A Thorough Beating

"Don't worry. I won't overpower you with Dou Qi."

Nalan Yanran had never imagined that one day, a boy around her own age would speak to her in the patronizing tone of someone granting her a favor. An inexplicable fury surged within her.

"You're a Three-Star Dou Zhe, right?" Xiao Qian spread his hands, his gaze full of disdain. "I won't use a weapon, and I'll only use Ninth Stage Dou Qi."

"What?!" Nalan Yanran's slender body trembled slightly. Feeling utterly humiliated, she pointed her sword at him, her expression furious. "You-you dare look down on me!"

"Those who humiliate others will always be humiliated in turn." Xiao Qian watched her little face grow even more beautiful with anger, his expression still as calm as water. "You can look down on others, so why can't I look down on you?"

Nalan Yanran could not possibly endure such contempt. Her hand clenched sharply, her sword flickered, and she drifted toward him like a phantom. Her sword tip flashed like lightning, shooting straight for Xiao Qian's throat, its cold gleam seemingly intent on taking his life.

"It's the Willow Floss Movement Technique!" Ge Ye's eyes lit up, his heart filling with delighted surprise.

He had never expected Nalan Yanran, who was only a Dou Zhe, to master this movement Dou Technique. Though she had only just crossed its threshold, a Dou Zhe who had never practiced a movement Dou Technique would probably never even touch the hem of her clothes while she used it.

No wonder she had still dared to step forward and fight after learning that Xiao Qian's Dou Qi strength rivaled a Six-Star Dou Zhe's. She truly deserved to be the sect master's disciple.

Clink! Under everyone's astonished gazes, Xiao Qian shaped his right hand into a claw and, at the critical instant, narrowly blocked the sword tip thrusting toward his throat.

Seeing this, Nalan Yanran pressed harder, trying to pierce Xiao Qian's defense, only to discover that she could not break through that seemingly ordinary claw no matter what she did.

"This is... a Dou Technique?!" Her gaze sharpened. At last, she noticed the faint cold gleam emanating from his razor-sharp claw, and her heart jolted.

The next instant, she borrowed the force of Xiao Qian's pitch-black, razor-sharp claw strike to retreat swiftly. Her figure was as light as a wisp of willow floss, drifting out of sight in a blink as though she had melted into the air.

Yet Xiao Qian closed in at that very moment, following her like a shadow. His figure seemed glued to Nalan Yanran; no matter how she used her movement technique, she could not shake him off by even the slightest distance.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Xiao Qian lashed out madly with both claws, striking Nalan Yanran's sword in a dense series of metallic clangs. Like a driving rain drumming against metal, the sound echoed across the square.

Nalan Yanran was stunned. She had never imagined that the Willow Floss Movement Technique on which her reputation rested would become utterly useless against Xiao Qian. Nothing like this had ever happened when she sparred with her fellow disciples.

"He doesn't have a movement Dou Technique. It's just... extraordinary perception. Every time Yanran uses the Willow Floss Movement Technique, he predicts her true direction!"

Ge Ye saw it clearly. Every time Xiao Qian moved, he covered only the shortest possible distance. Unlike Nalan Yanran, his figure did not drift unpredictably, yet he always remained extremely close to her, pressing forward at every step. He constantly kept her on the defensive, leaving her no chance to catch her breath.

"He really is only using Ninth Stage Dou Qi, but paired with his physical strength, it's making things difficult for Nalan Yanran," the Great Elder murmured beside Xiao Zhan, his eyes full of admiration.

Xiao Zhan nodded with a sigh. "And his combat instincts are far stronger than Nalan Yanran's. I really wonder how the power behind him trained him. He's so young, yet it's as though he's fought hundreds upon thousands of battles."

Only experts at the Da Dou Shi level like them could discern the finer details. Everyone else merely found the scene dazzling. The sparks from the clashing claws and sword were like brilliant fireworks, overwhelming their eyes so completely that they could not tell who held the upper hand.

Swish! Suddenly, the two sprang apart, landing on opposite sides of the fighting ground.

Everyone hurriedly looked over. Xiao Qian's expression was unchanged and his breathing steady, as though the fierce battle had not affected him in the slightest.

Across from him, however, Nalan Yanran was panting unevenly. Sweat had soaked the hair over her forehead, sticking it to her face and leaving her looking quite bedraggled.

At her right shoulder, her moon-white robe had been slashed open. Faint traces of blood seeped through, glaringly conspicuous against the pristine fabric.

"Yanran!" Ge Ye's expression changed, and he hurriedly shouted, "Stop fighting! We concede!"

Nalan Yanran did not turn around, much less reveal the slightest weakness. A trace of stubbornness lingered in her expression.

How could I? How could I lose to a boy from a family in some backwater?

Absolutely not!

Humm!

The sword in her hand hummed violently. Wind Dou Qi coiled and surged around its blade. Gradually, an emerald sword phantom actually split off beside her, radiating a piercing aura as though it possessed a life of its own.

"Wind-Form Spirit-Splitting Sword!"

Ge Ye was shocked once again. This was a Mid-Level Mystic Rank Dou Technique!

"Yanran truly is a heaven-born genius. If only she hadn't run into such a freak..." he murmured, his eyes fixed on the fighting ground. He thought that even if Xiao Qian lost this match, he still had to find a way to invite the boy into the Misty Cloud Sect!

Perhaps the sect's higher-ups had already discovered his talent, which was why they had asked Nalan Yanran to invite him along the way.

Ge Ye believed he had already seen through to the truth.

"Is this the strength of the Misty Cloud Sect Master's disciple? We're still fighting over a Yellow Tier Dou Technique, while she's throwing out Mystic Rank Dou Techniques like they cost nothing."

"She can actually use such a high-level Dou Technique. Nalan Yanran's talent is terrifying!"

"Xiao Qian won't lose, will he?"

"Hard to say. He's the one who said he'd only use Ninth Stage Dou Qi..."

Murmurs rose and fell throughout the crowd without pause. Yet the two fighters seemed deaf to those voices, wholly absorbed in their fierce battle.

Nalan Yanran in particular had focused her entire being on the cold, ferocious boy before her.

But what filled her with despair was that even after using the Wind-Form Spirit-Splitting Sword, she still could not suppress him. A sense of defeat gradually took root deep within her.

Nalan Yanran had risen to fame young, adored by countless boys in the Imperial Capital. Later, Sect Master Yun Yun, a Dou Huang expert, had recognized her talent and taken her as a personal disciple. After joining the sect, she had also earned the elders' approval and was gradually being groomed as the future sect master...

Her life of little more than a decade read like a glorious legend, enough to define what it meant to be heaven's favored daughter.

She had thought her life would always sail so smoothly, that everyone her age could only gaze helplessly at her retreating back, as though looking up at the unreachable moon in the highest heavens.

Yet she had never imagined she would suffer such a crushing setback in this little city on the empire's frontier.

"Impossible! I don't believe it! I will never lose!"

The girl's voice and expression were fierce. In her agitation, the ribbon binding her hair snapped, sending her long hair flying in the wind.

The sword in her hand attacked wildly, as though possessed. She seemed deranged, utterly disregarding her own defense.

"Now!"

Yet she had not realized that Xiao Qian was also waiting for the perfect opportunity-the moment when her emotions ran out of control and she neglected her defense.

"Watch out!"

Ge Ye's warning ultimately came too late. In that instant, the boy's gaze turned ice-cold. He actually used his immensely powerful body to withstand Nalan Yanran's thrust head-on while closing in, his claws unleashing streak after streak of bladed light.

Like a torrential downpour, those streaks enveloped the girl's entire body in an instant, their speed astounding.

Rip, rip, rip. Bloody streaks spread across Nalan Yanran's robes. The tearing pain coursing through her whole body nearly made her faint.

"Ugh." Nalan Yanran let out a soft, agonized groan. Her delicate body could no longer hold up, and she crashed to the ground with a thud, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Xiao Qian did not pursue her. Instead, he retreated a few steps and landed steadily, his expression as indifferent as ever.

"You lost." His voice carried a condescending contempt-at least, that was how it sounded to Nalan Yanran, deepening her sense of humiliation.

"I haven't!" Despite being wounded all over, the girl drew on an astonishing obsession to struggle back to her feet, supporting herself with her sword. Then she staggered toward Xiao Qian and slashed at him.

She looked both miserable and pitiful, yet Xiao Qian felt not a shred of pity.

"Heh." Xiao Qian's gaze chilled slightly. "Fine. I'll leave you with a humiliation you'll never forget, too."

Thud, thud, thud... As casually as if he were strolling through a quiet courtyard, he easily knocked the sword from the girl's hand. Yet he did not stop attacking. He merely withdrew his claw Dou Technique and turned his hands into ordinary fists, raining blows down on Nalan Yanran's head and face.

"That's for your arrogance! That's for humiliating others! That's for looking down on everyone!..."

Every punch was accompanied by Xiao Qian's roar. He seemed intent on returning twice the humiliation Nalan Yanran had inflicted on Xiao Yan.

Thud, thud, thud...

The sight left everyone frozen like wooden chickens. Their eyes widened as they stared at the scene in utter shock, as though unable to believe it was real.

"You-you... you..."

Nalan Yanran wearily tried to block him. Her hands gradually lost their strength, and her eyes grew numb. She seemed to have fallen into endless darkness.

By now, every trace of her former splendor was gone. She was like a rag doll whose soul had been drawn out.

She could imagine how utterly wretched she looked now, her face swollen and bruised...

"Stop!"

Ge Ye could endure it no longer. No longer caring about Xiao Xun'er, who watched coldly from the side, he roared and charged forward like a maddened beast, forcibly rescuing Nalan Yanran from Xiao Qian's attacks.

"Xun'er, do you have the full-length mirror you use when trying on clothes in your Storage Ring?" Xiao Qian suddenly asked.

Xiao Xun'er froze briefly, then understood. She nodded and took it out of her Storage Ring.

Xiao Qian actually carried the full-length mirror over to Nalan Yanran and smiled coldly. "Heaven's favored daughter, take a look at yourself now."

Supported by Ge Ye, Nalan Yanran struggled to raise her eyes. When she saw her bruised, swollen, utterly wretched face in the mirror, the last line of defense in her heart collapsed completely.

Pfft.

The next instant, humiliation and fury assailed the girl's heart. She spat out a mouthful of blood and lost consciousness.

Everyone: "..."

The entire square fell deathly silent. Everyone was stunned speechless by this dramatic scene. None of them had ever imagined things would turn out this way.