In the first round of the Ranking Matches, the one with the earliest match number was Jun Luo: Arena Ten, Match Three.
When he arrived at the waiting area and crossed paths with Zhu Zijin once again, the four members of Ruiyu Pavilion watching from the spectator stands fell silent.
Zhu Zijin, however, remained quite calm. He even managed a smile and waved at Jun Luo. "Hey, we meet again. What a coincidence."
Having watched him fight through six consecutive matches just to claw his way back through the revival round, Gu Ningyun strongly suspected he was merely putting on a brave face.
Jun Luo nodded calmly, showing no particular reaction.
Finding himself not being looked at with pity or strangeness, a flicker of surprise crossed Zhu Zijin's eyes. His smile softened slightly, and the expression on his face became more genuine.
The match began once more.
This time, Zhu Zijin consumed a pale gold pill. Based on the pill identification records in the 《Almanac of Heavenly Wonders》, Gu Ningyun recognized it as a yellow-rank high-grade Warming Pill.
Sure enough, after taking the Warming Pill, Zhu Zijin's resistance to ice-attribute sword qi increased significantly. He was no longer completely suppressed when engaging in close-quarters combat with Jun Luo.
Gradually, both sides began to sustain injuries. Wisps of sword qi remained embedded in their wounds, carving themselves into the flesh and blood, preventing the injuries from healing.
Gu Ningyun overheard disciples from other groups nearby discussing the match. "With that Warming Pill, the greatest advantage of ice-attribute sword qi is effectively neutralized. Jun Luo might be in trouble this time."
Gu Ningyun shook her head slightly in her heart but said nothing.
Others might not see it, but as a fellow sword cultivator, she knew that the area where Jun Luo's sword qi surpassed Zhu Zijin's wasn't in its attribute, but in its sheer intensity.
During the days of the revival matches, she had taken some time to visit the first floor of the library and read 《A Few Things About the Five Elements》, gaining a basic understanding of the five elements.
Ice and gold do not counter each other.
In the previous match, what everyone had seen was Jun Luo's sword tip freezing Zhu Zijin's sword qi and his sword-wielding wrist, followed immediately by Zhu Zijin's surrender.
Because of that, they mistakenly believed Jun Luo had won due to the ice attribute of his sword qi.
In reality, that wasn't the case.
Sword qi originates from a sword cultivator's spirit energy and their comprehension of the Dao of the Sword; it is different from spells.
Therefore, one cannot judge it purely by elemental attributes.
In their last duel, at the moment the ice-attribute sword qi froze the gold-attribute sword qi, those who truly understood the sword could see that the intensity of the sword qi came first, and only then did the ice flowers bloom.
There was a sequence of cause and effect between the two.
Sure enough, after the two on the arena had exchanged over a hundred moves, they broke apart.
By this point, both were drenched in blood, with hardly a single uninjured spot left on their bodies.
Zhu Zijin's face was pale, but his eyes held the relief of someone who had given their all to fight for a chance.
He slowly curled his blood-stained lips into a smile. "I lost to you again, Jun Luo."
The audience below erupted in an uproar.
"Why did he surrender? Weren't they evenly matched?"
Ling Hanbai watched the arena with burning eyes, her own lightning-attribute sword qi surging and dormant beneath the surface. "Zhu Zijin lost."
"Even though he used a Warming Pill to protect his body, when it comes to a contest of sword qi, he ultimately cannot compare to Jun Luo."
"They exchanged over a hundred moves. Jun Luo's battle intent is still surging, while Zhu Zijin has no strength left."
"They both look equally miserable right now, but in reality, Jun Luo's injuries are superficial; he has already expelled most of the gold-attribute sword qi from his body. Meanwhile, the ice-attribute sword qi is still firmly attached to Zhu Zijin's wounds."
"But doesn't he have the Warming Pill? Why can't he expel the ice-attribute sword qi?"
Ling Hanbai replied, "With sword qi, the emphasis is on the 'sword,' not the spirit energy attribute."
The two on the arena paid no mind to the spectator stands, which were already in a heated debate because of them.
They helped each other dissolve the sword qi in their respective wounds while waiting for the martial uncle acting as the judge to assign scores.
It wasn't until they were about to leave the arena and go their separate ways that Jun Luo suddenly called out to him.
"You..."
Zhu Zijin looked at him in confusion, a slightly dazed expression on his face.
"With your strength, you shouldn't have stopped here."
Zhu Zijin's eyes flickered. He blinked his clear, bright eyes, but his lips curled into a defiant smile.
"Are you pitying me, Jun Luo?"
His smile was too piercing; Jun Luo's brow furrowed as if stung, and he instinctively looked away.
"I never believe in such things. I only believe in the sword in my hand."
Watching Jun Luo's back gradually recede and disappear into the crowd, Zhu Zijin slowly withdrew his smile.
By "such things," did he mean... fortune?
He clutched his aching chest, slowly composing his emotions until he regained his composed expression.
"It's been four years since my earliest memories. I've long since grown used to it."
At the back of the spectator stands, the high-level Qi Refining senior sister who had previously led the chant of "Big sister loves you!" held her face in her hands. "Is this the mutual respect between kindred spirits? It's so touching!"
Her companion looked at her helplessly but said nothing.
Shouldn't this girl's attention be on why that kid is so unlucky?
Forget it. It was just as well she hadn't noticed.
After Jun Luo's duel, the group from Ruiyu Pavilion didn't mention Zhu Zijin again.
In the second round of the Ranking Matches, during the transition from the top fifty to the top twenty-five, Gu Ningyun also encountered a rather troublesome opponent.
Gu Ningyun dodged frantically on the arena while clutching her zither. The attacks from the person behind her were like a shadow she couldn't shake off.
Fan An's movement technique was operating at high speed, and his saber techniques never stopped for a second. He slashed continuously at Gu Ningyun, giving her no opportunity to play her sleep-assisting melody.
The melody of 《The Qin and the Wei》 flowed steadily, building a sturdy sound shield around Gu Ningyun.
The moment the sound shield stabilized, she quickly slapped a yellow-rank mid-grade Swift-Walk Talisman onto herself to widen the distance between her and Fan An.
Unfortunately, Fan An also slapped a Swift-Walk Talisman on himself and caught up in the blink of an eye.
After a long period of her fleeing and him slashing, with her frantically trying to take flight, Gu Ningyun estimated the opponent's spirit energy reserves and finally played her trump card.
She quickly slapped a yellow-rank top-grade Swift-Walk Talisman on herself to pull away.
Taking advantage of the time gap it took for the opponent to apply a talisman of the same quality, she put away her zither and shifted her hand seals—the first style of the Taiqing Astral Wind Art.
She fired three green wind blades in quick succession. Perhaps because she was "not proficient" with the technique, the first two "unluckily" missed their mark.
Fan An was very fast. He evaded the two wind blades and raised his long saber, prepared to strike Gu Ningyun.
Just as he leapt into the air, he happened to collide with Gu Ningyun's third wind blade, knocking him and his saber right off the arena.
"Aww!"
A collective sigh of regret echoed from the spectator stands.
"He was so close to winning! Just a little bit more!"
"Exactly. Senior Sister Gu is not proficient with her ultimate move. If he had been just a bit more careful, he would have won."
Gu Ningyun looked at Fan An's profusely bleeding wound and felt a flicker of satisfaction.
The force had been controlled perfectly; it didn't kill him.
However, regarding her movement techniques... she had been too busy learning to draw talismans and hadn't had the time. She would have to prioritize practicing them as soon as the competition ended.
Though her thoughts were racing, Gu Ningyun didn't let it show on her face at all.
She glanced inward at the remaining small portion of spirit energy in her body, stood on the arena looking weak, and heaved a sigh of relief as if still gripped by lingering fear.
Recalling the spine-chilling feeling of being locked on just before the wind blade struck him, a trace of doubt flashed through Fan An's mind.
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