Chapter 125 – Battle Again

Zhan Changfeng flicked her sword into a spinning flourish. The black-robed Prenatal realm fighter instantly felt his axe being wrenched by the sword’s momentum, nearly flying from his grip. Who the hell was this sword expert?

The black-robed fighter swung the Blood Axe in his other hand, deflecting Zhan Changfeng’s sword with a resounding clang and briefly breaking free. At that precise moment, Zhan Changfeng reversed her grip and intercepted a sneak attacker’s dagger with a backstroke.

“Hah, let me, Liao Buxiu of Laoqing, test your mettle!” Liao Buxiu advanced instead of retreating, thrusting his dagger in rapid succession, intent on closing the distance for melee combat and denying her any room to wield her sword.

When Prenatal realm fighters clash, Postnatal realm bystanders suffer—the eastern corner of the arena was instantly cleared of people. Leng Yi’an and the others couldn’t intervene, but they seized the opportunity to claim a position nearby and set up a defensive line.

The melee on the stage had reached a fever pitch. One fighter after another was kicked off the platform, their cries of pain filling the air. Were it not for the Martial Arts Academy’s rule against killing, corpses would have littered the ground.

The black-robed Prenatal realm fighter was thinking something strange—instead of eliminating other competitors, he fixed his predatory gaze on the battle between Zhan Changfeng and Liao Buxiu.

Liao Buxiu favored a close-quarters assassination style. Once he closed in on Zhan Changfeng, he clung to her relentlessly, and his speed matched hers almost exactly. Whether advancing or retreating, neither moved more than two steps, making it nearly impossible to open up distance. Zhan Changfeng couldn’t fully deploy her swordsmanship. However, Liao Buxiu could hardly land a blow on her either.

The black-robed fighter watched without blinking. The moment Zhan Changfeng used a feint to slip behind Liao Buxiu, he suddenly leaped into the fray, raising his axe to cleave down at her. Zhan Changfeng immediately withdrew the sword she’d been thrusting at Liao Buxiu and spun to parry—but that turn exposed her back, and Liao Buxiu instantly struck at the center of her spine!

This is bad!

Lin Wu, who had been watching the battle intently, felt his heart leap into his throat. He seized Master Yao Yu’s arm in a death grip.

In a flash, Zhan Changfeng abandoned her sword and twisted her body aside. The axe grazed past her face by a hair’s breadth as it cleaved downward. In that split second, she seized the black-robed fighter’s wrist and shoved him forward, driving his axe into the path of Liao Buxiu’s incoming dagger.

Sparks flew as axe met dagger. The black-robed fighter wrenched his arm free of Zhan Changfeng’s grip, redirecting his axe into a horizontal sweep. Liao Buxiu stepped back, then thrust again!

Zhan Changfeng bent backward into a flip, dodging both attacks. Her toes hooked the sword before it could hit the ground, and she moved so fast she was nearly a blur.

Once she opened a gap of three steps, all of Zhan Changfeng’s advantages came flooding back. Her sword moved like a dragon, piercing through the black-robed fighter’s arm. The pommel of the withdrawing blade slammed into the chest of Liao Buxiu as he tried to close in again, forcing him back several steps.

Zhan Changfeng noted that neither of them showed any sign of leaving the stage. It seemed she hadn’t hurt them badly enough.

If the black-robed fighter and Liao Buxiu could have heard her reasoning, they would have spat blood in outrage. But they were too busy dealing with Zhan Changfeng’s offensive to think about anything else. If they didn’t turn the tide soon, they really would be spitting blood.

Both were alarmed and bewildered. It was one thing for her to have suddenly reached the Prenatal realm, but her combat techniques were also this seasoned and ruthless—they had miscalculated!

“Quick, pin her down!” Liao Buxiu, who had shown no prior communication with the black-robed fighter, cried out in shock when Zhan Changfeng’s sword struck the dagger from his hand.

The black-robed fighter’s injured arm was useless, so he could only wield his axe one-handed as he rushed to assist.

“So you two do know each other.” Zhan Changfeng cast a meaningful glance at the black-robed fighter. Her sword became a storm of blades, slashing countless cuts across Liao Buxiu’s body until he looked like a man drenched in blood.

The black-robed fighter watched Liao Buxiu collapse to his knees, utterly spent, and felt a chill run through him. “It’s just a match! How can you be this ruthless!”

“You knew you were beaten and still refused to withdraw. I was merely curious about your true purpose.”

Clang!

Zhan Changfeng pressed her sword down against his axe and said in a low voice, “You were waiting for the poison to take effect on me, weren’t you?”

The black-robed fighter’s pupils contracted sharply. His blocking arm felt as though a thousand pounds had been heaped upon it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Zhan Changfeng smiled coldly and sent him flying off the stage with a single stroke. No matter—it’s enough that I know.

Having defeated two Prenatal realm fighters in succession, she commanded a certain wariness from the crowd. The Postnatal realm fighters wouldn’t dare provoke her, and with only thirty-odd Prenatal realm fighters remaining, none saw the need to deliberately antagonize such a formidable opponent.

Zhan Changfeng made no special effort to help Leng Yi’an and the others. At most, she intervened against a few Prenatal realm fighters who had their eyes on them, out of consideration for their shared Community School. Whether they could withstand attacks from Postnatal realm opponents was their own affair.

The melee lasted a full two hours before the drums of ceasefire finally sounded in everyone’s ears—like music from heaven.

Fifty fighters remained on each of the two platforms.

“You will enter the Branch Academy!” the judge declared, surveying them with a solemn expression. “But you also have one chance to challenge the Outer Academy. Win, and you enter the Outer Academy. Lose, and you go back where you came from.”

“If we lose, we can’t even enter the Branch Academy?”

“Correct,” the judge said, pointing to a red wooden board. “Those who wish to enter the Branch Academy, go register your names now and await your assignments. Those who want to challenge the Outer Academy, write your names on the board yourselves!”

A stir rippled through the examinees. The Outer Academy slot dangled before them like a piece of fragrant meat—to bite or not to bite, that was the question.

Ironically, those who had fought tooth and nail just to secure a Branch Academy spot felt no conflict at all. They happily registered their names and went off to celebrate with drinks.

The stronger ones, those who believed they still had a shot, stood before the red board in hesitation.

If they failed, they couldn’t even enter the Branch Academy—all their efforts would be for nothing!

“Why don’t we ask the judge how the Outer Academy challenge works, so we at least know what we’re getting into.”

“Isn’t it similar to how the eliminated challengers fought the Branch Academy candidates?”

“Who can say for sure? There are a hundred and eighty-one Branch Academies, but only one Outer Academy.”

“I asked, but the judge wouldn’t say. It doesn’t look like it’ll be that simple.”

Zhan Changfeng had her sights set on the Inner Academy. As soon as the judge finished his announcement, she signed her name and then said a brief goodbye to Lin Wu before leaving on her own.

Earlier, during her fight with Qian Li, she’d had no opportunity to plant a Soul-Mark. But Liao Buxiu had been badly wounded, and his mental defenses were weakened—planting one on him had been easy to do unnoticed.

Zhan Changfeng silently recited the incantation of the Mirror-Seal Soul-Mark, and another scene appeared in her mind—what she saw through Liao Buxiu’s borrowed eyes.

Liao Buxiu’s wounds had been treated by the physicians stationed at the Martial Arena. Wrapped head to toe in bandages, he lay in a private room at the infirmary. Apart from the physicians who came to change his dressings and administer medicine, no one had visited.

Zhan Changfeng was in no hurry. She rented a room at an inn not far from the infirmary and waited patiently. Around the third watch of the night, the door to the private room was pushed open a crack.

“Who’s there!”

“Me.”

Liao Buxiu lit a lamp and looked at the black-robed fighter. “Why are you here?”

“To see if you’re dead or alive,” the black-robed fighter looked him over. “How are your injuries?”

“Tch. She bled me nearly dry, but nothing fatal.”

“She wouldn’t dare kill anyone on the stage.”

“Enough with the useless talk. Didn’t old Qian already poison her? He said using True Qi intensely would trigger it, but I didn’t see any sign of poisoning!”

“She might have discovered it.”

They went back and forth about various things, but not once did they touch on the reason for the poisoning or their ultimate purpose.

Just as Zhan Changfeng was about to sever the connection, the black-robed fighter’s sinister eyes suddenly loomed close—and the vision went dark.

Liao Buxiu had been killed.

Zhan Changfeng moved to the window. Peering through the crack, she had a direct line of sight to the infirmary. A dark figure leaped onto the infirmary’s rooftop and vanished into the alleyways in a few bounds.

She immediately vaulted from the windowsill and gave chase.

Zhan Changfeng tracked the figure to the vicinity of the Martial Arena, where she lost the trail. The area around the Martial Arena housed judges from the Martial Arts Academy and guards dispatched by the Bureau of Patrol, among whom were quite a few Foundation Establishment cultivators. She couldn’t sneak in to search.

Zhan Changfeng studied the surrounding buildings and made a mental note. If there were people within the Martial Arts Academy who wanted to move against her as well, that would be real trouble.