Chapter 194

Chapter 194: Dark Horse Yun Xi

From below the arena, Lin Ke Yang clearly saw the shock on Zhang Ling Rui’s face. The corner of his mouth lifted. He had warned Zhang Ling Rui not to be careless, but the man still capsized.

Everything on the arena happened too fast. By the time Yun Ting and the others saw clearly, Zhang Ling Rui was already on the ground.

Yun Xi’s staff was pressing against Zhang Ling Rui’s dantian, and Zhang Ling Rui’s sword was pressing against Yun Xi’s throat.

But Zhang Ling Rui was lying down, while Yun Xi was standing. From their positions, it looked like Yun Xi had the upper hand. When Zong Hao and the others saw Zhang Ling Rui’s face, they all sucked in cold air.

One side of Zhang Ling Rui’s cheek was scorched black. Beside him was a mouthful of blood mixed with two teeth. It was obvious Yun Xi’s punch had knocked them out.

Zhang Ling Rui felt half his face numb. He looked at Yun Xi’s cold little face in surprise.

Yun Xi said flatly, “True Master Zhang, you don’t hit faces. Don’t you know a female cultivator’s face is off limits? Do you still want to fight?”

She truly hadn’t held back. In the moment she threw that punch, she converted her ice spiritual power into thunder spiritual power. She used all her body strength and half her thunder spiritual power, determined to return the injury on her face.

Zhang Ling Rui’s mouth twitched. He hadn’t expected that scratching the little girl’s face would make her explode like this.

That punch had even broken through his protective qi. Although from the surface it looked like the two of them had tied, he knew he had lost. After all, Yun Xi was only at early peak Golden Core.

Zhang Ling Rui put away his sword, wiped the blood at his lip, and stood up. He said, “Little girl, why are you so hot-tempered? I lost.”

Then he jumped off the arena without hesitation.

Yun Xi froze for a moment. She thought Zhang Ling Rui would continue fighting.

To be honest, if they kept going, she would definitely lose.

The referee saw Zhang Ling Rui step down and immediately announced Yun Xi’s victory.

Yun Xi also put away Seven-Star Doom Staff and jumped down. But as she landed, her body swayed. Zong Hao caught her quickly and said, “True Master Wei, you’ve used too much. Find a place to recover your spiritual power first.”

Yun Xi nodded and went to the stands to sit and recover.

As she sat down, she swallowed the blood in her mouth. They had reached this point – even if she had to fake it, she still had to keep the posture of a winner. Just now, Zhang Ling Rui’s three sword lights had destroyed her three clones, and she had also been badly injured.

But thankfully, her diversion worked. She had used her body technique advantage to knock him down. If she had been even half a second slower, she would have been struck in a vital spot. This win had been dangerously close.

It also showed just how strong a late Golden Core sword cultivator really was. In a real life-and-death fight, Yun Xi would probably turn and run immediately.

After stepping down, Zhang Ling Rui was met with Lin Ke Yang’s merciless laughter. “True Master Zhang, how did you lose too?”

Zhang Ling Rui rubbed his numb jaw. “Mistake! Mistake! The little girl is pretty bold.”

Lin Ke Yang clicked his tongue. “So now you’re not saying I was ‘gentle with women’ and letting her win?”

Zhang Ling Rui rolled his eyes. “I’m the one who doesn’t know how to be gentle. I touched the little girl’s bottom line. She’s so young and already cares about looking pretty.”

Lin Ke Yang kept firing. “Hmph. You’re just careless. Who goes on an arena and aims for someone’s face? Your sword is that sharp, and you don’t know it? I think that punch was too light. She should’ve hit you two more times.”

Zhang Ling Rui protested, “Hey, you’ve gone too far now. Are we still brothers? If I lose, you should at least comfort me!”

Lin Ke Yang replied, “However you comforted me, I’ll comfort you the same way.”

Lin Ke Yang had always felt that becoming friends with someone as shameless as Zhang Ling Rui was simply bad luck. One such friend was enough. If there were more, he might greet them with his fists too.

Ignoring Zhang Ling Rui’s nonstop talking, Lin Ke Yang cut him off. “You lost this round. Are you planning to join the challenge matches?”

Zhang Ling Rui turned serious. “I’ll decide depending on the situation. Top three won’t be easy to fight for. Those few have been suppressing their cultivation and not condensing a Nascent Soul, all for the tournament prizes. I’m not very confident. What about you?”

“I know my limits,” Lin Ke Yang said calmly. “Making it into the top ten is already my best.”

Lin Ke Yang’s attitude was relaxed. In the sect tournament, people competed either to make a name, to gain a master, or to fight for prizes. He only wanted to test his own strength. Since he had already achieved that goal, there was no need to get himself injured further.

After Yun Xi forced down the turbulent qi and blood in her body, it was time to draw lots again.

This time, Yun Xi’s opponent was a Golden Core formation cultivator. A black jade token hung at his waist, marking him as a fourth-grade formation master.

One look was enough for Yun Xi to know she had no chance. After stepping onto the arena, she clasped her hands politely. “Senior Brother Cao, I concede.”

Then she stepped down cleanly, so fast that even the referee froze for a breath. Only then did he announce that Cao Yi had won.

Just as Long Dao Yu and Qin Tong Shuang finally squeezed their way to the edge of the arena, they hurried over. “Yun Xi, why did you concede? Is it because you’re still injured from the previous match?”

Seeing familiar faces, Yun Xi smiled and nodded. She admitted openly, “The formation path is vast and profound, and I’ve studied very little of it. I’m obviously not Senior Brother Cao’s opponent, so I won’t go up there and embarrass myself.”

She asked, “How did your matches go?”

Long Dao Yu and Qin Tong Shuang had both already reached Foundation Establishment, and both were at early peak, right at the edge of a breakthrough. It was clear that in the four years they had been apart, both had worked hard.

Qin Tong Shuang smiled. “I placed fifteenth in the Foundation Establishment group. Long Dao Yu placed twenty-second.”

Long Dao Yu smiled. “I did my best, but my strength still fell short. Still, this tournament helped me touch the barrier to a breakthrough, so I gained something.”

“That’s good,” Yun Xi said. “Cultivation is a process of accumulation. You can’t rush it.”

Qin Tong Shuang smiled and said, “True Master Wei, how did you form your Golden Core? If I didn’t know you had taken a master, I’d almost not believe it.”

Yun Xi spread her hands. “Don’t bring it up. It’s a long story. I was forced.”

Qin Tong Shuang tested the waters. “Then after the tournament ends, can we hear your ‘long story’? Is it convenient?”

“Sure,” Yun Xi said. “We can go to Hao Ran City and sit down together.”

Yun Xi didn’t refuse.

After chatting a bit more, the two of them took their leave with good manners. As fellow disciples who had once shared hardships, their relationship was still quite close.

Not long after they left, another match had already ended. The two winners would fight for first and second place, while Yun Xi would fight another defeated Golden Core female cultivator for third.

But that woman seemed badly injured. When the fight was supposed to begin after one incense stick, she couldn’t even step onto the arena. In the end, she could only concede.

It was obvious that a heavily injured person wasn’t Yun Xi’s match. Just like that, Yun Xi became third place in the Golden Core group – a true dark horse.

“True Master Wei’s luck is insane. She joined four matches, fought two for real, and the other two she just stood on the arena for a moment – and still took third.”