During this time, Bailing City had been shaken up while Su Yanran and Su Qingcheng were cooped up in their Revival Suite back in the Golden State Inn. Under Su Qingcheng’s urging, they both deliberately stayed in the room and did not leave until it would be time to go to the venue of the White Spirit Competition on the next day. Naturally, they knew already where to go under Lin Getong’s guidance. Near the palatial hall of Bailing City a ways away from the Empire Square was a grand structure that could be likened to a roman colosseum, a mysterious kind of architecture for this kind of setting. This was called the Jade Tiger Arena, a domineering name for a domineering place. Su Qingcheng had already gotten into a state of last minute meditative cultivation, trying to stabilize and recuperate the Nightflower Tianqi she had expended during the fight with Xiao Tie. Su Yanran wanted to relax in a different way but was unable to sway Su Qingcheng so she simply fell asleep ahead of time.

While they were able to relax, things were not so simple in other parts of the city. Xiao Tie was conscious and in bed-rest as many doctors were attending to his injuries. His back would take about a week to recover fully with the medicine and healing Tianqi that the doctors employed, but he was filled with an intense rage that came with being humiliated in front of so many people. On top of that, he had lost his spot for the White Spirit Competition as by the time he recovered the competition would have long been finished. Scowling at the ceiling as he lay in bed, a woman walked into the room.

This woman was one of Xiao Tie’s companions who helped him up after Su Qingcheng brutally beat him earlier in the day. “Xiao Tie, how are you feeling now?” she asked tenderly, though her expression didn’t seem to reflect the notion of her being sincere. It was as if she thought the fourteen year old girl had taught him a harsh lesson. After all, Xiao Tie was a serial womanizer and philanderer. How could this woman not feel satisfied after seeing him be the recipient of that kind of treatment under a woman no less?

“Stop putting on airs with me,” Xiao Tie still had the gall to snap back. “I know you enjoyed watching that too, Madame Lu.”

The woman known as Madame Lu had a smirk on her face. Xiao Tie may look miserable now but he was much more known for his sinister mind than he was for fighting. It could be said that despite Su Qingcheng’s past life knowledge, she was worse of a schemer than he was. Fortunately, this past life’s knowledge did allow her to be able to spot such schemes far more easily than others. “I’m only here because you asked me to come here… I’m a family friend of the Su Clan after all. I’m only giving you face because I owe your dad a favor” she sighed as she approached the bed-ridden guy.

“Humph. Good. As the older generation, were you able to recognize the power behind Su Qingcheng’s attack? Those blows were simply too abnormal. A Tianqi User shouldn’t be able to display a fleshly power beyond that of a Tianqi Princess, which is exactly what she did.” Xiao Tie heaved. This kind of discernment was very shocking to Madame Lu. If Su Qingcheng were here, even Yao Meiyue would be impressed. It was as he said. Su Qingcheng’s fleshly body was simply too abnormal for her Tianqi power level.

“If I’m not wrong, that Su Qingcheng can control at least four essences, if not all five of them,” Madame Lu said. “But you already knew that. Her attacks were powered by a very specific mixture of three essences – Wood, Metal and Earth. The reason why stronger users can see fire around her limbs is because this Tianqi can be amplified by the use of Flame Tianqi.” She explained.

Xiao Tie harrumphed. “Is there no way to disperse it?”

“No. I don’t know the details, but that kind of Tianqi can corrode almost anything. Only the Tianqi of an Emperor or God can clash with it directly. The reasons why you are still alive are twofold. Number one, she deliberately spared you because she’s only fourteen. Shattering your spinal cord would be equivalent to killing you, and you’re the only person she hates. She would not want to ruin her clan’s relationship because of someone like you.”

Xiao Tie had the urge to spit out blood. He was really mad that Su Qingcheng would regard him with such disdain. Didn’t she know that humiliating him was pretty much worse than killing him? He would rather die than go through that again.

“Secondly, her foundational power is just too weak. Whoever taught her the ability to create that Tianqi is either a peak Emperor or at the level of a God themselves. Surely if they used that on you, you wouldn’t even leave a corpse behind”

Upon realizing this, Xiao Tie’s expression paled all of a sudden. How did Su Qingcheng have such a terrifying teacher? And he already knew that Su Qingcheng’s mother was already crazy powerful. He definitely needed to be more careful from now on. However, if he were to learn that Su Qingcheng had the same teacher as her mother, he would probably want to crawl into a hole and die. Or at least, change his identity and hide himself away from everything so he could continue to lead a life of debauchery.

“I’ve told you enough already, this is all I know about Su Qingcheng’s ability from the battle,” Madame Lu sighed. “Get some rest. I don’t know what I’m going to say to your dad when he finds out you offended Su Qingcheng and got yourself brutally beaten to such a miserable state.” She scathingly derided the young man before leaving. Xiao Tie could not even answer her before she disappeared.

In another part of the city, near the palatial hall, Fang Li was leaning casually against a wall. Standing next to her was a cloaked person. Their entire figure was concealed, so you couldn’t tell if they were a man or a woman until you heard them speak.

“Mistress,” the figure spoke, revealing the voice of a middle-aged man. “I’ve done everything as you’ve ordered.”

Fang Li smirked. “Good job. I’ll compensate you after the White Spirit Competition. I’ll be troubling you to keep things in order, as I’ll be watching the competition when it begins tomorrow and be unable to assist you.”

“As you wish, Mistress.” He nodded and quietly left in a blur. From his speed, one could immediately discern he was only slightly weaker than Fang Li.

The next day…

The entire city was roaring in cheers. Su Qingcheng and Su Yanran had already made their way ahead of time to the Jade Tiger Arena to beat the foot traffic. They were quietly awaiting the other participants. The instructions from Lin Getong were very clear so even though it was Su Qingcheng’s first time being here, many people thought that she was a hidden dragon who had appeared before. When asked, Su Qingcheng would always say that her brother told her about the competition and thus she was familiar with the standard procedure.

This immediately increased other’s opinions of Su Qingcheng as she was a mere fourteen years old. The news about her decisively beating up a guy a whole stratum stronger than her had already spread to neighbouring cities. It would definitely not escape the ears of Xiao clan. Upon realizing this, Su Qingcheng got a bit nervous. However, Su Yanran comforted her and gave her a hug that may have been a bit too intimate, causing Su Qingcheng to blush. Some boys and girls caught this scene and couldn’t help but feel moved also. Such an elder sister doting on her was really touching.

After about an hour’s time the arena had been totally filled. Su Qingcheng quickly caught Fang Li in the audience. When the Snake Empress saw her, she smiled. Su Qingcheng couldn’t help but get a bad feeling about it, but quietened down when a booming voice called for the participants to disperse from the center stage and move to the seats on the ground circling it. “Everyone! I’m sure you know the rules, but for the newcomers, let me explain!” A middle-aged man at the Tianqi Sage level stood at a covered pavilion on one of the ends of the arena. It could be considered to be like a VIP booth. His voice, amplified by Tianqi power, caused everyone to hear it even if he personally did not exert extra effort. “This tournament is big. Very big. This year we’ve had an increased turnout, so we will be increasing the number of simultaneous matches from four to eight!”

Eight simultaneous matches? Suddenly, a strange array appeared in the center stage. Su Qingcheng then looked up and realized that the arena was actually shaped like an octagon, and on each corner, there was a large pillar that held up a platform. Presumably, this is where the fighting would occur. The strange array must therefore behave something like a teleportation pad! Su Qingcheng had never seen this sorcery before.

“Teleportation array?!” Su Qingcheng bellowed out in surprise, causing some people seated near her to look at her like she was a monster. How could a kid like her recognize that so quickly? She was young, and most likely was not exposed to the real world. Once again, this kid shocked the other participants and now they knew in their heart that the girl named Su Qingcheng could really be a dark horse in the White Spirit Competition.

“We’ve counted precisely 256 of you who are eligible, which is way more than our initial expectations for this year. Therefore, the White Spirit Competition must also be extended by a couple of days. Today we will begin the round of 32. That means, we must eliminate half of you right off the bat. We will begin the drawing right now! Please remember your number!”

The rules and numbers were announced in an orderly fashion. Su Yanran had obtained number 42 while Su Qingcheng was surprisingly number 15. Actually these numbers weren’t actually arbitrary. The lower your number, the more likely it was that you were going to fight someone rather strong. The mere fact that Su Qingcheng, as a fourteen year old youth, had obtained an absurdly high seeding meant that someone either wanted to play a prank on her or people really overestimated her prowess.

Su Qingcheng sighed, realizing that there was no such thing as an easy road to winning such a prestigious and heated battle competition. After obtaining her tournament seeding, she retreated to her seat. The folks near her were men, but compared to Xiao Tie, they were far more respectful to her due to the news that she shook the entire competition up. “Friend, what did you get?” one of them asked.

“I received number 15.” Su Qingcheng answered plainly with a friendly smile.

“Number 15? Damn, you have bad luck. I heard that your opponent is the 9th seed, Guan Ding,” the man frowned, looking at Su Qingcheng with some pity. “Guan Ding is a young man about the age of nineteen who is at the peak of the Tianqi Geomancer stratum. He came from the Xuan Tian City which is north of here.”

Su Qingcheng frowned. She already expended so much energy to defeat Xiao Tie, yet her first opponent was someone magnitudes stronger than him and even half a decade older than herself? Were the heavens trying to prank her? She grimaced as she looked up at the arenas, where people were already beginning to battle and show themselves off. However, Su Qingcheng wasn’t in the mood to watch anymore. She could only think of a few things – who was responsible for this?

“Kid, don’t be ashamed. I’m pretty sure it was a mistake. Either that, or somebody really hates you and bribed someone to rig the brackets against you.” Another one piped in, quite guilty that such a monster was forced against even sillier odds. “You should concede defeat. It’s not worth losing your life for something like this.”

“Concede defeat?” Su Qingcheng frowned. “I’ve already done this much. It would be even more disadvantageous for me to cower when I’ve already pulled off a miracle.” She grimaced.

“Don’t act like this, friend. There’s no use acting with such bravado. You’d simply just be a mere sheep unafraid of the tiger.”

“I know my limitations,” Su Qingcheng sighed. “As far as I’m concerned, I will only have big trouble against Tianqi Princes and Princesses. As far as Geomancers go, I have confidence to give them a good fight.”

Actually, Su Qingcheng wasn’t bragging for nothing. Thanks to the Black Hole Stance, her fighting ability could already be said to be at the level of a Tianqi Geomancer. She tuned out the noise of the announcer who was focusing on one of the bigger battles. Instead, she was planning on how to fight this young genius who was five years older than her.

Su Yanran noticed that her sister had an intense, unusually mature expression on her face, before frowning. She didn’t even bother with the other worried expressions of those who learned that Su Qingcheng had most likely drawn Guan Ding as her opponent. Others immediately began to privately discuss this, as Su Qingcheng had already given herself a reputation. It would be shameful if Guan Ding accidentally killed her or even crippled her.

“Too shameless! What kind of matching is that?”

“I heard the drawing is random and quite fair. We can only blame it on Su Qingcheng’s poor luck. The heavens truly envy the talented.”

“No, I doubt it. This is too fishy. How could a fourteen year old girl at the mid Tianqi User stratum have such an abnormally high seeding? Someone must have rigged it.”

The discussions and speculations continued but Su Qingcheng paid no attention to them. Finally, she seemed to have a personal epiphany as she looked up at the arena, and then looked back down at the teleportation array as winners and losers descended from the platforms. Finally, after about two hours of intense fighting, only a few matches remained for the day.

One of these matches would surely be the focus of today – it was indeed as everybody feared. “And now!! For today’s Grand Match!! It’s 15th seed, Su Qingcheng, versuuuus!! 9th seed, Guan Ding!!”

The crowd erupted into a mixture of cheers and booing as Su Qingcheng went to the teleportation array. Immediately she felt her body rumble. Using Nightflower Tianqi, she quickly stabilized herself and allowed the current to whisk her away – her body seemingly appeared to disappear in front of everybody before suddenly reappearing on one of the platforms. Her calm response to the teleportation array moved everybody as she was just a mere fourteen years old. How could she face something like that so courageously? And then her opponent, a well-built young man whose looks were far handsomer than Xiao Tie, but more muscular than Xiao Hei, stood opposite her with a plain expression. This was Guan Ding, a young genius from Xuan Tian City.

Guan Ding was actually an orphan who was taken in by a couple who desperately wished for a son. In order to repay their kindness and gratitude, Guan Ding had decided to train hard and become a strong fighter to earn lots of money for them and let them live peacefully. All things considered, his character was very great. As such, his bearing towards Su Qingcheng was gentler and not at all vicious.

“I apologize for your terrible luck,” Guan Ding frowned. “Unfortunately, I am unable to go easy on you just because you are my junior. I know about the rumours, and that you were able to smash a fellow Geomancer like swatting a fly. Furthermore, I am fighting for people who are very dear and close to me.”

“It’s not your fault. I can only blame it on my poor luck,” Su Qingcheng shrugged. Her impression of Guan Ding was good. “We all have our own reasons to fight. Your eyes tell me everything. All I can say is that we must do our best.”

The audience watched their exchange and couldn’t help but feel admiration for both fighters. They weren’t even twenty years old yet treated each other with such respect.

“Then let us speak with our fists.”

“I admire your bearing, Brother Guan Ding!” Su Qingcheng called out with respect as the two fighters bowed at each other. It didn’t matter that other fights broke out at the moment. All that mattered was this battle between an abnormal girl monster and the young genius from Xuan Tian City.

“Let’s go!!” Su Qingcheng yelled out in a fury as she erupted into her Black Hole Stance and beckoned Guan Ding to make the first move!