Down below, Ying Qianqian clenched her palms, unable to help feeling nervous for Ye Luqing.
She knew that Senior Sister Ye’s strength certainly wouldn’t stop here, but the predicament before her eyes was worrisome.
If it were her, there might already be no hope of breaking the deadlock.
Furthermore, more and more people around her began to discuss Ye Luqing’s sorry state.
“That’s the tenth time she’s drawn on the Earthly Sha Force and failed. Can’t she switch to a different attack method?”
“Azure Sky Peak’s Direct Disciple can’t even beat a Myriad Arts Peak Inner Disciple? This is a bit…”
“Combat strength of Array Cultivators and Spell Cultivators isn’t even on the same level to begin with. Plus she’s being specifically countered.”
“But even if countered, she’s still a Direct Disciple. Looks like that battle where she defeated Pei Ruyi of Heavenly Sword Peak was overhyped.”
Ever since Ye Luqing had defeated a Nascent Soul Sword Cultivator with the power of a Golden Core Array Cultivator, she had gained some small reputation.
Not to mention that in today’s first match, Pei Ruyi had defeated a Nascent Soul True Disciple from Scripture Peak in three breaths, making everyone even more curious about Ye Luqing’s strength.
Now, seeing her suppressed like this by a mere Inner Disciple at the Golden Core Stage, they all felt Ye Luqing was overrated.
Even the elders on the high platform were somewhat disappointed. After all, the day before yesterday, Ming Mengmeng, a Dao Venerable, had specifically taken notice of her. They were quite interested in this Ye Luqing, but her current performance was mediocre.
Some elders sneaked glances at Ming Mengmeng, who had come specifically to watch the tournament, wondering if this Dao Venerable would feel disappointed.
To their surprise, Ming Mengmeng herself was watching the battle below with great interest.
They were somewhat baffled. Following Ming Mengmeng’s gaze downward, they saw Ye Luqing’s Profound Yellow Mountain-Suppressing Art being suppressed every time she used it by the Heavenly Dipper Formation. She was even chased into rolling on the ground, her azure Formation Robe becoming tattered and worn.
What was there to see in this?
But the next moment, Ming Mengmeng let out a light snort.
“This little imp, quite patient, isn’t she…”
“?”
The crowd was puzzled. The several elders nearby exchanged glances, none understanding what this Sect Master of Illusion God Sect was saying.
However, the very next instant, the situation on the arena shifted dramatically.
“Now!”
Cheng Han shouted lowly, pressing her spell seal hard towards the ground. The blue Heavenly Dipper Formation Runes suddenly contracted inward, as if trying to completely lock down Ye Luqing’s True Qi.
But the next second, she saw Ye Luqing suddenly withdraw her Profound Yellow True Qi. The speed of her hands forming seals was alarmingly fast. The suppressed aura instantly burst forth.
Pale azure Array Runes surged from her palms. They were seventy percent similar to the blue runes of the Heavenly Dipper Seal, only carrying an added layer of gentle Water-Wood True Qi.
“Junior Sister Cheng, thank you for demonstrating the variations of the Heavenly Dipper Formation so clearly,” Ye Luqing said with a slight smile.
Cheng Han was, after all, not a true Array Cultivator and couldn’t unleash the full power of the Heavenly Dipper Seal.
Most importantly, when Cheng Han activated the Formation Spell, she directly exposed the array diagram of the Heavenly Dipper Seal.
Cheng Han’s face instantly changed color. “Y-You secretly learned my Formation Spell?”
“Hey now,” Ye Luqing wagged her finger. “Junior Sister Cheng, what are you saying?”
“What do you mean, your Formation Spell? It clearly came with the artifact.”
“Just because you can use it, it’s yours?”
If it were truly Cheng Han’s own Formation Spell, she would have definitely added disguises within the Array Runes, instead of displaying it so nakedly as she had.
Ye Luqing flipped a single hand. The Heavenly Dipper Formation, condensed from Water-Wood True Qi, counter-charged into Cheng Han’s spell array.
Cheng Han immediately felt a momentary loss of control over the Heavenly Dipper Seal. In the next instant, a heaven-obscuring Earthly Sha Force came crushing down on her, as if she were about to be ground to pieces.
Cheng Han’s small face turned deathly pale. She hurriedly recalled the Heavenly Dipper Seal and raised both hands in surrender.
“I concede!”
Hearing this, Ye Luqing nodded satisfactorily. The Earthly Sha Force instantly vanished without a trace, transforming back into Profound Yellow True Qi and returning to her Dantian.
Only then did the elders on the high platform realize that Ye Luqing hadn’t just been enduring hits; she had been learning the Spell Array inscribed in the Heavenly Dipper Seal.
A Profound-Tier Superior Formation Spell, and she learned it after just watching a dozen times?
Even those who weren’t Array Cultivators understood the value of such talent.
“This… can it be considered stealing a technique?” an elder from Myriad Arts Peak frowned slightly.
“Heh, an Array Cultivator stealing a technique from a Spell Cultivator?” another elder remarked, immediately drawing low chuckles from those around.
Stealing techniques was condemned because it was done furtively and with ill intent. But Ye Luqing had learned it openly, then used it openly and righteously. This could only mean that Cheng Han’s skills were insufficient; her technique was deciphered and countered.
Moreover, the Spell Array Ye Luqing deployed wasn’t a direct copy, but a version she had modified using her Water-Wood True Qi.
Watching Ye Luqing walk off the stage, Ming Mengmeng’s eyes flickered slightly.
“Indeed a quite interesting little imp…”
“But… something seems off.”
She recalled the “Ye Luqing” she had seen within Xiao Qingxuan’s Illusion Realm. Although the appearance and aura were exactly the same, she always felt a sense of anomaly from the current one.
Even accounting for amnesia, there shouldn’t be such a huge discrepancy before and after.
A smile curled at the corner of Ming Mengmeng’s lips. This trip had indeed been worthwhile.
Considering how much Feng Linyi cherished Xiao Qingxuan, her precious disciple, she would surely be very pleased with this piece of information.
A streak of ghostly purple light flashed, and Ming Mengmeng’s figure vanished once again.
On the other side, Xiao Qingxuan also breathed a sigh of relief.
She knew A-Qing wouldn’t fail easily. Since she chose to participate, A-Qing would definitely give it her all.
And although others might not realize it, upon seeing that absorbed, focused look in her eyes, Xiao Qingxuan knew A-Qing was learning Spell Arrays.
A smile unconsciously tugged at the corner of her lips. Her understanding of A-Qing was gradually recovering to the familiarity they once had.
Back at the spectator stands of Azure Sky Peak, the disciples burst into a cheer.
Although Ye Luqing’s battle wasn’t the most visually spectacular, everyone loved a comeback story.
Especially with a combat-weak Array Cultivator against a Spell Cultivator renowned for battle prowess, fighting so brilliantly at the same cultivation stage. It had truly brought honor to Azure Sky Peak.
In previous years’ Singles Matches, Senior Sister Bai He had held up appearances for Azure Sky Peak. But since Senior Sister Bai He broke through to the Spirit Transformation Stage last year, the performance of Azure Sky Peak’s Array Cultivators in the Singles Match had become quite awkward.
Inner Disciples were almost entirely eliminated in the preliminary rounds, leaving only Inner Sect Head Disciple Du Ze to enter the main tournament, where he then stopped at the Top 64.
Amid the cheers, Ying Qianqian offered a handkerchief, her pretty brows slightly furrowed as she looked at Ye Luqing with some heartache.
“Are you alright, Senior Sister Ye?”
She wiped Ye Luqing’s slightly injured face and tended to her damaged azure Formation Robe, yet pointedly avoided touching the Silk Wristguard sent by Xiao Qingxuan.
“Little Ying is worrying too much.”
Ye Luqing smiled slightly. Instinctively, she raised her hand to gently stroke Ying Qianqian’s hair, but felt an extremely obvious gaze from above. She immediately put her hand back behind her.
‘This jealous pot…’
The corner of her mouth twitched imperceptibly. She didn’t need to guess whose gaze that was.
Noticing Ye Luqing’s action, Ying Qianqian seemed to want to say something but ultimately just lowered her head and pursed her lips.
But she quickly composed herself and looked at her with a face full of smiles.
“Senior Sister Ye… good luck in your next match too.”
