Chapter 1648: Are You All From the Devil Sect?
All the disciples around the stage were stunned. Lou Wucheng had clearly been at an advantage, so why had he vomited blood and fainted?
Then again, weren't the words of the kid across from him just a bit too much…?
“This fight…”
The grandmasters looked at each other in dismay as well. Normal disciples wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell exactly what had happened, but naturally, they could.
If Shi Dingtian had been holding a normal blade, victory would have been decided long beforehand. However, his blade had shattered, placing victory within Lou Wucheng’s grasp. Then, Lou Wucheng had wanted to show his opponent mercy, but ended up fainting out of anger.
The judges really didn’t know how to evaluate the match. If they said that Shi Dingtian had won, the White Jade Sect’s Li Changsheng likely wouldn’t allow himself to lose that much face. However, if they said Lou Wucheng had won… Well, he was lying on the ground unconscious.
While the other judges were conflicted, Li Changsheng said indifferently, “Wucheng’s temperament is still lacking, and he was both restless and impatient against his opponent. His loss this time is not undeserved.”
As he had taken the initiative to say that, the others sighed in relief. They naturally declared Shi Dingtian’s victory.
A commotion broke out. The spectators hadn’t expected another huge upset to happen! Lou Wucheng, one of the candidates favored to take the crown, had ended up losing to an unknown, foolish kid.
Li Changsheng floated over to the stage. He reached out and sent over some ki, and Lou Wucheng gradually woke up. When he saw his master’s ice-cold expression and heard the disdain directed at him, he couldn't help but feel ashamed. He really wanted to run away and crawl into a hole.
Just then, Zu An suddenly said, “I feel that his temperament isn’t that bad. From the very start, he wasn’t willing to take advantage of an unarmed opponent; later, he had a chance to turn the tide and grasp victory, but he didn’t take advantage of his opponent. That attitude matches the lofty and unyielding character of a swordsman. I believe that if he continues to train with single-minded devotion, his achievements in the sword will be limitless.”
The once completely disheartened Lou Wucheng was stunned. Even the junior disciples who normally looked up to him carried disdain in their eyes, and yet this rival in love, whom he had loathed the most, had actually spoken up for him. He couldn't help but feel all sorts of emotions well up, and even wanted to burst into tears. He quickly looked away for fear that others would see him crying.
With Zu An taking the lead, Wang Wuxie and the others naturally spoke some praises for Lou Wucheng too. After all, the White Jade Sect still had their pride, and doing them this favor wasn’t too difficult.
Yan Xuehen gave Zu An a look of surprise. Didn’t these two have a bad relationship? Yet he actually spoke up for him! Could it be because Lou Wucheng is from the White Jade Sect, so Zu An is showing favor to everyone related?
Her fair cheeks became a bit hot when she thought of that.
…
Meanwhile, Pei Mianman’s eyes were glistening. She thought, Ah Zu is becoming more and more like a model for everyone else! Ah, but this almost makes him seem like my elder…
Qiu Honglei’s eyes were also sparkling. She remarked, “Ah Zu is such a kind person.”
Yun Jianyue harrumphed. “Hmph, being too kind has never been a good thing in our Holy Sect.”
“Ah Zu isn’t even from the Holy Sect,” Qiu Honglei said indifferently. She rested her chin on her hand as she gazed at her lover in the distance.
“Stop acting like a love-struck dummy; it’s almost your turn. Don’t mess things up now,” Yun Jianyue snapped. For some reason, she suddenly felt strangely irritated when she saw her disciple acting like this.
…
Meanwhile, Wang Wuxie had already declared the conclusion of the third fight. The fourth fight was between Kunlun Void Sect’s Liang Ling and Emptiness Isle’s Peng Wuyan.
When they saw the two step forward, the busybodies in the audience quickly began speculating as to who would win the fight.
Most of them favored Liang Ling, as Kunlun Void Sect had once been a great sect comparable to Jadefall Palace and Heavenly Sorrow; they had once been considered the three great sects. Even though they had fallen quite a bit, Emptiness Isle was even worse off.
Meanwhile, this Peng Wuyan’s appearance really was hard to explain… The way she had fought during the group stage was so fierce too. As such, they were instinctively biased toward the rather handsome Liang Ling.
However, Zu An secretly sized up the ugly woman on the stage. He just felt that she was a bit familiar somehow. Could it be because he had helped her out before?
…
Yan Xuehen, who had been secretly observing him, frowned. Just how much of a skirt chaser is this guy? You won’t even let this woman go?
“Kunlun Void Sect’s Liang Ling!” the young man on the stage cupped his hands and called out.
Qiu Honglei said with a big smile, “Let’s not waste any more time with words and just fight. We don’t want things to end up like the last round, do we?”
Liang Ling choked. When he recalled Lou Wucheng’s bitter end, he realized that sometimes, speaking too much really wasn’t a good thing. Still, he was suddenly a bit confused. This woman was clearly so ugly, but why was her smile somewhat pretty?
Ah, what the hell. Something must be wrong with me.
He began to doubt his own tastes. With a darkened expression, he took out his spear. He wanted to say ‘ladies first’, but when he recalled his opponent’s viciousness during the group stage, she really didn’t seem like the type who needed him to give her a handicap. As such, he shouted, “Then please be careful, miss!”
His entire body suddenly erupted into raging flames as he spoke. Then, his spear rapidly spun, forming a screw-shaped dragon of flames. It destroyed everything in its path as it surged toward Qiu Honglei. Even with the protection of the arena’s formations between them, the surrounding disciples still felt its horrifying temperature.
This Liang Ling’s reputation might not be comparable to Wu Xiaofan and Lou Wucheng, but his control over the flame element has already reached such a degree!
There were many, many fire element cultivators in the world, but they could be divided into ranks. Those ranks could partly be determined through the color of the flames, with purer flames being more translucent and burning hotter; additionally, one’s degree of control was also extremely important. There were many fire element cultivators present, and they were naturally able to see that Liang Ling was the very best of all of the fire element cultivators who had fought thus far.
Of course, Pei Minaman’s black flames seemed to be an exception. Most people had never seen flames that could be black and have such ridiculous power. It was clearly some kind of strange variant flame.
…
As she watched the giant flame dragon rush at her, Qiu Honglei’s expression remained calm. She crossed her arms in front of her, and a pair of short blades instantly appeared in her hands. At the same time, a wall of light suddenly took form in front of her.
The roaring dragon smashed into the wall of light, forming a miniature mushroom cloud. Then, a deafening explosion followed. The flickering flames even seemed to distort space itself.
After some time, the flame dragon disappeared, revealing Liang Ling’s spear pressed up against the wall of light. However, it couldn't move even an inch forward.
“Wall of Sighs!”
There were many powerful cultivators present, and they immediately recognized the name of the move.
“She was actually a light element cultivator!”
Even the grandmasters in the judges’ seats were shocked.
The light element was one of the rarest elements among cultivators. Meanwhile, the Wall of Sighs was the most famous defensive move of those cultivators. It was practically impossible to penetrate by cultivators of the same level, making opponents sigh in despair. That was where the name came from.
The grandmasters couldn't help but look at Emptiness Isle’s Elder Peng with envy. They hadn’t expect the weakest sect, Emptiness Isle, to have picked up such a talented individual.
Yun Jianyue’s brows were slightly raised. She was in such high spirits she almost jumped up and told them the truth. The expressions of those self-righteous idiots would definitely be a sight to see then!
Zu An was in a daze. He couldn't help but remember Qiu Honglei, who was also of the light element. He thought, I wonder how she has been doing recently.
…
The sect masters and elders began discussing Peng Wuyan, but they quickly came to a conclusion. Even though the light element was rare, it didn’t excel in offense. Against the fire element, which was famous for its offensive power, it wasn’t really at an advantage.
Even though the power of the Wall of Sighs was extremely great, there was no way it could be maintained forever. In this kind of competition where the competitors were similar in cultivation, just relaxing even a little bit would often result in the opponent clinching a victory.
Yun Jianyue sneered, “What do you all understand?”
Only Master Jian Huang felt rather excited. He muttered to himself, “This person is extremely suited to our Tranquility Temple’s legacy! If she cultivated Buddha’s Light, wouldn’t we be able to bring endless believers?”
The little fatty Jie Se couldn't help but grumble, “Master, our Buddhist sect is a place of tranquility; how could we allow a woman to enter?”
“Why not? So many married women who are infertile have come to pray at our temple. Don’t they all have their desires fulfilled in the end?” Master Jian Huang harrumphed. “Furthermore, the Buddhist sect has nuns too.”
Jie Se curled his lips. Hmph, master keeps trying to recruit people as soon as he sees someone he likes. That Sect Master Peng should watch out.
…
By then, Liang Ling had already reacted to the situation. He retracted his spear and tried to strike from different directions. His opponent had to exhaust a considerable amount of ki to maintain the Wall of Sighs, so continuing his offense would be beneficial to him.
Sure enough, the Wall of Sighs quickly disappeared. However, Qiu Honglei fired a bullet of light. It was extremely fast and instantly arrived in front of her opponent.
Liang Ling was horrified, and quickly brandished his spear to block it, making his entire body tremble. Several more light bullets flew toward him, and he dodged in alarm. However, he suddenly realized that even though these light bullets were fast, they were a bit lacking in power. As such, he gathered flames around his spear and brandished it like a dragon, dispersing all the incoming bullets.
However, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed a light bullet that was several times larger than the previous ones. The terrifying pressure made all his fine hairs stand on end. Still, he reacted quickly. Even though the light sphere’s power was great, it was too slow. There was no way it would hit him.
As such, while the sphere of light was approaching, he pretended to strike it with his spear; in reality, however, he dodged it at the last moment and thrust his spear at his opponent. As long as he could get within close range, this woman would be finished. She wouldn’t have the chance to use the Wall of Sighs again at all.
Meanwhile, Yun Jianyue laughed in disdain. “What a fool!”
At the same time, Liang Ling was shocked to discover his opponent’s blades instantly appearing in front of him. They moved in completely unpredictable patterns and repeatedly struck at his vitals.
Liang Ling finally woke up from his daze. He had used a feint earlier, so why couldn't that giant ball of light be one too? His opponent had anticipated that he would dodge that way, and had seized the opportunity to attack him. They were a mere three inches apart, a distance spear-wielders were completely helpless in; let alone in his current state, as his strength was spent. His opponent’s grasp over timing was just too vicious.
As they tore at his body, the short blades in Qiu Honglei’s hands turned into two streaks of flowing light. Streaks of bloody mist quickly flew through the air.
In just a few breaths of time, a hundred and eight wounds appeared on Liang Ling’s body. He fell to the ground like a doll that had been torn to shreds.
The entire Golden Peak immediately fell absolutely silent. This had initially been an evenly matched competition, but victory had been decided so quickly! Wasn’t this woman a bit too vicious in the way she fought?
Kunlun Void Sect’s elder roared furiously, “You are so young, yet already so merciless. Are you all from the Devil Sect?!”