Gu Ruoyun stood still and stared at Hun Fei. She remained quiet.

　　“Aww, are you scared?” Ling Xi laughed mockingly. “Just forfeit the duel then! Keep that pitiful life of yours! Not that it doesn’t sadden me though, seeing the late Gu Tian’s daughter being such a spineless wimp. What an embarrassment to your kin! In fact, I am almost glad that your parents are long dead, or the cause of their death would probably be from shame!”

　　He truly enjoyed needling her.

　　Gu Ruoyun’s surrounding temperature started to plummet at his words. When she looked up, her eyes were coated with a layer of frost. “You’ll regret your words! I am signing that waiver!”

　　“Regret?” He pursed his lips in annoyance. “Spoken by somebody who already knows that they are going to be regretting their choice later. I guess what happens when you don’t have a father and mother to raise you is that you would grow up from an uncultured brat into a conceited one.”

　　“Seriously”, he thought to himself. “I’m already a Martial Warrior. Who does this woman think she is?”

　　Hun Fei looked at the two of them, then declared, “After signing that waive, the duel shall now begin!”

　　The two did as they were told, signing the presented waivers in one confident swoop after briefly scanning its content.

　　Luo Yin pushed her way forcefully through the throng of people but the crowd was already riled up by the turns of events and it made it hard for her to even move an inch. She could only look at the direction of the fight in anxious frustration.

　　“Gu Ruoyun. The only reason why I would grant you a less humiliating defeat would be for the sake of Gu Shengxiao only!”—

　　Before he even finished his sentence, a white strike of lightning flashed across, Ling Xi’s sword was already drawn and cleaving towards Gu Ruoyun’s direction. The blade was quickly approaching her head but she managed to dodge at the last millisecond.

　　WHAM!

　　A deep cut was carved into the door behind her.

　　Ling Xi’s body seemed to be flickering in and out of existence as he sped towards her. Closing the distance between himself and Gu Ruoyun, his hands were firmly clutching his sword. A ribbon of black light sliced through the air as the cold killing intent was released from each sword strike.

　　She shifted and ducked. Every single strike looked as if it would be a deathblow to Gu Ruoyun, yet she managed to evade every one of them in the very nick of time—it really was starting to piss the man off. A Martial Warrior who could not even strike at his opponent? Especially when so many people were watching! How the hell was anyone going to respect him now?

　　This is embarrassing!

　　“Level 6! She’s at the sixth stage of Qi Gathering rank already!” Someone from the crowd exclaimed in awe.

　　Wasn’t that Gu Ruoyun infamously referred to as a good-for-nothing? How did she gain that much power and attained the sixth level of Qi gathering? Sure, it was not as tremendous as Ling Xi’s growth but it was still quite a surprise, especially with her infamous reputation!

　　“Pfft. Please. The 6th stage of Qi gathering level, so what?” Hun Fei snickered at what he deemed was an overreaction.” With that trash of a skill, she can’t even be accepted into the Weapon Refining Sect. Anyone from the sect, even a cleaner working with a broomstick, would already be a Martial Warrior.”

　　To Hun Fei, anyone who was still firmly entrenched in the Qi gathering ranks was too preposterous to be taken seriously. The only real purpose—his mission—in the Azure Dragon Kingdom was to find the host of the spirit of the greatest warrior ever to grace this land. He just could not find that chosen one yet.

　　“Having a lot of fun dodging around, aren’t you! Play time’s over. I’m ending your little game right now!” Ling Xi bared his teeth in fury. His aura shot up and storm clouds started forming above him.

　　“Hmm….” Gu Ruoyun thought to herself, her brows furrowing. “If I’m not mistaken… The technique that he had been practicing is—”

　　“—PAY ATTENTION, LITTLE GIRL!”

　　Within the deepest part of her soul came Zixie’s worried warning.