This is the first match of the day, the final match from yesterday’s draw between Bai Li and Lin Qing, a rogue cultivator from the Northern Region.
Jiang Huai gently admonished Bai Li, telling her to admit defeat if she sensed any danger. Bai Li understood; she wasn’t overly competitive, and her mother wouldn’t blame her even if she placed poorly in the Five Regions Grand Competition. Thus, she calmly walked onto the stage.
During the day, she appeared as the Holy Dragon Lady. Today, however, she wore a black form-fitting outfit instead of a dress skirt. Her silver hair, reaching her shoulders, danced in the wind. Lin Qing, a cultivator resembling a scholar in a green robe, followed Bai Li into the Life Divine Tree Secret Realm.
Jiang Huai’s gaze remained fixed on the projected screen. He knew Bai Li would inevitably lose given her cultivation level. However, admitting defeat too readily would seem overly timid. Bai Li intended to try her best for a little while longer.
Lin Qing was a cultivator at the Eighth Realm First Level.
Upon entering the dense forest, he calmly looked at Bai Li in front of him, not drawing his sword immediately. Instead, he said softly, “If you wish, you can absorb spiritual energy here for an hour before admitting defeat to me.”
The moment he finished speaking, he raised his hand. Nearly instantly, the grass and trees in the surrounding forest twisted, and countless vines grew from the ground, enveloping him. These vines then began to greedily absorb the worldly spiritual energy from the Life Divine Tree.
Hearing Lin Qing’s words, Bai Li had no intention of refusing. With her Seventh Realm Second Level cultivation, defeating a Mahayana First Level cultivator was nearly impossible, especially since not everyone was a monster like Jiang Huai. Thus, she calmly sat cross-legged and diligently absorbed the worldly spiritual energy into her body.
In an hour, this incredibly pure life spiritual energy brought her Seventh Realm Second Level cultivation to the brink of overflowing, almost breaking through. She could no longer absorb any more. She opened her eyes and said softly, “I concede.”
The numerous emerald-green vines beside Lin Qing retreated into the ground. He chuckled softly and then calmly walked out of the secret realm.
The next round of drawing lots began again.
Jiang Huai only drew one match today, and his opponent was Ji Qingxuan.
Jiang Huai glanced back at Ji Qingxuan, who was not far away, and couldn’t help but smile. Ji Qingxuan, in front of others, was clearly an expert at putting on an act, her eyes now cold and profound, like the water of a deep, chilly pool.
She wore a purple dress, elegant and luxurious. She calmly entered the duel secret realm, followed closely by Jiang Huai. As the two arrived in the secret realm, white clouds drifted leisurely across the sky. Jiang Huai did not draw his sword but instead asked softly, “Why don’t we also sit here and cultivate for an hour?”
Unexpectedly, Ji Qingxuan gently shook her head. Instead, she drew her spirit sword and pointed it at him. “I haven’t had a serious sword discussion with you yet. I want to test your depth.”
Her eyes were serious, and her gaze was resolute. Jiang Huai was indifferent, so he drew the Yening Sword. “That’s fine, then let’s begin?”
After all, he had tested Ji Qingxuan’s depth countless times before, both shallow and deep, back and forth, making Ji Qingxuan cry out.
Ji Qingxuan’s toes touched the ground, and her figure instantly disappeared into the distance. A strong wind surged through the forest, scattering countless fallen leaves. Her sword blade weaved through the leaves, striking directly at Jiang Huai’s vital points as if she held nothing back.
“Hey, hey, is it a bit too ruthless for the first move?” Jiang Huai grumbled in dissatisfaction. Ji Qingxuan calmly replied, “If you were to die by this sword, wouldn’t that be just perfect?”
“The bond of husband and wife lasts for a hundred days. How can you be like this?”
“Don’t you always boast about being able to conquer me in bed? I’d like to see if you can conquer me today.” In an instant, Ji Qingxuan dropped all pretense, releasing the aura of her Dragon Clan bloodline. This was her full power, her most important trump card for the Five Regions Grand Competition. She had intended to use it against Ji Huan, but now, facing Jiang Huai, she felt an unusually strong desire to win.
Either defeat him or be completely convinced by his strength – that was Ji Qingxuan’s current thought.
“Defeating you would be simple. As for how to convince you, that is indeed an interesting question,” Jiang Huai muttered softly, swinging his sword to clash with Ji Qingxuan’s spirit sword. The sword in Ji Qingxuan’s hand was no ordinary artifact; it was an Absolute Level spirit sword passed down through generations of the Ji family royalty. At the moment the two swords collided, Jiang Huai’s body remained motionless, while Ji Qingxuan trembled slightly, her hand aching.
His body was incredibly agile, and every move Ji Qingxuan made was perfectly predicted and dodged by him, as if she were constantly sparring with a shadow that was a split second faster than her. Gradually, Jiang Huai’s sword techniques began to change, becoming identical to hers.
This scene was clearly visible to everyone in the stands, but perhaps only Mu Jianghe and Chu Xianning were not surprised. Both of them had witnessed Jiang Huai’s terrifying sword Dao talent. However, something even more terrifying was yet to come.
Ji Qingxuan used her free hand to weave threads, forming a complex and beautiful spirit talisman seal. As the seal lit up, a phantom image instantly appeared beside her. This phantom seemed to be condensed from the spiritual energy of this world and Ji Qingxuan’s own spiritual energy. It also attacked Jiang Huai with a sword. This phantom, like an unbound spirit, would instantly reform even after Jiang Huai shattered it with his blade.
“This move is interesting,” Jiang Huai commented. Ji Qingxuan sneered, but her triumphant expression did not last long. When she saw Jiang Huai’s free hand begin to weave threads in the exact same manner as hers, forming an identical spirit talisman seal, a phantom image also appeared beside him. As this phantom attacked her phantom, her smile froze.
“Where did you learn the Shadow Warrior Seal, which has been lost for a thousand years?!” Ji Qingxuan’s voice trembled.
“From your hand, a minute ago,” Jiang Huai replied innocently, shrugging.
Ji Qingxuan did not have time to be shocked, as Jiang Huai was not only imitating her sword moves but also increasing his speed, surpassing hers. Her free hand began to weave talisman threads again. Each talisman paper had a different miraculous use: crane’s beak, serpent’s binding, moon-cutting scythe. Most of these talismans borrowed the vast spiritual energy of this world, their power especially astonishing.
Meanwhile, the Shadow Warrior Seals they had previously drawn were still fighting. The one Jiang Huai created was about to win.
But gradually, Ji Qingxuan discovered something even more terrifying.
Jiang Huai’s fingers were tracing her fingertips, guiding spiritual energy to draw talismans. His speed was only a second slower than hers. It was as if the moment she finished drawing, he would finish drawing as well. After the two talismans clashed, they both dissipated. Her maneuvers were rendered meaningless.
“You!”
“Me?”
“How did you…?”
“I don’t know. I feel like my talent has improved again recently.”
Jiang Huai had always been a quick learner since childhood. But recently, he had vaguely noticed that as his cultivation level increased, his comprehension seemed to increase along with it. Now, he could grasp various sword moves just by looking at them, and he could quickly detect the flaws in the opponent’s techniques. Furthermore, with things like spirit talisman seals, or formations that used to take him time and effort to study, he could now understand them instinctively just by looking at them.
Seeing Ji Qingxuan’s moves becoming increasingly frantic, Jiang Huai softly reminded her, “You’re flustered.”
Even though Ji Qingxuan’s speed was increasing, her sword light scattered like a torrential downpour, but it was too chaotic. Even she herself could not fully control its trajectory, thus lacking many variations. Jiang Huai patiently dodged every sword strike. He had always been patient. The swords that actually landed on Ji Qingxuan’s spiritual energy shield were very light, more like he was teaching her sword techniques rather than trying to defeat her.
This Five Regions Grand Competition was even more of a one-sided affair than Jiang Huai had imagined. Since his cultivation was restored, he seemed to have no opponents within the same realm. He himself didn’t know what his limit was, as no one had given him a chance to test his skills with a “Water Moon” move.
A sense of defeat welled up in Ji Qingxuan’s heart.
Suddenly, she no longer wanted to fight this scoundrel. Not only was there no chance of winning, but the more she swung her sword, the more wronged she felt. Why could his talent be so terrifying? Everyone had always said she was a genius, and with her Dragon Clan bloodline, understanding Daoist magic and sword techniques came to her with such ease. But encountering Jiang Huai, she finally understood what it meant to be an ant trying to shake a tree, a foolish overestimation of one’s strength.
“How disgusting,” Ji Qingxuan couldn’t help but mutter. Jiang Huai looked at her displeasedly, “Huh?”
Ji Qingxuan turned her face away. “I’m not fighting you anymore.”
“You concede?”
“I’ll concede in a moment, after I replenish my spiritual energy.”
“Oh, okay.” Jiang Huai nodded gently and then saw Ji Qingxuan look into his eyes. “I want to eat grilled chicken wings too.”
“…”
Clearly, Ji Qingxuan had seen Jiang Huai grilling chicken wings for Su Qingyi yesterday. He sighed slightly and replied, “I’ll grill them for you after we go out?”
“I want to eat them now.”
“If I refuse, will you threaten me?”
Ji Qingxuan shook her head. “How could I?”
Jiang Huai breathed a sigh of relief, only to hear Ji Qingxuan say, “At most, I’ll go to your Master and ask for an explanation about you violating me in the Ancestral Secret Realm.”
“A woman’s heart is the most venomous,” Jiang Huai glared at her resentfully, then took out his small barbecue grill in the public view of the secret realm.
Fortunately, the outside world couldn’t hear any sounds from within the secret realm, only see the visuals. Otherwise, his head would be aching right now. Jiang Huai resentfully looked at the chicken wings on the grill, leisurely lit the fruitwood charcoal, scored the chicken wings, brushed them with a secret sauce, until the entire dense forest was filled with a fragrant aroma. Ji Qingxuan opened her eyes, took one skewer, and said softly, “I concede.”
Then, Jiang Huai walked out of the Ancestral Secret Realm with a plate of chicken wings. He felt his temples twitch slightly as he saw the slightly strange looks from the cultivators below. He walked with the plate to Bai Li and Su Qingyi and distributed all the grilled chicken wings.
