Yan Yi and Li Chenghu in the VIP seats both stared at the two sides about to collide head-on in mid-air, their brows furrowing slightly, confusion evident in their expressions.
They were both puzzled by Zhong Ruochen’s actions. Logically, having already suffered a loss from the opponent’s sword strike, knowing full well the unstoppable power of that blow, she should not fall in the same place twice. So why was she facing it head-on again?
One descended from the heavens, the other rose from the earth. One was like a meteor falling from the sky, the other like a phoenix dancing across the nine heavens.
Closer, closer, and still no one swerved. Suddenly, many people saw the determination of both sides to never turn back.
Zhong Ruochen, who had risen into the air using the lifting force of the vortex “phoenix,” looked up with cold eyes and a deep voice, muttering disdainfully to herself, “Nothing but brute force that knows no adaptation!”
Just as the two sides were about to meet, the ascending speed of the “phoenix” suddenly dropped sharply.
Zhong Ruochen inside the phoenix head suddenly flipped her body, diving headfirst downward, rapidly plunging from within the “phoenix” toward the earth.
Boom!
The streaming light struck, hitting the phoenix head and blowing it to pieces. The streaming light also plunged once more into the body of the “phoenix.”
The spectators below saw the body of the “phoenix” suddenly swell dramatically, forcibly halted in mid-air.
Even though Zhong Ruochen had detached herself first and charged toward the ground, she was still instantly caught up to by Xiang Zhen, who appeared like a shooting star.
Below, spectators with good eyesight faintly saw both figures rush out from within the “phoenix” one after another.
Boom!
The “phoenix” high in the sky swelled and then collapsed, followed by another deafening explosion. It had been struck by the streaming light again, replaying the shocking scene from before.
The violently bursting sand and dust quickly swallowed the two figures who had rushed out.
Seeing his opponent right ahead, Xiang Zhen instantly caught up, cutting a path with his sword.
Zhong Ruochen, looking back while also rapidly falling, flipped her body in mid-air, turning her dive into a normal head-up, feet-down position.
In that instant, Xiang Zhen’s eyelids twitched violently.
Previously, he had not understood why his opponent, knowing she could not block the power of his sword, had still charged up and then fled.
Now he understood. At this moment, both sides were falling rapidly, just one faster and one slower. Although there was a difference in speed, it was not like before, where the gap was so large it caught one completely off guard.
She had charged up and then descended, intending to use speed to counter his speed.
Though he now understood, his momentum was already irreversible. Under such tremendous impact force, he could not stop instantly. Besides, the distance between them had closed to the point where collision was the only option.
Fortunately, his impact speed and intensity still far exceeded what his opponent could match. His attack remained true and direct, thrusting forward with his sword.
Zhong Ruochen, looking up, neither dodged nor avoided. Although the opponent’s impact speed and power were still enough to pose a fatal threat to her, for her, the current speed difference was sufficient. At least it would not be like before, when he was so fast she could not even see his figure clearly.
Facing the sword momentum roaring toward her, she suddenly struck out, sending a palm chop directly at the sword edge cleaving through the air.
Xiang Zhen thought this woman was overestimating herself, daring to test his sword edge with her bare hand under such circumstances. He scorned her arrogance and kept his attack true.
Who would have thought the palm chopping toward his sword edge would shift slightly, actually scraping along his blade and producing brilliant sparks like fireworks? The friction was clearly intense.
Seeing the sword edge could not penetrate her hand, Xiang Zhen was greatly shocked. Only then did he realize she wore gloves of extreme hardness.
She used her hand to control the sword, forcing the blade away from her body, and showed signs of grabbing the sword hilt in reverse.
Though Xiang Zhen had been caught off guard, how could he let her succeed? He hurriedly twisted his sword to evade, but saw her hands instantly whip out countless palm shadows covering him. His charge was too fierce, and his body could not react with sufficient agility in that instant. He had no choice but to bring his sword back to slash.
Amidst clanging sounds, clusters of sparks burst forth several times. In the blink of an eye, the sword edge was caught between Zhong Ruochen’s five fingers.
“Pfft!” Xiang Zhen spat out a mouthful of blood.
Her hand speed was too fast. Combined with catching him off guard, and him not having fully released the impact force from bursting through the “phoenix,” he had taken several solid palm strikes in succession. His entire body was sent tumbling sideways, completely changing his falling direction, while his sword was now gripped in Zhong Ruochen’s iron hand.
The two had already crossed paths.
It sounded like a long description, but the exchange had happened extremely fast, almost in the span of two blinks.
The moment that truly decides victory or defeat often lies in a single instant.
The spectators below did not know what had happened. They only saw the two figures swallowed by the exploding dust quickly rush out again.
“Huh?”
“What happened?”
A wave of exclamations rose from the crowd below, including contestants under the stage pointing at the sky.
Those with some discernment could tell that Xiang Zhen in mid-air seemed to have lost control of his flight, and they realized something had gone wrong.
Though he had been sent flying sideways, Xiang Zhen’s falling speed had not decreased much. Having taken several solid palm strikes from Zhong Ruochen, he was now severely injured. His internal cultivation was not flowing smoothly, and he watched helplessly as he plummeted toward the earth. Not wanting to be smashed to death, his survival instinct drove him to desperately channel his arts, creating resistance around his body to slow his descent.
But his impact force was simply too great. His speed decreased only slightly, though it was gradually slowing bit by bit.
However, when nearing the ground, it was still somewhat too fast for his current physical condition.
Thud! He still crashed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. Another mouthful of blood gushed from his lips, and his vision blurred as he shook his head.
Once his sight cleared slightly, he turned his head and saw a skirt hem and shoe tips land beside him. He braced himself on the ground with both arms, struggling to rise.
Zhong Ruochen looked down at him with contempt, stepping on his back and forcing him back to the ground, pinning him firmly beneath her foot.
Xiang Zhen refused to accept such humiliation and tried desperately to struggle. The next moment, an icy cold sword edge pressed against his temple, completely subduing him.
The sword was his own, but now it had changed hands, gripped by Zhong Ruochen.
A masked woman descending from the heavens, wearing metal gloves, wielding a great sword, stepping on her opponent. This scene left the venue strangely silent.
Having subdued her opponent, Zhong Ruochen looked down at the man beneath her foot and said, “You have lost!”
With his face pressed against the ground, Xiang Zhen knew resistance was futile. He caught his breath, seemingly accepting defeat.
Wen Ruowei, watching from the side of the arena, was the first to break the silence, waving her fists excitedly like a crab and shouting loudly, “Excellent! Beautiful! You are the most beautiful!”
The spectator stands instantly erupted like a boiling cauldron, buzzing with discussion. Previously, they had clearly seen Xiang Zhen holding the upper hand. They never expected him to be defeated in the blink of an eye. The speed of this reversal was so fast that people could not figure out how the transition had happened, nor what exactly had occurred.
Kui Kui below the stage rubbed his chin, his face full of bewilderment. “With such tremendous attack power, how could this woman actually defeat him? How did she do it?”
Long Xingyun looked as if he had anticipated this all along. He glanced at Kui Kui and offered two words, “Stupid oaf.”
Kui Kui stared at him and asked, “Brain got flattened, has it?”
In the VIP seats, Yan Yi and Li Chenghu exchanged a glance at the result in the arena, offering no comment.
However, Li Chenghu raised his hand and beckoned. A王府管事人员 (princely estate steward) quickly arrived beside him and bent down to await orders. “Your Highness.”
Li Chenghu said, “Go investigate this Xiang Zhen’s background. If suitable, see if he is willing to serve in my army.”
“Yes.” The steward acknowledged.
Xiang Lanxuan, standing nearby, smiled and spoke up at this moment. “Your Highness, perhaps he would prefer to come to the Daye Bureau instead?”
She represented the Daye Bureau here and naturally bore the responsibility of selecting talent for them.
Regardless of which faction, generational turnover was always the norm. Good talent was welcomed by all sides. Though this Xiang Zhen had been defeated under Zhong Ruochen’s foot, he had already drawn interest from various quarters.
Yan Yi glanced coldly at her. Seeing that she was representing the Daye Bureau in stating her position, she said nothing.
Li Chenghu made an “oh” sound and laughed heartily. “Then it depends on his wishes. Let us see which side he prefers to join.”
Xiang Lanxuan nodded slightly. “Your Highness speaks truly.”
After a round of timing drumbeats rumbled for a moment and ceased, seeing that Xiang Zhen still could not turn over, Qin Fujun on the main stage channeled his voice and announced loudly, “Shang Yue is victorious and gains the opportunity to challenge the reigning champion, Zhang Zhichen.”
Hearing this, Wen Ruowei waved her arms vigorously in celebration by the arena.
Zhong Ruochen also moved the sword edge away, lifted her foot from Xiang Zhen’s back, and with a swish, planted the sword in the ground beside him.
Several Kunling Mountain disciples rushed over and carried away Xiang Zhen, whose face was covered in blood and dust, for treatment. They also took his sword with them.
The dust that had exploded in mid-air was blown everywhere by the wind, leaving the sky a murky grey at this moment. Yet no one in the venue left. They all stood there foolishly eating dust, at most covering their mouths with their sleeves and hands.
Wen Xin and Xiao Hong in the stands were doing exactly this. Both stared intently at Zhong Ruochen walking toward the main stage. They knew this woman was about to fight Yu Qing, and to the two of them, she was like an immortal who could fly through the heavens and burrow through the earth.
Wen Ruowei could not quite feel happy anymore either. She watched with worry in her eyes, knowing that probably no one could stop her sister from issuing this challenge to her brother-in-law. Her sister had endured too much grievance over the years. Perhaps only on her brother-in-law could she vent it. Any other man could not give her sister the satisfaction she sought.
Venting a bit was not a problem. What she feared was that her sister might, in a fit of anger, take the opportunity to kill her brother-in-law. She did not know whether her previous persuasion had been effective.
“Ah!” She had lost count of how many times she had sighed over this.
Yu Qing watched the woman who had just stepped on Xiang Zhen walk toward him, and his heart also felt a bit numb. Xiang Zhen’s attack power was terrifying just to look at, yet this woman had withstood it and defeated him. This made him feel very uncertain.
The confidence he had when jumping out to hang that sign suddenly felt hollow.
His gaze subconsciously glanced toward where Wen Xin sat in the stands. The first thing he had done upon arriving today was locate where Wen Xin was sitting.
If he were to be beaten into something like a dog by Shang Yue in public, how could he hold his head up?
Zhong Ruochen walked to the foot of the stage and said to Qin Fujun on the platform, “May I challenge him now?”
Her gaze shifted slightly, and she waved her hand to point without hesitation at Yu Qing.
The corner of Long Xingyun’s mouth twisted into a grin of secret delight. He opened his folding fan and slowly fanned himself, his posture of slowly watching the spectacle abundantly clear.
Qin Fujun turned back to look and saw fellow disciples removing Xiang Zhen’s nameplate from the backdrop. Turning back with a smile, she said, “Of course.” She then asked Yu Qing, “Zhang Zhichen, are you willing to accept Shang Yue’s challenge now?”
Yu Qing replied, “I do not mind, but need it be so urgent?”
Qin Fujun asked, “Then when would you like?”
Yu Qing glanced at the blood on Zhong Ruochen’s arm. “Let her heal her injuries first. There is no need for wheel battles. I do not bully women.”
“You do not bully women?” Zhong Ruochen rarely responded to his words, as if she had heard the greatest joke in the world. She let out two cold snorts of laughter. “It is fine. This injury is nothing.”