Volume 1, Chapter 116 – Song Jue

Early the next morning, after Shi Lan finished inhaling and exhaling the first wisp of pure spiritual qi birthed at dawn, she slowly withdrew her energy. As she opened her eyes, she saw Gu Rentong standing not far away, waiting for her.

“With cultivation this diligent, it’s no wonder that at such a young age, Miss Shi Lan already possesses such strength.”

Gu Rentong offered a word of praise, then led Shi Lan toward the arena.

Chu Chen had originally planned to go back, but as if driven by some unseen force, he unconsciously followed and once again ended up in front of the arena.

Of the four who had entered the semifinals, besides Shi Lan, the other three were all men at the ninth stage of the Innate Realm, all around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old.

Shi Lan’s opponent was a somewhat skinny man, a three-foot longsword in his hand and a serious expression on his face.

Elder Xin from yesterday was nowhere to be seen. In his place, an even older elder had taken over hosting the matches.

“Begin the match.”

The elder had barely finished speaking when the man slid a step back, swung up the sword in his hand, and unleashed a sword qi over ten zhang long, which shot out and cleaved toward Shi Lan without the slightest hesitation.

He had watched yesterday’s matches clearly. In his view, Shi Lan should excel at close combat, so widening the distance and slowly wearing her down was the wisest approach.

Without a moment’s pause, Shi Lan raised her hand and summoned the Purple Star Seven-Section Halberd. She stomped fiercely underfoot, leaving two shallow footprints in the black-iron arena. Her figure blurred into an afterimage as she charged straight toward the sword qi.

“Crack!”

The sword qi shattered with a thunderous crash, and a halberd qi nearly twenty zhang long suddenly burst forth. It descended from above like Pangu splitting the heavens, carrying boundless force as it chopped down aggressively.

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Facing the halberd qi, the man’s expression shifted slightly. His feet stamped rapidly as he threw himself backward. At the same time, the three-foot sword in his hand flew free, turning into nearly a hundred illusory sword shadows at his side that shot into the sky.

A dozen or so sword qi, each seven or eight zhang long, burst out from within the sword shadows, hacking head-on toward the halberd qi.

With a series of crackling explosions, the nearly hundred sword shadows vanished, and the halberd qi was also worn down by more than half, shrinking abruptly until it was less than three zhang long.

The man once again gripped his sword. With a long shout, a dazzling sword qi burst out like a river of light at sunset, shooting straight forward.

The ponytail tied behind Shi Lan’s head was whipped high by the sword qi rushing toward her. The war halberd in her hand did not move an inch. The halberd qi swelled again, continuing along its previous trajectory as it slashed toward that sword qi.

Boom!

With a deafening blast, the sword qi was shattered in an instant.

Seeing this, the man’s face changed drastically. Staring at the war halberd chopping down at his head, he let the sword qi in his hand surge. Innate true qi wrapped around the blade, transforming into a giant sword over ten zhang long that shot straight up to the sky, cleaving toward the halberd qi from below.

“Bang!”

The two streams of qi collided. The longsword in the man’s hand trembled violently, and he felt a terrifying force rush along the blade and sweep into his arm.

The man cursed inwardly and hurriedly released the sword, retreating in haste. Even so, his arm still suffered a heavy shock, leaving him with a minor injury.

After steadying his stance, the man couldn’t help but think what frightening brute strength she had. He had just been about to summon back his sword when a sharp crack of air being whipped apart exploded by his ear.

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The purple halberd shaft swung like a long staff and, in an instant, smashed into his chest.

Thud!

The man felt as if a maddened giant elephant had stomped on his chest. The Innate true qi he had just gathered was scattered in an instant as he was struck clean off the arena.

Shi Lan put away her war halberd, flicked the ponytail that had fallen over her shoulder back behind her, and cupped her hands. “Thank you for letting me win.”

The man struggled up from the ground, calming his surging qi. With a gloomy expression, he returned the salute, then recalled his artifact and walked unsteadily back into the crowd.

Chu Chen’s eyes were full of shock. Yesterday’s fight with Yuan Guanhai could still be explained as Yuan Guanhai being careless and letting Shi Lan seize the initiative.

But today’s bout had been a straight-up head-on clash. The other side had been on his utmost guard, yet he still lost after just a few short exchanges.

A seventh-stage Innate Realm fighting a ninth-stage Innate Realm, crossing realms in battle, and Shi Lan had still crushed her opponent in overwhelming fashion. This level of talent could only be called terrifying.

“Gufeng City, Shi Lan is victorious.”

The elder from Sky Thunder Hall standing to the side finished announcing the result.

He motioned for Shi Lan to step down and make room on the arena for the other two. Of those two, one wielded a broad sword, while the other controlled seven flying knives, a complete set of artifacts with no small power.

The two of them fought fiercely for nearly half an hour. In the end, the man who controlled the flying knives lost because he could no longer sustain his true qi.

That left only the final deciding match.

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The man who had emerged victorious did not choose to fight Shi Lan and instead straightforwardly chose to concede. The match just now had been enough to show him the gap in strength between himself and Shi Lan.

And so, Shi Lan took first place on this arena as easily as reaching into a bag.

What Shi Lan hadn’t expected was that taking first place on this arena also came with a reward, and a rather generous one at that.

Accepting the ten crystal plaques passed over by the Sky Thunder Hall elder, Shi Lan felt a little dazed. She had thought that aside from the Seven-Treasure Enlightening Jade Dew, there would be no other rewards this time. She had not expected a bonus windfall on top.

One hundred thousand spirit crystals was no small sum.

“Wait here for a bit. Once I’ve finished dealing with matters here, I’ll take you to the main peak.” The elder gave a brief reminder, then turned to handle some chores.

Shi Lan walked over to Gu Rentong and handed him the crystal plaques in her hand. “I’ll trouble City Lord Gu.”

“There’s no need to be so polite, young lady.”

Gu Rentong was briefly at a loss for words as he raised his hand to accept them. He then reminded her,

“Although fortune favors you in combat today, you must still be careful. I just went around to inquire a bit. The cultivators at the other arenas are all far from simple. This Seven-Treasure Enlightening Jade Dew has drawn quite a number of people.”

Shi Lan nodded to show she understood.

“Miss… Miss Shi Lan.”

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A call sounded at her ear. Following the voice, Shi Lan saw a scholar with a flushed face, a bundle on his back and a scroll clutched in his hand.

When the scholar saw Shi Lan look his way, his face grew even redder. He shuffled a few steps toward her and cupped his hands in greeting. “I am Song Jue.”

“Do you need something?” Shi Lan asked, puzzled.

“I have something I wish to present to you.”

Song Jue held out the scroll in his hand, gave a light cough, and stammered, “Miss, your beauty is unmatched and inspires admiration. I have a shallow grasp of painting, and my hands were itching for the brush, so…”

Shi Lan took the scroll and, without any sign of shyness, opened it right there.

An ink painting slowly unfurled. In the painting, a woman in a white skirt stood with a halberd in hand, her beauty peerless and her bearing gentle yet flowing. The most striking part was her liquid, water-bright eyes, like the finishing touch of the brush, bringing the entire painting to life.

This piece could truly be called a work of art.

The reason Song Jue had painted it was purely to find an excuse to strike up a conversation with Shi Lan. Going up to her empty-handed would easily come across as rude.

But now, seeing that Shi Lan seemed to be seriously studying the painting, Song Jue couldn’t help feeling nervous. For the first time, he felt a sudden lack of confidence in his painting skills, which he had always been quite proud of.

“Thank you. Young Master Song’s mastery of painting truly commands respect.” Shi Lan rolled up the painting and looked up at the slightly nervous Song Jue as she offered her thanks. Receiving a gift from an admirer like this gave her a subtle, hard-to-describe feeling in her heart.