It was another day meant for combat as all of the Shui Clan anticipated with much delight in their
bodies. Everyone was excited to see the competition among the three factions of the Shui Clan. Who
would be the best one?
The clan held secrets, lots of secrets. One of them was the location of the Trio Array of the Shui Clan.
The location was preserved and only known to some of their warriors.
Meanwhile, several Elders of Purity Faction led Agnes and Ricky as well as some genius disciples of
Purity Faction to an isolated hall. It was secluded, the alleyway dark and narrow. Agnes and Ricky were
nervous and excited at the same time as to what the Elders had in store for them.
Two groups of people could be seen in the hall--the Groom Faction and the Sage Faction.
Upon entering the hall, Ricky saw the people sitting on the clouds of spiritual energy high in the sky.
Ricky was amazed to see how they floated gracefully up there. These three were the demi-immortal
grandmasters of Shui Clan, the powerful and respected warriors.
The demi-immortals could not only make spiritual energy wings for flying, but also form spiritual energy
clouds to sit on. The demi-immortals sat on their respective clouds and gave them a nod, a signal
which meant that they could enter the hall.
The Elders of the three factions talked to each other rather quietly, as if they had something planned
that was already taking effect. They whispered--only they themselves could hear each other. Based on
their body language and their lip read, they were all confident that the control over Billow City would be
theirs.
During this time, Agnes introduced the competitors of the other two factions to Ricky.
The Sage Faction, which had controlled the Billow City for three years in a row, sent Dora Shui to join
the competition this time. She represented the whole of the faction and was expected to win the battle.
Of course, everyone in the Sage Faction rooted for her to bag the win for the fourth consecutive year.
But there was someone odd in the hall, someone invited by Dora who seemed to be very mysterious.
The Purity Faction did some research on him but still, to their dismay, and no matter how deep they
tried to dig, they still weren't able to figure out who he was and what his background was.
In the battle yesterday, no one could hardly take a punch from this young man, including disciples at
the peak of the first grade of Blood Purification. The warrior was strong, and that was as far as they
could go in describing him.
After hearing Agnes' introduction, Ricky shifted his gaze to the Sage Faction. He looked at them and
started to wonder who would be the man Agnes just described. Alas, he found the one. He was very
easy to spot for he completely stood out of the crowd.
The warrior wore a black robe and looked as young as Ricky. Despite the simplicity of his clothes, he
was noticeable. He emitted so strong a vibe that no one could deny he was indeed powerful.
Aside from the fact that he was undeniably strong, he bore a saber on his back which emitted strong
intangible saber-light.
'He will be a powerful competitor!' Ricky was sure of his judgment even with the first glance. This man
would be the one to watch out for in the competition.
The young man had hyper senses. Soon he felt Ricky stare at him and gazed upon Ricky with his dark
black eyes.
The man only shot him a glance, nothing more, and then looked away as if he only wanted to tell Ricky
that he knew he was staring at him.
The Groom Faction, on the other hand, was even worse than the Purity Faction, because for four
consecutive years, the Groom Faction hadn't won any control over Billow City.
After talking about Sage Faction's competitor, Agnes introduced the competitor from the Groom
Faction. It was their best disciple--Elsa Shui. Boasting her skills and capabilities, Elsa invited another
genius from West Vanity Valley, the one and only, Jason Li.
After Jason knew what happened to Alan, he made it his mission to avenge him.
As expected, right after Agnes told Ricky the information, a tall, rough-looking young man who was
rather unfriendly came straight toward Ricky.
"Ricky, look out! Jason is far stronger than Alan, be careful." Agnes reminded Ricky of that.
"Don't worry. He just came here to taunt. The time for battle is yet to begin." Ricky smiled.
...
"Are you the one who defeated Alan? You don't seem so strong." Jason came forward, and talked to
Ricky disdainfully.
"I'm indeed very ordinary, but such an ordinary man defeated the genius in West Vanity Valley. That
only means one thing-- your so-called genius is just a joke," Ricky replied simply.
People around chuckled after hearing Ricky's words, which made Jason more spiteful.
"I came here to tell you that you don't have any place in this competition. You better pray that you
wouldn't pass the Trio Array, otherwise you would regret crossing me," Jason threatened.
"You'd better think about yourself. If you failed to pass the Trio Array, both you and the West Vanity
Valley would lose face." Ricky sneered, pointing out the fact coolly.
Crack! Jason couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't wait to showcase his strength in battle and bring
down Ricky. He clenched fists angrily, and almost made his bones crack. He had a hard time stopping
himself from attacking Ricky, and it was a good thing Elsa was there to calm him down.
"Agnes, keep your partner's mouth shut!" Elsa said to Agnes fiercely.
"So do you!" Agnes said coldly.
Subsequently, the verbal confrontation ended with Jason's sneer.
With the shift of attention, all eyes were looking at the three demi-immortals in the sky, waiting for their
statements.
The next moment, one of the three demi-immortals said in a clear and loud voice, "Each of the three
groups of competitors will enter the random door in the hall. There, you will see the Trio Array.
I can assure you that the Trio Array behind the three doors in the hall is the same."
After the announcement, the demi-immortal grandmaster gave a deafening silence.
"Agnes, which door shall we choose among the three?" Ricky asked Agnes who seemed to be
pondering over her options.
"It makes no difference. Just let them choose first," Agnes replied.
Then, Ricky and Agnes entered the hall after the other two groups made their choices.
The competition among the three powerful factions of Shui Clan formally began after the choosing of
their respective doors.
Except for the demi-immortals, all the people couldn't see what was happening in the hall. They could
only wait for the final result calmly.
...
After entering the hall, Ricky found that it was divided into three parts. A third of the fan-shaped area
was visible to Ricky.
In addition to this were rows of wooden men who seemed to be ready to beat the living soul out of
them.
Behind the rows of wooden men, there was a staircase leading to the second floor of the hall.
"Look, this is the Wooden Men Array of the Trio Array," Ricky said seriously, feeling a sense of danger
and apprehension.
"Exactly, this is the Wooden Men Array. Only after passing this array can we go to the second floor to
challenge the Stone Men Array," Agnes whispered softly. The watery spiritual energy had emerged
from her body.
Right after Agnes's words, a clicking sound was suddenly heard.
Wooden limbs started to move as the Wooden Men ran towards them with great speed.
They soon formed a line just like a long snake. All of them stared at Ricky and Agnes ghastly.
"It seems that the competition has started. Agnes, we'd better not separate. Otherwise we would
possibly be defeated by these wooden men one by one," Ricky suggested.
Meanwhile, he gathered ideas on how to pass the Wooden Men Array. 'Do we take them one by one or
do we just slide our way to the staircase and go up?' Ricky thought to himself.
"I know, Ricky, this is the reason why two people are needed to participate in the competition. In this
Trio Array, even the warriors at the third grade of Blood Purification could not always watch out for
things behind them," Agnes replied.
The next moment, they stood back to back, and took out their weapons, getting ready to fight. They
summoned up all their energies as they were preparing for one woody battle.
Suddenly, booming sounds filled the hall. They looked everywhere as they searched for the source of
the sounds.
The moment they took out their weapons, the Wooden Men Array moved rapidly, rounded them up and
trapped them in the center. Sticks suddenly appeared in the wooden men's hands as they were
programmed to.
Every stick in the wooden men's hands corresponded to the power of the array. The wooden men were
not that easy to defeat for they all matched the power of a warrior at the peak of eighth grade of Skin
Refinement. Ricky and Agnes moved closer together, back to back, as they held their weapons in an
attacking stance ready to fight their lifeless opponents.
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