The sixth round and semifinals came around finally. Everyone was eagerly watching the matches, wondering who of the last four would advance to the final round.
This time, I was actually invested in both matches. Yeah, I was participating in the second match, but the first match caught my interest because my friend was in it.
Chi Yan would be facing off against Bai Ning Shuang. No prizes for guessing who I wanted to win.
"Go, Chi Yan!" I yelled from my spectator seat. "Kick her ass!"
Chi Yan didn't turn to me, but he raised a fist to acknowledge my cheer. His attention was completely focused on his opponent. Bai Ning Shuang was standing on the other side of the stage, calm and composed as ever. As usual, that condescending, indifferent expression where she wasn't looking at her opponent but her gaze was directed at somewhere far away.
The red-haired fire user narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything. He was similarly arrogant, so he wasn't offended by her casual disregard. However, he wasn't delusional enough to dismiss her strength either. He was aware of how powerful the Divine Spirit Body was.
Cheng Kun chortled, glancing at Wu Xing, the patriarch of the Elemental Mountain Sect. "Of all your disciples, I didn't think that this ruffian brat would make it to the semifinals. Did you? Or perhaps this so-called brute was secretly trained and given all sorts of resources? That was a great trick, to have him behave so errantly and be ostracized by the rest of his sect, only to actually be your sect's greatest trump card. You're so cunning, I can't believe you pulled the wool over all of our eyes."
Wu Xing, an old man with white beard running down his face and long white brows, simply held up his hand in front of his chest. "Chi Yan was never an errant disciple. You all decided to judge him as such on your own. He is simply someone who chooses to be alone and pursues a different path from other people."
He then smiled.
"However, recently, it appears that he has made some friends. Perhaps he will behave more in line with how you would expect a core disciple to? Not that I care. My sect is not one who polices the behavior of our disciples. We know there are many paths to cultivation. Some choose solitude because it suits them best for some time, but always they will return to their nest or go out to form their own."
"Pretentious," Cheng Kun sneered and leaned back in his chair. "No matter. We'll see the brightest spark of your sect get snuffed out by our unprecedented prodigy."
"If it is his fate to fall to defeat, then so be it." Wu Xing remained unruffled. "No one is invincible. People grow from failures. It would simply be an opportunity for him to learn and become stronger, as long as he doesn't allow this setback to weigh him down. On the other hand, if he wins, that in itself presents another great opportunity."
"Heh." Cheng Kun scoffed. "The five vein spirit pill belongs to Bai Ning Shuang. There is nobody who can defeat her! You'll see!"
"We'll see," Wu Xing agreed affably. "Though I wouldn't be too sure if I were you. The heavens are fickle. It might not be my sect's Chi Yan, but perhaps one of the talented individuals from the other major sects might be able to fight on par with your sect's Divine Spirit Body."
"Don't be ridiculous!" Cheng Kun sneered. "No one can defeat Ning Shuang!" He turned back to his disciple. "Ning Shuang! Show everyone your true power! Don't hold back!"
Bai Ning Shuang acknowledged her sect patriarch with the faintest of nods. But she remained standing, waiting for the referee. Chi Yan did the same thing, not at all bothered by the old men's exchange. I wasn't sure if he even paid any attention to their dialogue.
Chi Yan was always the type to go at his own pace.
The referee glanced from one participant to the other before sighing. Raising his hand, he swung it down.
"Let the match begin!"
And they moved immediately, though at different speeds. Chi Yan rushed forward, drawing his black broadsword and endowing it with flames. In contrast, Bai Ning Shuang sat down and took her zither out. Her fingers strummed across the strings and unleashed soul techniques that took the form of music.
However, Chi Yan was no pushover. Essence flames engulfed his body, forming a divine fiery barrier that protected him from the musical notes and soul attacks. They dissipated harmlessly against his essence flames, and he swung his black ruler down on Bai Ning Shuang.
She frowned and used her zither to block the blow, only for it to be reduced to burned splinters. Rolling away from the shower of sparks and the remnants of her destroyed zither, Bai Ning Shuang drew her sword. Dropping to a knee, she parried Chi Yan's next blow, her azure and white qi combating against his crimson flames.
"Break for me!" Chi Yan yelled and his essence flames took the form of a dragon that roared silently and devoured his opponent. Taking a deep breath, Bai Ning Shuang gathered immense amounts of soul qi into her sword and sliced the dragon apart, freeing herself. As she dropped onto the ground, parts of her robes scorched, she twisted around to deflect Chi Yan's next strike. The two of them sprang apart in a rain of sparks, sliding to a good distance away.
Slamming his feet against the ground, Chi Yan bent his knees and propelled himself forward once more. Similiarly, Bai Ning Shuang kicked off the floor and surged forward, thrusting her sword at her opponent. They clashed once before skidding past each other, azure-white qi colliding against crimson qi ferociously.
Then the two of them spun around to face each other once again. Red essence flames clashed against azure-white qi, blowing up the middle of the arena and leaving a crater. Despite the devastation around them, Chi Yan and Bai Ning Shuang contined trading blows, hammering their swords against each other.
No, perhaps that was inaccurate. Where Chi Yan's blows were heavy and overpowering, Bai Ning Shuang's strokes were subtle and precise, deflecting her opponent's attacks to the side rather than meeting them head-on. They were both at a similar cultivation realm, with Chi Yan being a level or two above her. However, Bai Ning Shuang's Divine Spirit Body apparently gave her some sort of innate advantage and allowed her to fight on par with a stronger opponent.
Strength wasn't everything, though. Bai Ning Shuang was also making use of skills to avoid a disadvantageous head-on confrontation, relying more on guile to deflect attacks instead of blocking them directly. She cut through the flames and evaded as best as she could, causing most of Chi Yan's raw strength to instead mete out its rage on the surroundings.
An inferno burned around them, ravenously devouring the air and rock. These weren't normal flames – they were essence flames. Perhaps in another story, Chi Yan would be a Mary Sue character with a ghost of a master and a top alchemist slash receptarier. But come on, it's not so easy for people to become alchemists slash receptariers on top of being a super strong martial artist or warrior. Also, it appeared that too many people relied on spirit pills and elixirs to boost their cultivation, which wasn't a good thing.
As the White Herb Sect taught, these supplements should only be used to, well, supplement your training. Not drive it.
Honestly, the five veined spirit pill didn't really appeal to me. Even for the White Herb Sect, to concoct such a high level pill was difficult, but it wasn't impossible. Nonetheless, I agreed with many of the spectators. The Azure Water Sect ought to be brought down a peg.
Hopefully Chi Yan would be able to defeat Bai Ning Shuang.
The red-haired fire user was trying his best, though. He unleashed a lotus shaped inferno that scorched the entire arena. Bai Ning Shuang fell back, coughing from the smoke. Her divine azure-white qi was slowly being burned away by the essence flames, but she extinguished them with a tremendous burst of soul techniques. Azure-white qi emanated from her like rain, washing away the essence flames.
"What!? How is that possible?!"
"Essence flames aren't that easily extinguished. Not even by water technques!"
"As expected of the Divine Spirit Body…her soul techniques are on a different level!"
The spectators were amazed. Even Chi Yan was impresssed, though he narrowed his eyes to watch his opponent carefully. He exhaled and considered his next move, lifting up his broadsword to prepare for another stance. Flames trailed the huge blade as he slashed at Bai Ning Shuang, but she ducked under it and deflected the next blow.
Scraping her foot against the ground, she whirled around to deliver a riposte and counter with another thrust, but Chi Yan wielded his heavy broadsword with surprising dexterity, blocking both blows in succession. Essence flames continued to flow from his large sword to engulf Bai Ning Shuang, but she simply dispersed them with her soul techniques.
Twirling her sword about, she slashed at what appeared to be an unprotected part of Chi Yan's neck, but he brought his broadsword up to block it before kicking her away. Bai Ning Shuang blocked his foot with her knee and allowed herself to be pushed back several steps.
"Heaven and Man as One: Divine Spirit Embodiment Descent," she whispered and slid her hand across her blade. A gigantic goddess manifested before her, made entirely from white and azure qi, and slammed a palm down on Chi Yan. He countered her titanic strike with his lotus shaped essence flames, which exploded upon contact.
The goddess stumbled back, her hand smoking, but she remained largely intact. Meanwhile, the spectators went wild.
"Heaven and Man as One?! She actually mastered it?!"
"I thought you could only grasp Heaven and Man as One after you reach the Saint Realm?!"
"How did she…?"
"Don't tell me…she's already at Saint Realm!?"
"It's a soul technique called Divine Spirit Ascension Boost," Cheng Kun explained with a grin. "It allows her to temporarily boost her cultivation realm from Innate Realm to Saint Realm. It comes with a cost, of course, but it's totally worth it."
What kind of fucking technique was that?! I had never heard of such a thing before. Wouldn't such a technique practically made one invincible?
Chi Yan wasn't discouraged. He simply attacked once more, unleashing another lotus flames. This time, the red flames turned cyan and he used his strongest flames to incinerate everything within the arena. The goddess appeared to shriek silently as she was burned by the incredible flames, but she withstood it somehow and slammed both hands against the stage.
The arena exploded.
"Ugh! What destructive power!"
"Whoa!"
The spectators were buffeted by shockwaves, almost hurled from their seats and rocked by the impact. I blinked and watched the slowly clearing smoke. Chi Yan was on his knees, blood trickling from his mouth and a few wounds. He leaned on his broadsword, embers flickering around him.
"Not bad." Bai Ning Shuang was looking down on him, her eyes cold and indifferent. "To think you would force me to use Divine Spirit Ascension Boost."
"It's not over yet," Chi Yan snapped. "Don't talk as if I've lost yet!"
"Oh, really?" Bai Ning Shuang closed her eyes briefly. The goddess she summoned loomed over Chi Yan and smashed her palm against the poor guy. Chi Yan quickly swung his broadsword to release another torrent of cyan flames, which incinerated the goddess's already scorched arm. Even as it crumbled, the goddess's plam was able to land a direct hit before bursting apart into ash.
Chi Yan was slammed ito the ground, his body drilled into a crater. Fortunately, he had destroyed most of the goddess's arm, which meant he reduced most of the impact and avoided a fatal hit. Even so, he had lost consciousness.
Bai Ning Shuang staggered back, her arms burned. The injuries on her goddess were replicated on her, some sort of psychostigmatic feedback. She fell to her knees and coughed blood even as her goddess vanished from sight and her cultivation realm plummeted back to Innate Realm. Despite her severe wounds, it was clear that she had won.
Just barely, but a victory was a victory.
The referee watched the devastation, stunned, but he managed to raise his hand.
"The match is over! The winner is Bai Ning Shuang of Azure Water Sect!"
There were a few cheers, but for the most part, the spectators were still in tremendous shock from what they had just witnessed.