The Blade and Sword

CHAPTER 9-THE TOURNAMENT (PART 2)

For the record, this Baikaden is a female only sect. So, they will never have any male to join the sect since male can't learn their martial-art. And for the last group, “Ryūsanmon / Lóngsānmén (DragonMountain-Sect)” will face “Ankengé / Ànjiàngé (DarkSword-Pavilion)”. So, it would be the top eight sects that can participate in the tournament. Out of the top eight sects don't have any chance to join it. This Ankengé rumor was said to be a cult sect or evil sect many many years ago but after they were defeated by the righteous pugilist sects, they surrender and repent to become a righteous sect as well. However, the name of the sect still remains the same. Meanwhile, there are still two sects that didn’t join this year's tournament which are “Hokugenmon / Běixuánmén (MysteryNorth-Sect)” and “Hyakkatō / Bǎihuādǎo (HundredFlower-Island)”. For the record, this Hokugenmon was in the second rank for many years in the top three ranks. For the record, the top two sects don't have to join the tournament as they’re already in top. No need for them to fight anymore unless someone challenges them for their ranking. However, most of the time, the challenger will directly choose to challenge the top one rather than the second. That's why Hokugenmon was also the second on top for so many years. Not only that, this sect was very mysterious so no one really dared to confront them. In Hokugenmon, they didn't use any weapons in fighting but eventually they used bare-hands, by using gauntlets. That's why they’re strong in defense but even so, never underestimate their offense as well. Once you get hit by them, it will be critically injured. And for Hyakkatō was also considered as one of the strongest sects. They can be said to be in the third rank after Ryū’unsō and Hokugenmon. However, this sect was also quite weird as they were never interested in chasing ranking in the pugilist world. They don't care about fame and glory just like the other sects do. But if the pugilist world is in danger, they still will come to aid if someone is calling for help. They really only seek for the righteous and justice as they were the same righteousness sect. Even though they’re not in any ranking in the pugilist world, the rumor said they were very strong and considered to be able to fight equally against the Hokugenmon or even the champion, Ryū’unsō. They’re main rival is Baikaden, actually. Since both of them were using flowers as their techniques and their founder was also female, they always challenged each other since long ago, just to see who is the best among them. The rumors said that both sects actually came from the same ancestor fifty years ago. However, at that time when the Shō-mon suddenly passed away, there was a rebellion that happened inside them as the two eldest disciples fought for the leader’s throne. The one that won then became the next Baikaden Shō-mon. And for the one that loses, reportedly has run away and settled down on an island, then founded her own sect that later to be called Hyakkatō. And their technique is “Renge-Hōten / Liánhuā-bǎodiǎn (LotusManual-Scriptures)”. However, for the last twenty years, Hyakkatō was always ahead of Baikaden as they suddenly grew stronger. They not only owned the Renge-Hōten but they were also good at using poison needles to strike their enemy. So not only other pugilist righteousness sects did not dare to confront them, even the Ryū’unsō had to think twice to challenge them. Although Hyakkatō wasn’t interested in battle for ranking, still almost every time when the tournament is held, they will come to watch as they were invited by Ryū’unsō. Maybe they came to watch Baikaden to embarrass themselves in the tournament and how they’re going to be eliminated by other sects. But even so, the Baikaden wasn't that weak either, as for almost the last ten years, they’re still in the top six, even though they had put too much effort to earn it. So, those in big-four ranking sects were Ryū’unsō, Hokugenmon, Gōtosō, and Gihōgé in order. However, this year's tournament, Gihōgé, seems like their performance has declined drastically. Nobody knows what happened. But some rumors said there was an internal problem, that's why they’re not so focused on this year's tournament. It was true, Gihōgé was reluctant to reach the last rank in the big-four in the last several tournaments. So it could be possible that this year they were not strong enough to defeat their opponent anymore and will be replaced by others. In short, the first group was won by Gōtosō with ease in two straight wins as it was expected. The second group was won by Baikaden which was also the same, with two straight wins and defeated the number four, Gihōgé. It was a surprising result for this year’s tournament. For the record, don't underestimate this female sect as they owned a secret scriptures martial-art either, which the name is “Baika-Hōten / Méihuā-Bǎodiǎn (PlumBlossom-Manual)” that quite similar to Hyakkatō technique which is Renge-Hōten.