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Seeing this, Ruan Qingyu's lips curled up slightly. She had anticipated her situation. The zither swayed and quickly came to her side.
She raised her right hand slightly, about to touch the strings, but was stopped by the rapidly approaching water ribbon, which forbade her from casting any spells.
Ruan Qingyu's eyes flickered, but her expression grew even calmer. With practiced ease, she turned the zither around, effortlessly dodging the water ribbons that were binding her.
In a turn, his fingertips caressed the strings, and melodious notes flowed forth. A faint blue light shot towards the two disciples who had fallen to the back, striking them down heavily in the blink of an eye.
With two loud snorts, Lu Siyao glanced at Ruan Qingyu with a complicated expression. Two more streams of water flew out from behind her, heading straight for the two of them.
Jin Chengcheng shouted, "I won't let you save me!" With that, she flicked her long whip, blocking the water ribbon. The golden whip and the light blue water ribbon were seen pulling back and forth.
Seeing that Lu Siyao was being stopped, another person quickly flew over and pulled the two people out of the water.
"This river water is dangerous. I've only been in it for a quarter of an hour and I've already lost 30% of my spiritual power," the disciple who fell into the water first shouted.
Liu Feng made several moves, but ultimately fell short of Shui Lian's advantage, allowing the disciple to be rescued. It was only a hair's breadth away from the person being swept off the stage by the flood.
Xiao Ke barely managed to support the two of them before glaring hatefully at Ruan Qingyu. But before the emotions in her eyes could be conveyed, Ruan Qingyu charged at the three of them again.
With murderous intent fully revealed in her eyes, Xiao Ke grabbed the two who were still in shock and said, "Wake up! If you don't get up, you two will jump down yourselves."
Even if she really loses, she won't let herself fall. These two idiots, usually so arrogant, have lost so miserably on the stage today.
Ruan Qingyu didn't even glance at Xiao Ke, whose eyes were filled with struggle. The sound of the zither rang out, and she quickly pulled the two who had just straightened up back down.
Lu Siyao was entangled by Liu Yan and Liu Feng in the distance, and they couldn't reach her.
Unable to bear watching her two teammates fall into the water one after another, Xiao Ke suddenly unleashed a powerful gust of wind around her, determined to overturn Ruan Qingyu.
A fierce wind howled, its whistling sound interspersed with a few flashes of cold light. Xiao Ke narrowed her eyes slightly; she had tried this kind of hidden move many times before, with few failures.
Xiao Ke's lips curled up as she watched Ruan Qingyu, completely unaware, leave her back exposed.
Soon, the cold light was about to strike Ruan Qingyu's back. But then, the pair of floating fiery wings trembled, and the hidden weapon, composed of dozens of silver needles, was blocked by those wings.
Upon closer inspection, one can even discover that those silver needles were originally fine magical artifacts, but they were completely destroyed in this battle and can no longer be used.
A sly glint flashed in Ruan Qingyu's eyes. She had already sensed something was off about the atmosphere, but since she didn't know what the other party had done, she remained still.
Xiao Ke withdrew her hand somewhat angrily and quickly ran towards her teammate who had fallen into the water again. Just as she was about to pull her teammate out, she felt a strong force behind her.
"What are you thinking? You just ambushed me, do you think I'd let you go?" Ruan Qingyu's voice rang out from above, sending chills down everyone's spine.
At that moment, Xiao Ke only had time to set up the barrier before she could only watch helplessly as the floodwaters engulfed her.
Seeing this, Lu Siyao, who was being intercepted in the distance, made a hand seal and a huge water dragon appeared, smashing Liu Yan and Jin Chengcheng who were blocking her way.
The water dragon roared, blocking all those who tried to stop it. Its head lowered slightly, seemingly about to pull people back, when suddenly the floodwaters dissipated.
The people who were still struggling in the water suddenly fell to the ground, and after a few rolls, they managed to land safely.
Although the floodwaters had receded, the surrounding area had become a muddy mess. The men were visibly covered in filth, and their expressions turned sour.
Seeing this, Ruan Qingyu gave the other party no time to delay and launched another killing move towards the two.
The originally gentle piano music suddenly became deafening, rushing towards the two of them with a thunderous roar.
Lu Siyao's expression darkened: "Your moves are blatantly murderous. Fellow Daoist Ruan, do you know that you cannot kill your fellow disciples in a competition?"
Shaking her head, Ruan Qingyu said casually, "I know, they're not dead. It's just a matter of whether you save them or not."
In the blink of an eye, the situation on the field had almost completely turned into a one-sided affair.
Five people landed neatly on the ground on one side, their bodies clean, in stark contrast to the four people on the other side who were covered in dirt.
Xiao Ke's face darkened considerably, and she glared at the other three behind her. The three of them were helping each other to their feet; if they weren't able to stand, one would have thought they had exhausted their spiritual energy.
Lu Siyao glanced at the group, her expression somewhat helpless: "How is it? Can it still be restored?"
With the flood receding, the spiritual energy that had been depleted should be able to recover. Sure enough, after sensing it, the group's complexions improved somewhat.
Suddenly, a jarring remark rang out: "I say, do you really think we're going to let you recuperate here?"
The speaker was Liu Feng, who was twirling his sword as he charged toward Xiao Ke on the other side, the cold glint of his sword tip as dazzling as starlight.
The flashing cold light made Xiao Ke's eyes flicker. A gust of wind surged behind her again, causing her dress to flutter wildly and her long black hair to dance in the wind.
Ruan Qingyu, carrying the wutong zither, gracefully landed in front of Lu Siyao: "Senior Sister Lu." Her eyes were filled with eagerness and obvious fighting spirit.
It's not appropriate to kill someone in broad daylight on the sect's arena. After dealing with those two, we'll have to find someone capable to practice against now.
Unsurprisingly, Ruan Qingyu directly chose Lu Siyao. Naturally, the fact that these two were matched up also pleased the other disciples.
"I was so relieved for Senior Sister Lu just now, she was so close to losing."
"It would be such a pity if we lost."
"Yeah, how come Senior Sister Lu's teammates are so bad this year? I remember the last time, when Senior Sister Lu participated in the sect competition for the first time, she got a third place. How come she has such stupid teammates this year?"
In the end, many people began to criticize Lu Siyao's teammates. After all, it was obvious to everyone that in this match, her teammates were the first to falter.
If someone is unable to break through and is constantly trying to save their teammates, they will find it difficult to save themselves.
The arena underwent a rapid transformation after the floodwaters receded. Huge cracks began to appear in the ground, gradually turning the arena into small, crumbling boulders, each large enough to hold only one person.
Amidst the rubble, the view below the arena could be seen. A chill ran down everyone's spine—did falling down mean certain defeat?
Ruan Qingyu flicked her finger, and the Wutong Qin emitted dozens of blue rays of light, which struck the knees of the five people opposite her.
Instantly, the formation of the five people that had been gathered together was broken up again, and they had to be careful not to fall while dodging.
Just as Xiao Ke flipped over to dodge Ruan Qingyu's sonic wave, Jin Chengcheng's long whip followed, wrapping around her ankle.
"Go down!" Jin Chengcheng shouted, and with a flick of her wrist, she flung Xiao Ke toward the crack.
Just as Xiao Ke was about to fall, she made a sudden movement. A fierce wind arose, and a tornado as tall as a person rushed towards Jin Chengcheng.
The tornado was wrapped in thin silver threads; a collision with it would likely result in severe cuts and bruises. Jin Chengcheng nimbly rolled over, but didn't let go of the long whip on her wrist.
But Xiao Ke had been waiting for this one breath, and soon summoned a gust of wind to lift herself out of the crevice. Reaching out to grab the long whip, she found herself in a tug-of-war with Jin Chengcheng, face to face.
Even the other three, no longer affected by the flood, carefully dodged Ruan Qingyu's attacks. They then engaged in battle with Liu Feng and Liu Yan, who rushed up, and various spells of wind, fire, water, and earth exploded on the arena.
The already fragmented arena, due to the force of Yang Ming's uneven footing, gradually crumbled even more.
Ruan Qingyu dodged the water stream swept by Lu Siyao, and spun the Wutong Qin twice in front of her, completely blocking the oncoming water dragon.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the other four fighting fiercely. Ruan Qingyu lowered her eyes and suddenly enlarged the zither in her hand, smashing it towards the spot where Lu Siyao was standing.
After forcing her opponent back three feet, Ruan Qingyu's hands moved like lightning, repeatedly sliding across the strings of the zither. Instantly, a frenzied sound emanated from the strings, the music like a demonic chant.
In an instant, Xiao Ke, who had bent over to dodge Jin Chengcheng's whistling tail whip, was jolted by the sudden noise and fell straight down.
Fortunately, the area of the ground behind Xiao Ke that cracked wasn't large, so she didn't fall directly off the stage. However, it still made her face turn pale for a moment, and she immediately flipped herself up.
Looking at the others, they were all out of sync. The spells they had planned were now impossible to execute.
Ruan Qingyu turned her head away guiltily, and taking advantage of Lu Siyao's momentary surprise, she simply put away the Wutong Qin and unleashed a Fire Phoenix Palm.
Below the arena, many disciples were somewhat surprised: "Did Senior Sister Ruan not practice this move? I think Senior Sister Liu Yan and the others also seem to have been affected."
The others nearby nodded in agreement, clearly agreeing: "It must be a backup plan, but this thing will hurt the enemy a thousand while also hurting yourself eight hundred."
Inside the Hall of Enforcement, Cihang glanced at Mo Wen, who had just arrived, a hint of mockery in her eyes. Ever since Daoist Qingchen accepted Ruan Qingyu as his last disciple, Mo Wen had been praising his junior sister to the skies.
Today's move will probably make him feel ashamed for a while, considering how smug he was a few days ago. However, it's destined to make Cihang somewhat disappointed, as Mo Wen not only isn't ashamed, but even seems a bit proud.
Putting aside the inexplicable Mo Wen and the elders of the Enforcement Hall with their varied expressions, Ruan Qingyu quickly regained her composure.
The Fiery Phoenix Palm unleashed a powerful gust of wind, evaporating all the water vapor surrounding Lu Siyao. Amidst the rising steam, Ruan Qingyu charged towards Lu Siyao.
He pointed a finger directly at her face, and upon closer inspection, the flame on his fingertip, though small, contained heat that caused beads of sweat to appear on Lu Siyao's forehead.
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