Faced with this overwhelming, nimble, and treacherous artifact attack, Tantai Yunzhi furrowed her delicate brows slightly.
She could sense that the spiritual energy contained within these threads was nothing trivial; taking it head-on was by no means a wise move.
‘Should I use the artifact Master gave me?’ Tantai Yunzhi’s fingers brushed against the space ring on her knuckle.
Just as she was about to retrieve one, Zhao Qian’s arrogant face and Su Yi’s words flashed unbidden in her mind: “The position of vice commander is no trifling matter.”
‘I want to beat Zhao Qian thoroughly!’ Tantai Yunzhi lowered her hand and clenched her fist, taking a deep breath as she pushed the potential of her Five Elements Dao Physique to its absolute limit.
A five-colored spiritual glow circulated endlessly around her, mutually generating and reinforcing in an unbroken cycle.
“What’s going on? Why isn’t she using an artifact to counter it?!” Gongsun Rou was startled. The artifacts she had gifted weren’t overly precious, and Tantai Yunzhi was, after all, a scion of the Tantai clan; no one would suspect Gongsun Rou.
“Without such concerns, why isn’t Little Yunzhi using an artifact?”
Su Jing, on the other hand, kept his eyes fixed on Tantai Yunzhi. He sensed that she was by no means lacking the confidence to withstand this blow.
On the stage, she did not opt to counter with a single attribute. Instead, she poured earth-attribute spiritual energy into her feet, anchoring herself like a boulder rooted into the ground.
At the same time, her hands danced as water-attribute spiritual energy transformed into a supple vortex, seeking to deflect and shed the threads’ entanglement with softness.
At her fingertips leaped minute flickers of metal-attribute spiritual light, precisely jabbing at the nodes of threads attempting to close in, piercing their surface through focal points.
By her own power alone, she was simultaneously operating three attributes of spiritual energy! With the heaviness of earth as her foundation, the enduring flow of water as her defense, and the sharpness of metal as her offense, she forcefully carved out a domain of her own amid the sky-filling threads!
Though she appeared slightly hard-pressed and her breathing grew a bit rushed, through her exquisite comprehension and application of the Five Elements, she truly managed to temporarily withstand the magical artifact's cutting edge!
This sight moved the disciples below who had previously underestimated her once again.
This degree of control over spiritual energy and tactical adaptability far exceeded their wildest imaginations!
Seeing her magical artifact held at bay in such an unfathomable manner, Zhao Qian was shaken to the core, and the spiritual energy controlling the artifact inadvertently fell into slight disarray.
And for Tantai Yunzhi, who had been calmly observing and biding her time, this slight disarray was more than enough!
“I don’t believe this! Fall!”
Zhao Qian shrieked, frantically squeezing and driving the spiritual energy within her body in a desperate bid to re-engage the brocade kerchief artifact.
She had completely forgotten—or rather, forced to overlook under the grip of extreme emotion—that the medicinal efficacy of that Demon-Cleansing Soul-Nourishing Pill was being catalyzed to its absolute limit by her reckless outburst of spiritual energy!
【Zhao Qian! You fool! Do you want to kill me?! Stop, now!】
Deep within her sea of consciousness, the demonic soul that had fallen dormant under the pill’s potency was jolted awake for a fleeting instant by this violent spiritual energy and near-collapse state of mind, letting out a shrill roar laden with agony and rage!
This sudden rebuke from the depths of her soul exploded like a clap of thunder in Zhao Qian’s mind, causing her frantically churning spiritual energy to jerk to a halt and leaving her dazed for a split second.
When masters clash, a split second decides everything!
And that fleeting opening was caught with pinpoint precision by Tantai Yunzhi!
“Now!”
A sharp light flashed in Tantai Yunzhi’s eyes. The earth- and water-attribute spiritual energies previously used for defense snapped inward, and a far more condensed, razor-sharp metal-attribute spiritual energy rapidly fused with heavy, solid earth-attribute energy between her hands!
Letting out a clear cry, she thrust both palms forward! A remarkably solid spear of gold and rock—its tip gleaming with a metallic chill, its shaft forged of rigid stone—condensed into existence in an instant. Carrying an unstoppable piercing might, it tore through the chaotic web of colored silk threads that had lost their precise control, ripping through them like silk fabric!
Its speed was astonishingly fast!
Just as Zhao Qian snapped back to reality from the demonic soul’s reprimand, she saw the spear—fusing the sharpness of metal and the sturdiness of earth—break through the artifact’s obstruction and barrel straight for her face!
Drained of color in sheer terror, she could only throw up a flimsy shield of water-element spirit energy in front of her in haste.
Pfft—chhh!
Splitting bamboo in its wake, the golden-rock spear effortlessly pierced the hastily formed water shield.
Though the spear’s force had diminished significantly after breaching both the artifact and the shield, its residual momentum and sharpness still grazed Zhao Qian’s cheek as it flew past!
A strand of black hair drifted down. Upon Zhao Qian’s fair cheek, a thin line of blood slowly surfaced, beading with crimson droplets.
She froze in place, feeling the stinging pain from her cheek, her face pale as paper.
Defeated... She had truly been defeated... Even after resorting to an artifact, she had still lost to the rival she had once before fallen to!
In the spectator seats, seeing Zhao Qian injured, Elder Zhao shot to his feet, his face fraught with shock, fury, and heartache.
He subconsciously opened his mouth to berate Tantai Yunzhi.
Yet before he could utter a word, a calm voice carrying undeniable authority rang out: “Junior Sister Tantai’s performance today is truly unexpected.”
Su Yi had also stood up at some point, an appropriately measured smile of appreciation on his face as his gaze swept over Elder Zhao. “My father personally graced us with his presence today to see Junior Sister Tantai’s progress, and I was somewhat worried her modest cultivation would disappoint him.”
“I never imagined... she would grant us such a pleasant surprise. This degree of understanding and application of the Dao of the Five Elements is truly rare.”
“Elder Zhao should also be pleased that Divine Might Manor has gained such a prodigy, wouldn’t you agree?”
Just about to vent his fury, Elder Zhao froze violently, as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over his head.
He realized in an instant that Su Yi was warning him!
Lately, Tantai Yunzhi had kept a low profile with no major achievements. He had assumed Su Yi’s interests had shifted elsewhere and that Tantai Yunzhi had fallen out of favor, giving his granddaughter a chance.
Only now did he understand that Su Yi’s previous actions might have held deeper meaning—the high regard both he and the Manor Lord held for Tantai Yunzhi had never changed!
If he made trouble for Tantai Yunzhi right now over a minor superficial scratch on his granddaughter’s cheek, wouldn’t that be slapping both the Young Manor Lord and the Manor Lord across the face?
Thoughts racing, a smile of profound emotion and gratified pride instantly plastered over Elder Zhao’s face. Bowing slightly toward Su Yi, his tone was overflowing with “righteous understanding”: “The Young Manor Lord speaks absolute truth! This old man was merely anxious for a moment and lost his composure.”
He turned back toward the martial stage, casting a “conflicted” look at the bloodied Zhao Qian, and sighed. “Sigh, it is also due to my lack of discipline that Qian’er resorted to using a magical artifact in this spar. It was truly inappropriate!”
“Fortunately, Tantai Yunzhi’s strength is extraordinary and her foundation solid, preventing our Divine Might Manor from losing a pillar of future talent!”
“Once we return, I will strictly punish Zhao Qian!”
“The Young Manor Lord truly had the discernment to recognize a gem from the start. This old man is filled with admiration!” He bowed once more toward Su Yi, making his stance unmistakably clear.
Su Yi nodded faintly without another word, turning his gaze back to the martial stage.
‘A tactful person like Elder Zhao who catches on immediately is truly a rare find. How on earth did Zhao Qian end up with that personality of hers?’
Rate on N.U.
