Volume 2, Chapter 74 – Aftermath

Xiang Xian was the first to rush up onto the platform. With a sweep of her sleeve she scattered the lingering haze of dust, and in one glance saw Bai Xiang standing alone at the center of the stage.

She seemed completely unchanged.

Not just Xiang Xian—everyone from Qizhou University and the invited guests who saw this scene had the same thought surge up in their minds.

Her white dress was as spotless as when she’d gone up.

Her pure white hair was just as it had been at their first meeting, tied back with a two-finger-wide black ribbon.

The swirling dust and wind lifted her trailing ponytail and loose bangs. They also tugged at the hem of her silk dress, making those light layers of fabric billow around the girl’s graceful figure like a spring breeze, silently speaking of beauty and poise.

And yet all this “soft motion” only sharpened the contrast with her own stillness, as if deliberately emphasizing her nailed-in-place stance, emphasizing the outcome of her battle—the opponent sprawled at her feet, and the blood-streaked sword in her hand.

“Miss Xiang…”

In the stands, Xu Xi clapped both hands over her mouth. Tears suddenly spilled from her wide eyes.

Below the stage, Xia Ran stared fixedly at the sword-bearing figure, replaying over and over in his mind the warning she’d given him as she passed.

Zhao Jinyan sat slack, his blank eyes full of dazed loss.

Abbess Li Sheng slowly sank back into her seat. Her eyes rolled upward and closed lightly as she let out a long, turbid breath through her nose.

Wang Ran’s lips moved once. Then he turned his severe gaze on the completely stupefied Luohou delegation, striding quickly up to the old monk in the python-embroidered robe—Liaokong—and snapping, “Junior Brother, you owe me an explanation!”

Luohou Fuhu Temple and Benling Sword Dao shared a common source; calling each other senior and junior brother was his way of not tearing the relationship.

But everyone had seen what had happened in the arena just now! There was a very high chance something filthy was hiding inside Bolou! Under normal rules, someone like that shouldn’t have been allowed into the country at all! That meant the Luohou delegation had been lying from the start, using forbidden means that were absolutely not permitted!

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What had they lied for?

Simply to secure primary control of the land-reclamation operation? Or was there some other scheme?

As Dao Lord of Benling, Wang Ran’s knowledge and breadth of learning were no less than Xiang Xian’s. He could certainly guess what possibilities lay behind the aberration in Bolou’s body, and he was sweating cold under his robes.

The old monk in the python robe’s face had gone dark. His lips trembled twice, then he pressed his palms together toward Wang Ran and said, “We truly knew nothing of this. For now… we can only leave ourselves to be handled by Senior Brother as you see fit.”

He wasn’t insane.

Right now, Qiyun Hall held three Divine Fetus cultivators. To resist would be pure suicide.

Better to yield first, and then let that person think of a way.

“Xiang’er!”

Amid the uproar, Xiang Xian called out once, then rushed to Bai Xiang’s side. Regardless of how many eyes were on them, she grabbed Bai Xiang’s left hand and began checking her from head to toe.

“I’m fine.” Bai Xiang’s lips twitched slightly. She wanted, somewhat helplessly, to pull her hand back.

“Don’t be stubborn!” But Xiang Xian’s grip was like a clamp on her wrist, unyielding. She insisted on dragging Bai Xiang off the stage, even intercepting a medical team that was charging up toward Bolou. They had originally been heading straight for him; now she demanded they bring their instruments over to check on her side instead.

“No wonder…”

Zhou Jing’an leaned back lightly in his chair, his tone full of wonder.

“With talent like that, even if it’s just a fluke, no one could possibly remain unmoved…”

Zhou Ji’s face, on the other hand, was iron-blue.

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He had predicted that Bai Xiang would inevitably be defeated by Bolou. Yet the result was the exact opposite. Not only that—Bolou had never even managed any real resistance. From start to finish, he had been completely crushed, with no chance to fight back at all.

How could she be that strong?

Back then they’d both been students at Chilong No. 1 High together. She’d only just Entered the Dao over this summer break! That was a full year later than him!

The impact left Zhou Ji shaken to his core. He didn’t understand, couldn’t make sense of it. Unable to accept reality, he could only sit there rigidly, teeth grinding as he glared at Bai Xiang, his fingernails digging into his palms.

Suddenly, a hand rested on his shoulder.

Zhou Ji turned to see his grandfather, Zhou Jing’an, looking at him.

“There’s no need to worry,” Zhou Jing’an said.

“At least here in the lands of Qize, a blade that sharp isn’t a good thing.”

“Grandpa?” Zhou Ji frowned, baffled.

“Haven’t you always been worried that the rise of the Bai clan would displace Qingya Sword?” Zhou Jing’an shook his head. “From this moment on, they won’t have the chance.”

【This is simply unbelievable——!!!】

The noise in the arena grew louder and louder, mingled with Wen Qingxuan’s hoarse, off-key commentary. Only now did many people seem to wake from a dream, realizing that Bai Xiang really had defeated Bolou—and at the terrifying age of just seventeen!

“Am I crazy, or are you all crazy…?”

“She’s seventeen?”

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“When Bolou fought everyone else, it felt like there was a whole major realm between them. If she can take him down, doesn’t that mean she’s not far off from embracing the core?”

“Senior Brother Xia had such a hard time fighting even with Purple Blood. At this level… maybe she’s already embraced the core?”

“No way!”

“Even if she hasn’t, she’s not far! She didn’t even show that many techniques! She didn’t even release any Purple Qi!”

Cheers, arguments, doubts, and confusion.

Sitting at the edge of the arena, watching Xiang Xian insert a few metal needle heads into her arm and study the instrument’s screen carefully, Bai Xiang lifted her head and swept her gaze around, taking in the feverish tableau.

A stadium that could seat twenty-five thousand people.

When you stood in the middle of it, with the fortune to become the focus of every eye, this was the “ultimate pressure” you had to face.

Bai Xiang had heard that some athletes performed brilliantly in private training, but the moment they stepped onto a stage this big, with tens of thousands of eyes locked on them, their movements and stances would fall apart.

Swordsmen rarely had this problem. That was because from the moment they Entered the Dao, swordsmen had already accepted the necessary resolve. Mind, skill, and body as one, they could always hold a peak mental state.

But what if you magnified this scale even further?

Ten times?

A hundred times?

A thousand, ten thousand times?

Bai Xiang stared at this living picture as if she were staring at a shrunken world.

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“Not happy?”

Xiang Xian suddenly spoke to her.

“You’re basically their hero now.”

“This kind of adoration is meaningless.” Bai Xiang shook her head.

She knew very well that the teachers and students of Qizhou University had never been particularly close to her. The reason they were cheering and applauding now was only because she’d beaten Bolou and helped the school regain its honor—because she’d helped secure their interests.

After this was over, if she did anything that clashed with their understanding, she had no doubt these praises would turn into curses—such was the coldness of the human world.

“I can finally be sure you’re still you.”

Xiang Xian suddenly smiled in relief.

Had she seen that the filthy thing in Bolou’s body was a Yaosui lodged in his soul?

Bai Xiang lowered her head to look at her, and saw that Xiang Xian’s expression was growing more serious by the moment.

“At this point, there’s nothing left to hide from you.”

Xiang Xian stood, set a hand on Bai Xiang’s shoulder, and gave it a squeeze.

“It’s true—I agreed to this invitation because I wanted to investigate those shinu people.”

“But I didn’t expect them to bring something this dangerous.”