70 Breaking Through the Realm (Part 8)
"Your mind is in turmoil, isn't it?"
The whip shadows began to densely cover Lou Tinglan, each strike cutting through the air with a whistling sound, but her heart was clearly more chaotic than these moves.
Normally, she would definitely go all out to compete with him, but at this moment, the breakthrough pill was within reach, and Ye Buchen was still missing.
She couldn't afford to lose this match.
"Not for myself."
Lou Tinglan's five calm yet resolute words shattered the last glimmer of hope in her heart.
Her moves suddenly changed, and her long whip coiled around Lou Tinglan's wrist like a snake emerging from its hole. Lou Tinglan defended and blocked, but she withdrew the whip and then struck again with the next lash, her whip technique revealing a desperate and impatient frenzy.
"Why did Senior Brother Lou hold back at every turn? Do you think I'm not worthy of letting you go all out?" Ran Qinghe raised her voice, her tone deliberately provocative.
Lou Tinglan cracked the whip, her voice still steady, her tone carrying a detached and calm analysis: "Your spiritual power is too hasty and reckless, which is not good for your injuries."
"No need for Senior Brother Lou to trouble himself," Ran Qinghe replied coldly. Her next whip strike was delivered without reservation, infused with nearly all of her spiritual power, and slammed into Lou Tinglan's face.
This attack was powerful, but because the spiritual energy was concentrated in one spot, the opening in his chest was briefly exposed.
Lou Tinglan's eyes narrowed, and he swiftly thrust the Tranquil Heart Sword at the opening she had revealed. This strike was an instinctive move born from his swordsmanship.
Now!
"I'm sorry," Ran Qinghe whispered in her heart.
Her arm jerked, and the whip suddenly slipped from her grasp, not because it was deflected by the Tranquil Heart Sword, but because she let go of it herself.
But to outsiders, it was the result of her being impatient and frustrated after failing to break through for so long.
"It's over." Someone whispered in the stands.
A faint hint of understanding appeared on Lou Guan's lips.
Just as expected, the Tranquil Heart Sword swiftly and accurately pierced her exposed vital point at the heart.
Exclamations erupted from the sidelines.
However, just as the sword tip was about to touch her robe, their eyes briefly met in mid-air.
Ran Qinghe's eyes showed no real panic, no despair of defeat, but rather a clear-headed determination.
In a flash, a thought crossed Lou Tinglan's mind: she had no intention of blocking or dodging at all; she was... doing it on purpose!
"you!"
Lou Tinglan let out a short syllable, and his calm mask finally shattered. His pupils suddenly contracted, and without any hesitation, even disregarding the possible backlash from forcibly reversing his spiritual power, he slammed his wrist down, forcefully deviating from the direction of the sword strike.
"Sizzle—"
The Tranquil Sword narrowly grazed Ran Qinghe's ribs, its sharp energy tearing through her sleeve and leaving a shallow bloodstain on her fair arm.
As for himself, because he stopped without warning, his spiritual power surged back instantly, his meridians trembled violently, his chest was filled with surging blood and qi, and his body froze uncontrollably, unsurprisingly revealing an even bigger flaw.
The anxiety and panic that Ran Qinghe had deliberately feigned in her eyes vanished instantly, replaced by the calm and sharpness of a hunter finally catching his prey.
Without the slightest hesitation, she brought her left hand together, gathering all the remaining spiritual power in her body, and struck Lou Tinglan's dantian.
"Pfft—", Lou Tinglan could not suppress the surging blood and qi in his body, and spat out a mouthful of blood, staining his plain white robe red.
The Tranquility Sword clattered out of his hand and fell to the ground. He staggered back several steps, clutching his injured abdomen with one hand. He looked up at Ran Qinghe in disbelief, his face as pale as paper, the bright red cinnabar mark on his forehead now dimmed.
“You…”, he moved his lips slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end it turned into a bitter smile.
Everyone was stunned by this sudden reversal.
Ran Qinghe stood there, slightly out of breath, her palms burning. The joy of victory did not arrive as expected; instead, her heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly by something, making her feel suffocated.
She won.
She used an almost calculated approach, not even daring to look him in the eye, her gaze sweeping over the blood-stained corner of his robe before quickly looking away.
Lou Guan appeared at the center of the training ground at just the right moment. She gave Ran Qinghe a deep look and finally announced:
"Ran Qinghe wins this battle and is the champion of this year's examination."
A huge roar erupted from the stands, filled with gasps of amazement, disbelief, and discussion about Ran Qinghe's final counterattack.
Lou Tinglan slowly straightened up, wiped the blood from her lips, silently picked up the Tranquil Heart Sword, bowed slightly in Lou Guan's direction, and then, under the watchful eyes of many, walked down the stage step by step.
Inside the quiet room, the spiritual energy was in complete disarray, and a faint smell of blood permeated the air.
Lou Tinglan sat cross-legged, trying to regulate his breathing, but the backlash from forcibly reversing the sword momentum, coupled with the injury to his dantian, caused the energy within his body to surge wildly like a wild horse.
After circulating his spiritual energy several times, his spiritual center felt like it was being burned.
The physical injuries could still be healed, but deep within the spiritual platform, the Dao Heart Tribulation Seal, which had always been stable and clear, now showed fine cracks, its light flickering uncertainly, as if it were about to collapse.
Without a sound, the light in the room dimmed slightly, and Lou Guan's figure broke the silence. Her gaze instantly fell on the almost faint mark between Lou Tinglan's eyebrows, and her face darkened.
On that usually calm face, a clear and intense disbelief appeared.
"Your Dao heart has actually wavered because of her?" Lou Guan's voice trembled as he questioned.
Lou Tinglan slowly opened his eyes, his long eyelashes trembling slightly, his lips pale, almost bloodless. He remained silent, offering no denial. The Tranquil Sword rested across his lap, its icy blade unable to dispel the stagnation in his heart.
"Answer me..." The invisible pressure spread out, "Why did you stop with that last sword strike? You even risked damaging your own meridians!"
"Tinglan, you could have won easily, why did you give her an opening?"
"Your mind is in turmoil, isn't it?"
"Do you know what it means for you if the Dao Heart Tribulation Seal loosens? At best, your cultivation will be completely destroyed; at worst, you will suffer a backlash from your inner demons, resulting in your death and the dissipation of your Dao!"
Faced with Lou Guan's repeated questions, he didn't know how to answer.
Why did he stop? At that moment, there was no time to think. When she didn't try to dodge and the Tranquil Heart Sword was about to pierce her heart, he did it instinctively.
"Disciple... knows his mistake." Although he said this, deep down he still believed that if he had to do it all over again, he might not make the second choice. This realization made him feel a little lost.
"You know you're wrong?" Lou Guan squeezed his eyes shut, and when he opened them again, his eyes were filled with a deep chill, and there seemed to be even more complicated emotions surging within them. "I think you're just stubbornly clinging to your delusions."
She took a step closer, facing him directly, her cold fragrance mingling with a sense of oppression, enveloping him completely.
“Tinglan, you cultivate the path of ruthlessness, severing worldly ties and having no attachments in your heart, only then can you achieve great success.”
"As for Ran Qinghe, she will stop at nothing to achieve her goals. The fact that she can strike you with a palm strike without any shame today will make her your death warrant one day!"
She took a deep breath, suppressing all her turbulent emotions, and resolutely said, "From this day forward, until your Dao heart is stable and your hand seals are restored, the two of you need not see each other again. Once she has completed her studies and left the sect, there will be no more connection between the two of you!"
The cracks in the Dao Heart Tribulation Seal were still there, and Lou Guan's words were like daggers to the heart. He... had no room for rebuttal.
*
She took the jade bottle containing the Breakthrough Pill, and the cool touch instantly suppressed all the turbulent thoughts churning in her mind.
The gazes around her were a jumble of unreadable expressions—some in amazement, some in disdain, some inquisitive—but she ignored them all. The empty title of champion was not even a fraction as important to her as the pill in her hand.
She knew that the first thing she should do after obtaining the Breakthrough Pill was to immediately set off for Mortal Valley to find Ye Buchen.
However, my feet had their own will and marched toward the path leading to Snowfall Peak.
She could endure criticism and bear the infamy of scheming against her fellow disciples, but she could not turn a blind eye to Lou Tinglan, who was hurt because of her.
Whether he accepts it or not, at the very least, she must say "I'm sorry" herself.
However, the closer she got to the small courtyard, the more stagnant the air became. At the gate, two inner disciples of the Discipline Hall stood like stone statues, blocking her way.
Ran Qinghe stopped and met two scrutinizing gazes: "Senior brothers, I wish to visit Senior Brother Lou. Please inform him."
The disciple on the left, with a cold and stern face, refused without hesitation: "Senior Brother Lou is seriously injured and needs to recuperate in seclusion. Please excuse him, he cannot see guests."
"I won't linger; I'll just say one sentence and leave," Ran Qinghe insisted.
The disciple on the right softened his tone slightly, but still stopped her, saying, "Senior Sister, please go back. The Second Elder has strictly ordered that no one is allowed to disturb you, especially... you."
"What about Lou Tinglan?" Lou Guan's prohibition might not be something Lou Tinglan would tacitly agree to.
The disciple on the right immediately replied, "It was the Second Elder who issued the order in front of Senior Brother Lou. Senior Brother Lou had no objections. Please don't make things difficult for us, Senior Sister."
Yes, regardless of her original intentions or how much she had no other choice, in the face of established facts, all explanations are so pale and vulnerable.
"I understand." She said no more, and without even glancing at the closed courtyard gate, she turned away swiftly.
A mountain breeze swept by, blowing her tied-up long hair and tattered sleeves, revealing a shallow sword scar on her arm. It felt as if a huge hole had been ripped open in her heart, letting in the howling wind.
She went straight down the mountain without stopping, hurrying towards the mountain gate. She thought to herself that she had to find Ye Buchen as soon as possible; the longer the Breakthrough Pill remained in her hands, the more uneasy she would feel.
As for the person on Snowfall Peak, the apology she couldn't say, along with the inexplicable throbbing pain in her heart, were all temporarily sealed away by her.
However, just before she was about to step out of the mountain gate, a voice transmission talisman arrived in front of her.
Ran Qinghe's heart tightened, and an ominous premonition crept over her. She reached out and channeled some spiritual energy into her hand, and Lou Guan's cold, emotionless voice rang out:
"There's no need to go to Mortal Valley."
These seven short words were like a thunderclap.
How could Lou Guan know? In an instant, countless guesses and doubts surged up.
Could it be... that Ye Buchen's disappearance was related to her?
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