Peng Junqi snarled in anger and faced Su Yue once more. “Here I come!”

He charged, his twin swords flashing with a sense of urgency that was not there before. There were two minutes left to finish the duel, to complete the task his sect master gave him and kick Su Yue off the stage.

The Sword of Gallant Gentleman erupted in anger, showcasing its full power. The speed of his swords increased one-fold and so did his footsteps.

Su Yue, momentarily overwhelmed, retreated at full speed, running circles around the dueling platform, desperately avoiding her opponent and instant defeat.

Across the plaza, atop the southern section of the stands, Peng Yuefeng was similarly enraged as his disciple.

“Which sect is that judge from? How did he allow the duel to continue? That girl clearly broke the rules!” Peng Yuefeng looked around furiously. His eyes landed on the section with the Four Greats who seemed to be enjoying themselves, “Bah! Are those four queers going against me again? See if I don’t take care of them!”

“Master, please rest assured. Old Jun will not lose.” Peng Shuya tried to soothe his master, “His sword skills are at least three times better than that Su Yue. She won’t last another twenty seconds.”

True to his words, Su Yue was feeling a similar sentiment. The duel was quickly slipping out of hand. Every sword move she tried was swiftly countered and thrown back in her face, leaving her scrambling to simply stay on her feet.

Since she could not use her ice or fire arts, she was left with only a mishmash of sword arts at the Mind Focusing Realm. What could she do against such a skillful opponent? She didn’t want to lose but she saw no way to win.

She wondered what her master would think of her, what her sisters would think. She always rode on their coattails, benefitting from their successes. She wanted to prove that she wasn’t useless but that was proving more and more impossible by the second.

“You can keep running little lass, but this is the end of the road!” Peng Junqi taunted.

He had finally trapped her against a corner of the square dueling platform. With twin swords, he blocked her paths of escape. There was still more than a minute left so there was plenty of time to play with his cute little prey.

Su Yue frowned as a streak of inspiration hit her, spurred on by his words.

Running.

Running was indeed an option. She only needed to escape Peng Junqi for the next minute or so and it would be her win. As long as she did not lose, she would win the duel by default.

What did that judge say? She could only use other cultivation arts to improve her speed, agility, strength, and constitution…

Su Yue’s frown turned into a smile as she stood up straight, facing her opponent. She summoned the power of Winter’s Snow Dance, calling forth icy spiritual energy to spread throughout her body. Her eyes glowed white as a surge of energy sent her hair fluttering out behind her. She exhaled, her breath leaving behind tiny sparkling ice crystals.

Winter’s Snow Dance, 4th Stage, Icy Marrow!

This was her solution, an icy Dao that purely improved her physical attributes by several fold.

“What?” Peng Junqi sensed something was wrong and attacked immediately.

His twin swords slashed mercilessly toward her body from two different directions.

Ka!

The swords clanged together but Su Yue was no longer there, only a rapidly dissipating veil of icy particles.

“What?” Peng Junqi shouted and whirled around.

To his astonishment, Su Yue was already ten paces away from him, completely unharmed. He let out a battle cry and charged at her once more.

Su Yue avoided his attacks with ease, waving her ice sword about lazily while relying mostly on her speed which now surpassed his. She was no longer the same Su Yue of a few moments ago. With Icy Marrow activated, the power of ice overtook her entire body from her muscles and tendons to her bones and even the marrow within. It was a stage of the Winter’s Snow Dance that solely focused on massively boosting one’s constitution for the rigors of battle.

She could not hold Icy Marrow active forever as it rapidly drained her spiritual energy. But for the remaining time of this duel, it was more than enough!

“It doesn’t matter!” Peng Junqi snarled, “Your sword is a useless piece of ice. Come and fight me!”

He chased after her desperately but he could no longer catch her. She was like an ice fairy dancing in the snow, swift and fleeting. There was no chance for a mortal like him to even grasp her trail. The difference was too vast. Su Yue was treading the path towards immortality while Peng Junqi would forever remain in the mortal realms.

“Time’s up!” Yang Kaitian’s voice boomed across the plaza.

The judge quickly followed and took to the dueling platform, “Winner, Su Yue!”

The crowd roared to life, shouting and applauding. Su Yue and Peng Junqi’s duel had been the only one to go the distance and everyone had been paying attention to the two of them. Few had expected her to win or to make such a comeback. The drama it offered was highly entertaining and the audience let their appreciation be heard.

Su Yue laughed as she gave a bow to all. She then leaped back onto the eastern stands and was showered with congratulations and hugs from her sisters.

“Master!” Su Yue said excitedly after she extricated herself.

Chen Wentian patted her head and smiled, “Good job thinking on your feet. I was going to give you a hint but you managed to think of the right strategy in time.”

Su Yue blushed and mumbled, “It’s… it’s hard to think of anything useful facing such a strong opponent.”

“Hahaha, no matter. You won and that’s what matters. I think with this strategy, it will be difficult for ordinary sword cultivators to beat any of you.” He glanced over towards the south, where Peng Yuefeng was shouting at his disciple who had lost, and chuckled, “At the end of the day, the Sword of Gallant Gentleman is a mortal sword art while all of you are cultivating immortal Daos. Remember that. It is a fundamental difference. Have pride in your immortal Dao and do not back down in the face of a challenge!”

“Yes, master!”

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