In the dead of night, under a bright moon and sparse stars.
Inside the simple thatched cottage on Lesser Peak, which Lin Fan regarded as his "absolute safe house" and "supreme command center," the atmosphere was unprecedentedly solemn.
Lin Fan sat cross-legged on the ground. In front of him, drawn in the dirt with a tree branch, was an extremely crude, even abstract, floor plan of the Sect Grand Competition's preliminary match venue. Stones of different shapes marked the arena area, the spectator area, the elders' seating, and... most importantly, the locations of several exits for a quick departure.
Yue Qingqian knelt opposite him like a soldier about to listen to her general's briefing. Her expression was solemn, her gaze focused, and she even lightened her breathing, afraid of missing a single word her senior brother said next.
Lin Fan picked up the branch, gently tapped the "arena" on the ground, and kicked off the special training aimed at the ultimate goal of a "perfect failure."
"Junior Sister," he began in a deep voice, his tone carrying the wisdom of a strategist, "first, you must establish a clear understanding in your mind. Our participation in this competition is not to fight, but to perform. And what is the most crucial element of a successful performance?"
"Is it... acting?" Yue Qingqian answered tentatively.
"No, it's the script," Lin Fan corrected, wagging his finger. "A perfect script that allows us to achieve our goal without any of the audience seeing through it. And the core of our script is the four words: 'defeated but glorious'."
His expression serious, he began the first lesson in the "study of failure."
"You must understand that 'losing' is a very simple matter. But 'losing perfectly' is a profound art. There are many pitfalls that we must avoid."
"First, you cannot directly forfeit and admit defeat." He drew an 'X' on the ground with the branch. "That would be too deliberate and would make us seem as if we disrespect the sect's rules, which would instead attract the attention of the Hall of Discipline. That is the worst possible strategy."
"Second, you cannot lose too quickly or too fakely." He drew another 'X'. "Being taken out in one move right after getting on stage, or deliberately showing an opening to be knocked off the stage—such clumsy performances will only make you the laughingstock of the entire sect. Then, the reputation that 'Ninth Peak disciples are worthless' will spread, which will also attract unnecessary attention."
"Third, and most importantly, you cannot lose to an opponent who is too weak." Lin Fan's tone became even more solemn. "If you lose to an unknown disciple with a lower cultivation level than you, you will not only become a laughingstock, but you will also implicate the other party. Everyone will wonder how that disciple beat you. Did he have some kind of fortuitous encounter? At that time, both of us will be dragged into a massive whirlpool of trouble."
Yue Qingqian nodded repeatedly, her admiration for her senior brother deepening yet again. She had never thought that a simple act of "losing" could contain so much knowledge and wisdom.
Lin Fan concluded, "Therefore, our objective is very clear. In the first round of the preliminaries, we must be matched with an opponent who is strong, but not one of those top geniuses who are the center of attention. Then, we engage in a battle that 'goes back and forth' and 'seems intense,' and finally, lose to the opponent by a small, reasonable margin. This will leave all the spectators with the perfect impression that 'this girl has potential, but lacks experience and still needs tempering.' This is the most ideal disguise!"
After establishing the core strategy, Lin Fan immediately began the first phase of the special training.
"A perfect performance cannot be separated from intelligence analysis of the opponent and the audience."
He turned and strenuously dragged a heavy wooden box from a hidden compartment under his bed. Opening the box, there were no magical treasures or pills inside, but stacks upon stacks of thick volumes bound in beast-hide paper.
He took out the latest volume and handed it to Yue Qingqian.
Yue Qingqian took it and saw a line of large, flamboyant characters on the cover—Comprehensive Strength Assessment and Personality Risk Analysis Report of New Inner Sect Disciples of the Sky Profound Sect in the Last Ten Years (Lin Fan's Top Secret Edition).
She casually flipped open a page and was instantly shocked by the densely packed, frighteningly detailed content inside.
"Zhang Yuan, inner sect disciple of Fire Spirit Peak, sixth level of Qi Refining. Personality: reckless, impulsive, loves to fight. Main cultivation technique: 'Fierce Fire Art.' Sword style is wide and sweeping. Advantage: high attack power. Disadvantage: numerous openings. Background: His elder brother is the core disciple Zhang Long. Risk Assessment: Extremely High. This person easily makes enemies. Once in conflict with him, the consequences are endless. Recommended to be listed as a top avoidance target."
"Li Xue, inner sect disciple of Hundred Flowers Peak, fifth level of Qi Refining. Appearance is excellent, rated as one of the 'Three Beauties' among the new disciples by gossips. Personality: arrogant, constantly surrounded by a group of admirers. Risk Assessment: Extremely High. Fighting with her, regardless of winning or losing, will inevitably involve one in various romantic entanglements, which is extremely troublesome."
"Zhao Mo, inner sect disciple of Boundless Peak, seventh level of Qi Refining. Personality: solitary, taciturn, always alone. Suspected to be a waste-to-expert protagonist template with a deep blood feud. Risk Assessment: ??? (Danger level unquantifiable). Such characters usually possess great fortune and are extremely unstable. Getting within a hundred yards of him could passively drag one into immense trouble. Recommended to be permanently avoided!"
...
Yue Qingqian flipped through page after page, the shock in her heart beyond words. How much time had her senior brother spent to compile this intelligence report, which could be called an encyclopedia of sect gossip?
Lin Fan saw her surprised expression and merely said calmly, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated. Although we do not seek battle, we seek even more to 'never be defeated'."
Under Lin Fan's guidance, the two of them studied head-to-head for an hour and finally screened out their most ideal "perfect opponent" from the hundreds of new disciples.
"It's him!" Lin Fan's branch landed heavily on a name.
"Qian Dali, inner sect disciple of Giant Rock Peak, peak seventh level of Qi Refining. From a family of mortal miners. Personality: simple, honest, does not like to cause trouble. Main cultivation technique: 'Monolith Art.' His defense is astonishing, but his attack methods are singular. This person's greatest advantage is that he only has cultivation on his mind, is upright, never resorts to dirty tricks, and is extremely measured in his actions. Risk Assessment: Low. He is the best leading man for our 'defeated but glorious' script!"
Having selected the opponent, Lin Fan nodded with satisfaction.
"Alright, the script and the actor are in place. Next is the acting training for our leading lady."
He looked at Yue Qingqian, his gaze becoming incomparably serious.
"Special training phase two: Aura Control!"
"Junior Sister, your talent is too strong, your aura is too sharp. From now on, what you need to learn is not how to release your power, but how to perfectly and precisely disguise and suppress your power."
Lin Fan's requirement was extremely demanding: "Your opponent is at the peak of the seventh level of Qi Refining, so on the day of the competition, the cultivation level you display must be a perfect 'late-stage sixth level of Qi Refining.' No more, no less! You must make it so that everyone, including the Golden Core masters in the elders' seating, cannot see any flaws. You must make them feel that you are weaker than your opponent, but not so much weaker that you don't stand a chance, and that your eventual defeat is reasonable."
This was an unprecedented challenge for Yue Qingqian. For someone with a nuclear arsenal to accurately simulate the power of a handgun was incredibly difficult.
Lin Fan's training method was equally bizarre. He set up a row of wooden stakes in the courtyard and required Yue Qingqian to attack them with her spiritual energy, but the power of each strike had to be controlled within an extremely precise numerical range, with an error margin not exceeding one percent.
Yue Qingqian's "Innate Sword Heart" allowed her to learn everything quickly, but this time, she encountered a major problem. The sword intent within her instinctively pursued the ultimate sharpness and destruction. To forcibly suppress it and achieve perfect control was a hundred times more difficult than for her to comprehend a new sword technique.
She either used too much force, directly smashing the wooden stakes into powder, or suppressed it too much, her spiritual energy hitting them softly without any effect.
Seeing Yue Qingqian's small face wrinkled in frustration, Lin Fan did not comfort her but instead urged her on even more strictly.
Because he knew that this first step was the most crucial foundation of their entire "perfect failure" plan.