“Lin Shuang’s current schedule: practice playing, one incense stick worth of time.”
“It’s better not to interrupt me.”
“Today’s practice piece: Enter the Dream. Please, with me, here and now, share this pillow and sleep.”
On the arena stage, rows of characters formed by spiritual energy appeared clearly.
Lin Shuang and the other two stood behind a series of erhus.
The erhu strings were strung across each instrument.
Zhu Jiao and the other two from the Hundred Flowers Sect immediately broke into a sweat, as if facing a formidable enemy.
[With a hundred erhus, which one will Lin Shuang play “Enter the Dream” on?]
[Could it be that Huangpu Yuan and Meng Zi are also capable?]
[Even if all three can play, they can’t control a hundred erhus simultaneously… More than ninety of them are likely just to confuse Zhu Jiao from the Hundred Flowers Sect.]
[Ah, how could it be like this—success and failure both lie with Zhu Jiao.]
[From the previous ‘let me fight for a moment,’ Zhu Jiao’s four-season techniques from the Hundred Flowers Sect have essentially been neutralized.]
[How have they been neutralized? Weren’t they used well by Lin Shuang? From back then in the Zhao family to today, Zhu Jiao helped get rid of the Wanseng Sect and also consumed one of Zhu Jiao’s Four Seasons of Time. Ah. The Qingshui Sect used it very well.]
[…]
On the arena, Zhu Jiao’s face was dark.
Looking up at the hundred erhus, she finally confirmed, “Lin Shuang, I had a suspicion before, but you must have known my cultivation techniques long ago.”
After all, Zhu Jiao had used them before during the Wang Jian layer to resist the tiger’s roar.
But people always have a fluke mentality.
Plus, Lin Shuang was merely an outer sect disciple who previously had little knowledge about the Hundred Flowers Sect.
Zhu Jiao harbored four parts of doubt and six parts of hope, wishing that today’s team battle could catch Lin Shuang off guard.
But in the end, it was the Hundred Flowers Sect that was caught off guard.
Lin Shuang had clearly devised a way to counter the passage of time.
At this moment, all three of them were hidden behind a dense array of erhus in the sky.
A hundred erhus.
But Zhu Jiao’s complete mastery of the Four Seasons of Flowers, which crystallized once every three months, had accumulated to only more than ten times until now.
This mid-to-lower level match also consumed five of those times.
By today, the remaining times were simply insufficient to apply her time techniques to all hundred erhus, to stop or accelerate the passage of time for each.
Her time techniques had been countered!
“Junior Brother Bian, Junior Sister Kong.”
Zhu Jiao sighed.
As the erhu strings were about to be pulled, in an instant, Kong Miaoke and Bian Boxiang moved.
Bian Boxiang’s folding fan expanded instantly, immediately revealing endless green grass, boundless at a glance.
The vast grassland, where the wind blew the grass low enough to see cattle and sheep, seemed to be lifted as a whole, transforming into an immense banana-leaf fan surface.
Suddenly, he gripped the fan handle and swung heavily toward the hundred erhus in the sky where Lin Shuang stood.
Immediately, fierce winds like terrifying waves, accompanied by the fragrance of green grass, swept toward Lin Shuang and the others!
The erhus turned over one after another.
[Bian Boxiang’s ultimate move?]
Senior Sister Li Hua instantly flipped open the book “Single Dogs”—and typed ‘Bian Boxiang’ on the first page.
—Sorry, he already has a cultivation partner.
—Junior Sister, give it up. You pass through a sea of flowers, why cling to a flower that already has a partner?
[!]
[…cunning! Could he have deliberately chosen a cultivation partner so that his ultimate move wouldn’t be recorded in this new set of books?]
—If you wish to know about Bian Boxiang’s heroic deeds, please purchase the “Comprehensive Guide to Core Foundation Potential Ranking Disciples” for 66,666 spirit stones.
[…]
[…]
Senior Sister Li Hua quickly flipped to this book and found Bian Boxiang.
—Ultimate move: Spring Breeze Rebirths.
—Bian Boxiang’s large fan can dispel any attack from opponents with lower cultivation levels than himself.
—You cannot break it, burn it to death, or eliminate his folding fan. As long as he is given a few moments, his banana-leaf fan will regenerate endlessly, like spring grass.
Senior Sister Li Hua sighed, “The books produced by the Hundred Flowers Sect are honest to both young and old. They even sell their own information.”
“During the competition among the twelve sects, this book is being sold in limited quantities, with only the final ten deluxe sets remaining.”
“Each set costs one hundred thousand spirit stones! An opportunity not to be missed…”
[!]
[Damn him!]
In the projection, Lin Shuang pulled out a pile of fire talismans and threw them toward Bian Boxiang’s massive grass fan.
Bian Boxiang’s charming laugh echoed.
“Senior Sister Lin, I advise you to give up.”
“Now is spring, fire attacks are useless against me!”
Spring Breeze Rebirths.
During spring, Bian Boxiang is worth two men.
Most disciples of the Hundred Flowers Sect are like this.
Lin Shuang’s expression was complex. No wonder the annual competition was always held around the spring equinox?
If it were winter, the standard of the Hundred Flowers Sect would decline, and they would have to send disciples like Dongmei or Narcissus to fight?
Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but want to laugh.
“Put away your talismans. Why waste them?” Bian Boxiang said confidently.
—”No problem, Senior Brother Bian. These fire talismans were given to me by Senior Brother from Yunyang Sect.”
Lin Shuang replied in large characters, continuing to throw fire talismans at Bian Boxiang without pause.
Bian Boxiang: “…”
Disciples from Yunyang Sect below: “…”
Lin Shuang kept throwing energetically.
Meanwhile, Huangpu Yuan on the other side threw out several cauldrons to burn his grass fan.
Fire attacks couldn’t completely defeat Bian Boxiang.
But they delayed the timing of his next strike against the erhus.
Kong Miaoke couldn’t help but shout, and her embroidery frame flew out!
“Hundred Flowers Painting, trap!”
The red silk instantly rolled down from the embroidery frame, and in an instant, a springtime scene of blooming flowers in full glory rose into the air.
Branches and leaves of flowers sprouted from the embroidery frame into the sky.
Thick stems of plants emerged rapidly and at an incredible speed.
Each one reached out toward the erhus, binding them.
In an instant, they pulled all the erhus from the sky and slammed them heavily onto the arena!
[!]
[Little Ke, amazing!]
[This is a team battle! It’s not just Zhu Jiao against Lin Shuang and her three!]
[The Hundred Flowers Sect is not weak. Come on!]
[All the erhus have fallen. Zhu Jiao, quickly use the Four Seasons of Time!]
The projection text became excited again.
But it froze in an instant.
As the erhus fell, the figures of Lin Shuang and her companions were revealed.
Lin Shuang stood at the front.
Behind her were Huangpu Yuan and Meng Zi.
They each held two long swords, striking continuously behind Lin Shuang!
The sword qi from the two wide swords on Lin Shuang’s back kept growing stronger!
Lin Shuang was charging again!
This time it wasn’t one charging two!
But two charging one!
Faster!
Almost instantly, Lin Shuang’s core foundation reached the seventh layer → core foundation peak!
“What! Again?” Bian Boxiang looked up and gasped, “It was supposed to be that your schedule today was to play the erhu?”
Believe Lin Shuang, and you lose.
Behind Lin Shuang, Meng Zi and Huangpu Yuan both looked down at Bian Boxiang.
Then, they accelerated their movements.
In an instant, the two wide swords behind Lin Shuang flew into her hands.
—”Take this sword strike!”
[Again!]
[She did it again!]
[I can’t believe her announcements anymore… How about you!]
[“Listen to my music,” a hundred erhus rose, but she was actually brewing sword techniques behind the erhus—Bian Boxiang and Kong Miaoke used their ultimate moves against the erhus for a while… It’s all damn useless! She never intended to play the erhu. I’m really impressed…]
[Don’t say it anymore. It’s too cruel. I can’t watch (even though I’m from Qingshui Sect)]
[…]
[I guess this sword is real.]
[Truth and falsehood, if you don’t dare to believe, the wolf is really here this time.]
The text had just passed by.
Suddenly, the sword qi from the two wide swords in Lin Shuang’s hands merged into one, and in a flash like lightning, it shot toward Bian Boxiang of the Hundred Flowers Sect!
In an instant, it was like a massive dragon sucking water, enveloping his figure!
This sword qi already exceeded Bian Boxiang’s core foundation seventh stage endurance.
His grass fan couldn’t even fan it back!
“Senior Brother Bian!”
Kong Miaoke cried anxiously, and in an instant, the flower branches from her embroidery frame all rushed out, gathering into a wide flower wall above his head!
Forming a tight and seamless defensive flower wall!
But in an instant, this magnificent sword qi like a dragon sucking water actually braked suddenly right in front of Bian Boxiang’s forehead, making a snake-like drift—
Then, it fell on her head.
Kong Miaoke: “??”
Bian Boxiang: “…”
Zhu Jiao took a deep breath, glad she had learned by now not to act rashly before fully understanding the situation!
When the sword qi finally landed on Kong Miaoke, she opened the “Complete Guide to the Four Seasons of Flowers.”
“Four Seasons—Stagnation!”
In an instant, Kong Miaoke’s figure along with the attacking sword qi enveloping her slowed down.
Bian Boxiang instantly fanned, moving Kong Miaoke entirely away from the magnificent sword qi.
The three from the Hundred Flowers Sect all sighed in relief.
A single sword strike from Lin Shuang at her peak core foundation, none of them could withstand it directly!
One sword strike could eliminate one of them!
But fortunately, this was ultimately stolen sword qi.
If it missed, there would be no follow-up.
“Qingshui Sect, you are truly a worthy opponent.”
Bian Boxiang said solemnly.
Looking at Lin Shuang in the air who had just unleashed a sword strike and then stumbled down but then suddenly took out a thick soft sofa to semi-recline on, he twitched his lips.
“But unfortunately, our Hundred Flowers Sect is no slouch either.”
“This battle, we can only use three recovery pills.”
Bian Boxiang looked at Lin Shuang, whose spiritual energy was almost depleted, and at Meng Zi and Huangpu Yuan, who had fallen to Qi Transformation after transferring energy to her.
The Hundred Flowers Sect had dodged her peak strike, and now these three were no longer a threat.
After the previous battle with the Wanseng Sect, they had already used up their three chances to take pills.
“Unless you make pills on the spot, but—”
Bian Boxiang looked at Huangpu Yuan and smiled.
“If I’m not mistaken, this fellow’s pill-making skills are probably quite mediocre, right? At best, you can only make third-grade pills from fifth-grade ingredients, and with my senior sister’s time techniques, you won’t be able to make pills on the arena stage.”
Huangpu Yuan’s expression shifted slightly, his phoenix eyes blinking lightly.
Lin Shuang twitched her lips, and Meng Zi covered his forehead.
Indeed, not only fifth-grade pills, but even first-grade pills, he couldn’t make.
“It’s over now, Senior Sister Lin.” Bian Boxiang and the others took the opportunity to take pills and recover their spiritual energy.
Hundred Flowers Sect: three at Core Foundation Seventh Layer (in peak condition)
Qingshui Sect: Core Foundation Seventh Layer (exhausted), two at Qi Transformation Ninth Layer (spiritual energy transferred)
[“The Hundred Flowers Sect’s regulation on the number of pills used in this match is truly brilliant.”]
[“The Hundred Flowers Sect has always been like this. With a hundred flowers blooming endlessly and the arrival of spring, their natural recovery speed of spiritual energy is faster than other sects. Therefore, by setting the rules, they can definitely suppress other sects’ use of pills. As long as other sects cannot replenish their spiritual energy, the Hundred Flowers Sect can survive to the end and win.”]
[…I see.]
[Qingshui Sect made a mistake. If they had allied with the Wanseng Sect from the beginning and eliminated the Hundred Flowers Sect, they wouldn’t be in this difficult battle now.]
[Yes. I don’t understand why Lin Shuang eliminated a weak opponent and left a strong one… Was it arrogance?]
[I told you so. Charging up isn’t effective; it has too many side effects and relies too much on pills.]
[Now Lin Shuang must be regretting it. Unable to take pills, the Hundred Flowers Sect keeps recovering. What should they do now?]
What should they do?
There’s more than one way to recover spiritual energy in the world.
The fastest way is the “Energy Recovery Chapter”—while consuming energy, don’t forget to replenish it at any time. Only under good physical and mental conditions can one ensure the efficiency of the schedule.
Under Bian Boxiang’s pitying gaze and the misunderstanding shown in the projection text, Lin Shuang’s face showed no panic.
She was slouched on her homemade soft sofa.
She raised one finger toward Bian Boxiang.
[?]
Bian Boxiang: “?”
Lin Shuang’s fingers counted one, two, three…
When she reached this point, suddenly, several streams of blood shot out from behind her.
Huangpu Yuan and Meng Zi’s foreheads instantly bloomed with blood flowers.
Bian Boxiang: “??”
Zhu Jiao and Kong Miaoke: “??”
[Lin Shuang: When she goes crazy, she even kills her own teammates!]
[Lin Shuang: I’m losing, so I’ll send my teammates away first!]
[…]
While the text made jokes, the blood marks on Huangpu Yuan and Meng Zi’s foreheads suddenly emitted spiritual light, like ink flowing, cinnabar connecting head to tail, instantly expanding!
Suddenly, spiritual energy surged on the arena!
Swirling toward the wounds on their foreheads!
[What is this?]
[! This is a talisman mark! These wounds are spiritual gathering talisman marks!]
[? What!]
At the same time, at the same place, the law of conservation of spiritual energy in the world.
Suddenly.
The spiritual energy around the three from the Hundred Flowers Sect ↓
The spiritual energy around Huangpu Yuan and Meng Zi ↑
Third-grade Spiritual Gathering Talisman—Huangpu Yuan and Meng Zi, from Qi Transformation Peak → Core Foundation First Layer → Core Foundation Second Layer…
In no time, they returned to normal levels.
Lin Shuang pulled out three talisman brushes and immediately drew Spiritual Gathering Talismans on her own hands!
Lin Shuang is recovering spiritual energy!
[…]
[When? When did she carve the Spiritual Gathering Talismans on them?]
[Quick—Hundred Flowers Sect, give us a slow-motion replay of what happened just now!]
[Again?]
Every time Lin Shuang and her companions did something, no one could understand it.
[Don’t replay it; it’s better for you.]
[?]
[You wouldn’t want to know, it’s harmful to your Dao heart.]
[??]
[Qingshui Sect disciples: For this question, you can ask disciples Dong and Xi.]
On the spectator mountain, Senior Brother Dao Fa: “…”
He raised a hand to support his forehead.
Lin Shuang defeated Dao Xi just like this.
Counterattack sword technique—Sword of Return to Peace, when she was attacked by Meng Zi and Huangpu Yuan’s sword qi, she rebounded a series of blood marks on them.
The blood marks formed the Spiritual Gathering Talisman marks.
Therefore, while they were transferring energy to her, she completed their Spiritual Gathering.
Senior Brother Dao Fa sighed deeply and for the first time input text into the projection array with spiritual energy.
[“Hundred Flowers Sect, whether you silence her or not, it has no effect on Lin Shuang. Are you sure you still want to continue silencing her?”]
[“This does not affect Lin Shuang and her companions at all, but rather harms the Hundred Flowers Sect itself.”]
When Lin Shuang and her companions could not communicate verbally, the Hundred Flowers Sect could only guess Lin Shuang’s true intentions.
And the Hundred Flowers Sect, guessing Lin Shuang’s intentions, had never been correct from beginning to end.
Instead, they step by step walked into her trap.
From the word ‘talent,’ to the ‘hundred erhus,’ to ‘take this sword strike’…
From beginning to end, the only ones affected by the lack of clear information were the Baihua Sect itself.
Bian Bo and the other two people were busy, but ultimately gained nothing.
[!]
[…]
[It’s not like we gained nothing either—at least we consumed resources. Who could have predicted the existence of a Spirit Gathering Talisman?]
[Hmm… you can’t say it like that. Ever since we sent off the Wansen Sect, the Qingshui Sect hasn’t actually harmed the Baihua Sect.]
[That’s right. Now both sects are at equal peaks. In fact, Meng Zi’s dantian is even more exhausted. It’s hard to say who will ultimately win.]
Dao Dong shook his head.
“Is that so?”
While everyone was discussing, Zhao Keran, who had been unusually quiet during this explanation, suddenly spoke.
“The fastest learner, never making useless moves.”
“Senior apprentice sister’s peak sword strike earlier couldn’t have been meaningless.”
[?]
When she mentioned it, everyone suddenly remembered—Lin Shuang’s peak sword strike that consumed the spiritual energy of their three people.
It had tricked Bian Bo and Kong Miaoke for a round, but in the end, the three from Baihua Sect dodged it.
So, that move was essentially wasted.
Although it did consume one use of Zhu Jiao’s Seasonal Time Technique, Zhu Jiao still had the Four Seasons Bloom remaining, so the loss wasn’t significant.
So, seemingly a draw.
In reality, Lin Shuang was at a disadvantage right now.
But just as everyone was thinking this, a line of astonished text appeared in the projection.
[No!]
Before the person could elaborate, on the arena, Lin Shuang finally stood up from the self-made soft sofa.
She smiled at Zhu Jiao and the others from Baihua Sect, who had just finished taking their pills.
Then, she raised the wide sword she had been dragging on the ground since earlier.
At the tip of the sword was a book very familiar to everyone—
Most familiar to Zhu Jiao.
Five large characters—The Complete Guide to Four Seasons Flowers!
[!]
The three from Baihua Sect instantly looked up in shock!
Zhu Jiao’s expression froze as she quickly looked at her now-empty hands and waist!
“When… when did this happen?”
Was it during that moment when she stopped Lin Shuang’s sword strike, causing the sword qi to miss and relax her guard?
Or was it when the residual sword qi just dissipated, and she was stunned watching the blood spurt from Meng Zi and Huangfu Yuan’s foreheads?
[Dragon Siphon Sword Technique, reached the ultimate realm!]
[The sword that stole the Huoyang Sect’s Fire Talisman!]
[So Meng Zi and Huangfu Yuan had been charging her with energy earlier, pushing her Dragon Siphon to the peak of Condensing Yuan—not to fight anyone from the Baihua Sect, but to steal something all along!?]
[…]
“Dragon Siphon Sword Technique,” Zhao Keran’s voice suddenly rang out in the projection.
“At that time, senior apprentice sister, while cutting wheat, suddenly had an epiphany, realizing she lacked a sword technique that could ‘collect items after defeating enemies.'”
“So, back then, senior apprentice sister had already calculated for today.”
“While fighting, she simultaneously stole your ultimate technique.”
[??]
The projection immediately cut to the former top disciple of Huoyang Sect, whose face at that moment mirrored Zhu Jiao’s expression of shock.
Zhao Keran’s eyes sparkled. “Learn, experiment, apply.”
She clenched her left fist and struck her right palm.
“I finally understand today that back then, when Huoyang Sect’s Fire Talisman was taken, it was probably just a test for senior apprentice sister. Today is when this move reaches its full form.”
Lihua: “…”
[…]
Zhao Keran nodded repeatedly. “With the two senior apprentices boosting her sword qi, she casually disrupted the enemy and stole their ultimate technique. At the same time, senior apprentice sister reflected and formed a Spirit Gathering Formation, channeling energy back to the two senior apprentices until their spiritual energy was saturated.”
“In this way, the enemy’s ultimate technique is gone, like a tiger losing its teeth. Meanwhile, senior apprentice sister and her team return to their best condition, even gaining the enemy’s secret art.”
“Ahh.”
“Last time, senior apprentice sister’s team combo was called ‘Inflation Combination.'”
“So, what should this time be called?”
“Shall we say, ‘I inflate, you pull teeth’?”
[!]
[Pfft—goodness, my spiritual tea.]
[Baihua Sect, why—why do you have to compete with Qingshui Sect for first place! Why won’t you just withdraw from the competition!”]
[So the previously eliminated Wansen Sect was actually the lucky one! At least they kept their wooden fish treasure?]
[Zhu Jiao’s Four Seasons Book was the culmination of years of cultivation! It’s gone…]
[Baihua Sect, surrender already! Please!]
Zhu Jiao’s face turned pale.
With the loss of the Four Seasons Bloom, not only she, but even Bian Bo and Kong Miaoke’s expressions instantly turned tense and dispirited.
It was as if a Baihua Sect hostage was now in Lin Shuang’s hands.
As everyone said, Zhu Jiao’s ultimate technique was too powerful, but it had great limitations.
If fully consumed, she would need to retreat into seclusion for years to re-condense it before she could fight again.
“Junior apprentice sister Lin Shuang! Don’t act rashly!”
Bian Bo, terrified, reached out to her.
“We can talk things through, we can negotiate. Let me remove the silence restriction on you right now!”
Without Zhu Jiao’s technique, it was as if Baihua Sect had lost one member’s support.
The Baihua Sect’s disadvantage was already evident.
Continuing to fight against Lin Shuang and her team…
Bian Bo helplessly looked at Lin Shuang, who was now drawing a second-tier defensive talisman in her hand, and at Huangfu Yuan and Meng Zi behind her, who had raised their swords again to charge her sword qi.
Continuing the battle would bring nothing but harm to the Baihua Sect.
Bian Bo helplessly looked at senior apprentice sister Zhu Jiao.
This time technique stored in a book, like flowers hidden in pages.
Anyone who obtained it could use it by channeling spiritual energy.
Though not as effortlessly as Zhu Jiao herself, it could still slow or hasten time by one to two times, not the tenfold effect she could achieve.
But even one or two times could tip the scales in a balanced fight.
In other words, Lin Shuang could now use it to counterattack them.
At this point, the Baihua Sect had no way forward.
They couldn’t win before, let alone now with the advantage reversed.
“It’s over, junior sister Lin. We admit…”
Kong Miaoke lowered her head and sighed, putting away her embroidery frame.
[Admit defeat… indeed.]
[Baihua Sect has no way out.]
But before Kong Miaoke could finish the word “defeat,” a sharp voice rang out.
“No! We cannot surrender!”
“Withdrawing like this, where is the dignity of the Baihua Sect? If we give up before a single incense stick burns out, we betray the sect’s daily cultivation of us! We betray the very spirit of cultivators who defy the heavens!”
Kong Miaoke turned red with embarrassment, unable to raise her head.
Yes, she was unworthy of the sect.
But what could she do?
She helplessly turned to senior apprentice sister Zhu Jiao.
“Senior apprentice sister, what you said makes sense—surrendering lacks the spirit of a true cultivator. But I can’t watch helplessly as your years of Yuan Condensation cultivation are taken away like this.”
“If Lin Shuang uses up all your stored seasons now, we might as well just surrender gracefully. Senior, we’ve already lost. Not surrendering is just delaying the inevitable.”
The wind howled ceaselessly around them, sounding bitter.
Kong Miaoke sighed. She was truly convinced in her heart.
“If Lin Shuang and her team use that sword technique again, next time it might be my and Senior Apprentice Brother Bian’s magical treasures being taken…”
Kong Miaoke suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
Because right beside her, senior apprentice sister Zhu Jiao, with a face both bitter and wistful, turned her beautiful face toward Lin Shuang with a helpless blush.
She wasn’t even looking at her.
“Junior apprentice sister Xiaoke, I didn’t say that earlier,” Zhu Jiao struggled to say.
“Huh??”
“Actually, I did say it.”
Lin Shuang stood up from the sofa.
Kong Miaoke: “?” Huh?
Lin Shuang now stood in front of the sofa, her green robes vibrating with surging spiritual energy.
She finished drawing the protective talisman on herself while quickly speaking.
“Oh, I’m not silenced anymore?”
Bian Bo helplessly smiled. “We’ve already admitted—”
Once they admitted defeat, the team battle rules no longer applied.
But before he could finish, Lin Shuang let out a loud cry to interrupt him.
She looked even more excited than Zhu Jiao.
“Silence! As representatives of the Baihua Sect, how can you casually speak of surrender!”
“Didn’t we agree, ‘the wild fire cannot burn it all, the spring breeze brings it back to life’? The essence of the Baihua Sect is to be ever-renewing!”
“With an unceasing spring breeze, the flowers never wither—how can you surrender so easily?!”
“Generation after generation of elders nurtured you like gardeners. A hundred years to plant a tree, a thousand years for it to bear fruit!”
“Do you deserve the hard work of all those elders who raised you?!”
Yu Lu Elder of the Baihua Sect watching the match couldn’t help but have her sleeves bloom with flowers.
She stood up excitedly from her seat outside the Nine Thousand Trials. “Well said!”
“If you Qingshui Sect don’t want Lin Shuang, let her come to our Baihua Sect!”
Dream on.
Shui Qiantan’s water flowed, not even giving her a response.
On the battlefield platform, Bian Bo was so stunned by Lin Shuang’s scolding that his fan hung limply in his hand.
Kong Miaoke was stunned, her mouth agape.
Zhu Jiao trembled all over, looking at Lin Shuang in disbelief.
Why?
Why was she more excited than them?
Why did she care more about the honor of the Baihua Sect than they did?
Why did she revere the elders of the Baihua Sect more than they did?
As disciples of the Baihua Sect, they had truly lost.
Just the tenacity of spring grass, just the pride of blooming flowers—they were no match for her!
Looking at Lin Shuang, Zhu Jiao and the others felt their dantian tremble for the first time.
Lin Shuang before them seemed like a seed of resilience, desperately growing under the constraints of soil…
Unconsciously, they clenched their fists.
Their spiritual energy surged through their dantian’s constraints, stirred by her, gaining the momentum to rise against the heavens!
“Good!”
Bian Bo raised his head.
Zhu Jiao nodded.
Kong Miaoke clenched her fist.
“If that’s the case, then as junior apprentice sister Lin wishes, even if we stand until the last bit of spiritual energy in our dantian, the three of us from Baihua Sect will never surrender!”
Bian Bo and the others actually seemed to be on the verge of a breakthrough!
Under the despair of winter snow burial, under the oppression of layers of soil… they broke through, transforming body and mind!
Their dantian trembled, their spiritual awareness connected into one, continuously growing stronger.
[!]
[…]
[???]
[What is Lin Shuang doing?]
[Lin Shuang: You’re too weak. Please get stronger before fighting me again.]
[Did Lin Shuang cause the Baihua Sect to break through?]
[Is this the supreme technique of the Qingshui Sect—the Gentle Like Water, Tolerant Like the Sea?]
[… Her heart is like a mighty river, flowing into the sea without return, like the Heavenly Gate splitting the Chu Mountains…]
[The rise of Qingshui Sect may be a calamity or a blessing for the Eleven Sects.]
“Lin Shuang, what are you doing!”
Meng Zi howled, unable to believe it.
He held his blade, going mad.
“What’s going on? Are you poisoned? You made the enemy break through?!”
Huangfu Yuan held his forehead.
Lin Shuang stared at Bian Bo and the others, stunned. She hadn’t expected this.
“Oh no, misunderstanding, misunderstanding.”
She had overdone it.
She hurriedly waved her hands toward the three from Baihua Sect.
“You don’t have to stand until the last bit of energy in your dantian. It’s not that dramatic.”
“Just let me practice my zither for one incense stick.”
Bian Bo, teary-eyed: “?”
Zhu Jiao, trembling all over: “??”
Kong Miaoke, deeply moved: “???”
Elder Yu Lu watching from the projection: “…”
Lin Shuang smiled gently, waving her hand seriously.
“You just need to hold out for one incense stick, wait until I finish practicing, then you can surrender.”
No.
The essence of the Baihua Sect’s ever-renewing life is to hold out until you finish practicing your zither?
Not betraying the cultivation of the sect and elders means you must lose only after you finish playing?
The three from Baihua Sect were stunned speechless.
All the disciples watching the projection were equally stunned.
“Junior apprentice sister Lin Shuang…”
The three from Baihua Sect, regaining their senses, this time truly fearless, charged toward her.
Furious!
“…”
Oh no, she broke them.
Lin Shuang’s face turned from innocent to serious.
Meng Zi and Huangfu Yuan sighed, standing behind her.
“Come on.”
“Yeah.”
The three from Qingshui Sect suddenly focused their spiritual awareness!
Meng Zi’s spiritual awareness connected with his spirit stones.
Huangfu Yuan’s scorpion-like weaving spiritual awareness entwined around him, connecting to Lin Shuang’s 108 spiritual threads.
In an instant, their spiritual awareness was like a giant octopus, capable of charging—Lin Shuang’s 108 spiritual threads at the forefront became thick and long!
In an instant, the erhu lying on the ground, now unbound, floated up!
The strings of the erhu were all in place!
In an instant, from all directions, threads of sorrowful, weeping music surrounded them.
A hundred erhu, like 360-degree surround sound, surrounded the three from Baihua Sect!
Without the time-stopping ability, the Baihua Sect members could no longer affect Lin Shuang’s “symphony.”
At this moment, welcome to Lin Shuang’s Dreamlike Symphony Hall!
In this instant, the three from Baihua Sect and all watching disciples, both inside and outside the arena, simultaneously showed a belated, bitter smile of realization.
[So… her earlier text notification was real, not just a feint.]
[It wasn’t fake, just delayed to this moment. She notified us a bit early.]
[…]
Lin Shuang’s 108 spiritual threads pulled the erhu strings simultaneously.
The sorrowful, desolate music entered their ears, irresistible, sweeping toward the Baihua Sect from all angles.
Surround sound, spherical stereo, the listeners were completely surrounded by the 108 sound sources.
“Wuwu—”
She closed her eyes, swaying her head in ecstasy as she played.
Making the sound of sawing wood.
The three from Baihua Sect instantly stiffened, their foreheads dropping.
Their bodies tilted, about to fall to the ground!
[The three from Baihua Sect have lost consciousness. If they cannot recover within three breaths, they will be considered defeated and expelled from the Nine Thousand Trials.]
Lin Shuang closed her eyes, continuing to sway her head in ecstasy, playing her zither.
As this text appeared, her temple twitched once.
Three little Ai spirits immediately flew from her sleeve.
The three little Ai spirits clanged around, trying to wake the Baihua Sect members.
One carried a beam to hang them, one tied a hair of Bian Bo around it so he’d feel pain when he lowered his head,
One dragged a small sword to poke his eyelid.
Bian Bo: “???”
Zhu Jiao and Kong Miaoke beside him were sleeping peacefully.
Bian Bo Cai, whose hair was tied to the beam: “!”
Why!
Why did she choose and wake him up?
Because of the story of suspending his hair from the beam and piercing his thigh with an awl, she didn’t want to harm Senior Zhu or Junior Kong!?
Because as long as one person remains in the Hundred Flowers Sect, the duel won’t end… could she keep a listener to continue her performance for another incense stick!?
Bian Bo Cai staggered, and his folding fan dropped to the ground.
“Xiao Ai reminds you that this time Lin Shuang’s piano practice schedule still has eight ninths of an incense stick remaining～”
“Bian Bocai of the Hundred Flowers Sect, you’re incredible, don’t fall asleep! Under the dream-inducing melody, you’ve achieved ‘all others dream while I alone stay awake, one-ninth of an incense stick’s time,’ which means you’ve already surpassed twenty percent of the Ningyuan cultivators~”
“No, I don’t want to awaken, let them surpass me! I don’t want to, let me sleep!”
“Don’t call me!”
[…]
[Why didn’t you admit defeat at the beginning, Hundred Flowers Sect, why!?]
[What are you doing coming to the Mountain Sea Sect for a duel, what for!?]
[…]
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