After receiving the news, Sheng Yuhong reported briefly to Sect Master Yu Geng, then hurried to Doufa Peak. Midway he ran into the equally well-informed Zhou Lingchuan, and the two went together.
Sheng Yuhong felt uneasy. He knew Wei Yunxi had only just recovered and left seclusion. He thought stepping onto the arena so soon was rash and wanted to persuade Wei Yunxi not to fight.
Zhou Lingchuan was simply curious. There were many rumors about Wei Yunxi, and many claims about her combat strength, but very few disciples had actually seen her make a move. Those records mostly came from early sect missions. He wanted to witness her power firsthand.
On Spirit Beast Peak, Wei Yunqing also received the message and rushed to Doufa Peak. She purely wanted to watch Wei Yunxi make a fool of herself.
By then, Wei Yunxi, Lin Keyang, and Zhang Lingrui were already standing on the arena. With a sweep of his sleeve, Hao Hui Zūnzhě activated the protective barrier.
Below the platform, disciples buzzed with chatter.
"What is this? Why are three Zhēnjūn all on the stage?"
"Looks like not one-on-one, but a two-on-one melee. Worth coming for."
"Who do you think will win?"
"Ran Xi Zhēnjūn, of course. Not long ago she defeated three at once and returned in triumph. Did you forget?"
"That news is already outdated—"
"Quiet, it's starting. Zhang Zhēnjūn has drawn his sword!"
All attention snapped back to the arena.
Zhang Lingrui moved first. As his sword cut down, a golden greatsword heavy with keen sword intent crashed toward the platform. Wei Yunxi already had the Nine Nether Dragon Umbrella in hand. The opened umbrella blocked the strike. In the same breath, she drew the Nine Nether Sword from the umbrella's handle and swept it backhand. A blade of icy light streaked for Zhang Lingrui.
A stabbing chill bit through the air. Zhang Lingrui reversed his sword to defend and caught the attack.
At the same time, Lin Keyang triggered the spirit-tool wrist ring. An earthy yellow radiance flooded his fists. As he punched, a winged tiger phantom took shape and roared straight at Wei Yunxi.
The dragon emblazoned on the Nine Nether Dragon Umbrella leapt from the canopy, coiling around the charging winged tiger. Dragon and tiger clashed in midair. In the end, the tiger phantom was shredded by the black dragon, and Lin Keyang's strike was cleanly stopped.
Lin Keyang's eyes shone. He bumped his fists together. "Again."
Zhang Lingrui licked his lips, excitement rising. "Senior Sister Ran Xi, you were hiding your edge. I never knew you practiced sword arts too."
Wei Yunxi gripped the Nine Nether Sword. Her figure blurred, and a split-shadow stepped out beside her. She smiled. "Have you forgotten? My master is famed across the Western Region for swordsmanship. As a disciple, how could I disgrace Master's name?"
The two identical Wei Yunxi separated, each facing an opponent.
The split-shadow kept the Nine Nether Dragon Umbrella to engage Lin Keyang, while Wei Yunxi herself, sword in hand, met Zhang Lingrui head-on. He was a "sword maniac," the sort that grew fiercer against a strong foe. She decided to knock him off the platform first.
Her next stroke seemed light and effortless, yet wind and snow surged with it. She poured both ice and wind spiritual power into the Nine Nether Sword. Flimsy snowflakes sharpened into a sudden storm of needles, lancing for Zhang Lingrui from unexpected angles.
Zhang Lingrui answered by splitting one sword into a hundred, casting a rain of blades to crash into the storm of ice needles. The collision sent a tremor through the barrier.
Spectators hardly dared blink, afraid to miss a single key exchange.
Hao Hui Zūnzhě nodded again and again. All three showed solid strength, though Wei Yunxi was clearly superior. He sensed wind energy woven through her ice-element sword art, and a thoughtful light flickered in his eyes.
At the edge of the arena, Sheng Yuhong stared at the radiant Wei Yunxi and felt more than complicated. He could only call it unreachable. Setting aside cultivation, in swordsmanship alone he could not match even Zhang Lingrui, while Wei Yunxi was holding two at once without falling behind, even deftly unraveling their moves. That gap was not something mere realm advancement would easily bridge.
Zhou Lingchuan's eyes were bright. He now understood why Sheng Yuhong have crush on Wei Yunxi. She was simply too outstanding. Unfortunately for his senior brother, she did not look his way.
Wei Yunqing watched Wei Yunxi steal the spotlight and clenched her fists under her sleeves. In her mind, the one bathed in attention should have been herself. "Hmph. What is there to be proud of," she muttered, then turned and left Doufa Peak. She would go repair her crimson bracelet. She had no desire to watch Wei Yunxi shine.
High in the air, Yu Ling Zūnzhě and Ancestor Hao Yi were also watching the bout. As for Wei Yunqing's departure, neither spared it a thought.
"Yu Ling, your disciple is not simple," Ancestor Hao Yi said. "Her ice arts are executed superbly. She does not even need to convert spiritual power."
Yu Ling Zūnzhě explained, "Ran Xi gained opportunities in the Baohua Mountain secret realm. Her water root mutated into an ice root. Her understanding of the Mingyue Frost Condensation Art rose another level. That is why she can instant-cast ice spells."
"At last you have a worthy successor," Ancestor Hao Yi said with a sigh.
"Ran Xi earned it herself."
They spoke, but their divine senses stayed locked on the fight below.
The match had entered a white-hot phase. Wei Yunxi, Zhang Lingrui, and Lin Keyang were each shrouded in halos of white, gold, and earthen yellow. Three powers wrestled, each trying to swallow the other two.
Wei Yunxi's split-shadow sent the Nine Nether Dragon Umbrella back to the main body, then met Lin Keyang with the intermediate fist method of the Stellar Body-Refining Art. Every punch birthed a hundred afterimages. Shockwaves from clashing fists rippled outward, making the barrier flicker again.
The pounding impacts made disciples' scalps prickle.
Lin Keyang only grew more excited. His fists moved faster and faster, so fast low-level disciples could no longer see clearly. Only Divine Transformation cultivators like Hao Hui Zūnzhě, Ancestor Hao Yi, and Yu Ling Zūnzhě could track the angles, force, and count.
Wei Yunxi's split-shadow fought fiercer with every exchange, blending astral force into the fistwork. Speed and power stacked rapidly, blocking every strike.
At last, thousands of fist-shadows on both sides converged into two colossal fists. Gasps rose as they smashed together. Power erupted from the collision point and swept across the arena. Lin Keyang was flung from the platform, and Wei Yunxi's split-shadow snapped back into the main body at once.
Zhang Lingrui poured his spiritual power into the sword and unleashed Mystic Gold Shatters the Sky. A golden colossus of a blade fell with unstoppable momentum.
Wei Yunxi met it with Frozen Edge Slash. An icy-blue giant sword phantom formed above her, and the two blades collided in midair, ice and gold crossing once more.
A faint cracking sound reached Hao Hui Zūnzhě's ears.
===
So, a little random ramble from me ( ･ω･)ﾉﾞ
I rarely go searching for new novels to read ever since I started posting on Webnovel. If you haven't noticed yet, my favorite tags are NoCP first, then FemaleMC. Those two are my "core" tags, so whenever I go hunting for something new, I always start with those. After that, I'll look at "sub tags" or other tags that pair well with them, like #Infrastructure, #Historical, #Xianxia, #Rebirth, #Game, #Counterattack, #Transmigration, #System, #Apocalypse, #QT (quick transmigration), #BehindTheScenes, and #Entertainment. Basically, all those are genres I love, as long as they're built around a NoCP + FemaleMC setting.
It's already been 157 days since I uploaded my very first translation, I Became a Fairy and Lived Forever in the Fairy World, up to my latest project, The Cube Queen's Apocalypse Feast. And in all that time, I honestly haven't gone looking for new novels—I've just been focused on translating nonstop, from the moment I wake up at morning/noon until I crash at morning. I haven't had a job this whole time (◞‸◟;), so honestly, your donations on my Ko-fi and Patreon are my main source of income. That's also why I can pour all my time into translating. This is what my schedule has been like: I usually sleep around 4 am and wake up at 6 or 7. If I have something to do in the morning, I just sleep for those few hours. If I have no activities or my sleep quality was good, I go back to sleep and don't truly wake up until 2 pm in the afternoon.
Out of my ongoing projects, 3 are the ones that need the most attention: Troublemaker's Guide to Immortality and The Cube Queen's Apocalypse Feast both already have more than 200 chapters queued up in drafts, while True Heir of Chaos: From Villainess to Empress has around 100 (because I've been rushing to finish Mom's Apocalypse Survival Log and Reborn as the Fallen Idol, I Leaned Into the Chaos!). And for the 2 projects that are serialized, I've also stocked up plenty of draft chapters for those like what I said yesterday.
So, since I've been feeling a little "free," I wandered over to xxsypro, which is usually where I search for novels rather than other sites. The reason? The filters there are actually useful! You can pick "state" (all, serial, completed), "property" (all, free, paid), and even "renew" (last update within 3 days, 7 days, 15 days, or a month). There's also word count filters (like within 200k, 200k–300k, 300k–500k, 500k–1m, 1m–2m, or more than 2m), plus sorting options like "Comprehensive Popularity," "Best Seller," and "Most Favorites."
You can even narrow it down by "type" (Ancient Romance, Modern Romance, Fantasy Romance, Sci-fi, Fairy Tale, Short Stories, Game Competition, etc.), and "labels" (Popular Tags, Profession, Identity, Character, Background, Plot, School, Style). For example, under "Popular Tags" you'll see things like System Flow, Farming, Strong Women, NoCP, Game Alien World, Quick Wear, etc. Basically, the filters are complete, easy to understand, and—most importantly—actually clickable (unlike some sites that write categories/tags but don't let you click them… so annoying).
Anyway, since I was already there, of course my first stop was the NoCP section, and wow, there were tons of new novels with really interesting intros. And now I'm kinda tempted to add another serialized novel project to translate. Don't worry, if I do pick one up, it'll definitely be something with a smaller chapter count or word count. I'm not crazy enough to throw myself at a monster-length novel right now with the way things are (¬_¬;)
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And guess what… I just came back from browsing the NoCP section, and my eyes were literally sparkling ☆:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:☆. I found 13 new novels with less than 200 chapters and 7 more that already have over 200 chapters. The intros were so good, my soul got hooked instantly.
Not to mention if I start diving into other sections like Female Supporting Role, Strong Women, Cultivation, Infrastructure, Playing Pig and Eating Tiger, Empress, Boss, Game Otherworldly, Apocalypse, Counterattack, Heroine, Super A, Rebirth, Entertainment, and Vest… that's basically heaven on earth for me (≧◡≦).
Of course, sometimes "NoCP" isn't listed under the tags. Instead, you'll see it written in the description/intro like "无CP", or sometimes not mentioned at all, which means you have to either catch the hints in the intro or rely on your NoCP radar being strong enough (lol).
Anyway—decision, decision, decision. (Important things must be said three times!) (╯✧▽✧)╯