Chapter 199

Chapter 199: In the End, Still Young and Playful
“Thank you, everyone, for your kindness. I will remember it.” Yu Zhao bowed deeply to the crowd.

After thanking them solemnly, Yu Zhao walked to the arena surrounded by the others, waiting for her final battle in the Cultivation World Grand Tournament.

Only after the crowd scattered did Su Ming seem to remember something. He turned to Lan Zi Yu beside him and asked anxiously, “Second Senior Brother, did you tell Yu Zhao that Master is ready to forgive her and wants her to hurry back?”

Su Ming’s expression was urgent. Deep in his heart, there was a fear he could not share with anyone.

He was afraid that Yu Zhao would gain more and more close friends, and that his place in her heart would be taken by others.

“Yu Zhao is still stubborn and refuses to come back.” Lan Zi Yu spoke through gritted teeth.

“Refuses? Why would she refuse? Isn’t Master already planning not to hold anything against her?” Su Ming asked in confusion.

“You’re asking me?” Lan Zi Yu gave a cold laugh. “I think after winning a few matches, Yu Zhao has gotten full of herself and forgotten her place.”

A disciple of Master Qing Yan was not a role just any stray cat or dog could take.

She thought that just by winning some matches, she could look down on everyone. When she ran into a wall, then she would know what pain was.

Su Ming stared worriedly in the direction Yu Zhao had gone.

Tomorrow was the deadline Master had set. Yu Xiao Zhao must not do something foolish at the last moment.

The three fellow disciples each had their own thoughts and did not notice Ye Cong Xin slipping away quietly.

When Ye Cong Xin appeared again, half an hour had passed. She stood in the middle of the Five Elements Dao Sect’s disciples, looking up at Yu Zhao on the Dueling Platform. A cold light flashed in her eyes.

[Yu Zhao, you brought all of this on yourself. You can’t blame anyone else.]

“Yu Zhao.”

Yao Ji was stunningly beautiful. Even when she glared at someone from the corner of her eyes, there was still endless charm in her gaze.

But right now she had no mood to show off her beauty. She stared tensely at the woman opposite her. This was her greatest opponent on this trip and the hardest stone blocking her path.

Only by getting rid of her could she win the final match.

“I never meant to be your enemy, but you are standing in my way, so you must die!”

A vicious look appeared on Yao Ji’s face. A mass of dark red mist floated around her body.

Yu Zhao’s brows twitched the slightest bit.

Ever since her memories as the Water Spirit Jade had awakened, her five senses were sharper than ever. She caught a faint strange fragrance coming from Yao Ji’s body.

Before she could think it through, Yao Ji threw out the feather fan in her hand. It turned into a White Phoenix, then she took out a palm-sized beastskin drum and began to tap it lightly with her fingers.

Thump.

Yu Zhao’s heart gave a heavy beat along with the drum.

Thump.

The second drumbeat rang out.

Yu Zhao’s heart jumped again, completely out of her control.

Thump thump thump thump thump thump!

The drumbeats suddenly sped up. The White Phoenix let out a sharp screech. Its wings flapped rapidly, and countless wind blades fell from the sky like raindrops.

Yu Zhao retreated a step. The Mirror of Fleeting Lives appeared on its own.

The clear water curtain rippled, and in the blink of an eye, wind blades were reflected and copied from its surface.

Yu Zhao raised her hand and sent out another ray of spiritual light.

“Go!”

The two waves of wind blades crashed into each other in midair. The wild wind roared, and dull booming sounds rang out one after another.

Yao Ji laughed loudly: “Yu Zhao, you’ve lost!”

As she spoke, her fingers curved like claws and slashed toward the beastskin drum.

The drum skin tore open, and a scream like a soul’s wail came from inside.

The joy on Yao Ji’s face froze at once when she saw Yu Zhao standing there, perfectly fine.

“That’s impossible! Why are you still unharmed?”

When the drumbeats had lined up with Yu Zhao’s heartbeat, the two had formed a contract on their own.

Once the beastskin drum was broken, Yu Zhao’s heart should have exploded along with it. Why had she shown no reaction at all?

“You can guess.”

Yu Zhao’s voice suddenly sounded behind Yao Ji.

Yao Ji was shocked and spun around in a hurry, only to see empty air behind her.

“Ah!”

The White Phoenix’s terrified cry pulled her attention back.

She looked up and saw that Yu Zhao was now standing on the White Phoenix’s back. One of Yu Zhao’s hands was wrapped tightly around its neck.

The White Phoenix could not break free. It fell from the sky like a shooting star, plunging straight down.

“Is it over already?”

“That was so fast. It didn’t feel suspenseful at all.”

“Yao Ji being able to exchange a few moves with Yu Zhao is already pretty good. The others lasted even shorter.”

Yao Ji’s life-bound dharma artifact had fallen into Yu Zhao’s hands. The spectators were losing interest and thought the match was about to end, but the situation on the field suddenly changed again.

The White Phoenix, whose neck Yu Zhao was gripping, opened its beak and spat out a streak of red light. Its feathers began to turn red from the tail upward, the color spreading along its body. A burning heat rushed out.

“Yu Zhao! You fell right into my trap! Hahaha!” Panic on Yao Ji’s face turned into the joy of a plan succeeding. “Go die for me!”

She flung out her arms. Flames burst from the White Phoenix, blazing up in an instant and turning into a sea of fire.

The extreme heat twisted the air. Yu Zhao’s figure inside the flames became blurry and distorted.

Quite a few people cried out in shock, staring with wide, disbelieving eyes.

“Is Yu Zhao going to lose?”

On the viewing platform.

Sect Master Ji Yuan was also so startled that he almost jumped to his feet.

The icy chill coming from Master Qing Yan’s side stopped him in time.

He forced himself to look more carefully. As he watched, his tense expression slowly relaxed.

In the end, she was still young.

She liked to play.

The sea of fire lit up Yao Ji’s face, adding another layer of breathtaking beauty.

She laughed wildly: “Yu Zhao! I’ve won! I am the one who…”

The next moment, her voice was cut off.

Yu Zhao tightened her fingers, strangling the rest of her laugh: “Yao Ji, you’re happy too early.”

Yao Ji pulled at the corners of her lips, her face full of unwillingness. Her voice was as weak as a mosquito’s buzz.

“Yu Zhao, why aren’t you dead yet?”

Yu Zhao looked at her calmly.

Yao Ji met her gaze, her eyes dark and cold. “You forced me to do this.”

She suddenly bit through the tip of her tongue. A wild, frantic aura exploded from her body, allowing her to break free from Yu Zhao’s grip.

Then her fingers flew through a string of hand seals. Countless red light dots shot out from her body, turning into red ropes that tried to bind Yu Zhao.

Yu Zhao tapped her toes on the ground and shot back, her brows knitting tightly.

[Is it my imagination?]

[Why does this life’s Yao Ji seem even harder to deal with than in the last life?]

When one plan failed, Yao Ji came up with another.

The red ropes turned back into light dots, then gathered together and formed a red light sphere. The dangerous aura it gave off made even Yu Zhao’s heart tremble.

“Explode!”

The red light sphere burst apart, sending out wave after wave of scorching heat.

Layers of light shields appeared in front of Yu Zhao at once. The Mirror of Fleeting Lives guarded her chest.

Bang bang bang!

The light shields shattered in an instant like rotten wood.

Yu Zhao felt the burning pain of flame on her skin. Several strands of hair at her forehead curled slightly from the heat. A flash of surprise passed through her eyes.

Yao Ji’s condition was even worse than Yu Zhao’s. Because she had not dodged in time, the flames burned the right side of her face. Under the charred flesh, fresh blood kept oozing out.

“Ah! My face! My face!”

Yao Ji reached out with a trembling hand to touch the ugly wound on her face. It was as if someone had pulled out her spine. She collapsed to the ground, crying and screaming from the bottom of her lungs.

She could not accept even the slightest damage to her perfect looks. To her, this blow was no less than killing her.