Sea of Fire

After Yan Jue finished packing everything away and returned to the Watercloud Sect dormitory, it was already pitch dark.

Only then did Yan Jue begin treating the cuts on her face from this afternoon’s match.

Fortunately, they were only a few tiny nicks from sword energy. A cultivator’s body was naturally sturdy, and by now they had almost completely healed.

Yan Jue took a jar of ointment from her Qiankun bag and slowly applied it to her face.

Her whole body hurt.

That life-and-death battle with Duan Luxi had looked simple on the surface, but dodging Duan Luxi’s sword light had been extremely exhausting.

After she finished, Yan Jue was just about to get into bed when she suddenly heard the flutter of wings at the window.

An Immortal Crane with snow-white feathers flew onto her windowsill, a flower basket still hanging from its neck.

Something was inside the basket.

Yan Jue immediately went over, took the item out of the basket, and saw that it was a short note.

She paused slightly, then opened it.

Qi Xianqing:

I heard you were injured in the match. How are you now?

The handwriting was forceful, the message concise and clear as always.

Qi Xianqing was busy even when she wasn’t competing.

She had to act as a judge, arrange the venue, and even handle the Five Dragons Mountain’s diplomatic affairs.

She was already so busy, and yet she had still found time to write to Yan Jue. Something in Yan Jue’s heart softened all at once.

Yan Jue stared at those lines for a long while, then slowly folded the note and put it in her drawer.

She took out another sheet of paper, dipped her brush in ink, and was just about to write when her eyes shifted.

She wrote:

Senior Sister, your disciple was bullied today.

After the sentence, Yan Jue drew a crying face and put the note into the Immortal Crane’s basket.

-

Yan Jue woke up on the bed and squinted for a long while at the sunlight outside.

She had to compete again in a bit...

Somehow, it was already the fourth day of the Five-Dragon Summit.

In the blink of an eye, the whole summit was already halfway over.

Yan Jue’s eyes suddenly caught something, and she paused slightly.

A short note was lying on the desk.

It was the reply Qi Xianqing had sent her last night.

Yan Jue opened her eyes wider and unfolded it. On the paper, a single line had been written in crisp, clean strokes.

Who.

Was it about Zhu He?

It seemed the little wild boar had already found Qi Xianqing.

Yan Jue changed into her inner robe and slipped on her shoes, then sat at the desk and exaggerated the story of what had happened in the Spirit Beast Hall yesterday in her reply.

She cursed the little pig demon for being stupid... and for cursing me too...

Then Yan Jue took a wrinkled certificate out of her pocket.

This was the receipt she had asked Bai Chuli to write for her yesterday when she handed over three thousand top-grade Spirit Stones, proof that she had already paid the compensation.

She might as well send it along to Qi Xianqing too.

Then Yan Jue put everything in the basket and had the Immortal Crane deliver it to Qi Xianqing.

Yan Jue knew Qi Xianqing had always been the sort to protect her own.

Since she was Qi Xianqing’s disciple, anyone who bullied her was disrespecting Qi Xianqing, the first disciple of Thunderflame Sect.

That was why she hadn’t been all that panicked when she paid Bai Chuli at the Spirit Beast Hall yesterday; even if she suffered a loss, Qi Xianqing was still there to stand in front of her.

Hahaha.

Yan Jue sat at the table and watched the Immortal Crane grow smaller and smaller in the distance before packing up and heading to Five Dragons Square.

When Yan Jue arrived at Five Dragons Square, she went straight to the contestants’ registration board.

After finding her name, the smile that had been on her face immediately faded.

On the board, the names were written in glaring black and white.

Yan Jue - Lin Xi.

What a joke. She was actually up against Lin Xi.

Yan Jue remembered that Lin Xi was an inner sect disciple of Jingang Sect.

Her magical artifact was a giant fire-breathing gourd, and she had already reached the Late Illumination Stage long ago.

Ever since that last mission to Emptiness Mountain together, Yan Jue hadn’t seen Lin Xi again.

It had been so long since they’d last met that she suspected Lin Xi was probably already at the Fusion Realm now.

The sun was blazing. Yan Jue looked at the registration board, a little sweat beading on her forehead.

From yesterday’s match with Duan Luxi, it was already obvious.

The later the Five-Dragon Summit went, the harder the matches became.

“You’re actually up against Senior Sister Lin Xi?” Du Ying said from the side, trying to comfort her. “It’s fine. No matter who your opponent is, you can’t lose your momentum. Even if you do lose, as long as you learn something useful, that’s enough.”

That was exactly what Yan Jue had said to Du Ying a few days ago.

Yan Jue nodded, deeply in agreement.

The bell rang across Five Dragons Square. When Yan Jue reached her arena, many people were already standing below it.

Because the first three days of competition had already eliminated many participants, there were far more spectators lingering around the arena.

When Yan Jue stepped onto the stage, Lin Xi still hadn’t appeared.

Yan Jue blankly did her warm-up exercises and heard whispering from below.

“I didn’t expect Yan Jue to actually survive to the fourth match...”

“I watched all of Yan Jue’s first three matches. Her first match was against Ke Shuang, the second against Qin Yingwei, and the third against Duan Luxi. None of them were weak. They may not count as strong, but in the sect they’re at least middle-of-the-road. Isn’t that a little much?”

“Yesterday, that Senior Sister Duan Luxi had already broken through to the Fusion Realm...”

“Could Yan Jue really not be trash anymore?”

“But lately I haven’t seen her with Junior Brother Chu Fu. Was her cultivation improving so slowly before because she was in love?”

There were still some discordant voices, but the one-sided atmosphere from before had improved a great deal.

...

The noisy crowd suddenly fell silent for a moment.

Lin Xi, wearing the standard purple-red robe of a Jingang Sect disciple, slowly walked onto the stage.

She looked up at Yan Jue. Yan Jue tilted her head and gave her a friendly smile.

Lin Xi couldn’t help but feel a little surprised.

It had been so long since they’d last gone to Emptiness Mountain together, yet Yan Jue’s aura was still at the Foundation Establishment stage...

Lin Xi knew a little about this junior sister. She knew Yan Jue kept a low profile and also practiced aura-concealing arts.

She hadn’t expected to end up facing her this time.

By rights, this kind of opponent should make Lin Xi even warier than the others.

Because you simply had no idea how strong she really was.

Yan Jue cupped her fists toward Lin Xi. “Senior Sister.”

Lin Xi nodded. “Jingang Sect, Lin Xi.”

At the same time, a handsome young man had somehow appeared below the arena.

Chu Fu stared at the two people on stage, his expression darkening.

A few days ago, after absorbing Yan Jue’s yin essence, he had already broken through to the mid-Fusion Realm.

Just standing there, he radiated a formidable aura.

And this woman—how had she managed to endure the first three rounds of competition after having her yin essence taken by him?

No wonder. Chu Fu only thought about it for a moment before understanding.

The biggest difference between a Pure Yin Physique and an ordinary woman was this: after an ordinary woman lost her yin essence, she was no different from a senseless sow.

But after a Pure Yin Physique’s yin essence was taken, new yin essence would keep being produced.

What had happened that night had only caused Yan Jue a small obstacle in her continued advancement; in every other respect, she was no different from a normal person.

And Chu Fu had long since noticed there was something unusual.

His life had originally gone smoothly, but ever since this woman started distancing herself from him, he had begun to run into trouble one after another.

In the end, it was all for nothing. Every woman who had once had a good impression of him had left him.

Forget Senior Sister. Even this Lin Xi on stage had once laughed and joked with him, and seemed to have quite a good impression of him. But now, whenever she saw him, she would avoid him with a strange look on her face.

Chu Fu stared at Yan Jue, and boundless disgust and hatred surged up in his heart.

A melodious bell rang out; then he suddenly unclenched his fists, and a strand of faint, hard-to-notice red light slipped from between his two fingers, slowly appearing above Lin Xi’s head.

Soul Burning Gu Art.

-

Lin Xi had originally been standing on the stage, staring at Yan Jue.

For some reason, her vision suddenly turned red.

Her previously fairly calm heart was suddenly ignited by an inexplicable burst of anger.

Lin Xi subconsciously closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her gaze fell on the young girl in front of her, lips red and teeth white.

The girl wore a blue-gray robe; her black hair hung down like raven feathers over her shoulders, and around her neck was a dazzling golden choker. Her features looked as if they had been carved from white jade under the sunlight; those narrow phoenix eyes were half-lidded as she looked quietly over.

Yan Jue, who had just been perfectly fine a moment ago, now looked more and more unpleasant no matter how Lin Xi looked at her!

The match began.

The “Heavenly Projection Threefold Array” activated. Sunlight fell straight down, and the entire arena instantly turned into a mountain of fire. Yan Jue frowned slightly; it felt as if she were walking through a desert.

What terrible heat!

Lin Xi clenched her fist, and the giant fire-breathing gourd was directly summoned.

The dark-purple fire gourd emitted a faint glow in the sky, sending out layer after layer of thick smoke.

Lin Xi silently recited her incantation and cried out softly.

In an instant, a fire phoenix burst forth from the gourd with a deafening shriek, carrying a searing vortex of flames as it rushed straight toward Yan Jue.

Immortal Art: Fire Phoenix Returning to the Forest!

In an instant, the mountain seemed to collapse and the earth to split.

Everyone below was stunned. No one had expected Senior Sister Lin Xi to open with such a powerful divine ability!

Yan Jue suddenly twisted aside, narrowly avoiding Lin Xi’s attack, but her arm was still scorched by the blazing wave of fire.

Yan Jue looked at the slightly red corners of Lin Xi’s eyes and blinked in surprise. She also hadn’t expected Lin Xi to have been fine just a moment ago, but now the way she looked at her was like she wanted to kill her.

Before Yan Jue could react, the dark-purple fire-breathing gourd began shaking violently in the air.

Fire monkeys, fire crows, and fire dragons surged out.

In an instant, the arena was filled with towering waves of heat.

“No way, did Yan Jue say something nasty to Lin Xi down there just now...”

“Lin Xi looks like she wants to kill Yan Jue.”

“I don’t understand women’s hearts. Senior Sister Lin usually seems so mild-mannered; she’d have this kind of impulse too?”

On the stage, Yan Jue’s situation was not good.

Her body rolled through the flames, and even her robe was scorched through by the searing fire.

Long time no see—Lin Xi’s cultivation had indeed improved again!

Yan Jue barely dodged the attacks in front of her and staggered back.

The next second, Lin Xi’s body turned into a bizarre afterimage in the air, and in an instant she was right in front of Yan Jue, her eyes blood-red.

The dark-purple fire-breathing gourd swelled massively in the air like a small iron mountain, then instantly appeared above Yan Jue and crashed down toward her.

A righteous, vast power filled the air.

Yan Jue only felt a sharp stab in her eyes. She clutched her head and instinctively backed away, only for her back to hit something scorching hot.

Right then, Lin Xi had actually raised a wall of fire behind her, completely cutting off the path for Yan Jue to jump off the arena!

A battle to the death.

Everyone was stunned. No one had expected a perfectly ordinary match to suddenly become a kill-or-be-killed struggle!

The giant fire-breathing gourd crashed down. Yan Jue’s face instantly turned red, and she felt like she was about to suffocate.

She used all her strength and kicked hard at Lin Xi’s abdomen.

The moment Lin Xi’s strength faltered, Yan Jue lunged forward and reached out to wrap an arm around Lin Xi’s waist.

The girl’s body was soft. Beneath the sunlight, her face was dazzlingly beautiful. Those clear phoenix eyes looked at her without blinking, and there seemed to be a faint thread of golden light hidden in them.

Lin Xi froze.

This was beauty reinforced by seductive arts!

Got it!

Yan Jue kicked out while airborne, sending the girl back two steps again.

At last, she escaped the fire-breathing gourd’s attack range.

Yan Jue used Instant Thousand Miles to retreat three steps, then spread out her hand.

Ice Summoning Art!

In an instant, countless tiny ice cones appeared in the sky.

The small ice cones instantly turned into a rainstorm of ice, shooting straight toward Lin Xi.

Lin Xi’s expression darkened slightly; she continued to summon the dark-purple fire-breathing gourd. “Fire Dragon Art!”

The gourd instantly spat out a giant dragon. The dragon coiled through the sky, forming a huge wall of fire around Lin Xi.

What surprised Yan Jue was that Lin Xi had already unleashed so many divine abilities; by rights, her spiritual energy should have been greatly depleted.

Yet she still looked full of energy, and her attacks were actually getting faster and faster!

Flames and frost collided in the air, producing a deafening explosion.

Yan Jue’s blood was rushing faster and faster through her body. To her surprise, she even felt a little excited. It might be the red fox bloodline acting up; this body was born with a love of fighting.

Yan Jue instantly executed Flying Swallow Steps and moved five paces back.

She bent slightly to relieve the force, and then saw four coiling fire dragons suddenly appear beneath her feet!

Lin Xi silently recited her incantation, her gaze fixed unblinkingly on Yan Jue.

Immortal Art: Four Dragons Coiling Fire.

Yan Jue stomped hard with her right foot, forming hand seals. A thick layer of ice immediately appeared under her feet, freezing all four fire dragons directly beneath the ground!

More and more people gathered below the arena.

No one could have expected that Yan Jue, the supposed waste, would put on such an exciting match!

The sunlight was scorching.

Lin Xi stared at Yan Jue, frowning deeply, waves surging in her heart.

For some reason, her hatred for Yan Jue was growing stronger and stronger. She only wanted to cleave that fair neck open with a single slash and dig the person’s heart and liver out.

The hatred in her heart was so fierce, yet her whole body was filled with indescribable excitement!

Lin Xi once again summoned the wind beneath her feet and charged at Yan Jue.

Yan Jue took a slingshot out of her Qiankun bag.

This slingshot was the only magical artifact she had registered for the match just now.

The moment Lin Xi rushed toward her, Yan Jue pulled the slingshot taut, and the “Seven-Light Stone” on the band shot out.

The stone whistled through the air straight at Lin Xi.

Lin Xi’s expression tightened, and she immediately dodged to the side.

Who knew the stone would pass over her body, then use its tremendous momentum to fly back again, sticking tightly to her!

Lin Xi clutched the fire gourd and slammed the bottom of it with her palm.

Instantly, a monkey engulfed in raging flames appeared from inside the fire gourd, screaming as it charged toward the stone.

Lin Xi was so focused on wrestling with the stone that she failed to notice Yan Jue had somehow retreated to the edge of the arena and fired two ice cones toward the west and south.

Spread Ice!

The two ice cones were launched out, flying in different directions at an extremely slow speed.

A burst of laughter erupted below the stage. “How could these slow-moving ice cones possibly hurt anyone?”

Everyone knew this was the most basic of ice-element divine abilities: Spread Ice.

No one had expected Yan Jue to use such a basic technique on the arena.

Wasn’t that just asking to be laughed at?

Lin Xi was only emotionally agitated, not stupid. She leapt high and rolled through the air several times in a row, yet that stone still did not give up and kept relentlessly charging at her!

It was actually a stone... with a rare tracking ability, and its momentum was enormous. If it hit her, she would likely be sent tumbling off the arena.

The jagged stone howled in the gale, clinging tightly behind her. Lin Xi narrowly dodged it, her vision gradually darkening, only feeling her anger rising higher and higher!

Unable to focus on thinking, Lin Xi’s fury toward Yan Jue quickly shifted to the stone. She immediately shrouded it with a fire barrier, formed a seal with her right hand to unleash the immortal art Nine Heavens Divine Fire, then turned slightly—and her pupils suddenly contracted.

She had been so busy dealing with the stone that she didn’t know when those two ice cones, which had been flying forward as slowly as idiots, had already reached her face.

The tiny ice cones had already swelled to the width of a person and crashed straight into her face without warning.

Boom!

With a loud blast, blood slid from Lin Xi’s shoulder blade, and she suddenly felt dizzy and lightheaded. She actually froze in place.

Yan Jue seized the chance to use Flying Swallow Steps and moved in front of Lin Xi, sweeping out a feint with her left palm. When Lin Xi raised a hand to block, Yan Jue hooked her wrist back with her right hand and seized it tightly.

She usually paid great attention to physical training, and the fierce wind whipped Lin Xi’s sash into the air. With Lin Xi’s upper body restrained, she subconsciously wanted to create distance, so she lifted her left leg to kick Yan Jue.

Yan Jue took the chance to let go with her right hand, then grabbed Lin Xi’s leg again. Her right arm suddenly exerted force and threw the girl straight out.

Lin Xi was hurled off.

The entire crowd fell silent below the stage.

Then everyone erupted in an uproar, discussion breaking out all at once.

“Why does Senior Sister Lin Xi seem possessed today? She’s so fired up...”

Someone suddenly noticed Chu Fu.

Chu Fu was wearing a blue-gray robe and standing in the crowd, his face handsome.

“Hahaha, look! The genius outer-sect reserve disciple from Watercloud Sect came to watch his ex-wife’s match too.”

“What genius? I think he’s not even as good as his ex-wife. He’s got a face that lures all the senior sisters and junior sisters in our sect away. Just looking at him annoys me.”

“I heard Chu Fu has also made it to the fourth round, right? Tomorrow is already the fifth round. He’s pretty decent.”

Pretty decent?

Chu Fu practically wanted to rush over and slap that person hard. Who knew how much effort he had put into this match? He was clearly astonishingly talented and unmatched! No one was allowed to outshine him!

“So what if he’s decent? I only want to watch beautiful sisters fight; I don’t want to watch stinky men.”

Chu Fu stood in the crowd, his face gloomy.

He slowly lowered his head and clenched his fists.