“It’s over…”
“Ruyi is going to win.”
Watching Pei Ruyi’s sword shatter the Profound Yellow Mountain-Suppressing Art, Hua Sheng muttered quietly.
“No way, Senior Sister Ye’s condition still looks very good. It’s Senior Sister Pei who seems weak, as if she could collapse at any moment.”
Tao Xiaoxian, ranked third among the Inner Disciples of Heavenly Sword Peak, blinked her eyes. No matter how she looked at it, Pei Ruyi was the one about to lose.
“I sensed the aura of encrypted True Qi earlier. The two of them must have made some sort of deal.”
Tao Xiaoxian watched the two on the arena with keen interest. No matter who won or lost, she felt it would be very entertaining.
Although her cultivation ranked only third among Heavenly Sword Peak’s Inner Disciples, she had entered the sect three years later than both Hua Sheng and Pei Ruyi.
A Void Comprehension Stage Elder on Heavenly Sword Peak had long taken notice of her talent. The moment she broke through to the Nascent Soul Stage, she would be accepted as a Direct Disciple of that Elder.
She was an unadulterated thrill-seeker. Compared to dull, tedious cultivation, her Senior Sisters’ emotional entanglements excited her far more.
“I have a feeling, if Senior Sister Ye wins, not only will Senior Sister Pei be affected, but even the Senior Sister might get dragged into it.”
“Hehe, I really hope Senior Sister Ye wins…”
Seeing the gradually perverse grin on Tao Xiaoxian’s face, Hua Sheng’s expression became increasingly speechless.
“You little…”
Ignoring Tao Xiaoxian’s traitorous, entertainment-driven remarks hoping for Pei Ruyi’s loss, he explained:
“An Arrayist’s greatest reliance is their arrays. Without array amplification, an Arrayist is just a big, hollow sandbag with Mental Energy and True Qi.”
“Junior Sister, you haven’t fought many Arrayists, so you don’t understand their combat methods.”
“In an arena match, an Arrayist usually first sets up a Spirit-Gathering Array, then stalls the opponent’s True Qi using defensive arrays and trapping arrays.”
“If the Array Cultivator’s arrays can’t be broken through before the opponent exhausts their True Qi, they lose from exhaustion. Otherwise, they win.”
Hua Sheng pointed at Ye Luqing on the arena and continued:
“Senior Sister Ye’s triple-array assault looked immensely powerful, but now that it’s been blocked, she doesn’t have much of a follow-up.”
“But Ruyi still has strength left to fight. Next, it’s likely to become a one-sided battle…”
Tao Xiaoxian nodded as if she understood. Although she wasn’t interested in all this fighting and killing, she had some understanding of the power spikes in battles between different cultivator types.
“Do your best, Senior Sister Ye.”
“I still want to eat Osmanthus Cake with everyone…”
Just as the two were conversing, another change occurred on the arena.
Just as Hua Sheng had predicted, the seemingly better-conditioned Ye Luqing was now being chased and slashed at, fleeing in all directions. Instead, it was the nearly exhausted Pei Ruyi pursuing and striking Ye Luqing.
Within a few breaths, Ye Luqing had been struck three times. The array glows on her body gradually dimmed, and her expression grew increasingly grim.
Before she could complete condensing an effective array, Pei Ruyi, at the Nascent Soul Stage, would precisely find an opening.
The powerful Mental Energy and keen Sword Heart Eye of the Nascent Soul Stage made Sword Cultivators of the same realm extremely effective counters to Array Cultivators.
Seeing Ye Luqing’s increasingly serious expression, the Azure Sky Peak disciples below began to worry.
“Senior Sister Ye’s array construction speed is already fast enough, but Pei Ruyi’s sword is even faster.”
“If even this won’t work, then I’m afraid she’ll lose to Pei Ruyi.”
“What defeatist talk is that? Senior Sister Ye is still holding on…”
Though their mouths said so, the refuting Array Cultivator disciples had no confidence inside.
As Array Cultivators, they understood their own weaknesses best. In this situation, there was practically no hope of turning the tables.
To construct complex arrays, the most basic condition was to form an Array Eye.
The crucial Array Eye also required high-grade True Qi to drive it.
Right now, Ye Luqing had no time to condense Profound Yellow True Qi. Slightest distraction, and she would face Pei Ruyi’s tempestuous onslaught.
“This is the first time I’ve seen Senior Sister Ye’s expression this grim,” an Outer Sect Disciple of Azure Sky Peak sighed.
“How many times have you seen Senior Sister Ye before?” another Inner Sect Disciple glanced at him.
“Today’s the first.”
Several times, Ye Luqing attempted to construct arrays, but each time Pei Ruyi interrupted her.
But what truly shook her heart wasn’t the prospect of losing to Pei Ruyi—it was that Profound Yellow Pill.
That thing cost three hundred points. Converted, that’s thirty percent Blackening Value.
“If I don’t use the Profound Yellow Pill, I might really not be Pei Ruyi’s match…”
“I hope the reward Battle Title isn’t too trashy.”
“And when I use her as a chair, I hope Xiao Qingxuan’s Blackening Value spikes!”
Such calculations flashed through her mind. Ye Luqing flung out an array she had been condensing for a long time with her right hand.
Whoosh!
A large area of white mist suddenly rose on the arena. This mist was very peculiar; it seemed to absorb True Qi and couldn’t be dispersed by it.
Marrow Mist Array.
That period earlier, Ye Luqing hadn’t just been taking hits. She had been constructing this Profound-Tier array.
She swiftly retreated backward and used this brief respite to swallow the Profound Yellow Pill.
The Profound-Tier Marrow Mist Array could temporarily obstruct Pei Ruyi at the Nascent Soul Stage, but to defeat her opponent, she absolutely had to rely on her sole offensive array.
The pill entered her stomach. Howling Profound Yellow True Qi surged like a mudslide through Ye Luqing’s meridians.
The heavy Profound Yellow True Qi dyed Ye Luqing a brownish-yellow hue. In that moment, she seemed the very embodiment of Profound Yellow True Qi.
However, before Ye Luqing could even savor the sensation, she felt a sharp pain in her brow and immediately rolled to the side to dodge.
In the next instant, a fierce streak of Sword Qi flashed past.
The Marrow Mist Array’s restriction on Nascent Soul cultivators was limited. After condensing the Primordial Spirit, Pei Ruyi’s reliance on True Qi had greatly diminished.
Even if True Qi failed, her soul power could quickly pinpoint Ye Luqing’s location.
“Found you!”
Pei Ruyi shattered the Array Eye with a single sword strike. The vast white mist instantly dissipated.
“Found me? Saves me the trouble of finding you.” Ye Luqing thought to herself.
She charged forward, directly meeting Pei Ruyi’s sword. The watching Azure Sky Peak disciples below felt their hearts seize.
“Danger! Senior Sister Ye, dodge quickly!”
“Right, Pei Ruyi’s stamina is running low too. Evade first!”
“Evade her edge for now, there will be chances later!”
Hearing this, a slight curve appeared on Ye Luqing’s lips.
“I should evade her edge?”
When she lacked Profound Yellow True Qi, she didn’t complain about Pei Ruyi chasing and beating her. Now that she had high-grade True Qi, she was going to show Pei Ruyi who was boss!
Seeing Ye Luqing charging toward her, Pei Ruyi instinctively sensed a hint of danger.
But she had no intention of retreating. The way of the Sword Cultivator was to press forward indomitably. Even if shattered to pieces, she would return to Senior Sister Xiao’s side.
“Ye Luqing, take my sword!”
Profound-Tier Superior technique, Sword Dao: Supporting Heaven.
A colossal white sword condensed from tens of thousands of Sword Qi strands descended fiercely, as if intending to cleave the entire arena in two.
“Right on time!”
Ten strands of Profound Yellow True Qi poured into the array runes she had long prepared with soul power. The Profound Yellow Mountain-Suppressing Art activated instantly.
A heavy golden bell of Earthly Sha Force collided violently with the gigantic Supporting Heaven sword. The area dozens of zhang around the arena began to shake violently.
The massive shockwave instantly blew away the disciples surrounding the arena. Only Golden Core Stage cultivators could barely manage to stay on their feet.
Ye Luqing’s cyan hair flew wildly in the wind, her amber eyes glinting with golden light.
Her slender jade fingers seemed to pull the weight of ten thousand jun. A fierce downward slash, like an earth goddess pronouncing fate.
“Suppress!”
The surging Earthly Sha Force brutally ground the Sword Qi of the Supporting Heaven sword into fragments, scattering them onto the ground as deep sword scars etched into the earth.
Pei Ruyi herself was directly blasted away by the Earthly Sha Force. Not only did she fly out of the arena, she even lost consciousness instantly.
Thus, the victor was decided.
