Chapter Sixteen: Defeating Liu Ningxia

The tall, slender disciple hissed, “Breaking off the engagement? And bringing sect elders along? Isn’t that just forcing them to agree?”

“Exactly!” The round-faced disciple clicked his tongue twice. “I heard that Senior Sister Liu openly called Xiao Yi useless, even threw down a hundred high-grade spirit stones to humiliate him, saying he’s like mud compared to her clouds. But Xiao Yi stood his ground, crushing those spirit stones with a single kick. Then he boldly challenged her to a duel at the Biluo Sect’s arena three months later.”

“If he loses, he’ll break off the engagement. If he wins, Senior Sister Liu has to go to the Xiao family ancestral hall and kowtow a thousand times to apologize to her father!”

“So gutsy! But that’s a huge challenge. From what I’ve heard, Xiao Yi is only at the ninth level of Qi Refinement.”

“Senior Sister Liu is already at the third stage of Golden Core! Among the younger generation of Biluo Sect, she’s definitely top three in strength!”

“No kidding!” The round-faced disciple’s voice was full of envy. “She’s a direct disciple of one of the top hundred sects in the Immortal Alliance—wherever she goes, she’s surrounded by followers. No wonder she dared to go to the Xiao family and break off the engagement. If it were me with that status, I’d be walking on air!”

Two passing disciples from Qingyang Sect overheard and joined in.

“I heard it was even more terrifying back then. Senior Sister Liu brought Elder Wang Qing along, and Elder Wang Qing is a powerful Golden Core third stage!” The tall disciple lowered his voice, tinged with fear.

“But Xiao Yi’s master, Ye Chentian from Xuantian Sect, actually made the first move—guess what? Elder Wang Qing was killed with a single finger!”

The short disciple gasped, “Everyone in our sect knows! Elder Wang Qing has been famous in the Eastern Territory for years, and he came to back up Senior Sister Liu, showing his Golden Core pressure outside the Xiao family gate. Yet Ye Chentian casually wiped him out.”

“Senior Sister Liu was so scared her face turned pale. She still dared to bring up breaking off the engagement? It was only because Xiao Yi said, ‘See you at Biluo Sect in three months,’ that she dared to take the step down. Otherwise, she might never have come back.”

The tall disciple sneered, “It’s laughable. She went with a Golden Core elder, hoping to use the sect’s strength to intimidate, but the elder got killed instantly, and she had to hold her nose and agree to the three-month duel.”

Just then, a commotion arose at the entrance to the arena.

Everyone turned to see Liu Ningxia descending amidst a mist of spirit energy. The Frostflow Sword swayed lightly in her hand, her aura unmistakably that of a Golden Core third stage, radiating openly.

As soon as she landed, her gaze swept the entrance with an innate arrogance.

As if the events from three months ago had never happened.

Or perhaps she believed that today, with her Golden Core third stage cultivation and the backing of the Biluo Sect, she could wash away her past shame.

For three months, Liu Ningxia had lived in the Biluo Sect’s finest spirit spring cave, refining her energy daily with three high-grade spirit stones.

An elder personally guided her, even giving her the “Concentration Pill” to forcibly break through her bottleneck and surpass Xiao Yi.

To everyone, her Golden Core third stage was more than enough to deal with Xiao Yi’s ninth level Qi Refinement.

At this moment, Liu Ningxia’s heart swelled with a hint of pride.

With the sect’s support, her cultivation had advanced greatly these past three months. Facing a ninth-level Qi Refinement practitioner like Xiao Yi was nothing.

She had already imagined the victory scene: standing on Xiao Yi’s chest, forcing him to admit he was useless, proving she made the right choice with the Biluo Sect, proving that he would forever be nothing but a shadow she left behind.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yi, clad in simple black clothes, had already quietly taken his place in the arena early.

When Liu Ningxia arrived, his eyes fixed on her, his fingertips tightening slightly.

He recalled how, as children in the Xiao family backyard, she would secretly slip him freshly picked spirit fruits, saying, “When I become a cultivator, I’ll protect you.”

But three months ago, standing at the Xiao family gate, she had said coldly, “Someone like you doesn’t deserve me,” her eyes frosted over with cruelty.

In his heart lingered a trace of regret—that childhood innocence was now shattered.

More than that, there was a sharp awakening born from pain.

She was no longer the girl she once was, but an arrogant cultivator blinded by the sect’s halo.

Today’s battle wasn’t about reclaiming anything; it was to tell himself: some memories must be completely let go with time.

Liu Ningxia saw him and curled her lips into a mocking smile, “You actually dared to come.”

Her voice wasn’t loud, but it reached everyone clearly.

“Good. Today I’ll show you that a direct disciple from a top hundred Immortal Alliance sect is not just stronger in cultivation than some sect-born practitioner like you.”

“I said it three months ago—we’re like clouds and mud. Now, I’m a Golden Core third stage, while even if you’ve improved, you’re only at Golden Core first stage.”

“Now, take this! ‘Cold Abyss Mountain-Splitting Thrust!’”

Before she finished, her wrist rotated, and the Frostflow Sword suddenly erupted with a blue light several feet long.

The blade refracted a chilling radiance under the sun. The surrounding moisture was instantly drawn together, condensing midair into a towering spectral ice dragon!

“That’s the ‘Cold Abyss Mountain-Splitting Thrust’ from the Frostflow Sword Sutra!” a cultivator exclaimed. “A low-tier Earth-grade sword technique rumored to shatter mountains with the power of an ice dragon. Only direct disciples of Biluo Sect can learn it!”

Liu Ningxia’s eyes sharpened. Nine blue afterimages shimmered alongside the spectral ice dragon as she thrust the Frostflow Sword forward with force. “Xiao Yi, taste the power that can shatter mountains!”

The ice dragon roared thunderously, opening its massive jaws to swallow Xiao Yi whole.

The frost aura condensing on its claws had already caused the bluestone at the arena’s edge to frost over.

At that moment, the last flicker of hesitation vanished from Xiao Yi’s eyes.

His feet shifted slightly, and a surge of crimson-gold flames erupted around him. The Burning Heaven Fire Sutra blazed wildly within, sending fiery spiritual energy rushing through his meridians.

“Liu Ningxia, today I’ll show you power that can burn mountains and boil seas!” Xiao Yi’s voice was like a thunderclap as he thrust both palms forward.

“Burning Heaven Palm: Scorching Sun Break!”

A miniature blazing sun formed instantly in his palms, fiery and golden.

Wherever the sun passed, the icy chill on the spectral ice dragon instantly melted away.

“Impossible!” Liu Ningxia’s face drained of color. She had never imagined Xiao Yi’s flames would be so domineering. Panicking, she hastily activated her spiritual energy, causing the ice dragon to swell threefold.

A tremendous explosion followed with a deafening roar.

A sharp blue aura suddenly flared across her chest.

It was the “Profound Ice Heart Mirror” granted by the sect, able to withstand a full strike from a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator. Yet now, under the fiery palm imprint, it emitted a piercing hum as its glow dimmed visibly.

“Crack!”

The heart mirror shattered, its fragments scattering like blue sparks. The remnant force of the fiery palm broke through her defenses and struck her chest fiercely!

“Ah!”

Liu Ningxia screamed miserably, flying back like a severed kite.

She slammed heavily against a stone pillar, her robe instantly charred black on her back. The pillar cracked with spiderweb fractures, debris cascading down.

“Cough… cough cough…” Blood splattered on the ground as she looked up at Xiao Yi. No arrogance remained in her eyes—only bone-deep fear and disbelief.

She had been reduced to this state by a single blow, unable even to stand.

If not for the heart mirror protecting her, she would have died from that strike.