One Strike Decides It, Feng Qing'er Loses Again

With time pressing, Sun Qi wanted to finish the fight quickly.

"Then you'd better be careful." Sun Qi reached into his ear and shouted, "Hah! Take a blow from Old Sun's cudgel!"

A golden needle flew from his ear and grew in the wind, becoming a golden cudgel twelve feet long and as thick as a bowl's rim in the blink of an eye. Golden light flowed along its shaft, and its markings were profound and mysterious.

Sun Qi gripped the Golden Cudgel with both hands. With another thought from him, it abruptly swelled into a towering pillar over a hundred feet long and as thick as a water vat. The cudgel stretched across the air, casting a shadow that engulfed Feng Qing'er completely.

He swung the enormous cudgel down at Feng Qing'er's head.

The moment the wind from the cudgel bore down on her, Feng Qing'er went rigid.

The force of the descending Golden Cudgel was more terrifying than any high-level Dou Technique she had ever seen. Before it even reached her, the wind pressure pinned her skirt tightly against her legs, locking onto her in an instant.

Her mind buzzed, and only then did she realize she had to dodge. But her legs felt as though they were filled with lead, and she couldn't move them at all.

I'm done for! There's no time to dodge!

Feng Qing'er's pupils contracted sharply as she watched the huge golden cudgel grow larger and larger in her vision.

Just as the Golden Cudgel came within a foot of her head, the space behind her suddenly shattered. A slender white hand shot out and forcibly caught the shaft with one hand.

Boom-!

The muffled clang of colliding metal and iron blasted a ring of air outward for a hundred yards in every direction.

The shock wave sent Feng Qing'er staggering back several steps. She turned to see a young man in Wind Lightning Pavilion robes standing behind her. He looked no older than his twenties or thirties, with a handsome face and a head of white hair swept to one side. One hand held the Golden Cudgel steadily aloft.

Only the cudgel's shadow remained reflected on Feng Qing'er's pretty, rosy cheeks.

The man held up the enormous golden cudgel with one hand. From a distance, he looked like an ant stopping a chopstick.

He had torn space apart with his bare hands and caught Sun Qi's full-force blow with such effortless composure. His strength was at least that of a Four-Star Dou Zong!

Seeing someone catch his Golden Cudgel, Sun Qi immediately withdrew his strength. The Golden Cudgel shrank back to twelve feet, and he held it across his arms.

He had long known that Feng Qing'er had a protector following her in secret. How could someone from the Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan travel without an expert accompanying her? That was why he had put all his strength into that blow.

Looking at the other man's robes, Sun Qi immediately recognized him as likely being an elder of the Wind Lightning Pavilion.

"Senior from the Wind Lightning Pavilion, are you all right?" Sun Qi stepped forward, sounding somewhat embarrassed.

The young man was none other than Fei Tian, the future master of the Wind Lightning Pavilion's Northern Pavilion.

Fei Tian withdrew his hand and put it behind his back, a gentle smile on his face.

"It's nothing. Young friend, you've got quite some strength."

Fei Tian smiled with effortless composure, but the hand behind his back quietly clenched into a fist. His knuckles turned white and trembled slightly.

He had never imagined that Sun Qi, whose cultivation was only at the Dou Ling realm, could deliver such a terrifying blow.

Even he, a mighty Dou Zong expert, had needed a full half of his strength to catch it.

Only for the sake of his dignity had he gritted his teeth through the aching numbness in his palm and pretended nothing was wrong.

As expected of the Central Plains' number one alchemist's favorite disciple, his strength was truly formidable.

Sun Qi glanced at the hand behind Fei Tian's back and immediately understood. He didn't expose him, merely cupping his hands.

He said politely, "Old Sun isn't yet skilled with this cudgel. As long as you weren't hurt, that's good."

Only then did Feng Qing'er recover from her shock. She stared at Sun Qi with wide eyes.

"You... what kind of weapon is that?"

"Its power is terrifying!"

Sun Qi rested the Golden Cudgel on his shoulder and grinned.

Although he was still within the Starfall Pavilion's sphere of influence, he didn't want anyone coveting his precious cudgel.

He immediately made something up. "It has nothing to do with the weapon. Old Sun is simply strong, that's all."

"If you were as strong as Old Sun, you could unleash that kind of power even with a tree branch."

"By the way, may I ask this Wind Lightning Pavilion senior's name?" Sun Qi tactically changed the subject.

Sun Qi was Yao Chen's personal disciple and had appeared at the Four Pavilions Assembly, so as a Wind Lightning Pavilion elder, Fei Tian naturally knew who he was.

"Fei Tian, an inner elder of the Wind Lightning Pavilion."

"We met at the Four Pavilions Assembly."

So they had met back then. Sun Qi felt a little embarrassed that he hadn't remembered him.

He only knew two people from the Wind Lightning Pavilion: its pavilion master and the girl in the blue dress before him.

Fei Tian made three.

Looking at Fei Tian's cool, cute face, Sun Qi had no intention of talking to him much longer.

He turned the conversation back to Feng Qing'er.

"Hey, stupid bird, Old Sun won that fight, didn't he?"

At the words "stupid bird," Feng Qing'er's pretty brows instantly knitted, and her phoenix eyes widened into a glare.

"Who are you calling a stupid bird?!"

Sun Qi tucked the Golden Cudgel into his ear and spread his hands.

"Whoever answers to it."

Feng Qing'er stamped her feet in anger, her blue-green skirt fluttering, but there was nothing she could do about this monkey.

Proud as she was, she had to admit that she really had lost, and that she hadn't even been able to fight back. The gap between them was simply too great.

She had seen that blow clearly. If Fei Tian hadn't intervened, she would probably be embedded in the mountainside by now.

She bit her lower lip, turned her head away, and squeezed out a few words through her teeth.

"Fine... you win."

Sun Qi grinned and cupped his hands to her.

"Thanks for going easy on me. Since what happened back then is all settled, Old Sun will be on his way."

He called out toward the sky, and the Somersault Cloud came billowing forth. It carried him straight into the heavens and sped north.

After flying some ten-odd miles, Sun Qi raised an eyebrow and glanced back.

Two streaks of light were pursuing him relentlessly, one blue-green and the other blue-gray.

Thinking Feng Qing'er had gone back on her word, Sun Qi immediately braked in midair, and the Somersault Cloud came to a halt.

He turned around and planted his hands on his hips as he looked at the two catching up to him.

"Stupid bird, why are you still following Old Sun?" Sun Qi tilted his head, a mischievous smile on his lips. "Could it be you've taken a fancy to Old Sun and want to be his wife?"

Feng Qing'er heard this just as she caught up. Her cheeks flamed red, and she nearly choked.

"Pah! Who's taken a fancy to you?!" she spat angrily, pointing a finger almost against Sun Qi's nose. "Shameless stinking monkey! This young lady is just going back to the Wind Lightning Pavilion! Who's following you?!"

Sun Qi stared blankly, looking from Fei Tian to Feng Qing'er before finally realizing what was going on.

So this stupid bird was going home and just happened to be headed the same way.

Feng Qing'er's chest heaved with anger, and it took her quite a while to calm down. Then she suddenly noticed that Sun Qi was also flying north.

"You're going to the Northern Region too?"

Sun Qi nodded, with no intention of hiding it from her.

Feng Qing'er's eyes darted about. Some of her shame and anger vanished in an instant, replaced by a deliberately demure look.