Chapter 220: Sparring
“Xia Wan’er”
Su Yan looked at the two on the stage; neither Xia Wan’er nor Qiao Panyan had made a move yet.
Xia Wan’er was still wearing a set of purple martial robes, revealing her Linglong figure and tall, slender legs.
Qiao Panyan opposite her wore an apricot-yellow long robe and held a long sword in her hand.
The two had similar auras, but Su Yan knew that Xia Wan’er had definitely taken a Seed Aperture Pill.
Suo Yunyi showed a look of realization: “You like this style?”
“In a fight, it’s all about winning or losing; it has nothing to do with appearance.”
As the voice fell, Xia Wan’er and Qiao Panyan on the stage had already begun fighting.
Qiao Panyan slashed out several sword edges with her long sword, heading straight for Xia Wan’er.
The sword momentum was fierce, producing a sound that broke through the air.
Her ability to rank ninth on the Tiger Ranking was not due to her beauty; her sword technique had also reached the Transformation Realm level.
Xia Wan’er’s eyes sharpened, but she showed no worry at all. She gripped a flying knife in her palm and instantly threw it, turning it into a stream of light that rushed toward the sword light.
True Essence controlled the object; this flying knife was no ordinary item. The moment it was shot, it directly shattered the sword light.
“Good saber techniques.”
Qiao Panyan showed a surprised expression, her figure quickly teleporting, and her true intent—Green Wood Flood Dragon—immediately emerged from her body.
The Green Wood Flood Dragon true intent was over three or four zhang long, entirely emerald green with tightly packed scales. As soon as it formed, it carried a powerful aura.
Qiao Panyan stepped forward, merging the Green Wood Flood Dragon with her figure as augmentation. Every move and style carried an unstoppable sharpness.
‘True Intent isn’t just yours.’
Xia Wan’er’s gaze sharpened, and a blue figure also rose from her body.
Waves formed the fins, the dorsal fin like a blade, scales covering the body like armor—it was a five-zhang fierce spirit, the Sea Covering Spirit Beast condensed from her Sea Covering Spirit Heart Skill.
As soon as the Sea Covering Spirit Beast appeared, under Xia Wan’er’s control, it directly pounced toward the Green Wood Flood Dragon.
The two true intents collided on the arena, creating a huge commotion and stirring up waves of true essence.
Both were at Spirit Merging Stage Perfection cultivation; in this state, their true intents were naturally extremely solid.
As they collided, it was as if the earth and mountains were shaking.
The matchup between Xia Wan’er and Qiao Panyan was even more perilous.
Qiao Panyan tried to close the distance, using Green Wood sword moves to overwhelm Xia Wan’er.
The long sword was fierce; even Xia Wan’er found it hard to block directly.
But Xia Wan’er cultivated the Sea Covering Spirit Heart Skill, with true essence flowing around her body like tides, layer after layer of defensive formations endlessly emerging, not giving Qiao Panyan any chance to approach.
Moreover, her cultivation of this skill refined her spirit, making her perception keen. In this clash, even Qiao Panyan couldn’t gain the upper hand.
And she herself kept the flying knives circulating in her hand, turning them into streams of light that assaulted from left and right.
The flying knives were precise and extremely sharp, heading straight for her vital points.
Even with her proficient sword moves, completely blocking them was no simple task.
The two’s fight grew increasingly intense, going back and forth for no less than seventy or eighty exchanges.
The crowd was watching intently; such a fight was far more exciting than the men’s.
“It’s about to end.”
Su Yan said calmly, and Suo Yunyi showed a puzzled expression.
“How? It probably needs many more rounds; they haven’t even summoned their contracted beasts.”
The two were probing each other; though the battle was intensifying, they hadn’t used all their means yet.
However, just as Suo Yunyi finished speaking, a glint flashed in Xia Wan’er’s eyes, and her Beast Taming Bag stirred as she instantly released her contracted beast.
A Raging Waves Black Armor Crocodile over seven zhang long, entirely dark blue as if clad in sturdy armor.
A heaven-shaking beast roar rang out, and Qiao Panyan immediately steadied her mind, releasing her own contracted beast—Green Wood Boa Beast.
The massive Green Wood Boa Beast pounced toward the Raging Waves Black Armor Crocodile.
The commotion from the two beasts was like drumming, relying on their brutish physical bodies to fight extremely fiercely.
Divine Union!
Xia Wan’er had no intention of easing up; true essence poured from her body like a flood.
The true intent in the midst of battle instantly merged onto the Raging Waves Black Armor Crocodile, their power suddenly multiplying several times.
Qiao Panyan decisively merged her Green Wood Flood Dragon with the Green Wood Boa Beast to confront the Raging Waves Black Armor Crocodile.
Sea Covering Three Stacks!
A smile appeared at the corner of Xia Wan’er’s mouth; she had been waiting for this moment from Qiao Panyan.
True essence attacks like raging waves surged toward Qiao Panyan, filling the entire arena with surging blue.
Dragon-Slaying Sword Style!
Qiao Panyan raised her hand for a powerful strike from her sword momentum, trying to break through the endless attacks.
One sword broke through the waves, heading straight for Xia Wan’er.
However, the next moment, the second raging wave emerged, instantly swallowing the attack.
The Green Wood Boa Beast opened its bloody maw and spat out a beam of green light, sharp as a sword and incredibly fierce.
The second raging wave was also canceled out by this attack.
By the time the third raging wave appeared, Qiao Panyan was slightly alarmed, swinging her long sword again.
Azure Silk Sword Net
The sword net filled the gaps, shattering the raging wave into fine streams of water.
At that moment, two White Jade Flying Daggers assaulted from left and right like phantoms, carrying the aura of flowing water, heading straight for Qiao Panyan.
Not good!
Qiao Panyan’s expression changed drastically. By the time she noticed, the flying knives infused with the Sea Covering Spirit Beast’s power, aided by the pervasive water-attribute true essence, were already less than a meter from her body.
This distance was too fatal for any martial artist.
Qiao Panyan was also an exceptional genius. In the crisis, the Green Wood Boa Beast lunged forward, using its scales to block one knife, leaving a deep, bone-visible wound from its snake head to its front abdomen.
Qiao Panyan gathered all her power, making an exquisitely precise judgment, and pointed her sword tip to block the second flying knife.
A clanging sound rang out; though the flying knife carried immense power, it wasn’t enough to break Qiao Panyan’s long sword.
The crowd watched in thrilling suspense, thinking the back-and-forth would likely take over a hundred exchanges to decide a winner.
The third White Jade Flying Dagger had unknowingly slashed past Qiao Panyan’s ear, severing a lock of hair from her temples.
Qiao Panyan froze, finally lowering her long sword: “I lost.”
If Xia Wan’er had wanted, that third flying knife could have pierced her body.
A flying knife infused with true intent and true essence wasn’t easy to block; it embodied all of Xia Wan’er’s power.
But how did this woman have such vast true essence?
Whether Sea Covering Three Stacks, controlling the contracted beast, or wielding the flying knives.
Every combat technique required true essence as support; unless going all out, even Beast King Sect disciples rarely used so many means at once.
“Senior Sister, you let me win.”
Xia Wan’er and Qiao Panyan stepped down from the stage one after another. She spotted Su Yan with a glance and moved to his side in an instant.
“How about it? How are my flying knives?”
Su Yan nodded candidly: “Very sharp, and highly concealed.”
Xia Wan’er smiled, thinking this guy had good taste, but the next moment she couldn’t laugh anymore.
“But your physical body is too weak. If you dual cultivated the physical body, when others exhaust themselves to get close, that would be even more despairing. The Sea Covering Spirit Heart Skill’s trait is endless true essence; it’s a pity not to practice Unrivaled Hardening.”
Xia Wan’er rolled her eyes at Su Yan and turned her head away, not wanting to speak. Suo Yunyi’s face twitched slightly, thinking to himself: ‘Do you really think everyone is as unrivaled in hardening as you?’
Xia Wan’er’s fighting style used endless true essence to support the Raging Waves Black Armor Crocodile in battle, while she killed the opponent with flying knives—enough to handle most enemies.
She could drag them to death or seize an opening to strike.
Her fight against Qiao Panyan just now was similar, just faster to decide.
……
The group didn’t chat much. After this round of fights ended, only fifteen disciples remained.
Yuan Yi, Lan Yunyue, Suo Yunyi, Zhao Mingcheng, Xia Wan’er, and Su Yan were all within the fifteen.
Only Wang Kun, Qiao Panyan, and a few unlucky top ten Tiger Ranking members had run into stronger opponents early and failed to make the list.
The rest were all former top twenty on the Tiger Ranking; making this ranking meant they had real skill.
“All disciples, come on stage to draw lots.”
Yin Mingchen gathered the disciples on stage, just like before—a total of fifteen spirit beads mixed in a jar.
“Red bead gets a bye; the rest, numbers 1-14 pair head-to-tail.”
His peripheral glance swept over Su Yan, instantly noticed by him.
‘He doesn’t want me to get a bye, does he?’
Thinking this, the crowd went up one by one to draw from the jar.
When it was Su Yan’s turn, sure enough, it was the bead without a number.
He instinctively looked at Yin Mingchen, only to see him stroking his beard without looking back.
‘The elder feels guilty.’
A bye was a good thing, at least for Su Yan.
One more fight or one less made little difference.
He just smiled, reported the result to Yin Mingchen, and soon the new matchup list appeared on the stone tablet.
After entering the top fifteen, the list was interesting: Yuan Yi wouldn’t face Lan Yunyue, and Suo Yunyi wouldn’t face Zhao Mingcheng early.
There was some behind-the-scenes manipulation, but it was indeed a good method to avoid top ranks fighting early.
Su Yan took the opportunity to consume the second Seed Aperture Pill on the second day.
Taking the second Seed Aperture Pill brought slightly more pain than the first. Prematurely opening acupoints in the True Intent Realm meant the more opened, the greater the power the body had to endure—like being torn apart.
To gain power, one must pay a sufficient price.
Su Yan naturally had this resolve. After over an hour enduring the agony of opening the aperture, he added another Minor Star Aperture in his body.
The second day’s fights had few surprises: Yuan Yi, Lan Yunyue, Suo Yunyi, Zhao Mingcheng, Xia Wan’er, Su Yan, Zhuang Han, and Du Yanfeng—eight people.
Zhuang Han was originally ranked twelfth, a Hundred Tiger Peak disciple; Du Yanfeng was formerly eighth, a Black Stone Peak disciple.
With rankings decided, the rest were all experts.
No one could predict who would come out on top next.
On the Nine Tablet Spirit Platform, everyone stared intently at the lottery box.
Su Yan and the others stood on stage, with Yin Mingchen right in front.
“Draw lots.”
Yuan Yi and the others went up one after another; Su Yan followed, reaching into the box and drawing a number three bead.
“Number three, so my opponent should be number six.”
Su Yan looked up at the others; Suo Yunyi asked, “Junior Brother, what number?”
“Three.”
Hearing this, Suo Yunyi breathed a sigh of relief: “Good thing I’m number two.”
“Then we’re matched; I’m number seven.”
Yuan Yi’s voice suddenly came from behind, raising the spirit bead in his hand and waving it.
The spirit bead clearly showed number seven.
Suo Yunyi widened his eyes: “You again?”
The two were first and third; they had fought plenty in the past.
But recalling this guy’s Innate Martial Body and that bloodline power made fighting him nauseating.
Their strengths were comparable; having a special physique made a huge difference.
“Who’s number six?”
Su Yan was curious about number six when a clear, cold voice came: “Your opponent is me.”
It was Lan Yunyue speaking; she looked at Su Yan, her icy fairy-like gaze showing a hint of eagerness to try.
Su Yan’s strength was always a mystery, but in everyone’s eyes, he was definitely top five.
Facing such a person, Lan Yunyue also craved the experience of battling him.
Soon, Yin Mingchen collected all the matchup opponents.
Yuan Yi vs. Suo Yunyi
Su Yan vs. Lan Yunyue
Zhao Mingcheng vs. Xia Wan’er
Du Yanfeng vs. Zhuang Han
On the high platform, Du Rushan looked at the new rankings, holding back from asking Zhu Zhilan beside him: “Junior Sister Zhu, do you think Lan Yunyue can beat Su Yan?”
Lan Yunyue didn’t have an Innate Martial Body, but she had long held second on the Tiger Ranking; such a disciple had real ability.
The head seats all looked at Zhu Zhilan with curiosity.
Zhu Zhilan’s eyes flickered as she glanced at Su Yan: “If he gets arrogant and only uses his physical body, he’s doomed to lose.”
“Hm?”
Everyone caught the implication: were Lan Yunyue’s attack methods unusual?
Bi Qingman stirred slightly: “Does that girl have a spirit tool?”
Zhu Zhilan didn’t deny it: “I gave her my old Moon Gazing Sword for self-defense—a third-order low-grade spirit artifact, but sharp enough.”
Chu Qidao showed curiosity: “Looks like the fight will be lively. With Nephew Disciple Lan’s personality, she probably won’t use that spirit tool as a hidden move.”
No hidden move meant Su Yan would notice it from the start—how could he then only use physical body hardening techniques?
They too were curious about how far Su Yan’s contracted beast and true intent had progressed.
After all, Bi Qingman had said this kid had an Innate Martial Body related to insect beasts.
Since ancient times, insect beasts had types with unrivaled physical bodies, but more often exhibited mystical abilities.
That was the fundamental power of insect beasts; evolving into an Innate Martial Body naturally carried some might.
Not to mention, Su Yan cultivated the sect’s Star Constellation Profound Beast Skill, which required comprehending sufficient true intent.
Being from Wang Xuanxing’s lineage, this fight should reveal whether he had his ancestor’s skills.
The crowd grew more curious, but Zhu Zhilan had one thing unsaid.
Her grand-disciple wasn’t just equipped with the third-order spirit artifact she passed down.
That Moon Gazing and Cloud Listening sword momentum, Lan Yunyue had mastered to the Transformation Realm, matching her cultivation manual, plus that contracted beast.
A fourth-order sword move at Transformation Realm wasn’t easy to block.
