"Next round, Ring 7, Chu Xuan against Zhou Qing!"
The disciples of the deacon raised their voices, and before the final note had landed, the crowd "whoosh" split on either side, automatically making way.
Chu Xuan shook his sleeves and stepped out slowly.
Today he was dressed in a light blue short-sleeved robe, with a few ice patterns embroidered on the hem, and a mini version of the Cold Moon Sword - the "practice sword" that Ling Qingxue casually threw to him last night. The blade was not sharpened, but it had a frosty air that could be felt as if it were close to the skin.
"Who is Zhou Qing?" Someone whispered.
"Outer door good guy, Wood spirit Root, skilled in wister-entwining, first-class defense, attack... "Tickling level."
"Well then, with Chu Xuan this ice lump, the rattan must freeze into a toothpick?"
In the murmur, Chu Xuan touched the tip of his foot lightly and landed on the ring. On the other side, Zhou Qing was already in position, dressed in a refined blue robe, and bowed to him with a smile: "Brother Chu, show mercy."
Chu Xuan returned the greeting, the corner of his mouth lifted: "Junior Brother Zhou, you are kind. I'll have a light meal later."
On the high platform for watching the battle, Ling Qingxue, hidden in the shadow of the stone pillar, involuntarily raised the corner of her lips under the veil: A little cold? I believe you are the one who has a ghost.
...
The gong rings and the competition begins.
Zhou Qing took the lead in making the hand sign, green light surging from his fingertips, three bowl-mouthed vines breaking through the soil, with barbs, whistling and rolling towards Chu Xuan's ankles.
"Good guy, bind someone as soon as you come?" Chu Xuan laughed, tapped his toes lightly, moved his figure three feet sideways as if he were skating, and with his right hand together, he drew a sword spell: "Cold Star · Frost Descent!"
Whoosh --
The white mist sword gas swept over the surface of the vine instantly covered it with ice crystals, "crack" it broke into several pieces, and the crushed ice splashed.
Zhou Qing's expression changed slightly, but he remained calm. He clasped his palms together and his spiritual energy surged wildly: "Qingmu Shield!" "
Boom!
A large wooden shield, condensed with green light, rose up in front of him, its face flowing with runes, full of vitality.
"I see how you break it!" Zhou Qing gritted his teeth, beads of sweat trickling down his forehead.
Chu Xuan narrowed his eyes, his palm facing up, and his spiritual energy gathered like a stream, condensing into a fist-sized ice-blue light ball. Inside the light ball, cold stars swirled, beautiful but dangerous.
"Cold Star · Condensed Glow."
He flicked his finger, and the light ball flew out slowly, seemingly lightly, but at the moment it touched the wooden shield --
Bang!
The ice light exploded, cold stars flew, the wooden shield was pierced by countless tiny ice cones, the green light collapsed and turned into a sky full of dust.
Zhou Qing was shaken by the aftershock and took three steps back in a row. Blood and qi gushed in his chest. Just as he was about to make another gesture, a cold sword tip was already touched to his brow.
"Are you going to fight again?" Chu Xuan asked in a relaxed tone as if he were asking "Have you eaten?"
Zhou Qing smiled wryly and bowed his hands to admit defeat: "Senior brother is more skilled. I'm convinced."
Whoosh --
The crowd burst into thunderous applause.
"Beautiful! One move to break the shield, one move to defeat the enemy, clean and neat!"
"Is this the Cold Star Sword Technique? I admire it!"
"Handsome and strong, does it give people a chance to survive?" "
In the shadows of the high platform, Ling Qingxue had a deeper smile in her eyes: This is just right.
...
Off the stage, Wang Tiezhu clapped his hands foolishly: "Brother Chu is so handsome!"
Lin Hao stroked his chin and muttered in a low voice, "Something is wrong, Zhou Qing is too cooperative, as if she had been greeted in advance..."
Before he could finish his words, a disciple beside him exclaimed, "Look, Zhao Tianlei is on!"
In the third ring, Zhao Tianlei's opponent was a female disciple of the seventh level of Qi Refinement, named Su Qianqian, who was skilled in water curtain technique and had a gentle personality.
The gong rang out.
Zhao Tianlei did not exchange pleasantry, did not bow, drew his sword directly, his figure flashed like a ghost, and the sword glinted with a shrill screeching --
"Blaze Slash!"
Boom!
The fire waves rolled, the water curtain evaporated instantly, and before Su Qianqian could utter a scream, the sword light reached her chest.
"Puff!"
Blood splashed and the girl was thrown out of the ring like a kite with a broken string, landing heavily, her chest stained red with blood.
"Qian Qian!"
"Too much!"
"We're all from the same school. Is there any need to kill?"
The crowd was in an uproar, and angry glances all shot towards the arena.
Zhao Tianlei, however, shook the bloodstain on his sword and laughed coldly: "Magic has no eyes, she reacts too slowly, blame me?"
On the high platform, Ling Qingxue's eyes instantly turned cold, and a faint glow of coldness appeared on her fingertips.
On the other side of the stone pillar, Elder Li spoke indifferently: "In the magic competition, injuries are inevitable. Let's move on to the next group."
One sentence silenced all the protests.
...
Chu Xuan looked towards the third ring, a flash of cold light in his eyes.
"The murderous intent is so intense, is it for me to see?"
He muttered to himself, his palm had been covered with a thin layer of frost at some point.
"Next group, Chu Xuan against Zhao Tianlei!" A disciple of the deacon declared loudly.
The crowd was boiling again.
"Here it comes, here it comes, the final showdown!"
"One ice and one fire, there's a show to watch!"
"Zhao Tianlei just seriously injured Su Qianqian, clearly establishing authority, Chu Xuan is in danger!"
Chu Xuan moved his wrist and strode towards the third ring, his back as straight as a sword.
"Danger?" The young man chuckled, his voice spreading through the wind, "It's my opponent who's in danger."
...
On the ring, Zhao Tianlei stood with his sword in hand, with blood dripping from the tip of the sword and bloodshot eyes, like a Wolf that had been hungry for three days.
"Chu Xuan, it's finally your turn." " He grinned, his teeth pale, "I'll make you worse off than Su Qianqian."
Chu Xuan stopped, his right hand pressed the hilt of the sword, and his voice was soft but clear: "Zhao Tianlei, that one of your swords just now --"
"Too slow."
Boom!
The ice-blue sword intent soared into the sky, and the cold stars spread across half of the ring.
The battle has begun.
"Too slow."
Three words hit the ring like three ice cones, freezing the air to crack.
Zhao Tianlei was stunned for a moment, his face twisted instantly: "Slow? Then try something fast!"
With a stomp of his feet, the fire spirit power was poured into the arena, and crimson fire snakes shot out from the cracks of the blue bricks, piercing Chu Xuan's ankle.
"Blazing Snake Dance!"
The fire snake was so fast that in the blink of an eye it wrapped Chu Xuan's legs into a fire cage.
The audience burst into exclamations: "Good guy, you're going to open up?"
In the fire waves, the young man's voice was terrifyingly steady: "Cold Star · Ninghui."
A speck of ice blue lit up in the center of the fire snake, "pop" into a sky full of stardust, and the fire snake was frozen into ice sculptures, "crack" all over the ground.
"Is that all?" Chu Xuan shook the hem of his clothes, and the Martian ice swarmed as if a polar day meteor shower had fallen.
Zhao Tianlei's eyes were twitching, his teeth were biting with a creaking sound, and he suddenly clasped his hands together: "Fire Crow Technique!" "
Whoosh --
A dozen or so firecrows flapped their wings and, with the scorching wind, blocked Chu Xuan's way out.
"Quite a number, but the temperature is not high enough." Chu Xuan chuckled, his toes pointed, and his figure skated through the crevices of the fire crows. Wherever he passed, the fire crows were brushed by the Cold Star sword qi, instantly frozen into ice birds, "thump thump thump" smashed onto the ring, shattering into red ice all over the ground.
The audience had already been stunned.
"Is this the Cold Star Sword Technique? "Fire Nemesis!"
"Zhao Tianlei's fire spirit root is crushed so badly, hahaha!"
In the shadows of the high platform, Ling Qingxue tapped the balustrade with her fingertips. Frost spread along the wood grain, and her eyes fell on that effortless figure. The curve of her mouth could no longer be suppressed: "Frost, Radiance, Starfall... Three moves in a row, you pass."
...
The fire spell failed one after another, and Zhao Tianlei's eyes almost burst with blood. He bit his tongue and spat a mouthful of blood on the blade.
"Flame Soul Slash!"
The long sword turned crimson in an instant, and the tongue of fire shot up three feet high, with a bloody and sinister aura, and struck Chu Xuan's face.
"Risking your life?" Chu Xuan raised his eyebrows, and with his right hand pointing together, the Cold Moon sword drew an inch from its scabbard, and the cold light burst. "Then I'll give you a quick relief --"
"Cold Star, starfall!"
Fingertip sword qi turned into an ice-blue meteor, dragging a long tail flame, crashing head-on into the Flame Soul Slash.
Boom!
Ice and fire intermingled, white mist rose, and the arena ground was blown into a large pit, with rubble flying everywhere.
The mist dissipated, and everyone saw Zhao Tianlei kneeling on one knee. His long sword was broken into two pieces, and the hem of his chest was torn open by the cold air, with his skin turning bluish-purple.
Chu Xuan stood at the edge of the pit, his hem fluttering, not even a strand of his hair disheveled.
"Admit defeat?" He asked in a soft voice, as if asking "Have you eaten?"
Zhao Tianlei's throat roared like a beast, and he lunged up, his broken sword piercing Chu Xuan's throat: "I recognize your mother --"
Snap!
The ice-blue sheath struck across the air, hitting his wrist. The broken sword flew out of his hand, and with a "ding", it pierced the edge of the ring. The blade buzzed.
"Keep your mouth clean." Chu Xuan narrowed his eyes, his voice soft but cold, "One more curse, I'll freeze your tongue to death."
Zhao Tianlei, intimidated by the cold, finally came to his senses. His face turned bluish-red, but he dared not strike again.
"Zhao Tianlei loses his fighting power, Chu Xuan wins!" The disciples of the deacon shouted at the right time.
Whoosh --
Applause, whistles, cheers, a deafening roar.
"Strong! Ice and fire, crushing victory!"
"The Fire Nemesis lives up to its name!"
"Zhao Tianlei is completely defeated, his face is swollen, hahaha!"
...
Below the stage, Elder Li's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot, his knuckles crackling, but there was nothing he could do.
Ling Qingxue turned and disappeared into the shadow, the corner of her lips lifted under her veil, revealing for the first time an undisguised smile: "The cold star has just bloomed, you are qualified."
Chu Xuan drew his sword, clasped his fists in all directions, and smiled nonchalantly, "Please pass. Next one."
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly bent down and picked up a fiery red fragment from the ground --
That was the remaining blade of Zhao Tianlei's broken sword, still warm but eroded by the cold, with cracks all over.
The young man touched the crack with his fingertip and said in a low, barely audible voice:
"If the murderous intent is too intense, the sword will break and the heart will crack."
He raised his hand, and the blade turned into ice chips and was blown away by the wind.
High up in the audience, a grey-robed disciple quietly withdrew, with a note between his fingertips, which read --
"Ring No. 7, the copper pillar on the west side has been tampered with."
The mouth of the man in the grey robe curled up, and his voice was so low that only he could hear it: "The game is getting more and more interesting."
...
As the sun sets, the competition is over.
Chu Xuan's group walked along the path back to the house, and Lin Hao jumped excitedly: "So cool! That move of yours starfall froze the Fire raven into an ice bird, and I almost knelt down and called Dad!
Wang Tiezhu chuckled, "I'll lie down and win, and lie down again next time!"
Zhang Asheng whispered, "I... I didn't use the drug powder, I'll make up for it next time!"
Chu Xuan shook his head with a smile, suddenly sensing a movement, and turned his head sharply --
On the treetops far away, the grey-robed disciple raised his cup from afar, made a "toasting" gesture to him, and vanished in a flash.
The young man squinted his eyes, and a note had appeared in his palm at some point --
"In the actual battle, there are more than one hidden stake, and the seventh copper pillar is just the beginning."
The wind blew, and the note turned into ice chips between the fingers.
Chu Xuan looked up at the gradually darkening sky and smiled softly, "Let's start. Who's afraid of whom?"
The silhouette was drawn long by the setting sun, like a sword just drawn from its scabbard, with a cold glint.