Chapter 22: Premonition
"Because the inner disciples" grand compet.i.tion has a rule – as long as it is voluntary, switching number lots is not a violation. If you meddle for no reason, your disciple will get disqualified."
Yue Qingfeng explained, scrupulous to the letter, his hand still firmly pressed on Di Jiufeng"s shoulder, not allowing her to move half a step.
Suddenly hearing of disqualification, Di Jiufeng hesitated a bit. Her disciple wanted to go out and look around, and she also wanted to stay in this world. No matter which reason, the best choice was to continue with the compet.i.tion.
But, her unease really was too strong.
Advanced cultivators who could perceive the Heavenly Dao, once their cultivation reached a certain level, could have some response to imminent disaster. Though she was a Late Stage Nascent Soul cultivator and was still subject to the calamities of this world, she had touched some of the edges of the Heavenly Dao. At this time the sense of crisis in her heart was so strong, it nearly suffocated her in a drowning deluge.
Something would definitely happen.
Having come to this determination, she didn"t have the time to bother with anything else. Circulating her spiritual energy to struggle free of Yue Qingfeng"s hand, she vaulted towards the edge of the platform. But, at this time, a far crane"s cry of a clock chime slowly sounded, and right after, a stream of golden light formed into a ward covering the arena platform.
"The time has come, the grand compet.i.tion begins!"
Following a vigorously shouted command, the disciples split into five groups based on the numbers they had pulled. Because there were many inner disciples and one-on-one fights would take up far too much time, after the Sect Leader consulted with the sword-holding elders, this year"s compet.i.tion was changed to a melee fight.
Ten people per group, split into five groups. They would stand on the arena platform at the same time and conduct a melee battle, and at the end, the last two people from every group would be counted as the final winners.
Ning Guang"s luck was quite good. She had pulled number four, and the opponents in her group all were not very strong.
This should have been a good thing, but seeing the man standing at the tail end of the line, Ning Guang slightly knit her brow——not because of the others, but that man looked like he wanted to transform the killing intent in his eyes into substance, cutting into her body knife after knife.
"Ning Guang, right? Remember this old man"s name, Bai Du, this will be the person who sends you to h.e.l.l!"
If Di Jiufeng were here, she would definitely let out a scoff. Baidu was already here, maybe in a few days Sohu and Google would appear too, and finish off the family of search engines? This fraudulent transmigration world really was too lazy to make up proper names. [T/N: Bai Du (百度) has the same characters as the search engine Baidu.]
But, the person here was not Di Jiufeng, but Ning Guang. As a native cultivator, she didn"t know what Baidu was. At this time, she slightly tilted up her chin, her gaze clear and cold like ten-thousand-year-old snow and frost at the icy pinnacle of Mount Kunlun, frigid and merciless. "You want me to die? Ah, what sort of thing are you? No one on this world, other than my Shifu, can claim my life!"
While speaking, Ning Guang turned her head to look at her Shifu.
Seeing her anxiously stand up and signal for her to forfeit, Ning Guang faintly shook her head. She wanted to protect her Shifu, and this was only a small obstacle today. If she shrunk back and did not advance, what protection could she speak of in the future?
She had to deal with this man; it would also show her Shifu to not treat her as a child any longer.
Drawing her sword and turning back, Ning Guang turned in a half circle. With a press and flick of her sword tip, she jolted the disciples at Bai Du"s side off the platform. She had dealt with eight people in one strike. Although they were not strong, it still attracted the attention of all the elders on the viewing platform.
The Sect Leader stroked his beard, looking at Di Jiufeng in praise. "Not bad, you taught this disciple quite well."
Di Jiufeng nodded and said, reserved, "Many thanks to Sect Leader"s care. It is my disciple who is good at learning, I did not need to expend too much effort." Her face was wholly relaxed, but her heart was tense like it was about to catch fire.
Thinking of what the System had just told her, Di Jiufeng nearly couldn"t control the urge to rush up onto the arena platform.
The System said, that the youth was carrying a Pure-Heart Bell.
As a high-tech product, the System had backups of every item which appeared in the plot. As long as an item reappeared, it could quickly and accurately identify it. It was sure that youth carried a Pure-Heart Bell, and looking at its electromagnetic radiation, this Pure-Heart Bell was powerful enough to force the ancient witch to release demonic energy.
If she released demonic energy in front of everyone, Di Jiufeng didn"t need to think to know what would happen.
Punishment by thunder was a small thing, if another person added fuel to the fire, Ning Guang could very well get beheaded on the spot!
Di Jiufeng could not bear this type of conclusion. She restrained the tears filling her peach-blossom eyes, forcefully biting her lower lip, thoughts flying at lightning speed.
If she wanted to stop Ning Guang from being exposed, there was only one way to do so. That was, to immediately take her away. But, at present, they were currently in the haze of battle. If she hastily called to stop the match, she would not only disturb Ning Guang and expose her to counterattack, but would also make the Sect Leader suspicious.
The only way was to make them both stop at the same time.
But, how could she distract both of them at once?
Di Jiufeng had a flash of inspiration, a plan suddenly rushing forth into her mind. She gathered her whole body"s spiritual energy in her dantian at the same time, forcefully pressing down, scattering spiritual energy in all directions to start charging around violently in her meridians.
[T/N: 丹田 (dan1 tian2) – a point two inches below the navel where one"s qi resides.]
Di Jiufeng spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, collapsing trembling to the floor.
Seeing her in this state, cries of alarm sounded out in succession.
"Shimei!"
"Jiufeng!"
"Elder Jiufeng!"
Yue Qingfeng was the closest, immediately hauling her back up. Just when his hand connected with her pulse, he heard Di Jiufeng"s thin and weak voice beside his ear. She asked telepathically, "Shixiong, help me, call my disciple back, have her take me back to the peak."
[T/N: 传音 (chuan2 yin1), "transmitting voice", a close-range telepathic communication ability.]
Yue Qingfeng instantly understood, replying the same way. "You don"t need to do this, that person is not a match for your disciple. You can go ahead and relax."
"No, he"s indeed not a match for my disciple, but…" Before she had finished speaking, a pair of warm hands seized her from Yue Qingfeng"s embrace. Ning Guang softly held her on her lap, the harsh gleam completely shed from her long and narrow phoenix eyes, leaving them submerged only in deep worry, more bottomless than the abyss. "Shifu, Shifu, what happened to you…"
Because she was too overly afraid, even the tone of her voice wavered uncontrollably.
Ning Guang pulled out her softest inner clothes, dabbing away the bloodstains by Di Jiufeng"s lip bit by bit. "Shifu, you were perfectly fine, how are you spitting blood?"
Di Jiufeng had not yet spoken when Yue Qingfeng cut in. "Your Shifu is fine, she was just excessively hasty in cultivation and her spiritual energy surged unevenly. You don"t need to be too worried, take her back. As for this compet.i.tion…"
"I won"t partic.i.p.ate in the compet.i.tion, there"s nothing more important than my Shifu in this world."
Reaching her hand and gesturing to call up her own flying sword, Ning Guang didn"t bother with anything else, climbing on her sword while holding her Shifu.
Seeing her leave, Bai Du"s face twisted in malevolence. He wanted to get Ning Guang to take revenge. If he let her leave, how could he find so good an opportunity again? This evil spirit had already left him far behind, if he waited for a few more years, even if there was the opportunity, he wouldn"t be brave enough to act, there was only today!
Thinking of this, Bai Du immediately fished out the Pure-Heart Bell.
Because he was breaking the cauldrons and sinking the ship with this strike, he didn"t hold back a bit, pouring in his whole body"s spiritual energy!
[T/N: "breaking the cauldrons and sinking the ship" – 破釜沉舟 (po4 fu3 chen2 zhou1), an idiom meaning cutting off your means of retreat.]
"Ning Guang! You caused me to have my fill of humiliation, and today I"ll make you unworthy of life, unable to die!" With this vicious shout, he began to madly shake the bell in his hand.
Following the crisp ring of the bell, a merciful chant swept along the clear Buddhist scriptures, like a golden arrow piercing straight through Ning Guang"s dantian.
Notes:
This chapter was translated by Lily. Di Jiufeng why must you be like this. "Add fuel to the fire" – the original was 推波助澜 (tui1 bo1 zhu4 lan2), "push the wave and add to the billows", an idiom with a roughly equivalent meaning. Peach blossom eyes: 桃花眼 (tao2 hua1 yan3), refers to a certain eye shape/look. According to Baike, the shape is like peach blossoms, watery, full of emotion, black and white unclear like the person could be drunk. That last line is sorta weird, the original is 伴随着铃铛的脆响,慈悲的梵音裹挟着清彻的佛家经卷,如一根金色的箭矢穿透了凝光的丹田。