A stunned silence hung in the air, only being alleviated by Hei Yu's burp, and dark energy was expelled from his mouth.

"Oh, come on!" Xue Yueliang exclaimed, feeling light-headed due to the loss of blood.

Now that the fight was over, she could feel the weakness rush over but beneath the pain, there was a warm stream of energy. She assessed the injury on her chest, and she could feel it closing up slowly but surely. "Well, at least there's this." She sighed, knowing that she would not be able to get any information from him.

Maybe he is related to the bad feeling I got earlier. Sadly, thinking about this would not help her. At least there will be more I could question.

While still standing amongst her thoughts, a dusty cloud formed over Hei Yu's body, startling him as he tried to escape. Hei Yu hissed as he jumped all over the Colosseum, not allowing the sand to enclose him, but he could not resist for much longer. Xue Yueliang's heartbeat raced while watching his struggle. She left the swooshing noise of the wind, appearing beside Hei Yu in a flash.

"He's not in danger." The voice was cold and dignified, not allowing room for discussion, and even without seeing him, she knew who it was. The Dragonoid. Xue Yueliang's nervous heart relaxed, knowing that he would not pointlessly bring harm to them.

"Your younger generation is so interesting." He said with a hint of a smile, not losing his regal demeanour.

The curiosity in his voice was not masked, making her wonder exactly what he thought.

"You do know, it was just a challenge, not a duel."

"He certainly thought it was," Xue Yueliang replied, understanding he only meant to tell her off.

"It was either my life or his."

The Dragonoid smiled, "Of course, I'm not asking you to sacrifice your life; I would have healed you if you had given in; or were near death. A hundred winners, no more or less, but the life-preserving mechanisms seem to have deteriorated."

Though the last part seemed as if he was talking to himself, Xue Yueliang paid attention to every word he said; she didn't know if this information could be helpful in the future. The sand, bearing down on Hei Yu, disappeared, allowing him to return into her arms as the Dragonoid continued his mumblings.

"I should at least have this much authority."

A shining light appeared on the list containing the participant's name, illuminating her name, and the person ranked 49th. Soon, the light from rank 49 disappeared, seeping onto her name, and the rewards besides her name increased, albeit slightly.

Thanks to her setting this precedent, the battles going on became much more ferocious, aiming to end their opponent's life rather than defeat them, but compared to the worry from weaker cultivators, Xue Yueliang did not care about a potential blood fest.

"You should stay by my side when I'm supposed to fight," she scolded, "I could have died in there."

Hei Yu whimpered slightly but did not protest against her words; he had missed Li Hua and was excited to see her again, but he knew that did not excuse him. Looking at how discouraged he was, Xue Yueliang couldn't help but chuckle, "Just don't do it again."

She wanted to mention him killing off her opponent without her permission, but although Hei Yu was a part of her, she knew he would not listen to her on that. He had his own sentience and valued her life over any potential benefit. Though they weren't sure, they both knew that killing him had a chance of reversing her injuries.

It's nice to be cared about, she smiled.

"That was close." Li Hua started, appearing unsettlingly close to her.

She drew some distance, before smiling, "Yeah, I was careless," Xue Yueliang admitted, "But at least I saw something interesting."

It was the only silver lining she could think of. "

Your death." Li Hua repeated slowly, widening her eyes and waving her arms around.

"Yeah," Xue Yueliang giggled, amused by her over-the-top actions.

"How realistic was it? Who killed you? Ooh, was it someone you already know?"

The bombardment of questions came like a hurricane, making her overwhelming excitement obvious.

"If someone heard you, they would think you were excited about my death." Xue Yueliang rolled her eyes, "Yeah, it was someone I know."

"Will she kill you?"

Li Hua tried to appear neutral, but the slight falter in her voice betrayed her. Xue Yueliang couldn't help but recall the last scene she had witnessed; though it was blurry, she could see the pain and loss behind the figure's eyes and a crazy amount of determination.

It's a wonder I could elicit such strong emotions. She smiled at the thought.

"Don't worry, I don't think she will actually kill me."

"Why is that?"

"I trust her."

She won't kill me as long as I don't give her a reason to.

"It's surprising you trust people." Li Hua sighed, showing sobriety that wasn't typical of her. "

What do you mean?" Xue Yueliang frowned, unable to understand what she was getting at. "My master said demonic cultivators only care for themselves and are willing to betray their teammates at the slightest suspicion or for the smallest benefit."

"I have never said I was a demonic cultivator; I just follow my own path. I won't regard your life so callously."

Xue Yueliang comforted her; she had no reason to ever harm her.

"Is that a promise?" Li Hua smiled, but there was a faint sadness behind her words; before she could pry into it any further, Li Hua continued talking: "It's not like I doubted you anyway; if I believed you would harm me, I wouldn't continue talking to you."

"You have been thinking about this?"

"Yes, it's okay for people to have differing views, and if I reject people just because they're a bit different from me, I would be locking myself in a prison of my own making."

"That's a surprisingly mature way to think of it." Xue Yueliang praised, not expecting this from her.

"Well, and I trust my judgement." She cheekily added, causing the both of them to laugh.

"As long as you're not uncomfortable."

Suddenly, Li Hua's gaze turned intense as she locked her gaze with her, "That doesn't mean I will stand by as you slaughter innocents or burn down villages. Just because you're my friend does not mean I will forgive you for that. I'm a member of the righteous path first, and everything else comes second."

Her finger was raised as she stated her position clearly, showing her determination.

"I would never expect you to switch allegiance for me; I'm not that selfish."

Besides, I wouldn't do it for you either.

"You know, it's a bit cute you're so attached to me already." Xue Yueliang joked, "At this point, I might begin to think my face had won you over."

"You wish." Li Hua rolled her eyes, "But I know someone who was won over by you. How come you haven't asked about Lei Jian? Are you guys in touch?"

Almost instantly, Xue Yueliang felt uncomfortable; she had not yet sorted out what she would do about him and was relying on out of sight, out of mind. Though she knew she would have to face him eventually, she prayed for a distraction to come. Thankfully, a challenge was issued by a baby-faced man clad in white.

"Sixth Prince Dai Xing challenges Young Lady Li Hua to battle."

"Looks like that's your queue." Xue Yueliang nodded in his direction, feeling relieved.

"Don't forget to cheer me on." Li Hua demanded, rushing off and retrieving the bow on her back. "

Show 'em whose boss!"

Seriously? You couldn't think of something better.

Xue Yueiang couldn't help but reprimand herself inside, cringing at the choice of words. The only reason she tried to associate with people more was to improve her communication skills, but her time with Li Hua seemed to have made her so much worse. She wasn't sure when she would meet the princess next, but she had to make sure to win her over.

Soon, another challenge sounded, not allowing her to dwell on the current situation much longer.

"Zhou Shen challenges Xue Yueliang."

The voice was calm and unhurried, not showing the fatigue of having finished a battle that lasted more than a day.

Meeting the gaze of Zhou Shen, Xue Yueliang smiled, "I refuse."

According to the rules, you only had to accept the challenge of those lower ranked than you, so she could just ignore his challenge.

"Why not? Do you not wish to improve your ranking?" He asked, frowning. Xue Yueliang noticed that his already pale complexion was paler than before, and contrasting with his black robe, it made him look like a ghost. If she wanted his ranking, she would not have a better opportunity, but she wanted first place. Besides, she didn't even like him; why make things easy for him?

"I could ask you the same thing," Xue Yueliang smiled, "Could it be that after being unable to defeat the prince, you lost your confidence?"

Zhou Shen was still ranked eighth, but Xue Yueliang was sure it was a close battle, considering how the prince was also injured. Looking at how the injured prince was being bombarded with challenges, she figured that Zhou Shen wanted to strike a deal with her, most likely a mutually beneficial one, but she did not feel like it.

Zhou Shen pursed his lips, looking at her contemplatively, before turning away to challenge someone else - someone ranked 47th. The surprised girl climbed onto the stage, forgetting she could decline the challenge, but without anything happening, Zhou Shen forfeited, swapping their ranking.

Again he declared, "Zhou Shen challenges Xue Yueliang." Witnessing what he had done, she sighed, so, far, their battles were three nill.

I should have just accepted. She sighed as she gently landed opposite him, this time, not forgetting Hei Yu.

"So, why are you so desperate?" She asked, not jumping in to attack him.

"Well, there is a question I wanted to ask you."

"Oh?" She said, her gaze solely focused on Hei Yu, who purred in her arms, but this disregard did not bother him.

His gaze hardened on the little visible features of her face and asked, "Who are you?"

Who am I? Xue Yueliang was startled by this question and met his gaze.

She knew he was not asking her name since he repeated it twice, so she thought a little deeper.

I am the heiress of the Invincible Dao Sect, ex-daughter of the Qin Clan, the disciple of Yao Ming, and hopefully Yao Niang's future wife.

None of those things was something she could or wanted to share, and it was odd to risk your placing for such a meaningless question. During their short conversation, the person ranked eighth had already changed three times, and if he was a nobody, he couldn't afford to pass up on the reward.

"Well, that's dumb," she shrugged finally, "Who I am doesn't matter. I don't understand why you care, but I'm the person standing opposite you, the person who is drawing her sword and hoping you could come to your senses so we can enjoy our battle."

Hei Yu jumped off her arms as she pointed the sword directly at him, beckoning him to fight.

Zhou Shen stared at her a little longer, looking for clues in her eyes before sighing, "It's normal for people to be curious."

He replied, acting like he was speaking for everyone, "You appeared out of nowhere."

Xue Yueliang frowned, unhappy that he had not moved to battle.

"I thought you might be like me."

"And who are you?" She asked, returning his previous question to him.

"I'm a nobody." A cold pair of eyes looked down at her as an old memory resurfaced; it was one she did not like nor wished to remember.

"Oh, no wonder you weren't offended earlier." Xue Yueliang said with fake realisation, "She was right."

"Well then, a somebody against a nobody, I think the outcome is pretty obvious."

Xue Yueliang readied her stance and charged at him, swinging her sword at his head. Her sword went through his head, dissipating it.

An afterimage.

Recalling his earlier tactics, Xue Yueliang swung her sword behind her, spinning out of the way. As she expected, her sword made contact with a gel-like substance, making it hard for her to cut through seamlessly.

"You know, I thought you would be more powerful than this."

"Who says I'm not?" She replied, grabbing unto his arm, but it was a futile attempt, as her arm passed write through.

"So, you did have an affinity for space."

She snorted, recalling their conversation earlier, but could not help but be impressed. She had assumed that his disappearing arm was an illusion, but seeing as it wasn't there when she grabbed onto it meant it did disappear.

But how? He really is as curious as I thought.