Under the gazes of dumbfounded people watching the arena platform, a figure suddenly stood, it trembled and shook for moments before it released a heaven-shaking scream.
“AAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!”
This figure was, shockingly, Su Qingcheng! During the collision between her attack and Guan Ding’s attack, Su Qingcheng’s Nightflower Tianqi had corroded a majority of the tianqi that was amplifying Guan Ding’s strength, causing his blow to weaken considerably in the face of Su Qingcheng’s dive kick. As for the name she bellowed out, this was simply just a random name she came up with to sound like a kid. Truthfully speaking the dive kick wasn’t anything special nor was it a particular technique, it was merely just a basic attacking maneuver.
As Su Qingcheng screamed, she felt the Nightflower Tianqi heating up inside her, almost as if it was about to erupt from her body. She remained steadfast as she stood still, experts in the audience could see her entire body wrapped in a very thin, translucent flame that seemed to get even more transparent, almost as if fading away. After it totally disappeared, Su Qingcheng started gasping and panting. She was out of breath. Truthfully speaking, colliding into that attack had caused her tianqi to become a bit unstable. Therefore, she had to stabilize herself by focusing and attempting to calm herself down. Screaming and making a battle cry was just one of those methods.
She sadly looked at the collapsed Guan Ding as the audience finally roared in applause. In one of the seats, Fang Li continued to look at her with a plain gaze, though she was smiling. Something was going to happen during this tournament, something unprecedented that only she would know. Hopefully, everything would go according to plan. Otherwise, all of Fang Li’s efforts would have gone to naught. Su Qingcheng slowly retreated back to her seat down below the platforms while the Arena elders took care of Guan Ding who had been knocked unconscious by the exchange of blows. Fortunately they discovered his body and spirit was incredibly formidable, so he was in no real danger.
Hearing this, Su Qingcheng felt a lot better. Though they were opponents, Su Qingcheng really respected his character and hoped they could meet again someday. The rest of the matches for the day were rather uneventful. The elders declared that the competition would continue for the next couple of days, so those still in the competition should return and get a lot of rest. This was what Su Qingcheng and Su Yanran did exactly, as both of them managed to get to the next round, the round of sixteen. Su Qingcheng was sitting cross-legged and trying to understand and comprehend her Nightflower Tianqi once again while Su Yanran had just bathed and had already fallen asleep. As Su Qingcheng was cultivating her Nightflower Tianqi, there was no way she would predict the events for the next day…
The next day.
The competition raged on once more. This time, after the astonishing display of Su Qingcheng during her battle with Guan Ding, all her opponents quickly tried to probe her real power, but were quickly defeated by her after she employed the absurdity of the mysterious Black Hole Stance, giving her the insight to predict most if not all attacks. This caused most people to grow bored of Su Qingcheng’s matches as there weren’t many people who could threaten her. Su Yanran, on her part, also managed to coast through the matches.
However, when the ranks were thinning, and the competition leg for the current day was about to end, the entire Arena shook uncontrollably. Fang Li smiled as if she knew something like this would happen. “Ah, good. I think it means the guys I hired are arriving?” she looked up at the sky, and her smile immediately turned into a frown. Quickly she realized that those were not her dudes, and instead were a bunch of fakers disguised as the men she hired to cause a huge commotion in the middle of the competition. They were supposed to directly attack Su Qingcheng regardless of her position and throw her off her game in an attempt to trigger her to use her tricks.
However, this plan was now totally thrown out the window with an entirely new variable that she did not expect – that a third party would take advantage of Fang Li’s scheme to not only thwart it but cause some chaos of their own! Fang Li stood up as the guys in the air suddenly barged into the platforms forcibly. It must be said, that in order for a person to be able to fly, their power must be at the peak level of a Tianqi Lord or Lady at the very minimum. Therefore, their power was indeed incredible.
Su Qingcheng, who had already finished her matches, looked up with a frown as the men in the air were launching fierce long-ranged tianqi attacks. Fireballs, icicles, earth spikes, all sorts of elemental aberrations were thrown about. Though the Jade Tiger Arena was very sturdy, it could not hold on against such a terrifying barrage of attacks for an incredibly long period of time. The elders were dumbfounded for a moment before they tried to gain control of the situation. They immediately asked all the weaker spectators to evacuate, which they did. Some of the weaker participants also evacuated. Many of the spectators were not strong enough to fly, so some particularly gutsy ones decided to launch long-ranged attacks from the ground. But naturally the flying attackers were people with a lot of experience. How could they casually let some people throw Tianqi attacks at them from below? It would be a humiliation if they did. So they effortlessly evaded the attacks from below. Fang Li was now at a loss; her original plan had been totally destroyed.
Su Qingcheng quickly went to the stands with Su Yanran the moment they spotted Fang Li, who immediately pretended to panic.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Girls! We are under attack, you two better leave now,” Fang Li frowned. “Even I don’t know where they came from.”
Right as Fang Li mentioned this, a bolt of electricity landed mere inches away from Su Qingcheng, who jumped up in fright and fell on her butt next to Su Yanran. “Good heavens! A lightning based attack when the weather has been nice all week?! What kind of terrifying expert is capable of this? And what about the competition?! There’s no way the competition will continue after something like this, right?!” Su Qingcheng gasped.
“You can even think of something like this,” Su Yanran frowned. “We need to get out of here. Fang Li, will you be staying here and fighting?”
“No, of course not. Are you kidding me? I might be a Tianqi Sage, but there are ten of those freaks up there. What if all of them are like that guy? I’ll be fried immediately.” She sighed self-deprecatingly.
“Then come on!” Su Qingcheng gasped as the three of them also began to flee. However, the flying ‘man’ who had thrown the bolt of lightning at Su Qingcheng immediately turned to see the group of three escaping.
A girl’s voice came out of that figure. “Trying to escape, bastard girl?” the flying girl, who was totally wrapped in black rags, was now encircled in electricity, causing Su Qingcheng to gasp. She urged everyone to run, but it was too late. In the blink of an eye, the girl had charged down as fast as lightning down to Su Qingcheng’s location. Strangely enough, she ignored Su Yanran and Fang Li who were totally unhurt. Su Qingcheng, on the other hand, was struck by electricity and paralyzed. Her entire body shook madly as she attempted to disperse the energy and regain control of her limbs, but the Nightflower Tianqi’s efficacy was greatly reduced. It seemed that she was totally paralyzed with electric shock. The girl covered in rags looked down at her in disdain.
“Stupid girl. You have that Snake Empress to blame. If she didn’t send her own men to deliberately stir shit up, then we would never have found you.” She laughed, as Su Yanran stared at the now horrified Fang Li. Su Yanran’s gaze was like ten thousand cold daggers, with each tip slowly grazing the skin. It was, in a word, like the stare of a death god.
“You!!!!” Su Yanran scowled at Fang Li. “Bitch! What do you want with my sister!” she then cursed at the girl covered in rags.
“You must be her sister. Fine; I’ll give your mother some face. I have a prior relationship with this young girl.” She said. Her voice was distinctly around that of a lady in her mid-20s. As she said this, Su Qingcheng’s eyes barely widened as the paralysis still lingered. The Nightflower Tianqi she was using was slowly but surely counteracting the effects of the lightning. However, she still couldn’t move to escape. Despite this, she listened to what the assailant had to say. Something about her did indeed seem very familiar. However, her entire body was covered in rags, so you could only see her soulless black eyes, the spark of life no longer within it. “I need her alive, so I won’t kill her. However, if you dare to intervene, don’t blame me for being merciless. Humph.”
Su Qingcheng winced, shaking and trembling as she tried desperately to move. But she still could not! Yao Meiyue’s voice, however, she could still hear, which was a relief. You must endure this. The Nightflower Tianqi at this point in time can counteract the paralysis but if you move, she’ll just use the attack again on you and in that case you are really finished. You are still too weak to fight for yourself against a Tianqi anomaly who can control lightning without needing natural thunder!
“Tianqi anomaly…” Su Qingcheng thought to herself as she continued to stare at the girl in rags.
Fang Li frowned. “Just who are you, exactly?”
“Humph. I’m just a nobody. Why should the Snake Empress care about someone like me? I’m only special due to my ability to control lightning. I bet this Qingcheng could beat me brown if I didn’t have that ability.” She hissed. Fang Li no longer bothered to say anything as she turned and left, but as she left, she glared at the girl in rags.
“We aren’t done yet,” Fang Li growled. “You can consider me leaving an attempt to diffuse the situation.”
Su Yanran glared at Fang Li again. “You are just going to leave us? You sly fox!! This is all your fault! You rigged the competition brackets didn’t you?!”
“So what if I did? How should I know some crazy lunatics hijacked my folks to attack? I don’t even know why they want Su Qingcheng. But I sure as hell am not going to make my move here.” Fang Li growled as she left for good.
Su Yanran collapsed on her knees, staring at the greatly weakened Su Qingcheng. The girl in rags looked back at Su Yanran, but she simply just coldly snorted. “I’m aware of your cherished sister’s one year agreement. If you care about her that much, you can go rescue her before then.”
Su Qingcheng’s eyes widened again as she tried even harder to fight the paralysis. At this point, she could now speak, but was still unable to move her arms and legs. “Sis! Sis!!!” Su Qingcheng cried out as she looked at the despondent, utterly crushed Su Yanran, who sat there in a daze. Su Qingcheng was now crying. She had never been in this dangerous life-threatening situation anymore. And the electricity was actually the very same lightning which crushed her body and crippled her. She didn’t want anything like that to happen again.
“Sis!!!”
Su Yanran continued to sit there in a catatonic state as Su Qingcheng squirmed and struggled trying to fully move herself. However, the girl in rags had run out of patience. With a flick of her wrist, an electric net was sprung from her wrist and ensnared Su Qingcheng, causing her to wail in terrible pain as every time she moved, the net would shock her. Fortunately for her, the elixir she took which repaired her Tianqi paths had already immunized them from lightning, so she wouldn’t actually be crippled by lightning again though she didn’t know that. On the other hand, she still suffered terribly from the pain of being repeatedly shocked.
“Sis, siiiis… Heeeeelp…”
Su Yanran looked up weakly as she watched Su Qingcheng being taken away by the girl in rags. The other flying men immediately stopped attacking once they saw the girl in black rags hold Su Qingcheng as if she were a captured princess, flying up into the sky. By the time everybody left, the arena was in disarray. Only Su Yanran remained, sitting there, utterly crushed by what she just saw.
“Sis Qingcheng…!!!” Su Yanran’s face was covered in tears as she weakly stood up and looked at the sky, seeing the dots of those flying attackers escape into the distance. “Why… WHY!!!!”
Truly, the heavens envy the talented…