After Faking Her Death and Fleeing, the Emotionless Daoist Master Regretted It - Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Breakthrough in Battle – Initial Display of Prowess

Su Lingqing was trapped in the formation, immediately feeling her spiritual energy stagnate, and the speed of her sword techniques plummeting.

Gaseous vortices would appear around her from time to time, quickly condensing into invisible light blades that struck at her.

She held her sword to block them, and the consumption of her spiritual energy sharply increased.

The sound of clashing blades continuously reached her ears, and danger lurked everywhere in the formation.

Without a method to break the formation, she would run out of spiritual energy in half an incense stick’s time at most, leading to defeat.

Below the arena, the cultivators watching the trial discussed animatedly.

“This is a Tier One Spirit-Binding Formation. The longer one is trapped inside, the more dangerous it becomes. Eventually, with spiritual energy depleted, one can only lose.”

“I wonder if Senior Sister Su can break the formation.”

“Since Senior Sister entered the sect, her strength has progressed rapidly. She probably hasn’t had time to study formations…”

This statement was agreed upon by many cultivators. A few even sighed in regret, believing that Su Lingqing’s defeat seemed inevitable.

On the arena, the trial continued, with the victory yet to be determined.

Since entering the sect, although Su Lingqing hadn’t extensively studied formations, she had a general understanding. She knew that to break a formation, she must first find the core and destroy it.

Just as she was about to try one by one, a divine thought from the little Phoenix came through her sea of consciousness: “Sister, the formation core is three zhang (approx. 10 meters) in front of you and to the right.”

Guided by this, Su Lingqing immediately moved with her sword. As she neared the corresponding location, the sword followed her body’s rotation, and a burst of sword qi with an intent of invincibility was instantly launched through the air, striking the formation core.

Accompanied by a loud bang, the massive formation trapping the girl instantly shattered.

The formation caster suffered a backlash, lost the ability to fight, and immediately conceded defeat.

The moment the victory was decided, the continuously discussing cultivators all fell silent for a moment.

This was followed by continuous expressions of awe.

“That’s truly unexpected. She actually won!”

“I never thought that while Senior Sister Su’s cultivation progressed rapidly, she was also proficient in formations…”

“If I’m not mistaken, the sword strike that just broke the formation core must have reached the Sword Qi Realm!”

“It’s hard to imagine. I’ve cultivated the sword path for many years and have only just stepped over the threshold of the first realm. I didn’t expect Senior Sister Su to have achieved my dream goal after only half a month in the sect…”

Continuous discussions reached Su Lingqing’s ears. She paid them no mind, simply walking slowly off the arena. Her lips moved slightly, using a voice as inconspicuous as possible to signal Xiwu to watch from a distance and temporarily not follow her side. She wanted to try winning the subsequent trials relying solely on her own strength.

Although the little Phoenix was a little unwilling, she still agreed.

No matter what request her Sister made, she would comply.

Not far away, Ning Qiaor from Beast Taming Peak stood beside Chi Wanyun, looking at the girl who was just showing her prowess, and gradually recalled something.

“Senior Sister Chi, Qiaor once heard some rumors among our fellow disciples on the peak. Is the person who has made Senior Sister Xu constantly talk about her and neglect her peak duties these days none other than Junior Sister Su?”

“Yes, but you shouldn’t mention this much. Junior Sister Ning should know that Senior Sister Xu dislikes others talking about her private matters.”

Ning Qiaor nodded repeatedly.

She naturally knew this. She only dared to ask because Senior Sister Xu was not on Yanwu Peak. It was normal for a favored daughter of Heaven like Junior Sister Su to be liked by others, but… she had a premonition that Senior Sister Xu’s affections would ultimately be unrequited…

After an incense stick’s worth of time, the fourth round of lot-drawing began.

On the light screens surrounding the nine-story pavilion, the giant lot-drawing cylinder spun dozens of times, and the new battle information subsequently appeared.

Su Lingqing quickly saw her name.

Her opponent this round was a Qi Refining Level Ten body cultivator from Julu Peak (Great Strength Peak).

Body cultivators specialize in defense and excel at close combat.

As the trial began, Su Lingqing instantly distanced herself from her opponent, attacking from afar with her sword techniques.

However, this tactic did not work.

Her opponent this round had cultivated a strange movement technique. Whenever the distance was widened, the person would vanish like smoke, and when he reappeared, he would be right in front of her.

Su Lingqing was forced to switch from offense to defense, executing the Jade Sea Tidal Heavens sword technique to shield herself with a sky full of sword light, preventing the opponent from getting close.

The body cultivator’s defense was formidable. In her perception, more than ten sword lights had struck his body, yet they only left shallow bloody marks on the surface of his skin.

She began attempting to attack with sword qi, but the moment she cast the technique, her opponent took out a small bronze bell, covering his body with it.

In the next moment, the sharp sword qi struck the bell, and a resounding chime instantly rang out.

The moment she heard the sound, Su Lingqing felt a dizzy spell in her mind.

She knew this was bad, guessing the bronze bell possessed a sound attack effect. She immediately bit her tongue lightly to stay conscious and quickly cast the Solid Mind Spell taught by Shizun to protect her sea of consciousness.

Given the current situation, continuing to attack with sword techniques had a very low probability of success.

Su Lingqing swiftly changed her combat method, pulling out the Spirit-Devouring Vine seed she had acquired at the auction in Qingyun City.

Shizun had taught her an Illusionary Spirit Spell. By casting this, she could conjure the adult form of the Spirit-Devouring Vine and use it against her enemy.

The moment the spell was cast, the rice-grain-sized seed grew rapidly. Under her divine sense control, it swept towards the continuously emitting sound-attack bronze bell like a spiritual snake flicking its tail.

With a loud bang, the bronze bell was completely flipped away by the Spirit-Devouring Vine.

Su Lingqing pursued her advantage. The vine, covered in thorns, instantly coiled around the opponent’s neck, sweeping him off the arena.

At this point, the victor was decided.

The Qi Refining Level Ten body cultivator stood up from the ground in embarrassment, cupped his hands to her, and left Yanwu Peak. He was genuinely convinced of his defeat.

Above the auspicious clouds, Ling Yunyue looked at the girl who safely walked off the arena, a slight smile appearing on her face.

In the eyes of the elders, this was unbelievable.

While she was usually very gentle to the girl in private, she maintained a constantly cold demeanor in public, radiating an aura that warned people not to approach.

Seeing her smile now was like watching a ten-thousand-year-old iceberg melt, so how could they not be surprised?

Those with more delicate minds vaguely guessed something, but did not say much.

Love between Master and disciple was overtly unacceptable in the mortal world, but if the couple’s strength was sufficient, who would dare to say more? The so-called rules always only constrained the weak.

Below the arena, the fifth round of lot-drawing had already begun.

Su Lingqing’s opponent this round was from Qi Peak (Artifact Peak), also at Qi Refining Level Ten.

Qi Peak had no shortage of artifacts.

Before the trial began, her opponent consumed a bl00d-colored spiritual pill and instantly activated seven artifacts simultaneously, bombarding the girl with them.

Below the arena, the cultivators watching the trial discussed animatedly at this scene.

“That’s the Spirit Detonation Pill. What is Zhang Wu thinking? Even if he wins after taking this pill, he will definitely suffer a backlash once the effects wear off.”

“Exactly. Doing this, even if he gets a slot, the backlash will take a long time to recover from. He won’t be able to win against the Heavenly Fire Sect cultivators later and will still miss out on the secret realm trip.”

“I somehow think that Zhang Wu’s goal isn’t the slot, but purely to defeat Senior Sister Su?”

“Hoh, you might be right. From what I know of Zhang Wu, he’s extremely vain. If he can defeat Senior Sister Su, his reputation will definitely spread throughout the sect. But then, it’s hard to say whether that reputation will be good or bad…”

On the arena, facing the siege of multiple artifacts, Su Lingqing focused on defense, again executing the Jade Sea Tidal Heavens sword technique.

Sword lights filled the sky, continuously striking the incoming artifacts, with deafening explosions ringing out endlessly.

The two sides temporarily reached a stalemate.

Zhang Wu’s cultivation was higher, and with the help of the Spirit Detonation Pill, his pressure was close to the Foundation Establishment Realm.

The longer the time dragged on, the more disadvantageous it was for Su Lingqing.

After a moment, the Flowing Light Sword’s momentum suddenly changed. A sharp sword qi broke through the blockade of the seven artifacts and instantly struck the opponent.

Almost simultaneously, a giant brick appeared out of nowhere, blocking Zhang Wu. With a loud crack, the brick artifact split into two, losing all spiritual light.

The eight artifacts were Zhang Wu’s entire fortune for this trial. Losing one now, besides the heartache, added a surge of hatred towards the girl.

What the fellow disciples said was correct. From the start, his goal was to defeat Su Lingqing, only because he also wanted to become Shizun’s disciple, and this thought had not diminished even now.

Trial combat did not tolerate distraction. Zhang Wu’s moment of distraction revealed a flaw. Su Lingqing seized the opportunity, executing the Limitless Cloud-Water Sword Technique. More than ten sword lights instantly struck in front of her opponent.

Zhang Wu failed to dodge in time and was unwilling to jump off the arena, so he chose to resist the attack, instantly suffering severe injuries. The strong desire for revenge prompted him to do something insane.

The seven artifacts suspended in the air instantly locked onto the girl. The self-destruct restriction was abruptly activated, and a powerful spiritual pressure with an aura of destruction spread out.

Above the auspicious clouds, Ling Yunyue’s expression slightly changed upon seeing this scene. She was about to move to save her disciple, but in the next moment, the gradually strengthening aura around the girl made her pause.

A breakthrough during a battle was a rare and valuable opportunity. If she interfered, she would only interrupt this providence.

With the protective spiritual pattern in place, even if all the artifacts self-destructed, they couldn’t harm Lingqing.

Senior Sister Sect Master was right. She was indeed allowing concern to disrupt her judgment.

Thinking of this, Ling Yunyue withdrew the spiritual power she had accumulated in her palm, stood with her hands clasped behind her back on the cloud, and her face returned to its usual indifferent expression.

On Yanwu Peak, Xiwu, who was watching from afar as per her Sister’s instructions, sensed the girl was in danger and quickly flew closer.

Although she had just hatched, as a divine beast, she had extraordinary judgment. The moment she approached the arena, she instantly realized that her Sister was using this opportunity to break through.

At the same time, she also sensed the protective spiritual pattern that was already in the activated state.

She was very familiar with the aura of the spiritual pattern. It came from Fairy Lingxiao.

Although she disliked that cold woman a little, she had to admit that her strength was immense. With this spiritual pattern, her Sister would surely be safe.

Understanding this, the little Phoenix did not go further but also did not leave.

She would absolutely not let go of the person who intended to harm her Sister!

The self-destruction of the artifacts would certainly cause chaos. She could take this opportunity to kill Zhang Wu.

The surrounding cultivators watching the trial had all realized something was wrong. They gasped in surprise and retreated in all directions.

On the arena, Su Lingqing held the Flowing Light Sword, rapidly executing the defensive sword technique, while the aura around her surged. She quickly broke through to Qi Refining Level Nine, resisting the spiritual pressure generated by the artifacts about to self-destruct.

A moment later, a flash of spiritual light appeared, and a deafening explosion instantly erupted.

The protective spiritual pattern shone brightly. Su Lingqing’s cultivation broke through again at this moment, advancing to Qi Refining Level Ten!

At the same time, multiple sword qi converged in one place, and a layer of protective gang qi (True Qi) gradually formed around the girl.

At this instant, Su Lingqing achieved a qualitative leap in the sword path, successfully stepping into the second realm: the Sword Gang Realm.

The simultaneous self-destruction of seven artifacts, in terms of power, was enough to severely injure a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The moment Zhang Wu controlled the artifacts to self-destruct, he wanted to flee the arena, but at the crucial moment, he ‘tripped,’ fell to the ground, and in the blink of an eye was incinerated into ashes by the intense flames from the self-destruction, leaving no bones behind.

Before long, the aftershock dissipated.

The danger was averted. Su Lingqing, unharmed under the pressure of the multiple self-destructing artifacts and with greatly increased strength, walked off the arena, meeting the countless gazes of respect and approval from her fellow disciples…