"Impossible!"
Cang Zhong whirled around to glare at me.
"How the hell did you clear the Nine Heavenly Swords Formation? You must have cheated!"
"Cheated?" I snorted. "Do you have any evidence?"
Cang Zhong jabbed an accusing finger at me. "You're just a little brat at the Earth realm, how could you possibly have cleared the Nine Heavenly Swords Formation? If this isn't cheating, then what is?"
"Who says you need to be of a specific realm to clear the Nine Heavenly Swords Formation?" I retorted. Then I shook my head and sighed. "No wonder nobody has cleared the formation in a century. You're all so obsessed with cultivation realms that you didn't see the Nine Heavenly Swords Formation for what it truly is."
"You…you…! You're talking nonsense! How dare you presume to lecture me on formations?!" Cang Zhong spluttered furiously, his hands gesticulating wildly.
"Elder Cang! That's enough!"
Cang Zhong panicked and immediately lowered his head, clasping his hands as he bowed deeply. I turned around and caught sight of a middle-aged man in blue and golden robes. He had an imposing appearance, and I could sense the tremendous tsunami of qi rolling off him This guy…he had to be a Silver Moon realm practitioner…no, an Astral Stars realm at least!
"My respects to Director Shen Jian."
At Cang Zhong's reverential address, I stiffened. So this was the inner director, someone who was of the highest rank in Ten Thousand Swords University. More importantly, he had more authority than this corrupted Cang Zhong.
On the other hand, he might be on the side of his elder, so as to save face for his academy. I couldn't celebrate too soon yet.
"Director Shen!" Xia Xing Yue hurried over. "You've finally come! I trust you've seen the report I sent to you?"
"I have, indeed. Not just a complaint from you, but also the commotion it raised all over social media. Our public relations team is managing it for now, but it has been a disaster." Shen Jian glared at Cang Zhong. "You've really done it now, Elder Cang."
"No, I…"
"Elder Cang…for abusing your authority to settle a personal feud and displaying prejudice against a candidate taking the academy exam, you will be stripped of your position and demoted to admin staff. You are to report to the clerical office at the back of the mountain starting tomorrow and cease all handling of student affairs. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir…"
Cang Zhong looked gloomy, but it was clear that he didn't dare to go against the director's word. He gnashed his teeth, but was wise enough not to glare in my direction.
Shen Jian then turned to me and placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Even though I have no idea how you cleared the Nine Heavenly Swords Formation, but it's clear that you have the qualifications to join our Ten Thousand Swords Academy as an elite student."
He glanced at Xia Xing Yue and smiled.
"You'll be on par with the other elite students such Student Xia. Student Xia, I'll be entrusting this boy to you. Take good care of him."
"Understood." Xia Xing Yue bowed deeply.
"Isn't this great?" Hu Mei Er cheered. She nodded at the other girls, all of them exchanging high fives. "Justice has been served!"
"Thank you, sir." I also bowed my head. However, before I could say anything else, there was a cry from the direction of the Xia sisters.
Turning around, I caught sight of Xia Xing Ling collapsing. Xia Xing Yue sprang forward and caught her sister before she could hit the ground.
"Ling Er!"
"What happened?!" All of us crowded around Xia Xing Ling. Her cold qi had gotten a lot worse, and ice was forming across the ground. Hu Mei Er's group was forced to back off or get frozen. As for me, I was able to withstand the vicious cold because of my Heaven and Earth Formula.
Similarly, Xia Xing Yue was probably able to endure the cold because she practiced the ice techniques from the same sect where her sister learned the forbidden technique.
"This…" Shen Jian approached, studying the stricken girl. He frowned and shook his head. "It's too late for this young girl. The cold poisoned qi inside her body is out of control. She only has an hour left before her body is frozen to death."
"No way!" Xia Xing Yue cried out. "How…?!"
I bit my lip, using my qi sense to probe. To my horror, I saw that Shen Jian was right. The vicious cold qi was eating away at Xia Xing Ling's body at an incredible rate, her physical form gradually crumbling. She had done well to endure to this point, but her body had finally reached its limit.
How to put it? It was as if the vessel could no longer contain the contents that were expanding within it. Like a tightly sealed container inside a microwave, where the air was expanding rapidly within it, only to blow the vessel open after reaching the breaking point.
There was nothing we could do…
"Director Shen!" Xia Xing Yue pleaded, clasping her sister close to her bosom. "Is there anything you can do?! Please save my sister!"
"I'm afraid there is nothing I can do."
"The doctors! Don't we have three doctors at Ten Thousand Swords University?! Please…!"
"I'm calling them right now, but they won't make it in time. I don't know if they can even do anything." Shen Jian was holding his smartphone to his ear. "Perhaps they might be able to suppress the cold qi in your sister's body temporarily, but even so it will only be a short fix. The cold qi will continue to remain in her body, threatening to erupt anytime. Like now."
He listened and then cursed.
"None of them are picking up my calls!"
"W…what do we do?!"
"Sister…sorry…don't worry…I know…my condition can't be…cured." Xia Xing Ling forced a smile, even as tears ran down her face. She placed a hand on her sister's arm, even as Xia Xing Yue sobbed uncontrollably.
"Sorry, Ling Er…your sister is useless. I'm sorry…"
"Sister, please don't…cry…"
Xia Xing Ling placed a hand on her sister's face.
"To…to be able to in the embrace of my sister…I feel very blessed. I hope…I can be your sister again in my next life…"
Wow…this was getting overly dramatic.
"Damn it! Doctor Yi too? Why are none of them picking up their calls?" Shen Jian cursed. Then he listened. "What? He's in the middle of an emergency surgery? Ask him to come once he's done! I understand. Just…tell him as soon as possible."
"Ling Er…"
"Sorry, sister…I can't…"
"Ha ha ha ha!" Cang Zhong roared in laughter when he witnessed the tragedy. "Siding with a trash like Shu Cong…heaven is punishing you for your sins! Who asked you to take the side of the rascal who dared to hit my grandson?"
Wow…the guy was shifting the blame to me now, and taking delight in the suffering of others. He really couldn't be saved.
However, I had no time to waste on the likes of him. I scratched my head and desperately racked my brain for a solution. Was I going to see someone die in front of me? There had to be something I could do. But what?
Damn, it was cold…but I refused to leave Xia Xing Ling's side during what might be her final moments. She was suffering worse than all of us. She must be really cold, the frosty yin qi ravaging her body like this. If only there was a way to warm her up…
At that moment, a memory faintly surfaced in my head. Something about flames. In my desperation, I was wondering stupidly if dousing her in fire would burn away the cold, but I had dismissed it because obviously Xia Xing Ling would be killed in the process.
However, what if I used flames that were not normal?
Spirit flames…miraculous flames with recuperative properties. Wasn't that what Na Lan Yan Ran said about her phoenix's spirit flames?
That's it!
"Magic Carp! I choose you!"
"Carp!"
My spirit beast appeared beside me, hovering at my shoulder. Hu Mei Er and her friends stared at him, astonished.
"What…what do you plan to do?"
"A gamble." I turned to Xia Xing Yue. "Do you trust me?"
"At this point, I would trust the devil if he popped out of hell and told me he had a way to save my sister," she replied fiercely. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she glanced at my magic carp. "What do you have in mind?"
"Magic Carp, regurgitate the spirit flames you swallowed earlier."
My spirit beast obeyed immediately, his mouth yawning wide open. The spirit flames of the phoenix that he had devoured flowed out, taking the form of a majestic bird. I stretched out a hand and manipulated the spirit flames into flowing onto my palm.
Taking a deep breath, I decided to stake everything on this. Infusing the spirit flames with my qi, I used my Heavenly Flow and Earthly Paths to alter its properties, to ensure that it didn't indiscriminately burn whatever it touched.
All that was left was its characteristics of rejuvenation and healing. A truly miraculous flames.
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Cang Zhong hollered when he saw the spirit flames that I now wielded at my fingertips. "Such a priceless spirit flame, and you decide to use it to save a trash girl instead? What a waste! It's really a waste!"
"Shut up, old man!" I snapped at him. "This is mine, and only I have the right to decide how I want to use it."
Inwardly, I wondered how priceless this spirit flame really was. I obtained it pretty easily, all things considered. If I was really desperate enough for another of this spirit flame, I could simply challenge Na Lan Yan Ran again and trick her into ordering her phoenix to unleash its so-called priceless spirit flames upon me. My magic carp would then use Devouring the Heavens to swallow and store it for when I might need it again.
However, I obviously didn't intend to tell Cang Zhong that. Instead, I pointed at Xia Xing Ling while giving the spirit flames a mental command. The miraculous fire took the form of a phoenix before swooping upon Xia Xing Ling's body and suffusing her.
"Hot!" Xia Xing Yue backed away slightly, perspiration running down her face. Even so, she gritted her teeth and endured, refusing to be parted from her sister. Not that she had a choice. The phoenix lifted Xia Xing Ling away from her hands and she could only watch in awe from a distance as her sister was held aloft in the air.
"Amazing!" Hu Mei Er gasped.
For a moment, it seemed that my gambit had failed. The flames erupted into a ferocious inferno that looked as if they were devouring Xia Xing Ling.
"Ling Er!" Xia Xing Yue cried out in panic.
"No, don't worry." Breathing heavily, I placed a hand on Xia Xing Ling's shoulder to stop her. "This spirit fire is merely combating the cold poison. Your sister will be fine."
Or so I hoped. Even though I was the one who said that, inwardly I was far from confident. I watched as the spirit flames clashed against the devilish frosty yin qi that once dominated Xia Xing Ling and drove her to the verge of death.
"Come on," I muttered under my breath. "Don't fail me now."
As if it had heard my plea, the phoenix soared high up and spread its wings, seeming to let out a silent but defiant screech toward the heavens. The blue cold poison rose like a tsunami, threatening to wash over the phoenix and drown it in ice, but the majestic bird of legend found within itself a new source of strength. Crimson flames burst to life, burning away the cold azure fog of toxic yin qi.
For a moment, it seemed that both elemental forces were at a stalemate, neither one of them able to suppress the other. I swallowed and took a step, wondering if I could do anything. Perhaps if I infused the spirit flames with more of my qi…?
I never got the chance to do that. The crimson flames erupted once more, blinding everyone in the vicinity.
"Ling Er!"
Even as I heard Xia Xing Yue cry out in worry, I couldn't help but wonder if my gambit had failed.