Tantai Yunzhi followed quietly behind Su Yi back to the area designated for Divine Might Manor. She could feel countless gazes pricking her back like needles—probing, curious, doubtful, and even subtly repulsed... She had long grown accustomed to it all.
When even her own parents shunned the bizarre anomaly within her body, she hardly expected warmth or closeness from strangers.
Raising her eyes slightly, she looked at Su Yi's back. Though not particularly broad, he held himself ramrod straight, leaving her utterly perplexed.
...
With the spirit root testing concluded, the Ascendance Gathering proceeded straight into the practical combat trials.
This was the crucial test determining the final placement of the immortal seekers. After all, aptitude without actual combat ability would scarcely yield success in a cultivation world teeming with prodigies.
Moreover, real battle offered a much clearer picture of which sect suited them best.
Their opponents were disciples from other sects—precisely what Su Yi had earlier referred to as “flexing their muscles.” The carefully groomed disciples of each sect served as their finest signboards.
Opponents were determined by drawing lots, paired up to fight simultaneously across ten temporary arenas erected in the center of Cloud Mist Immortal Terrace.
The atmosphere grew tense and fervent once more. Though the earlier episode had been shocking, the crowd's attention was quickly drawn back by the fierce magical clashes.
Su Yi, on the other hand, leaned lazily by Divine Might Manor’s seating area. He seemed thoroughly bored by the duels onstage, only occasionally lifting an eyelid to mutter under his breath, “Mm, the wind-up on that skill is way too long... Oho, a critical hit? Pity it didn't pierce defense... And that footwork, tsk...”
Most of his attention was instead focused on Tantai Yunzhi, who stood quietly beside him, and Gongsun Lin.
Before long, it was Tantai Yunzhi's turn to take the stage. Her draw had placed her toward the back of the lineup. Her opponent was at the ninth level of Qi Condensation, seemingly from an obscure, minor sect. Wielding a Blazing Saber, his aura was notably fierce.
When he saw that his opponent was Tantai Yunzhi, a flash of admiration flickered across his eyes, quickly replaced by blatant disdain and a touch of schadenfreude.
For one, her cultivation was lower than his; for another, she was someone explicitly claimed by Divine Might Manor, one of the four great sects. If he won, his sect would gain immense fame, and he would be the hero responsible!
“Lady Tantai, after you.”
Though polite in speech, his actions showed no hesitation. With a flick of his Blazing Saber, a wave of scorching heat washed over her. “I hear your talent is astonishing, miss, but regrettably your Dao is flawed. Why not surrender now? Lest we clash and harm your foundation, which would truly be a sin on my part!”
His words sounded considerate, but were dripping with mockery and provocation, implying she was merely a decorative vase with talent but no strength—and a defective one at that.
Faint snickers rippled through the audience below.
Up on the elevated platform, several elders watched this match in silence.
They all wanted to see how this Innate Five Elements Dao Physique would perform in actual combat, and what consequences that so-called “flaw” would bring.
Faced with her opponent’s provocation, Tantai Yunzhi’s expression remained indifferent, but her azure eyes frosted over in an instant, as if freezing into ten-thousand-year-old ice.
She did not speak, only slowly raising her hand.
Without summoning any magical artifact, she merely spread her five fingers.
In an instant, the world's spiritual energy above the arena surged violently! Five-colored spiritual lights—gold, green, blue, red, and yellow—manifested out of thin air. Though not as blindingly brilliant as on the spirit-testing stele, they flowed ceaselessly, imbued with a completely natural Dao rhythm.
“Five-element spells? She wants to cast them simultaneously?” someone cried out in alarm.
The saber-wielding disciple was taken aback for a second before bursting into laughter. “Haha! A Five Elements spirit root is chaotic and impure! Casting them all at once is merely a pointless waste of spiritual energy, seeking your own dest—”
Before the word “ruction” could leave his mouth, his smile froze.
Geng Metal Arrows!
With a flick of Tantai Yunzhi’s finger, the golden spiritual light flared brilliantly, coalescing into several incomparably sharp golden arrows that shrieked through the air!
“So what if you cast them! Mere parlor tricks! Fire overcomes metal, and my cultivation is higher than yours—let's see how you handle this!”
With that, the flames upon his saber surged even higher as he slashed out, aiming to melt the Geng Metal Arrows directly.
Yet at that very moment, a ribbon of water defense materialized over those Geng Metal Arrows, holding off the blazing flames.
“Water Control Technique? Metal generates water. By channeling it with metal energy, she amplified the water energy instead. Though her realm and spiritual energy are inferior to her opponent's, using metal and water to complement each other is more than enough to withstand that blow.” The elder of the Return to Origin Sect looked on with undisguised praise. This girl's tactical reflexes were exceptionally sharp.
Seeing his flames prove useless, the man gritted his teeth and retreated to evade the brunt of the assault. At the exact same moment, the ground beneath his feet shifted faintly, and several tough green vines silently burst forth, coiling accurately around his feet.
“Such an ordinary Entanglement Technique? Junior Sister Tantai truly underestimates me! I possess dual metal and fire spirit roots, and metal happens to counter your wood!”
With a swing of his arm, the fire on his saber dissipated and golden light blazed forth.
Su Yi watched this movement intently. Exposing both wind-up and recovery frames—he would have to be a ghost not to get punished for that.
The female lead's early-game form might have low base stats, but her kit mechanics were god-tier! Seamless five-element switching with virtually zero wind-up or recovery frames. As long as she controlled it properly, punching above her weight class in PvP was a piece of cake.
Metal Spirit Infusion!
“Watch me sever these vines!”
As the man swung his arm downward, the vines shattered wherever his blade passed. Yet before he could even celebrate, he abruptly felt something amiss.
“The air around Tantai Yunzhi is distorting.”
“It’s intense heat. Heat distortion,” a female elder from Perching Phoenix Pavilion observed.
“Using wood to bait out an opponent’s metal, then countering it with fire... She certainly does not fight like a child her age.”
“Still, she is an entire realm behind after all. It remains too early to call the victor.”
“Not necessarily,” Ming Xi suddenly chimed in, interrupting the elder.
“Oh? Why do you say that?”
“Because she possesses all five spirit roots.” With that, she pointed a pale finger toward the vines on the ground. By now, the severed vines were actually being swallowed up by the earth.
Earth Vein Technique: Sinkhole.
“The vines were merely a feint. What truly traps him is this earth technique—and it isn't over yet.”
Ming Xi watched the pit without blinking. Given her familiarity with the fire element, that man was in for a miserable time.
“Fire Technique: Earth Fiend Flame.”
Victory already secured, Tantai Yunzhi calmly uttered the incantation. She slapped her small palm against the ground. The distant pit suddenly erupted violently, spewing geysers of flame whose concussive force hurled the man straight off the stage.
Five elements mutually generating, cyclic amplification!
Throughout the entire clash, her opponent hadn't so much as brushed the hem of her clothes.
This was nothing like the chaotic, self-interfering spellcasting typical of ordinary Five Elements spirit root cultivators. It was a near-artistic display of pinpoint precision and power allocation!
The entire exchange had taken only a few breaths.
Tantai Yunzhi hadn't even moved a single step from where she stood.
The entire arena fell dead silent.
Everyone was stunned by this crisp, lethal, and mathematically precise assault that perfectly showcased the power of the five elements generating one another.
It was not merely a victory—it was a declaration!
Her Dao might be flawed, but she was by no means an empty vessel! Her combat capability and the precision of her spiritual energy control far surpassed her peers!
The snickers below had long vanished without a trace, replaced by shock and disbelief.
Even the elders on the elevated platform had intense light bursting from their eyes once more.
“What exquisite control! The five elements cycle effortlessly, endless and ceaseless!”
“Her mastery over her Dao physique has reached such heights already?”
Several elders exchanged glances, then looked toward Divine Might Manor’s direction, where Gongsun Lin and Su Yi stood by themselves.
‘Should we...?’
“No, wait,” the Return to Origin Sect elder said abruptly, his brow furrowing as he stared at Tantai Yunzhi.
He acutely noticed that after dispatching her foe in a single sequence, Tantai Yunzhi’s face appeared a shade paler. The originally harmonious five-element Dao rhythm around her hitched with a faint, imperceptible friction. Though quickly suppressed by force, it could not escape the eyes of a true expert.
That “continuous depletion” still existed, surfacing the moment she drew upon her power.
To suffer such an intense repercussion after merely a few breaths? The elders shook their heads, abandoning their lingering notions.
As for the elders' subtle gestures on the platform, discreet though they were, they did not escape Tantai Yunzhi’s eyes.
She had known it all along: in the eyes of these haughty, self-important figures, fine jade could not bear the slightest blemish.
Biting her lip softly, Tantai Yunzhi lowered her hands. Subconsciously, her gaze drifted toward Divine Might Manor, toward the only person who had reached out his hand to her when everyone else doubted.
“Well, Junior Sister? Your senior brother’s eye isn't half bad, is it?” Su Yi looked smugly at Gongsun Lin. Yet to Tantai Yunzhi from below the stage, it only looked as if he was smiling warmly at his companion.
‘He believed in me so resolutely, so why isn't his gaze on me?’
It felt as though she had finally met an appreciative mentor, only to find he didn't care in the slightest about the results of her very first exam.
There were only two explanations: either he didn't care about her performance at all, or he had absolute confidence in her.
Neither of which she could fathom.
Could it be that he had merely taken pity on her out of compassion?
After regulating her breathing for a moment, Tantai Yunzhi stepped down from the stage, murmuring quietly in her heart. Never mind. Whether it was pity or genuine belief, as long as she did her absolute best and did not let him down...
That was enough.
Rate on N.U.
