Although Elder Qin’nyao wasn’t worried Xu Linyun would lose against Fang Xing, she couldn’t help but admit that the boy’s battle prowess still made him a threat. If Xu Linyun were to use up too much Qi during this match, if she were wounded, or if she were forced to reveal the secret techniques she’d prepared for Xiao Jianming, even a victory would still bring more loss than gain. That is why Elder Qin’nyao intended to use a few methods to prevent this from happening.

　　In these past few months, Elder Qin’nyao had personally seen how close the relationship between Xiao Mahn and Fang Xing was. She knew Fang Xing was smart, and he would understand the situation simply by seeing Xiao Mahn at her side.

　　Xiao Mahn had been watching the entire tournament from a peak some thousand feet away and wasn’t too far; it didn’t take long for her to come over once she received the message. “Xiao Mahn is pleased to see Esteemed Shifu….”

　　“Come over here, girl,” Elder Qin’nyao said without emotion.

　　Seeing this caused Xiao Mahn to feel a sudden bout of nervousness, but she still did not dare to disobey.

　　At the same time, Xuan Si’nyang—who was sitting above them—saw Xiao Mahn, and her eyes lit up as a tender smile showed. “What a good-looking girl, enough to tempt even me. Elder Qin’nyao, is this your pupil?”

　　Qin’nyao was a little surprised but she quickly bowed to Xuan Si’nyang with a smile. “Your Esteemed Highness, this is my pupil. She is currently thirteen years of age.”

　　Xuan Si’nyang studied Xiao Mahn from head to toe before continuing, “Only thirteen, yet already at Spirit Stage tier six. This is not easy…. There’s also the scent of alchemy on you; looks like you’ve been studying alchemy with Elder Qin’nyao as well?”

　　Elder Qin’nyao immediately answered, “Indeed. Although she is still young, her alchemy skills are not bad. She secretly started to craft Poji Pellets for Spirit Stage tier seven a few days ago, and although she wasted four cauldrons, she did end up succeeding with one at the end.” She paused for a moment before continuing, “This child is born with wood-element blood and is a genius of alchemy. Despite her Mahn heritage, I have still taken her under my wing.”

　　Xuan Si’nyang nodded while still smiling. “Yes, it’s a pity she’s of Mahn blood. This would be a little troublesome!” She then called Xiao Mahn over to her side, held her hand, and began asking her some questions on alchemy as though trying to quiz her. Elder Qin’nyao naturally did not dare to stop this, but she wasn’t able to use Xiao Mahn to threaten Fang Xing anymore.

　　—

　　While this was going on, Xu Linyun had arrived inside the Thousand Cliff from atop her crane. Seeing that Fang Xing hadn’t come with his own mount, she jumped off the back of her crane as well, the edges of her lips curling upward as she landed ever so softly on the ground. “Shidi Fang, how is your cultivation the past few months?”

　　Fang Xing squatted on the ground, holding his head while sighing. “I don’t want to hurt you, Shijie Linyun.”

　　Xu Linyun was surprised by this. She’d expected the boy’s demeanor to grow more and more arrogant by the day, so hearing this caused her to show a slight smile. “Don’t worry. On this stage, weapons do not have eyes, water and fire have no feelings; even if you wound me, I will not blame you for it!”

　　Fang Xing sighed again. “How about me? Would you be sad if I got wounded because of you?”

　　Caught off guard by his question, it took Xu Linyun a few seconds before she could answer. “I will try not to wound you….”

　　Fang Xing stood up. “Wouldn’t that disadvantage you then? Aiii , this is so troublesome. Our battle prowess is not too far apart, and if we really fight it out, it will definitely be a close victory. Let alone the loser, even the winner wouldn’t be too much better off. It might even be a situation where neither side wins, and that turtle-egg bastard Xiao Jianming would be let off easy….”

　　Xu Linyun found Fang Xing’s serious demeanor to be rather funny, and she considered the situation more before speaking. “Shidi Fang, I entered the sect ten years before you, and have also studied cultivation for ten years more than you. This alone has already given me an advantage. For you to have the level of cultivation you do today, I already feel I’m not as good as you. However, this battle is one we must fight. How about this: if the battle ends up stalemating, we will consider it as your win.”

　　Xu Linyun’s words were genuine and extremely confident. In her mind, although she did admire the speed at which Fang Xing had progressed, she didn’t actually think Fang Xing was able to stalemate with her. Put simply, she declared that if they truly did end up fighting to the point it was definitely going to be close, she would admit defeat. However, if her battle prowess was indeed much higher than Fang Xing’s, she wanted him to accept that fact and let it go as well.

　　Fang Xing understood the meaning in Xu Linyun’s words, and he considered it for a moment. Soon he’d come up with an idea, and he held his head up with a smile. “In that case, it’s a deal!”

　　“How long are you two going to chat?” Elder Huang began to urge them on from outside the Thousand Cliff.

　　“Is it in the rules that we can’t chat?” Fang Xing rudely glared at Elder Huang. Despite Elder Huang’s Foundation Stage cultivation, Fang Xing wasn’t afraid of him.

　　Such a scene pushed Elder Huang into a fit of anger. If it wasn’t for both the sect master and the Fuyao Palace being present, he would have gone in and kicked the both of them.

　　Having made up his mind, Fang Xing stopped chatting and drew out his [Saber of Azure Dragon], pointing it towards Xu Linyun. “Shijie Linyun, pardon this offense!”

　　Xu Linyun tilted her sword towards the ground and smiled. “After you, Shidi Fang.”

　　Fang Xing’s eyes chilled right before he howled and took a large step forward. His body was like that of an angered dragon, and the edge of his saber revealed a chilling gleam. The moment the blade had appeared, both the azure dragon’s blue malicious energy and the saber’s golden flames were activated, and his first strike was as though three attacks had been combined into one. Furthermore, his speed was so excessive that he arrived in front of Xu Linyun in a mere blink of the eye, and the wind whirled like thunder as he sent the strike forward.

　　“Hah, this boy is so strong!”

　　“How dare he use such a violent skill against a fairy goddess like Shijie Linyun! This is too much!”

　　“Can Shijie Linyun block this?”

　　The expressions of all the disciples outside the Thousand Cliff immediately changed, and some became so excited they even stood up. It could be said this was the first time Fang Xing was showing his power as a late stage Spirit Cultivator, and it was indeed terrifying to the core. He was able to fight a seventh-tier cultivator to a standstill when he’d been only tier four, and now that he’d broken into tier seven, his battle prowess would only become even more frightening. Even if a standard cultivator was in the ninth tier, they would not be able to look down upon Fang Xing’s strength.

　　“Qing-Yun Sword: Protective Frost…” Xu Linyun murmured at the same time Fang Xing started his attack. She lightly lifted her sword, and the atmosphere seemed to start freezing from that moment on.

　　Swoosh swoosh swoosh ….

　　Within a hundred-foot radius, there seemed to be sword lights appearing at every angle, and frost seemed to form all over the top of the Thousand Cliff. Even the terrifying blade force from Fang Xing seemed to be nearly frozen by this attack.

　　As everything slowed down, even the blue malicious force and the golden flames were suppressed. Xu Linyun waved her sword, and a rainbow-colored sword light suddenly appeared, shining a few times as it arrived right in front of Fang Xing’s chest.

　　She’d kept her promise. This strike contained her full power, but was not released. She only wanted to force Fang Xing to admit defeat without actually intending to hurt him.

　　At the same time, Fang Xing suddenly revealed a grin. Both of his arms opened, and he flung the [Saber of Azure Dragon] straight ahead. The three-thousand-pound saber was thrown right at Xu Linyun with a woosh , containing an extraordinary amount of force.

　　This naturally wouldn’t be able to hurt Xu Linyun; she withdrew the sword force she’d used for her first strike and—with a gentle point of her finger—all of the force reformed over Fang Xing’s saber and pushed it against the ground. A loud explosion rang out as the ground beneath it was shattered, leaving behind a large pit.

　　Xu Linyun’s didn’t understand the meaning behind Fang Xing’s move, and her brows soon creased together. To throw away one’s weapon in the middle of a battle, just what kind of method was that? Was the boy giving up?

　　Before these thoughts had completed within her mind, Fang Xing suddenly rolled along the ground like a raccoon and threw himself at her. Astonished, Xu Linyun shook her longsword and commanded the blade to aim at Fang Xing’s back, but she hadn’t expected Fang Xing to not care about this and to continue moving towards her with arms open wide. He then grabbed ahold of Xu Linyun’s leg and sat down straight away, refusing to let go.

　　Xu Linyun’s longsword was already poised behind Fang Xing’s back, but it did not thrust into his body.

　　Feeling her leg being hugged caused Xu Linyun’s face to redden from embarrassment. Even though there was a thin layer of cloth between them, it still felt extremely strange to her. The boy’s hands also didn’t seem very sensible; they seemed to be exploring different places….

　　Xu Linyun lowered her voice and scolded, “Shidi Fang, you have already lost! Let go of me!”

　　“No!” Fang Xing gripped even tighter while shaking his head like a rattle-drum.

　　“You… this is a tournament battle, why are you hugging my leg?” Xu Linyun was on the verge of being genuinely angry. If it had been someone else on her leg like this, the sword might have truly gone straight through their body by now.

　　“Because I like hugging it!” Fang Xing showed a sly smile and tightened his grip as he thought to himself, ‘Shijie Linyun smells so good!’

　　Extremely embarrassed now, Xu Linyun returned her longsword and went straight to snatch Fang Xing’s ear. She twisted his ear twice over and then tried to pull him off, but it was to no avail. She clenched her pearly teeth and hatefully said, “I’ll get you to let go…. I’ll get you to let go….”

　　It seemed as though Fang Xing’s ear was actually made longer, and the shape of his face had also changed from all the pulling and dragging. Yet he still clenched on to her leg. “I won’t let it go….”

　　—

　　Beneath the Thousand Cliff, it was silent.

　　‘How did a tournament battle become like this?’

　　‘That spiteful brat, how dare he directly hug Shijie Linyun’s leg?’

　　‘How despicable! She’s the perfect fairy goddess in the hearts of many Qing-Yun disciples, yet this boy….’

　　‘My god, why couldn’t I be the person holding that leg?’

　　Next to Xuan Si’nyang atop the observation stage, Xiao Mahn covered her eyes; this young master of hers was just too embarrassing. ‘But… he’s still so handsome despite his shameless behavior….’

　　“This is nonsense! Elder Huang, what are you doing? Why are you not announcing the winner and dragging that kid out?” Elder Qin’nyao yelled at the referee in anger.

　　“Don’t act so hastily, Shimei Qin’nyao. It seems… it seems it is Fang Xing who won…” Sect Master Chen Xuanhua suddenly spoke, his words filled with so much helplessness he was nearly speechless.

　　“That’s a far— Impossible! This is just the boy behaving in a shameless manner, how could this be seen as Linyun’s loss?” Elder Qin’nyao had nearly called it “a farce”, but she realized she was speaking to the sect master and so swallowed it back. Still, she couldn’t believe those words; in these circumstances, how could it be considered Xu Linyun’s loss?

　　Xuan Si’nyang suddenly covered her mouth as she burst out into laughter. “What a boy! It’s his win!”

　　“Nn?” Seeing how even Xuan Si’nyang had said so, Elder Qin’nyao could only suppress her anger and take another look towards the Thousand Cliff. She used [Mystic Eye] this time, and what she saw stunned her and filled her with dismay.

　　Who would have thought… this boy had actually won!