Though the tower was very far away from the Tang Gu City, it could still be considered a part of the same region as it. In fact, the immediate area that Tang Gu City was in could be considered part of a larger empire, the Bailing Empire, ruled by the Lingmu family for generations and generations. They could be considered by modern-day historians to be the stereotypical benevolent rulers who could be capable of putting aside compassion in order to maintain order if it was necessary. Though it made for a rather boring study, no one could deny that their manner of ruling was effective. As a result, the Bailing Empire had not gotten into a war for literally hundreds of years. Why this is relevant to know now is because a very important period of the current year was approaching.

The Mistress of the tower knew this too, but she was more concerned about what she felt coming from Tang Gu City. She knew somebody had broken through to a new rank, and she could feel the mysterious Tianqi even from miles away. However, she did not know specifically which daughter of Su Ran was the supposed ‘inheritor of the Ghost Calamity Palm.’ The Ghost Calamity Palm was a deadly martial arts technique passed down from the Nie family, and its tyranny could not be disputed. Though it did not cause much physical damage, it was capable of reaching in directly to one’s soul or spirit, and strong enough practitioners of the art were capable of instantly crushing someone’s spirit, literally. This would leave the physical body quite literally dead inside, and unable to really do much.

If one were to use modern parlance or literary roleplaying terms, this would be the equivalent of someone forcibly making somebody’s intelligence and charisma values to negative values. It was superbly tyrannical, and in the Bailing Empire, where the Nie family originated from, such soul-destroying arts were forbidden and you could be sentenced to death for it. Su Ran is currently one of the only known living users of this technique, and she had already cast it aside because she herself knew of its destructive powers, and even for a Tianqi Emperor like her, she did not want to bloody her hands anymore.

However… It was surprising that one of her children had the potential to be able to use it… This intrigued the mistress of the tower…

That moment…

Flyers were being distributed all over the city. Written on the flyers were words advertising a highly anticipated event – the Annual White Spirit Competition. Every year, the Bailing Empire would host a martial arts competition in its capital, Bailing City. It was situated in the very center of the empire, and luckily Tang Gu City was not too far from it. You could get there via carriage within the day. Walking by foot would take longer, but not enough to be considered dangerous. The White Spirit Competition was a place where many talented Tianqi users would gather and compete against one another for fame and glory. Naturally, there would also be prizes. The prizes each year were almost always different, and usually consisted of rare things like ancient manuals, powerful herbs, spiritual elixirs, and similar things.

You had to be at least fourteen years of age to be able to participate, on top of this the highest level you were permitted to display was of a first rank Tianqi Prince or Princess. This meant stronger participants had to deliberately suppress their power. This was to make the competition a bit fair, as it was rare that low-ranking users would join the tournament.

 Though this might seem like a young age to enter a martial arts tournament where potentially accidents could occur, the Lingmu family believed that age was simply just a number. Young seedlings with high potential that could battle amongst the older generations could simply be treated as hidden tigers and dragons in the empire, waiting to be reared and nurtured. When Su Qingcheng learned about this news, she was determined to have a go at it. Yao Meiyue agreed. Though Su Qingcheng was just a mere third rank Tianqi user, her mysterious Nightblossom techniques would allow her to demolish anyone in the same stratum as her, and also allow her to fight evenly with low to mid-ranked Tianqi Geomancers. She would only have trouble with anyone stronger than a fourth rank Tianqi Geomancer.

Confident in her skills, Su Qingcheng discovered she only had two weeks to prepare for the competition. Hurriedly, she went to Su Ran to discuss things with her, only to discover that Su Yanran was already talking to her about the White Spirit Competition.

“I’m sure Qingcheng’er wants to participate also,” Su Yanran frowned. “You already felt the Tianqi ripple when she broke through to third rank User yesterday…”

“Right, I know. She has the strength, but I’m afraid…”

“Afraid of what?” A defiant voice interrupted the conversation as Su Yanran and Su Ran both turned around to see Su Qingcheng plainly standing in the doorway to her mother’s room, casually leaning to the side. Su Qingcheng’s expression was a bit ugly, clearly not a fan of being put down by her mother in such a passive aggressive way.

“You don’t have the right to be cocky simply because Hu Linglei went easy on you,” Su Ran sighed. “The White Spirit Competition is a big deal. We originally planned to send Mujian’er and Yanran’er, but the former is still resting from his injuries…”

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“Then, I will accompany big sis Yanran!!” Su Qingcheng stared resolutely at the both of them. While her mother stared pensively back in return, Su Yanran seemed a bit too excited about this news. “Mother, you shouldn’t worry about anything happening to me. I am sure big sis will also protect me if it comes to that…”

Su Yanran nodded profusely. “Yes, that’s right, mother. I will be right by her side. Rest assured, nothing untoward will happen to her. On top of that, I believe she is also quite capable of protecting herself.”

Su Ran furrowed her brows. In the fact of two determined young women who wanted this really badly, she had no real choice but to relent. “Ugh… I really can’t reason with you, can I, Qingcheng’er? Fine. I will permit you to go, but you have to stay with Yanran’er at all times. Don’t go off on your own. Bailing City may be relatively safe, but we’re only giving you two carriage escort. Once you’re in the city, it’ll just be the two of you.”

Su Qingcheng nodded firmly. “Yes, mother. I promise I won’t get into trouble when I’m there,” she said. “Yanran’er will surely make sure nothing happens to me either.”

Su Yanran felt a blush escape her cheeks for some reason, but she smiled and nodded in silent agreement.

“Un… Then it’s settled… You both have two weeks to get ready for the competition. You guys will travel to Bailing City three days before the actual date of the competition. Do not be tardy. I will send some guys to call for you in case you decide to enter some last minute closed-door training.” Su Ran yawned.

Both Su Yanran and Su Qingcheng cupped their fists in respect and left the room quietly, leaving Su Ran alone in her room. She actually slept in the same room as Su Zhan but she kept her own room for the rest of the day. In this room, Su Ran often contemplated about the various happenings in the world of Tianqi Emperors like herself, since she had deliberately suppressed her aura to appear much weaker than she normally was. However, with the outstanding performance of Su Qingcheng, Su Ran increasingly felt the need to come up with plans not to implicate herself or her daughter. She was already getting a bad feeling about the upcoming White Spirit Competition. It wasn’t that she believed Su Qingcheng was weak. Actually, on the contrary. She felt that Su Qingcheng was abnormally strong for a third rank User. She was confident that Su Qingcheng could perform well.

The problem lay in the fact that the competition was a wide-scale event in the empire. People watching could get very curious about the technique. Though the Nightflower and Nightblossom methods were incredibly mysterious, there might be a bunch of old freaks in the audience watching the younger generation. What if some people from her own generation attended? For example, she knew Hu Linglei would not miss the chance to watch the competition. And what if there were more people like her present?

These kinds of things were what Su Ran was worried about. Su Qingcheng may have had some knowledge in her past life, but she was still unawares of the specifics of this world, for example, the affairs of Tianqi Emperors. They were mostly a bunch of eccentrics. Even Su Ran was originally like that before she settled down and mellowed out a LOT. Su Ran then sighed and remembered something… Su Qingcheng had mentioned getting attacked by two women before. They were very fast like shadows, at least that was how Su Qingcheng described it.

“Fast shadows… Two women… Could it have been…? Oh no. That old fogey is going to watch the tournament, isn’t she!! Mistress Fang Li!!!” Su Ran frowned to herself as she began to pace around in her room back and forth…

Back in the tower, the Mistress named Fang Li suddenly sneezed. “…Is someone talking about me behind my back…? Nah, it was definitely my imagination…”

Meanwhile, Su Qingcheng quickly retreated to her training room, as did Su Yanran. Both of them instructed everyone who was present in the Tiger’s Den not to let anyone disturb them, except if somebody came by asking them to leave for the White Spirit Competition. When Su Qingcheng said she was going to the White Spirit Competition, many people began talking about her behind her back when she had retreated to her training room. A lot of it was in amazement as how this cripple had suddenly become strong enough not only to survive a blow from the legendary Tiger Queen’s ‘Emperor Demon Puppet,’ but also casually defending herself from a sneak attack from Xiao Tie. They soon felt bad about themselves for moments before they became inspired to work harder. If Su Qingcheng could pull off that kind of miraculous reversal, then perhaps they could too. The Tiger’s Den soon became quite noisy and very busy.

Inside the training room, Su Qingcheng was facing Yao Meiyue, who nodded in approval. That was easier than expected. Though, you need to be careful. You can’t reveal too many of your trump cards during the tournament. During these two weeks, I’ll revert back to the Nightflower Tome to teach you some basic combat maneuvers. The Star Vortex Fist shouldn’t be abused no matter how strong it is. In this case, since you’ve displayed a significant mastery of the Star Vortex Fist in a stupidly short amount of time, the basic moves I’ll help you learn would be as simple as cake…

Su Qingcheng nodded as she took out the Nightflower Tome from her Dragon Hoard Ring and turned to the pages that Yao Meiyue had indicated to her. There were several diagrams and hastily drawn pictures depicting lots of different movements and places where to direct Nightflower Tianqi. Su Qingcheng shuddered as she realized that though they were basic movements, there were just so many of them. Su Qingcheng idly wondered how many of these she could learn and perform within just shy of two weeks…

Chin up, kid… Yao Meiyue laughed. This is some last minute training, after all. Two weeks is definitely not enough to learn all of these, let alone master them. Just do your best and try to at least be able to perform some of them. Otherwise, you will just be endangering yourself at the tournament.

Su Qingcheng sighed and nodded. “Understood. Let’s get cracking, then…” Su Qingcheng cracked her knuckles and prepared herself to undergo some more arduous training.