A blue lily.

That was what the girl held in front of Kierra, together with a promise of eternity.

''Do you like it?''

Her affectionate voice sounded.

''Yes!''

Kierra replied happily and took the flower. The girl was the total opposite of a blue lily, which meant serenity, but Kierra innocently thought it suited her.

Just like that, the two held hands and walked along the lily valley.

Holding the flower in her hand, Kierra spoke up. ''When this war is over... will you stay together with me?''

''Of course.'' The girl responded. ''We will build our country together.''

''Mhm.''

Kierra held the girl's hand tighter, and the two continued their way, dreaming of a brighter future.

''—ierra!''

''Kierra!''

Kierra was awoken by someone shaking her shoulders. Opening her eyes, she found herself leaning against Tian Yun's shoulder.

'White lotus... no. What am I doing...'

It was clear that mental fatigue had caught up to her. She spent three whole months without sleep for the research of the star-transcending ritual, and now she even dreamt of that old fate and mistaking a person for a flower.

''It's time for Bai Qing to fight again, Kierra.'' Tian Yun continued.

Kierra slowly adjusted her sitting position, getting out of Tian Yun's arm. ''Excuse me.''

''No problem.'' Tian Yun flashed a smile.

After giving Tian Yun a nod, Kierra turned to the other side. ''Yu Chen, you seem relieved. I assume the results were good?''

''Y-Yes? Ah, yes, it was good.''

''...?''

Ignoring the abnormal Yu Chen, Kierra directed her gaze toward the arena again. There was a giant board showing the results of the matches, in which the archwizard was able to decipher that Bai Qing had indeed advanced to the quarterfinals.

''This is incredible.'' Tian Yun said with a smile. ''Everyone besides our Bai Qing are in the top sects. We had never been this successful before.''

''I see.'' Kierra replied.

Soon, it was time for the matches to resume again.

''We have quite a special matchup this time, fellow cultivators!'' General Manager Sang's voice sounded. ''Facing against the best disciple from Emei Sect—Feng Ling—is the rising star of this competition, Bai Qing!''

''What did he mean by 'special'?'' Kierra asked.

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''Ah... the Emei Sect's cultivation methods have a reputation of being the best among those suited for women. And because our sect's are also...'' Tian Yun explained as she nervously glanced at the abbess of the Emei Sect.

Kierra followed her gaze and stumbled upon a cold beauty in the distance. Said beauty turned to them, and their eyes met.

'''' ... ''''

For a brief moment, tension hung in the air.

Soon, the match started, prompting everyone to look at the arena instead.

Both Bai Qing and Feng Ling drew their swords. In quick and precise motions, the latter shot herself toward Bai Qing, and a purple hue fell onto her blade.

Darkness collided with lightning.

In this matchup, Feng Ling clearly had more to show. Her swordplay was elegant, yet deadly at the same time, gnawing at the opponent's mind. Bai Qing's lightning sword was inferior, so she opted for the hit-and-run tactic instead of confrontation. She carefully dodged every attack coming at her, occasionally poking Feng Ling a bit before retreating. This made Feng Ling infuriated.

Suddenly, the disciple of Emei Sect raised her sword high, and intense qi began to gather around the blade rapidly. With a decisive slam, the purple air blade was sent toward Bai Qing. Unlike standard air blades, however, this one changed from vertical to horizontal at the last moment!

''Kuh...!''

Bai Qing had no choice but to block the attack. She wanted to save her mana until the final match, but it seemed there was no other way.

So Bai Qing confidently jumped at her opponent. While flying in the air, Bai Qing secretly chanted a water spell on top of her lightning attack. Feng Ling felt there was something wrong, but she chose to counterattack right away.

With a loud noise, two swords collided again. It was then that it happened—

''?!''

From Bai Qing's free hand, a water spear shot out, cleanly penetrating Feng Ling's qi armor and punching her guts like a cannon. The proud disciple of the Emei Sect was blown back considerably.

As the audience and Feng Ling herself were caught by total surprise, Bai Qing seized the chance and delivered another clean hit toward her opponent, pushing her out of the arena and thus ending the match.

''T-The winner, Bai Qing!''

Bai Qing felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment. She looked up at her masters, and they nodded approvingly at her.

( ˶ˆᗜˆ˵ )

Meanwhile, chaos erupted in the observation room. The people had somewhat sensed something wrong with Bai Qing's performance since earlier, but now, it was clear.

''W-What was that?!'' Someone in the observation room exclaimed.

''Dual roots?!''

''No way, that is not possible!''

Hearing the people arguing, Tian Yun and Yu Chen couldn't help but feel proud of Bai Qing. She had actually defeated the disciple from the Emei Sect!

While the two were smiling foolishly—Tian Yun externally, Yu Chen internally—a shadow fell on their face. Turning around, they saw the cold abbess of Emei Sect. She looked at them emotionlessly, but faint hints of fury could be seen in her eyes.

''You. What was that?'' She asked the three.

Before Yu Chen and Tian Yun could cook up an appropriate answer, Kierra had already spoken up. ''Go back to your seat.''

Veins popped up on the abbess's forehead. ''I am asking you.''

''And who are you again?'' Kierra snapped back.

The abbess was furious. This woman didn't even look at her once!

So the abbess released her enormous qi, tensing up everyone, and right when she was about to press further, someone placed a hand on her shoulder.

''Please calm down, abbess.''

It was the abbot of the Shaolin Temple.

Silence fell. Everyone held their breath; even the people outside felt there was something wrong. Eventually, the abbess of Emei Sect retreated her qi.

''Excuse me.''

With what, she left the room. Once again, silence fell. The previous tension was still lingering inside the room, but Kierra hardly cared about it.

So, just like that, the tournament resumed as usual. After sitting through three more fights, Kierra was finally able to watch Bai Qing's semifinal match. The opponent, this time, was clearly on guard against Bai Qing's water magic, but because he wasn't able to feel the mana moving, combined with the fact that he paid less attention to Bai Qing's attacks, one water strike to the back was able to take him out.

''We're in the final...!'' Tian Yun exclaimed.

Her heart raced wildly. Finally, her and her predecessors' dream was going to come true! White Lotus Sect would rise to the top!

The other semifinal match was between a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect and a disciple of the Wudang Sect, with the former emerging victorious. Once again, General Manager Sang's voice sounded, this time, more excited than ever.

''Fellow cultivators! The final match to determine the winner of this tournament is between Yuan Ning of the Mount Hua Sect Sect and Bai Qing of the White Lotus Sect!''

Stepping into the arena, Bai Qing took a deep breath.

She only had one shot, so she couldn't miss this chance.