Just like the universe is divided in two, light and dark, good and evil, yin and yang, so is the martial tradition of the cultivation world.

Some, like Ming Libai, excelled in external martial arts, which focused on cultivating one’s physical and martial prowess. Qi, for these warriors, was seen as an aid for warriors, not a foundation of his power. They spend day and night training their mortal bodies and mastering weapons of choice. Their fighting style manifested itself in quick, explosive movements, usually aiming to finish the battle as quickly as possible in a straightforward manner. Most of his opponents could neither block nor evade his initial charge, and his matches ended almost as quickly as they began.

“Why is he shirtless, though?” inquired Mei Rulan, perplexed.

“Beats me!” shouted Zhanzhan, trying to hide her blushing face under the palms of her hands.

Some, like Bai Lianfei, excelled in internal martial arts, focusing on cultivating internal powers and qi, rather than physical prowess. Her soft, flowing movements captivated the audience, as she danced through the battlefield like water flowing among rocks, gracefully evading the attacks of her opponents, and redirecting their own force against them. Never present in one place, it felt like she was everywhere and nowhere at the same time until the time came to end the protracted fight and deliver the final blow.

“That girl is amazing” stated Mei Rulan, her hands clenching Zhanzhan ears like some kind of steering wheel, as she hyper-focused on white lily flying through the arena.

“It hurts, you’re squeezing too hard”

“What’s her name?” questioned Bai Yunru, seemingly also enamored with Shuangshan’s no. 2 student’s otherworldly performance.

Neither of them paid attention to the catgirl’s complaints. Why should she answer their inquiries, then!?

“Her name is Bai Lianfei, and she’s master Lan’s granddaughter!”

Hearing that, all the other cultivators turned towards her and looked at her weird.

“Her surname is Bai….?”

“Yes, that’s what I just said!”

Bao Zimo, the leader of the black cloud delegation, brushed his long beard, lost in thought.

The others seemed seemingly perplexed.

What’s going on? Zhanzhan looked left and right, trying to figure out some kind of explanation from their dumbfounded facial expressions.

Seeing her confusion, Mei Rulan quickly explained that “Bai” in cultivation circles isn’t just a surname, but belongs to one of the strongest clans in the lowlands, and they are just surprised to see someone with this surname in the north.

Could it be just a coincidence, then?

She didn’t have time to ponder it any longer though, as the matches were getting progressively more fierce, and this top-tier entertainment occupied most of her attention.

………………….

And now, as the sun was setting over the mountain tops, the time has come for a semi-final fight, where these two martial extremes would clash.

On one side, stood a teenage girl.

Her fleeting form was dimly illuminated in the rays of the setting sun, her white robes contrasting with dark, braided hair set to the side of her small frame. Her right arm had a characteristic red ribbon tied around it, and in her palm was a scabbard decorated in beautiful, dragon-like patterns. She pulled out a blade, its well-polished blade reflecting the rays of both the sun and the newly rising full moon, giving an impression of shining with an inner and mysterious light.

Her sharp gaze was single-mindedly focused on the eastern side of the arena, were, shrouded by darkness, her opponent was getting ready to fight her.

“Oyy, aren’t you gonna say anything~!” shouted Ming Libai.

His greeting was met with silence.

He shrugged and started doing some basic stretches and warm-ups. Knee to chest, shoulder up, shoulder down! Now some jacks, now some neck rotation. And end it all with a light jog back and forth the edge of the arena. Oh yeah, he was feeling his muscles burning, and knew they are ready for action!

His routine, though it might seem comedic for some, was actually an important part that no experienced warrior would skip before combat. There is nothing more terrifying than a muscle suddenly cramping in the middle of the action, or blood pressure rising too quickly when forced into sudden movement from an idle state.

However, his opponent stood motionlessly, merely pointing her sword in his direction. Not a muscle of her body moved, only her clothes and hair occasionally fluttered on the light wind. Her face was emotionless and didn’t betray a thought of her.

Frankly speaking, Ming Libai found it both irritating and unnerving. He would win this match quickly, and make this annoying woman experience the humiliation of defeat, in one swift strike!

As soon as the announcer proclaimed the start of the match, he charged at her at full speed!

And to his surprise, she responded with a charge of her own.

“—What!”

Before he could swing his fist, or change the position of his accelerated, muscular body, Bai Lianfei’s lunar blade made a wooshing sound as it cut the air, and slashed his torso horizontally.

The crowd gasped. Time seemed to have frozen. Aren’t the matches first blood only!? What’s going on!?!?

However, Ming Libai smiled and swung his dominant arm at the frail girl in front of him. She gracefully dodged the attack and retreated beyond the range of his fists.

Not only was he completely unwounded, but his entire torso was also covered in what looked like a rocky carapace, as if he put on some kind of fantastical armor from age of legends.

Meanwhile, Bai Lianfei’s sword arm was shaking, as it absorbed most of the recoil from hitting this hard and impenetrable surface.

“Surprised!? I bet you are! You have no idea how long I’ve been training for this! You blade cannot harm me!”

He taunted, a confident and triumphant smile painted on his face. This is what he was training for all year long! Although he wanted to first reveal this secret technique against Shunji, this girl here will do, too! He almost felt sorry for his opponent, so he decided to give her a chance to leave this fight uninjured.

“Tell you what! Surrender now, and I’ll let you leave the arena without a scratch!”

But his confidence was cut short by the cold, sharp voice of his opponent.

“So you can make your body slightly tougher. So what?” she asked as if she was genuinely curious. Her facial expression was still emotionless, but her eyes were…amused? Was she mocking him now!?

He felt anger veiling up in his heart, even tho he knew it would be unsightly to give in to such a lowly emotion. Fine! If she won’t listen to reason, perhaps his fists will convince her!

He charged again, enraged.

Swinging over and over again, aiming for his opponent’s head, trying to stun her and knock her out, ideally in one hit! However, Bai Lianfei’s footwork was flawless, and not a single one of his hits made contact. At first, she tried striking back, but he effortlessly deflected her sword each and every time, hardening his forearms in the instant it made the contact with the blade.

Seeing that doing that is indeed useless, she stopped counterattacking after a while, seemingly resigning herself to just retreating and dodging his strikes. Sometimes she moved to the right, sometimes to the left, sometimes she just backed away, fighting shelter in putting ever more distance in between them.

However, no one can run away forever. As expected, she eventually found herself with her back against the edge of the arena. Did she think it’s an endurance contest, and he’s going to lose breath and give up, or what!?

It’s time to end this farce. As he stepped to the left sight and charged his final punch from his right hip, putting the entire force of his upper torso into that final strike, he suddenly felt that something’s wrong.

It wasn’t anything rational, just a hunch, something switched in the back of his head. Perhaps it’s how his opponent just stood there, seemingly willing to take the hit, or perhaps the eerie silence surrounding them, instead of screams, laughter, and cheers from the crowd of onlookers.

But the bottom line is, at this very moment, all his senses screamed that he’s in DANGER, and his intuition never failed him until now. At the last possible moment, he stopped the momentum of the punch and jumped to the side. Not a moment later an icicle shot from the frozen ground beneath where he stood a moment ago and pierced the air.

Frozen ground? In summer? Before he had a chance to assess the situation, his opponent counterattacked. He blocked the sword with his reinforced arm, then continued blocking while retreating, as the girl showered him in barrages of cuts, thrusts, and slashes. He cursed in between breathing in and out.

What a fool he has been! Of course, there is no way this could be that easy. The crowd started roaring once again, but he didn’t know what the commotion was. His tunnel vision was completely focused on Bai Lianfei, and her relentless attacks were more than enough to occupy all of his attention.

That’s why he didn’t notice, that they were dancing around the entire arena in circular patterns.

That’s why he didn’t realize, that every step his opponent made, froze the ground solid.

And from every frozen bit, a small, ice flower emerged. Soon entire arena resembled a frozen flower garden, and all the flowers had their leaves turned in one direction-towards Ming Libai.

It was a truly beautiful, yet bizarre spectacle. Even the cultivators from Wuyun clan seemed to be shocked by this sight, and master Bao was playing with his facial hair nervously.

“Such level of skill…the top students of Shuangshan school must not be underestimated” he murmured to himself.

Thanks to her enhanced hearing, this comment did not escape Zhanzhan’s ears, and she felt a surge of pride rising within her heart. Even though she didn’t contribute anything to this outcome, she felt like the achievements of the school that employed her are her achievements, just like the people of Chenfei are her people.

Meanwhile, in the arena, things seemed to be coming to their inevitable conclusion. There were several dozen flowers blooming already, and even the object of their attraction realized what is going on at this point. He suddenly jumped away to get some distance between himself and Bai Lianfei, and crossed his muscular arms in front of his body. He smirked and taunted.

“Come!”

Frankly speaking, his smirk was a bit forced. He hardened his body as much he could. This was not the first time he attempted a full-body strengthening, but sure it was the first time it actually succeeded. The adrenaline of combat, combined with the dire situation he found himself in, enabled him to push past his limits. He knew he can’t suffer a single scratch, if he does, it’s over, and he’s going to lose.

Suddenly, all the flowers shot their petals towards him at once, showering him in a barrage of tiny icicles. The shards of ice made a crackling noise as they crushed against his hardened skin, and he howled in pain. His rocky carapace skin could protect him from injury, but it didn’t lessen the feeling of pain he was subjected to. Neither could it shield him from the intense, supernatural cold that protruded from these terrifying, frozen bullets.

Eventually, he fell on his knees, not being able to withstand the kinetic pressure of the barrage, but his barrier didn’t falter. It didn’t crack, even as he could no longer see because of icy vapors enveloping his field of vision, and he could no longer hear, deafened by the thunder-like sounds of ice shattering against the rock.

The entire ordeal lasted less than a minute.

However, by the time it was over, Ming Libai couldn’t move anymore. His partly frostbitten hands were shaking, and his leg tendons were torn from withstanding the sheer blunt force that pressed on his body from all directions.

What’s worse, he felt his qi reserves depleted on that barrier he put everything he had into. If even a single flower was to shoot in his direction now, he wouldn’t be able to block its impact anymore.

He was breathing heavily, sweat dripping from his forehead. He couldn’t bring himself to look up, nor say a single word, as he heard the footsteps of his opponent slowly approaching him from the opposite direction.

“Do you understand now?” asked Bai Lianfei, not a hint of mockery in her voice.

Understand what? That she had a hidden technique too?

No, perhaps something different. Some fundamental difference between them…

Suddenly he felt the ice-cold surface of the blade press against his cheek, and sharp pain soon followed. As he felt warm blood drip down his face, mixing with his sweat and drool and dripping onto the frozen ground beneath, Ming Libai knew he lost the match.