Han De went through his mental checklist.
"Even with 1103 Profound Points, there is nothing in the shop that would be helpful now. If she had exited enlightenment yesterday I could"ve asked her to write down her scripture and complete it. Enlightenment or not, 3 hours is still a bit too little for recovery."
Han De patiently waited as Ning Bi kept eating recovery pills. When she was done, they hopped on his sword. Han De was gritting his teeth. He had decided to use the full speed of his sword flight. They were already fas.h.i.+onably late, it would be better to also make it a flashy entrance at this point.
* * *
Battlegrounds was a Starfall Mountain Sect tradition. Every 5 years promising disciples would be selected and put inside a battle royale. This battle royale would be held inside a ma.s.sive caldera, outside the sect.
The name "Battlegrounds" came from a b.l.o.o.d.y battle that was fought many generations ago. As everyone kept referring to the location as "battlegrounds" it became stuck.
The conference that was held was a special event. After it was over, younger generations would have friendly battles between them. There weren"t any rewards. It was purely for improving relations and improving the disciples. Sometimes there would be grudge duels, but they were rare. Today was one of those rare days.
Su Jing had been waiting for the last 2 days for Ning Bi to arrive. Since he took that vow, some years had pa.s.sed already. He was patient. 2 days was nothing. The only thing he was worried about was Ning Bi not appearing at all. He didn"t care about winning or losing, he wasn"t here for that today. He wanted to collect the interest on the debt that was long overdue.
There was only an hour left until Battlegrounds closure, but Starfall Mountain people were confident. None of them even thought of the possibility of Han De and his disciple not showing up.
Sitting at the seats floating above, Ming Nui was furious. He had organized most of the geniuses to be against Ning Bi. They were saving their strength all day so that they could unleash it against her. He had also leaked her status as a sword cultivator, and all the information he could gather about Han De"s sword art. Yet they never came to the Battlegrounds.
Ming Nui didn"t partic.i.p.ate in the Battlegrounds. He thought himself to be above that of the average bunch that were present today. There was no need to prove his supremacy.
* * *
Everyone was waiting. Then they heard thunder, followed by a suffocating presence. Not even a second after the thunder, Han De and his disciple had arrived at Battlegrounds. Instantly all eyes gathered on them.
He wasn"t releasing his aura, this was just the residual energy from his flight. Despite that, it was still enough to greatly pressure Foundation Establishment disciples. Those that were present on the day of gathering felt that somehow, Han De"s aura was more brutal.
After they both landed, Han De used all of his strength and immediately moved towards other core elders of the Starfall Mountain Sect. His confidence was very high, his legs definitely wouldn"t give out, not today. He didn"t even spare a glance at Ning Bi. He couldn"t afford to.
Ning Bi, on the other hand, was in a pitiful state. It was the first time she flew, or rather the first time she flew while she was conscious. The entire flight took less than 10 seconds. It took all her strength just to stand still. Thankfully she only took recovery pills, if she had eaten anything it would be all over.
Su Jing, Ming Nui, and everyone else watched as Han De left and Ning Bi nervously looked around. Her current state caused many of them to sneer.
Masters on the VIP seats on the other hand accurately diagnosed the issue. They were speechless. Wasn"t Han De overly protective of his disciple? Didn"t he offended nearly everyone at the gathering because of her?
Seeing the opportunity, one of the closer disciples took the initiative to challenge Ning Bi.
"Disciple Ning Bi. Please advise this lowly brother!"
Ning Bi was rather unsettled inside. Her head was spinning, she wasn"t sure if she could walk. Yet she didn"t want to disappoint her master. She brought out her blindfold without saying another word and bound her eyes. As soon as she had done that, everything became stable!
"Everything was spinning before I closed my eyes, yet now they are all so clear! I was still too attached to my vision! So master had already seen through it. He was training me!"
Masters had noticed this change as well. It was as if she had become a different person with the blindfold. Her movement became sharp.
[Breach (Mortal)]
[Progress: (+1) 2%]
"What? What happened?"
Han De appeared nonchalant, but he was somewhat confused. Does the progress increase every time she binds her eyes?
Some of the masters looked at Han De, but upon seeing his non-reaction, they figured it was his intent all along. This was a friendly compet.i.tion, but they were still offended by Han De blatantly treating others as sharpening stones for his disciple.
The person that had challenged Ning Bi and the other disciples on the Battlegrounds were fuming. They hadn"t noticed her demeanor change, which was natural for someone at their level. But seeing her with a blindfold, they felt personally insulted.
Ning Bi took out her warglaives from the storage bag. They were the same warglaives that she used for training. They weren"t anything special, just standard spiritual equipment for a Qi Condensation disciple. However, they were rather eye-catching. This was natural as they were made as ornamental weapons originally. They were only included in training weapons because of servants" fear of Han De.
Seeing a pair of big, inwardly curved, double-bladed weapons, the disciple that was walking abruptly stopped. Previously angry disciples were also stunned. No sound other than the slight breeze could be heard on the Battlegrounds.
Han De couldn"t suppress his urges and pinched his glabella. He was afraid of people mocking Ning Bi for her weapon choice, but she had already created her own martial art for it. In fact, it was the strongest martial art Han De had ever seen. The System had cla.s.sified it as "Weak". Not extremely weak, or even very weak! How could he ask her to use a sword instead?!
A beginner disciple muttered to his senior brother. It was a very low voice, but it felt loud in the utterly silent Battlegrounds.
"Senior brother, what kind of weapon is that?"
As if that was the cue, a commotion started within the lower realm disciples.
"What is that? It looks so fierce!"
"Wasn"t she a sword cultivator?"
"Elder De is a renowned sword cultivator, she should be one.."
"That"s not a sword. I should know, I practice Star Cleansing Sword art!"
"What kind of martial art is she going to use with it? Are there any methods for weapons like that in the Archives?"
"Does anyone know what are they called?"
Not caring about the people talking, Ning Bi concentrated on her target. He was Qi Condensation level 5, just like her. Even in a friendly compet.i.tion, high cultivation levels would still suppress their cultivation to the lower level. Still, the difference in fighting experience would remain. Her current target was the perfect choice for Ning Bi.
She started running and operated her Cosmic Destruction art. Her aura started seeping through.
Seeing her running towards him, the challenger operated his own mantra and focused his Qi on his sword, and thrust it towards Ning Bi.
"Iridescent Strike!"
Ning Bi used her left warglaive and deflected the colorful ray of light. She focused her Fire Qi on the edges of her warglaives, causing them, and the ground around her to catch on fire. She noticed the strange movements of the boy. She already accurately predicted the trajectory of his first strike, but his current movements suggested that he was frozen.
"He is deceiving me! He will most likely respond with an overhead slash, I"ll just be ready to block it, but I need my all for this first strike."
Ning Bi had already reached the intermediate grade with the sword scripture of her master. She already knew about the basic sword methods.
Fire Qi around Ning Bi kept increasing. Her weapons were covered in white flames. She reached the boy and swung her warglaive with all her might.
*Crack*
Ning Bi had lost the sight of the boy! She tried to perceive him with her all, but couldn"t find him. In a panic, she removed the blindfold to look around for him. But she couldn"t find him. All she could see was blank stares from everyone watching.
That loud crack was actually a feature of the Battlegrounds. The entire caldera was covered with a formation. This formation used the power of s.p.a.ce to save the lives of the disciples when they were about to receive a fatal injury. Of course, Starfall Mountain Sect couldn"t afford to lose a great many disciples every 5 years. They were already a quality-focused sect instead of quant.i.ty. Such a formation was a common feature around the training areas of the sect.
"S-She one-shot him?!"
"He died just like that?"
"Fairy Ning Bi is so fierce! So righteous!"
Ning Bi was frustrated, she wanted to practice her martial art and do cool moves. She bound her eyes again and perceived the other geniuses. She realized she knew quite a few of them. She had committed them to her memory during the gathering. She pointed towards the closest one with a warglaive in her hand.
"Disciple Ning Bi is asking for pointers. Please advise!"
Han De was watching the entire thing speechless. He recalled how he kept worrying for the past 2 weeks. How he had desperately tried to come up with so many plans. He had learned so many scriptures, just writing them down had taken him an entire day and night.
*Crack*
"Was I worried about nothing? Maybe I should"ve just locked her in the armory from the very beginning..."
"Disciple Ning Bi is asking for pointers. Please advise!"
Ning Bi had one-shotted another genius and was asking for another match.
Masters in the VIP area were dumbfounded. They couldn"t recognize her martial art at all. They couldn"t help but comment.
*Crack*
"Such a destructive aura coming from her."
"Indeed. Her movements are a little stiff, but she shows great promise."
"Disciple Ning Bi is asking for pointers. Please advise!"
By this time, silence reigned over all disciples. They knew what they saw, but they still couldn"t believe it.
*Crack*
The geniuses that didn"t partic.i.p.ate today were secretly relieved.
"Disciple Ning Bi is asking for pointers. Please advise!"
*Crack*
"Disciple Ning Bi is asking for pointers. Please advise!"
*Crack*
"Disciple Ning Bi is asking for pointers. Please advise!"
*Crack*
"Disciple Ning Bi is asking for pointers. Please advise!"
*Crack*
"Disciple Ning Bi is asking for pointers. Please advise!"
*Crack*
"Disciple Ning Bi is asking for pointers. Please advise!"
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*Crack*
As Ning Bi mercilessly kept cutting down geniuses, Han De was starting to break into a cold sweat. This was too eye-catching!
"Why is this little brat not running out of spiritual energy? Isn"t this a bit too much? How efficient is this Cosmic Destruction Scripture? What is it going to be like when it is complete?"
Han De suddenly recalled the quest text.
[Your extremely talented disciple has formed many grudges so far]
"D-did she really formed this many grudges? How? When did she even see all of them? Was it the gathering?"
"Disciple Ning Bi is asking for pointers. Please advise!"
*Crack*
"Disciple Ning Bi is asking for pointers. Please advise!"
*Crack*
"Disciple Ning Bi is asking for pointers. Please advise!"
*Crack*
"Disciple Ning Bi is asking for pointers. Please advise!"
*Crack*
"Disciple Ning Bi is asking for pointers. Please advise!"
*Crack*
"That d.a.m.ned, perverted grudge skill!!"
Han De"s palm crashed on his face.
"Disciple Ning Bi is asking for pointers. Please advise!"
"I YIELD!"
*Crack*
Han De didn"t want to prolong things anymore. He sent a voice transmission to Ning Bi.
Ning Bi stopped as she was about to challenge another filthy trash. She felt indignant for a moment, but then calmed down. With a clear voice, she shouted.
"Where is SU JING?!"
".."
"Come out here now!!"
".."
"SU JING!!"
Su Jing"s face was dark. After the first few geniuses, he knew he wasn"t her match if he suppressed his cultivation. He made up his mind and walked towards Ning Bi.
"Disciple Su Jing is asking for pointers. Please advise."
Ning Bi increased her power output to the max. This trash, had insulted her master"s scripture. He had to pay the price.
Su Jing appeared calm. He raised his spear and operated his method. His spear got covered with a plum-colored glow. He made the first move and attacked Ning Bi over a distance with Qi attacks coming from his spear.
Ning Bi casually dodged them and slowly closed the distance. She wasn"t concerned about strikes like these at all.
She slowly got closer and closer. Su Jing judged the distance. He increased his cultivation back to the 6th level and thrust his spear directly to Ning Bi"s dantian. He was resolved to his fate. No one would die here, the formation would save them, but an injury to her dantian wouldn"t trigger it. She would be crippled for the rest of her life.
Unfortunately for him, Ning Bi had already seen through his actions. She knew that a normal attack like that wouldn"t even be a threat for her, so she preemptively readied herself to block the spear with both blades. And she succeeded!
"Aah, there we go, surpa.s.sing the cultivation stages template. So she is already at a stage that she could do that. As expected of an MC I guess."
Han De involuntarily nodded. He completely expected this. He didn"t bother hiding his smugness. It also fit his currently equipped character perfectly.
Masters were surprised, they had already seen or heard of people that could fight against high cultivation stages, but most of them didn"t expect Ning Bi to be one of them. This declared her as a genius among geniuses. Starfall Mountain Sect had new a monster talent with them.
Su Jing and Ning Bi"s exchange continued for some time. Ning Bi couldn"t land a clear strike, neither could Su Jing. Since no one had stopped the duel even though he was using a higher stage power, Su Jing instead went for a war of attrition. He wanted Ning Bi to exhaust her spiritual power.
Their exchange continued for 20 minutes. Su Jing was now in a panic. He was tired, and he was nearly out of power. However, Ning Bi"s aura was still as bright as ever.
Ning Bi perceived the deciding moment. With a swift strike, she cut off the arms of Su Jing, then sent him out of the Battlegrounds with another. 2 arms and a spear harmlessly dropped to the ground while Su Jing disappeared.
*Crack*
[Quest Complete!]
[Congratulations!]
[Quest Reward: 250 Profound Points]
[Notes: You have completed your quest in the allocated time. Your disciple Ning Bi settled her deep grudge. She created and used her own martial arts scripture to teach her grudges a lesson that they would never forget. Bonus reward is being issued.]
[Bonus Reward: Cultivation Method Upgrade Token x 5]
"I must make sure to never p.i.s.s her off. I really will be finished if she forms a grudge on me."
Han De didn"t even notice the quest pop up box. He was deeply concerned about his future.
After a few moments of silence, Starfall Mountain Sect disciples started cheering for Ning Bi.
"Fairy Ning Bi!"
"Unrivaled under the heavens!!"
"Fairy Ning Bi! Please step on me!"
Ning Bi was surprised at the cheering crowd. She looked for her master and found him. She clasped her hands and bowed.