Chapter 117: Poisoned
Chapter 117
The crowd looked at the scene with stunned, mesmerized eyes, as the arena had been almost completely destroyed; yet the two fighters... Yuexin and Xueyi... didn’t seem to be in any hurry to end the battle.
Neither of them appeared heavily injured, nor did they seem out of breath; instead, they both looked eager to continue, especially Xueyi, who was grinning brightly as she looked at Yuexin. "Sister Yuexin, let’s go for another round," she said with a small smile on her face.
Yuexin looked at her, then glanced at her own hand where the mark she had received during their latest clash still lingered; she couldn’t help but ask, "What are you planning? I can tell you are trying to hide something from me. Tell me."
Xueyi didn’t feign ignorance this time as she had done before; instead, she merely covered her mouth to hide the grin spreading across her face before replying in a childish voice, "No, it is nothing really. You will learn of it soon though."
Behind that innocent smile, however, Xueyi was laughing inside her mind like a wicked villain who had just discovered the perfect method to blow up an entire city. "She has already lost."
After all, just as Yuexin had suspected, she indeed possessed a mutated qi; and hers was Poison Qi. Although she hadn’t fully channeled it the way Yuexin was currently using her Water Qi, there simply wasn’t any need for that; she would win regardless.
With the tiny amount she had already infused into her daggers, the wound she left on Yuexin’s hand was enough.
The poison should already be invading Yuexin’s body; it wouldn’t ravage her violently or tear through her organs immediately, but instead, it would spread gently, silently, and slowly weakening her little by little until she became weak enough.
When that time came, defeating her would become far easier. Inside her mind, Xueyi laughed even harder... a truly wicked villain’s laugh. "I have already won."
Yuexin, however, seeing that Xueyi had no intention of revealing what she was hiding, prepared to attack once more. If there was one thing she had learned from all their previous exchanges, it was this: defeating Xueyi was possible.
Her defense was incredibly high, her offense was equally terrifying, and her combat skills were nothing short of extraordinary; but her battle IQ was still below Yuexin’s.
Yuexin was certain that she could trick her multiple times and create openings to land decisive blows; if she managed to strike Xueyi repeatedly with her strongest attacks, then she still had a chance of winning this battle without needing to summon her bloody self.
With that thought, she crossed her two swords, forming an X right before her: "Flowing Surge... "
Before she could make her move, however, the referee suddenly appeared before her and gently held her shoulder down. Yuexin turned to look at him, silently asking why he was stopping her.
The referee coughed awkwardly before speaking, "I know your fighting spirit is high, but... you would need a battle stage to fight on first." Yuexin raised an eyebrow; she was about to point out that they were already standing on a battle stage, but when she looked around, she took a deep breath, then quietly shut her mouth.
The reason was rather obvious: the battle stage was completely devastated. The one to the right had been reduced to rubble; the one to the left had been sliced into pieces; the one to the north had been crushed; and the one to the south had suffered the same fate.
Which meant the only place still barely standing was the center, and even that section looked terrible; without a doubt, it too would be destroyed if the two of them clashed there one more time. If that happened, there would be no stage left for them to continue fighting.
"The two warriors will be given a five-minute break while the battle stage is repaired," the referee announced.
He then escorted both warriors off the ruined arena, though they would be called back soon enough. Yuexin stepped down from the stage, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong; without wasting any time, she sat down and entered a meditative state.
This served two purposes: the first was to recover the energy she had already spent during the battle. The ten-minute break wouldn’t be enough for her qi bead to recover back to its peak, but it would be more than enough for her to finish the battle against Xueyi.
Speaking of Xueyi, she was the second reason Yuexin had chosen to meditate; she suspected that Xueyi must have done something to her during their previous clashes, and her best guess was that she had been poisoned.
Her daggers were probably laced with poison, and she had struck her with them. As immoral as that might sound, it was perfectly fair; after all, there wasn’t a single rule in the tournament that forbade the use of poison.
So Yuexin concluded that she had most likely been poisoned; the good news was that she should be able to force the poison out. That was exactly what she focused on doing as she carefully searched through her body.
She examined every inch of herself, checked her vital organs, inspected her qi bead, and searched every meridian and every corner of her body; yet, she found nothing.
Yuexin frowned and concentrated even harder, searching once again for the poison she was convinced Xueyi had used on her. Watching this scene from the side, Xueyi could no longer hold herself back; she burst into genuine laughter.
Her slightly maddening laughter caused everyone in the Guan Clan’s camp to glance at her warily, as they all knew one thing for certain: she only laughed like that whenever she had done something particularly wicked. "You will never find that poison, Yuexin."
After all, it was her mutated qi; unlike ordinary poisons that could easily be detected and expelled with spiritual force... well, something only cultivators who had stepped into the Qi Refining Realm could accomplish... her poison was completely different.
Normally, if Yuexin used her spiritual force, she would have already discovered the poison and forced it out; that was if it had been ordinary poison.
But Xueyi’s Poison Qi was special; when she injected it into her victim, it transformed itself into ordinary qi. It blended perfectly with the victim’s own qi, remaining completely silent while circulating naturally throughout their body. It would quietly position itself around several vital points, waiting... waiting only for her command.
The moment she activated it, her victim would experience overwhelming agony, enough to make them incapable of continuing the battle. "The battle is already over. I have won.’ Xueyi thought with a small, wicked smile on her face.
Could what she was doing be considered cheating? Not really, not at all; she was simply making use of her mutated qi.
Although... her mutated qi itself felt almost unfair. Haoran looked at Xueyi’s grinning face before shifting his gaze toward Yuexin, who was still meditating; a faint crease appeared on his forehead.
That expression alone revealed what he already knew: there was no doubt about it anymore. He had been right; Xueyi had already used her mutated qi against Yuexin. And now that it had been done, he was convinced the match wouldn’t last much longer; after all, Xueyi’s Poison Qi was an absolute nuisance.
Even he wouldn’t want to be afflicted by it; he sighed. "And here I thought I would be able to enjoy this spectacle for a little longer. Unfortunately... the battle will be ending soon."
Meanwhile, the referee began repairing the arena. Using the formations he had drawn earlier, he formed several hand seals before pressing both palms firmly into the center of the array; the formation immediately lit up.
Right before the eyes of the crowd, who eagerly waited for the spectacular battle to resume, the battle stage that had been utterly destroyed slowly began rebuilding itself, brick by brick and layer by layer. After a little over a minute, the battle arena had completely returned to its original appearance.
The referee looked over his handiwork and nodded in satisfaction; not only had he rebuilt the battle stage, but he had also made several modifications to ensure he wouldn’t have to repair it again.
The stage was now roughly fifty percent larger in both length and width, and he had also reinforced every brick using his own Earth Qi.
Previously, the stage could only withstand the full-powered attacks of Qi Refining Realm cultivators; now, it could endure even the full-force attacks of a Foundation Realm cultivator before showing signs of cracking.
Satisfied with his work, the referee called both warriors back onto the stage.
Xueyi landed on the arena before he had even finished calling her name, her cheerful grin remaining as bright as ever; at the same time, Yuexin slowly opened her eyes.
She couldn’t help but frown; she had searched every inch of her body for the supposed poisoned qi... every meridian, every organ, every pathway... she had checked everything, yet she still couldn’t find the slightest trace of poison.
With a quiet sigh, she shook her head. "Maybe... I’m simply overthinking things."
She rose to her feet and calmly walked toward the battle stage. "She really seems determined to win this battle, doesn’t she?" Guan Ju said with a mocking smile. "Too bad she has no idea that she is already destined to lose.
After all... she can’t win against Xueyi’s Poison Qi; it is only a matter of time before she officially loses this battle."
Yuexin looked at Xueyi, who seemed to be struggling to suppress another fit of laughter. After a few moments, Xueyi finally regained her composure before asking in her usual cheerful and playful tone, "Now that the battle stage is ready again... can we go for the next round?"
She grinned brightly; Yuexin didn’t answer with words, as there was no need. Instead, she drew the two swords she was wielding... her blue sword and Li Feng’s black sword.
"The next round between the Battle Princess and the Beast Slayer begins now!" With that declaration, the referee vanished from the battle stage; the next instant, the two disappeared from where they had been standing and reappeared in the middle of the arena, where their weapons collided with explosive force.
Once again, their movements blurred into streaks too fast for most eyes to follow. The beautiful display of combat skill, seamlessly mixed with combat arts and masterful control over qi, unfolded once more; and once again, the duel between the two young women completely entranced everyone watching.
Yuexin’s strikes combined most of the forms of the Flowing Surge in tandem with her own battle skills; because of that, every single strike she unleashed was lethal and carried tremendous force behind it.
Yet, despite their overwhelming power, they were either blocked or evaded by the attacks of Xueyi, who was just as skilled. The two seemed to be locked in an endless exchange of brutal offense and flawless defense... attack, defend, evade, repeat.
Their movements were superb, their battle skills exquisite, and the crowd watched in complete fascination. Just when it seemed that the battle had once again reached a perfect stalemate, Xueyi suddenly grinned; she snapped her fingers.
An overwhelming wave of pain instantly assaulted Yuexin’s entire nervous system; her footwork, which had been perfectly executed in the middle of an attack, faltered before completely shattering.
The sudden pain flooded every nerve in her body, and due to the overwhelming shock, her mind froze for a brief instant; she was locked in a trance, unable to complete her strike.
"Danger!"
Her instincts screamed at her; she barely managed to react in time as she raised her sword upward to guard.
Clang! A loud metallic collision echoed throughout the arena, followed by the horrifying sound of flesh being sliced apart; Yuexin’s right shoulder weakened as Xueyi’s second dagger... the one she had failed to block... slashed deeply across it.
She let out a small groan before quickly creating some distance between them, her insides screaming in agony. She immediately directed her senses inward; the moment she examined her body, she realized it. It was exactly as she had feared before: she had indeed been poisoned.
Yuexin looked at Xueyi with a deep frown. "You..." "What is it, Sister Yuexin?" Xueyi asked with an innocent smile. "Do you want to praise me for my ingenuity or what?"
Yuexin didn’t answer; now that the poison had finally revealed itself, she could at least locate it and force it out of her body.
But before she could focus, she sensed danger once again; she had no choice but to abandon her concentration and defend. Xueyi’s strike slammed into her sword, then another followed, and another; a relentless barrage of attacks descended upon her.
Yuexin barely managed to keep up, mostly through the timely use of Flowing Current in conjunction with Ripple Step; after a while, she finally managed to create some distance. She staggered; another overwhelming wave of pain surged through her body.
She fell onto one knee, coughing out a mouthful of blood; the scene shocked everyone. They had all clearly seen that Yuexin hadn’t taken any devastating attack from Xueyi just now, so why was she suddenly coughing blood?
The answer came sooner rather than later. "I think... she has been poisoned." "Poison? Wait... is that even allowed during the match?" "Well... there is no rule against it... so I guess it is." "No! Lady Yuexin mustn’t lose like this!" "The Beast Slayer is using foul play!"
The crowd erupted into countless murmurs of discontent, their dissatisfaction obvious from the way they shouted.
Xueyi, however, didn’t spare the audience a single glance; instead, she looked at Yuexin with that same cheerful, almost stupid-looking smile plastered across her face. "So... what do you think of my masterpiece?" she asked proudly.
"It is your mutated qi... isn’t it?" Yuexin asked calmly. Xueyi nodded, her smile becoming even brighter. "Yep! You got that right. My mutated qi is Poison Qi; and my Poison Qi is kind of unique, you see.
The moment it enters your body, it doesn’t attack immediately; it simply lies in wait... silently hiding inside you until I decide to trigger it. I can activate it whenever I want... but I like snapping my fingers like this."
She snapped her fingers once more; Yuexin immediately coughed out even more blood, her breathing becoming increasingly ragged. "Also," Xueyi continued with a grin, "the more you use your qi, the faster the poison spreads.
Soon it will spread throughout your entire body; when that happens, you won’t even be able to walk, and you won’t even be able to speak anymore. It is over."
Yuexin listened quietly; she slowly closed her eyes. For several long moments, she said nothing; then, a faint smile appeared on her lips. She slowly shook her head. "Yeah... your plan is a great one. But... you are wrong. It is not over yet."
The moment those words left her mouth, she opened her eyes; one of them remained its usual calm blue, while the other had turned into a glowing blood-red eye.. t