Chapter 13: Challenging One’s Own Limits |
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was already the fifth day of the next month.
The martial competition grounds on the main peak had long since been prepared. Several spacious and sturdy arenas had risen from the ground, each covered above by a semi-transparent protective barrier.
Around the arenas, the spectator seats were arranged in neat rows, and the place was already bustling and lively everywhere. Outer sect disciples, inner sect disciples, elite disciples, and even some elders who normally lived in seclusion had all gathered here.
Lingyun Sect’s annual small competition had officially begun.
Lu Fengmian stood on the high platform beside the main arena. He was today’s coordinator and host, and needed to monitor the entire venue at all times, ensuring that the matches remained fair and orderly while handling any sudden incidents in time.
【Mission issued: Please ensure the sect’s small competition proceeds smoothly.】
“All referees, take your positions! The matches begin!” Elder Lin’s resonant voice rang throughout the entire venue.
In an instant, spiritual light flashed across several arenas. The disciples all gave it their all, either to test their own strength or to fight for a place in the elite rankings.
Lu Fengmian’s gaze swiftly locked onto Arena Number Three.
It was Junior Sister Yun Heng.
Today, she was still dressed in plain fitted clothing, her long hair tied high, revealing her cold and severe face. Merely standing there, it was as if an invisible chill shrouded the space within three chi of her, making even the air around the arena feel slightly sluggish.
“Match eleven, Junior Sister Yun Heng wins!” the referee loudly announced.
On the stage, Junior Sister Yun Heng’s opponent, an inner sect disciple at the mid Foundation Establishment stage, clutched at the collar that had been sliced open by sword qi. His face was pale, and with lingering fear, he surrendered.
If Junior Sister Yun Heng had not shifted the point of her sword by half an inch at the last moment, the damage caused would have been far more than merely tearing open a robe.
Junior Sister Yun Heng expressionlessly sheathed her sword, nodded to the referee, and leaped down from the arena. Her gaze unconsciously swept toward the high platform, just in time to meet the look Lu Fengmian was directing at her.
Lu Fengmian gave her an encouraging smile and nodded lightly.
Junior Sister Yun Heng’s icy face seemed to be brushed by a spring breeze, instantly softening. A glimmer flashed through her eyes, but she immediately lowered them and turned to leave the arena.
Only her straight back and light footsteps betrayed the joy in her heart.
“This girl is unusually fierce today,” Lu Fengmian thought as he watched Junior Sister Yun Heng’s departing figure, and he immediately felt somewhat relieved. “Hopefully she knows when to stop and won’t really injure the other disciples.”
However, judging from her control just now, it was much finer than before. It seemed that Cold Pool Pearl had indeed been useful.
On the high platform, several peak masters and elders watching the matches were also discussing the competition in low voices.
“That girl from Luo Xia Peak called Yun Heng has a rather vicious sword style. It does not look like Qingyuan Swordsmanship, but rather a path forged by slaughter on a battlefield,” Peak Master Leng of Wanren Peak commented.
“I heard that this girl had a tragic background and was an orphan from a destroyed family whom Lingxuan took in three years ago,” Elder Lin said as he stroked his beard. “For her temperament to be this tenacious, and for her killing intent to be slightly heavier, is understandable. Also, did you notice?”
“Hm?” Elder Wu of Duanxing Peak turned his head.
A sharp gleam flashed through Elder Lin’s eyes. “When this girl swings her sword, sword qi actually gathers around her body of its own accord, accompanied by a faint sword hum. Although it has not fully taken shape yet, this is clearly a sign of an Innate Sword Bone!”
“Innate Sword Bone?!” The elders were all shocked upon hearing this, and once again carefully looked toward Junior Sister Yun Heng, who was sitting below the platform with her eyes closed, regulating her breathing.
“There is no doubt,” Peak Master Leng confirmed. He specialized in the sword path and was the most sensitive to such things. “Although the sword bone seems hidden and unmanifested, and may even have suffered slight damage due to her early experiences, that inborn affinity with the sword cannot be faked. Given time, if it can be repaired and nourished, her future will be limitless.”
“Hiss—” The elder of Baicao Peak sucked in a breath of cold air. “First there was Lu Fengmian, who reached the Golden Core realm in three years, and now there is Junior Sister Yun Heng, with an Innate Sword Bone? That Lingxuan… could it be that the reason he did not take disciples all these years was not laziness, but because he was waiting for these peerless geniuses to deliver themselves to his door?”
“This luck is far too heaven-defying, isn’t it?” the representative from Tianyan Peak shook his head and sighed. “Why can’t I receive disciples like this?”
The elders looked at each other and smiled bitterly, feeling both envy and speechlessness toward that sect master who was absent all year round.
This eye for talent, this luck—it simply could not be explained by reason!
After a short rest, Junior Sister Yun Heng stepped onto the arena once more. Like a tireless sharp sword, she won one match after another.
Among those she defeated were not a few highly skilled inner sect members at the late Foundation Establishment stage, yet before her fierce and decisive swordsmanship, not one of them could hold out for more than thirty moves.
“Disciple Yun Heng challenges Senior Brother Zhao Mang, ranked 273rd in the elite rankings.” Her voice spread across Arena Number Three.
The scene immediately erupted into noise.
“Junior Sister Yun Heng is going to challenge someone a whole minor realm above her? And the one she’s challenging is Senior Brother Zhao, who is famous for his defense?”
“Senior Brother Zhao’s ‘Thick Earth Art’ has already reached the third level. Even someone at the late Foundation Establishment stage would find it hard to break through his defense!”
“Junior Sister Yun Heng’s swordsmanship is exquisite, but her cultivation is a stage lower. Her spiritual power probably won’t be enough to support an attack that breaks his defense…”
Zhao Mang was a broadly built man with an honest-looking face. Hearing this, he leaped onto the arena and cupped his fists toward Junior Sister Yun Heng. “Junior Sister Yun Heng, please instruct me.”
His expression was grave, and he clearly did not underestimate her merely because her cultivation was below his. He had seen her fight before, and that fierce sword intent had made him wary.
“Please.” Junior Sister Yun Heng’s longsword left its sheath, and a wave of cold instantly spread through the surroundings.
At the referee’s command, the match began!
Zhao Mang let out a low roar, and earthy yellow light surged around his body, as though he were wrapped in a layer of rock armor, his aura heavy as a mountain. He assumed a defensive stance, both fists protecting his vital points, intending to wait until she was exhausted and had depleted her spiritual power.
Junior Sister Yun Heng moved.
She did not probe him at all. The longsword in her hand turned into a streak of cold light and thrust straight at Zhao Mang’s chest and abdomen!
The sword was unbelievably fast and razor-sharp, as though it could pierce through anything.
Zhao Mang did not dare meet it head-on. While sidestepping to evade it, he threw a punch, the earthy yellow fist qi thick and solid.
Junior Sister Yun Heng’s sword qi did not change in the slightest. Her wrist gave a small flick, and the tip of the sword traced a strange arc, sliding along the edge of the fist qi and slashing toward Zhao Mang’s wrist!
Zhao Mang was startled and hastily withdrew his hand, his other fist following right after. The two exchanged blows in an instant.
Junior Sister Yun Heng’s swordsmanship brought “fast, fierce, precise” to the absolute limit. She did not clash head-on with Zhao Mang, but instead relied on her astonishing movement technique and sword speed to circle around him continuously, searching for flaws in his defense.
The icy sword qi ceaselessly eroded the earthy yellow spiritual light on Zhao Mang’s body, causing him to feel his spiritual power circulation slowing down.
The longer Zhao Mang fought, the more alarmed he became. His proud defensive strength appeared somewhat clumsy before that omnipresent, chillingly sharp sword edge.
Her spiritual power was clearly not as deep as his, but her sword intent’s cohesion and her grasp of timing far surpassed that of an ordinary mid Foundation Establishment disciple.
“Junior Sister Yun Heng’s comprehension of the sword path and her martial skill are truly astonishing,” a nearby steward could not help saying in a low voice with admiration. “To actually force Zhao Mang into such a sorry state with mid Foundation Establishment cultivation is genuinely rare.”
Lu Fengmian did not speak, merely nodded, but inwardly he was thinking: Hopefully Zhao Mang’s skin is thick enough to endure this…
On the arena, the battle had already entered its most intense stage.
After defending bitterly for a long time, Zhao Mang finally found an opportunity. He roared in anger, and dazzling yellow light burst from his entire body. He struck with both fists together, and a solid fist seal crashed toward Junior Sister Yun Heng like a mountain, heavy and powerful, sealing off all her room to dodge!