CHAPTER 146: CHAPTER 14: BATTLE WITH ZHOU QI [FIRST UPDATE]

"Clang!"

With the sound of a gong, the competition officially began.

While the other contestants were still wary of each other, pondering whom to tackle, Gu Qingqing and Zhou Qi exchanged a glance and immediately attacked the person closest to them.

The one closest to Gu Qingqing was a man about twenty-five or twenty-six years old. He had been on guard against the others but was surprised that Gu Qingqing was the first to charge, so he quickly drew his sword to block.

The man’s cultivation was at the peak of the seventh level. Other contestants he had met before also had cultivation at the seventh level to the peak of the seventh level. He didn’t know Gu Qingqing and hadn’t watched her matches. Judging from Gu Qingqing’s appearance, he assumed her cultivation was similar to his, or even inferior, so although he blocked, he did not put in much effort.

To save time, Gu Qingqing didn’t hold back this time and went all out!

The man used his sword to block the Mixed Immortal Silk. With a flick of her wrist, the Mixed Immortal Silk suddenly softened, and under the man’s astonished gaze, it wrapped around his sword and the hand holding it!

With a forceful tug, the man was pulled closer to her. As they were about to collide, she suddenly raised a foot and kicked him in the stomach. The man’s expression twisted in pain, and he instinctively covered his stomach with his other hand.

The end of the Mixed Immortal Silk whipped hard against the man’s hand, causing him pain, and he released his grip. Gu Qingqing took the chance to retract the Mixed Immortal Silk, taking the man’s sword with it.

The man reached out, trying to reclaim his sword, but Gu Qingqing had already discarded it. Instantly, the Mixed Immortal Silk wrapped around the man’s body, then with a powerful swing, she tossed the man out.

By the time he hit the ground outside the arena, the man still hadn’t realized how he had been eliminated!

Having dealt with the first person, Gu Qingqing instantly turned towards a burly man on the other side.

On Zhou Qi’s side, he had also swiftly dealt with a man. He instinctively glanced over at Gu Qingqing and was shocked to find that she had already begun dealing with the second person. Startled, he immediately quickened his pace to find his next target.

The burly man had been watching on the sidelines while Gu Qingqing fought the other man. Initially, he thought Gu Qingqing would lose, but in less than a moment, she tossed the man out of the arena. Realizing that Gu Qingqing’s target was now him, he became nervous immediately.

His weapon was not a sword but a knife about one meter long, which suited his build.

When Gu Qingqing turned towards him, he swung his knife downwards.

As the blade flew towards her, Gu Qingqing, who was charging forward, instinctively bent backwards, dodging it. Then, she flashed, appearing beside the burly man, and slapped at his shoulder.

The burly man only sensed Gu Qingqing’s presence when the palm wind came at him. He wanted to evade, but it was too late. Gu Qingqing struck his shoulder, rendering it numb. His pupils contracted in shock, and he turned sideways, holding up his knife to face Gu Qingqing.

Gu Qingqing took two steps back, avoiding the man’s attack. With a light step, she leapt into the air, and then kicked at the burly man, kicking three times in a row. The man raised his knife to block, but Gu Qingqing used great force, infused with Spiritual Power; the last kick struck the man’s chest, causing him to cough up blood.

The Mixed Immortal Silk flew from her hand, heading straight for the burly man’s face. Just as it was about to hit, Gu Qingqing suddenly felt a chill from behind and quickly turned. A sword grazed past her cheek.

The attacker was a woman who had stood near Gu Qingqing. There were only two women on this stage, including Gu Qingqing. Previously, she had just stood aside, showing no intention of partnering with anyone. Yet now, she suddenly attacked Gu Qingqing. If Gu Qingqing hadn’t been vigilant, she might have been hurt!

With Gu Qingqing under attack, the Mixed Immortal Silk was affected and didn’t hit the burly man. Gu Qingqing waved her hand, and the Mixed Immortal Silk returned to her hand.

"Let’s join forces," the woman said to the burly man when she came to his side.

The burly man had long realized he couldn’t beat Gu Qingqing. After hesitating, he nodded, and the two of them attacked Gu Qingqing simultaneously.

This situation was within Gu Qingqing’s expectations. After all, this was a free-for-all, not just her and Zhou Qi who could team up.

However, the woman’s behavior just now had also angered Gu Qingqing. Her eyes turned frosty as she looked at the woman.

As the two approached, she flew into the air, kicked at the woman, and after she retreated, kicked at the burly man. The burly man was already injured, his other hand numb, and lacked strength. His knife was directly kicked away by Gu Qingqing.

With a flick of her hand, the Mixed Immortal Silk flew out, wrapping around the woman’s sword. Alarmed, the woman exerted force, trying to reclaim her sword. But unfortunately for her, her sword was no match for the Mixed Immortal Silk and couldn’t cut through it. Instead, with Gu Qingqing’s strong pull, the sword flew out.

Without her sword, Gu Qingqing flashed in front of the woman and kicked her in the chest. The woman, injured, clutched her chest and spat out a mouthful of blood. Yet it wasn’t over. Gu Qingqing flashed behind her and struck her back with another palm.

The woman’s back injury caused her to spit out more blood, greatly weakening her aura.

When she tried to reclaim her sword, Gu Qingqing suddenly wrapped her in the Mixed Immortal Silk and threw her out, just like the first man, landing outside the arena and losing the match.

Without even glancing at the woman, Gu Qingqing fixed her gaze on the burly man, who shivered, then unexpectedly jumped off the stage himself!

Not expecting the burly man to do this, Gu Qingqing was momentarily stunned. Then, she swept her gaze around the arena, finding that the remaining four people were ganging up on Zhou Qi, and immediately rushed over without thinking.

She targeted a relatively skinny-looking man, and the Mixed Immortal Silk flew straight towards him.

The man, who was attacking Zhou Qi along with the others, suddenly felt something wrong behind him, quickly dodging. Turning around, he saw a strip of White Silk flying past. Had he not dodged quickly, he would have been injured by the White Silk.

Following the White Silk with his eyes, he saw Gu Qingqing approaching and quickly brandished his weapon at her.

With a flick of her wrist, the Mixed Immortal Silk suddenly curved and flew behind the man. This time, the man wasn’t so lucky and failed to dodge, getting hit directly on the back, a trace of blood appearing at his lips, signaling injury.

Not giving him a chance to react, Gu Qingqing was already in front of him, lifting her foot and kicking him in the stomach, making him stagger back several steps.

The Mixed Immortal Silk flew over again, giving him no chance, directly wrapping him up. This time, Gu Qingqing didn’t throw him out but kicked him off the stage instead.

Once she finished off the man, Zhou Qi had also dealt with another one. On the stage, besides Gu Qingqing and Zhou Qi, only two other men remained.

"I’ve finished dealing with my four. I’ll leave the remaining two to you. You can handle it, right?" Gu Qingqing looked at the two men and asked Zhou Qi.

Zhou Qi raised an eyebrow, noticing that Gu Qingqing had indeed taken care of four people. A trace of surprise flashed in his eyes, making his battle intent even stronger. "Of course, no problem. You just stay there."

With Gu Qingqing’s speed, he certainly couldn’t lag too far behind. After responding, he charged towards the two men.

After hearing Zhou Qi’s words, Gu Qingqing merely went to stand aside, waiting for Zhou Qi to finish off the last two men.

The spectators in the stands were stunned by the maneuvers of Gu Qingqing and Zhou Qi in the competition.

"What are these two doing? Why did that woman suddenly stop fighting?"

"That should be Gu Qingqing, who’s been particularly famous lately, right? And the one in the ring with her is Zhou Qi. Why isn’t she joining the other two to attack Zhou Qi?"

"If I’m not mistaken, these two must have planned to first take out the others and then fight each other, right?"

"When you put it that way, it makes a lot of sense. After all, only one person can win in this ring. I’ve heard Zhou Qi has always wanted to fight against Gu Qingqing. Now that they’re in the same ring, if they start fighting immediately, others might take advantage. But if they first deal with the other contestants and then face each other, isn’t that a better strategy?"

"A master is indeed a master. I couldn’t guarantee taking down four people alone!"

"..."

After guessing Gu Qingqing and Zhou Qi’s intentions, the stands finally calmed down, everyone waiting for Zhou Qi to finish off the two competitors and then face Gu Qingqing!

Judging by their cultivation levels, this match will surely be spectacular!

Zhou Qi took over a quarter of an hour to send the remaining two off the ring, leaving just him and Gu Qingqing!

"Shall we start after you rest for a bit?" Gu Qingqing stood opposite Zhou Qi and asked.

Zhou Qi had intended to start immediately, but having consumed a lot of energy quickly dispatching the other two, he agreed, "Sure!" Nodding, he sat down to meditate and recover.

A quarter of an hour later, he opened his eyes, stood up, and faced Gu Qingqing with high battle intent.

"Let’s go!"

Gu Qingqing, infected by his enthusiasm, also became excited.

"Alright!"

She responded and swiftly charged towards Zhou Qi.

Zhou Qi, brandishing his sword, also charged towards Gu Qingqing.

The two met in the middle of the ring. Zhou Qi thrust his sword towards Gu Qingqing’s shoulder, while Gu Qingqing straightened the Mixed Immortal Silk with both hands to block his sword, then spun her body, intending to wrap Zhou Qi’s sword with the silk.

Seeing through Gu Qingqing’s intent, Zhou Qi retracted his sword, leaped into the air, stepped on Gu Qingqing’s Mixed Immortal Silk, bypassed her, and then spun around to thrust his sword at Gu Qingqing’s face.

"Ding!"

The sword tip met the Mixed Immortal Silk, emitting a crisp sound. Gu Qingqing matched eyes with Zhou Qi, using strength to push him away. With a light tap of her toes on the ground, she also took flight.

The Mixed Immortal Silk flew from her hand like a White Silk towards Zhou Qi. Though he blocked it with his sword, under her control, it changed direction and attacked him again.

Zhou Qi reacted much faster than the previous muscular fighters, turning again to block the Mixed Immortal Silk’s attack with his sword.

Suddenly grabbing the Mixed Immortal Silk with his left hand, he pulled forcefully, drawing Gu Qingqing close to him as he raised his sword to stab at her heart.

Using strength to stop her momentum as Zhou Qi’s sword approached, she lightly tapped his sword tip with her toes, soaring into the air, flipped forward, and struck Zhou Qi’s back with a palm.

Zhou Qi felt as though his soul had drifted momentarily, the pain from the back making blood seep from the corner of his mouth, yet his eyes grew even brighter.

He turned, swung his sword horizontally, grazing Gu Qingqing’s shoulder as he passed.

Gu Qingqing’s shoulder was grazed. She glanced at her wound, and with a flick of her wrist, the Mixed Immortal Silk wrapped around Zhou Qi’s waist. With a powerful pull, Zhou Qi was spun several times in the air, while Gu Qingqing stood firm, launching a palm strike.

The palm wind, infused with Spiritual Power, hit Zhou Qi’s chest, causing him to spit a mouthful of blood. He casually wiped it away, unleashed his Spiritual Power, and a Sword Qi from his sword tip flew toward Gu Qingqing.

Gu Qingqing leaned back, and the Sword Qi flew past her front, landing not far behind her, creating a small pit on the ground.

Yet it didn’t stop there; Zhou Qi sent a total of seven Sword Qis. After dodging the first, the second followed swiftly, forcing her to pivot in another direction, the Sword Qi whizzing by her side, leaving another pit on the ground.

Then came the third, fourth...

Two Sword Qis didn’t hit Gu Qingqing directly but did slice through her clothes. In her dodging, she wasn’t idle either, launching several palm strikes.

Zhou Qi exerted full force, narrowly avoiding being hit.

They continued stepping to the side while attacking each other, forces crashing into the ground behind them and kicking up dust, yet neither blinked an eye, completely immersed in the fight, growing more and more exhilarated.

The Mixed Immortal Silk suddenly elongated, flying towards Zhou Qi, grazing his arm, creating a wound as it landed on the ground behind him, making a pit.

Similarly, Gu Qingqing bore scars from Zhou Qi’s Sword Qi.

Their long hair fluttered and clothes flapped in the wind amidst the combat; ignoring the pocked battlefield and occasional explosion sounds, the scene appeared somewhat poetic.

Gu Qingqing retrieved the Mixed Immortal Silk and suddenly dashed toward Zhou Qi. Likewise, Zhou Qi rushed toward Gu Qingqing. They collided once more in the ring’s center, their hands meeting—a large palm against a smaller one, Spiritual Power colliding, causing a massive explosion behind them. Dust flew, but neither moved, their eyes locked as if sparks flew between them.

Blood seeping from Zhou Qi’s mouth, yet he remained motionless, crudely wiping it away with his sleeve, his gaze fixed on Gu Qingqing.

Gu Qingqing also had blood seeping from her mouth, staining her veil, making it stick to her face uncomfortably. She frowned and used her other hand to remove the veil, though she didn’t move the hand touching Zhou Qi’s.

Zhou Qi had assumed Gu Qingqing wore a veil due to some affliction or unattractive feature, but when she removed it, he was utterly shocked.