Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Battle!

Only when the tournament officially began did the square find its breath again.

In the first round—the chaotic brawl—all 110 participants stepped onto the same Battle Platform at once.

They clustered by sect and faction, forming eleven small teams.

For a heartbeat, everything held—like the moment before a storm breaks.

Then it erupted.

Spells streaked across the platform. Sword light and talismans flashed. Shouts rose and crashed into each other. The scene turned into a churning blur, dazzling enough to make the disciples watching below scream themselves hoarse.

Most of the crowd were disciples of the Heaven-Questioning Sect, so their cheers were the loudest by far.

Song Wan Ning barely spared the field a glance. Instead, she lifted a storybook and read as if she were sitting in a quiet courtyard, not watching a tournament meant to shake the cultivation world.

The Sect Master of the Heaven-Questioning Sect’s temple twitched, but he couldn’t scold her—not here, not in front of everyone. He swallowed it down and focused on cheering for his own disciples instead.

They had been through life and death together more than once. Their teamwork was something outsiders couldn’t easily match.

Yet even after a string of victories, Bai Yang couldn’t feel any joy.

That figure on the high platform never once looked his way.

The brawl ended quickly. Under indiscriminate attacks, losing cultivators tumbled off the Battle Platform one after another. By the time an incense stick could burn down, only twenty people remained.

Because Bai Yang’s trio stayed tightly together, the Heaven-Questioning Sect was left with only those three. Every other disciple from their side had been eliminated.

Even so, three survivors was still the highest remaining headcount among the Seven Sects and Four Factions.

The Sect Master of the Heaven-Questioning Sect felt both pleased and uneasy—especially with both Ye Chu Xue and Bai Yang still carrying injuries.

After a ten-minute rest, the second round began.

The cultivators drew lots and fought in pairs. The winner advanced.

The matches went smoothly. Bai Yang and Ye Chu Xue advanced without surprise. Only Lu Nan Feng was eliminated.

On the high platform, Song Wan Ning’s face remained cold—no pride, no satisfaction, not even the faintest lift of approval.

So far, everything was unfolding exactly as it had in the Three Lives Mirror.

As the male lead and the female lead, they were naturally not going to lose early. When the finals came, it would be Ye Chu Xue and Bai Yang’s battlefield.

They would go all out, put on an incredible match, and in the end tie—sharing first place.

From then on, they would rise to fame. The most sought-after heavenly prodigies in the Cultivation World.

Song Wan Ning twirled the ends of her hair between her fingers. Cold light flashed in her eyes.

[They want to step on her and climb higher, one step at a time?]

[They’ll have to see whether she allows it.]

Time slipped by. The evening glow faded, and darkness spread across the square.

Bright lights flared to life, turning night into day.

The tournament had reached its most thrilling, most critical moment.

Only five people were left, fighting for the final top three.

Bai Yang and Ye Chu Xue were both among them, soaking in the disciples’ admiring gazes.

Even with scandal clinging to her like smoke, people couldn’t stop looking at Ye Chu Xue with awe.

The elder’s voice rang out as he announced the next pairings.

“Ye Chu Xue of the Heaven-Questioning Sect drew Xi Wen Jun of the Myriad Swords Sect. Liu Chan of the Seven Stars Sect drew Bai Yang of the Heaven-Questioning Sect. The Gazing Mountain Sect gets a bye!”

As soon as the words fell, Bai Yang and Ye Chu Xue stepped onto their respective Battle Platforms.

Their eyes met across the distance. No words were exchanged, but the promise was already there.

They had agreed long ago. They would fight into the finals together. They would stand on the Battle Platform that crowned the champion.

This was the crucial moment.

At the elder’s command, the match began.

Ye Chu Xue seized the initiative. The long flute in her hand spun in a swift arc, and a lingering, delicate melody spilled out—soft enough to sound harmless, sharp enough to make the skin prickle.

It didn’t strike the body.

It went straight for the soul.

Xi Wen Jun’s expression tightened. He raised his broad saber and slashed.

Saber light roared through the air like thunder, violent and unstoppable.

The sound waves pressed down on it, smothering its edge, thinning its ferocity.

Xi Wen Jun’s brows twitched. With a returning strike, a sea of saber light erupted, lighting up heaven and earth as it swept forward.

Ye Chu Xue tapped lightly with her toe. Her body turned feather-light as she darted and spun. Her flute flashed like a meteor across the sky, her movements graceful enough to look like a performance.

Xi Wen Jun fought with fierce saber arts—fast, sharp, and heavy with power.

Their techniques collided again and again. They moved so quickly the disciples below could barely follow the blows.

“Huh? Ye Chu Xue actually learned sound attacks?”

An elder leaned forward, eyes shining with excitement.

In recent years, sound cultivation had declined. Few cultivators chose that path anymore, and Ye Chu Xue’s control didn’t look shallow at all.

“Her comprehension really is incredible.”

As a Chaos-spirit-root cultivator, Ye Chu Xue faced almost no obstacles in cultivation. If she wanted, she could take techniques of all five attributes.

Once she grew up, her combat power would be terrifying. Her future was limitless.

She was the Heaven-Questioning Sect’s hope.

Praise spilled out around the platform. Even those burning with jealousy couldn’t deny what they were seeing.

The Sect Master of the Heaven-Questioning Sect beamed, satisfaction spreading warm through his chest. He had worried Ye Chu Xue wouldn’t be in good condition, but now he realized he’d been overthinking it.

Over on the other platform, Bai Yang and Liu Chan’s match was far less reassuring.

Bai Yang had been injured several times by Song Wan Ning, and his wounds still hadn’t healed. Now he looked pinned down, forced into defense, every movement carrying a faint hitch of pain.

Seeing that, the Sect Master frowned. He had clearly sent pills over. Why did Bai Yang look like this?

It shouldn’t have happened.

What he didn’t know was that Bai Yang hadn’t taken the pills at all.

Bai Yang’s eyes were ice. The long sword in his hand surged with power, and a single swing exploded outward like Ten Thousand Swords Barrage.

A chaotic storm of sword shadows rushed at Liu Chan from all directions like ghosts. The air shrieked as it tore, the sound harsh enough to make teeth ache.

Liu Chan gripped a gourd-shaped magic artifact in one hand, absorbing sword shadows as they slammed into it. His red-tasseled spear in the other hand snapped out again and again, knocking away the sword light that slipped through.

His expression was serious—and confused.

He had fought Bai Yang before. Bai Yang’s condition was clearly off today.

But that wasn’t Liu Chan’s problem.

Liu Chan’s gaze sharpened. He spun his spear. The tip burst open with a sharp crack, and countless golden needles—thin as hairs—shot toward Bai Yang like a swarm.

Bai Yang paused for half a beat, then twisted and shot backward into the air. He slashed down, and a vast sword shadow crashed over the needles.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

The needles fell, stabbing into the Battle Platform at sharp angles, trembling as they sank.

Then, without warning, Liu Chan’s red-tasseled spear snapped up from behind Bai Yang, stabbing viciously toward his back.

Bai Yang’s eyes darkened. He whipped a sweeping kick backward.

The spear moved as if it had eyes. It dodged smoothly, then coiled back in, striking again.

Bai Yang drew in a breath, about to counter—

And his dantian seized.

His spiritual energy cut off in an instant.

The spear pierced through him.

Bai Yang crashed down onto the Battle Platform, dropping to one knee. Blood spilled from his lips in a brutal rush.

Liu Chan’s face changed. “You’re injured?”

They had prepared for the Heavenly Prodigy Tournament for a long time, staying in their sect, pushing themselves until they were ready to fight in their best condition.

But Bai Yang’s heavy injuries hadn’t even healed.