appearances in this tournament, especially focusing on the “exclusive news” that during the preliminaries, she single-handedly took down a team of over a hundred people and finally claimed first place, with the details so precise it felt like one had lived through it.

Ha, they really are well-informed.

Those troublemakers from the Church of Truth are still locked up in Xingyuan City’s grand prison after Xiao Kong put them down; how could they run out to promote this?

It’s clear the Dongyuanzhi official channels and puppeteers were working to heat up the tournament.

Xiao Kong’s distinctly non-human demon form showcased brilliantly indeed, bringing a refreshing contrast and shock appeal. Although the Ancient Spirit Realm doesn’t have discriminatory customs against monsters, ever since Blood of the Ancestors was destroyed by evil demons a thousand years ago, it has truly become the dominion of humans.

Since many similarities exist between demons and evil spirits, nowadays, aside from places like Xiangshou County, there are rarely any demons stirring up trouble in the major human cities, making it a novel spectacle for most people.

If it were Vilyric herself being hyped this way, she might not be too pleased, considering the inevitable troubles it would bring, and perhaps even retaliate. But it seems Miss Cat Daughter is enjoying it, so let her be.

Thinking this, the girl casually flipped through the remaining content of the magazine.

Nothing particularly valuable; just detailing the newly advanced contestants, with hot prospects like Xiao Kong or the rising dark horse described in detail, discussing their past achievements in the tournament, while those with less impressive records were merely sketched over—enough to fit five or six on a single page.

The only interesting thing was that this Lingyin-named publication actually gave every contestant a nickname.

Those on the “Top 100 of the Ancient Spirit Realm” list naturally retained their original titles, while the more mysterious newcomers who made their first appearances had nicknames improvised based on their performance and characteristics.

For example, the young and not yet top-tier Miss Hong Yan, who had gathered quite a following due to her good looks, was dubbed “Red Sleeve Hidden Sword,” referring to her seldom drawing her sword carelessly, yet when she strikes, the results are earth-shattering, quickly determining the outcome.

Hong Yan indeed practiced sword-drawing techniques.

And since Xiao Kong’s segment was earlier in the magazine, Vilyric quickly caught sight of her title.

Soon, the Priestess turned her gaze to the glimmering silver cute cat ears and paw coverings of the cat girl beside her.

“Pfft ~”

Xiao Kong tilted her head in confusion.

“What’s up? Why are you suddenly laughing so weirdly?”

The black-haired girl let the corners of her mouth twitch slightly.

“It’s nothing, pfft… ‘Silver Cat’, hmm… I mean, it’s quite fitting.”

   

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