Chapter 5: Clear Winner and Loser
The Thunder Technique, which leverages the might of the heavens to harm enemies, is extremely rare in the entire Jianghu. Only a few talisman sects possess such techniques, and they are secrets taught only to inner disciples.
Thus, when the Second Young Master of the Fu Family used the Thunder Technique in the square, all the spectators present gasped in astonishment.
Under the turbulent dark sky, arcs of electricity began to burst forth around Fu Tianqing.
He fixed his gaze on Hang Yanling and softly called out, “White Dragon… come.”
As his words fell, Fu Tianqing’s appearance began to change.
Jade-like scales spilled forth from his skin, covering his arms. A lightning-like horn protruded from his forehead, and eerie blue patterns spread around his body. His originally dark eyes transformed into bright blue, with snake-like vertical pupils opening wide.
The young man’s appearance became fierce and terrifying, strands of lightning coiling around him.
This was the contract Fu Tianqing signed with the feather-white Jiao dragon during his five years of cultivation on the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, using the power of the White Jiao to enhance himself, covering the wound that was previously pierced by a hidden arrow with snow-white scales.
“Thunder into you—!”
With the integration of the Jiao dragon’s power, Fu Tianqing swung his hand down, and the rolling thunder from the sky converged into a bolt that struck down directly on Hang Yanling’s position.
With a loud bang, the ground was blasted apart, and dirt flew everywhere.
The thunder at the Nascent Soul Stage was enough to turn Hang Yanling, at the Qi Refining Stage, into charred bones; even Cheng Shui Xianzi in the audience couldn’t help but grip the armrest of her chair tightly.
“Ling’er!”
Zi Shui Xianzi beside Cheng Shui shook her head and pressed down on Cheng Shui’s hand: “Don’t panic, Ling’er isn’t dead yet.”
Just as the Zi Shui Xianzi said, the small figure of Hang Yanling burst out from the flickering lightning, twisting her body and expertly dodging the falling thunder one after another.
“Cough… spit.”
Though she managed to evade the attacks, she still ended up with a mouthful of dirt.
At that moment, Hang Yanling had completely unraveled the bandages on her body, revealing her dark and swollen veins.
The sky was already dim, and in this dark atmosphere, the black spirit qi wrapped around Hang Yanling as she slowly stood up, shaking a wooden stick in her hand.
“Creak, creak.”
The wooden stick was consumed by the pitch-black spirit qi, quickly corrupting and peeling away with a crackling sound, black wood chips falling to the ground. With a flick of her hand, the wooden stick transformed into a completely black wooden blade.
“Fu Tianqing, I’m right here.”
Holding up the blade, Hang Yanling provoked Fu Tianqing, but as the lightning flashed, Fu Tianqing’s fist had already smashed directly into Hang Yanling’s face.
This punch had enough force to shatter Hang Yanling’s face.
Yet, as if she had anticipated this, Hang Yanling slightly leaned back, finding just the right angle to dodge the punch.
“The time you can remain in this form…”
“Boom!”
Hang Yanling slightly sidestepped, retreating while dodging another bolt of thunder that almost pierced her.
“Probably four minutes, right? After four minutes, you’ll be exhausted and fall down; then that would mean you lose…?”
“Killing you is easy enough!”
“Hey… that’s not enough.”
Fu Tianqing pursued with several strikes but was still evaded by Hang Yanling.
At that moment, in his rage, Fu Tianqing calmed down and discovered the secret behind his inability to hit.
Each time he aimed to strike Hang Yanling, the pitch-black spirit qi instantaneously dyed the thunder black. While it couldn’t fully corrode it, it could deflect its angle, making it impossible to hit.
Just as Hang Yanling said, dragging this out meant Fu Tianqing could not kill her within ninety seconds.
But that was fine…
Fu Tianqing stopped his attacks, quietly gripping the ring in his hand.
He had other trump cards.
However, what he didn’t expect was that Hang Yanling suddenly stopped dodging, standing still, looking directly at Fu Tianqing, and pointing a finger at the ring in his hand. “Hey~ buddy, how about we take a breather and chat?”
“……”
Fu Tianqing sneered coldly: “Chat? Are you going to keep pretending to cry and beg for mercy?”
“Ah, that won’t happen. I just have a small suggestion.”
Hang Yanling raised a finger: “I guess that once this trick’s duration ends, you’ll hand over control of your body to that old thing in your ring before you run out of energy, right?”
Upon hearing this, Fu Tianqing clearly froze for a moment, frowning as he asked, “What do you mean?”
“Literally.”
Hang Yanling lowered her voice to a whisper that only the two could hear: “But don’t forget… you came to the mountain gate today to honorably defeat those who humiliated you by relying on your own strength. If you can’t even bully a 13-year-old girl without help, that would be too embarrassing, wouldn’t it?”
After saying that, without waiting for Fu Tianqing to hesitate, Hang Yanling directly charged at him with the wooden blade raised.
——————————————————————————
Far away in the audience, Cheng Shui Xianzi frowned at Hang Yanling’s actions. “Ling’er is too reckless; the other’s strength is clearly much stronger than hers. How can she charge directly at him!?”
Zi Shui Xianzi calmly rested her chin on her hand: “Although I can’t hear what they’re saying, it seems Ling’er has her own plan… By the way, what was that hidden arrow from earlier?”
“I don’t know; there was no fluctuation in spirit consciousness at all. It could be that Ling’er…”
“It’s impossible for her to have arranged that.”
Zi Shui Xianzi shook her head, looking at the battlefield: “When she begged for mercy earlier, Ling’er indeed had no fighting spirit, and only after the young master of the Fu Family fired a hidden arrow did she have to respond. That hidden arrow served to anger the Fu Family young master but was of no benefit to her.”
“Someone is obviously trying to frame our Lotus Flower Palace.”
Cheng Shui Xianzi’s expression turned solemn: “Regardless of the outcome of this battle, our Lotus Flower Palace’s reputation…”
“Haha, reputation is unimportant.”
Zi Shui Xianzi shook her head, looking at Hang Yanling with a hint of admiration: “But don’t you think that Ling’er’s rebelliousness is developing in a good direction?”
“Uh…”
Cheng Shui Xianzi fell silent and turned her gaze back to the battlefield, but her expression suddenly stiffened.
The scene before her was utterly unbelievable—Hang Yanling, who had recklessly charged forward, had not been directly knocked away by Fu Tianqing, who was two realms above her, but rather… was able to match him in combat?
“What’s happening? How is Ling’er…”
“The young master of the Fu Family has slowed down; he’s hesitating.”
The Zi Shui Xianzi tilted her head with a smile, revealing the truth of the situation.
This only puzzled Cheng Shui Xianzi further: “Hmm? Why? He clearly harbors the intent to kill Ling’er; now he’s even more furious, so why the hesitation…”
“It must be something Ling’er said to him earlier that caused him to waver… And haven’t you noticed? Ling’er has preemptively used all the techniques he intended to use against her.”
————————————————
“Hey!”
Hang Yanling swung the pitch-black wooden blade, interrupting Fu Tianqing’s attack just as he raised his hand.
It wasn’t that Hang Yanling’s strength had skyrocketed to suppress her opponent; rather, each of her attacks brought shock and astonishment to Fu Tianqing.
As the Zi Shui Xianzi had said, whenever Fu Tianqing attempted to attack, Hang Yanling would preemptively employ Fu Tianqing’s own techniques.
Her speed was faster, and her moves were more exquisite.
Although they were entirely the same techniques, Hang Yanling always managed to utilize them just a split second before Fu Tianqing, as if he merely raised his hand and she had already read his thoughts.
Instead of a battle,
It was more like he was being toyed with unilaterally.
This astonishment and shock caused Fu Tianqing to slow down his attack speed; the anger in his brain began to analyze the reasons for this phenomenon… including Hang Yanling’s earlier words.
Why did she know that he had…
Unfortunately, even if he racked his brains, the young Fu Tianqing at that moment did not realize he was facing himself from three hundred years in the future.
“Your time is running out.”
While launching her attacks, Hang Yanling accurately affirmed Fu Tianqing’s current state.
Looking at Fu Tianqing’s puzzled expression and his gradually hesitating movements, Hang Yanling smiled.
She knew herself too well, and she understood her bad habits all too well.
While it was easy for her to get worked up and angry, her mind would subconsciously remain vigilant and thoughtful about abnormal situations. This thinking would calm her mind but would also take place in an untimely manner during battle, causing her actions to carry some hesitation.
Just like she had thought earlier about where the hidden arrow came from.
This “past version of herself” must also be starting to ponder why Hang Yanling could use his sword techniques, how she knew there was an old man in his ring, and why she knew the duration of the White Jiao’s possession…
This doubt wouldn’t guarantee Hang Yanling victory, but it was sufficient to calm Fu Tianqing’s mind, making him hesitate to deal heavy blows against her.
As time ticked away, Fu Tianqing also realized that time was running out. If this continued, his revenge battle would end in failure.
The revenge he had been obsessed with for five years couldn’t just come to such an end. Eliminating all hesitation, in the last minute, Fu Tianqing dismissed all doubts and struck a heavy punch at Hang Yanling.
This was a punch without any technique, relying entirely on the overwhelming speed and power of his realm.
But once again, Fu Tianqing was caught by surprise when Hang Yanling completely stood still, unexpectedly lowering her guard and simply remaining where she was.
“I owe you.”
Boom!
His fist landed on Hang Yanling’s chest, knocking the girl into the air once more.
This unexpected action caused Fu Tianqing’s mind to momentarily pause. Hang Yanling’s blood sprayed into the air before she heavily crashed back down to the ground.
As Fu Tianqing withdrew his fist, his gaze was somewhat dazed, and he involuntarily took a step forward.
Fortunately, Hang Yanling was not truly killed by this punch; half a minute later, she slowly climbed up from the ground.
And after half a minute, the electric arcs surrounding Fu Tianqing dispersed, a cold sensation began to spread from his limbs, and his breaths became rapid, cold sweat soaking his clothing.
The moment of weakness was approaching.
Fu Tianqing’s gaze fixed tightly on Hang Yanling, who was getting up from the ground, fist clenched tightly; for a moment, he didn’t know what to do.
The anger in his heart had long been overshadowed by confusion.
Hang Yanling stood up unsteadily, the wooden blade in her hand crumbling to pieces, turning into wood chips all over the ground. She turned away from Fu Tianqing and shouted towards the audience: “That guy… could you please throw me a bow and an arrow… huff… huff…”
The representatives seated in the audience, whether from Lotus Flower Palace or other sects, were dumbfounded.
Those with higher cultivation could see that Fu Tianqing was now exhausted and unable to fight further, and they could also tell that Hang Yanling, who had just taken a punch, wouldn’t last much longer. What did she mean by asking for a bow and arrows now?
Having just shot a hidden arrow, was she now planning to use openly a dark arrow to injure someone?
The arena fell silent; no one understood what this notorious trickster from Lotus Flower Palace was planning.
Yet, only one person responded to her.
“Little Ling’er, here.”
A purple lotus held the bow and arrow she requested, slowly drifting towards Hang Yanling.
And the one who sent these items over was none other than the master of Lotus Flower Palace, the Zi Shui Xianzi, who wore a calm smile at that moment.
Beside her, Cheng Shui Xianzi exclaimed in shock: “Sister, what are you doing?! We…”
“Don’t worry.”
Zi Shui Xianzi smiled while fluffing her hair: “Did you forget? Little Ling’er’s head is a bit damaged; she’s not acting normally right now.”
“What do you mean by that!”
However, the lotus eventually floated to Hang Yanling’s side, and she propped herself up to take down the bow and arrow. Turning, she stumbled while holding her stomach.
“Ugh… no, it hurts too much; why do I have to go through this pain…”
Hang Yanling weakly complained to the boy who was only three meters away from her.
Equally weak and barely supporting himself with his knife, the boy frowned:
“Hang Yanling… what are you planning to do?”
“Don’t worry… cough…”
Hang Yanling suddenly raised her arm, just when the audience thought this evil girl was going to pull back the bow and shoot, putting an end to the boy she had humiliated countless times five years ago, her actions surprised them all.
She threw the bow and arrows right in front of Fu Tianqing.
“You still have the strength to pull the bow back, right…”
After throwing the items, Hang Yanling sat down heavily, clutching her stomach as she said laboriously: “Just pretend… that the hidden arrow earlier was my arrangement. Here, I’ll pay you back with this arrow.”
“You—”
“Shoot wherever you want; just pick up the bow… aim at me. It’s my just deserts for my evil deeds. Haven’t you been waiting for this moment for five years…? Arm, thigh, heart, head… all are up to you.”
Hang Yanling let her hands drop, no longer resisting, closing her eyes and quietly waiting for Fu Tianqing’s decision.
Unable to comprehend everything before him, Fu Tianqing gritted his teeth and shouted furiously at the defenseless Hang Yanling: “Hang Yanling, don’t think I won’t dare…”
“Quit the nonsense—anyway, as you wish, I fought honorably with you… I’ll consider this arrow compensation for you, do whatever you want.”
Hang Yanling looked at Fu Tianqing, her face showing a relaxed smile, one that no one had ever seen on her before.
“Let this arrow decide our victory or defeat, let this determine life and death… you come.”
