The Minor Competition Begins

Su family martial arts arena.

The broad grounds paved with bluestone gleamed with a cold, hard sheen beneath the autumn afternoon sunlight. Antique viewing corridors surrounded the arena on all sides, and every seat was occupied. The Branch family and Main Branch clansmen were clearly divided, their low conversations merging into a suppressed buzz. The air was filled with a complicated mixture of sandalwood, sweat, and... the smell of gunpowder.

Lin Xiao sat in an inconspicuous corner of the corridor, his hat brim pulled low and its shadow concealing most of his pale face. His back pressed tightly against the cold pillar. The dark green residual core of Viper's Kiss deep in his right leg seemed to have grown even colder and more silent after he entered the Su family estate, which was filled with the atmosphere of ancient martial arts, like a venomous snake lurking in the shadows. The ghostly glow of -0.3304 stubbornly flickered in his mind, every pulse tugging at the exhaustion and dull ache deep in his soul.

His gaze, like a blade tempered in ice, passed through the shifting heads and locked tightly onto the solitary figure in the center of the arena—Su Qingxue.

She was still dressed in a moon-white martial arts uniform, immaculate and spotless, appearing especially cold and aloof beneath the autumn sunlight. Her long black hair was tied behind her head with a simple jade hairpin, revealing her slender, fair neck and breathtaking profile. Yet unlike before, what radiated from her was no longer that aloofness that kept everyone at a distance, but a kind of... almost deathly calm.

There was no sharp aura spilling outward, nor any flow of icy True Qi. She simply stood there quietly, like a frigid spring whose depths could not be seen. Every edge and trace of cold had been restrained to the extreme. This abnormal calm instead made the atmosphere throughout the arena inexplicably heavier. Many Branch family clansmen looked at her with concern and a trace of barely perceptible awe. On the Main Branch's side, however, there was more scrutiny, mockery, and undisguised hostility.

"Putting on an act!" A harsh voice rang out from the front row of the Main Branch viewing seats.

Su Hao wore an expensive black martial outfit and sat boldly in a broad redwood chair. He was powerfully built, his face carrying the characteristic arrogance of a Main Branch disciple. His eyes were sharp as a hawk's, sweeping over Su Qingxue in the arena without the slightest restraint, while a cold, confident smile curled at the corner of his lips. Sitting beside him was his father, the Main Branch steward Su Zhenshan. Su Zhenshan's expression was calm as he held a teacup, his eyes lowered as though nothing in the arena concerned him. Yet the sinister look that occasionally flashed deep in his eyes whenever they passed over Su Qingxue was like a venomous snake flicking its tongue.

"Hao'er, don't underestimate her." Su Zhenshan set down his teacup. His voice was not loud, but it clearly reached the Main Branch disciples nearby. "That girl managed to break through to the Martial Artist realm and even dared to accept the challenge. She must have something to rely on. Be careful of her 'Jade Balance Hidden Meridian.'"

"Father, you're worrying too much." Su Hao let out a derisive laugh and rolled his wrists, his knuckles cracking sharply. An icy aura far more pronounced than Su Qingxue's slowly rose from him, forming a faint white chill around his body. "Her paltry cultivation is a joke before my 'Nine Cold Strengths'! Triggering the hidden meridian's cold energy to backfire? Hmph, she brought that on herself! Today, I'll make her understand once and for all that a Branch family member will always be a Branch family member!"

He deliberately raised his voice, filling it with undisguised contempt and viciousness. It clearly spread throughout the entire arena. Suppressed, furious mutters instantly arose from the Branch family section, while the Main Branch responded with approving jeers and excited laughter at the spectacle.

From within the shadows, the corner of Lin Xiao's mouth soundlessly lifted into a cold curve. Something to rely on? Su Hao, you'll soon learn what true reliance is!

"The time has come!" An old man with a full head of white hair and a steady, profound aura walked to the edge of the arena. His booming voice suppressed all the commotion. "Branch family Su Qingxue versus Main Branch Su Hao! The minor competition begins!"

As the old man's voice fell, the entire arena instantly fell silent, so quiet that a needle could be heard dropping. Every gaze focused on the two figures in the arena.

Su Hao rose to his full height like a fierce tiger descending the mountain. Carrying an oppressive force, he crossed several steps and entered the center of the arena. The cold around him grew even stronger. Fine ice crystals even formed on the bluestone beneath his feet, making faint cracking sounds. His gaze flashed like lightning as he locked onto Su Qingxue, a cruel, cat-playing-with-a-mouse smile on his lips. "Little Sister Qingxue, please. Let your elder brother see just how much substance there is to this Martial Artist realm you 'happened' to obtain. Don't... shatter the moment I touch you!"

A provocation—blatant provocation!

Su Qingxue slowly raised her head, her eyes like icy springs turning toward Su Hao. There was no anger, no fear, not even the slightest emotional fluctuation—only a profound, unsettling calm. She said nothing, merely turning slightly and assuming a starting stance. Her movements were fluid and natural, without the slightest trace of artifice, as though she had merely stretched her body at random.

Yet this calmness, this casual manner, caused the smile on Su Hao's face to stiffen slightly! The anger, panic, and forced composure he had expected... none of them appeared! His opponent was calm... like a block of ice that had existed for ten thousand years!

"Hmph! Playing tricks!" An inexplicable irritation rose in Su Hao's heart. He snorted and decided not to waste any more words. He would end this quickly and completely crush this ignorant Branch family girl before everyone present!

"Take this palm!"

With a violent shout, Su Hao suddenly lunged forward! His speed was astonishing, carrying a streak of white chill with it! His right palm was instantly covered by a layer of crystal-clear ice crystals that radiated a bone-piercing cold! Before his palm wind even arrived, an icy chill that seemed capable of freezing the soul had already rushed toward her face!

Cold Jade Palm!

The target was aimed directly at Su Qingxue's chest! The palm strike was vicious and fierce, without the slightest restraint! Wherever the palm wind passed, the air made faint cracking sounds as it froze!

This palm not only contained the vigorous True Qi of Su Hao, a peak One-Star Martial Artist, but also concealed the sinister follow-up move of triggering the cold energy in the Jade Balance Hidden Meridian to backfire. Once it struck and the cold energy invaded, the Jade Balance Hidden Meridian in Su Qingxue's body—which Lin Xiao had forcibly "optimized"—would immediately become a powder keg destined to bury its own master!

The Branch family clansmen at the edge of the arena instantly held their breaths. Many could not bear to watch and even closed their eyes. On the Main Branch's side, suppressed cheers and excited whispers filled with anticipation erupted.

Su Zhenshan's fingers tightened slightly around his teacup, and a trace of delight flashed deep in his eyes.

Lin Xiao's left hand, hidden in his sleeve, quietly clenched the cold, hard, razor-sharp enhanced dagger. The icy touch through his palm stimulated his nerves, exhausted from overtaxing his Source Energy. He stared fixedly at Su Hao's ice-covered right palm. Deep in his pupils, a ghostly blue light flashed and vanished!

Target locked: Su Hao... right palm, Laogong acupoint... True Qi circulation trajectory... Marked point "fuse" energy activity: high!

Warning! Insufficient Source Energy Points! Unable to perform environmental micro-manipulation!

Source Energy Points: -0.3304!

The feeling of depletion was like a cold shackle! Yet the cold curve at the corner of Lin Xiao's mouth grew even more pronounced.

Su Qingxue, it's up to you!

In the arena, facing Su Hao's ferocious, bone-chilling Cold Jade Palm, Su Qingxue moved!

She did not choose to meet it head-on, nor did she retreat in panic. At the instant that lethal ice-covered palm was about to strike her chest, her footwork became as light as stepping over snow without leaving a trace, sliding half a step to the left and rear! The movement was tiny, yet it avoided the strongest point of the palm with exquisite precision! At the same time, her eyes, like icy springs, seemed to sweep inadvertently over a certain spot on Su Hao's right arm—that was precisely where the key "fuse" lay in the technique path Lin Xiao had "optimized" through the modifier, the point that triggered the backlash of the Nine Cold Strengths!

Buzz!

At the instant Su Qingxue's gaze swept over it, the surging Nine Cold Strengths True Qi within Su Hao's body passed through that node, which Lin Xiao had secretly marked and forcibly "optimized" to make even "smoother," and without warning... fluctuated violently!

The fluctuation was extremely subtle. Even Su Hao himself failed to notice it! Yet that instant of turbulence was like a speck of dust tossed into a precise gear mechanism, causing his originally smooth and vicious Cold Jade Palm to develop an extremely slight... stagnation that even he himself did not realize.

The palm wind swept past the corner of Su Qingxue's clothing! The sharp cold sliced a tiny tear into her moon-white martial arts uniform, and several strands of severed hair drifted down! It had been a hair's breadth from hitting her!

Su Hao's palm struck empty air. His body leaned forward slightly from the powerful momentum, and a trace of astonishment flashed through his eyes. How is this possible? She actually dodged it? And she dodged it so... effortlessly?

At the instant when his old strength had just faded and his new strength had yet to arise!

The extreme calm Su Qingxue had maintained finally shattered!

Her eyes, like icy springs, suddenly erupted with soul-stirring, frigid radiance! It was as though a sleeping iceberg had abruptly awakened! A chill far purer and colder than Su Hao's burst from her body without warning, exploding like a volcano!

"Ice Lotus... First Bloom!"

Her icy voice rang clearly through the silent arena like jade beads falling onto a plate!