The next fight was between two of the senior disciples, both at the Balance Attainment level – One wielding a spiked mace and the other a sword and shield.
It was a fairly equal fight; the mace is an oppressive weapon with the weight it can put behind its attacks and the spikes making it highly lethal, the person that was using it didn't overextend their attacks and instead just focused on breaking through the defence of his opponent, making sure to not be caught off guard by counterattacks from the sword.
The fight began to change when the shield wielder began to use a technique that manipulated earth creating soft ground to trip the mace user up and then a spike came out of nowhere seemingly going to pierce his chest-
Yet all that was heard was a clang as the spike slid off the cloth and skin like stone to metal, which was then followed by an incredibly lethal mace swing reinforced by a Metal type technique which boosted the sharpness of the spikes and the strength of the users body, the sudden increase in power bore a hole cleanly through the shield and then hit the wielder square In the chest.
The match ended then and there.
After that was the third match of the first round.
Bai Lian walked gracefully to the stage under the eyes of the crows, many recognised her because of her clan, and many began cheering, but she was unbothered.
In her hands she carried a weapon that seemed unsuitable for her at a glance, it was a glaive simple in design with a clean metal blade adorned with snowflake patterns, it was slightly taller than her so once might thought it would be unwieldy, yet she carried it with grace.
She took a deep breath before breathing out, her cold breath turning to a white mist under the warm air as her eyes opened, her blue irises glimmering with chilly frost as she stared across the stage.
Yet she only glanced at her opponent for a mere second, her eyes met with a distant pair.
In a sectioned off part of the crowd there were a few people sitting comfortably in seats, a few elders along with the Sect Master, which was unusual for this level of tournament, yet no-one questioned it; Her disciple was here after all.
But her eyes locked with one of the disciples standing in front of them with his arms crossed, eyes glaring with interest as he stared at the stage.
'Bai Shun' the name flickered in her mind, he was one of her many cousins and one that belonged to a lesser family in the Bai clan.
The Bai clan prioritised those with compatibility with their core inheritance – Ice Qi – and Bai Shun lacked such, he had a weak compatibility with water Qi thus he should have been left as a weaker member, unnoticed and forgotten, yet he hadn't given up, he trained his strong points to an extreme and gained permission to join this sect to further his cultivation, he was then granted the name 'Bai' and adopted in to the main clan.
And recently he had earned the position of core disciple, earning him plenty of praise from the clan.
Although she hadn't spoke with him much, she respected him because of his determination and because of that –
'I can't make myself look bad!' She thought to herself.
She had many goals for her future, and for all of them she needed to be strong, she couldn't be a mere girl of the Bai clan existing as a side piece to someone else in the future!
She took her stance, glaring deeply at her opponent.
She didn't remember his name, but that didn't matter, he was a mere steppingstone.
"BEGIN!" The announcer called out.
In an instant, the Ice QI in her body surged.
…
Bai Shun watched on as the fight began, he already felt nervous as he had the Sect Master herself, sitting just a few meters behind him and now as he watched someone from his clan debut for the first time in public he couldn't help but be a little worried.
'I wonder what has become of that girl from back then?' He looked at Bai Lian as her Qi began to surge.
He was a few years older than her, so the last time he had met her before she entered the sect was nearly a decade ago, she was just a small girl not even capable of cultivation.
She was a kind child, not too interested in cultivation and more interested in anything her mother did.
That was before 'that' incident happened.
The Bai Clan and the Huo clan had been at each other's throats since they formed, their patriarchs were rivals since they were young and as their clans grew it became more than a simple rivalry; The clansmen's temperaments were opposite one another so an almost natural blood feud formed between the two.
There had been many skirmishes between the two about resource or land despite their clans making their homes at the opposite sides of the country, there had been losses on both sides but every time it was settled through the interception from Iris.
For a long time there was a cold war between the two, yet one incident broke that silence; A large caravan carrying Bai clansmen was attacked just under a decade ago, the result was many dead, multiple missing.
And one survivor.
That survivor was Bai Lian.
She had been encased in ice, a last resort for protection a Bai member could use, it was a technique called Everlasting Embrace, it would protect someone in a lifesaving, healing block of ice that wouldn't ever break or shatter at the cost of great amounts of life force.
The only thing that could release the seal was a direct family member's blood of the one who cast the sea, when she had been found it was her Father who hadn't been with them that had unsealed her.
Evidently, the one who had cast the seal was her own mother who had disappeared.
They questioned her of course, they wanted to know what happened, who caused this disaster.
She could only remember one thing, eyes that blazed with fire as she was cut down and the scent of ash.
It wasn't much to go off, but everyone there knew exactly who the culprit was, the clan entered an uproar as the prepared to march on the Huo clan, but they were stopped by the patriarch.
They had no solid proof, the testimony of a child meant nothing; They had no ground to move on.
That day, an all-out war between the two was stopped, yet the cold war had ended.
Conflict between the two was now a regular occurrence, even Iris has been unable to quell it.
Bai Shun was lucky, he had joined the sect just before the incident, so he hadn't gotten caught up in anything, but he had been forced to participate in skirmishes if he was caught on a sect mission.
Because of this he was worried, if this girl was a wallflower, she wouldn't even be able to leave the sect!
Yet at that very moment, his worries were whisked away from a frigid wind.
The moment the battle began the temperature of the arena dropped, below Bai Lian's feet the stone became covered in a thin layer of ice and tiny flakes of snow began growing in the air around her.
Bai Shun felt a chill down his spine.
"Rime Flow Domain?!" He had trouble believing what he was seeing, so much so that he blurted out his thoughts.
"Is it really that?" And elder looked at him and asked.
"Ah- Um… sorry" He apologised for raising his voice, glancing at the Sect Master to make sure she wasn't angry.
"You don't need to apologise! I told you before you need more confidence!" Another elder, one with short grey hair and a muscular stature; It was the Elder from the Battle Division known as Zhi Wu.
"Just answer the question" The elder asked impatiently.
"I'm sure" Bai Shun replied as he returned his gaze to the battle.
Rime Flow Domain was a technique exclusive to the main clan, and only usable by owners of an ice type core flame, it required copious amounts of ice qi and potent qi at that, not just that it required a high degree of comprehension of the ice element.
'But to have such a thing at a young age like her… what kind of training did she put herself through?' He couldn't imagine that small girl from back then doing such a thing.
'Did that event really change her that much?' He questioned.
Suddenly, Bai Lian began moving; But she didn't take any steps instead she began gliding along the floor like friction didn't exist.
Her opponent was startled feeling the cold began to invade his body, goosebumps rose from his skin as he even felt the metal of his sword begin to drop in temperature, it was slow but noticeable.
He didn't wait another second and held his free palm out towards Bai Lian.
A light grew exponentially from his palm before-
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A massive glob of flame the size of a beachball began flying through the air, its heat creating a wind that pushed the cold aside as it darted straight for Bai Lian, at its size it was highly likely that it would hit.
She didn't panic, she glanced at the coming ball of fire and span her glaive like she was dancing, at it span the icy wind gathered around the blade forming a blade of ice, the moment before the hot blob arrived she gracefully leapt in the air and used the glaive, slashing overhead and downwards on to the flames.
'She's going to intercept it?!' Many watched closely at her graceful movements.
The glaive left a trail of frigid air as it arced through the air, the moment it impacted with the flames-
*BANG*
It wasn't a flame explosion, instead the sound of shattering followed by a great impact occurred, a strong gust of wind engulfed the area followed by a fine mist that enshrouded a small portion of the arena.
"What?! Did she hurt herself with that?!" A crowd member yelled out.
"We can't see anything". Another complained.
"Surely she wouldn't be able to see either right?" An elder directed a question towards Bai Shun who pursed him lips awkwardly.
"No, she'll be fine" He didn't want to speak more of the Bai clan's techniques than he had already.
"Rime Blade huh, she had been quiet since she entered the sect, so I wasn't sure but she's definitely skilled" Instead, it was the Sect Master herself that spoke out with an impressed grin on her face.
"Sect Master…" Bai Shun looked reluctant as he spoke to her.
She merely waved him off "Ah don't worry I won't say too much, I know how you clans want to keep everything secretive".
"…Thank you" He sighed in relief as he looked at the mist covered stage.
'Even Rime Blade… I wonder just how her position in the clan is if she's this skilled…' He hadn't returned to the clan since, she he wasn't sure about the status of succession, but she could potentially succeed the position of matriarch.
Rime Blade was a technique ideally used in conjunction with Rime Flow Domain, by gathering and controlling the frigid winds the user creates layer upon layer of pressurised ice on their weapon that explodes out on impact.
Suddenly, the mist shifted and Bai Lian's opponent could be seen retreating outside the mist.
Yet before he had a chance to react, an object flew, no, skated past him.
The glaive spun elegantly like a crescent moon, and not too long after a red light enveloped the man.
The match was over just like that.
The light showed a clean cut at the man's neck, were it not for the formation he would not be without a head.
He couldn't help but sigh with relief, he had lost but after that match he was happy to accept it, he had been overwhelmed.
Bai Lian stood calmly, holding her glaive with one hand, the end of the weapon resting on the ground.
The cold winds gathered on her body, the frost covering the stone and the mist in the air began to disperse as she took a deep breath.
She took a glance filled with pride at the stands where Bai Shun was standing.
She had won with dominance!
…
Shu He watched the fight with his jaw dropped.
'So this is what one of the major clans and an elemental core flame can do! The difference is night and day between her and the normal disciples…'
He had raptly observed her technique with his sight, he controls over her Qi greatly surpassed his, the entire area was filled with her Qi, it was truly her 'domain', it wasn't something he thought someone at the level of Meridian Awakening should possess.
And that technique at the end was truly beautiful to him, seeing the Ice Qi in the air move to her will like a million fireflies and gather on her blade creating a detailed lattice structure…
'The major clans… I think I'm seeing for the first time because they're a big deal' He noted in his mind to truly be cautious of those people.
And it just so happens that in his third match he was facing someone from such a clan!