Just as Murong Fei thought victory was within his grasp, a vast and scorching current of air suddenly swept in, deflecting his sword intent off course. Even his body was forced to retreat backward, taking several steps back before he could barely steady himself.

Murong Fei stared at the woman before him in shock. From beginning to end, she hadn’t made a move, merely maintaining her sword-raising posture while standing in place.

Yet at the moment she raised her eyes just now, she had made him experience a kind of oppressive pressure he had never felt in his entire life. Only now did he belatedly feel his entire body’s skin tingling slightly from the surge of energy.

Murong Fei’s face instantly turned somewhat pale. “You…”

He naturally didn’t know that the Shimo true qi had always possessed the effects of dispersing fire and driving away demonic miasma. Even if one suffered serious injuries, circulating the qi for one night could heal most of them, let alone other trivial tricks that befuddle the mind. Though Changling didn’t know what Murong Fei had done to lower her perception, in that moment of crisis, her true qi flowed entirely on instinct. If she hadn’t timely reined back most of her internal force, Murong Fei would likely have been bounced off the martial arts stage long ago.

The crowd only saw Murong Fei thrust his sword out and then suddenly withdraw it. Not knowing that a heart-stopping moment had just passed on the stage, they all showed expressions of confusion. However, a few elders in the Martial Arts Alliance noticed some clues. The Kunlun Sect’s leader couldn’t help but frown and say, “Did she… use internal force to devour and break through the sword attack?”

Yang Xuzi suddenly recalled the scene at Dazhao Temple where a single palm forced back Abbot Yuan Hai, and his heart trembled: Even if it were me, it would be absolutely impossible to remain motionless and use pure true qi to dissolve Murong sword energy… Who exactly is this woman?

At this moment, Changling’s consciousness regained clarity. Her eyes turned toward the Jade Water Sword. From the moment he stepped on stage, Murong Fei’s sword had possessed a certain rhythm in its trembling and releasing movements, and even when it touched her sword, it was extremely skillful—just like… Murong Sheng’s bell bracelet.

Originally, with Changling’s pure and profound internal force, such trivial sound-based illusory techniques naturally couldn’t affect her. It must have been because she was concerned about Ye Qi and had divided her attention that she unknowingly fell into his trap. She said indifferently, “Murong Manor’s sword is indeed extraordinary. While exchanging moves, you don’t forget to confuse one’s mind. I nearly went into qi deviation. I hope I haven’t frightened Young Master Murong.”

Murong Fei was stunned—could that moment have been caused by qi deviation? But…

Changling didn’t give him time to think. Her sword moved with her arm, like a white snake flicking its tongue, hissing through the air. Murong Fei immediately raised his sword to block. This time, her fierce and tenacious energy was reduced. She was no longer using “Iron Strokes Silver Hooks” but had added more agility and grace, looking more like swordplay danced by a woman. Fu Yanyang recognized it with just one glance: “It’s the Lone Crane Sword Technique!”

Mo Chuan glanced at Fu Yanyang. “So the sword technique you used during the entrance trial was called the Lone Crane Sword.”

The Lone Crane Sword aimed for “a profusion of flowers gradually bewildering the eye.” When Changling originally created this set of sword techniques, it was precisely because Fu Er lacked strength, using it to muddle through the test. But this level of sword moves appeared weak under the Murong sword technique. Though it was also complex and varied, it definitely couldn’t strike at weaknesses or probe vulnerabilities. Even Wang Xun couldn’t help but ponder aloud, “What’s wrong with her? Can’t she exert her strength?”

How could Murong Fei not notice?

He originally hadn’t quite believed the qi deviation claim, but seeing Changling frequently use skillful force in her sword strikes, he immediately formed a judgment—that moment just now must have disrupted her true qi. Now she was dragging out time, surely taking the opportunity to recover. This young lady’s every move reversed conventional patterns. She couldn’t be judged by common sense. It seemed he couldn’t let her continue entangling him in combat any longer.

With this thought, Murong Fei’s sword moves became faster and more ruthless. At the same time, he poured his internal force into his sword body. Everyone saw the long sword shine like a blade, and couldn’t help but applaud in admiration: “This is the true Murong sword technique!”

When the Jade Water Sword struck, it was majestic as towering mountains, instantly breaking the Lone Crane Sword Technique. Changling had no choice but to hastily withdraw her sword and leap backward to evade, being forced directly to the edge of the competition stage. How could Murong Fei miss such a good opportunity? He seized the chance to thrust forward. As expected, seeing her raise her sword to save herself, the corners of his mouth lifted. He struck down forcefully with his sword, extended his right foot forward to attack her lower body—he intended to kick her directly off!

Changling faced sword force ahead while her back hung in empty air with nothing to support her. Her body tilted backward, and in an instant, she was about to fall into the lake. At this very moment, her left hand reached out and grasped Murong Fei’s right wrist holding the sword at an extremely tricky angle. Then exerting force, she pulled him down from the competition stage together with her!

Murong Fei hadn’t expected her to suddenly strike. He instinctively swung his sword to break free, but a stream of extremely strange internal energy penetrated through her fingers into his body, like a sharp blade instantly slicing through his extraordinary meridians and eight vessels. The pain immediately robbed him of his strength. With a loud “splash,” both of them heavily plunged into the lake simultaneously.

This sudden turn of events stunned everyone. Martial artists from both the Dongxia and Xixia camps couldn’t help but cry out and stand up. Even martial artists fighting on the neighboring competition stage turned their heads to look. Xu Laifeng, watching the battle not far away, made a sound of realization: “On purpose?”

Even Ye Qi couldn’t help but pace to the shore, his eyes fixed on the rippling waves on the lake surface, his gaze piercing.

The two people immersed beneath the lake water slowly floated upward.

Having been dragged into the water by her cunning trick, Murong Fei originally felt more anger than shock. But when he opened his eyes, he saw her holding a treasure sword, her garments floating in the deep blue water, revealing a barely perceptible smile on her face.

In that glimpse, all the series of abnormal actions from the beginning of the match connected into a line. Murong Fei’s entire body shook.

She had calculated to this step!

From the very beginning, her purpose was to fall off this competition stage together with him!

The two people turned over one after another and returned to the stage. Changling retrieved her sheath and collected her blade. When she heard the arbiter call out “Draw” in a loud voice, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to return to the shore, she suddenly heard Murong Fei behind her say, “Why?”

Changling turned around in surprise. “What?”

Murong Fei’s voice was very low, low enough that only the two of them could hear it. “Why did the young lady yield to me?”

Changling was slightly stunned. She thought she had fought dangerously enough, but unexpectedly he still saw through it. She could have casually brushed it off with “no such thing” to get through this, but seeing that Murong Fei had given his all from start to finish and had indeed shown brilliance several times, she couldn’t help but develop a martial artist’s respect for him in her heart.

She smiled faintly and replied softly, “Because I need a draw.”

Murong Fei was stunned. “Why?”

Where did all these “whys” come from? Did he have to lose to be happy?

Changling raised her eyebrows, feeling this person asked too many questions and was very troublesome. She glanced at the surrounding competition stages casually and said, “A struggle between tigers and wolves shouldn’t be decided in the first round. After all, there are still so many monkeys to deal with, aren’t there?”

These words were ambiguous. Before he could react, Changling had already swept back to shore. Murong Fei thoughtfully chewed over these words carefully. When he comprehended the underlying meaning, his eyes trembled with profound depth.

People were still processing “how did this Dongxia beauty pull Young Master Murong into the water?” When they turned their heads and saw Changling land with light footwork, the gauze and silk of her tight-fitting garment clinging to her body—truly like a lotus emerging from water, abundant in beauty and grace—even one more glance was enough to make people blush. They also felt that Murong Fei had been distracted by such beauty and lost his grip, which was really quite reasonable.

The young Marquis He naturally didn’t want others to take this “visual advantage.” But since he had removed his outer robe earlier for fear she would worry, in his haste, he strode forward with large steps and met her face-to-face, drawing her into his embrace.

Seeing him act so abruptly under everyone’s gaze, Changling couldn’t help but be stunned. “What are you doing?”

“You’re too careless. Didn’t you notice so many eyes staring at you?” Ye Qi said with displeasure in her ear, “You’re mine. Only I can look.”

“What are you saying?” Changling indeed didn’t understand what he said and reached out to push him away. “Has water gotten into your brain?”

“Don’t move!” Ye Qi barked, maintaining his embracing posture. He twisted his head and shouted at Fu Yanyang, “Fu Er, take off your clothes!”

Fu Yanyang made an “ah” sound. Compelled by the young marquis’s authority, he reluctantly removed his seemingly very precious luxurious robe and diligently handed it over. After Ye Qi received it, he draped it over Changling. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief. Fu Yanyang looked at his robe, now soaked in a large patch, and muttered with great heartache, “This fabric can’t touch water…”

Zhou Qin asked strangely, “If it can’t touch water, how do you wash it?”

“I wear it until it’s dirty and then stop wearing it. This is only my first time wearing it…”

Zhou Qin stared at the outer robe with a look that said “poverty has limited my imagination.” Just then, two arbiter disciples finished discussing with the Martial Arts Alliance and walked toward both camps respectively. One Martial Arts Alliance disciple smiled at Changling and her group: “Congratulations to your sect. Because this match resulted in two wins, two losses, and one draw, the elders believe both sides qualify to enter the next round of competition. However, so far there has only been this one draw. If there are no draws in the upcoming matches on the other stages, it will be equivalent to having one extra sect. At that time, please have the chief representatives from both sects draw lots to decide who enters the next round and who is exempt from the next round.”

Changling hadn’t expected her idea could truly become a prophecy. She couldn’t help but blink in surprise. After the arbiter left, Murong Fei’s side also looked over. Changling asked Ye Qi in a low voice, “Is it possible to tamper with the lots?”

Ye Qi’s mind was entirely focused on leaving first. He simply said, “You don’t need to worry about these matters… Dean Shu, I’ll take Changting back to change clothes and return shortly.”

With the competition against Xixia temporarily concluded, Changling naturally shifted her focus back to the figure she had seen earlier. As soon as they left the venue, she urgently asked, “Did you catch up with him? Was he… was he elder brother?”

Ye Qi shook his head. “I did catch up, but I didn’t see his appearance…”

Changling’s brows furrowed slightly. “What do you mean?”

Ye Qi succinctly recounted what had happened, only omitting the detail about coughing up blood. When Changling heard about the kitchen hall part, her heart tightened. She lifted his sleeve and asked, “Were you injured?”

“I’m fine.” Ye Qi saw the outer robe slip from her shoulder and pulled it back up for her. “Hey, just listen, don’t move around.”

Changling had no time to quibble with the young marquis’s “impertinent remarks.” After recalling the scene he described, her heart, which had been full of eager joy, grew more than half cold. “If that’s the case, he shouldn’t be elder brother. Even if elder brother couldn’t recognize me, he would never harm people so recklessly…”

Ye Qi had originally worried she would act emotionally and found it difficult to easily dash her hopes. Hearing these words, he was truly relieved and agreed deeply: “That wall outside the kitchen hall was almost certainly tampered with beforehand. At first, he probably wanted to lure you to chase him, but when he saw it was me, he went with the flow… I estimate that the person Dean Mo saw was also this person.”

The more Changling thought about it, the more alarmed she became. “Elder brother’s longevity cord is on him, which means he’s had some contact with elder brother… If he were the one who saved elder brother, he shouldn’t harm us like this… Could it be…”

“Don’t let your imagination run wild first. Maybe he picked it up by chance? I think the way he covered his face means he was afraid I’d see through something. If the eldest young master is still alive in this world, this person definitely hasn’t seen the recent eldest young master. Otherwise, if he knows any disguise techniques at all, why not make it perfect? Why be so secretive?” Ye Qi smoothed her wet hair for her and sighed, “In any case, having a clue is better than having no leads at all. With a clue, as long as you follow the vine, you’ll always get an answer. But… avoid acting rashly, otherwise following the vine will become falling into a pit, understand?”

“That’s true.” Changling felt these words were quite good and couldn’t help but nod. Seeing Ye Qi looking at her with an expression of “the child can be taught,” she rolled her eyes at him and said, “Why do I feel you’ve become increasingly presumptuous when talking to me lately?”

“That must be an illusion.” Ye Qi’s face changed faster than flipping a book as he smiled. “How would I dare?”

The two walked to the wooden house in front of Dongxia Academy. After Ye Qi watched her enter the house, he said, “I’ll also go change. I’ll brew some hot tea while I’m at it.”

Only then did Changling discover another problem. “By the way, where are your clothes?”

“Uh, they got burned with some holes from that fire, so I threw them away.” Ye Qi evaded vaguely and pushed her to change clothes. “Alright, alright, hurry up. Don’t miss the time. If Murong Fei draws the good lot, your fight will have been for nothing.”

After this first day with five stages and forty-eight matches, only this one resulted in a draw. Usually, evenly matched opponents would fight to the death, and those with disparate abilities wouldn’t make such a low-level mistake.

After all, not everyone could treat the grand martial arts gathering as a practice ground and control the situation at will.

Changling and Ye Qi waited until the very end and finally reached the lot drawing.

For the sake of fairness, the Martial Arts Alliance’s arbiters placed ten black lacquered wooden lots in a bamboo tube. Among these ten lots, only one had its tail painted with red lacquer. Representatives from both sides would draw separately, and whoever drew the red lot would skip the next day’s competition.

“I had Senior Mo’s people tamper with them. Those ten lots appear to have no red lacquer on the surface, but actually each one has red lacquer on it, just covered over with black paint…” Before going on stage, Ye Qi quietly whispered in Changling’s ear, “After you draw two lots, rub the tail with a bit of force and the red lacquer will show through.”

Mo Daoyun called both sides’ representatives forward and repeated the rules once. Seeing Murong Fei somewhat distracted, he couldn’t help but ask, “Has Young Master Murong heard clearly?”

Murong Fei came back to his senses and nodded. Mo Daoyun said, “Good. Which of you two will go first?”

Seeing that Murong Fei said nothing, Changling simply said, “I’ll go first.”

With that, she directly reached out and drew one lot—it wasn’t the one. Murong Fei also took one, naturally also an ordinary black lot.

Changling prepared to draw again when suddenly Murong Fei reached out to stop her. “Wait!”

Everyone was stunned. They saw him turn and walk down from the stage, whispering a few sentences in the ear of Wei Shaoxuan below, not knowing what they were saying.

Changling looked at Ye Qi, inquiring with her eyes—they couldn’t have noticed some flaw, could they?

Ye Qi pressed his lips together without making a sound. He only saw Wei Shaoxuan’s gaze fall upon Changling, then he gave Murong Fei a slight nod.

Murong Fei stepped back on stage and bowed to Mo Daoyun. “Alliance Leader Mo, we won’t draw this lot.”

Mo Daoyun was also puzzled in his heart at this moment, but his face maintained that calm expression. “What does Young Master Murong mean by this?”

Murong Fei looked at Changling and said, “We plan to participate in tomorrow’s gathering. We’ll give this red lot to Miss Changting.”