Chapter 317: Shining and Elusive

~~~

After the ring has been repaired, Yi Jiao fights against a Disciple of the Divine Frozen Palace and claims victory without sustaining serious injuries. One match after hers, Su Daji repeats the feat with far more ease. The violet-haired girl keeps a serious expression throughout. Her purple eyes sweep over the crowd constantly, as if searching for someone.

Alas, her search comes up empty.

“You look quite terrible,” Ding Yan greets her as soon as she enters the Endlessly Raging Valley’s waiting room.

Su Daji glares at her… friend? Nevertheless, she takes the seat next to her.

“Should a loser really say something like that to me?”

“Please! I already heard that from the Ruans. Be more creative if you want to insult me,” Ding Yan says, waving away the matter of her defeat as unimportant even though her mother is sure to be angry with her.

“Shall I start with all the talismans you lost?”

Ding Yan’s pained grimace brings a smile to Su Daji’s face. The green-haired girl groans and hides her face behind her hands.

“That damned fire witch burned so many of them! I went through so much trouble hunting those Spirit Beasts and collecting their feathers! I’m going to have to do it all over again!”

As a member of the Ding Clan, Ding Yan could easily have someone else hunt the Spirit Beasts for her, but the girl is too proud and entirely too much of a perfectionist. She will not settle for an inferior product, and she will not rely on someone else’s power. Thus, the only talismans she uses are those she makes with her own hands.

“That’s what happens when you rely on something so old-fashioned,” Su Daji says. Ding Yan glares at her but does not take the bait.

“Hmph, that woman is your problem now,” she says instead.

“I know,” Su Daji says. After she wins the next round, Lu Mei will be her opponent.

“She’s dangerous,” Ding Yan warns her. “When she fought me, I could tell she was trying to hold back. Do you understand how ridiculous that is?”

“I know,” Su Daji repeats.

Ding Yan is one of the most powerful members of the Endlessly Raging Valley’s delegation, yet Lu Mei decided she could afford to hold back. Or, if looked at another way, Lu Mei thought she had no choice but to try to conserve her energy despite facing someone like her.

In other words, there is a fight for which Lu Mei must conserve as many trump cards as possible. Outlandish as it sounds, the fact that she is going through with it means she fully believes it is possible for her.

She believes she can reach Xiao Shuang in the Top Four without having to use all her power.

“I am not sure what the Wandering Wind has planned, but she will not be with you in the ring,” Ding Yan says. “It will just be you and the fire witch.”

“She would probably be happy if you called her that to her face,” Su Daji muses. “But I understand. If you are so concerned about me, I have no choice but to be careful.”

It is not as if she ever planned anything else…especially now that…

Su Daji sighs.

Xiao Shuang and Lu Mei…There is barely any hesitation in their aura.

What about her?

~~~

Chen Guo achieves victory over a disciple of the Divine Frozen Palace in an instant. The crowd cheers for him, but the ladies in the Divine Frozen Palace’s box narrow their eyes. Xiao Shuang’s performance is masking it, but many of their disciples have already lost. The existence of several outstanding talents and the increased tension after Emperor Qing Jin’s fight have worked to their disadvantage.

Compared to the Eternal Flame Clan, which has only lost three fighters so far, they are underperforming.

“Bei Hong of the Eternal Flame Clan vs. Zhou Yi of the Endlessly Raging Valley!”

Bei Hong walks into the ring with the natural swagger of someone who has complete confidence in himself. He raises his hands into the air, but the number of people who cheer for him is relatively small. Bei Hong did not fight anyone of note in the Realm of the Crimson Cloud, and his first match was against someone not of the Four Great Sects. No one looks down on him for using his full power against a weak opponent, but crushing an ant is not enough to earn the love of the crowd.

His opponent, Zhou Yi, is a different story. Though he also fought someone who was not of the Four Great Sects, the crowd receives him with much fanfare. His flying swords and graceful movements gave the people an enjoyable spectacle yesterday, and they look forward to seeing more of that today.

Zhou Yi does not even wait for Bei Hong’s arms to come down before striking.

[Sword Majesty – Annihilating First Strike]

It is, in essence, a thrust.

The blade in his hand glows with green Qi as its sharpness is enhanced and its length triples. The shockwave unleashed after Zhou Yi takes his first step and his body vanishes in a blur of speed makes the entire stadium tremble. The second shockwave that rings when his attack lands is felt all over Imperial Cloud City.

Nevertheless, the attack is still technically only a sword thrust.

The audience is left in shock. Whatever item was hiding Zhou Yi’s cultivation is no more. Perhaps he did not even wear it today. They can all feel the full power he used to strike Bei Hong.

Earth Realm, Level Six.

Laughter echoes amidst the stunned silence.

“You really went and tried to kill me right away,” Bei Hong says, grinning as Zhou Yi’s sword screeches against his golden skin. His opponent has still not stopped trying to push his sword into his body, pinning him against the barrier.

Had Bei Hong failed to use [Goldforged Body] quickly enough, he’d already be skewered.

“It’s a tournament!” Zhou Yi shouts as another sword appears in his free hand. He slashes it against Bei Hong’s golden skin. “Don’t you dare say you will look down on me for attacking!”

“No declaration of intent? No speeches? No empty boasting?” Bei Hong grins as the golden glow around his body magnifies. “I approve!”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it’s taken without the author’s consent. Report it.

[Magnificent Golden Roar]

Bei Hong roars his last two words as his technique takes form. Unlike in the Realm of the Crimson Cloud, he is not trying to cover as much area as possible. Instead, his loud roar is almost exclusively focused on the man in front of him. As soon as it hits, the roar knocks him back, slamming him against the opposite side of the barrier.

“But that’s not how you fought yesterday!” Bei Hong roars, hitting him with the same technique again as he advances on him with large strides. His hand grabs onto his robes, damaged from Zhou Yi’s attack, and tears them away from his chest. “I saw the whole boring thing! Where are your silly twirls?! Where are your dances?! Where are your dozens of swords?!”

“Right! Here!”

Dozens of blades shoot out from under Zhou Yi’s sleeve, but they are not Qi projections. Each one is completely genuine. The hail of steel crashes into Bei Hong, completely obscuring his body from view. The air screeches as the swords ram into him one after another. The former member of the Golden Fist Sect covers his face with his arms.

However, he keeps moving forward.

In a burst of speed, dozens of swords are blown away. Thanks to the elixir created by the Apothecary, his speed far surpasses that of his foe. There is no time for Zhou Yi to move before Bei Hong’s fist collides against his jaw, knocking it out of place with a sickening crack. The follow-up hit threatens to completely tear the skin.

However, the two hits give Zhou Yi more than enough time to act.

“Fool!” Zhou Yi roars, forming his words with Qi instead of his now useless mouth. The swords scattered around the ring rise and fall on Bei Hong, forming an iron curtain between him and his opponent. Zhou Yi’s body is carried away by his swords. “Do you think I will fall to mere fists?!”

Zhou Yi glares at Bei Hong as he snaps his jaw back into place.

“There is nothing mere about my fists,” Bei Hong says as he punches the swords flying around him one by one. “However, your fear is as common as they come.”