Victory
Sang Ying endured the burning pain as she watched the gap created by the Sword Qi quickly fill with flames.
The orange flames seemed to grow, constantly encroaching on Sang Ying's space. If it weren't for the resistance of her ice-attribute Sword Qi, she would probably have been engulfed by the flames long ago.
The Sword Qi couldn't break through the fire array from the inside, and the ice-attribute Spiritual Qi couldn't extinguish the flames either. Sang Ying was also stumped by this fire array for a time.
Having been trapped in the fire array for an unknown period of time, Sang Ying gradually showed signs of exhaustion.
She gradually built a protective wall of ice around herself, barely managing to keep the scorching heat outside. However, this method only addressed the symptoms, not the root cause. Under the constant licking of the flames, the thick ice wall gradually melted, as if the outcome had already been predetermined.
Sang Ying frowned slightly, pondering whether to use the sword move again.
Just then, two familiar figures suddenly appeared in the sea of fire.
The man was tall and strong, the woman gentle and kind. The image of the two leaning on each other was the scene that Sang Ying could never forget.
Her throat suddenly went dry, and she didn't dare to breathe loudly, afraid that if she made a sound, she would wake the two people in front of her and turn this meeting into a dream.
"Yingying, come quickly, come to your mother!" The woman spoke first, opening her arms to Sang Ying as if waiting for her to rush into her embrace.
The man beside her chimed in, "Why are you moving so slowly this time? Didn't you say you learned a new sword move and were going to show it to us?"
This was the last conversation between Sang Ying and her parents before they left the clan.
At that time, Sang Ying had just learned a basic Swordsmanship from the Flowing Light Sword Sect and wanted to demonstrate it to her parents. However, the two were on their way to the secret realm and didn't have time to watch Sang Ying's Swordsmanship.
The two sides had no choice but to make an agreement: when they returned, they would show them how much progress their daughter had made.
But they were gone for more than ten years.
"Come here, Yingying, you've grown so much, and your mother hasn't had a chance to really look at you yet!" The gentle-faced woman urged softly, seemingly unable to wait to embrace her daughter.
The thick ice wall finally collapsed under the relentless onslaught of the flames. At this moment, Sang Ying seemed to have lost her mind and no longer cared about the competition.
She stepped into the sea of fire, trudging towards the two figures with uneven steps.
They were exactly as Sang Ying remembered them, even their clothes were the same as before. Time had left no trace on them; it seemed that as long as Sang Ying threw herself into their arms, the family could immediately return to the way things were.
The flames reignited at Sang Ying's feet, scorching the hem of her skirt.
She seemed oblivious to the pain, focusing solely on the two figures.
Finally, Sang Ying stood before them, and smiles appeared on the faces of Sang Zheng and his wife.
They gently opened their arms to Sang Ying, coaxing her softly, "Come here, let your parents hug you."
His tone was exactly the same as Sang remembered.
Sang Ying finally closed her eyes and resignedly fell into their arms.
The two figures closed their arms, and when they pulled the female cultivator in front of them into their embrace, the outcome of the competition would be decided.
The figure's arm moved slowly, as if to pull the blue-clad female cultivator in front of it into the raging fire.
But before they could completely embrace Sang Ying, their upturned lips froze on the spot.
The figures lowered their chins slightly, shifting their gaze downwards.
The snow-white blade pierced through one of their bodies, leaving only half of it exposed.
Before the other could make a move, the swordsman suddenly drew his sword and thrust it at him again.
The swordsman's movements were terrifyingly fast; before they could even react, they were already cut in half at the waist by the longsword!
They tilted their heads toward Sang Ying, seemingly puzzled as to what had gone wrong that had allowed her to notice something amiss.
The orange firelight reflected the coldness in Sang Ying's eyes. "Thank you for letting me see my parents. But you may not know, my mother never calls me Yingying."
Sang Ying slowly withdrew the Floating River Sword. The two figures in front of her gradually lost their human form and turned into a ball of flame, which was assimilated by the surrounding sea of fire.
As the two figures vanished completely, the sea of fire finally revealed its true power. The raging flames surged skyward, relentlessly rushing towards Sang Ying, determined to drag her into boundless despair.
The Floating River Sword hummed slightly, trembling excitedly, as if it couldn't wait to join the battle.
Sang Ying shook off her previous fatigue and dejection, raising her longsword to her chest. "Only in this way can this competition be considered fair!"
Blue Spiritual Qi surged from her body like a tsunami, rushing towards her opponent with unprecedented ferocity.
Outside the fire array, Chi Yan heard a "crack" sound, as if something had shattered.
The next moment, his pressure suddenly lessened, and the array that had been continuously draining his Spiritual Power abruptly severed its connection with him.
At the same time, the red mist on the dueling platform gradually shrank—this was supposed to be a sign of the fire formation's victory, but Chi Yan felt no joy at all.
He reached out, trying to use the red mist to probe the situation inside the fire formation, but as soon as Chi Yan's hand touched it, he felt a white lightness before his eyes and his body lighten.
When he crashed heavily to the ground, Chi Yan knew he had lost.
Filled with deep resentment and disbelief, Chi Yan struggled to take one last look at the person on the dueling platform before finally fainting.
The explosion of the dueling arena drew everyone's attention. After the thick red mist was dispelled by the blue Spiritual Qi, a slender figure gradually appeared.
On the fifth fighting platform, Dong Fuzhu stared intently at the fourth fighting platform, not daring to even blink.
Ten Thousand Daos Born's disciples desperately suppressed their breathing, their hearts pounding wildly in their chests.
In the distant stands, Jiulian had already reached for the Spirit Artifact Elder Xu had pulled out. "Mara Gate for their generosity; this gift is perfectly appropriate."
He cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards Elder Xu, his expression utterly sincere.
He was just worried about not having anything good to give his disciples as a reward when Elder Xu conveniently delivered it to his door.
If anyone ever says that the Mara Gate is treacherous and cunning again, Jiulian will definitely be the first to jump out and refute them. How bad can a sect that can so easily give away several Spirit Artifact be?!
Elder Xu, who had been deeply grateful to Elder Gu and Elder Gu, could only manage a wry smile and remain silent.
The elder in charge of the fourth arena sighed and put his magical Law Artifact, which had almost been destroyed, into his robes.
The swordsman in the blue dress coldly sheathed his sword. Even though he looked slightly disheveled, his aura was still undeniably powerful.
The elder touched his Law Artifact with a pained expression, glared fiercely at Sang Ying, and then loudly announced, "In this battle, Ten Thousand Daos Born and Sang Ying are victorious!"
The cheers once again resounded throughout the arena. Perhaps because they had been holding back for so long, this cheer was especially loud and sustained. It was as if they were shouting out all their strength, and they only stopped when the judges and elders were sore from the noise.
This battle is the sequel to Sang Ying's rise to the Immortal Spirit Realm, and also the beginning of Ten Thousand Daos Born's return to the top.