Master, I've Earned Back the Money You Wagered

"This Jiang Qingyi is impressive."

"I heard that when Jiang Qingyi was first brought to the Dragon Spring Sword Sect by Elder Xiao, she couldn't even enter the Qi Refining Stage for months."

"Isn't that the truth? At the time, they said Jiang Qingyi was like a waste, but who would've thought she'd suddenly have a great awakening and progress so fast."

"Elder Xiao's judgment is truly sharp."

On the spectator platform, Xiao Mo's companions were buzzing with comments about Jiang Qingyi.

Xiao Mo watched Qingyi receiving treatment and felt a bit dazed himself.

Xiao Mo could never have imagined that Qingyi would actually make it to the finals.

What did this feeling resemble?

Qingyi was like the protagonist of a novel—every time she was on the verge of defeat, she would comprehend something at a critical moment, or else break through on the spot.

Take the semifinals, for example. When Jiang Qingyi was in dire straits, she refused to surrender even to the death, and in the end, she actually broke through to the Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer!

Xiao Mo began to wonder if the "experience of life" in the Book of a Hundred Lives meant that each life was the struggle of a protagonist, and he was merely playing a supporting role.

If that were the case, Xiao Mo didn't mind. At least Qingyi had the protagonist's halo, so she wouldn't easily meet with an accident.

"Finals! Linggan Peak's Jiang Qingyi versus Yunhai Hall's Xiao Yan!"

A steward's shout rang out.

Jiang Qingyi rose and walked toward the largest formation in the center of the plains.

The moment she stepped into the formation, Jiang Qingyi turned her head, looked toward Xiao Mo's direction, and gave a brilliant smile.

Xiao Mo frowned and mouthed the words "don't be reckless" to her.

Before the finals, a master could surrender on behalf of their disciple.

But in the finals, only the disciple themselves could surrender.

Yet who among those who made it to the finals wasn't a proud and arrogant genius?

Unless they were beaten to the point of being unable to get up, they would never surrender.

In fact, in previous New Blood Martial Arts Competition finals, deaths had occurred.

Jiang Qingyi acted as if she hadn't heard her master's instruction and stepped into the formation.

The match began, and Xiao Yan lived up to his reputation as the championship favorite and the most talented genius of the new generation.

Having already absorbed three types of Exotic Fire, he was half a step into Foundation Establishment, and his realm quality was astonishingly exaggerated.

Each of Xiao Yan's Exotic Fires carried different properties, and as his long sword swung out, their power surged even more.

Jiang Qingyi had no room to fight back; she could only flee constantly, searching for an opportunity.

"Is running all you can do?"

Xiao Yan sneered, raising his long sword high.

A wave of sword energy imbued with the Bone Spirit Cold Fire's properties slashed down.

Jiang Qingyi couldn't dodge in time and was forced to block it with the Mystic Frost Sword.

The young girl was sent flying twenty meters.

Her long sword stabbed into the ground as Jiang Qingyi coughed a few times, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

Xiao Yan wouldn't give Jiang Qingyi a chance to catch her breath.

In an instant, Xiao Yan's long sword arrived again, aimed straight at Jiang Qingyi's brow.

Jiang Qingyi flicked it away with her sword and executed the second move of the Grass Character Sword Art—Dragon-Snake Brushstroke.

The young girl's sword moves were like wild cursive calligraphy, each strike bizarre and unpredictable, yet flowing with a natural grace.

Her Sword Qi left ink-like afterimage trails in the air.

Although Jiang Qingyi lacked power, her footwork was agile.

By combining her movement with her sword moves, every strike came from an extremely tricky angle.

Moreover, when Jiang Qingyi attacked, afterimages lingered in the air, carrying a faint disorienting effect and briefly persisting to compress her opponent's space.

Within ten exchanges, Xiao Yan's body was marked with cuts.

Some thought Jiang Qingyi had turned defense into offense and even gained the upper hand.

But in truth, Xiao Mo and the other elders and stewards all knew that Jiang Qingyi's damage to Xiao Yan was limited, and Xiao Yan was brewing something big, aiming for a one-hit kill!

"Interesting, but a pity—not enough. The New Blood Martial Arts Competition's first place is mine."

After pulling away, Xiao Yan felt the time was right.

He stepped forward, and one Sword Lotus after another bloomed on the ground.

Blazing flames swept through Jiang Qingyi's long hair.

"As a fellow disciple, I'll give you one last chance: surrender! Otherwise, if I use this move, you'll die!" Xiao Yan's body radiated waves of fire.

Though he was merely a Qi Refining Stage cultivator, at this moment, Xiao Yan seemed like a god.

Jiang Qingyi took a deep breath, rose to her feet, and drew her longsword. "Come, then!"

"You have nerve!"

Xiao Yan let out a great shout as one Sword Lotus after another bloomed beneath his feet.

Cracks spread across every single lotus.

The next moment, the Sword Lotuses burst apart.

"Qingyi! Surrender!" Xiao Mo shouted.

Though he knew this was merely experiencing a life, Xiao Mo also understood that everything in the Book of a Hundred Lives was false.

But after spending so much time together, how could he possibly have no feelings for Qingyi?

It was like binge-watching a drama—when you saw Ran Bing in the Spirit Cage turn into Wangwang Crushed Ice, it still hurt.

Xiao Yan's Sword Qi, Spiritual Energy, and Exotic Fire churned together.

Every time a lotus shattered, a shockwave blasted toward Jiang Qingyi.

When the nine Sword Lotuses had all broken, Jiang Qingyi bled from Seven Orifices. She dropped to one knee, unable even to stand, yet she still refused to surrender.

The final Sword Lotus was about to shatter as well—the most powerful one of all.

Staring at that lotus, Jiang Qingyi remembered the bandits bursting into her home, her parents stuffing her into a cabinet, and herself watching through the crack as her parents died before her very eyes.

She remembered being taken away by the bandits to a magnificent mansion, where they spoke of extracting her bones.

She remembered waking up to find herself thrown onto a hillside littered with corpses.

She remembered begging on the streets, living day by day.

Finally, The young girl remembered stealing a few baozi, nearly beaten by the baozi shop owner with his staff—until her master stood before her.

Because she had met her master, she could live.

Because she had met her master, she could cultivate.

I cannot let Master down!

Master is my everything.

The young girl took a deep breath, rose to her feet, and the Xuan Shuang Long Sword in her hand bloomed with one Sword Intent after another.

Nine in total.

"Is that... the fourth form of the Grass Character Sword Art, the Nine Leaves Sword?"

"Boom!"

The instant the final Sword Lotus exploded, the girl thrust her sword forward.

A tremendous sound erupted from the formation, dust and sand billowing dozens of meters high.

Xiao Mo immediately flew down from the spectator stands and rushed into the formation.

With a wave of his hand, the dust cleared, revealing Qingyi standing in place.

On the other side of the formation, Xiao Yan had already collapsed, completely unconscious.

"Qingyi!" Xiao Mo called out.

Hearing his voice, Jiang Qingyi turned around, smiled faintly at her master, and then pitched forward.

Xiao Mo hurried forward and caught Jiang Qingyi in his arms.

"Master,"

Jiang Qingyi said weakly from within Xiao Mo's embrace.

"The money Master bet—your disciple has won it back for you."