Success and Loss

Lei Mingxing carefully observed the entire demonstration with a sinking stomach.

Suan Bi had also forged a fourth-rank artifact! Now their plan of having an edge over Suan Bi simply due to superior quality was ruined. 

She hesitantly glanced at Jing Jiang, expecting a defeated or frustrated expression on his face, after all, they had gone through all this trouble, almost getting seriously injured in the process, just for everything to not matter in the end.

But to her surprise, Jing Jiang appeared mostly calm.

There was a hint of anger in his eyes, sure, however, he didn't look the slightest bit disappointed, only holding onto the Counter Shield tightly. When eventually he noticed Lei Mingxing's gaze, he just raised his arm to pat her shoulder and flash her a short assuring smile.

Perplexing Lei Mingxing, as well as Suan Bi when he finally turned around to look at them.

Even while returning to his spot the latter couldn't quite turn his gaze away, feeling puzzled and slightly nervous, doubting whether Jing Jiang and Lei Mingxing still had an ace up their sleeve that could flip the tables.

After all, they had dashed his plans far too often the last few weeks, maybe it would happen again today.

Unable to simply ignore this possibility, Suan Bi locked eyes with the city lord.

It took a moment for the city lord to notice Suan Bi's gaze but when he did, he immediately understood what the other wanted from him, he nodded almost indiscernibly before continuing to assess the contestants in front of him.

Two more pairs accepted their judgment before it was finally Lei Mingxing and Jing Jiang's turn. As the last team to be scrutinized, the crowd watched with anticipation as Lei Mingxing and Jing Jiang walked forward.

After what they pulled earlier, the two of them had become something of a crowd favorite. Making the crowd wonder and wish for more unexpected developments.

So, all eyes were on them when they ultimately came to a halt in front of the judging panel, Jing Jiang opening his mouth to introduce their artifact.

"We dubbed the artifact we created here today Counter Shield. This fourth-rank artifact consists of a shield made of Liquid Steel and a strap created by braiding a combination of Silk Brass and Falling Spider Silk. When struck, the shield will block all physical force from reaching the user and return it to the attacker."

Even before Jing Jiang could properly end his explanation, the city lord shot his first question.

"Physical force? What about elemental energy? Attacks that warrant a fourth-rank artifact are rarely purely physical."

"The shield performs alright against elemental attacks, but it will not return them at the attacker."

"That's disappointing, anyways, until what point does the shield block physical force and return them? You said it would block all force from reaching the user."

"That's... we weren't able to test the shield for its limits yet, but it was able to endure attacks from at least Tempering Body stage."

"So, you actually have no idea how well your shield works? Hah!"

The city lord's words were unrelenting and sharp, like a wave of arrows aiming precisely for Jing Jiang's weak points, leaving him unable to retaliate.

Just then a voice sounded from behind them.

"If it's still uncertain, why not test its limits right now? I will gladly lend my Wind Spear to help reach a satisfactory conclusion."

Suan Bi stepped forward, speaking with a smile.

To some, who didn't know his true nature, Suan Bi's offer seemed very reasonable and forthcoming, but the people on stage definitely weren't part of that group, to them, Suan Bi's malicious intent was almost too obvious.

Still not a single one of them had any intentions of stopping the other.

So, Suan Bi simply joined Jing Jiang and Lie Mingxing, standing next to them, spear in hand and an innocent expression on his face.

"That's a wonderful idea!", the city lord clapped, quickly agreeing to Suan Bi's proposition before he turned to address the judge next to him, "If you would Mr. Che, I believe you are the person most qualified for such a test."

Freezing for a moment, Che Zhao, who was, as a Bronze-rank, currently the strongest mercenary staying in Dark Spiriut Town and special judge of this competition, nodded stiffly after exchanging a glance with Suan Bi.

He rose from his seat and cycled the judging panel before silently accepting Suan Bi's spear.

All this happened very quickly, from Suan Bi giving his offer, or rather order, the city lord accepting, to Che Zhao standing in front of Jing Jiang and Lei Mingxing, ready to strike.

Not even a minute had passed.

And Jing Jiang hadn't said a thing throughout its entirety, only quietly watching.

Even when Lei Mingxing looked at him to make sure nothing was wrong, Jing Jiang seemed not at all worried, which puzzled her but wasn't a reason for her to speak up.

Actually, she would be a fool to intervene now.

After all, Lei Mingxing had no doubts that their shield was able to pass this test.

She had experienced it herself yesterday.

Although she wasn't sure what cultivation stage the two 'mercenaries' from yesterday were, it was miles stronger than the mercenary in front of her that much was obvious to her.

The only thing that did worry her, however, was the possibility of Suan Bi attempting any dirty tricks. The chance was low, it would be far too obvious, especially in front of such a big crowd of people, but in the case he did, she was already preparing herself for it, keeping an eye on the other while readying herself to pounce at the slightest notice.

"Are you ready?", the city lord finally asked, but instead of looking at Jing Jiang he exchanged glances with Suan Bi.

Still, Jing Jiang nodded, gently pushing Lei Mingxing aside, while holding onto the shield with both hands and pouring his Qi into the Spirit Core.

Che Zhao also gripped the spear tighter, sliding his feet farther apart and bending his knees to get into a more secure posture.

Before, suddenly, using all the energy he could muster to strengthen his muscles and summon the spear's wind.

Under his hands, the spear's might became even more ferocious, incomparable to Suan Bi's display earlier, leaving the crowd to watch in awe until finally, he twisted his waist and using all his strength, lunged the spear forward, into the dead center of the shield.

BANG!

The sound of the impact seemed to echo throughout the entire plaza, accompanied by gusts of wind that almost blew the judges' panel and several audience members away, even Suan Bi had to take two steps back while the city lord was desperately clinging onto the table.

But despite the shocking noise and following gusts of wind, the actual scene on stage seemed almost peaceful.

Both Jing Jiang and Che Zhao were standing steadily, spear tip still pressed against the smooth surface of the shield.

As if frozen in time.

Crack!

Suddenly, cracks originating from the very tip began to slowly crawl up the solid steel shaft of the spear until they finally reached the end.

But what really left everyone breathless was the consequent sound of shattering glass as the faint green Spirit Core unexpectedly crumbled, falling to the ground in a glittering dust cloud.

And when even the last little particle of dust finally hit the ground, along with its last drop of Qi, the spear lost its sole remaining pillar of support still keeping it together.

One piece after the other met the wooden stage with a muffled clunking sound until there was nothing left of the previously so heroic spear. The only hint that it ever existed at all, were the several pieces of metal debris stuck in the still unmoving Che Zhao's hands.

No one said anything, too shocked to form a coherent sound.

The entire plaza had fallen silent.

The first person to snap out of their daze was actually Jing Jiang.

Overwhelmed with pleasant surprise and joy, he began to laugh heartily, pulling Lei Mingxing into a tight hug yet again while jumping up and down slightly.

And although Jing Jiang would probably not admit it, Lei Mingxing felt a few new wet spots appearing on her shoulder.

But she didn't care about that, because she was also overjoyed, laughing, celebrating the fact that for the first time in her life, she had come out on top.

It gave her a taste of just what she needed to change and wanted to achieve, without being a far-away dream of no real substance, and ignited her spirit.

The only thing she left her sighing with regret was Chang Liuyun's absence at this moment.

Before Lei Mingxing was able to dwell on this thought a bit longer, however, the crowd began to cheer loudly, whistling, clapping, and shouting the name of the forge.

So, she and Jing Jiang pretty much had no other choice but to face the crowd and wave their arms in celebration with wide smiles on their faces.

Lei Mingxing also felt a kind of coy shyness at being cheered at, something entirely unfamiliar to her, leaving her a bit embarrassed but she kept on smiling.

Unfortunately, the celebration was cut short when several gut-wrenching screams sounded at the far end of the plaza, cutting through the warm and joyous atmosphere like sharp daggers.

Attention shifted and shortly after, even the last shout died inside a throat.

Because it was at that very moment of dead quiet, that things that could only be described as nightmares slumped out of several different alleyways, positioning themselves in front of the only big exit of the plaza while staring into the paralyzed crowd with hollow gazes.

Even Lei Mingxing was frozen in place, the smile on her face slowly dying and turning into a faint expression of horror.

How could they appear here? And in such a big number? Wasn't there only one of them before?

Questioned whirled through her mind as fear gripped her heart and she wasn't the only one, the crowd finally began to react. Pushing, shoving each other to get away from these..., these monsters.

And the monsters began to dive into the crowd, as if having received the start signal to slaughter.

Despite being barely half the size of the one that Lei Mingxing and Chang Liuyun had faced previously, the black monsters still began to unscrupulously swallow audience members and gulp them down into their black gooey bodies, never to be heard of again.

Seeing this, Lei Mingxing's heart trembled and she practically flew around, hoping to grab Jing Jiang and take him to run away to Chang Liuyun and Jing Hai, because she was certain that even when smaller, these things were still incredibly dangerous and this time there was no barrier around to seal away the monster.

But before she could get ahold of Jing Jiang, who was also already reaching out to her, a pair of arms circled around her back and legs ripping her away while lifting her from the ground.

Her head hit someone's chest, instinctually making her close her eyes and when she opened them again, the plaza lay already far below and she was being carried away at an exceptionally fast speed.

Her heart dropped.

Lei Mingxing finally began to struggle.

Pushing, hitting, shouting even scratching at her kidnapper.

"Second Princess, please stop, it's dangerous."

Lei Mingxing froze.

With a petrified expression, she slowly began to look up, praying that it wasn't true and she had misheard.

Looking back at her was a face she would never forget, a face that had burned itself into her memory, never to fade.

Her fiance.

Xia Beilian.