Food Fairy Lord

Chapter 798 Feather Scales (Part 1)

April 7th.

When Pei Ye squeezed his way in from the crowd on the periphery, he was already one of the later arrivals.

The crowd was so large that the few arenas looked like islands within it.

He arrived around the main Winter Sword Platform, shielding his eyes to look at the location of the Sword Cultivation Academy. Even with his exceptional eyesight, it took him quite a while to find it.

The Zhuque Sect's triennial grand gathering sweeps across the martial arts world each year. This year, it is estimated that nearly 70% of the martial arts sects have come to the capital. Even experts from the southern kingdoms outside the Tang Dynasty have come to the capital, and some barbarian figures can even be seen.

Even if you don't participate in everything, at least be an observer.

It can be described as a grand event that brought together people from all walks of life.

It was late morning when Pei Ye arrived at the gate. Just then, countless carrier pigeons from the Immortal Platform flew overhead. The voices of dozens of elders from the Thirty-Three Swords Sect had just finished, indicating that the opening ceremony had just concluded. Thousands of faces were filled with eager expressions, and there was also the anticipation and clamor of countless people.

At this moment, several smaller arenas nearby had already seen people stepping onto the stage. Pei Ye glanced at them and saw that they were several spirited young men, none of whom he recognized.

He walked through the crowd of people and arrived at the Sword Cultivation Academy's seating area. Actually, there weren't many people there anymore. Ning Shuhong, Wang Shousi, and others had all gone to their own sects. But Pei Ye looked on in surprise and saw that people who were usually not there were here today.

Jiang Yin'er was still sitting there, having already seen her brother waving and greeting her. Next to her were Zuoqiu Longhua and Yang Zhenbing, and next to Yang Zhenbing was a rarely seen face, clean and handsome, with a red dot on his forehead and an indifferent expression—Yan Feiqing.

"Why aren't you holding the book anymore?" Pei Ye asked with a smile.

"I've finished reading it," Yan Feiqing said.

It was quite a warm welcome to see my two fellow students after so long. Yan Feiqing was still wearing his Taoist robe, carrying a sword, but without any books in his hand, though he had a stack of red dates tucked into his lapel.

Pei Ye sat down between Jiang Yin'er and Yang Zhenbing, and handed the girl a bag of fresh and tender snacks with a smile.

"Let's try the new shop that opened outside Xiuwenguan Street."

"Thank you, Brother." Jiang Yin'er accepted the gift with a slight brightness in her eyes, then said somewhat shyly, "Brother, I am a nun and do not indulge in gluttony."

As he spoke, he opened the package, picked out a small piece, and put it in his mouth.

Pei Ye smiled and said, "This is called 'a gift from an elder should not be refused,' so please eat it."

Jiang Yin'er picked up a piece and gave it to Zuo Qiu, then picked another piece and fed it to the young man: "What kind of 'elder' are you, Brother Shi?"

Pei Ye swallowed it. Of course, he knew what the girl meant by "not indulging in food and drink." After coming to Shenjing, she also earnestly practiced the cultivation principle of eating bamboo shoots and drinking white porridge in the sect. However, after Pei Ye bought her some snacks for the first time, he found that she liked sweets. So every time they met, he would deliberately interrupt her cultivation.

Jiang Yin'er initially accepted her brother's kindness with great difficulty, but by now she had become accustomed to it and was looking forward to it.

I still have to say a few polite words, just to give an explanation to my master who can't hear me.

“Brother, you arrived so late that you just missed the opening of several seniors,” Jiang Yin’er said. “Just now, there were seniors from Yunlang, seniors from Dongting, seniors from the Shumaimai sect, the Grand Palace Master of Bailu Palace… more than thirty people, many of whom I have heard of for more than ten years. I never expected to see them today.”

He had never heard of any of the names the girl mentioned, but he could indeed sense the atmosphere. Looking around, he saw that the people sitting on the high places were all imposing figures.

Unlike the Sword Gathering and Sword Banquet, the Feather Scale Trial is not for young cultivators.

Although most of them are indeed young cultivators, they represent not only themselves here, but also their entire sect.

They drew their swords under the watchful eyes of their superiors, and simultaneously under the gaze of other, equally imposing figures.

The Feather Scale Trial is a place that can reveal the strength of a sect, and it is also a gentle reshuffling of the martial arts world under the mediation of the Immortal Platform.

Although Pei Ye didn't hear it, he could roughly guess what the words were. His gaze swept over the figures gathered in the center of those famous sects, some old, some dignified, some silent... He couldn't help but instinctively feel a sense of swaying.

Sometimes he thinks he's already very powerful, but then he feels like a reed.

He looked at those renowned sects and saw friends or familiar faces sitting in the back. This scene suddenly gave Pei Ye a sense of disorientation.

He seemed to know many people and be known by many people, all of whom were prominent figures in the underworld. But in reality, these were just empty titles.

The young people were all disciples of their respective sects, far removed from power. Those who manipulated the winds and clouds were even higher up in the world, and Pei Ye couldn't even recognize their faces.

This is a microcosm of the vast martial arts world. Every figure here is a true ruler, capable of casting a massive shadow that overshadows the entire martial arts world. Pei Ye looked at these people and imagined himself as their enemy. Then he realized that his only sense of security came from Li Jian behind him.

Jiang Yin'er had no idea what her brother was thinking. Seeing that the young man had been silent for a while, she asked curiously, "Where have you been these past two days, brother? The other day I wanted to verify what I had learned in the past twenty days with you, but Fellow Cultivator Yang said you weren't here."

“I noticed that you didn’t go back with Sword Master Ming on the day of the Illusionary Pavilion Banquet,” she said.

“…Ah, I spent the day at Xiuwen Hall the day before yesterday, and yesterday Miss Ming and I reviewed our recent swordsmanship practice.” Pei Ye smiled. “Excuse me, Yin’er, we seem to have agreed to perform again before the Feather Scale Trial?”

"No, I just mentioned it briefly. I know you've been very busy, Brother Shi." Jiang Yin'er waved her hand while eating her snack.

"You shouldn't participate today," Pei Ye thought for a moment. "We can practice swordsmanship tonight when we go back to the Sword Academy."

"I definitely can't beat you now, Brother Shi. You've become so powerful." Jiang Yin'er laughed. "I have a match at the South Arena this afternoon, and I have two more matches after that. Did you not read the booklet carefully, Brother Shi?"

"Oh right." Pei Ye slapped his forehead, feeling a bit dazed these past two days. "Although the Crane Ranking is held first, the Duck Ranking is also held."

Although it goes against intuition, the Feather Trial does indeed come first, followed by the Scale Trial. Or rather, the two actually start at the same time, but the Duck Trial has more participants, so the initial process is longer.

On the seventh day of the fourth lunar month, the first day of the Feather Scale Trial, masters vying for a place on the Crane Ranking will compete on the Winter Sword Platform. This process will last for three days. Meanwhile, the first half of the Scale Trial will take place on the surrounding arenas of various sizes to begin the selection process.

"You mean the booklet that Xianrentai gave out? I haven't even opened it yet," Pei Ye laughed. "How is it arranged?"

“I’m ranked fifty-third on the new list. I need to fight a hero outside the list first, and then the Immortal Platform will assign me another opponent based on the outcome.” Jiang Yin’er wiped her hands and took out a booklet from her small bundle. “In short, I’ll fight about a dozen matches in the next few days. If I’m lucky, I might even have a chance to fight my brother.”

Pei Ye looked out over the vast Winter Sword Platform. The sky was clear and bright today, unlike the snowy day before. Even though it was far away, he could see it clearly.

The arena was empty, except for the dozen or so guards and clerks on the eastern Immortal Platform who seemed to still be preparing. Pei Ye turned his head: "Then do I have one today too?"

Jiang Yin'er said, "Of course there is. According to the schedule, Brother Shi should be ahead of me."

Pei Ye also took out his own booklet: "Is it not in the morning? Let me see—I asked the Immortal Terrace Feather Inspection yesterday, what did they say I don't need to rush?"

“Brother Shi is so busy that he doesn’t have a moment to spare.” Jiang Yin’er lowered her head and opened the booklet. “I’ll explain the rules of the Feather Scale Trial to you.”

Pei Ye smiled and made a gesture of listening attentively: "That's why I came to find the most reliable Yin'er as soon as possible."

Jiang Yin'er smiled; when she got serious, she really did resemble a proper gentleman: "First of all, Brother Shi should know that the rankings obtained by cultivators after the Feather Scale Trial are not directly based on their battle records, but are still determined by the Immortal Platform. This is because there are so many people involved that the outcome of the battles can easily become chaotic. Therefore, after the Feather Scale Trial, the Immortal Platform will consider all the matches and then issue a new ranking list, which will serve as this year's summer ranking list."

Pei Ye nodded.

"This year's imperial examination had a total of 233 people, of whom 163 were on the list and 70 were not. The last 70 on the list were chosen to compete against the last 70. The pairings were initially arranged by 'middle-ranked, first- and last-ranked'. After the results were determined, the rankings were reassigned. This process was repeated three times before the 70 on the list were re-established."

"Then a second round will be held, where the new seventy people will be mixed with the remaining ninety-three people and assigned to matchups. This will re-establish the Crane Ranking," Jiang Yin'er said. "There are also some minor rules, such as if the person who beats you is ranked twenty or more places higher than you in the final confirmed ranking, then you can choose someone within that ranking difference to have another match."

“Absolutely. If Brother Zhu runs into Miss Ming in the first round, that would be incredibly unlucky—no, it’s still uncertain whether Brother Zhu will even make it into the new seventy.”

Jiang Yin'er asked curiously, "When Zhu Zhenchuan passed by here just now, he asked my brother about it. I said that since my brother wasn't at the Sword Cultivation Academy and wasn't with Miss Ming, he said that you must be with His Highness the Crown Prince. It turns out that it was true."

"Brother, what are you doing spending a day with His Highness the Crown Prince at the Xiuwen Academy? Studying?" The girl thought for a moment, "There are only two days left, so it would be better to practice swordsmanship."

Pei Ye silently looked at that clean face, deeply feeling his responsibility as an older brother, and felt that the short year or so difference between him and her had become an insurmountable chasm, one end called adult, the other end called girl.

So he nodded and said calmly, "More or less."

"About the same?" Jiang Yin'er blinked.

"Ah."

"..."

"..."

“Continue with this.” Pei Ye pointed to her booklet.

“Oh.” Jiang Yin’er lowered her head obediently and said seriously, “The scale test… the basic rules of the scale test are similar to those of the feather test, except that there are far more people in the scale test than in the feather test. There are nine hundred people on the duck list, and about six hundred people are attending this year. As usual, nine hundred people have been selected from outside the list.”

"Therefore, the scale trials were mixed together from the beginning, and then divided into large and small arenas for competition." Jiang Yin'er tugged at the boy's sleeve, making him stand up and turn around to look at the huge square in front of the Vermilion Bird Gate. She pointed and said, "Brother, look, it is divided into four arenas: east, south, west, and north. Each arena has four smaller arenas, A, B, C, and D, for a total of sixteen arenas. Victory means moving up the arena, and defeat means moving down. The Immortal Platform will continuously redistribute the arenas based on the wins and losses, round after round, until the truly weak are eliminated and the truly strong are revealed."

"After that, the newly acquired 900 people on the Duck Ranking will be ranked again," Jiang Yin'er said. "Because the division of the rankings can distinguish who can enter the rankings and who should leave, but it obviously cannot show the difference between the top 100 or even the top 300."

"Oh, I see. So the positioning ratio is also a mixed battle of nine hundred people?"

Jiang Yin'er shook her head: "The ranking of the Fu Bang is based on a tiered system, like climbing a ladder."

"First, the bottom 300 and the middle 300 will be mixed together and re-competed."

"Then the newly selected 300 will compete with the previous 200—that is, the 100th to the 300th."

"Then the new two hundred will compete together with the fifty ahead of them—that is, the range of fifty to one hundred in the ranking."

You are within this area.

“Yes.” Jiang Yin’er nodded. “Then it’s fifty plus twenty, twenty plus ten… and finally twelve people. Then, we add them to the top twenty waiting at the finish line, making it the thirty-two-person trial.”

Pei Ye nodded slowly: "This is much more complicated than the Feather Trial."

"Yes, because everyone who can participate in the Feather Trial is a person with a reputation in the martial arts world, whether they are a sect leader, a hall master, or a famous grandmaster. After one or two rounds, it will be clear who is superior and who is inferior."

"The competition is fierce, with thousands of participants. Only by sifting through the sands of time can the true gold be found and distinguished from the inferior."

"When was my first tournament?"

"The first round of the Sixteen Scale Trials will all begin at noon. According to your ranking, Brother Shi, it should be the first round. Brother Shi didn't bring the booklet, so you can ask the people at the Immortal Platform later." Jiang Yin'er smiled, "But Brother Shi doesn't actually need to participate."

"Ok?"

"Because, as you said, the rankings after the competition are still determined by the Immortal Platform. The arena test only provides evidence for the Immortal Platform's assessment." Jiang Yin'er smiled. "Even if you don't participate at all and leave it blank until the end, the Immortal Platform won't change your ranking."

"..." Pei Ye hadn't expected this at all. He laughed and said, "How can that be? We've finally waited for the Feather Scale Trial, and now we're only going to fight in the last few rounds? That would be the act of a fool."

“Fellow cultivator Yang and Senior Brother Yan don’t plan to fight,” Jiang Yin’er said. “True Disciple He and Young Master Qunfei also won’t be going.”

“…” Pei Ye looked at Yang Zhenbing.

Yang Zhenbing looked up at him and nodded.

“Take a look at the list of successful candidates here,” he said.

Pei Ye then looked at Yan Feiqing.

Yan Feiqing didn't raise her eyes and said calmly, "You have to go fight in the divisional arena? Have you never won before?"

Pei Ye grabbed one of their arms with each hand, ignoring Yan Feiqing's tightly furrowed brows, and said in a serious voice, "Enough nonsense. We, the Three Swords of Tang, will advance and retreat together. If I go, you two have to go too!"

Yan Feiqing stared intently at his hand, which was stained with snacks, and slowly reached for the sword at his waist with his right hand.

Yang Zhen said coldly, "You don't see people for ten days or half a month at a time, but as soon as you meet them, you try to get close to them."

(End of this chapter)