Quarterfinals, third match.
Chao Qingteng stood with his sword held at an angle, tilting his head to gaze at the sky, his demeanor aloof and stern.
He simply stood there, chilling the air around him and even causing snowflakes to drift down.
Xu Xiaoshou plunged into the barrier and shivered involuntarily. The temperature inside the arena was several times lower than outside.
"Is this the power of innate attributes?"
He muttered to himself in amazement. He had already known that Chao Qingteng possessed ice attribute abilities, but experiencing it firsthand revealed the terrifying nature of innate power.
The ability to influence nature with one's own strength was nothing short of dreadful.
After entering the arena, there was time for adjusting one's breath. Xiao Qixiu was being considerate of Xu Xiaoshou, even though the boy was always dawdling, but he still gave him the necessary preparation time.
Xu Xiaoshou reached out his hand, and snowflakes from the air landed in his palm, creating a scene of serene elegance.
The audience in the stands watched in utter fascination. The light snow on Chuyun Platform, with three men in the midst, was like a beautiful painting.
"Referee, he's cheating!"
Before the crowd could fully snap out of the painting-like scene, Xu Xiaoshou pointed accusingly at Chao Qingteng across from him and exclaimed angrily, "The match hasn't even started, and he's already affecting the environment. That's not fair!"
The snowflakes in the air paused slightly, and Chao Qingteng finally turned his gaze toward Xu Xiaoshou.
"Mocked, passive value +1."
Oh!
Still mocking me?
Xu Xiaoshou glared back defiantly. Who was afraid of whom?
Xiao Qixiu frowned. Technically, Xu Xiaoshou was right, but in a real match, who would care about a few snowflakes?
"What do you want to do about it?"
Xu Xiaoshou chuckled. "I'm a bit cold. Make him stop the snowflakes."
On the surface, he acted carefree, but deep down, he was taking this match very seriously.
Who knew what function these snowflakes had? Maybe they could detect his position if they touched him, or perhaps they were building up for a big attack...
Xu Xiaoshou wasn't about to be careless against an innate expert and give away the advantage of timing and terrain—that would be like admitting defeat halfway.
The audience was starting to feel annoyed. Some thought Xu Xiaoshou was being cautious and approved, but most saw him as overly nitpicky.
Just a few snowflakes— was that necessary?
"I can't stop it." Chao Qingteng spoke, his voice carrying a hint of coldness.
"Well, that's a problem..." Xu Xiaoshou shrugged. "You're good at long-range spells, I'm melee, and now you're cheating. How am I supposed to fight?"
Even Chao Qingteng, with his aloof pride, couldn't help but twitch his mouth at the repeated accusations of cheating. "What exactly do you want?"
"How about opening the barrier and letting some sun in?" Xu Xiaoshou suggested.
Xiao Qixiu nearly stumbled. What the hell—letting the sun in while thousands in the audience watched you sunbathe?
"Sunbathing is out of the question. Since you said you're melee, how about closing the distance a bit?" Xiao Qixiu looked at Chao Qingteng with a questioning gaze.
Chao Qingteng nodded, and Xu Xiaoshou immediately brightened up. Got him!
"How much is 'a bit'?" he pressed on.
Xiao Qixiu was getting fed up with this guy. Pushing his luck, huh!
"Whatever." Chao Qingteng's eyes turned cold, and he added firmly, "People are waiting outside. Let's get started!"
"Whatever?" Xu Xiaoshou raised an eyebrow.
With a whoosh, he suddenly closed in, their noses almost touching.
Xu Xiaoshou breathed out warmly: "Is this okay?"
Chao Qingteng was startled by the sudden burst of heat, his usually pale face flushing slightly. He stepped back quickly, his heart racing, and after a long hesitation...
"Fine!"
The audience was going wild. Some female disciples shouted, "No way!"
With his strength and that icy demeanor, Chao Qingteng was the epitome of "cool and distant," practically the prince charming in the hearts of nearly all the female students in the outer courtyard.
In previous matches, Xu Xiaoshou had plenty of supporters, but now against Chao Qingteng, the crowd was overwhelmingly on one side.
"Get away from him! Who gave you permission to get close to my Qingteng brother?"
"Don't agree to it! Qingteng senior, pull away quick!"
"Oh my gosh, so that's possible? I've learned something! I need to train hard too—I want to get that close to Qingteng brother..."
The two stood just a step apart, staring deeply into each other's eyes.
Xiao Qixiu waved his hand at the right moment: "Match starts!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Xu Xiaoshou's playful smile vanished, replaced by a serious expression.
Amid the swirling snowflakes, he threw a heavy punch at Chao Qingteng.
Thud!
Ice shards exploded on impact, but Xu Xiaoshou could feel he hadn't hit the real Chao Qingteng.
"What is this..."
An illusion, teleportation, substitution technique?
Xu Xiaoshou's mind raced through possibilities. With his "perception" extended, he noticed the snowflakes stir behind him as Chao Qingteng appeared.
Chao Qingteng, now behind him, didn't attack right away. Instead, he backed away to create distance.
He raised a finger, as if signifying something, and said calmly, "Not bad."
"Praised, passive value +1."
Xu Xiaoshou felt like he was being mocked. He had no idea how Chao Qingteng had escaped—the "fake" Chao Qingteng he'd punched turned into an ice sculpture in the snowflakes and shattered.
It was eerily strange...
Xu Xiaoshou pretended to be nonchalant: "You dodged well. I guess that had nothing to do with the snowflakes, right? Otherwise, it'd be outright cheating."
Chao Qingteng remained expressionless, and Xu Xiaoshou thought to himself that this cold-faced guy was hard to read from his expressions.
He stared at Chao Qingteng as if uninterested, but his "perception" was maxed out, clearly sensing every snowflake as it formed and fell.
His intuition told him not to ignore this snowfall.
Because it was snow that only appeared against him, Xu Xiaoshou—Chao Qingteng had never used it before.
The blue Binghe Sword, with its unusually wide blade, was slowly lifted by Chao Qingteng, and the snowflakes in the air seemed to tremble slightly.
Xu Xiaoshou drew his Cang Ku sword. He knew that without breaking Chao Qingteng's technique, close combat was impossible.
At the innate Yuan Court realm, spiritual power had evolved into spiritual essence. As Chao Qingteng infused his spiritual essence into the Binghe Sword, the blade crackled and formed ice crystals.
Whoosh!
The sword swept out, sending a wave of frost rushing toward him. Xu Xiaoshou dodged to the side.
Yet, even without direct contact, the chill released as it approached severely hampered his movements.
Xu Xiaoshou finally understood why no one could evade Chao Qingteng's "One Sword Ice River."
"Hiss~"
He shuddered all over, his body numbed to the point where he almost dropped his sword. Facing the second sword strike that followed, he could only barely raise Cang Ku to block.
There was no clash, no roar...
Under the astonished gaze of the audience, Xu Xiaoshou was suddenly frozen solid into an ice sculpture with a crack!
"Damn, even Xu Xiaoshou got frozen like that—just two strikes?"
"Chao Qingteng is way too strong. It's 'One Sword Ice River' against anyone, but for Xu Xiaoshou with his innate body, it's... 'Two Swords Ice River'?"
"Is the gap between the tenth level of refining spirit and innate really that huge? I'm stunned..."
Chao Qingteng's expression stayed utterly indifferent, as if he were dealing with some minor opponent. Xu Xiaoshou was just worth two strikes, that's all.
Still, the guy had an innate body, so Chao Qingteng wasn't sure if his spiritual essence of Ice River—powerful enough to freeze and destroy the flesh of a tenth-level refining spirit—could actually kill him...
Chao Qingteng glanced at Xiao Qixiu out of the corner of his eye and saw he wasn't moving to intervene, confirming his suspicion.
He decided to continue the attack!
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