Love & Redemption
Chapter 174: Volume 4 Hua Meng’s Sudden Rift - 31 Conference (Part 3)

Chapter 174: Volume 4 Hua Meng’s Sudden Rift Chapter 31 Conference (Part 3)

"Junior Sister, do you still remember when Senior Brother used to accompany you to practice swordsmanship as a child?" Du Minxing suddenly spoke in a soft voice. He didn’t draw his weapon, nor did he pose in any stance, but just stood quietly opposite her, smiling as if he was not there to compete, but merely to chat with her.

Xuanji couldn’t help but recall those tender, hazy memories from her childhood. Back then, her father was furious with her lack of ambition, and her mother and father were too busy instructing Linglong to bother with her; only Senior Brother would come to spar with her. No matter how many times her sword fell from her hand or how she shirked her training, Du Minxing always smiled, never got angry, and spoke with soothing words.

Honestly, his gentle demeanor hardly made him a good mentor, for when she went to Little Yang Peak, she knew nothing and had to start from scratch. But he was the only warm hue in the colorless palette of her childhood. No one took her, Chu Xuanji, seriously, not even her parents, who only had eyes for Linglong. He was the one who made her realize that the existence of Chu Xuanji could also be significant.

Thinking this, Xuanji felt a surge of warmth in her heart, set down the Bengyu, and softly said, "I will never forget it, Senior Brother. You have always been so kind to me."

Du Minxing whispered, "I haven’t really been all that great to you; I am also a very selfish person. I neglected you for my own cultivation. Now that you have finally excelled and stand on the same arena with me, Senior Brother feels both comforted and regretful."

Xuanji murmured, "Senior Brother... I’ve been thinking about you. Why have you been ignoring me lately?"

Du Minxing gave a wry smile and did not answer. Beside them, Daoist Jiang said sternly, "The competition has already started, no more talking!"

Du Minxing drew his sword, bowed and said, "Junior Sister, let’s begin." No sooner had he spoken than his swordplay shifted, and his blade was already thrust towards her face. This was the first move of the Yao Hua Swordsmanship, plain and ordinary. Xuanji blocked it effortlessly, instinctively countering with the second move, aiming her sword tip at his shoulder. Du Minxing turned, his robe fluttering, and lightly thrust his sword tip towards her wrist—the third move.

Compared to the intense competitions on the other three arenas, Xuanji’s match seemed just a mild exchange of sword moves, practicing the entire set of Yao Hua Swordsmanship from beginning to end, then reversing from end to beginning. Daoist Jiang had never seen such a competition, fought as if it hadn’t been fought, yet they were indeed exchanging moves. He sighed quietly, wondering what these two children were truly thinking, turning the Flower Pinning Conference into something else.

When the Yao Hua Swordsmanship reached its third round, Du Minxing suddenly said in a stern voice, "Be careful!" His sword moves abruptly changed, swishing like a snake, suddenly becoming sharp and direct, targeting Xuanji’s vital points. With a swordplay devoid of killing intent, he was testing her strength! Xuanji tiptoed back a few steps, not intending to clash directly, but his sword moves kept pressing, clearly signaling that he would not stop if she did not strike.

She got so entangled that she had to raise the Bengyu, feinting a chop before jumping back. But his sword moves advanced instead of retreating, and Xuanji was slow to dodge. With a ripping "tzila," her sleeve was slashed open, revealing most of her pale arm. Both were momentarily stunned, only to hear a huge uproar from the wooden building around them, with Linglong’s crisp voice shouting the loudest, "Cheating, cheating! Senior Brother, how could you tear someone’s clothes?!"

Du Minxing’s face flushed, and he sheathed his sword, saying, "Junior Sister, I didn’t do it on purpose. Are you alright?"

Xuanji shook her head, tied her torn sleeve back up, and laughed, "It’s alright, let’s continue."

Daoist Jiang had already been sufficiently annoyed by them, and immediately shouted loudly, "You two, pay attention! This is the Flower Pinning Conference, not your own Martial Arts Arena! No need for such a fuss!"

With that said, they had no choice but to gather their spirits and start over. In terms of Swordsmanship, the two Xuanjis were no match for Du Minxing. He had clearly let them win earlier, but now using his true skills, Xuanji could only defend herself. She couldn’t possibly use her skills for handling enemies against Du Minxing. Seeing him steadily advancing, she had already retreated to the edge of the platform, with nowhere to go. Hesitating whether to admit defeat, she suddenly saw a flash of cold light before her eyes as his sword unmercifully slashed across her neck.

If she didn’t defend herself, her life would be at risk; if she dodged... her only option was to jump off the platform. In that split-second decision, she decided to let him win by jumping backward off the stone pillar. Unexpectedly, the Bengyu in her hand began to tremble violently and emitted a clear, inspiring sound, as if encouraging her.

Already feeling the coldness of the sword blade under her chin, Xuanji instinctively raised her hand to parry. With a "crack", the sword in Du Minxing’s hand was actually chopped in half by her move. Both were greatly shocked at that moment, Du Minxing’s face turned ashen. He raised his hand, threw the broken sword on the ground, took two steps back, and clasped his hands, saying, "Little junior sister, thanks for letting me win. I lost."

"Ah..." Xuanji opened her mouth wide in confusion, still not recovering from the shock.

How did she win? Just like that? It was baffling... She was planning to admit defeat! How did she end up chopping his sword?

Seeing Du Minxing prepare to fly down from the pillar with his Sword Control, she hurriedly called out, "Big senior brother! I... I didn’t..."

Having already leaned halfway out, Du Minxing heard her call and turned back to give her a gentle smile, waving his hand softly, "Now that you’ve become this powerful, you won’t be bullied anymore. Big senior brother is very happy." With that, he didn’t look back again and flew down with his Sword Control. Xuanji quickly followed and saw his blue figure flicker before landing on the ground.

Who said they wouldn’t let her win? In the end, didn’t he let her win? Xuanji blankly followed down the pillar. An ecstatic Linglong had already been waiting below, promptly hugging her and cheering loudly. Yu Sifeng walked behind, and seeing Xuanji looking over, he clasped his hands with a smile to congratulate her.

"I... I felt like I won without reason." Later, Xuanji murmured, "Clearly, big senior brother won that move. I don’t know how it happened, I just blocked it and his sword actually broke. If we talk about the skills, I truly lost..."

Linglong, always biased in favor of her friends rather than reasons, pouted and said, "Why bother thinking so much! After all, you won! If anyone’s not convinced, just show your true skills in tomorrow’s competition and impress everyone!"

Xuanji whispered, "I... have always been using my real skills."

Linglong wasn’t listening to her at all, having already pushed her into the crowd of the Shaoyang Sect, where there was laughter and chatter. Du Minxing spoke briefly with Chu Lei, turned to look at Xuanji one last time, then silently departed. Xuanji stared at his retreating figure, feeling an inexplicable sadness surge in her heart, not understanding why.

Chu Lei walked over and said, "Xuanji, you’ve won the first match. Don’t be complacent, there are still several more to go."

Xuanji whispered, "Father, it was Elder Brother who let me win. My victory is not honorable."

Linglong exclaimed in annoyance, "How can you be so obstinate? If you weren’t capable, could you have broken his sword? Just call anyone over and see if they can break the sword as easily as you did?"

Chu Lei gently said, "You needn’t think too much about it. Minxing just mentioned that he used his ultimate skill but failed to defeat you within fifty moves. Your progress surprised him greatly, and the fact that you could sever an iron sword with your last move shows that you were also holding back. How could he, as your senior, feel right about winning against you?"

Xuanji had nothing to say and finally nodded, acknowledging that she had won one match.

"Don’t rush off. Stay and watch the matches of the other disciples. Never underestimate your opponents." Chu Lei advised her before leaving. He was the judge for the next match in the Eastern Arena.

Yu Sifeng saw Xuanji sitting alone at the back, while many young disciples of Shaoyang Sect talked and laughed ahead, seemingly oblivious to their chatter, distracted. He quietly sat next to her, took her hand, and whispered, "What are you thinking about?"

Xuanji lightly said, "Elder Brother must have prepared a lot for the Flower Pinning Conference, but because he encountered me, all his efforts were wasted."

Yu Sifeng smiled and said, "That makes sense. However, it wasn’t your victory that nullified his efforts, but your lack of respect towards him."

Xuanji asked curiously, "How did I not respect him?"

"This was a formal competition, not child’s play. Yet from beginning to end, you were unwilling to treat him truly as an opponent, always holding back. If that’s the case, what significance is there in his victory? Wouldn’t it be a mockery by everyone? Master once said, even in competition, one must respect the opponent. True respect is to exert all your skill and compete fully. In the arena, undue concessions are the greatest disrespect to the opponent."

It was the first time Xuanji heard such an argument and was stunned. After a long moment, she said, "Is it because I let him, that Elder Brother would rather admit defeat?"

Yu Sifeng patted her head, saying, "Since it’s already past, fretting over it serves no purpose. There will be other matches in the future, and you have to use your signature skill, understand?"

Xuanji touched her nose and whispered, "Signature skill... are you talking about Tengshe?"

Yu Sifeng was momentarily stunned, and both thought of something. They looked back and saw Tengshe sitting on the railing of the wooden building, eating voraciously, oblivious to others. He chuckled and whispered, "Right, if you let him out, just that eating skill alone would make everyone concede defeat."

Xuanji was finally amused and giggled. Hearing her laughter, Linglong hurried over and asked repeatedly, "What’s the matter? Is there something funny? Why are you laughing?"

Meanwhile, Chu Lei had already ascended to the Eastern Arena. This particular match was between a disciple from Dianjing Valley and one from Lize Palace. Linglong, seeing the tall figure of the Lize Palace disciple on the arena, dressed in a partly new and partly old white robe, his long hair unbound and flowing over his waist, giving him a very unconventional look, curiously asked Yu Sifeng, "Hey, who is he? Is he formidable?"

Yu Sifeng watched intently for a while and then shook his head, "I’ve never seen this person before." Strange, does Lize Palace have such a character among the young disciples? According to the rules, young disciples must wear green robes and have various badges on their waists. This person, however, wearing white clothes and no badges, did not seem like someone from Lize Palace, except for the Shura mask on his face.

He glanced towards the gathering area of Lize Palace disciples, where both the palace master and deputy sat leisurely on the high platform in front of the wooden building, not particularly concerned with the man’s attire.

At Chu Lei’s command, the match between the two disciples began. The crowd, seeing the bland techniques from both disciples and finding nothing particularly impressive, soon grew impatient and started chatting among themselves. Linglong, while chatting and laughing, depicted the last Flower Pinning Conference scene when suddenly Ting Nu whispered anxiously from the side, "This is bad! That man is in danger!"

Everyone was startled, and just then, a tremendous booming sound erupted from the Eastern Arena. A cloud of dust spread through the air, and within that thick dust, something immense seemed to stir. Suddenly, it straightened and rose upright, breaking through the dust cloud with its bright red scales gleaming under the sunlight.

It was a giant python!

"Whose spiritual beast is this?! What a massive creature!" Zhong Minyan was so astonished that he almost lost his voice. Yu Sifeng abruptly stood up, intensely observing the events on the arena. He saw the bright red python swinging its head and tail, nearly as tall as a stack of more than a dozen men. As snakes prefer cooler environments, especially such spiritual beasts, it was evidently uncomfortable under the bright sunlight, opening its huge mouth viciously with two shining fangs and restlessly flicking its tongue.

As the dust on the arena slowly cleared and the surrounding noise gradually subsided, everyone’s eyes were fixed on the scene. The Lize Palace disciple stood with his hands raised in a peculiar gesture, his fingers undulating like waves, blowing a shrill tune from his mouth. The giant python behind him moved slowly in rhythm with his tune and gestures, its golden eyes fiercely fixed on the opposite Dianjing Valley disciple—the poor man was already petrified, sitting on the ground, unable to move.

All of a sudden, the Lize Palace disciple rubbed his fingers together, and the whistle became piercing. Yu Sifeng exclaimed, "He’s ordering the spiritual beast to attack! That man will die!" But as soon as the words left his mouth, the giant python raised its triangular head high and darted down like lightning. Its gaping mouth could easily swallow the Dianjing Valley man whole.

The crowd cried out in alarm, but it was too late to help. In a flash, Chu Lei shouted loudly and leaped forward several times, quickly blocking in front of the Dianjing Valley disciple, and commanded sternly,"Step back! You must not harm a life!"