Chapter 18

There were three ways to determine victory or defeat in the tournament: the opponent voluntarily admitted defeat, the opponent was thrown out of the arena, or the opponent was unconscious.

If both individuals simultaneously met any of these conditions, it was considered a draw, and both would advance to the next round of matches.

At this moment, the training ground was filled with groans; large swaths of disciples were sprawled on the ground.

In the spectator seats, Xue Meiniang’s smile remained unchanged: “Oh my, Liuli, that child, is really so careless.”

Ye Zhenzhen’s grandfather, Ye Canghai, gave a cold snort and said nothing.

Liuli stood on the arena, and after a long while, trembled. Hearing the judge announce her victory, she happily walked toward the unconscious Ye Zhenzhen.

Each step made her tremble; the numbing sensation from the electric shock hadn’t completely faded. Liuli’s body was stiff, almost walking with same-side limbs, as she arrived beside Ye Zhenzhen.

She fed Ye Zhenzhen a medicinal pill and handed her over to her little followers.

Having done all this, Liuli withdrew from the stage, yielding the arena to the next round of competitors.

…

The day’s matches ended. Liuli sat cross-legged in a corner of the training ground, circulating her qi to repair her bodily injuries. Seeing the Elder delegation descending from the spectator seats, she eagerly trotted off after Feng Xiwu.

Feng Xiwu walked extremely fast, disappearing in the blink of an eye. Liuli was not discouraged; she used both hands and feet, panting as she climbed up Parasol Tree Mountain.

“Perfected One Feng!”

Parasol Tree Mountain was full of parasol trees. It was the season when parasol tree flowers bloomed; small, light purple, squid-like flowers covered the ground. Liuli followed the mountain path, climbing to Feng Xiwu’s courtyard, her body covered in pollen and the scent of parasol tree flowers.

Without any hesitation, she knocked on the door of Feng Xiwu’s courtyard.

She knocked for a long time, but no one answered.

Liuli was dumbfounded. Could it be that she wasn’t satisfied with her performance on the stage?

Thinking back, Liuli was certain she had performed with great wit, bravery, calmness, and decisiveness! Why would Feng Xiwu be dissatisfied with her? That’s impossible! There’s no reason!

“Perfected One Feng, Perfected One, come out, open the door ahhhhh—”

Clang clang clang, Liuli frantically knocked on the wooden door. Feng Xiwu must have fallen asleep, that’s why she didn’t come out to open the door in time!

Just as Liuli persisted, her hands red from slapping, a slightly puzzled voice came from behind her: “What are you doing?”

Liuli froze. When she turned around, the anxiety on her face had completely transformed into joy.

“Perfected One—”

She opened her arms and rushed toward Feng Xiwu with exuberant passion. Halfway through her charge, her stiff muscles suddenly convulsed. Liuli straightened up and fell toward the ground.

“…”

This time she didn’t fall. Feng Xiwu gently raised a hand and caught her.

“Why not go back to recuperate?”

In the dim night, sparse moonlight pierced through the lush branches and leaves of the parasol trees, falling onto the earth in scattered fragments, also falling onto Feng Xiwu’s cheeks, which were as white as moonlight. The moonlight draped her in a hazy, gorgeous, thin veil. Her eyes, as profound as the dark night, were quietly watching Liuli.

Liuli was speechless for a moment. After catching her breath, she lay back in mid-air on Feng Xiwu’s palm and said: “I won. I wanted to share it with Perfected One.”

“I saw it.” Feng Xiwu said gently.

“…” Liuli stammered, “You didn’t come to watch before.”

“I was occupied at the time.”

Liuli’s body shook. She suddenly felt this conversation was not quite right. The cultivation world had strict social hierarchies. How could she speak to Feng Xiwu like this? How could she use a complaining tone towards a Nascent Soul Perfected One?

The next second, Liuli found the answer: it was all because Feng Xiwu was too gentle.

Liuli started acting spoiled with a clear conscience again: “What does Perfected One think of my performance today?”

Feng Xiwu: “…”

She couldn’t answer this.

Liuli half-lay in the air, comfortably flipping over. Her aching muscles relaxed. She let out a long breath, so comfortable she could almost fall asleep.

Her clothes were still torn, bearing the marks of Ye Zhenzhen’s attacks.

Feng Xiwu gently waved her hand, and Liuli stood steady.

“You used a risky tactic. If there had been a slight mistake, you would have been severely injured.” Feng Xiwu thought back, trying her best to avoid the parts that were hard to say, and said, “Inexperienced and reckless of consequences, sooner or later you will suffer a great loss.”

Liuli smiled slyly: “Perfected One is absolutely right. This disciple deeply realizes her own shortcomings. Coming here today, I actually wanted to ask Perfected One to help me improve my combat experience.”

Feng Xiwu, however, was not someone to be manipulated by her. The wind blew a purple parasol flower onto Liuli’s head. She smiled, removed the parasol flower, tossed it back into the wind, and said to Liuli:

“You should heal your body first.”

In the next moment, Feng Xiwu disappeared.

Liuli puffed her cheeks, staring at the tightly shut wooden door. She leaned on the railing to look inside. A room was lit with an orange glow—the meditation room.

After weighing her options internally, Liuli quietly left.

She wanted a good night’s sleep more today.

…

For every subsequent match, Liuli watched from up close, especially when there was a disciple with a water spiritual root among the competitors.

By this stage of the sect tournament, it was no longer like the beginning, with several arenas simultaneously hosting matches. At the current level, the events on the arena were becoming increasingly exciting, so only one arena was opened at a time, allowing other disciples to properly appreciate and observe.

Because she was so close, Liuli compared her own techniques against the overflowing moves under the arena almost every day. Coupled with observing the exchanges of moves when others fought, Liuli grew more confident in herself.

Until it was her turn to step onto the stage again.

Unfortunately, her opponent was a middle-aged Senior Brother at the eighth level of Foundation Establishment. His cultivation was higher, his experience richer, and his thick-skinned demeanor was no less than hers.

Liuli was beaten all the way, coughing blood, her mind dazed, doubting her very existence.

The middle-aged Senior Brother was actually almost two hundred years old. Unlike those younger disciples, although he appreciated beauty, in the face of profit, beauty was but fleeting clouds to him.

Thus, he showed no mercy to Xue Liuli.

Liuli vomited a mouthful of blood while floating in mid-air, panting as she looked at her opponent.

The middle-aged Senior Brother wore a confident smile and advised: “Junior Sister, you won’t be able to endure it if this continues. Admit defeat.”

Liuli shook her head: “I won’t admit defeat. I must win.”

The middle-aged Senior Brother raised his hand, and a swarm of steel needles flew out, surrounding Liuli entirely, as if to turn her into a hedgehog.

Xue Liuli was, after all, the Sect Leader’s daughter. Although he didn’t show tenderness to beauty, he also didn’t want to offend her too much, so he added: “Junior Sister, why torture yourself?”

Liuli pursed her lips and silently looked toward the spectator seats.

Today, Feng Xiwu was also present.

She had already used two of her three talismans. Under the crush of a higher realm, Liuli felt an incredibly heavy pressure.

“Senior Brother.” Liuli looked sincerely at the middle-aged Senior Brother and said, “I still have my trump card unused.”

“Oh, you mean your Thunderstorm Talisman.” Mentioning this, he felt a bit sour.

Some people were just born lucky, destined for a smooth life from birth. A Thunderstorm Talisman of that level was easily obtainable for them, while he had to exhaust all his strength just to get one Earth-grade mid-grade talisman.

But it was a pity: if one’s inherent strength was insufficient, no amount of auxiliary means would help.

The middle-aged Senior Brother laughed: “Junior Sister’s Thunderstorm Talisman does cause me some distress, but that’s all.”

“…”

Liuli was silent for a moment. Rather than waiting to die, she waved her hand, and a raging torrent of water attacked her opponent.

The steel needles surrounding her also rushed toward Liuli at the same moment!

Liuli instantly showed a look of horror, flying around in panic like a headless fly. She set up layers of water walls around herself, but they couldn’t block those steel needles.

The needles, surrounding her from all directions, blocked Liuli’s path. Finally, those terrifyingly long and thick needles pierced into Liuli’s body.

The hedgehog-like Liuli groaned in pain. Stains of mottled blood soaked through her clothing. At the same moment, all the techniques she had cast collapsed, turning into uncontrollable water droplets splattering all over the ground.

Voices of protest rose from the surrounding disciples. What kind of perverse technique was this? It looked excruciatingly painful! Didn’t this old Senior Brother know how to show a little tenderness to a beauty!

Liuli fell onto the arena, her knees hitting the ground with a loud “thud”.

She slowly bent over, supporting herself on the ground with both hands, her body trembling slightly.

The middle-aged Senior Brother, wary of her remaining Thunderstorm Talisman, dared not approach. He said from afar: “Junior Sister, don’t force yourself. Admit defeat.”

Liuli raised a pale face. Suddenly, a strange smile appeared: “Senior Brother, it’s you who should admit defeat.”