77. Flames And Shields
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The sun was high in the sky by now, and iced-watermelon and cold beverage hawkers were using the opportunity well, flitting through the arena to tempt spectators.
Meanwhile, the next duel was between Xu Weiyan and Xu Lian, and as they walked onto the platform, Xu Lin nervously bit at his thumbnail.
"Aiya, we always let Lian Mei have her way, so she's a bit spoiled! But now she wants 2nd Disciple Zhang... She won't try anything serious would she?!" He wondered aloud, and a worried furrow crossed Xu Wen's face.
"A-Lian IS spoiled, but in this case it might not be what you think." Xu Wen said, turning to face the platform. "Sister Weiyan was the reason she began cultivating seriously in the past, and recently, she has been even more focused than ever.
"She likes Zhang Shixiong, but I don't think that's why she's pissed...."
On the platform, Lian smiled at Weiyan.
"Sister Weiyan! Why don't we have a bet?" Her fan appeared, spinning above her hand, and she grasped it, swept it open, then leisurely fanned herself. "The winner gets a certain someone... hmm?"
Weiyan's brows dipped in a mild scowl. "I don't bet. Let's fight." She said, swinging out an arm, and her white sword appeared surrounded with her white aura.
Lian glared at her. "Didn't you bet in the duel with Zhang Cheng?! I've never seen you fight so seriously..."
Weiyan merely raised a brow. "Someone was in danger at the time." She had only agreed to that bet because Zhang Cheng had threatened to challenge Luoyin instead.
"Tch!" Xu Lian instantly lunged forward with her fan, and Weiyan blocked it with her sword. It wasn't a powerful hit, but both remained locked, staring at each other, Xu Lian's face, an annoyed glare, but Weiyan's face calm and focused.
Xu Lian gritted her teeth and lowered her voice so only Weiyan could hear her. "I've always hated your undisturbed expression!" She attempted to attack Weiyan with a hidden talisman, but Weiyan leapt away.
Xu Lian followed swinging her fan, and the two clashed around the platform for a while, Xu Lian punctuating each hit with her words.
"In the past I looked up to you! How could I not? You are the strongest female disciple of our generation, and you made me start focusing on my cultivation!" *Clang!*
"But not once did you take me seriously!" *clang!* "You even deliberately lost to me twice in the past!" *clang!*
"You never acknowledged my growth, always showing that same unbothered look!" *Clang!* "As if I wasn't even the slightest threat! *Clang!* "And after I kept my distance, you never even looked back... Were you letting me know how irrelevant I was?!" *Clang!*
"Since you returned from Caoyang, I've seen you show expressions you never did before... Yet the way you look at me hasn't change, and you're not being serious even now!"
The two broke apart, each landing a short distance away.
"Your expression only falters when I bring up Zhang Luoyin... True. I like him. I don't know why." She sighed. "But more than that, I hoped approaching him would force some sort of rivalry out of you, and I can tell it annoys you, yet you keep up that annoyingly calm facade!"
Her deep blue aura suddenly spiked, sending shockwaves around, and the platform mildly rumbled.
"Profound Tier Five, stage eight!" Xu Lin's eyes were twice their size. They didn't hear the exchange, but Xu Lian's level was impressive!
It wasn't as monumental a climb as Xu Min's or Xu Haoyuan's, but she was at least four years younger than them, and had now surpassed her twin, Xu Wen, who was at Profound Tier Five, stage six.
Xu Wen smiled. "Hao! An impressive leap!"
On the platform, Xu Lian's fan had vanished, and a blue hexagonal orb appeared above her palm... a clear sign she intended to fight more seriously, using her shields.
Xu Lian's shields had an impressive innate strength, and they were scary when combined with her well-honed precision technique, which let her instantly calculate an opponents movements, effortlessly trapping them within a shield before they even realized what was happening.
Given her new level and the innate strength of her shields, she would even be able to challenge opponents several stages ahead of her!
"Sister Weiyan," She began, and the blue faceted orb pulsed. "I hope you will at least fight me seriously today!"
Weiyan staggered a step, feeling a bit stunned.
When Weiyan first became popular in the Sect, Xu Lian had begun following her around, going as far as manipulating her father to send her on the same missions as Weiyan.
But after those two duels, Xu Lian had kept a friendly and polite distance.
Weiyan had assumed Xu Haoyuan or Xu Linhua had gotten to her... That wasn't new. From childhood her siblings, especially Linhua, were fond of turning any child in their circles against her, so she simply assumed Xu Lian was no different.
'I was wrong!' She realized, wondering how many friends she may have chased away because she appeared cold or uncaring...
She sighed, cupped her hands, and bowed her head, surprising Xu Lian.
"A-Lian, I'm sorry." She said. "I've only recently discovered that my past actions were not all right... I lost to you back then because you had followed me around, but you were suddenly sad and discouraged after Xu Wen surpassed you with a major gap.
"I assumed a victory in our duels would encourage you... I was wrong. It did push you to strive, but only because you thought I was looking down at you, and though I didn't know it at the time, I should have approached you to find out why.
"Instead I assumed you simply didn't like me anymore.
"Now I realize I was selfish... Back then, I should have defeated you mercilessly and clearly said, 'You're strong, but you still have a long way to go'."
A final sigh escaped her lips, "As for A-Yin, you indeed successfully pissed me off..."
She held up her sword, and her white flame-like aura began to flare. "So I hope you accept my apology, because you can't even dream of winning this duel!"
She swiftly ran two fingers across her sword, and a massive wave of aura suddenly surrounded her in the brilliant white flames. Beneath her feet a pure white seal appeared, spinning in place, with an outer ring spinning in a counter direction.
There were sudden gasps around as everyone identified the seal in disbelief.
"A Level Seal?!" Sect Leader Xu slowly rose to his feet, peering down at Weiyan. "Y- Yanyan has become so powerful?!"
The Level seal was usually shown as a fast means of intimidation, and a cultivator had to step into Profound Tier eight before it even appeared!
No Junior in Yueyan's- no, in Baishan's history had ever climbed so fast!
Sect Leader Xu slowly began laughing, a feeling of immense pride in his heart. "Hao!" He sat back down, nodding with tears in his eyes, and the arena was filled with applause.
"A Junior Disciple at Profound Tier eight?!"
"As expected of our White Swallow!"
"Our Erudite Swordsman does it again!"
"Close to Elder Level at such a young age... There's no limit for Xu Weiyan!"
On the sidelines, an overwhelming pride settled in Luoyin's heart as he joined in the applause.
He had known Xu Weiyan was strong, and she had been steadily growing since the Eye-eater incident, but this was downright impressive, and he was willing to admit her titles and nicknames which once irked him, now seemed well-deserved!
Meanwhile, Xu Lian stuck up her nose, but the shadows of a smile touched her lips. Someone as 'calm and unbothered' as Weiyan had shown her full strength to intimidate her!
"Hmph! Don't think you're all that, simply because you've grown so far!" Xu Lian said, and the pulsing orb expanded. "It's only a matter of time before I surpass you!"
A blue circle suddenly sprung up around Weiyan, trapping her within a crystal clear shield, but before Xu Lian could blink, a blade was suddenly at the back of her throat, and Weiyan's afterimage faded away within the shield.
Weiyan had already moved, and Xu Lian was now frozen in shock.
Behind her, Weiyan gave a rare smirk. "Then, I'll be waiting for you to surpass me, A-Lian."
The duel was over!
"Winner, Xu Weiyan!" Elder Zhou announced to thunderous applause, and many spectators rose to their feet, chanting, 'White Swallow!', as Weiyan left the Platform.
Far from feeling defeated, Xu Lian skipped after her, a small smile on her face.
Knowing Xu Weiyan didn't look down on her was working wonders, and a fiery determination burned in her eyes!
Meanwhile, the numerous prominent guests had a singular thought.
'There are too many young monsters in Yueyan!'
Lord Ju was certainly more threatened than ever...
'Won't Yueyan kick Yunchi Sect down to 3rd place in a few years?!'
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