Chapter 170: Is It True That I Beat Yu Ping An?
Bai Feng plopped back into his chair, looking quite satisfied with himself. His gaze landed on Su Lan Qian as she stood up, and he cheerfully chimed, “Don’t be nervous, hang in there!”
Because Liu Meng had joined Heavenly Sword Sect, Su Lan Qian, as her disciple, naturally joined too. Now that she was stepping in to represent Heavenly Sword Sect, it was only fitting.
Next up was the team competition, and with her help, Heavenly Sword Sect should be able to crush the opposition—easy peasy!
“Hmm.” Su Lan Qian nodded seriously, then sheepishly asked, “Um, could I borrow one of your things? Not something super personal… just something that isn’t skin-tight.”
Despite not being haunted by her Heart Demon for now, perhaps due to old habits, she always felt much calmer holding something Bai Feng had touched.
“No problem,” Bai Feng said without fuss. He reached into his storage pouch and pulled out a jade pendant. This was a batch he had made earlier when Su Lan Qian needed a thing to suppress her Heart Demon—a little souvenir stash he kept for emergencies.
“Thank you,” she said hurriedly, taking the jade and sticking it just above her chest.
Bai Feng added a few more words of encouragement. “Once you’re out there, don’t hold back. Say what you need to say; show your old fiery spirit!”
“Got it!” Su Lan Qian nodded vigorously.
Turning around, she took a deep breath, feeling the residual aura on the jade. Her expression shed the nervousness and timidity, and she regained a flicker of that old confidence.
Meanwhile, Yu Ping An, deep in thought about how to beat her in the personal match, noticed Su Lan Qian stepping onto the stage. His face flickered, then a smile crept up.
He guessed right—Bai Feng truly had been wasting his Ao Chu Holy Land talent in array formations. If Su Lan Qian could restore her old confidence, that was proof enough. Perhaps even Master Liu had given up on him, and only because of the sect’s hefty conditions did our dear Sister Su stay glued to Heavenly Sword Sect.
In his mental fantasy, the Heavenly Sword Sect and Tai Chu Holy Land’s team match kicked off.
Since it was both their first time participating, they played it safe, mostly just setting up arrays and occasionally sending guys to poke at the enemy from afar—throwing a sword or two, but hardly anything threatening.
But peace didn’t last long. Under Su Lan Qian’s command, Heavenly Sword Sect’s disciples quickly erected a formidable array. Only a few were left behind to guard their base while the rest charged straight into Tai Chu Holy Land’s territory.
Su Lan Qian’s eyes shimmered faint blue as she pulled out a long-forgotten brush, which instantly enlarged in her hand.
“I’ll mark the array points. You guys go ahead and attack,” she boomed at the gathered disciples.
“Got it!”
“No problem!”
With responses in the affirmative, she took a step forward. “A few of you, come with me!”
Then she dashed straight at the well-prepared disciples of Tai Chu Holy Land.
Bai Feng, watching from below, nodded lightly. Su Lan Qian had surpassed even his expectations.
Even if he retracted the divine consciousness from her mind now, she’d probably be able to suppress her Heart Demon.
‘Learning fairy runes really was the right call,’ Bai Feng thought.
He’d only managed to suppress her Heart Demon, but the underlying flaws in her heart still remained. Without facing and fixing them, she’d just be like before—except she wouldn’t have to worry about Heart Demon interruptions on her daily routine.
But her current confident look showed she no longer carried serious mental flaws; that was most likely due to her newfound confidence from learning fairy runes.
Now, under Heavenly Sword Sect’s protective cover, Su Lan Qian had successfully marked all the array nodes of Tai Chu Holy Land’s formation.
She lowered her brush, watching as her nearly complete array began to crumble. She exhaled slowly—hopefully she hadn’t disappointed Bai Feng.
She reached into her neck for the jade pendant, instinctively looking toward Bai Feng’s position. He caught her gaze, smiled, and gave her a big thumbs-up, which made her smile back.
Yes… from now on, she’d be that one-of-a-kind genius in Bai Feng’s heart.
—
The first match—undeniably—went to Heavenly Sword Sect.
As for the other sects and holy grounds that would join the array contest, only Spirit Sealing Sect and Dao Xuan Holy Land made the cut.
Though others had some array talent, most were like Heavenly Sword Sect used to be: knew the basics but weren’t refined enough to make it to the big stage. Naturally, they wouldn’t step up to get humiliated.
‘If I remember right,’ Bai Feng mused inwardly, ‘Dao Xuan Holy Land and Tian Yan Holy Land are both pretty mysterious, with the fewest disciples among the Four Holy Grounds.’
In his opinion, there was no suspense—Spirit Sealing Sect would win hands down. Their entire foundation was built on arrays, and with the Child of Destiny leading, even a close call was unlikely. Losing? Impossible.
And as he predicted, Yu Ping An stepped into the singles match, conjuring a sixth-rank array formation and easily overcoming a disciple from Dao Xuan Holy Land. The team match was a bit more tense, dragging out as both sides shaped their arrays, but ultimately Dao Xuan failed to breach Spirit Sealing Sect’s defenses.
Next up: the final showdown—Hei Jian Sect versus Spirit Sealing Sect.
Bai Feng glanced at Spirit Sealing Sect’s position. Yu Ping An also looked his way; the tense atmosphere thickened instantly.
They both stood up simultaneously, heading for the arena.
But as Yu Ping An strode onto the field, Bai Feng suddenly halted.
He patted a nearby Heavenly Sword Sect disciple and said, “Senior brother, good luck! Do your best—I trust you.”
“Junior Brother Bai, don’t worry! Leave it to me!”
The disciple nodded excitedly. He raised his chin, and with Yu Ping An’s doubtful glance, strode confidently into the arena.
Bai Feng then retreated, seeming to merely come by to give a quick pep talk.
Yu Ping An clenched his fists tightly, glaring after Bai Feng’s back—how dare this guy dodge a duel?
Coward!
“Hello, I’m Guo Xiao from Heavenly Sword Sect. Bai Feng has other matters, so I’ll be your opponent this time.”
“Hmpf.” Yu Ping An didn’t bother responding. He turned away to gather array materials, in a foul mood after being played by Bai Feng.
Guo Xiao shrugged. He didn’t feel embarrassed. He also turned to pick materials.
He’d been surprised when told he was up for the singles—who would’ve guessed? He wondered, Is it true I’m fighting Yu Ping An?
But he kept his questions to himself. Bai Feng must have had a reason; besides, he was pretty confident he wouldn’t lose!
Once Tian Jian Sect’s top array mage, after studying Bai Feng’s 123-array books and exchanging some details from his contribution points—well, he’d improved a lot. Not quite Bai Feng’s level, sure, but definitely a huge step up from before!
