Chapter 33 Chapter 33 Arena Duel
When Yun Miao heard about this good deal, he immediately stepped out from behind Niu Rao and said, "If I win this time, shouldn't you give me three dragon scales?"
Niu Rao was shocked: "Junior sister, you can't agree to this."
Mo Aotian sneered, "If you win, I will not only give you three dragon scales, but also give you my treasured piece of top-grade Xuanxin ore."
Yun Miao's eyes lit up: "Great!"
Niu Rao: "Not good at all!"
Niu Rao disagreed with this duel. Although Yun Miao's condition was temporarily stable, she was injured after all. How could he let someone drag her sick body to fight in the ring?
And what Mo Aotian said was even more outrageous. Fighting with just his hands and feet? Was he planning on jumping around like a flea?
Overall, even though Mo Aotian had given Yun Miao a lot of ground, Niu Rao still didn't think their abilities were on par. Yun Miao was bound to lose. As a senior brother, he couldn't stand by and watch two children fooling around.
Unfortunately, he was not a good talker. After his earnest persuasion, not only did he fail to convince Yun Miao and Mo Aotian, he was even persuaded by Yun Miao with just a few words.
He thought along the lines of Yun Miao's words and felt that it made sense: since the two of them were at loggerheads and neither was willing to give in, a fight was bound to happen. Now that he, their senior brother, was watching, and there were formations set up on the arena, no matter how the two of them fought, they wouldn't get hurt. This was definitely better than having them fight in private and get hurt.
So Niu Rao, who seldom went out, made a rare trip out of Dan Peak and flew to Ti Peak with Yun Miao, heading straight for the Martial Arts Hall.
The martial arts hall was a large open-air area, the ground barren and full of potholes. Looking to the left, a group of strong, muscular men and women were engaged in close combat, punching each other in the flesh.
Suddenly, a strong woman overturned another strong man, lifted him up and threw him out fiercely. There was a loud bang, and the thrown man hit an invisible barrier, and ripples like water spread in the air.
The muscular man used the force of the kick to bounce back, and knocked the muscular woman to the ground with one punch. In an instant, dust flew up and another big hole appeared.
Looking to the right, a group of lean, muscular, and equally ferocious men and women are also fighting in close combat, but their style is completely different from the former's rough and wild fighting style.
They use their body's agility, flexibility, and short-range burst of power to the extreme, or dodge flexibly, looking for the enemy's weaknesses with sharp eyes, always ready to give the enemy a fatal blow, or use all means possible such as digging out eyes, poking noses, and kicking crotches.
"Senior sister, isn't it? You use monkeys to steal peaches on your junior sister?"
"Sorry, the person I just fought was a senior brother, so I took advantage of the situation..."
Yun Miao was attracted by the voice and turned around to see a thin but extremely agile female disciple suddenly stretching out two fingers.
"Hehe, no need to apologize, take my Double Dragons Snatching the Pearl move!"
The senior sister opposite her immediately covered her eyes upon hearing this, but she smiled slyly and suddenly changed her moves to attack the senior sister's solar plexus.
"Treacherous... treacherous..."
The senior sister's body went limp, and before she could even finish her "last words", her eyes rolled back and she fainted on the ground.
There were many battles like this one, and the entire training ground was shaken and blood and flesh flew everywhere.
Every now and then, a disciple would be beaten so badly that his face would be bruised and he would pass out. Then, the patrol disciples who had been assigned the mission to guard the martial arts arena this month would grab their hands and feet and slowly drag them out of the arena and take them to a house in the distance where smoke rose from a cooking stove. Then, a series of heart-wrenching screams would be heard.
Niu Rao knew that Yun Miao had not attended the Enlightenment Hall and was still unfamiliar with the sect, so he kindly explained it to her.
The Body Peak teaches the art of physical training, aiming to make human cultivators stronger than demon cultivators. Therefore, a martial arts hall has been specially set up on the peak for disciples to spar with each other.
Because they specialize in different areas, some specialize in defense and strength, some specialize in speed and flexibility, so the shapes and attack directions of the disciples of Tifeng will be very different.
I heard that the martial arts hall used to be as grand and spacious as the front hall of Xuantian Palace. However, because the disciples of Tifeng were so hot-blooded, they would fight ruthlessly, forget their feelings, and even risk their lives. Therefore, the martial arts hall was always in tatters.
Initially, the Deacon Hall was willing to allocate funds to patch things up, but after the martial arts hall collapsed again, the then-elder of the Deacon Hall was so angry that he simply tore down the martial arts hall and simply drew a circle around it, calling it the martial arts hall. This meant that the sect had no choice but to make do with it.
Of course, this was just a rumor Niu Rao had heard, and he had no idea whether it was true or not. In any case, the martial arts hall looked a bit simple, but the formation here was the best except for the sect protection formation. Even the one Zhen Feng used himself was not as good as the one here.
Yun Miao pointed to the distance and said, "Is that house with smoke coming out of the chimney a crematorium? If you lose a fight, you'll be thrown in there? The loser will ascend to heaven?"
Niu Rao quickly waved his hands to indicate that this was not the case. Because there were too many disciples who were injured while sparring in the martial arts hall every day, the medicine house at Danfeng could not accommodate so many people, so this medicinal bath courtyard was specially built. There were many colorful steaming medicinal bath pools in it, which could help the disciples quickly heal their skin and internal injuries.
However, when Tifeng was developing these medicinal baths, they only considered the efficacy and did not think about the comfort at all, so it might be a little painful to soak in them. Sometimes, if the disciple preparing the medicinal bath has trembling hands, or too much of certain auxiliary materials is added, the person will be soaked in a variety of colors.
This also led to the fact that although the medicinal bath hospital was open to everyone in Xuantian Sect, in reality, disciples from other peaks who suffered skin injuries would rather take some medicine and wait for self-healing than take a bath.
"Ahhh! Help! No, let me die!!!"
Just as Niu Rao was explaining, screams like slaughtering a pig were heard again from the medicinal bath house.
Yun Miao looked back at Niu Rao: "Senior Brother Niu, are you sure it only hurts a little bit?"
Niu Rao awkwardly touched his horn again: "Anyway, when I was soaking it, the wound felt like a mosquito bite, it didn't hurt at all."
Yun Miao took a look at Niu Rao's dark skin. It can be said that he was indeed an old cow in the Nascent Soul stage who had lived for more than 800 years. His hide was really thick.
She looked at the ten huge arenas neatly arranged in the center of the open space, with flags on them.
"Is the arena ranking mentioned in the airspace related to these arenas?"
Niu Rao nodded. Each of the ten arenas had a realm restriction, and the prescribed realm was written on the flags. The lowest was the Qi Refining Stage, and the highest was the Nascent Soul Stage. If a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator stepped onto an arena with a Qi Refining Stage flag, his strength would be suppressed to the Qi Refining Stage, so as to achieve relative fairness.
Because the formation of the arena can only limit the highest level of Nascent Soul Stage, cultivators above the Out-of-Body Stage are not allowed to enter to avoid damaging the formation.
The ten disciples on the Airspace Arena List are the champions of these arenas. If you defeat one of them, you can replace him as the new champion and obtain a large amount of contribution points.
An immature idea immediately popped up in Yun Miao's mind: "There are three arenas with Qi Refining Stage flags. Who are their champions? I want to challenge them!"
"Huh? Who wants to challenge me?"
A fierce woman with a scar who had just kicked her opponent away and was wiping the blood off her face looked around fiercely.
Yun Miao immediately poked her head out from behind Niu Rao and put her hands on her hips provocatively: "It's me... mmmmm?"
A hand covered her mouth with lightning speed. Yun Miao turned her head and was about to glare at him when she saw Huo Xin's cold face.
Yun Miao was shocked: "Hmm?!"
Huo Xin, why are you here?
Huo Xin frowned and put down his hand: "Because my master is the master of Tifeng. Didn't you see me offering tea to my master at the disciple-taking ceremony yesterday? Also, I told you yesterday afternoon on the disciple order that I now live in Tifeng."
"Why are you here? I haven't seen you for a day, and you're already looking for trouble. Aren't you seriously injured and dying in the Danfeng Medicine House recuperating? How dare you brazenly challenge the champion? Don't you see that senior sister's fist is bigger than your head?"
Yun Miao raised his hand and gestured at the scarred woman in the distance, then said seriously that her head was still bigger.
Huo Xin: ...
She took a deep breath: "Tell me, why are you here?"
"Is this Junior Sister familiar with Junior Sister Yun?"
Niu Rao was delighted and immediately recounted the duel between Yun Miao and Mo Aotian, eagerly waiting for Huo Xin to persuade Yun Miao to give up the duel.
Huo Xin was also startled when he heard this, and turned to look at the man in black armor who had already walked ahead.
Mo Aotian was already getting impatient and glared at Niu Rao and Yun Miao fiercely.
"Old Cow, you kept chattering the whole way. You never stopped talking. Aren't you annoying?"
"And you've been asking questions all the way, taking three steps and stopping twice. Are you still going to fight? Are you scared? If you are, then admit defeat now and go back to Danfeng and yell that I'm a coward, so as not to waste my precious time here."
Huo Xin's brows furrowed even more tightly, but this time she didn't choose to stop him as usual. Instead, she turned her head and stared at Yun Miao: "Do you really want to fight him?"
Yun Miao clenched his fists until they crackled, his expression grim: "Of course I do. My sandbag-sized fists are thirsty for it."
Huo Xin's voice was even colder than hers: "Okay, then beat him. I'm waiting for you to beat him to a pulp."
*
A moment later, as Yun Miao and Mo Aotian stood on the stage, the blood-colored flag of the Qi Refining Period on the stage moved without wind, and a small invisible barrier enveloped the two of them.
Fighting in the ring wasn't a competition, much less a game of house. Once on the stage, the formation wouldn't lift unless one side admitted defeat or was seriously injured and on the verge of death. Therefore, this defensive barrier served as both protection and a disguised form of confinement.
Ordinary disciples naturally don't need to go to the arena for competition. The ten arenas are empty most of the time. They are only used frequently in competitions such as sect competitions and secret realm selections. So as the arena formation was activated, everyone in the martial arts field looked over there curiously.
Some people turned their eyes away without interest after realizing that it was just a Qi Refining Stage competition, but there were also many people who walked over to watch the fight, thinking that it would be a waste not to see the excitement.
The group of disciples who had participated in the disciple-recruiting ceremony yesterday immediately recognized the newly-appointed disciple of the master on the stage. He was the genius who was rumored to have suddenly attained enlightenment, the holder of the lowest grade five spiritual roots, the culprit who caused the haunting of the airspace, and the person who was suspected to have been possessed by the master - Yun Miao.
They looked to the other side and found that this person was not an ordinary person, but the only evil dragon guarding the mountain in Xuantian Sect, although the people in the Deacon Hall said that this was raised by the sect to guard the mountain gate.
But everyone knows that this evil dragon opens its mouth and says "weak and pathetic humans", and closes its mouth "I hate humans the most". It jumps around all day long and tries to escape from prison, so everyone has reservations about whether it can protect the mountain gate.
"Good fellow! One is a long-established troublemaker, and the other one became famous overnight. What are they fighting about? Is it to compete for who is the most troublesome person in the sect?"
"I remember the notice in the airspace said that Junior Sister Yun's purple palace was injured, right? Is she fighting with an injury?"
"Mo Aotian must have suppressed his strength, right? He seems to be at the seventh level of Qi Refining?"
"Even if they are both in the Qi Refining Stage, the physical strength of demon cultivators and ordinary people is completely different. Not to mention that Mo Aotian is a four-clawed dragon!"
"It's not wise for Junior Sister Yun to fight him."
"It's not just unwise, it's a sure loser."
"A one-sided duel is so boring. Forget it, I'll just go back to beating up my junior brother."
On the other side, Niu Rao looked at Mo Aotian who jumped onto the ring with ease, then glanced at Yun Miao who was grunting as he climbed the stairs, and anxiously rubbed his horns with both hands again.
"Junior Sister Huo, why don't you try to persuade Junior Sister Yun? She's still recovering from her injuries. Do you really think she can defeat Mo Aotian? You have to know that even if Mo Aotian suppresses his power, he's still a genuinely ferocious beast."
Ancient records show that the dragon is a natural mythical beast, good at making clouds and rain, commanding aquatic creatures, and protecting the peace of the water area.
Before transforming into a dragon, the Jiao enjoyed stirring up huge waves in rivers and riding them into the sea. This was known as "walking Jiao." Each time it did so, it would overturn the rivers and seas, flooding both banks and causing unrest for the aquatic creatures, as well as the people and wild animals on the shores, resulting in countless casualties. Therefore, the Jiao was considered a ferocious beast.
Mo Aotian is a four-clawed dragon, born with a strong body, superior talent, and excellent bloodline inheritance. But what does Junior Sister Yun have?
She had just shed her mortal body the day before yesterday, was seriously injured and on the verge of death the night before, and had just woken up yesterday morning. This morning, the Peak Master had instructed him to take good care of her and not let her get hurt any more. But now...
Huo Xin: "I know her chances of winning are slim, but given her personality, I can't persuade her. If I forcibly stop her this time, who knows what kind of trouble she'll cause behind the scenes. It's better to just let them fight. At least with so many brothers and sisters watching, her life won't be in danger."
Just as she finished speaking, she heard Niu Rao beside her say sadly, "Why are you saying the same thing as Junior Sister Yun?"
Huo Xin turned her head in confusion and was about to ask what Yun Miao and Niu Rao were talking about, but she suddenly smelled a strange burnt smell. She looked closely and was immediately shocked.
"Brother Niu, why is your hair on fire?!"
"Nothing, just anxious and angry."
Niu Rao raised his palms with a bitter face and clapped them skillfully, and the raging fire above his head was extinguished by his two iron palms.
Huo Xin: "...Brother Niu, you're quite irritable. Go back and drink some herbal tea to cool down."
*
On the ring, Yun Miao immediately and cautiously saved the game. Mo Aotian bent one leg and tapped the ground with his toes, one hand behind his back. "We agreed to let you use one hand and one foot. I won't move another step from now on. If you can make me move one step, you win."
Yun Miao said sarcastically, "Wow, you really are a strong man. Why don't you be more generous and let me do it."
Mo Aotian: "... Let me use my hands and feet? You want me to fight you with my head? Forget it, I won't waste my time talking to you, let's get started."
He finally realized that he could not gain the upper hand over Yun Miao with words, so he raised his hand and a curved water blade shot towards her!
Yun Miao dodged to the side immediately, but the next moment two more water blades flew over, blocking her left and right sides. She was unable to dodge and was cut on the back of her hand by one of the water blades. Blood immediately dripped from her fingertips.
Huo Xin, who was watching the fight, looked cold, and Niu Rao felt like the sky was falling. He wished he could pull off the horns and use them as hidden weapons to hit Mo Aotian.
Mo Aotian had anticipated his victory. He looked down at Yun Miao, who was much shorter than him, and said arrogantly, "Admit defeat."
Yun Miao snorted coldly, without saying a word, and decisively chose to go back to the game.
Returning to the time before the duel, she chose not to exchange trash talk with Mo Aotian this time, but to strike first. A small emerald ball emerged from between her brows, illuminating with a hazy glow under the urging of her spiritual consciousness, and smashed towards Mo Aotian's forehead.
Mo Aotian quickly dodged the attack by slightly turning his head, and at the same time waved his hand to release two water blades to block Yun Miao's left and right sides again.
Yun Miao was trying to maneuver the ladder around a bend to attack the back of Mo Aotian's head, but his reaction was a beat too slow, his brain, unable to process multiple things in a fight, short-circuited. His original intention of retreating to avoid the attack ended up with him sitting flat on his back.
The water blades that had been attacking her hands slid smoothly into her neck, creating two bloody gashes. The carotid artery seemed to have been cut, and blood spurted out like a small fountain, instantly spreading a dazzling bloody flower on the ground.
Mo Aotian: ...
Yun Miao: ...
Huo Xin shouted, "Yun Miao! Admit defeat!"
Niu Rao raised his head to the sky and roared: "Moo! Mo Aotian, I'm going to plant you in the ground!!!"
Yun Miao, who has always been a social bull, felt the shame and anger for the first time in the game, and pressed the rewind button frantically in his heart.
Back to the eve of the duel, she simply ignored Mo Aotian's trash talk and stood there silently reviewing the game. It was just like what was said in the game forum, "Asking the Three Thousand Questions" really did not provide any combat guidance to the players, and it all depended on the players to explore.
Mo Aotian: "Why are you standing still? Are you regretting it? If you really regret it, just admit defeat quickly. I, the Great Dragon, will be magnanimous and won't beat you."
It was obvious that a worthless college student like her, who couldn't even defeat a giant goose in real life, couldn't possibly possess the fighting spirit to destroy the world of cultivation with a single punch. Just like Tian Laokou had said, a top-tier magical weapon like the Heavenly Ladder was only good enough to crack walnuts in her hands. The most infuriating thing was... she couldn't even hit it right!
Mo Aotian: "Why are you still keeping your head down and not saying anything? Are you crying? Tsk tsk, weak humans are so pathetic, they don't even dare to admit defeat and can only cry secretly."
Apart from climbing the ladder, she only knows the water control technique now, and the water flow is so thin and small that it can't cause any damage to the enemy. Surely she should learn all the early skills first?
So...are you going to admit defeat?
Mo Aotian: "Alright, if you don't want to fight, just admit defeat. How about this, if you swear to keep a secret for me and yell ten times to the audience that I'm a coward, I'll let bygones be bygones and the one-month punishment be waived. How about that?"
No, surrender isn't an option in a player's vocabulary! Just a small Jindan-stage boss, she's going to fight him to the death today!
"No matter what, I'm not a coward. I want your dragon scales and Xuanxin ore!"
Yun Miao summoned the Heavenly Ladder once again, smashing it towards Mo Aotian's head. Mo Aotian once again ducked the ladder and released two water blades. Yun Miao, already prepared, immediately stepped back to avoid them. At the same time, the Heavenly Ladder, under her control, turned and smashed towards the back of Mo Aotian's head.
She remembered what Tian Laokou had said: "The Heavenly Ladder only looks small, but in reality, as a spatial magic weapon, its original form is enormous and weighs a thousand pounds." Just as a child with a sharp weapon can kill an adult, if she smashed it with all her might, even a Nascent Soul cultivator would vomit blood!
Of course, Yun Miao did not put all her spiritual power into this attack. In fact, she had not yet learned to control and release the five kinds of spiritual power in her dantian at the same time. She could only use one-fifth of her dantian's reserves each time she cast a spell. However, she believed that as long as she hit the target, she could still knock Mo Aotian, who was in the Qi Refining Stage, away!
He had said before that as long as she could make him move one step, she would win!
However... just when the small green ball that carried all of Yun Miao's hopes was about to kiss the back of Mo Aotian's head, he turned his head calmly to avoid it again, and then waved his hand again, and eight water blades flew towards Yun Miao from all directions at the same time!
Yun Miao, who wanted to escape but didn't know where to go: ...Rewind!
Rollback!
Rollback!
Rollback!
Back to...
…
*
In the empty cave, the white-haired woman who was sitting on the couch reading a book paused, feeling strange. Hadn't she just read this page?
The white-haired woman suspiciously turned the tenth page she had read and immersed herself in the story again. But after a few breaths...
"Um?"
The white-haired woman looked at the tenth page that appeared before her eyes again and raised her hand to touch her eyes. Could it be that her eyesight had become blurry again? But she clearly remembered turning the page.
No, she has had some Alzheimer's disease recently, so her memory may not be reliable.
The white-haired woman sighed softly that time is merciless, and then continued to happily turn to the eleventh page, but after a few breaths, the book in her hand turned to the state where the tenth page was facing her again.
This time she did not turn the page. Instead, she closed the book and stared at the cover for a moment. After making sure that it had not changed, she relaxed and turned back to the eleventh page. As a result, the next moment, the page she opened turned into the tenth page again.
White-haired woman: ...
She straightened up and sat cross-legged, closing her eyes and raising her hands to calculate, trying to figure out what was going on. If someone was deliberately causing trouble, she would chop that person into pieces!
Unexpectedly, as soon as she calculated, the spiritual power in her body immediately surged out uncontrollably and was completely consumed. She felt weak immediately. If she had not stopped calculating in time, she would have been sucked dry.
The white-haired woman recalled the vast expanse of white she had just seen and frowned slightly. Didn’t she figure out anything?
"Forget it, let the people of Zhaixing Pavilion deal with these things."
A small, snow-white paper crane flew out from her sleeve, flew out of the cave and into the clouds.
However, before the paper crane flew far, she realized that she had returned to the position of sitting crookedly on the couch, reading a book, and the page opened was still the tenth page. Everything was back to the starting point again.
White-haired woman: ...
-----------------------
The author has something to say: Yun Miao: As long as I rewind fast enough, failure can’t catch up with me!
White-haired woman: Can anyone tell me what the eleventh page says? Please don’t abuse the elderly! QAQ
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