The golden rays of the sun were truly magnificent, bathing the entire land in a warm, bright light. Trees, plants, and beasts alike basked in the warmth, their bodies nourished and strengthened. In this tranquil setting, within a small part of a forest where an illusionary mountain stood, people began to gather. They flocked to a raised platform made of rock slabs, encircled by a huge, old construct of stone and mud—a place they called "the arena."
"Hey, what do you think will happen?"
"I don't know. I haven't seen that Senior Qin Lou fight before. My senior brother told us last night that she's a true martial genius, but she was wasted years ago."
"Do you think Chen Je will beat that woman?"
"I can't wait to see the woman previously called the genius of Er City in action."
"I don't think she can win against Chen Je, that brute. I think he'll shame her, or maybe even take that veil off her face. Haha!"
Everywhere, people started to gossip and make predictions about the upcoming battle between Qin Lou and Chen Je.
On the stage stood a burly youth with large, bulging arm muscles and a smug expression. At his side, a large, flat blade was inserted into the ground, glimmering as the sun's golden rays reflected off it. His mind raced with all the possible things he could do. He wasn't worried; he had prepared many things just to win. He even had a secret pill bottle in his pocket, given to him by "that" person last night. The person had said the pill could enhance his spiritual Qi and make him stronger by a degree, which meant he could enter the Golden Core state for a short time. This made him more confident, as he could already envision a pile of spiritual stones flowing into his pocket. His excitement was through the roof; he was truly elated at his decision to challenge that "trash" from the Snow Wind School.
Chen Je actually had another reason for challenging Qin Lou: to avenge the defeat of his senior brother a few years ago. It was beneath his senior brother to challenge Qin Lou now that she wasn't as strong as she used to be. So their only option was to use this tactic to get a satisfying result.
Thinking about all this, a wide grin appeared on Chen Je's face. He couldn't wait to hear the praises his senior and boss would give him, along with the reward that came with it.
Suddenly, Chen Je realized he had been waiting for about an hour, and Qin Lou still hadn't shown up. With an irritated look, he glanced at his team's waiting area and saw the nonchalant expression of his boss. Feeling a little helpless, he decided to act on his own. Taking a step forward and putting his hands on his hips, he took a deep breath and opened his mouth.
"WHERE..."
He didn't finish what he was about to shout. The crowd below the stage had erupted in a commotion. At the entrance, he saw two people walking toward the stage. A woman wearing a simple white robe, not the usual Snow Wind School uniform, was followed by a young man who seemed to be her mortal servant. The woman had a white, cloth-like mask on her face, like an assassin, and her jet-black hair was tied in a ponytail. The most curious thing was the two dark, crystal-like objects covering her eyes. Everyone looked at them with incredulous expressions, as it was unusual for Qin Lou to have a mortal servant.
"Haha... So you finally showed up! What a refreshing look you have. I was a little skeptical when they said you were ugly, but seeing your face like this, it seems the rumors must not be true for once?" Chen Je said as Qin Lou reached the stage and stood in front of him.
"This little lass has a lot of things her master gave her. I can't even see through that mask she's wearing," an old man on the judges' platform said.
Most of the other old men in the area remained quiet, watching with their own thoughts. Shin Jiao did not follow Qin Lou; he stood below the stage, where other cultivators were looking at him with curious expressions. Although Shin Jiao was a mortal, his appearance was exemplary, and upon noticing this, many people looked back at Qin Lou on stage with a trace of disdain.
"Since both contestants are on stage now, we'll start the match," a man said, walking to stand between Chen Je and Qin Lou.
He raised his hands, and upon lowering them, he shouted, "Fight!"
Qin Lou took a fighting stance, but Chen Je looked at her nonchalantly. In his mind, he was calculating how to embarrass her in front of the crowd.
"Senior sister, I'm actually a magnanimous man. I don't really want to fight someone like you. But I find it too boring to fight someone weaker than me, so I hope you'll pose a challenge for me," Chen Je said with a wide grin as he slowly circled around, which Qin Lou followed vigilantly.
Then, a murderous glint flashed in his eyes as he dashed forward, extending his right hand toward Qin Lou's head.
"Dragon Claw!" he shouted as Qi burst from his fingers, making them look like sharp claws extending from his hand.
Seeing that she wasn't moving, most people shook their heads, traces of disappointment on their faces.
"Sigh... She's truly fallen now. I can't believe that after all these years, she still hasn't recovered from that trauma. Poor little thing," Elder Xing said to himself, watching hopelessly as Qin Lou was about to receive a heavy blow to her head.
"Haha, this is truly retribution, son. I will see the end of this wretched woman, and our vengeance and shame will be washed away," Elder Ming on the side said, feeling schadenfreude at what was about to happen.
Most students at the Golden Core stage felt the same way, as many of them had been defeated by her before and couldn't accept it. Most hadn't sought revenge yet, as their pride prevented them from doing so. All except for the seeded participant of the Soul Mountain School, Lo Bei Wang.
Lo Bei Wang, one of the three young masters of the Wang clan in Er City, was known to be the best martial artist among the three brothers—a true prodigy. He was nurtured and cultivated by his father, the clan leader, to be the hope of their clan. Although he received all the attention, he wasn't qualified to be the next clan leader due to his lacking temperament and personality. This gave him a domineering attitude, and he started bullying others to express himself and his frustrations.
When Qin Lou first appeared, he had an inkling to teach her a lesson as he didn't like people calling her the genius of Er City. In their bout, he used every skill and technique in his arsenal and still lost big time. It was she who caught the eyes of the bigwigs of every sect, not him. Her only mistake was to declare her stand and remain firm as a student of the Snow Wind School. After that, she was attacked and her dantian was damaged, making her unable to improve her cultivation; instead, it regressed. Everyone knew why she was attacked, and most schools were happy about it because it meant less competition. No one wanted a strong opponent and would rather drag down someone with potential than face them. But it was also a sign of negligence on the part of the Snow Wind School for allowing a future strong cultivator to be trampled upon.
In the cultivation world, where the strong rule and the weak succumb to their fate, no one points fingers. It's just part of the world's rules.
Now on stage, people gasped as they saw the large Dragon Claw drawing closer in slow motion toward Qin Lou's head.
As the dragon Qi was about to hit her, she simply took a side step and evaded the dangerous predicament. Chen Je's grinning face froze stiff as he realized what had happened. His expected one-hit-kill attack was evaded just like that. Not only him but almost everyone in the arena had a dumbfounded expression. But some had expressions of interest; even some bored young masters who were uninterested a moment ago now had their eyes open and were looking intently at the stage.
"If you were in her shoes, would you be able to do what she did?" a handsome young man wearing a mix of red and white robes asked his servant.
"I may be able to do it, young master, but not as skillfully as that," the man standing behind him answered.
"Hmm... did she really recover from her wounds? This would be truly bad... we can't let this happen," the handsome young man said to himself.
Elder Ming was now standing with an ugly expression. He had been truly elated just a while ago, thinking he was about to get revenge for his son. But now, he couldn't accept that it seemed Qin Lou was truly hiding her skills. With clenched hands, he vowed in his heart to never let her go and to eliminate her as soon as possible.
While everyone was busy thinking, Qin Lou and Chen Je were facing each other on stage. With an ugly look on his face, Chen Je looked like smoke was rising from his head. He felt insulted for not hitting his target, but what ticked him off the most was that Qin Lou seemed to have not exerted any effort in facing him.
"That was just a fluke, now try to evade this!" Chen Je shouted as he gathered his feet and suddenly rushed toward her, an evil smirk appearing on his face.
"Rain of Dragon Claws!" he shouted as he suddenly jumped up when he got near Qin Lou.
It was as if the sky was covered with golden claws as spiritual Qi began to materialize into fist-sized claws in the sky. This wasn't a martial skill but a spiritual Qi skill using Qi to materialize the claws. The skill began to fall one by one toward Qin Lou, who stood there unperturbed. Although hundreds of claw-like fists were coming toward her, she just calmly looked at them.
Everyone was expecting her to run off the stage since Chen Je had pulled a nasty trick by using a spell combined with his martial skill. This was against the rules, and if she could get through this, she would win the bout automatically. But that wasn't the most pressing thing right now, as Qin Lou was faced with a hailstorm of fists raining down on her. This could injure her gravely if she didn't use a defensive talisman or Qi shield spell, but if she used any of these, she would also lose the fight. So the people were anticipating what she would do at this moment.
Upon seeing this, Shin Jiao became angry and clenched his fists tightly. He vowed to make a move if things went sour. He first used his goggles to look at the people around him and saw that the most powerful being in the area was just a late-stage Golden Core realm old man sitting in the middle of the judges' platform.
"If I save her, they would pose no trouble for me. But I still need to respect her wishes, though... Ahhh... Whatever... I'll just have to wait and see," Shin Jiao thought to himself.
On the stage, Qin Lou suddenly moved. To everyone's surprise, she didn't use any talisman or shield. She didn't even enhance her body to move quickly. She just moved like a fish in the water through that hail of claw Qi. She didn't blur like a shadow or move as fast as lightning; instead, she looked at the falling claw Qi with a calm demeanor and leisurely walked while evading, approaching the boundary of the stage where Chen Je was going to land.
Qin Lou was truly amazed at the ability of the thing Shin Jiao had crafted. She was so entranced at that moment that she had forgotten she was in a duel and that her opponent had already cheated. At this time, she had an enlightenment about the movement of Qi in her surroundings. She now discovered that the thing covering her eyes was sensitive to Qi particles around her, and through this, it could predict the trajectory of each action of her opponent.
"If that's the case, then there's a big flaw in this artifact. The absence of Qi! Which means if the enemy doesn't have Qi fluctuations, I could not predict his or her movements," Qin Lou said to herself.
Even though she was currently deep in thought, she still successfully dodged every single claw thrown at her. Chen Je's eyes were wide open when he found himself in front of Qin Lou as he landed. Then he suddenly felt a small palm touch his chest. He was stunned and unable to react immediately. But it was already too late, as this simple palm strike from Qin Lou contained a skill called Hidden Impact. It would damage the inner organs, not the outer skin. If Chen Je had been able to put up a Qi shield, he would not have received heavy damage, but since he received it directly, he was thrown off the stage for many meters while a fountain of blood spewed from his mouth.
A pin-drop silence pervaded the air as everyone was too shocked to react.