Chapter 321: Frost and Sound

~~~

“Xiao Shuang of the Divine Frozen Palace vs. Fan Bingbing of the Eternal Flame Clan!”

As far as the audience is concerned, this fight is already over. No attack has been thrown, yet Xiao Shuang’s Qi already dominates the space in the ring. Even a single look at the fighters tells the whole story. Xiao Shuang is by no means a tall woman, but she is still over a head taller than Fan Bingbing. The disciple of the Eternal Flame Clan is so petite she can pass for a child, and as far as many people in the arena are concerned, that is precisely what she is in this fight.

A child fighting an adult.

“What’s that girl waiting for? Why isn’t she surrendering? She cannot possibly defeat the Divine Frozen Palace’s Xiao Shuang.”

“Is she really so arrogant to think she can win?”

“Don’t you get it? If the girl gives up, that’d be two disciples of the Eternal Flame Clan that Xiao Shuang defeats without a fight. She has to think about her Sect’s reputation.”

“That poor child.”

“You should surrender,” Xiao Shuang says as the mutterings from the audience grow in volume. “I do not usually say things like this, but there is no point in you fighting me.”

Fan Bingbing raises her head to meet Xiao Shuang’s eyes through the girl’s veil. Despite the odds being overwhelmingly against her, there is no fear or hesitation in the small girl’s aura.

Earth Realm, Level Five.

“I am touched by your concern,” Fan Bingbing says, taking out her instrument from her spatial ring. “I hope you will forgive my rudeness in disregarding it.”

Xiao Shuang raises an eyebrow. The instrument in Fan Bingbing’s hands has twenty-one strings instead of seven. It is not a guqin, which is what the girl has used until now, but a guzheng.

“You switched your instrument,” Xiao Shuang notes. The air grows colder. “Do you mean to say you will use your full power here? Or is this merely a desperate measure? Nevertheless…”

A chilling cold spreads across the ring, even filtering through the barrier. Those seated on the lower levels suddenly wish they were not so close to the fight. However, what they feel is nothing compared to what Xiao Shuang’s aura subjects Fan Bingbing to. The girl trembles under the cold. Her already pale skin turns bluish, and her lips become chapped.

Even so, she remains standing.

“A-A guqin is… a quiet instrument…one made for su-subtlety…and refinement,” Fan Bingbing says, struggling to get her words out. “There will be… no need for such things…Here!”

Trembling fingers play a single note.

The cold is blown away.

Xiao Shuang blinks. Her Qi retains dominance over most of the ring. It is just the area around Fan Bingbing that is suddenly free from her control. The girl no longer trembles, and her skin gradually returns to its normal color. Her guzheng floats in front of her as if held by invisible strings. Her fingers twitch.

A sword tries to take Xiao Shuang’s head off.

It is not a weapon made of steel but a spectral projection that appears without warning. For the first time in the entire tournament, Xiao Shuang is forced to dodge. More blades appear as Fan Bingbing keeps playing, and her song fills the arena. It is fast-paced and full of energy. The sound of the spectral blades whistling through the air somehow acts as an accompaniment to it.

[To You Who Search for the Land of Dreams]

An arrow cuts through the air. Xiao Shuang dodges, but her blue eyes do not miss the three white hairs that fall before her eyes. Turning to the girl playing in the center of the ring, Xiao Shuang points a single finger at her.

The cold intensifies.

Countless cracks appear over the ring as the cold hammers Fan Bingbing without mercy. Her skin dries, and small wounds open all over her body. They fail to bleed only because the cold freezes her blood as soon as it comes into contact with the air.

Despite that, Fan Bingbing keeps playing.

Each note wreaks havoc on the ring. The spectral weapons appear one after another like the members of an orchestra. Xiao Shuang has no trouble dodging their attempts to harm her, but she does not understand how the attacks can exist in an area so clearly dominated by her Qi. She also does not understand how the guzheng’s strings have not yet snapped from the cold.

This cannot go on.

[Annihilating Frost Wave]

Xiao Shuang brings her arm down. A wave of ice erupts in front of her and speeds toward Fan Bingbing, growing in size and sharpness until it has become a looming glacier with deadly spikes.

It shatters.

The moment the ice gets within twelve feet of Fan Bingbing, it shatters like glass. Even as Xiao Shuang wills her technique to keep advancing, the ice just keeps breaking. Throughout it all, Fan Bingbing never stops playing. She has not done so since the fight began.

She has not even moved from her spot.

If the mutterings from the audience are any indication, Xiao Shuang is not the only one who has noticed that detail.

“Enough,” Xiao Shuang says. Her voice is cold, yet the barest embers of anger have begun to filter through. “I have tried to do you a kindness and hold myself back. Will you really not surrender before I am forced to rescind it?”

Fan Bingbing does not stop playing. Ice rises around Xiao Shuang to block the spectral weapons, yet she does not attack. Xiao Shuang merely stares at Fan Bingbing, waiting for her answer.

“Kindness, is it?” Fan Bingbing’s voice is small, barely audible through her song. “Or is it guilt?”

Xiao Shuang flinches.

Now that a full day has gone by, Xiao Shuang can look back on her fight against the disciple of the Eternal Flame Clan and feel uneasy. There is no denying she used more force than was necessary. When she walked into the ring today, it had been with the intent to avoid something like that happening again.

However, the level of force Xiao Shuang is using already far surpasses what she subjected Gan Nanfeng to, and this girl still won’t fall!

“Regardless of what it is, I will have to echo my earlier words,” Fan Bingbing says. “Forgive my rudeness, but I have no need for your guilt or your kindness.”

As soon as Fan Bingbing has finished talking, a gigantic ice spike falls on top of her, but much like the other attacks, the ice cracks and shatters before it can reach her.

Xiao Shuang’s hands clench into fists.

If this girl were using her Dao, she’d be able to understand. However, the use of Dao carries with it a special gravity that is impossible to miss once someone knows what to look for. None of it is present in the girl in front of her.

In other words…

“You will not trespass the territory of my soul,” Fan Bingbing says with finality.

~~~

In the waiting room of the Endlessly Raging Valley, Su Daji blinks.

“Oh? Well, that’s interesting.”

“What is?” Ding Yan asks. She has her eyes fixed on the viewing screen. Like many, she thought it would be a quick fight, and having her expectations overturned has dramatically increased her interest. “Did you figure out her Dao?”

“There isn’t one,” Su Daji says. She sounds so completely certain Ding Yan turns to stare at her.

“Impossible,” Ding Yan says. “That monster might not have shown her full cultivation, but there are hints of her Dao at play. No matter how talented the girl from the Eternal Flame Clan is, someone in the Fifth Level of the Earth Realm should not even be standing right now unless her Dao was compensating for that gap.”

“It’s her soul,” Su Daji explains. “She’s using her music as a medium to project her soul outward. Instead of imposing change on the world like one would do when expressing a Dao, the girl is simply using her soul to mark the difference between herself and the rest of the world. That is how she is denying Xiao Shuang’s influence.”

“That sounds convenient,” Ding Yan says, stroking her chin thoughtfully. “Why haven’t I seen it done before?”

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“Control is one barrier. The soul is not easy to manipulate. Beyond that…” Su Daji grimaces. “That’s her soul out there. While there is power in wielding one’s soul so openly, it is impossible for it to be more exposed.”

~~~

“Why?” Xiao Shuang shouts as she brings down ice and frost on Fan Bingbing, making the whole arena tremble. “Why are you going this far?!”

“Put simply, you’re dangerous,” Fan Bingbing answers. “Do you think your restraint today makes you more virtuous than yesterday? Know better. It is merely a sign of your instability. Your mind is so shaken you cannot decide on the right amount of force to use. Uncontrolled power like that is a threat that cannot go unanswered.”

The song changes.

[Trust Engraved in the Heart]

A hail of arrows cuts through the air.

Ice rises in front of Xiao Shuang to block them, but the arrows do not stop. Xiao Shuang can see it through the ice. It is no longer mere weapons appearing in the air. A spectral army has manifested around Fan Bingbing, dozens of ghostly figures clad in armor and riding on horseback.

They charge.

[The Path to the Frozen Hells]

Ice spikes burst all over the ring, instantly skewering the army. Even so, they do not stop.

The song does not stop.

Xiao Shuang’s Qi rises, and the spikes surge by the hundreds. A lone specter armed with a spear manages to get within range. Xiao Shuang snatches the spear out of his hand and stabs him through the head. The next specter freezes and shatters before it can get within ten feet of her.

She starts walking.

The ice melts away from her path, leaving the way to Fan Bingbing clear. The girl’s spectral army soon fills the pathway to attack Xiao Shuang, but she destroys them one after another without breaking her stride. Most would have panicked upon seeing their technique fail so completely, but there is no unease on Fan Bingbing’s face, no note she fails to hit.

Why do people insist on making things hard for her?

Even as the thought forms, Xiao Shuang realizes how childish it is. However, there is no point to this fight. If it was Lu Mei, she would understand. But this unknown girl?