"How did she do that? She was moving too quickly. I couldn't see what she did. The odds were clearly not in her favor."
Liu Qing paid no attention to the looks everyone as giving her. She didn't care if they were looking at her with suspicion, disbelief, shock or bewilderment. She was in a state of stunned stupor herself. The final move had been something that Jiang Ning had taught her. He had told her to conceal her true strength.
In her opinion, when you were faced with a powerful opponent like Luo Heng, you should throw everything that you had at him. You didn't have the luxury to conceal your true strength.
But she had ended up doing what Jiang Ning had told her to do. She had followed Jiang Ning's exact instructions on choosing the right moment to strike.
She had reeled back with shock when she had sent Luo Heng flying out of the arena.
I've won.'
Liu Qing sat down in front of Jiang Ning.
"I saw that," said Jiang Ning. "Congratulations."
Their conversation ended with Liu Qing's nod. No one said another word.
She needed some time to collect her thoughts. She needed time to think. How had she managed to win the fight?
She had been in that fight. She had won it. But she couldn't understand how she had managed that.
All she had done had been to follow what Jiang Ning had told her to do. That had led to her victory.
The outcome of the battle wasn't a proof of her strength. It was proof of the unimaginable depths that Jiang Ning possessed.
There wasn't anything to look forward to in the matches that followed.
There was no question about Liu Qing earning a place in the top three positions.
Another match was required. She had won Luo Heng. That was proof that she had grown stronger.
Zhang Heng stood in the distance with a dazed look on his face.
"I'm sorry, Mr Zhang, I didn't expect this to happen," Luo Heng said with a hint of resentment in his voice. "This was beyond my expectation. I didn't know that Liu Qing had such an attack up her sleeve. It was simply incredible... But such a technique doesn't exist in the Qingshan Sect."
He couldn't have known that Liu Qing could unleash such a move. Not even in his wildest dreams.
He knew every Qingshan Sect technique that Liu Qing knew and he knew them better.
He had not deemed Liu Qing worthy of his attention at all and he should have crushed her. Yet, in the end...
He had been thrown out of the arena by her attack. This was mortifying!
"You've really done me proud," Zhang Heng said sarcastically through clenched teeth. Violent tremors Coursed through his body He pointed at Luo Heng, his next words at the tip of his tongue But he swallowed them in the end
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"Humph!"
Luo Heng was going to enter the Portico and become the Senior Elder's disciple. He might not care if he offended Luo Heng, but he didn't need to be blacklisted by another person.
Luo Heng wasn't feeling happy as well.
It should have been an effortless victory, but he had lost. © 2024.
"Let me tell you the truth. Liu Qing wasn't the one who defeated you," Zhang Heng scoffed. His lips curled into an icy smile. "He's the one who defeated you."
Luo Heng's eyes turned towards where Zhang Heng was looking and landed on Jiang Ning. His pupils contracted instantly.
"Him?" There was a hint of scorn in his voice.
Jiang Ning looked like any other
ordinary man. Luo Heng couldn't see anything exceptional about him. He looked young, perhaps younger than Luo Heng. How had he lost to this man?
"He's the one who trained Liu Qing. He trained her for a month. And you lost. You wouldn't be able to withstand a single blow from him if you were to fight him instead." Zhang Heng's intentional exaggerations amplified the disgruntlement that Luo Heng was feeling. Luo Heng's eyes reddened.
He wouldn't survive the first attack?
That was utter bullshit!
"Who is he?" Luo Heng ground his teeth.
Zhang Heng laughed mirthlessly but didn't say anything. Instead, he gave Luo Heng a look. Luo Heng caught scorn,
disappointment and a hint of mockery in his eyes.
The anger that had been burning inside Luo Heng erupted instantly.