From a loser to an immortal sage

Chapter 516 The Storm on the Battlefield

I ran so fast that the soles of my boots almost scraped against the bluestone slabs, sending sparks flying.

Although the white light from the west arena had dimmed somewhat, fine spiritual dust still floated in the air, like shards of glass scattered on it, making my eyelids sting.

"Junior Sister Zhou!" I shouted, but before I could finish speaking, I was swept into the turbulent current—the magic array on the arena was not an ordinary competition barrier at all. Spiritual energy was seeping out along the engravings on the edge, like a punctured water bag, bubbling and churning black bubbles.

Zhou Xianzi's black skirt fluttered in the wind, her wooden sword had long been broken in two, and she was now grabbing Chen Erniu's wrist with her bare hands.

The outer disciple stared blankly, the eerie blue light on the short blade licking at Zhou Xianzi's fingertips, emitting wisps of smoke with each stroke.

"Something's wrong with him!" Junior Sister Chu's voice came from behind.

She ran even faster than I did, and one of the pearl hairpins fell from her hair, landing right at my feet.

I glimpsed dark red lines crawling on Chen Erniu's neck, like tree roots soaked in red ink—a sign of being controlled by evil magic.

I saw similar marks when I treated Old He's hysteria in the servants' quarters last time. He said that he was patted on the back of the neck by someone wearing a black cloak at night.

"Master Zhao!" I shouted to the supervisor's box on the sidelines.

Master Zhao was gripping the bronze key as he inserted it into the control panel, sweat dripping from his forehead onto the wooden table with a "thud" and spreading into a dark circle.

His eyes were red when he looked up: "The sealing array has been disrupted!"

The barrier can't be closed; if this continues—"

"It will explode." Elder Li appeared beside me at some point.

His usually neatly combed white beard was now a mess, and he pointed to the array's core at the edge of the arena, saying, "The spiritual energy is swirling inside, like boiling water trapped in a jar."

To solve this, the core node needs to be manually disassembled.

My throat feels tight.

Manually dismantling the array's core means rushing into turbulent currents; even a slight brush against the spiritual energy can result in cuts and lacerations.

Black blood was already seeping from the corner of Zhou Xianzi's mouth. She gritted her teeth and tried to pry Chen Erniu's fingers off, but the short blade pressed down an inch or so, cutting a deep gash on the back of her hand that revealed the bone.

"Senior Sister Xiao!" Junior Sister Chu suddenly tugged at my sleeve.

The wooden ring on her wrist bumped against the back of my hand, the "broken" mark painfully digging into it.

I then realized that she had handed me the wooden sword at some point—it was her most treasured possession, said to have been carved from a hundred-year-old pine tree on the back mountain, and the character "勤" (diligence) had been carved into it all night long.

The sword still carried the warmth of her palm, and the character "勤" (diligence) was deeply soaked with sweat.

I gripped the wooden sword tightly, and with my other hand I reached for the jade pendant at my waist.

That was a fragment of the "Ancient Formation Explanation" that I found in the library last month. At the time, I thought the characters were blurry and difficult to decipher, but somehow I used my spiritual seal to make a rubbing of it.

The jade pendant was burning hot against my skin. As soon as I had a thought, golden patterns appeared on it, which were the "Sealing Analysis Technique" recorded in the incomplete scroll.

“A reverse spirit talisman.” I stared at the dancing light patterns on the jade tablet, my throat turning bitter.

Sure enough, a black talisman was embedded in each of the four corners of the magic circle. The edges of the talisman paper were curled up and were climbing towards the center along the array patterns.

I've seen this thing in "The Record of Ten Thousand Evils". It's specifically designed to counter righteous barriers. It will stir up spiritual energy into a mess and then detonate it. Who has the audacity to make a move during the sect competition?

“Xiao Yao.” Wen Chen’s voice suddenly came from above.

He had somehow managed to leap onto the lookout pillar beside the arena, his white robes billowing in the turbulent flow of spiritual energy, yet he remained as steady as a pine tree.

When he looked down at me, the red mole at the corner of his eye looked like a drop of blood about to fall. "The fuse for the talisman array is in the due north corner."

I looked up and nodded at him, my palms sweaty.

Zhou Xianzi's knees had already knelt down, and Chen Erniu's short blade was pressed against her throat, the eerie blue light making her face turn pale.

I pulled out the Soul-Stabilizing Powder from my pocket and handed it to Junior Sister Chu: "When I rush in later, find a chance to sprinkle it on Chen Erniu's nape—on that red mark."

Junior Sister Chu nodded vigorously. The wooden sword trembled violently in her hand, but she caught the medicine bottle with great steadiness.

I turned to look at Senior Brother Lin. He was pacing around the edge of the arena, his bronze sword flashing as the tassel scraped against the bluestone slabs. "I'll be dismantling the array's core later; someone needs to suppress the spiritual energy."

"I'll protect your back." Senior Brother Lin gave me a short laugh, the same expression he had when he taught me how to break formations in the training ground back then.

He touched the ground with the tip of his sword, and a thin crack immediately appeared in the ground, with spiritual energy seeping into it—this was to divert some of the turbulent flow in advance.

Elder Li suddenly patted my shoulder: "Little Xiao, the core of that array is beneath the lotus pattern at the center of the platform." He touched his fingertip with spiritual dust and drew a circle in my palm. "I participated in the design of this arena back then; the array's core is hidden within the third layer of engravings."

I took a deep breath and could hear my heart pounding like a drum.

Zhou Xianzi's blood dripped onto the bluestone slab, each drop making a "sizzling" sound, like medicine being decocted.

I took out the jade slip containing the "Ancient Formation Explanation" and stuffed it into Senior Brother Lin's hand: "Cover me up, I'm going to the center point."

The moment Senior Brother Lin's fingers touched the jade slip, the bronze sword suddenly began to hum.

He looked up at me, his eyes reflecting the dim light of the arena: "Don't worry, I'll guard you."

I gripped the wooden sword that Junior Sister Chu had given me and took a step forward.

The turbulent flow of spiritual energy immediately enveloped my ankles, like countless fine needles piercing my flesh.

But as I stared at Zhou Xianzi's bloodshot eyes, I suddenly remembered that three years ago she knelt in my room and said, "I want to enter the inner sect, I want to avenge my master."

Her hands were just as cold then, yet she was clutching half a piece of broken jade, her knuckles turning white from the pressure.

"Hold on!" I shouted at the ring, my voice torn to shreds by the turbulent currents.

But then Fairy Zhou suddenly looked up and smiled at me.

Blood was still trickling from the corner of her mouth, but her eyes shone like stars—that was our pre-arranged signal, "I'm fine."

I leaped into the air, the sound of the wooden sword slicing through the air drowning out all the noise.

Wen Chen's white robe flashed in my sight, and he waved his sleeve, creating a gentle breeze that deflected half of the spiritual energy blade for me.

Senior Brother Lin's sword tassel swept past my feet, and the cracks in the ground suddenly widened, sucking away the turbulent currents that were wrapped around my legs.

Meanwhile, Junior Sister Chu's wooden ring spun around her wrist with her movements. The engraved character "破" (break) flashed in the light, like a bolt of lightning cleaving through the dark clouds.

The moment I placed the jade slip into Senior Brother Lin's palm, the calluses on his hand brushed against my fingertips—old wounds left from when he shielded me from three Thunderfire Talismans. "Protect the center of the formation!" he shouted, and his bronze sword suddenly burst forth with dazzling golden light. He leaped like an arrow onto the cloud-patterned pillar at the edge of the arena.

Amidst the trembling hum of the sword, I saw him flip his wrist, and the black iron beads adorning the sword tassel clanged against the pillar. Golden light spread along the pillar's patterns, like a golden cage encasing the rampaging magic array.

The turbulence of the magic array was indeed somewhat weakened.

Taking advantage of the gap, I gathered my energy and leaped in. When the spiritual energy blade grazed my left shoulder, I gasped in pain—but I couldn't care less, my eyes were fixed on the center of the arena.

The fuse of the north-pointing talisman array that Wen Chen mentioned earlier is now emitting a dark light, like a moldy spot embedded in white jade.

"Watch your step!" Wen Chen's voice lashed down from above.

I instinctively ducked, and a dark cyan spiritual energy blade grazed the top of my head, carving a half-foot-deep furrow in the bluestone slab behind me.

Looking up, I met his reddened eyes, the red mole glowing in the light. "There are reverse lines under the fuse; turn it three times counter-clockwise!"

I reached for the ebony hairpin at my waist—it was a silver hairpin my mother gave me before I transmigrated, which I had tempered into ebony with spiritual fire, and it was now burning hot with my heartbeat.

The tip of the hairpin touched the edge of the talisman paper, and spiritual energy seeped in along the engraving.

The talisman suddenly curled up, like a snake whose tail had been stepped on, and the black patterns hissed as they burrowed into my palm.

The pain was so intense that my fingernails almost dug into my palm, but I gritted my teeth and continued to push my spiritual power. As mentioned in "Ancient Array Explanation", this kind of evil talisman is most afraid of the backlash of righteous spirits. You have to use your own spiritual power as a catalyst to turn its turbulent flow into a righteous trajectory.

"Senior Sister Xiao!" Junior Sister Chu's scream was mixed with a soft "plop" sound.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the red mark on the back of Chen Erniu's neck suddenly explode. The powder of the Soul-Stabilizing Powder, mixed with spiritual light, seeped in. His short blade clattered to the ground, and he rolled his eyes and collapsed to the ground.

Zhou Xianzi staggered, grabbing for support at the edge of the arena. Black blood was still oozing from the wound on the back of her hand, but she frantically waved her hands at me, shouting, "First—first break the talisman!"

The talisman made a ripping sound under the tip of my hairpin, like old book pages being torn into pieces.

Sweat dripped from my forehead into my eyes, and through the blur, I saw the lotus pattern in the center of the rune array suddenly glow white—it was the third layer of engraving that Elder Li had mentioned!

The ebony hairpin traced the veins of the lotus petals, and spiritual energy surged forth like a bursting river, crashing into the core of the rune array with a "boom."

The entire arena suddenly shook.

The turbulence came to an abrupt halt.

I staggered back two steps and bumped into a warm chest.

Wen Chen's white robe still smelled of burnt spiritual energy. He wrapped his arm around my lower back, his voice trembling, "Hold on."

Zhou Xianzi's black skirt finally stopped fluttering.

She knelt beside Chen Erniu, her fingertips pressed against his neck, her eyes red-rimmed as she looked up: "He's awake." Chen Erniu blinked blankly, looking at his blood-stained dagger, and suddenly burst into tears: "I...how did I get here?"

I was clearly chopping wood in the servants' quarters...

The applause erupted like thunder.

Only then did I notice that a crowd had gathered around me, with the exclamations of outer disciples and the praises of inner elders all mixed together.

Hall Master Zhao wiped the sweat from his brow, the bronze key clattering into the control panel. His voice trembled as he said, "The barrier... the barrier has been restored!"

Senior Brother Lin leaped down from the cloud-patterned pillar, the golden light of the bronze sword not yet completely dissipated.

He walked up to me, gently placing the jade slip into my arms, his fingertips tracing the bloodstains on my shoulder: "Not badly injured?" I shook my head, and he smiled, the fine lines at the corners of his eyes still shimmering with fragments of chaotic spiritual energy: "Much more stable than when we broke the illusion array three years ago."

Suddenly, Fairy Zhou stood in front of me.

The wound on the back of her hand had stopped bleeding with Lin Shixiong's wound medicine, but it was still oozing a dark, viscous fluid.

She stared at me, the bloodstains at the corners of her eyes still wet, but her gaze was astonishingly bright—not the stubbornness of before, but a fire burning even more fiercely: "Senior Sister Xiao, I...I want to learn how to break formations from you."

Just as I was about to respond to her, Master Zhao suddenly squeezed over, clutching half a charred talisman.

His official boots slammed against Chen Erniu's short blade, the metallic scraping sound piercing the ears. "Fairy Xiao, look at this." The talisman's pattern was only half-finished, yet it sent a chill down my spine—it was the reversed spirit talisman pattern from before. "The teleportation array's monitoring stone shows this talisman was transmitted from the Inner Sect's C-room at 11:45 AM," Hall Master Zhao lowered his voice, his gaze sweeping around the room. "The C-room... is the Inner Sect disciples' meditation room."

My fingers unconsciously tightened around the hem of my skirt.

Inner disciple?

Who would make a move at such a critical juncture as the competition?

Is this targeting Fairy Zhou?

Or... is it targeting me?

“Xiao Yao.” Wen Chen’s hand covered my trembling hand, his body temperature coming through my palm. “I’ll go check the entry and exit records of Room C.” As he turned around, his white robe stirred up a gust of wind, making the talismans in Master Zhao’s hand rustle.

Senior Brother Lin patted my shoulder: "I'm going to see Chen Erniu and ask him if he's seen any suspicious people recently." He nodded to Fairy Zhou, "Come with me, you can learn how to interrogate people." Fairy Zhou immediately followed, her wooden sword gripped tightly in her hand as if it were a red-hot iron.

The crowd gradually dispersed.

The setting sun dyed the arena blood red, and Chen Erniu's short blade lay on the ground, the edge still stained with beads of Zhou Xianzi's blood.

I crouched down and gently touched the blood droplet with my fingertip—it was cool and had a faint bitter almond smell.

It's poison.

The wind suddenly picked up.

I wrapped my outer robe tighter and walked toward the viewing platform, the hem of my skirt brushing against the beaded flower that Junior Sister Chu had dropped earlier.

When I picked it up, the tiny diamonds on the beaded flower sparkled, like a pair of eyes hidden in the shadows.

As night fell, I sat at the highest point of the viewing platform.

The moon was mostly obscured by clouds, with only a few blurry rays of light shining through, making the bluestone slabs of the arena appear cold and white.

The sound of footsteps of night patrol disciples drifted from afar, along with the aroma of food wafting from the servants' quarters—but to me, the smell only made my throat ache.

The inner disciples of the Bingzi Room... the Reverse Spirit Talisman... a conspiracy against the Grand Competition.

The wind lifted my sleeve, revealing the wound on my wrist caused by a blade of spiritual energy.

The bleeding has stopped, but the pain is still intense.

I looked at the empty arena below the stage and suddenly remembered the light in Zhou Xianzi's eyes just now.

We won this round.

But what about the next game?

The clouds finally dispersed.

The moonlight spilled onto the arena, illuminating the lotus pattern with a brilliant shine.

I took out the ebony hairpin from my pocket, the tip still stained with the black ash of the Reverse Spirit Talisman.

Some people don't want the competition to proceed smoothly.

But I'm determined to thwart their plans under this moonlight.