Chapter 98 – All You Have to Do is Remain Standing.

  Bai Xuelian’s expression sharpened, and her delicate fingers curled into a fist with only a single digit left extended. She raised her hand, and her Qi surged; this time, the ocean that was her energy became a frozen tidal wave that crashed forward.

  The temperature plummeted so quickly that frost crackled across the plaza stones, and the breath of every spectator misted in the air.

  Bai Xuelian wasn’t just another prodigy within the Tranquil Mountain Sect; she was born with a Pure Yin Body, a constitution so rare that in the entire Southern Continent, only a handful would be born in any given generation.

  From birth, her meridians and Dantian had been suffused with an abundance of pure Yin essence. For most, that sort of imbalance would have been a curse that froze their blood and smothered them in the crib.

  But for someone possessing the Pure Yin Body, it was a gift from the heavens themselves. It made her perfectly attuned for cultivating the most extreme cold-element techniques. Every breath she took seemed to draw in threads of frost from the air as ice radiated across the ground at her feet.

  “Frostpetal Annihilation.”

  The name whispered from her lips like a blade cutting through the silence gripping the plaza. From the tip of her raised finger, a single glacial flower formed, each edge glinting with lethality. With an almost casual motion, she flicked it toward Jun De.

  The icy flower disintegrated into an avalanche of petals, each one condensed of ice Qi. They swirled together into a spiralling storm, and the sheer force of the attack tore through the air with a howl that shattered the stone tiles of the plaza before they even reached Jun De.

  Sections of the plaza cracked apart and caved in as the blizzard Bai Xuelian had created hurtled forward. The destructive power of the attack was clear to everyone watching, and they saw that it would obliterate anything in its path.

  ‘She really isn’t going to hold back.’ Jun De thought regretfully. He had hoped that she would just be putting on a show, using a flashy attack that looked good but lacked power. But Bai Xuelian was clearly attempting to push him to his limits.

  Jun De drew in a deep, slow breath as he ground himself deeper into his stance. The Cloudvein Jade Edge gleamed in the ring of orange fire that pun around him, and his muscles tensed in preparation for the strike.

  “Skybreaking Ember.”

  Jun De’s sword thrust forward, and unlike ‘Whispering Starlight,’ it wasn’t a narrow strike but a sweeping, forceful surge. The thrust’s arc carried a wave of golden light with it, laced with flickers of purple and burning orange fire from the Dawnheart Flame.

  The air trembled as his Qi shot forward and collided head-on with the icy maelstrom.

  The two forces met in a cataclysmic roar. The impact sent a shockwave through the plaza, with dust and shattered stone spraying in all directions. Jun De’s attack burned away swathes of the approaching frost petals, the heat of the Dawnheart Flame devoured ice in bursts of steam, but it wasn’t enough.

  Bai Xuelian’s technique was too vast and too overwhelming for Jun De to block. What remained of the icy petals slammed against his defences like an unending tide.

  Jun De roared as he forced more of his Qi into the Dawnheart Flame and the defence it created. The golden light blazing around him deepened to a molten brilliance, and the purple streaks brightened until they were like arcs of lightning that were visible for all to see.

  The Dawnheart Flame within his Dantian flared to life, igniting the entirety of his Qi until his body became wreathed in searing fire. The heat was so intense that it scorched the air and vaporized the frost as it neared his body.

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  But Bai Xuelian’s power pressed on, and Jun De felt the unbridgeable gap between their cultivation levels. He could stop a fraction of it, but the remnants of her ‘Frostpetal Annihilation’ crashed through his defences and enveloped him in a crushing force that rattled his bones.

  Jun De was driven backward across the fractured plaza, and his boots left long gouges in the stone. Pain lanced through him every time he was forced to take a step, and he could feel his bones breaking in his ribs and arms. The pressure was threatening to snap him in half.

  Finally, after Jun De was nearly at his limit, the storm faded.

  The crowd watched in anticipation as Jun De’s form slowly emerged from the haze of steam, frost and dust. He swayed while blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. He spat out a crimson spray onto the ground at his feet while his knees threatened to buckle.

  Jun De staggered, and he stabbed the tip of his sword into the earth to remain upright.

  The plaza around him was a wreck, with shattered flagstones and deep grooves carved into the earth where Bai Xuelian’s attack had torn through everything in its path. Dust drifted through the air, and small shards of stone were being blown about by the wind.

  Jun De’s white-knuckled grip on the hilt of his sword was the only thing keeping him standing as the golden light of his Qi flickered and winked out like a smothered flame. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, and each breath he drew was a quiet rasp that rattled in his lungs.

  Everyone in the crowd could see that he was a heartbeat away from collapsing, but he didn’t fall.

  Bai Xuelian’s gaze lingered on him for a long moment before a smile appeared on her face.

  “Well done, Junior Brother Jun De. I did not hold back in the slightest, and I expected you to fall. You have lived up to your reputation.” She said, and her tone carried genuine respect.

  A murmur rippled through the crowd, with some in disbelief that he managed to survive, while others admired his strength. As for Zhao Wuxian, he had gone from a deep shade of purple and red to pale white as he saw that Jun De had succeeded.

  Thankfully, his shock prevented him from speaking, sparing everyone his thoughts and emotions.

  The Inner Sect Elder, who was observing the duel from the platform, raised his voice so that everyone could hear him.

  “Disciple Jun De has met the terms of the challenge, and he will be entered into the Inner Sect’s Rankings. From this day forward, he will hold the 1,257th Rank, and the first amongst the newcomers to earn his place.”

  There was a pause before the crowd erupted. Some cheered, while others shook their heads in amazement. Zhao Wuxian’s expression was as black as ink, and he glared daggers at Jun De.

  Lin Yue and Shen Ruolan exchanged glances of both relief and pride, while Jun De managed to give Bai Xuelian a respectful bow before returning to the line of the other Disciples waiting to enter the Inner Sect. He pulled a small pill out from his storage bag, popped it into his mouth and waited for the healing medicines to work their magic.

  ‘That’s it. Once I’m in the Inner Sect, I’m going to find a nice courtyard with a comfortable chair, and I’m never leaving again.’

  The ceremony continued, although the energy in the plaza had shifted after Jun De’s duel. His unexpected resilience had stolen the spotlight, and the next two challenges that were both aimed at the formerly lowest-ranked Inner Sect Disciple seemed almost normal in comparison.

  The defending Disciple defeated his opponents one after another efficiently, with the exchange only lasting a few moments.

  When the last challenger conceded, the Inner Sect Elder announced the conclusion of the ceremony. Excitement filled the air as the crowd watched the newcomers line up at the foot of the staircase.

  Jun De had recovered some of his health and stamina by this time, although there was still a throbbing ache in his ribs, a ringing in his ears, and his Qi was significantly depleted.

  Finally, it was time for the newcomers to make their ascent to the Inner Sect. The massive staircase stretched up the side of the mountain, wreathed in mist that obscured its height from those standing below.

  It would be a climb of three thousand steps, winding upward through the mist and fog to where the Inner Sect resided.

  Jun De turned back to look at the crowd, finding Lin Yue and Shen Ruolan watching him. They were standing close together, staring at him with mixed expressions of sadness that he was leaving them, but happiness that he was being promoted.

  He smiled at the pair and tried to silently convey his gratitude for their help and reassurance that everything was going to be fine, before turning and facing the staircase once again.

  The Inner Sect Elder gathered the Inner Sect Disciples, and with a gesture, he swept them up in his powerful Qi and carried them toward the Inner Sect in the blink of an eye.

  But for Jun De and the other newly admitted Disciples, the path to the Inner Sect was far slower. Their climb up the staircase would take them hours, as the spiritual pressure of the Inner Sect was far stronger than that of the Outer Sect, and the stairs became harder to traverse the higher they climbed.

  Jun De let out another sigh, silently cursed in his mind and stepped onto the stairs to begin his journey up.