Chapter 196

Chapter 196: Meeting the Challenge 2

Yun Xi almost wanted to cover her face. She wanted to say that inside the sect, she should forget about it. The sect had big shots guarding it. As long as the Profound Thunder Violet Flame revealed even the slightest trace of aura, it would definitely be discovered.

But she had no time to explain, because Wang Ye’s second meteor hammer joined the attack.

Yun Xi held the Doom Staff in one hand, while her other hand formed seals with quick, nimble motions. In moments, the entire arena filled with dancing snowflakes. The snowflakes drifting down looked completely harmless, yet they made Wang Ye’s scalp go numb.

Yun Xi twisted her wrist, swung the staff to knock the meteor hammer away, and said softly, “Snow Dance Across the Sky!”

The instant her words fell, the snowflakes that had been slowly drifting suddenly whipped into a frenzy. They also concealed Yun Xi’s figure, causing Wang Ye to lose his target.

“That’s impossible!” Wang Ye muttered.

He immediately spun his meteor hammers at high speed, building a wall of fire around himself so the snowflakes couldn’t come near.

Under the cover of the snow, Yun Xi had already moved very close to Wang Ye. He still hadn’t noticed her, but his instincts were sharp. He launched a fireball toward the direction Yun Xi was approaching from, only for Yun Xi to dodge with Wind-Supporting Steps.

“So sensitive,” Yun Xi murmured.

After evading the first strike, Yun Xi summoned the Frost Profound Ice Needles from her dantian. A Profound Ice Needle clung to a snowflake and began to drift toward Wang Ye.

To create the conditions for a sneak attack, Yun Xi revealed herself from within the storm. She gripped the staff with both hands and leaped high, borrowing the speed and force of her descent to slam down hard onto the pair of meteor hammers. Ice and fire crashed together again, and the wall of fire broke for a brief instant.

The Profound Ice Needle had already brushed past the meteor hammers and closed in on Wang Ye. When Wang Ye pulled his hammers back, ready to attack again, his expression suddenly changed. He dropped to one knee on the ground and snapped his head up to stare at Yun Xi.

Yun Xi held the staff in one hand, standing amid the falling snow. Her tone was calm as she asked, “Senior Brother Wang, do you still want to fight?”

Wang Ye gritted his teeth. “What did you do to my dantian?”

Yun Xi raised her hand. A snowflake happened to land in her palm, and she smiled faintly. “Junior Sister only sent a snowflake inside. Senior Brother still wants to continue?”

Wang Ye felt stifled with frustration. His dantian was already under her control. How could he keep fighting? If he kept going, it would only end in defeat. He could only turn his head to the referee. “I concede.”

The referee was a Nascent Soul True Lord and naturally knew why Wang Ye conceded. He immediately announced that the challenge had failed.

Only then did Yun Xi lift her hand and call the Profound Ice Needle back. Even so, the Profound Ice Needle remained attached to that snowflake so the disciples watching couldn’t see its true form.

The moment the snowflake returned to Yun Xi’s hand, the blizzard that filled the sky also vanished.

After the protective barrier opened, Wang Ye jumped off the arena and returned to his eighth-place position.

The disciples watching below erupted into even louder discussion.

“I didn’t expect Master Wei to be so fast and so ruthless. One snowflake decided the outcome.”

“And who do you think Master Wei studied under?”

“Actually, Master Wang wasn’t bad either. Fire counters ice. He was just a bit weaker.”

“I think both of their techniques were flashy. Especially Master Wei’s Snow Dance Across the Sky. It was beautiful and deadly at the same time.”

“Yes, yes! And paired with Master Wei’s white robe with blue patterns, she looked like a fairy in the snow…”

“Master Wei formed her core too early and hasn’t fully grown yet. In the future, she’ll definitely be a great beauty. She should make it onto Hao Ran Sect’s beauty ranking…”

The topic was already getting wildly off track. Off to the side, where she had been watching Yun Xi’s match, Wei Yun Qing’s face twisted again. She always believed the one standing on the arena, receiving praise, should have been her.

She didn’t know that her twisted expression was fully seen by Sheng Yu Hong, who was also watching Yun Xi’s defense match not far away. His brows tightened almost imperceptibly. He could sense the malice in Wei Yun Qing’s eyes.

He seemed to understand why Junior Sister Yun Xi didn’t want to get close to him. Because he was entangled with Wei Yun Qing, Yun Xi deliberately kept her distance. Back during the beast tide in Bao Hua City, he had even saved Yun Xi. At that time, her attitude toward him had not been like this.

Thinking that far, Sheng Yu Hong understood what he needed to do next. Distancing himself from Wei Yun Qing was inevitable. He also needed to form his core as soon as possible – not only because he didn’t want to fall too far behind, but also because the secret realm in the Bao Hua Mountain Range was about to open. This time, he was going to explore the secret realm together with Yun Xi.

Once he had sorted it out, Sheng Yu Hong calmed down and continued watching the challenge matches.

After Yun Xi defeated the first challenger, she had the time of one incense stick to rest. Of course, if she didn’t want to rest, she could continue to accept the next challenge. She could also save the rest time until after the second bout. The rest time could be accumulated.

Yun Xi cupped her fist toward Cao Yi and asked, “Senior Brother Cao, do you want to challenge me?”

Cao Yi looked a little embarrassed. It felt like he was using his strengths to press her weaknesses, but the temptation of the top three was still huge, so he nodded. “Yes. After Junior Sister Wei finishes recovering her breath, I’ll challenge.”

Yun Xi smiled. “No need. Senior Brother Cao, please.”

Cao Yi froze for a moment, then leaped from the fifth-place arena onto Yun Xi’s arena.

Before the referee even announced the start, Yun Xi cupped her fist and said, “Junior Sister concedes.”

She turned and stepped off the arena, moving to the fifth-place arena.

Cao Yi felt his face burning. He truly hadn’t expected Junior Sister Wei to concede voluntarily twice in a row. It made him feel like he had won without honor.

Yun Xi didn’t think that much about it. A match she was destined to lose – why insist on fighting? It was only a ranking. It couldn’t represent everything. Counting Cao Yi’s challenge, she had already accepted two challenges. If she fought one more, her rank would be fixed.

This time, Yun Xi used the time of two incense sticks to sit and recover. When time was up, she opened her eyes and waited for the third challenger, but no one challenged her.

Yun Xi scanned the surroundings and saw that the arenas on both sides had challengers, but her arena had none.

“Huh? Why aren’t they challenging me anymore?”

No one answered her. All the way until the challenge matches ended, no one challenged Yun Xi, and her rank settled at fifth place.

Yun Xi was fairly satisfied with that result. It wasn’t too high-profile, and it didn’t embarrass her master.

After the sect competition’s award ceremony ended, Yun Xi held her reward and considered going to the Technique Pavilion to trade for a cultivation method. Before she could leave, Cao Yi blocked her path.

“Junior Sister Wei, wait.”

Yun Xi put away the jade token for a free technique exchange and looked at Cao Yi’s serious face. “Senior Brother Cao, what can I do for you?”

“Junior Sister Wei, when I challenged you the second time, you clearly still had the strength to fight. Why did you concede again?”

“I said it before. I don’t have deep experience with formations, and I wasn’t confident I could win. That’s why I conceded.”

“But you didn’t even try. How do you know you couldn’t break it?”

Yun Xi felt Cao Yi was stubborn. Letting him win still wasn’t enough. She could only say helplessly, “Thank you for thinking highly of me, Senior Brother Cao. Junior Sister only has one way to break formations, and that’s brute force. If I did that, leaving aside whether I could break your formation, I would definitely injure your divine sense. This wasn’t a life-and-death fight. There was no need.”