Chapter 51 : Seemingly Ordinary
On the third day of the sect competition, the senior disciples from each peak finally had the opportunity to showcase their abilities on the arena.
Yun Qingyue was the first among the five peaks' senior disciples scheduled to compete, naturally attracting many spectators around her arena. Among these observers were not only disciples from various peaks but also every single member from Tiandao Sect and Buddha Sect—they had come to participate in the Three Sect Martial Arts Competition after all, and Yun Qingyue would clearly be their opponent, so they naturally needed to assess her capabilities in advance.
The elder presiding over the arena wasn't surprised by this scene. A bell rang across the plaza, signaling the official start of today's arena matches. The elder's gaze swept over those below, his originally stern expression softening slightly when it fell upon Yun Qingyue.
But this glance passed quickly, without lingering. Then his deep voice announced: "Yun Qingyue, Hou Ying, ascend the arena."
Hearing this, Yun Qingyue was about to hand the little white tiger in her arms to a junior brother from Mount Mingxia beside her when a female voice suddenly interjected: "Senior Sister Yun, are you going up for your match?" After asking what was clearly obvious, she continued: "It's crowded here. Why not entrust Jianbing to me temporarily? I can look after her for you."
This immediately drew the attention of both person and tiger, who turned to see a pretty young woman smiling as she approached. She looked somewhat familiar. The little white tiger's gaze fell on the young woman's clothes, and she immediately remembered—wasn't this the Junior Sister from Tiandao Sect?
During their first meeting, this girl had even tried to touch her tiger fur, though she had firmly refused.
Yun Qingyue's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. There was clearly no reason to bypass her fellow disciples and entrust Jianbing to an outsider. However, though she had originally intended to hand the little white tiger to the junior brother beside her, she now turned to entrust her to a junior sister standing further away: "Thank you for your kindness, Junior Sister Ruan, but that won't be necessary. There are many junior brothers and sisters here who can help take care."
The junior brother who had been preparing to receive Jianbing, looking forward to the chance to stroke some tiger fur while the cub was still young, felt somewhat awkward. Being male, however, he didn't dwell on it, merely glancing at Ruan Le twice before rubbing his nose without comment.
As for the junior sister who received the little white tiger, she held the cub with one arm while partially shielding her with the other, her protective intent quite obvious.
This brief handoff caused a slight delay. Looking up at the arena, someone had already mounted decisively. Though the elder hadn't urged her, Yun Qingyue didn't want to delay further. Without any visible movement, she suddenly appeared standing on the arena.
Hou Ying from Mount Tianyang was an Inner Sect disciple—not exactly obscure, but his reputation hadn't spread to the ears of senior disciples from other peaks. He hadn't expected such bad luck, encountering Mount Mingxia's Senior Sister in the very first round. Though he mounted the arena decisively, his expression couldn't help but show traces of complaint and dejection. Only when Yun Qingyue ascended did he find some consolation as he gazed at the beautiful woman opposite him.
Regardless, losing to a beauty was still somewhat fortunate. Moreover, Senior Sisters were generally more merciful than Senior Brothers and wouldn't be too harsh. If she allowed him to last three to five moves on the arena, it would save him some face, wouldn't it?
With this thought, Hou Ying's attitude was respectful. Seeing Yun Qingyue mount the arena, he immediately bowed: "Hou Ying of Mount Tianyang greets Senior Sister Yun. It's my greatest fortune to compete with Senior Sister today. However, this junior brother's cultivation is shallow, so I request Senior Sister's mercy."
Yun Qingyue had a cool temperament and seemed aloof, but those who had interacted with her knew she wasn't unnecessarily harsh. Seeing Hou Ying's polite and sincere attitude, she nodded slightly, agreeing not to make things difficult for him.
Seeing this, Hou Ying was delighted. After saying "Excuse me," he made the first move.
And then... there was no "then."
In Hou Ying's imagination, since Senior Sister Yun had agreed to show mercy, she would let him stay on the arena a bit longer. Even if his attacks were negligible in her eyes, lasting a moment longer on this arena would be something worth boasting about. Unfortunately, Yun Qingyue didn't give him any "boasting" capital. Her Frost-Blue Sword swept horizontally—seemingly ordinary but effortlessly knocking her opponent off the arena.
Hou Ying was completely unprepared, or rather had no way to prepare. Faced with the sword's imposing presence, he hadn't even processed what was happening before finding himself below the arena. True to her word, Yun Qingyue had shown mercy—though knocked off the arena, he was completely unharmed.
The scene seemed to freeze for an instant before applause and cheers erupted, all directed at Yun Qingyue on the arena.
Hou Ying's face alternated between green and white. Finally, acknowledging his inferior skill, he could only bow his head. Covering his face, he left the crowd, not even staying to hear the presiding elder announce the result—ten years of hard cultivation, ending here. He didn't even have the ability to withstand a single move from a senior disciple. Though the difference in cultivation was indeed vast, being so thoroughly outclassed in front of everyone was truly humiliating.
He would return to seclusion, right now, without a moment's delay!
Hou Ying quickly vanished, leaving the applause and praise solely for the victor. Yun Qingyue, however, cared nothing for such victory. After the elder announced her win, she leaped back down from the arena.
Perhaps because the match ended so quickly, her original position hadn't yet been occupied, and she landed right back where she had stood. With a glance, the junior sister temporarily entrusted with Jianbing immediately returned the little white tiger—though privately, she felt reluctant. She hadn't expected the tiger cub's fur to be so soft and pleasant to touch, but she had to return her before even getting a chance to secretly stroke her a few more times.
Perhaps after the competition ended, she should go to the Spirit Beast Garden and adopt a spirit beast of her own? As for Jianbing, she definitely couldn't find a second one and absolutely couldn't afford to raise one. But she had heard recently that the cloud tigers at the Spirit Beast Garden had given birth to cubs—she could go take a look, or perhaps a spirit cat would do.
The little white tiger didn't know she had been secretly petted. Upon returning to Yun Qingyue's arms, her tiger eyes were still bright with excitement. She called "awoo, awoo" several times, her paws pressing up and down on Yun Qingyue's arm, clearly extremely excited: "Senior Sister is amazing, winning with just one move! No wonder I chose you..."
The little tiger cub was quite proud, but unfortunately, only System could understand her. What Yun Qingyue could perceive was only the little white tiger's pure joy at her victory, which softened the light in her eyes somewhat.
"Let's go see the other arena matches," Yun Qingyue said softly.
The surrounding crowd, all cultivators, heard this sentence and immediately made way for her, then followed her away from the arena—there was no choice; Senior Sister's technique was impressive, but almost too impressive. Many hadn't even had time to discern any particulars from her seemingly ordinary move before the match ended. They applauded and praised her but felt somewhat disappointed—better to find excitement at other arenas.
The arena that had gathered the most disciples quickly emptied. Some followed Yun Qingyue, but most dispersed, each seeking arenas of interest to watch.
Ruan Le and the Tiandao Sect group were the last to remain. Her expression wasn't pleasant as she walked over and called out: "Senior Brother."
You Yi shook his head slightly, signaling her not to speak, then turned his gaze to another person in their group—from the initial encounter with Su Hao and others outside Xuanqing City, You Yi had always represented Tiandao Sect's younger generation. However, at this moment, he wasn't standing at the center of the group but had retreated to the side, yielding the central position to another young man with proud eyes.
This young man was Jiang Shen, the rumored genius with the lightning heavenly spiritual root, the true number one among Tiandao Sect's younger generation. He had been in secluded cultivation, only emerging to observe when Xuanqing Sect's competition reached the third round, with senior disciples from each peak beginning to compete.
Yun Qingyue was the first senior disciple to mount the arena, and everyone from Tiandao Sect had witnessed her "seemingly ordinary" sword strike. As young elites selected by Tiandao Sect, their discernment naturally surpassed that of the ordinary Xuanqing Sect disciples watching for entertainment. Precisely because they had perceived the essence of that sword strike, the group's atmosphere had become so oppressive.
As for Jiang Shen, the pride in his expression remained unchanged as he cast a dismissive glance at everyone: "What's this? Merely an embryonic sword intent, far from perfect, and you're all frightened?"
At these words, everyone slightly lowered their heads, wanting to smile bitterly—yes, Yun Qingyue's sword intent hadn't reached perfection, but sword intent was something that should only be comprehended at the Nascent Soul stage. Among them, only two had reached Nascent Soul, and with Jiang Shen, that made three. Setting aside Jiang Shen who wasn't a sword cultivator, neither of the other two Senior Brothers had comprehended sword intent.
From this perspective, except for those who surpassed her in cultivation realm due to greater age, none of them could match Yun Qingyue. Yet Yun Qingyue was merely Mount Mingxia's Senior Sister, and there were still Su Hao from Mount Tianyang and Bei Luo from Mount Luoxing, both said to have higher cultivation than her...
The Tiandao Sect disciples felt stifled, but under Jiang Shen's intimidating gaze, they dared not show weakness and could only respond: "Senior Brother is right. We've been building up others' confidence. This Yun Qingyue is no match for Senior Brother at all."
Jiang Shen raised his eyebrows slightly, then coldly snorted and swept away.
After Jiang Shen left, the group felt even more awkward. You Yi consoled them: "It's alright. Though Junior Sister Yun from Xuanqing Sect has comprehended sword intent, her cultivation is only at Golden Core. In a real battle, she likely couldn't overcome the realm gap. Our Tiandao Sect has brought three Nascent Soul cultivators this time; we won't be inferior to other sects. Everyone, keep your spirits up. When we enter the secret realm in the future, who knows what opportunities await."
Everyone agreed, but the usual arrogance on their faces was noticeably tempered this time.
With no more senior disciple matches afterward, watching the remaining arenas was a matter of luck—with good fortune, one might see an opponent among Xuanqing Sect's top ten. The Tiandao Sect disciples no longer dared to underestimate them, so after a brief discussion, they dispersed, leaving only You Yi and Ruan Le.
Ruan Le looked gloomy as she shook her head at You Yi. Their eyes met, and they immediately understood each other's thoughts. You Yi showed no surprise, merely nodding to her: "Alright, there's nothing more to do. Junior Sister, go look around as well. Xuanqing Sect has been established for ten thousand years and has passed down many exquisite techniques. Take this opportunity to broaden your horizons—it won't be a wasted trip."
Though there was nothing wrong with his words, they didn't sound pleasant to her ears. Ruan Le angrily stomped her foot and left as well.