The Third Round

Bai Ning Shuang watched her opponent approach her calmly, still sitting by her zither and playing a song in a composed manner. The harmonious notes floated across to batter the opponent at the other end of the field, but she didn't seem affected.

At least not on the surface.

She had a shimmering aura of moisture that enveloped her protectively, and lots of these droplets hovered around her, resembling spears. Yu Sui wasn't a pushover. Anyone who had managed to progress to the third round was a powerful cultivator in his or her own right. The less skilled ones had already been eliminated in the earlier rounds, after all.

That was why she wasn't going to fall so easily.

"Not bad, Yu Sui is actually lasting more than ten exchanges with the Divine Spirit Body!"

"She's not one of the rising stars of Elemental Mountain Sect for nothing!"

Right, she was wearing the same robes as Chi Yan and He Shan Jie from Elemental Mountain Sect. By virtue of her being related to my friends and also because I didn't like Bai Ning Shuang, I found myself rooting for her.

Yu Sui swung her spear and washed away the melodic notes with the water she had mustered. Qi clashed against qi, the music shattering against a wall of water. The droplets sharpened and rained down on Bai Ning Shuang, who simply strummed another tune to deflect the water spears to the side with an invisible shimmer.

Then a water dragon crashed down upon Bai Ning Shuang, only to be held back by an unseen dome of soul energy, strengthened further by the music that she was playing. The dragon roared silently and impotently, gnashing its watery fangs against the musical barrier, only to dissipate harmlessly after a few seconds.

"Hmph." Yu Sui glared at Bai Ning Shuang. "I don't care if you're the Divine Spirit Body or whatever. That doesn't mean you're invincible. I'll find a way to break through your defenses!"

Bai Ning Shuang didn't reply, looking as cold and indifferent as ever. That never changing expression of hers was downright condescending, almost as if she never placed anyone in her eyes. As expected, that infuriated Yu Sui further. She slammed her spear against the ground and summon several gigantic geysers of water that surged into the air, almost as if they were challenging the heavens.

Even though Bai Ning Shuang's face showed no change in emotion, her fingers began to speed up and she played a faster and more potent tune. The spectators could detect a shift in the atmosphere as the music appeared to grow louder, despite the volume not actually increasing. There was a higher intensity to the song now, almost as if it was rising in response to the storm of water and tidal waves that Yu Sui was conjuring.

Without any hesitation, Yu Sui launched the water spears at her opponent, sending them streaking in clear, transparent waves. The watery projectiles battered against the invisible musical barrier and smashed through them. Even so, Bai Ning Shuang remained unmoving, staying at her spot and continuing to play her zither. Several of the water spears appeared to move around her, deflected by the musical notes that drifted from the vibrating strings, sent crashing to the side.

Despite her best efforts, blood opened up on Bai Ning Shuang's face and arms, the flesh cut apart by the sharp, highly pressurized jets of water. Yu Sui smirked.

"So the Divine Spirit Body can still bleed. You're not a goddess, after all."

Bai Ning Shuang didn't rise to the bait and continued to play, her fingers moving swifter than before. The rest of the watery bombardment continued to slice through her robes and skin, sending more blood spilling out in a red mist about her. Nonetheless, Bai Ning Shuang continued to play calmly, not allowing herself to be affected by her enemy's assault.

Yu Sui narrowed her eyes, but she ceased her verbal taunting, fully aware that Bai Ning Shuang was completely indifferent to any banter or attempt at psychological warfare. Taking a deep breath, she lunged forward and plunged her spear into Bai Ning Shuang's chest. The watery projectiles converged around her and transformed into a titanic water dragon, its fangs dripping.

This time, Bai Ning Shuang stopped playing. She shifted her zither up and used it as a shield to block the gigantic water dragon. Moisture splashed across her body soaking her and cutting her up, but she didn't cry out even once.

Instead, she drew a sword and slashed at Yu Sui, who swiftly parried it with her spear. The two girls traded blows, water and white qi colliding and detonating across the arena, carving craters into the ground. Yu Sui spun her spear about and countered with a thrust, but Bai Ning Shuang calmly deflected it before delivering a riposte that her opponent parried with the shaft of her spear. Sparks flew as metal screeched against metal, and the two girls exchanged another couple of blows before springing apart in a shower of sparks and water droplets.

The water continued to rear up around Yu Sui before plunging down on Bai Ning Shuang, taking the form of dragons. They almost resembled a many headed serpent, roaring silently and baring their dripping fangs before crashing upon the Divine Spirit Body.

Bai Ning Shuang's sword glowed fiercely, the blade wreathed in blinding white aura, before she slashed them apart. An explosion blasted the dragons apart into curtains of water, the waves splashing across the ground harmlessly.

Through the crumbling tumble of water, Yu Sui surged forward and thrust her spear, only for Bai Ning Shuang to parry it with her sword. She stumbled past her opponent, who then countered with a sword strike at her back. Fortunately, Yu Sui was able to twirl her spear about and knocked the blade aside before it could deal a fatal wound.

"Huff…"

Scraping her foot against the ground, Yu Sui spun around to slash at Bai Ning Shuang, but she parried the spear with her sword. Standing her ground, Bai Ning Shuang twisted her blade about to shift the spear to the side, and then she unleashed a white burst of qi that knocked Yu Sui off her feet and sent her tumbling to the ground.

Yu Sui hastily rolled away before Bai Ning Shuang could stab her with several white lights. Soul attacks dissipated against her water barrier, but she was clearly weakening.

And then Yu Sui froze. Bai Ning Shuang finally had her in her grip – not literally by spiritually. All around the water cultivator, runes were materializing, imprisoning and chaining her soul.

"When did she?!" One of the spectators gasped.

"The Divine Spirit Body finally broke through Yu Sui's water spirit defenses with her soul techniques!" Another exclaimed.

Yu Sui shuddered and sank to her knees, her spear falling from her ground. Bai Ning Shuang slowly approached her, bringing the tip of her sword to her opponent's throat. She then looked at the referee, who quickly nodded.

"The match is over! Yu Sui is unable to battle! Bai Ning Shuang is the winner!"

And so the third match for Bai Ning Shuang ended again in her victory. It looked as if nobody was going to be able to stop her. Damn. I wasn't sure what I could do. I sure as hell hoped I wouldn't meet her in the next round.

Watching the next few matches from my seat among the spectators, I didn't pay much attention to the various opponents. There were simply too many of them, and I didn't have that good of a memory. Well, there were only 32 participants left by this point – we first started with 128 in total, and the elimination matches had whittle us down to 64, and now 32 by the third round. Mathematically speaking, the fourth round would be the round of 16, wth the fifth round being the quarterfinals, the sixth being the semifinals and the seventh and last round being the finals.

I estimated that I would make it to the fourth or fifth round. Being ranked among the top 8 was already considered pretty good, but realistically speaking, I would probably make it to the fourth round before being eliminated. Not because I lacked confidence, but because I knew where I stood. I was usually smack average. Perhaps if I used Heaven and Earth Formula, it would be a different story. I would be blowing everyone away with Heaven and Earth Strike.

But with only the Black Shadow Sect techniques and perhaps my newly learned Nine Suns Slaying Arrow technique, I wasn't sure if I would make it to the top eight. Top sixteen was still pretty good, considering that it was in the top 12.5 percentile.

After the next few matches, I suddenly sat up straight when I saw who was fighting in the next match. Chi Yan was stepping onto the stage, as confident as ever. I wished I was just as confident, but well, I wasn't as talented or skilled.

His opponent was a mountain of a man who towered over him. He grinned as lightning crackled around him, and his golden and red robes marked him out to be a disciple from the Golden Thunder Sect. Despite the difference in size, Chi Yan wasn't intimidated at all.

"That's Tie Shen!" One of the spectators exclaimed. "One of the core disciples from Golden Thunder Sect! He's known for his Golden Indestructible Body!"

…Golden Indestructible Body?

Tie Shen was grinning at Chi Yan, cracking his knuckles and adopting an imposing posture. He waved a hand at his smaller opponent and chortled.

"I'll give you a chance to surrender now. Otherwise don't blame me if I smash you into bits."

"Ugh…" The spectators recoiled from the dude's threat. One of them sighed. "Yeah, Tie Shen has been killing every single one of his opponents."

"Yeah, their techniques couldn't hurt him. And before they could surrender, he would pulverize them to the ground, breaking all of their bones and killing them in a single blow."

"He's such a cruel guy…"

"Can't believe that such a ruthless monster is the core disciple of Golden Thunder Sect."

This was why nobody was horrified when I slapped Jian Shen to death. People like Tie Shen had already been brutally killing their opponents, and there were people who mauled others with their swords, particularly those from the Ten Thousand Sword Pavilion. The merciful characters such as Bai Ning Shuang were rare. Even though I didn't like her, I had to admit that she showed more compassion and kindness than many of the ruthless and violent cultivators participating in the intersect tournament.

"Hey! Are you so scared that you can't speak?" Tie Shen taunted, glaring at Chi Yan, who had remained silent. "So are you going to surrender or not? Or will you choose to die horribly on stage? Hello?"

He waved a huge hand in front of Chi Yan's face. Even though Chi Yan wasn't like Bai Ning Shuang, he reacted similarly, ignoring his opponent. His expression wasn't indifferent exactly, but it was one of feigned boredom.

"Say something, Elemental Mountain Sect disciple? Or are you mute? Or deaf? Maybe both? I should have known that Elemental Mountain Sect disciples are all…"

"You sure as hell talk a lot, Golden Thunder Sect disciple," Chi Yan interrupted coldly, lifting his eyes to finally look at his opponent. "But do I look like I'm listening?"

Tie Shen spluttered and choked on the response, while the spectators laughed. He turned purple with rage and moved forward, only for the referee to give him a warning glare.

"The match hasn't begun yet."

"Fine! Just start it already!" Tie Shen bellowed. Chi Yan nodded in agreement.

"Hurry up. I haven't got all day."

"Right." The referee looked a little miffed at how both dudes were being rude to him, but he maintained his composure. Taking a deep breath, he raised his hand and swung it down. "Match, begin!"

The two combatants then charged at each other, their collision exploding violently as fire and lighting ferociously clashed against each other and bathed the arena in crimson and gold.