When Golden Finger Meets Salted Fish

With a thunderous "BOOM," a massive collision sound resonated across the platform as sword energy and spells intersected. In that fleeting moment, a dragon's roar seemed to echo, lasting only an instant before abruptly ceasing—its head cleaved apart by that magnificent sword.

You Yi hovered in mid-air, his expression growing solemn at this sight before swinging his fan again.

Though this sounds lengthy in description, it all happened in a split second. Below the platform, Zhong Heng seemed to mutter something again, but by now the little white tiger's attention was completely captivated by the intense battle above, and she didn't hear what he said... it was probably just something about some kind of "wind," likely the name of You Yi's technique.

On the platform, as You Yi swung his fan again, the wind's force changed, becoming gentler yet more imposing—wind stirring clouds to rise.

Yun Qingyue wasn't one to passively await defeat, especially in such an important competition match. She certainly wouldn't remain defensive, simply responding to each attack. With a quick hand seal, she channeled her spiritual energy again and delivered a powerful sword strike, its magnificent might carrying frost and snow toward her opponent.

Where the sword's edge passed, white frost spread outward, as if even the air had been frozen and shattered by the frost and snow.

Yet this strike was still blocked, as a mountain peak abruptly appeared between them, perfectly intercepting the sword's force. This wasn't an ordinary mountain—otherwise it would have been split like Little Spirit Peak. Though called a mountain, it resembled more a magical treasure, incredibly sturdy, not only blocking the sword's force but also counter-attacking, pressing down upon Yun Qingyue.

"What is that?" many exclaimed below, eyes widening.

It was one thing to duel with magic, but You Yi had a wind spiritual root, not earth. How did he suddenly conjure a mountain to crush someone?!

Some quicker-witted onlookers made the connection and said: "Wasn't Tiandao Sect's Senior Brother You's magical treasure called the 'Mountain River Fan'? Could this mountain be the 'mountain' part of the 'Mountain River Fan'?"

Everyone looked toward the folding fan in You Yi's hand and saw that the painting on its surface had indeed disappeared, leaving the entire fan blank. The quick-witted person reacted again, immediately crying out "Not good!" and saying: "This is bad! The 'Mountain River Fan' has not just a mountain but also a river. Where's the river?!"

Almost as the words left his mouth, the "river" appeared. This wasn't a gentle stream but a mighty river surging forward with unstoppable momentum toward Yun Qingyue.

Though this move was sudden, You Yi didn't expect it to harm Yun Qingyue. As long as she was hindered briefly by the river, the pressing mountain force would subdue her. After that, with his skills, winning the match would become easy.

The great river rushed forward violently, but Yun Qingyue showed no panic facing the water. While evading the crushing mountain force, she casually swung her sword at the mighty river rushing toward her.

Frosty sword intent erupted forth, instantly freezing the surging river, as if sealing a thousand miles of ice.

Spectators below the platform cheered in admiration, and even the Peak Masters and Sect Leader observing from the high platform nodded with satisfaction. The battle-loving Peak Master Qingxu's eyes gleamed intensely as he remarked: "In such a short time, Disciple Qingyue's sword intent has advanced even further..."

Peak Master Qingyu glanced at him, immediately discerning his thoughts: "Just last month I gave you a disciple, Brother. Are you now coveting my Mount Mingxia's head disciple?" Her words made Peak Master Qingxu sheepish, so she added: "Though Qingyue truly has exceptional talent. If Brother has time, offering her some guidance would indeed be beneficial."

This wasn't unreasonable. Xuanqing Sect was generally quite united; the five peaks competed yet supported each other, and senior masters occasionally giving pointers to a head disciple—a peak's future successor—was commonplace.

Qingxu loved battle and had a straightforward personality. Hearing this, he didn't dwell on being rebuked by his junior sister and readily agreed.

The two Peak Masters had a good relationship, watching the match while pointing and commenting on the platform. Neither noticed Chu Yang behind Peak Master Qingxu casting deep, pensive glances at them both, though he concealed it quickly enough to avoid detection.

Even so, Qingyu sensed a faint malice directed at her. Her eyes narrowed slightly, but she didn't immediately look up to investigate the source. Instead, she continued discussing the platform situation with Peak Master Qingxu as if nothing had happened and she had perceived nothing. Only she knew what calculations were running through her mind.

Meanwhile, the two combatants on the platform had been fighting intensely for some time, yet remained evenly matched, neither able to gain the upper hand.

Yun Qingyue was fine with this; as a sword cultivator, sword intent and sword formations were her standard techniques, though in her hands they carried extraordinary power. You Yi was different—he had unique cultivation methods and an unusual magical treasure, all now fully exposed in this battle.

It wasn't about being secretive; You Yi's strength was genuinely remarkable, and he had intended to compete for ranking in this Three Sect Martial Arts Competition. He had originally planned to keep some techniques hidden for matches against Su Hao and Tanming, but he hadn't expected to face Yun Qingyue in the first round—she wasn't easily dismissed. Despite employing numerous techniques, he could only prolong the stalemate, and the sword cultivator seemed to grow stronger the longer she fought!

By this point in the battle, both their magical robes had been damaged, and You Yi's cheek bore a thin blood trace where sword energy had grazed him. Yun Qingyue hadn't fared any better—her white magical robe's sleeve was torn, revealing a snow-white, slender wrist with a vivid red blood line winding down, dripping from her fingertips along the sword's edge.

The little white tiger below the platform watched with heartache, her gaze toward You Yi practically gnashing teeth. But Yun Qingyue on the platform remained expressionless, as if it wasn't she who was injured, raising her sword to attack again.

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In platform battles, while watching one side crush the other with overwhelming strength can be satisfying, if the fight ends too quickly, it loses its suspense and intensity. But when opponents are evenly matched, a duel can build to multiple climaxes, exciting the spectators along with it.

On the morning of the first day of the Three Sect Martial Arts Competition, the first six matches exemplified the former, while the seventh match was the latter.

Yun Qingyue and You Yi's duel lasted nearly half a day, from everyone initially believing the newly-advanced Nascent Soul Yun Qingyue couldn't defeat the long-advanced You Yi, to witnessing them fight to a stalemate. This development was astonishing, but this was Xuanqing Sect, and most spectators were Xuanqing Sect disciples. Seeing their Senior Sister grow stronger as the battle continued, the platform below erupted with constant cheers and encouragement.

Yet even the most spectacular battle must eventually end—though evenly matched fights could potentially last three days and nights, the two on the platform clearly had no intention of prolonging the match, maintaining powerful outputs throughout. While this increased their techniques' power, it also drained them significantly. With both now nearly depleted of spiritual energy, they couldn't continue much longer.

In You Yi's gaze toward Yun Qingyue, beyond caution, there was also a hint of puzzlement.

He had reached Nascent Soul ten years ago and, though not yet advanced to mid-stage Nascent Soul, had accumulated considerable power. He certainly didn't consider his talent inferior to others. But what was Yun Qingyue's situation? She had only reached Nascent Soul a month ago. Even with extraordinary talent and early mastery of sword intent, with understanding and development in the sword way far exceeding others, there was no reason for her spiritual energy to be so profoundly accumulated.

Unlike sword intent growth, which relied on insight, spiritual energy accumulation required gradual effort. It increased only as a cultivator's realm advanced. For instance, a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator's meridians could store twice the spiritual energy of an early-stage Nascent Soul, with natural variations even within the same realm.

This difference was most evident in prolonged battles—those with more internal spiritual energy could launch stronger techniques and endure longer in combat. This didn't mean realm determined everything; with quick resolution not giving opponents time to drag things out, challenging someone of a higher level was possible. It was just difficult and beyond what ordinary people could achieve.

If at the beginning of the match You Yi had intended to end things quickly, after discovering Yun Qingyue's techniques were no less formidable than his own, he deliberately extended the battle to conserve his strength, trying to exhaust her.

Yet the final development didn't go as planned—all his dragging out only revealed her profound spiritual energy, while leaving himself in a sorry state.

You Yi was inwardly furious, though outwardly maintaining a carefree demeanor of indifference. Even with damaged magical robes, he still appeared graceful. Now he and Yun Qingyue exchanged a glance, and though neither spoke, they reached a certain understanding.

This would be the final strike!

They faced each other with fierce battle intent, both minds reaching the same conclusion. One raised her spiritual sword while the other, contrary to his usual pattern, put away his folding fan, a small wind vortex appearing in his open palm.

Yun Qingyue saw this but remained unmoved, not pondering why You Yi would abandon his magical treasure to fight barehanded at this moment. She focused only on summoning her remaining strength for one sword strike. The illusory sword intent condensed into reality—a giant sword ten or a hundred times larger than the Fuxue Sword materialized in the void, then slashed toward You Yi with unstoppable momentum.

You Yi's face darkened, though his reaction was no slower than Yun Qingyue's. He raised his hand, the wind vortex in his palm transforming into a blade that left his palm to strike at Yun Qingyue, aiming directly at her snow-white, slender neck. Unlike the wind blades previously released by the Mountain River Fan, this time the blade formed from the wind vortex moved with extraordinary speed, at least ten times faster than before. Given Yun Qingyue's previously demonstrated speed, she had no time to evade.

Of course, even if You Yi targeted a vital spot, Yun Qingyue wasn't in mortal danger. The elder supervising the platform stood nearby and, by the rules, his cultivation was two major realms higher than both combatants. A Spirit Division cultivator could easily intercept this attack.

However, if the elder intervened, it would mean Yun Qingyue had lost her qualification for the match—she would have lost this round.

You Yi was inwardly certain of victory. Though he couldn't block Yun Qingyue's incoming sword strike and could only dodge, he didn't believe he would lose. Even if he couldn't avoid it and the elder had to block the sword for him, it would certainly happen after Yun Qingyue's disqualification.

His reasoning was sound, but he hadn't anticipated that Yun Qingyue would act more decisively than he expected. Seeing the approaching wind blade was unavoidable, she slightly tilted her body to avoid her neck's vital point—the supervising elder had almost raised his hand, but seeing this, his movement paused slightly. The next moment, a splash of blood blossomed at her shoulder.

This strike was not light, breaking through her magical robe and cutting to the bone, nearly making her unable to hold her sword. Yet she remained standing on the platform, while You Yi, unable to dodge in time, was struck down from the platform by her sword.

Yes, the elder hadn't intervened, and the dodging You Yi was directly knocked off the platform, because that sword strike had only intended to force him off the platform.

The scene went silent for a moment, then amid You Yi's dazed expression, the elder announced Yun Qingyue's victory. Though the person on the platform was far more severely injured than him, though with just one more strike, she would have had no strength to resist...

But what could he say when he was no longer on the platform? Whatever he might argue was in vain!

Cheers erupted all around while the figure on the platform stood ram-rod straight, as upright as a bamboo, as imposing as a sword.

You Yi stared blankly for a long while, seemingly unable to comprehend how he had lost. Until a dozen fellow disciples from Tiandao Sect pushed through the crowd to his side, his junior sister Ruan Le, seeing his dazed expression, worriedly asked about his injuries. Due to his amiable nature, other fellow disciples also showed concern. Only Jiang Shen, surrounded by fellow disciples, cast him a sideways glance and dropped two words: "Useless!"

After speaking, Jiang Shen turned and left, completely unconcerned that others had heard his rebuke, and equally indifferent to You Yi's injuries. Even his retreating back exuded superiority, unaware of the profound darkness lurking in You Yi's eyes.

At that moment, the previously jubilant disciples suddenly froze, followed by a wave of startled cries.

Following these cries, You Yi instinctively turned to look at the platform, only to see the previously upright woman suddenly sway, as if about to fall. Not just others, but even he himself instinctively wanted to step forward to catch the falling woman. But it was impossible—the platform had restrictions; no one from below could ascend. Only the platform elder could catch her.

Yet in the next instant after this thought, a white figure suddenly darted out, ignoring the platform restrictions and rushing directly to the woman's side. The small figure stood upright on hind legs, raising its front paws as if to catch her... Despite the enormous size difference between them, this was the cultivation world, and the golden spiritual energy manifesting on the tiger paws successfully caught who she wanted to catch.

The elder, seeing this, once again withdrew his outstretched helping hand, his concern transforming into interest, while the disciples exclaimed once more: "It's Jianbing?!"

Yes, indeed—the first to notice Yun Qingyue's condition and rush onto the platform was the little white tiger.

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Yun Qingyue's injuries this time were not light. The various minor wounds across her body were insignificant, and although the shoulder strike was severe, dispersing the wind spiritual energy attached to the wound and applying medicinal pills would heal it in an instant. The only significantly impactful issue was likely the excessive spiritual energy consumption. After all, she had only recently advanced to Nascent Soul, and while a month would normally be sufficient to stabilize her cultivation, her power had inexplicably increased.

Cultivation advancement that was too rapid wasn't always beneficial, as evidenced now.

Peak Master Qingyu personally fed Yun Qingyue healing pills, then used spiritual energy to examine her injuries before frowning slightly: "There's no major concern, just slight damage to the meridians. A few days of recuperation will suffice."

Despite these words, wasn't the main problem precisely the "few days of recuperation"? The Three Sect Martial Arts Competition had just begun, and Yun Qingyue had no time for recovery unless she abandoned the competition. But having just won one match, giving up now would be a shame. Unlike the sect competition held every ten years, this competition occurred once every sixty years and had age restrictions—missing it meant never having another chance.

Additionally, this competition was closely connected to the new secret realm discovered by Tiandao Sect. While the specific arrangements remained unknown, what if the number of people allowed to enter the secret realm was limited and allocated based on competition rankings?

If Yun Qingyue withdrew now, her competition ranking would likely be at the bottom, and while the unexplored new secret realm was dangerous, it also held numerous opportunities. If she couldn't qualify to enter, she would fall behind her talented peers. One step behind often led to falling further behind—a cultivator's struggle against fate was never easy. But continuing to compete regardless of injuries risked developing chronic ailments or hidden injuries.

Peak Master Qingyu was concerned, mentally reviewing her treasures but finding nothing suitable for the current situation. Just as she considered approaching the sect or fellow Peak Masters to exchange for appropriate precious materials, the little white tiger, who had been listening all along, understood the situation.

After some thought, the little white tiger suddenly retrieved a jade bottle from her storage ring and held it up.

Peak Master Qingyu looked at it with slight surprise and asked: "What is this?"

The little white tiger answered in her milk-sweet voice: "Azure Essence Spirit Marrow."

Peak Master Qingyu was astonished. She didn't know this Azure Essence Spirit Marrow was Divine Lord Zhiming's welcoming gift to the little white tiger, but she was well aware of its immense value. It was perfectly suited for Yun Qingyue, who had only recently advanced to Nascent Soul. The Azure Essence Spirit Marrow's effects were extremely gentle, and using it to nourish meridians was more appropriate than other precious materials, with no concerns about lasting side effects.

The only issue was its extraordinary value. Even Peak Master Qingyu, with her typically cold, socially unaware demeanor, couldn't help but hesitate: "Thank you for offering this medicine, Jianbing, but it's far too precious..." Perhaps I could exchange other precious materials instead?

Unfortunately, before she could finish, the little white tiger interrupted: "The Azure Essence Spirit Marrow is mine, and I'm willing to give it to her."

At this moment, Yun Qingyue was in a coma, her cold, beautiful face unchanged except for lips paler than usual. Looking at her, the little white tiger felt extreme heartache. Heaven knows that before her transmigration, even accidentally cutting herself while slicing fruit would hurt for hours. Senior Sister's shoulder was injured to the bone, an injury that had almost made the tiger cry—even with rapid medicinal healing, pain was still pain.

The little white tiger gazed with heartache, then happened to see Senior Sister's partially open collar and uncomfortably shifted her gaze away. She scratched her ear in a cover-up gesture, her heart beating slightly faster, but said to Peak Master Qingyu: "Stop dithering and give it to her quickly."

Peak Master Qingyu was naturally decisive, and under the little white tiger's urging, she didn't hesitate further. She took the jade bottle and opened the lid—since Jianbing refused to accept other treasures in exchange, she would let her disciple repay the debt herself when she awoke.

Azure Essence Spirit Marrow was rare, but Divine Lord Zhiming's welcoming gift to the little white tiger was certainly not meager—the jade bottle contained not just one or two drops, but an entire bottleful. Even Peak Master Qingyu was inwardly amazed, though using it all on Yun Qingyue wasn't necessary. After consideration, she extracted just three drops to feed to Yun Qingyue, then returned the rest to the little white tiger.

Seeing how frugal she was being, the little white tiger immediately pushed the jade bottle back with her paw, telling Peak Master Qingyu: "That's too little! Give her more. What if her injuries don't heal completely?"

Peak Master Qingyu smiled but, seeing the little white tiger's sincere expression, explained: "It's not necessary; this is already sufficient." Fearing the little white tiger might not believe her or might secretly give Yun Qingyue more medicine, she added: "While Azure Essence Spirit Marrow is gentle, a cultivator's meridians have limited capacity to absorb and contain such precious materials. Qingyue's cultivation rose too rapidly before, and now she especially can't use these indiscriminately."

Hearing this, the little white tiger didn't insist further and regretfully put away the Azure Essence Spirit Marrow. Then, recalling Divine Lord Zhiming's earlier suggestion, she asked Peak Master Qingyu: "By the way, Peak Master, besides oral consumption, can this Azure Essence Spirit Marrow be used externally?"

Peak Master Qingyu didn't understand: "Externally?"

The little white tiger gestured to explain: "Like adding it to a spirit spring for bathing."

Peak Master Qingyu was momentarily silent, once again grasping the extravagance of divine beasts. Although Azure Essence Spirit Marrow was no longer something she could only dream of—her personal collection included many precious materials of the same grade—using it for bathing was truly lavish. She finally responded with a mix of emotions: "It's possible, but quite wasteful and not cost-effective." No one would do this.

Hearing the satisfactory answer, the little white tiger wasn't concerned about waste. After all, with cultivation resources, once used to improve oneself, one could always seek more. She was now at the Golden Core realm, and her soul had strengthened considerably through both the Heavenly Dao's Heart Questioning and devouring the remnant soul. Previously, the system had warned her about using Azure Essence Spirit Marrow risking soul explosion, but now she could probably try it safely.

The little white tiger was eager to try, but with Senior Sister's injuries not yet recovered, she naturally wasn't in a hurry to take a bath. She curled herself into a ball beside Senior Sister, guarding her and waiting for her to recover from her coma.