The expression of the blonde-haired Margery quickly sank when she saw Yao Jun's confused manner. She knew that Yao Jun hadn't opened his eyes once during the two months she had been trying to make contact with him, but she still assumed that he had at least known about her actions. Her eyes narrowed slightly, containing a mixture of anger and shame.
"Do you really not remember me?"
Not only did she have a decently high position in her sect, but she was also considered very beautiful and very talented, there were countless people vying for her affection. Because of this, her pride was obviously quite high, so to not be remembered, or not even noticed, was quite a blow to her. But faced with her expression, which almost resembled a volcano that was about to blow, Yao Jun simply stretched out his hands to the side, shrugging his shoulders in a nonchalant manner.
"Not in the slightest, so I'm pretty sure you are mistaking me for someone else."
Yao Jun had an excellent memory, so there was no way he would just suddenly forget someone he had met before. This could only mean that this girl was mistaking him for someone else, and from the looks of it, was about to take her unjustifiable anger out on him. Du Xiao and the others also didn't speak up and explain the situation, as they didn't feel that this Margery was worth mentioning.
Getting such a nonchalant confirmation form Yao Jun, Margery's pink eyes lit up with a deep crimson light, a soft snort sounding out.
"Humph. Forget about me, will you?"
Right after Margery's snort sounded out, small crimson lights fluttered into existence around her, bopping around like tiny fairies. She clenched her right hand, a long crystalline spear with a blue speartip appearing in her grasp. Margery stepped forward, her body suddenly exploding and turning into several more bobbing lights that quickly started to surround Yao Jun.
No matter how she acted, Margery had still reached the middle stage of the Immortal Rebirth realm. She had even killed two cultivators at the late stage of the Immortal Rebirth realm once, further increasing her standing in her sect, the All-Seeing Flame sect.
She also didn't intend to take it easy on Yao Jun, which was why she had instantly activated the strongest skill of her Fire Fairy technique, fusing her body and soul with the various orbs of light. At the same time, she activated the secret technique of her sect, a special type of Demonic beast blood flowing through specially carved veins and entering her eyes, activating the All-Seeing Eye and trying to observe all of Yao Jun's secrets. This technique was created to be used with her Fire Fairy technique, so she could still use it even after fusing with the floating lights.
But facing the highly serious Margery, Yao Jun didn't move an inch, calmly observing the floating lights, which contained very potent fire energy. The light bobbed through the air around him, as if they were dancing to a cheery tune. Each one moved in a different manner, not following a set pattern, it was almost as if they had sentience of their own.
It was not only this seemingly sentience of theirs that amazed Yao Jun. When he channeled Qi into his eyes to observe the lights more closely, he noticed that each of the lights contained an equal amount of Margery's aura and energy, making it impossible to find out which one she was hiding in.
Yao Jun continued to observe the lights, rather interested in just what sort of technique could produce such a strange effect. As Yao Jun was observing the lights, one of the lights floating behind him suddenly changed. Margery appeared where the light had been, two transparent butterfly wings on her back keeping her afloat. She stabbed out with her spear, aiming at the back of Yao Jun's head.
Killing wasn't forbidden in these trials, as it was perfectly normal to kill others in both the grand competition and the more normal cultivation life. So even if Margery's spear pierced through his head and killed Yao Jun, no one would say anything.
But if Yao Jun was this easy to kill, he would have been buried long ago. He suddenly leaned his head to the side, causing the tip of the spear to graze his right ear as it missed him. His left arm suddenly raised, producing a slight booming sound as it moved faster than the speed of sound. He grabbed onto the handle of the spear, pulling it forward and spinning his body to the right, sending out a punch with his free arm.
His punch quickly arrived in front of Margery's abdomen, but before it could make contact, her body strangely vanished. Even the spear that Yao Jun was holding onto vanished, Margery once again fusing with the floating lights.
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Yao Jun wasn't in a rush to finish this battle, returning to his previous position, standing with his hands behind his back. He waited for Margery to launch attacks, continuing to observe the floating lights. He didn't have any proper teachers, everything he knew he had learned on his own, so seeing how other people used their elements was a good way for Yao Jun to learn new skills.
Shortly after Yao Jun returned to his previous position, loud sounds resounded from some of the other stages. Some people were engaged in ferocious combat, while others had finished their battles with a single attack. Compared to their fights, Yao Jun's was a bit more sedated and dull, without any loud sounds or vicious techniques.
Margery seemed to have turned a bit wary after her sneak attack failed to achieve any effect, as she didn't immediately launch any other attacks, quietly observing Yao Jun. After staying silent for around half a minute, Margery launched her second attack.
Nine of the floating lights suddenly increased in size and intensity, two-meter thick pillars of deep crimson flames shooting out from them. The pillars were aimed at such angles that they not only headed directly for Yao Jun, but also blocked off his escape paths.
Yao Jun stretched out his right arm, tapping the air in front of him. Space around his finger rippled from the tapping, a gust of chilly wind suddenly arriving at the center of one of the flame pillars. The chilly wind quickly turned horrendously cold, freezing the pillar of fire and opening a path for Yao Jun, allowing him to dodge the remaining eight pillars.
The pillar was connected to one of the floating lights, so of course the floating light, which was just a thick lump of fire Qi, also froze. And since Margery was connected to this floating light, she too would be frozen if she didn't react. But Margery reacted quickly, severing her connection with the floating light, reclaiming the small part of her that had fused with it.
Yao Jun couldn't see it, but Margery's expression sunk even further. Both of her attacks had been easily solved by Yao Jun, he barely had to move to do so. This, coupled with the fact that her All-Seeing Eye was unable to see the slightest clue of Yao Jun's strength, told her a single thing, there was no way for her to beat him.
She even guessed that it might not be too hard for Yao Jun to beat her. After all, he only had to spread that chilly wind into the surroundings, and all the floating lights would be frozen, forcing her out. For a proud girl like her, this was another heavy blow.
But there was one piece of information that allowed her to reclaim some of her pride. It was the simple fact that Yao Jun hadn't used that chilly wind to force her out, he seemed to be taking it easy on her. It was strange for him to take it easy on her in a situation like this, so she guessed that he might have been a little moved by her beauty, reclaiming some of her pride as a woman.
After her second attack failed and she became fully aware of the difference in strength, she decided to bet it all on a single attack. Even if she failed, she would at least have gotten to show off her strength, which was what this third trial was all about.
All the floating lights started to move into position, forming a strange array with Yao Jun at the center. All the lights lit up, spewing out large amounts of crimson flames that soared into the sky and gathered together. The fire formed a massive lion that looked completely lifelike, one could even see its muscles bulging as it stretched its body and roared at the sky.
The spectacular scene attracted quite a bit of attention, many people casting their gazes over to observe what was happening. Margery appeared atop the burning lion, brandishing her crystalline spear and pointing the tip at Yao Jun.
This act seemed to serve as a signal, as the lion let out another thundering roar and then charged downwards, aiming at Yao Jun with its open maw. Margery stared firmly at Yao Jun as he raised his head, her eyes coincidentally meeting his ghastly gray pupils. Even now, he still looked completely calm, as if Margery had failed to ever enter his eyes. She narrowed her eyes further and wanted to shout something, but she suddenly heard Yao Jun's faint mutter.
"Oh well, might as well end it now."
Right after his words sounded out, Yao Jun's own shadow suddenly expanded fiercely, covering the entire stage. It then rose up, shrouding the entire stage and the air above it in complete darkness. The moment the shadows rose up and swallowed everything, only some of the Earthly Deities and some of the contestants who had special bloodlines were able to just barely see what was going on inside.
Margery was at the center of this darkness, and thanks to her burning lion, she was able to just barely see what was going on around her. There was a terrifying suction force dragging her and the lion down, even their strongest effort was unable to break this suction force. Margery's eyes were filled with horror as she looked at the scene below her, her entire face turning pale.
Yao Jun was still just standing there calmly, his violet hair fluttering slightly because of the suction force. And all around him, thick pillars of darkness covered in spikes spun around, grinding everything that was caught by them into nothingness. This was a fusion of the laws of space and darkness that Yao Jun hadn't used in a while, something he titled the law of disintegration.
Margery wasn't dumb, so when she saw the calm eyes of Yao Jun, she knew that there was no way he had been moved by her beauty, he had simply been biding his time. She did her best to pull back and resist the suction force, calling out in a desperate voice.
"Surrender! I surrender! Please let me leave!"
All the darkness around her suddenly vanished, the stage returning to normal and the terrifying suction force vanishing. Her face was still pale as she looked at Yao Jun, who calmly beckoned towards the outside of the stage. She clearly understood what he meant, dissipating the burning lion beneath her and quickly leaving the stage, ending the fight with Yao Jun's undisputed victory.