Chapter 15: Chapter 15: Two Women in Conflict
Everyone in the arena had different thoughts, but the most surprised were certainly the disciples on the stage.
They had been fighting for a long time, hands sore from the effort, yet Li Xiaobai seemed totally unfazed, still all smiles.
[Defensive Power: Copper Skin, Iron Bone (2300/5000) Can be advanced.]
Not bad at all, these disciples are quite energetic, boosting my defensive power by a whole thousand points.
The frequency of the System Panel's numbers changing was dwindling, and the disciples on stage were getting sore hands from fatigue.
Lin Mang, however, looked ferocious, with bloodshot eyes that relentlessly attacked from all angles, trying to break through the opponent's defense.
With a chuckle, he grasped Lin Mang's sword blade, halting the Sword Qi abruptly, and with a slight squeeze of his fingers, crushed the blade to dust, leaving Lin Mang's eyes nearly popping out in shock.
Flesh harder than a lower grade Spirit Sword, what kind of maneuver is this?
He had thought his opponent was just a minor character he could easily crush, but unexpectedly, he had hit a steel plate and seemed likely to be humiliated this time.
"Sword Shattering the Sky!"
Li Xiaobai drew his sword from his waist, the arena filled with crisscrossing Sword Qi, causing the stage to crack, turning dozens of longswords to dust.
Many disciples were swept off the stage, including Lin Mang.
"This can't be possible!"
"How can you possibly have this kind of strength!"
"Referee, I refuse to accept this, Li Xiaobai must have cheated!"
Lin Mang's face was flushed with shock and anger.
How could the opponent possess such strength, wasn't he just a sneaky character?
"Silence!"
"So many of you ganging up on one person and still getting decimated, what face do you have to face your mentors? Go back and start from the basics, reforge yourselves starting with the foundation!"
The Sect Leader was furious; the performance of the sect's disciples was truly disappointing.
Most crucially, Li Xiaobai's move had just destroyed dozens of longswords, among which were Spiritual Artifacts, which would amount to a significant expense to replace!
The Elders whispered among themselves; nobody expected the always boisterous Li Xiaobai to possess such overwhelming strength, defeating dozens of disciples with a single sword stroke, including the True Disciple Lin Feng, which was truly a slap in the face.
"Defeating all the disciples present with one sword, this is the genius cultivator Li Xiaobai."
Li Xiaobai was not yet out of his state, the arena filled with a compelling presence.
"Well said!"
The disciples of Misty Peak clapped and cheered enthusiastically; this battle had indeed brought great honor to Misty Peak.
Li Xiaobai snapped back to reality and scurried down from the stage in a flash. The atmosphere was different off the stage; there were rules on stage, and he could act however he pleased, but it wasn't the same off stage. If he overplayed his hand down here, he could get chopped to death.
"The competition continues. Next match, let me reiterate, friendship comes first. You are all excellent disciples of the Immortal Feather Sect, winning or losing is not important. What is important is what you can learn from it."
The Sect Leader signaled for the competition to continue.
The previous incidents were just minor interruptions; now, it was time for proper and orderly exchanges between disciples.
"Second match, Misty Peak's Su Yunbing versus Misty Peak's Ye Wushuang!"
The referee announced the start of the match.
It was normal for seven out of the top ten to be Misty Peak disciples, and for fellow sect brothers to be grouped together.
The disciples below watched intently as the two on the stage, with Su Yunbing's fiery red attire making her look spirited and Ye Wushuang in her usual light green dress, embodied a certain detached tranquillity.
The Misty Peak disciples typically defeated their opponents in seconds, hardly revealing the depth of their strength.
Now, it was Misty Peak against Misty Peak, inevitably a fierce battle between dragons and tigers.
Neither of the two women on the stage made a move first.
"Junior Sister, was our last spar three years ago?"
Su Yunbing stared with her eyebrows knit tightly, exuding murderous intent.
"Yes, in the blink of an eye, three years have passed, and Senior Sister has added a few more crow's feet!"
Ye Wushuang covered her face with her hand and laughed lightly, causing the male disciples below the stage to drool.
Su Yunbing blew up immediately, she truly lacked feminine charm, a far cry from the gentle and affectionate Ye Wushuang.
Although she believed her strength to be superior to her opponent's, she always felt like she lost somewhere, which was an unpleasant feeling.
"Sister, your sharp tongue is impressive, but today I will teach you what proper conduct means!"
Amidst the arena, a red flash sparkled, and Su Yunbing instantly appeared behind Ye Wushuang, her palms slamming down fiercely. Before her palms had even reached, the pressure of the attack arrived, causing the platform to crack and break, with stones flying everywhere.
Ye Wushuang took graceful steps, dodging with ease as a series of faint green mists enveloped the entire stage.
This was her cultivation technique, the "Jade Lotus Sutra", which combined healing with poison and killed invisibly with every move.
The Elders quickly drove the disciples away from below the stage, as the poison up there was not ordinary, even a touch could leave an ordinary disciple dead or injured.
The crowd dispersed hastily, avoiding the green smoke as though it were the plague, fearing being caught in its wake. Soon, only seven people from Misty Peak and Feng Wuxie, the top elder brother from the Immortal Feather Sect, remained near the stage.
A wisp of green smoke brushed against Li Xiaobai.
[Attribute Points+100...]
Hiss!
Just a touch from the smoke and his attribute points increased by a hundred. This Second Senior Sister, who always seemed so amiable, was actually so ruthless when she fought.
However, Li Xiaobai didn't feel the slightest discomfort, even wishing he could inhale more.
It seemed that even when his Senior Sister was serious about fighting, he could still hold his own. Once his defensive power advanced again, he suspected his Senior Brothers and Sisters would no longer be able to land a blow on him.
He quietly took a deep breath, trying to inhale more of the green smoke.
Feng Wuxie caught this scene from the corner of his eye, and his lips unconsciously curved upward. The more he knew about Li Xiaobai, the more secrets seemed to spill out from him.
From these small details, one could tell that the treasures on him were extraordinary, able to defend against poison mist. What exactly were they?
No, Li Xiaobai was actively inhaling the poison mist. Could it be that inhaling the poison was somehow beneficial to the body?
Feng Wuxie also took a careful breath and immediately felt a burning sensation in his organs. He quickly circulated spiritual energy to recover from the injury, his anticipation for the treasure in Li Xiaobai's possession growing stronger.
Meanwhile, Li Xiaobai had already cleared the surrounding poison mist.
[Defensive Power: Copper Skin, Iron Bone (3000/5000), can be advanced.]
Just two thousand more to advance. Li Xiaobai was thrilled; his Senior Sister's strike was too powerful, with one inhale increasing one hundred attribute points. He truly wanted to keep on inhaling forever.
On the stage,
The battle between the two women had reached a critical intensity, the powerful presence sweeping across the entire arena. Ye Wushuang's movements were fluid, managing to escape at critical moments, while Su Yunbing went for overpowering brute force, foregoing any fanciness, swinging down her fists hard.
The stage was devastated beyond recognition, both women leaving deep craters with every step, and after a few exchanges, the stage was nearly flattened.
Watching the two on stage exchanging blows, Li Xiaobai was a bit puzzled and poked Liu Jinshui who was beside him.
"Senior Brother, the Senior Sisters are fighting well, but why aren't they using their powerful moves?"
"Hehe, the Senior Sisters are actually engaging in genuine sparring. Their Dao rhymes are subdued, they have abandoned their cultivation techniques and secret techniques, and are confronting each other with their purest cultivation levels. They're identifying their weaknesses and looking for areas to improve!"
"Junior Brother, take a good lesson from this..."