Chapter 132: Holding Nothing Back
After his fifth-round Magical Combat ended, Fang Yun didn’t linger on Battle Peak. He chatted with Song Qiaoqiao and the other three for a bit before leaving.
This time, two Elders noticed his departure. Miao Qinghong glanced at him before looking away, while Long Xiangwen watched him for much longer.
As for Feng Tianrui, he had to keep a constant watch on the Magical Combat between the two on the Dueling Platform, ensuring no harm came to the disciples.
The Inner Sect Disciples who made it to the fifth round were, on the whole, undoubtedly more valuable, so not a single mishap could be allowed.
The two Elders, Miao Qinghong and Long Xiangwen, had taken note of Fang Yun’s departure because his performance during the Magical Combat revealed that he possessed a special constitution.
When Feng Tianrui saw Fang Yun produce a shield while simultaneously controlling three Upper Grade Magical Artifacts, he had quickly confirmed his suspicions. The other two Elders’ judgment was no worse than his.
They too had concluded that Fang Yun possessed the Seven-Aperture Exquisite Body.
...
「The seventh day of the first lunar month.」
Today, there were only four Magical Combat matches in the Inner Sect Grand Competition.
The most anticipated of these was the first one: the Magical Combat between Bai Qinying and Fang Yun.
One was ranked third on the Inner Sect Ranking, while the other was a Qi Refining Seventh Layer disciple with terrifyingly strong offense and defense.
Moreover, it was suspected that Fang Yun still hadn’t revealed his full strength.
Besides the first match, the following three were also set to be spectacular, all of them contests between senior brothers and sisters on the Inner Sect Ranking.
Even before 7:00 AM, a large crowd of disciples had already gathered around Dueling Platform Number One.
The later one arrived, the farther back one had to stand to watch.
For many disciples, coming early for today’s first Magical Combat was an absolute must.
"These junior brothers and sisters from the Outer Sect are way too early."
"You might not know this, Senior Brother, but these Outer Sect disciples are all supporters of Junior Brother Fang."
"None for Senior Sister Bai?"
"Senior Sister Bai doesn’t have Junior Brother Fang’s temperament, and besides, she’s too ’distant’ from them."
"It’s fine. We can just support Senior Sister Bai."
As more and more disciples arrived, the buzz of their discussions grew louder.
During yesterday’s Magical Combat between Fang Yun and Dong Hongwen, almost no one had favored Fang Yun, not even his own supporters.
Today, however, was different. Fang Yun’s performance yesterday, especially the moment he simultaneously controlled three Upper Grade Magical Artifacts, had proven that he possessed even greater strength.
The split between disciples who thought Fang Yun could win and those who believed Bai Qinying would be victorious was now about forty-sixty.
Among them, those who thought Fang Yun could win were mostly his supporters.
After all, Bai Qinying was third on the Inner Sect Ranking, a disciple of Elder Feng Tianrui, and her great-uncle was a Management Elder of Dan Cloud Peak. A background like that was enough to guarantee she possessed plenty of powerful items.
Furthermore, she herself was an expert in combat.
All these factors combined meant that even with Fang Yun’s excellent performance yesterday, the opinions of some disciples remained unshaken.
Bai Qinying was still the strongest contender for first place.
"I’m so excited for the first match today between Senior Brother Fang and Senior Sister Bai! Why isn’t it 7:45 AM yet?"
"Who do you think has a better chance, Senior Sister Bai or Junior Brother Fang?"
"Senior Sister Bai, of course. Is that even a question?"
"This time, Junior Sister, I disagree with you. I’m leaning more toward Junior Brother Fang."
"Look, Senior Sister Bai and Senior Brother Fang are here!"
After Fang Yun’s group of four arrived on Battle Peak, they quickly drew the attention of the other disciples. Wu Junxin, who had already been waiting on Battle Peak, soon joined their party.
Yesterday, Wu Junxin had fought Yuan Yunfan. The ultimate victor was Wu Junxin, who had previously lost to Yuan Yunfan in a ranking challenge.
On the way to Battle Peak, Fang Yun had already heard Song Qiaoqiao’s account of yesterday’s Magical Combat between Wu Junxin and Yuan Yunfan, with Yao Shuixiao adding many details for Song Qiaoqiao.
If not for the Elder’s intervention in yesterday’s match, Wu Junxin and Yuan Yunfan would have undoubtedly destroyed each other.
Feng Tianrui had intervened twice in that Magical Combat spar.
The first intervention was not enough to determine a winner, so the Magical Combat had to continue.
By the time of the second intervention, Yuan Yunfan had already exhausted his Spiritual Power; that had been his final strike.
Judging by their exchange of blows that time, it was actually still difficult to determine a winner.
But since Yuan Yunfan had run out of Spiritual Power, the final victor was Wu Junxin.
After defeating Yuan Yunfan, Wu Junxin now had a strong chance of competing for second place.
This was because the two combatants in today’s second match were both at the peak of the Qi Refining Tenth Layer—one ranked fifth on the Inner Sect Ranking, the other fourth.
In the right half of the bracket, the strongest person in theory was now Wu Junxin, ranked seventh on the Inner Sect Ranking.
His strongest remaining opponent was the disciple ranked ninth on the Inner Sect Ranking, who was at the peak of the Qi Refining Tenth Layer. Wu Junxin was only at the Qi Refining Tenth Layer.
Excluding Yuan Yunfan, there were three people in the top ten of the Inner Sect Ranking who had not yet reached the peak of the Qi Refining Tenth Layer: those ranked third, seventh, and tenth.
After meeting up with Wu Junxin, the five of them walked toward Dueling Platform Number One, and the surrounding disciples automatically parted to make way.
Before 7:45 AM, Feng Tianrui was already on the Dueling Platform.
When the time came, his resonant voice echoed in all directions.
"Contestant one hundred fourteen, Bai Qinying, versus contestant one hundred sixteen, Fang Yun! Both of you, ascend the Dueling Platform!"
Down below, Fang Yun and Bai Qinying exchanged a look before stepping onto Dueling Platform Number One at the same time.
"I’m just noticing now, Senior Sister Bai’s and Senior Brother Fang’s numbers are so close."
"Senior Sister Bai and Senior Brother Fang have a great relationship. You can tell from how they’re always standing together."
"But their close numbers mean they must have signed up for the Inner Sect Grand Competition together. They definitely knew each other long before this and have a good relationship; they didn’t just meet during the competition."
"Let me tell you something else. The relationship between Senior Sister Bai’s great-uncle and Junior Brother Fang is even more special. Maybe they’ll even become master and disciple in the future."
Early on, the disciples below the Dueling Platform had been debating who would win the Magical Combat between Fang Yun and Bai Qinying. Now that the two were on stage, the topic of conversation had shifted to their relationship.
"Bai Qinying, Qi Refining Tenth Layer."
"Fang Yun, Qi Refining Seventh Layer."
No matter how familiar they were with each other, all proper etiquette still had to be observed.
Afterward, they fell silent. Everything that needed to be said between them had already been said long ago.
Now, they just waited for Elder Feng Tianrui to announce the start of the match.
After three breaths, once Feng Tianrui confirmed that his disciple and Fang Yun truly had nothing more to say, he spoke.
"Let the Magical Combat begin!"
The moment his voice fell, a large white banner appeared in Bai Qinying’s hand. The pattern on the flag looked like a flood dragon.
With a single wave of the banner from Bai Qinying, three white flood dragon heads lunged directly at Fang Yun.
It was a Supreme Grade Magical Artifact!
Her opponent was Fang Yun, whose strength had already been demonstrated. Bai Qinying had no intention of making a probing attack; she went on the offensive with her full power from the very beginning.
To Bai Qinying’s surprise, Fang Yun didn’t choose to summon his three pale-yellow Long Swords to strike down the three flood dragon heads in response to her attack.