Chapter 216: Individual Combat (4.5k)
“Whoosh!”
A sound of breaking through the air was heard, and everyone’s gaze followed the Frost Blossom slash that resembled an ice swallow. They hadn’t even noticed how Su Jiu had unleashed the slash.
Too fast!
And Su Jiu wasn’t holding a sword, which was the strangest part. Bai Ming, who was beside her, had his pupils constrict. He had just seen Su Jiu’s movement: she had unleashed such sword energy with just her fingernails, and moreover…
The way this sword energy was triggered was precisely the “Drawing Sword Slash” that he took pride in. The only difference was that Su Jiu’s was faster and more agile!
In an instant, the ice swallow was about to hit Hu Yang. His gaze sharpened slightly, and his iron sword suddenly erupted with a trace of crimson flame, the scorching external qi on his body causing the air to ripple.
Feeling the power contained within the ice swallow, he dared not hesitate. He then took his iron sword and, like an earth dragon wagging its tail, slashed horizontally at the ice swallow. When the two collided, wisps of white mist surged, and with a “boom,” the hot air rushed towards the audience stands.
“Hmph!” He snorted and narrowed his eyes as he looked at the stage. Their eyes met in mid-air, and the sword energy soaring into the sky surged from within his body, scorching and carrying a hint of madness. Behind him, a phantom of a massive lion vaguely appeared.
And all this pressure was directed solely at one person – Su Jiu!
“Is this the Crazy Sword Hu Yang?! He actually has this level of sword intent! It’s no less than that of sword masters!”
“Intent is divided into four stages: form, intent, unity, and ultimate simplicity. Looking at this level, he’s probably already grasped the ‘intent’ within it.”
“Generally, only high-rank battle generals can comprehend the first stage – form – after manifesting a phantom. He has already bypassed form and reached the second stage of intent. Truly a genius!”
The intense sword energy made it difficult for the people nearby to open their eyes, while the several directors on the stage did not intervene. They watched with great interest, all wanting to see how the girl with extraordinary attributes would deal with the mad sword Hu Yang.
Gently tapping the table, Lin Tingyu looked forward calmly, her gaze shifting between the two. She could feel that Su Jiu definitely had the strength to contend.
Still not drawing her sword?
“Hehe…”
Su Jiu looked at the other party’s appearance and simply smiled lightly. She waved towards Bai Qianyu and the others, and the hot air was instantly dispersed.
Then, she lightly stepped on the floor, and an extremely cold sword energy surged from behind her. The frost instantly neutralized the incoming hot air. However, Su Jiu’s true cultivation level was only at the initial stage of a battle general, and she didn’t use “Elegy.” It was just the simplest of clashes.
As a result, although the frost was more piercing than the opponent’s fire, the two were momentarily in a state of equal footing.
“Has she reached the pinnacle of intent?”
A hint of admiration appeared in Lin Tingyu’s eyes, further confirming that Su Jiu was the person she was looking for. She pondered for a moment and then whispered, “However, she is still slightly inferior to this mad sword, as her cultivation level is what it is.”
But this was enough to move everyone present. Moreover, her purpose of testing had been achieved. Just as their auras were gradually intensifying, she commanded softly, destroying the sword momentum the two had painstakingly built up.
“You will naturally meet in the finals later, so you cannot engage in private duels!”
With her sword momentum destroyed, Su Jiu’s chest felt slightly tight, and she took a step back. Looking up, her gaze immediately met Lin Tingyu’s. The latter looked at her with a slight smile.
Su Jiu was a little confused by the other party’s meaning. It seemed the other party was optimistic about her?
“Miss, are you alright?” Bairnis quickly got up and used her delicate body as a cushion to gently support Su Jiu, with butterfly phantoms fluttering from her fingertips.
Feeling her body being continuously healed, Su Jiu looked at Bairnis beside her, her heart warming. She looked at Lin Tingyu from afar, then lowered her head and said softly, “There’s no need to be so nervous. She didn’t use much force. We disrupted the competition first.”
Hu Yang on the stage also retreated two steps, groaning. His gaze was somewhat gloomy, but he also stepped off the stage as ordered. However, before leaving the stage, he turned to look at Su Jiu again, his chilling voice echoing throughout the entire arena.
“Remember to bring more alchemical items when we face each other, otherwise swords have no eyes, little sister.”
After saying that, he merged into the crowd within a few steps, disappearing from sight.
Seeing the two being separated, the surrounding people immediately lost some of their interest. After witnessing such a grand battle between Su Jiu and the other, they had no interest in the subsequent ordinary initial-stage battle general fights.
The referee in the sky glanced at the judges’ seats. After receiving their approval, he breathed a sigh of relief and shouted loudly at the stage, “Alright, the competition will proceed as usual.”
Another round of matches began, but the people in the seats were still lingering on Su Jiu’s performance. Those from the White Water Society were even more incredulous. The main reason was that Su Jiu’s ability to obtain the chief position was truly perplexing. They didn’t know where their president had found such a formidable person.
Although Su Jiu was not injured, Bairnis’s healing was exceptionally comfortable, causing her to lean on the latter’s shoulder and half-close her eyes to watch the match. Before long, the preliminaries were drawing to a close.
One after another, several aristocratic disciples displayed their might. As for Lu Bingyu, in Su Jiu’s opinion, her performance was not particularly outstanding. Of course, it might also be that her opponents were not strong enough to force her to reveal her skills.
Watching the competition that was about to end, Su Jiu shook her head, not having much interest. She was only staying to participate in the upcoming lottery for the top ten battles.
Time passed quickly. After the 25 people were selected and the positions were drawn, Su Jiu was surprisingly given a bye… Bai Qianyu’s opponent was even more fortunate, drawing the second-ranked half-step battle-general. There was no longer any desire to watch.
Su Jiu held Bai Qianyu’s wrist and bid farewell to the Bai siblings. Watching these students compete was not as good as cultivating for a while longer and reaching the intermediate stage of a battle general as soon as possible.
Back in the girls’ dormitory, Yun Ling’er saw the two of them and smiled from ear to ear. It was obvious that Su Jiu entering the top ten was a foregone conclusion. She said with a chuckle, “If it weren’t for the skin disease that’s been prevalent outside, I would definitely treat you to a big meal.”
“This rotten skin disease again? When I came to Magic City, you guys were always talking about this rotten skin disease. What exactly is going on?” Su Jiu sat on the bedding, feeling the coolness of the air conditioning, and asked curiously.
“It seems to have started in some small town. I don’t know the specifics very well. This thing seems to be on the mission board at our school. You’ll have a student card in a few days, and you can go and take a look then,” Yun Ling’er said after a slight thought.
“However, it is said that this matter has alarmed our principal and all the directors. Ordinary students are unlikely to be able to handle it. Only medical students or those of battle general level and above can do it. The reward seems quite generous.”
“It’s fine, I was just asking.”
Su Jiu smiled and didn’t dwell on the matter anymore. She had enough resources recently. What she needed now was to improve her cultivation and find materials to treat Bairnis’s scars.
Su Jiu’s gaze fell on Bairnis’s abdomen, where she was reading in the corner. Su Jiu had sensed it a few days ago, and the injury inside was still very serious. Many of her organs were fibrotic, similar to wood. Ordinary treatment had very little effect.
The only reason she could survive until now was because of a green feather. If the energy contained within the feather were depleted, Bairnis would likely only enter a state of suspended animation within Su Jiu’s spiritual space.
In the past few days, Su Jiu had mobilized Youyou’s connections and found a way to cure her: refining a substance called “White Bone Revitalization Fluid” with some extremely rare materials to reverse the fibrosis of Bairnis’s organs.
And those materials were extremely expensive. Although most could be bought with money, they required over 100 million yuan. And the most crucial main ingredient – the Nine-Transformation Soul-Returning Grass – was a legendary-level medicinal herb with no market price. Its potency was said to be able to instantly heal a Battle King with just a bite. Even with Su Jiu’s “Song of Praise” buff, she could not afford to buy it.
Now, they could only wait for Doubi Xi to see if she had any ideas, or check the medical school of Magic Capital University for relevant information.
“Hey, hey, Su Jiu, I remember you said a couple of days ago that you were looking for some medicinal herbs. You can go and check the reward for the Rotten Skin Disease bounty when you have time. It seems that even if you’re not a priest, you can still take the job, and you can choose some herbs as rewards then.”
At this moment, Yun Ling’er’s voice came in again.
Upon hearing this, Su Jiu frowned slightly, looked at Bairnis reading in the corner, sighed softly, and muttered to herself, “If the reward is some medicinal herbs, then I can go. It should save a lot of money.”
“I need to cultivate faster and strive to reach 8% compression tomorrow.”
…
“You said you can break through to high-rank battle general casually?!” Under the moonlight, Hu Ling looked at the figure wiping his iron sword with great joy and suddenly exclaimed.
“In tomorrow’s five-person individual battle after the top ten selection, I will break through to Peerless Battle General and teach that Lu family young master and the yellow-haired girl a lesson.”
The figure leaned against a large rock with the puppet girl. He casually inserted his iron sword into a giant rock and took out his phone to look at the lottery for the top ten matches with disdain.
“You want to fight both of them alone?” Hu Ling was very confident in the invincible battle general, but if she were to fight both of them alone, wouldn’t that be a bit too presumptuous?
“That yellow-haired girl is not to be feared… Lu Bingyu, I will defeat him within twenty moves! Let alone fighting two, I’ll fight four!” Hu Yang looked up at the moon in the sky, clenched his fist, and said with a smile.
…
The next day, as the sun rose high, the unique ancient bell of Magic Capital University rang.
Su Jiu and the two were dressed as usual: JK uniform and white dress.
Like yesterday, they found the Bai siblings, who had bought seats early, along with Bairnis. Soon, the number of people in the surrounding stands finally became almost packed.
Given Su Jiu’s height, looking at the sea of heads, she couldn’t see the end.
Then, the noisy voices merged together and rushed straight into the sky, making her noise-canceling Bluetooth earbuds not so effective.
“Yesterday, we selected the top ten students, and they will receive a large amount of cultivation resources provided by the school. Today, we will also select the freshman chief. The subsequent matches are also very simple: we will select the top five through one-on-one, and then the final five will engage in a no-rules free-for-all battle!”
About ten to twenty minutes later, on the judges’ seats, an old man wearing a pharmacology medal stood up and announced loudly. He was the dean of the medical school, and it was perfectly normal for him to announce the rules here.
“Individual combat? It’s also acceptable.” Su Jiu was not too surprised. Yun Ling’er had also told her these things last night.
She glanced at Bai Qianyu’s older brother beside her and noticed that he had brought a girl with grey shawl hair and a medicinal emblem on her chest. Her expression was cold, and she seemed very aloof.
Su Jiu frowned slightly and pondered for a moment before looking at her somewhat uncertainly. The other party seemed to be one of the novel’s heroines.
“I heard from Qianyu that you are also a priest. You were looking for some medicinal herbs recently. I asked junior schoolmate Zi Yun to come along. Her grandfather is the dean who just spoke above.”
Bai Ming looked at Su Jiu with considerable pride, even winking at her. Su Jiu’s mouth twitched, and she quickly realized the other party’s other intention – after being force-fed dog food yesterday, he directly brought his girlfriend.
The grey-haired woman, Zi Yun, seemed to appreciate Bai Ming’s words. She turned to Su Jiu and the two with a slight smile and said faintly, “If you have any needs regarding medicinal herbs, you can tell me.”
Su Jiu nodded lightly, a smile on her face. As expected, connections made things convenient.
“Do you all understand the competition rules?”
After the old man on the stage inquired below, the competition began directly. The referee named them as he did yesterday, and soon it was Su Jiu’s turn.
She looked at the girl holding a thin sword below the stage. The opponent looked quite pretty, but why was her sword-wielding hand trembling? Su Jiu was about to go down…
“Teacher, I don’t want to fight the Frost Princess. I surrender, I surrender!”
Unexpectedly, after discovering that her opponent was Su Jiu, the other party quickly applied to the referee to surrender. After applying, she also gave Su Jiu a relieved smile.
“You’re not fighting? How cowardly!”
“Ugh, what a rip-off, losing a match, but the price is the same!”
This caused the audience, who had been expecting Su Jiu to make another move, to boo. After all, Su Jiu wasn’t Lu Bingyu or Hu Yang, so why would they be so afraid?
“What the heck is Frost Princess?”
Su Jiu sat down, somewhat bewildered. The other party surrendering was understandable. After all, the rewards for the top ten and fourth place were the same. If one’s strength was insufficient, it was normal not to want to fight and surrender.
It was just that she had inexplicably gained such a shameful title, which was quite frustrating.
Putting away her gaze, Bai Qianyu seemed to notice Su Jiu’s confusion and took out her phone to open the campus APP and show it to Su Jiu, asking with a smile, “Haven’t you seen the forum?”
Su Jiu shook her head gently. She indeed hadn’t looked at any forums. After returning yesterday, she had been cultivating and had already compressed her internal Qi sea to 8%. In another week, she should be able to reach the intermediate stage of a battle general.
“Damn it, refund me, I watched fewer matches?”
“Doesn’t the school manage this?! It’s like this every year, and there are especially many this year!”
At this time, there were continuous boos from below, as if another student had surrendered. Facing him was that Lu Bingyu. The subsequent competitions also saw continuous surrenders.
It wasn’t until the last round, Bai Qianyu’s turn, that her opponent, seeing that she was only a half-step battle general, ignited the desire to fight. However, they didn’t expect that her basic attributes were no weaker than his. After Bai Qianyu unleashed a tricky sword strike like a gazelle leaping over the horns, her opponent reluctantly lost.
Looking at Bai Qianyu, who returned from the stage with a face full of desire for praise, Su Jiu gently patted her head and said with a helpless smile, “Why are you still like a child?”
“Who said that…”
Her pupils shifted slightly upward. Seeing Su Jiu’s doting look, Bai Qianyu pouted. While being stroked by Su Jiu, she gently curled her lips…
Bai Ming, who was beside them, was annoyed. He looked at Zi Yun, one of his girlfriends, with a hint of expectation in his eyes.
Unexpectedly, as their eyes met, all he heard was a faint “Scram.”
Alas, another day of eating dog food.
“Now, please, all students in the top five enter the arena.”
Amidst the feeding and eating of dog food, an ancient voice came from the seats.
