### Chapter 410: She Plays Talent, I Play Numbers
Cloudy Crane, the darkest horse in the race, had certainly risen to the level of top prodigy disciples. This was exactly what the audience had been waiting for.
Did Wu Ziming just throw in the towel?!
Wu Ziming smiled faintly. “My magical treasures are very valuable and I don’t want them all ruined. Otherwise, it would be a loss.”
It was just that Wu Ziming was heartbroken about his magical treasures.
After being enhanced, Cloudy Crane’s stats skyrocketed, and his combat power surged. If they truly clashed head-on, he could probably destroy quite a few of Wu Ziming’s magical treasures.
Of course, if they went all out, Wu Ziming could pour everything into it and rain down magical treasures, making Cloudy Crane struggle. But this was just a sect competition, and Wu Ziming felt it wasn’t worth it.
He joined the competition to improve himself, not to ruin his own foundation. Truly going toe-to-toe with Cloudy Crane would be a huge loss for him.
After weighing the pros and cons, Wu Ziming made a smart choice—just surrender.
Even though as an admired prodigy student, easily surrendering in the competition might seem undignified, in Wu Ziming’s mind, those precious treasure caches carried more weight. Each magical treasure held countless bl**d, sweat, and tears.
With that said, Wu Ziming decisively broke his waist token and announced his withdrawal.
“Cloud Junior Brother, you’re amazing!” Wu Ziming’s gaze towards Cloudy Crane was full of admiration.
Seeing Wu Ziming break his waist token voluntarily, Cloudy Crane slowly retracted his surging spiritual energy and bowed his hand. “You won fairly!”
Wu Ziming nodded slightly, not saying much more.
There was some regret, but Wu Ziming wasn’t too bothered. After all, the current battle strength of Cloudy Crane was already on par with Li Yifeng… and might even surpass him.
Earlier, because Li Yifeng destroyed several of his magical treasures, Wu Ziming still had lingering fears today.
So accepting Cloudy Crane’s surrender… he could handle it.
If they really fought it out, he might not be afraid of Cloudy Crane.
But even if he dealt with Cloudy Crane, he still had to face the equally troublesome Li Yifeng afterward. No matter how you looked at it, one person exploding half of his inventory in stocks would make him cry for a long time.
Just give up already.
But…
“I wonder what a fierce encounter between Junior Brother Cloud and Li Yifeng would look like!”
Already standing at the secret realm exit, Wu Ziming suddenly felt a surge of interest.
Both were sword cultivators, but their styles differed slightly. Li Yifeng was naturally powerful, and even when compared to the enhanced Cloudy Crane, he had a slight edge in pure strength. However, after enhancement, Cloudy Crane had balanced capabilities and better speed, each having their strengths; it was hard to determine superiority.
The problem was, could Cloudy Crane maintain this enhanced state? Furthermore, Li Yifeng was a ruthless fighter, never giving his opponents time to prepare.
Wu Ziming knew this well. He understood Li Yifeng’s personality and strength. The guy was as steady as an old dog. Since entering the competition aimed to win the championship, he wouldn’t let go of victory easily.
Cloudy Crane wouldn’t get the chance to initiate his enhancement before Li Yifeng could do anything about it.
Yet, despite that, Wu Ziming still had high curiosity for the upcoming clash. He couldn’t help but head to the spectator area to watch the finish of the sect competition live.
At the moment, the atmosphere inside the spectator area remained lively.
Cloudy Crane, who emerged as a dark horse, caught everyone’s attention with his stunning performance. No one expected the first clash between the prodigy students to end with Wu Ziming’s surrender.
Bear in mind, Wu Ziming wasn’t weak!
Even among the eight elite teams, Wu Ziming wasn’t the weakest, yet he directly surrendered now.
“Brother Cloud, you’re too amazing! You’re unrivaled!”
“Brother, stop overusing that word. What if he loses, your sin would be enormous!”
Xiao Yang and Xiao Yue’s sibling pair was overjoyed, while Song Ziwei and Luo Qing were also delighted, their faces filled with joy.
Cloudy Crane’s strength made them incredibly proud.
Come to think of it, they once even formed a team together!
“But… Brother Cloud must have revealed his cards, winning in first place will be tough.”
After the excitement, Song Ziwei gradually calmed down, supporting her chin as she carefully analyzed the current situation.
Cloudy Crane revealing his cards so early would definitely be noticed by other teams since his buff buildup was noticeable. With the sky full of dark clouds, it was nearly impossible not to draw attention.
Once others were prepared, they wouldn’t allow Cloudy Crane to boost anymore.
“There’s no helping it. We had to reveal our cards given how strong the opponent is.”
Xiao Yang spoke pragmatically; if they didn’t do that, Wu Ziming’s team might have been out of the competition.
Song Ziwei nodded in agreement, silently wishing that Cloudy Crane’s team had other preparations and strategies.
—
The competition continued with great intensity.
Following Wu Ziming’s voluntary withdrawal, his other two team members reluctantly dropped out, breaking their waist tokens in succession to exit the secret realm.
At this moment, Senior Sister Qing Luan’s five Golden Core stage spirit pets were finally released, recalled into the talisman seals to rest. Meanwhile, Cloudy Crane quickly moved his team to avoid another strong team ambushing them.
“Cloudy Crane, what technique was that just now? Why did you never tell us?”
During the transfer, Mu Jixue frowned, questioning Cloudy Crane.
“It’s nothing. Just used six hundred reinforcing spells on myself. It was my first time, hence didn’t mention it.”
Cloudy Crane said it lightly, as if his actions were trivial.
The female teammates’ hearts were swirled like a tsunami hearing this.
One by one, their faces displayed shock, incredulous looks at Cloudy Crane, treating him like a monster.
What do you mean ‘nothing’? That’s ridiculously exaggerated and freakish!
Cloudy Crane glanced at Mu Jixue, “Want to learn?”
Mu Jixue’s mouth twitched, then shook her head firmly, “No.”
To be honest, when she saw Cloudy Crane suddenly become so powerful, Mu Jixue genuinely felt a strong desire to possess such immense power herself.
But once she heard she needed to master at least six hundred spells to achieve that, her enthusiasm waned instantly, deflated like a balloon.
She, Mu Jixue, hated studying hard the most!
Indeed, considering her tiny brain capacity, learning one spell was a pain, let alone six hundred.
Besides, Mu Jixue didn’t need that kind of boost. Whenever facing dangers, her potential naturally burst forth like a geyser.
That’s true talent, something Cloudy Crane couldn’t learn even if he wanted to.
