[Bonus chapter]Semi-finals! Tough Battle Against the Cute Cousin (2)

Seeing Li Yaoyao create the wave of needles that increased in intensity and size, Yu Tian's pupils constricted and then dilated. All of this suddenly felt so familiar to him.

...

They were in an unknown cave where the light was dim, illuminated only by the sunlight reflecting off the clear ice. Some of Yu Tian's blood also got on his snow-white hair, causing parts of it to be stained in a dark crimson.

"Since you've survived, let's make you stronger." That feminine figure grinned evilly. "Continue to dodge, or you will die."

Yu Tian panted heavily as he kneeled on the hard ice, using his arms to support himself. He was injured in places all over his body, robes torn and bloody.

The floor was extremely slippery, making it insanely difficult for him to keep his balance and dodge her attacks. Yu Tian's knees were already black and bruised from how many times he landed on the hard ice.

However, he remained expressionless. Surrounding him were the countless icicles that were impaled onto the slippery floor in various shapes and sizes.

"Get up, here is the next wave." The figure flicked her hand without empathy, sending numerous icicles flying towards Yu Tian again. "If you can't learn to control your Qi by instinct, then I have no use for you."

[Eyes of Eternity]

As injured and tired as he was, Yu Tian forced himself up and activated his eye. The icy floor surrounding him had many areas covered with his blood, frozen as a layer on the surface.

Focusing his Qi to gather at his legs, Yu Tian was slow again as he only managed to dodge a couple of the projectiles. He was unlucky as one of the icicles impaled itself into his thigh, causing him to collapse. "Ugh."

"Not only are you slow, you still can't even convert Qi into an element." She sighed in disappointment.

Yu Tian calmly stared back at her from the icy floor, pulling out the icicle from his leg. He ignored the blood gushing out from the wound.

Even though his body felt weak, his mind was alert. Yu Tian's right eye was glowing a bright red as he prepared himself.

The figure was hopeful that she had found the one to carry out her mission. After travelling the land for so long, so finally met one living being that survived her true ice baptism.

Unfortunately, this boy was too slow in mastering the fundamentals, causing her to become disappointed. Although Yu Tian could sense and control Qi, his talent wasn't enough for what she needed him to do.

Even if he died, she'll look for the next one that looked promising. Her heart and eyes were just as cold as the ice she produced.

"Then I'm afraid you'll have to die." Creating more icicles, this time it tripled in number compared to the previous waves.

[Eyes of Eternity]

Seeing how the sharp points pointed all around him, cutting off all his escape paths, Yu Tian suddenly grinned with his white bangs covering his eyes. It was his first smile ever since what the figure had done to him, which caused him to numb and lose his emotions.

This feeling of being so close to death was exhilarating. Yu Tian found something inside him stir as Qi began to converge towards his fallen body.

The figure finally launched the projectiles towards Yu Tian, intent on killing him. At the same instance, Yu Tian felt something spark from within, giving him a burst of strength.

"Hm?" The figure was stunned when Yu Tian's body suddenly sprang up, managing to dash past her attack. The icicles impaled into the empty space where the teen's body once was.

Seeing the crackling of energy on the kneeling teen's legs, she suddenly smiled. "Congratulations, you finally found your natural element."

..

"Go!" Li Yaoyao shot them towards the weakened Yu Tian without remorse.

This time, the needles created a large explosion from where Yu Tian was at. Li Yaoyao was breathing heavily as her last attack nearly drained her of all of her energy.

"You did well, Yu Tian." She panted lightly. "It was a good battle, but I've won."

The young girl turned to step off the stage when a voice suddenly reached her ears. "The battle's not over yet."

Turning back around, Li Yaoyao was stunned to see that Yu Tian was still fine. A few of her blazing hummingbird's needles managed to graze him, and he appeared to be dirty and battered.

However, there was still a confident smile on his face as he held onto Qiu Xue in his arms. To the onlookers, the young boy looked rather heroic in his bearing.

"How..." Li Yaoyao took a step back instinctively in shock.

She noticed there was something radiating off Yu Tian's body. From the crackling sound and the sparks of energy, Li Yaoyao finally placed what her cousin did. "You've managed to convert your Qi to lightning?"

"Correct." Looking at his hand, Yu Tian smiled as he observed his natural element pulsing with his Qi. He noticed that the lightning was the colour of pure white, just like in his memories.

...

Li Mei Ling nearly had a heart attack from what happened. She took a huge sigh of relief seeing Yu Tian managed to avoid Li Yaoyao's attack rather unscathed.

"White lightning?" Including Li You Zi, many of the other elders at the front stood up in shock.

The most common elements awakened were the 4 main elements: fire, water, wind, and earth. Each element also had corresponding properties that support them, such as fire for offense and earth for defense.

Then there are the sub-elements, taking properties from the main elements but were weaker than them in terms of potency. An example was metal, taking offensive properties from fire and defensive properties of earth.

Lightning was also a sub-element as it had the offense of fire with the fluidity of water. However, the most common lightning colour awakened was purple. White lightning was something they had never seen before.

Both martial spirits and elements might obtain a rare mutation. The majority of these mutations were useless as they provided little to no benefits, while some could even be harmful. Rarely were mutations beneficial and able to provide the owner with an advantage.

"Calm down, it's just a different colour of lightning." Shan Dong Hai was the only one that remained seated and reminded them.

However, he was still rather surprised at the progress Yu Tian made after each battle, even increasing a level after his first fight with Li Gang. The Shan patriarch wondered if the boy had any other tricks left.

Hearing his words, the other old men calmed down and returned to their seats. They also remembered that most mutations were useless and had no benefits for the host.

Still sitting on her grandpa's leg, Shan Qian Xue had calmed down from being tricked and watched the fight progress. There was now a faint hint of interest in her eyes as she observed the boy named Yu Tian a second time.

...

"Even if you have lightning now, it isn't strong enough to beat my flames." Li Yaoyao fiercely fired more needles towards him.

Compared to her fire, lightning was only a sub-element. In terms of potency, Yu Tian's lightning would be outclassed in offensive power if their elements were to clash head-on.

[Eyes of Eternity]

Seeing the familiar projectiles come flying at him again, Yu Tian focused his Qi to his legs.

It transformed into lightning, and he could now avoid Li Yaoyao's attacks easily with fast movements. Spinning into the air with a jump and then dashing aside on landing, the flaming needles landed onto the stage harmlessly and dissipated.

Although he still couldn't use any Qi techniques, being able to convert his Qi into his natural element gave Yu Tian a huge advantage. The former god can give himself an instantaneous burst of speed whenever he needed it.

Li Yaoyao grimaced. She also realized her blazing hummingbird's ability could no longer catch up with Yu Tian now. Not only that, but her Qi reserves were also dangerously low.

"Tired, cousin?" Yu Tian teased goodnaturedly. He helped Qiu Xue get back on his shoulder, stroking her head.

Li Yaoyao smiled back at his antics. "A bit, but I'm not out of this tournament just yet."

Willing her Qi to surround her body, Li Yaoyao bathed comfortably in the heat as she charged towards Yu Tian. Both fighters began to exchange blows head-on, with him being at a disadvantage from his earlier injuries.

Using his elbow coated with lightning Qi to block a kick, Yu Tian found himself being pushed back towards the edge of the stage. He frowned as his lightning was currently too weak, unable to be used over his entire body like how Li Yaoyao could.

Yu Tian internally praised his cousin for her ingenuity, using her Qi as a pseudo armour that only War Masters could produce. Although much weaker than a real Qi armour, it still had the intended effect of protecting her entire body.

His eye also couldn't find an opening to attack. Landing a palm on her abdomen, he rolled backwards to dodge a kick, nearing crushing Qiu Xue.

"Sorry." He nuzzled the poor kitten who rolled her beautiful sapphire eyes in annoyance.

"Pay attention to your opponent!" Yu Tian barely dodged a punch from the aggressive Li Yaoyao.

His previous hit seemed uneffective even though it was infused with his lightning Qi, thanks to her pseudo armour made of fire. Yu Tian found it a bit strange that his opponent began to attack like this though, instead of relying on her martial spirit.

Li Yaoyao grit her teeth. Her concentration was faltering and she needed to quickly end this battle, but the problem was Yu Tian's advantage in martial techniques. It prevented her from landing an effective hit.

Yu Tian's suspicions grew when Li Yaoyao stopped blocking altogether, opting to try to land direct blows. He realized his cousin must be at her limit if she was so desperate to end the fight, causing a plan to formulate in his head.

Li Yaoyao saw Yu Tian jump back, now avoiding direct conflict. Her eyes narrowed when her opponent smiled tauntingly, most likely knowing that she was almost completely depleted of Qi.

However, he failed to account for one thing. Seeing Yu Tian keeping his distance, Li Yaoyao took deep breaths and began to regenerate her Qi.

If Yu Tian chose not to attack, she would be able to restore her condition regardless of his stalling. The young girl wanted to force him into a direct confrontation, fierce eyes concentrating on his position.

She didn't believe he had anything to use to attack at a distance. Li Yaoyao had watched his fight with Li Gang, without anything he could use to throw, there was no way he could hit her from this range.

Feeling safe, she stopped consuming her Qi for the pseudo armour. Even using it for a few minutes caused her to feel sick due to how low her internal Qi was.

Li Yaoyao breathed a sigh of relief, having removed the strain on her body. However, she forgot what Yu Tian's lightning Qi could do.

"It was a good fight, cousin." Yu Tian's voice suddenly echoed beside her, his figure brushing past.

"How-" Li Yaoyao's vision turned black as she felt a soft chop to her fair neck. Yu Tian caught her in his arms as she fainted from his strike, just before hitting the stage's tiled stone floor.

Counting on Li Yaoyao to lower her guard, Yu Tian charged in with his legs empowered by lightning, using the remaining Qi in his body. This allowed him to close in the distance in an instant, before she could react thanks to her fatigue.

The former god sighed. The level difference was getting to be a pain in the ass, and there was still the finals. He really needed a break.

Looking at the spectators, Yu Tian locked eyes with Li Hao Ran, who currently gave him a death stare.

The imminent finale was approaching.