Awkward

The first match of the Spirit Combat Tournament was still ongoing, with more than half of the participants having already crossed the finish line.

Su Luo hadn’t finished yet because he was casually using the props provided, testing quite a few of them to see what kind of tricks Li Siyi had up her sleeve. Some props reversed the flow of the water ahead, drastically slowing down his speed.

Who would’ve thought the props could backfire on him?

Su Luo didn’t mind, but those behind him weren’t so lucky. Soon, everyone near him started keeping their distance—Su Luo really did use every prop he got.

At least he only used them on himself and didn’t deliberately target others.

He activated another prop, summoning a ten-meter-high tidal wave.

Su Luo instantly turned into a surfing pro.

Surfing on a river wasn’t exactly logical, but with magic, anything was possible.

Unfortunately, not everyone was as skilled—some poor souls got swallowed by the wave.

Once the wave subsided, Su Luo moved on to the next prop: Merge and Charge.

His wooden board and Li Siyi’s suddenly fused at the edges, making it impossible to separate them temporarily.

This required perfect coordination between the two—if one tried to turn left while the other went right, they’d end up crashing straight into an obstacle.

But for Su Luo and Li Siyi, this wasn’t a problem. Wiping out was out of the question.

Li Siyi even cranked the speed to maximum, dragging Su Luo along.

"Hey, hey, hey—isn’t this cheating?" someone in the crowd shouted.

"Are you blind? Did you not see Su Yu’s skills earlier? I’ve been surfing for ten years, and even I admit I’m no match for him."

"Exactly. If he wanted to reach the finish line, he could’ve done it ages ago."

But Su Luo had had enough fun.

Though Li Siyi’s props weren’t particularly surprising, they still gave him a bit of novelty.

"Let’s go. Time to speed up."

"Right."

Whoosh—

Su Luo and Li Siyi kicked into high gear, once again dazzling the audience with their incredible techniques.

The spectators hadn’t expected such an exciting spectacle so late in the match.

Soon, Su Luo and Li Siyi crossed the finish line.

They still had plenty of time to spare—this round really wasn’t that difficult.

Finally, when the first match concluded, only about ten percent of participants were eliminated—some due to their own recklessness.

Next came the award ceremony.

Little Yu received a pill that could enhance Foundation Establishment cultivation.

Useless to her.

She thought about giving it to Huang Nuanyan, but considering her personality, she’d probably refuse.

Better to sneak it to her later when they left.

Su Luo gave Little Yu a thumbs-up—it was a nice thought.

Just as the prizes were being handed out, Lin Xuan stepped forward to speak.

"Lastly, there’s a special award—added just now—to recognize outstanding performers."

"The Best Performance Award goes to… Su Yu!" Lin Xuan announced loudly.

No one in the audience objected. Su Luo had indeed performed exceptionally well.

Little Yu could’ve won it too, but since she already took first place, it wouldn’t be fair to give her another award.

Besides, this was just an honorary title—no actual reward came with it.

Su Luo was baffled. This award wasn’t part of the original plot. Still, he stepped onto the stage.

"Your skills had the crowd screaming more than a few times," Lin Xuan said with a laugh.

While Su Luo had been playing around, all eyes had been on him.

Lin Xuan figured it was only right to let Su Luo bask in the spotlight. After all, he was hiding his true identity—this was a rare chance to experience the admiration of thousands.

Unlike malicious attention, these were looks of genuine praise. A different feeling altogether.

Lin Xuan wanted Su Luo to savor it.

But Su Luo just found it awkward.

"Alright, the morning matches are now over. I hope everyone continues to perform well and, most importantly, enjoys the Spirit Combat Tournament to the fullest."

With that, Lin Xuan declared the first round officially concluded and left.

Li Siyi walked over to Su Luo. "So, how does it feel?"

"Was this your doing too?"

Su Luo doubted Lin Xuan would come up with something like a "Best Performance Award" on his own.

"Not me. I have no idea why Lin Xuan did this. Maybe your expressions earlier really were award-worthy."

Li Siyi genuinely didn’t know—she hadn’t even discussed Su Luo with Lin Xuan.

"Then I’ll just stop standing out from now on."

Su Luo had no interest in enduring that awkwardness again.

After a short break, the afternoon matches began.

The second round was a shooting challenge.

Not with actual guns, but small tubes that fired magical projectiles.

The power was fixed, and everyone had to use the same equipment.

This time, accuracy was key.

A simple shooting game with various targets—stationary, moving, and pop-up ones.

Each participant had twenty shots, but only needed to hit ten to pass.

Honestly, it was pretty easy.

Not as entertaining as the morning’s river race, though.

Of course, hitting all twenty would still impress, especially if someone pulled off some "gun-fu" moves.

But that was extremely difficult—these weren’t their own spells, so control was limited.

Su Luo casually hit twelve shots, keeping a low profile.

Little Yu nailed every single one—downright impressive.

Huang Nuanyan did well too, landing seventeen.

Plenty of others hit all twenty, so it wasn’t anything to brag about. The round was just too simple.

As a result, few were eliminated.

The first day of the tournament came to a close. Though more lighthearted, the crowd had thoroughly enjoyed it.

After a full day of competition, everyone deserved a treat. Huang Nuanyan generously offered to treat everyone.

To her surprise, Li Siyi joined them, and Huang Nuanyan welcomed her warmly.

Li Siyi wasn’t quite used to such enthusiasm.

Night fell, and it was time to return to their rooms.

Little Yu went back with Huang Nuanyan, planning to slip over to Su Luo’s place once she fell asleep.

But tonight, Huang Nuanyan seemed unusually energetic, chatting nonstop with Little Yu about her experiences that day.

For a while, Little Yu couldn’t find an excuse to leave.

Eventually, Huang Nuanyan suggested going out for a walk. Little Yu declined.

So Huang Nuanyan went out alone.

Little Yu headed to the next room, only to find Su Luo wasn’t there—probably out somewhere.

She considered looking for him but decided against it. If Huang Nuanyan returned and found her missing, she might get the wrong idea.

So Little Yu went back to wait.

Meanwhile, Su Luo was out strolling—dragged along by Li Siyi, who insisted the night atmosphere was perfect for a walk.

"Giggle—if Little Yu finds out, she’ll probably come after me. Not that I’m scared or anything."

"She wouldn’t go that far."

"You don’t know her—she doesn’t hold back with me."

Su Luo chuckled. It wasn’t as dramatic as Li Siyi made it sound.