Chapter 36 The Azure Princess
After snapping 20 times, and slamming Liu Yang to the ground 10x, Liang Chen stopped. Most of Liu Yang's bones are broken making him look like he was barely alive. Liu Yang cannot move, he was groaning and tears are flowing out non-stop from his eyes. When the elder checked on him, he felt relieved that Liu Yang was still alive but he was a little bit scared of Liang Chen. Liu Yang's wounds are no less than being crippled! Though broken bones can be mended with medicine and pills, it will take months or even years. He declared Liang Chen as the winner but there was no applause or disappointment. There was only silence. They have never seen such a one-sided beatdown before and how Liang Chen dominated Liu Yang through array formations and pure martial arts. This makes Liang Chen one of the top 17 within the outer sects.
Liang Chen walked off the stage and returned back to the other east outer sect disciples. Now everybody cheered and some made discussions. Before, almost everyone was looking at Liang Chen with disdain, but now they are half scared of him. Some people are now Those colleagues of his from the same peak, especially the one who bumped into him and the other calling him a tiba were all terrified and looked down. Not only that they lost the previous matches, but they are also afraid that Liang Chen would find trouble with them. They know that Liang Chen's strength wasn't on par with theirs, it was just that his power was actually far above theirs. Liang Chen cupped his hands and paid respect to Master Wu. Master Wu who was still in his own world was surprised and in return cupped his hands and bowed as well. Liang Chen did this as the challenge issued by Liu Yang was over and he won. Master Wu couldn't imagine Liang Chen's future with all the talent he showed today and the other skills he was still hiding.
After Liang Chen's display of power, even with the ongoing matches, a lot of people are still talking about him. Master Meng went with Liu Yang due to his severe wounds. He was thinking of an excuse on how to explain this to the Liu family patriarch without losing his life. Liang Chen didn't win much gold this time since some people also placed bets for him to win.
When it was Xiu Ying's turn, almost every male disciple cheered for her. She has become famous due to her beauty and fencing-like fighting style. She even has a new nickname called The Azure Princess due to her water spells. "Look! It's the Azure Princess!" "I LOVE YOU, FAIRY XIU!" "GOOD LUCK FAIRY XIU!" Xiu Ying became a bit embarrassed. She was not used to the fame this big and the people giving her some title like the Azure Princess. She was thankful to Liang Chen for being her guide in all of this. When her opponent stepped onto the stage, many cheers were thrown as well but it was not as many as Xiu Ying's. Wei Ling walked towards her with a smile.
"Junior disciple sister Xiu Ying, I'm proud of you for getting this far." She said sarcastically. "However I think it is the time we settle who is truly the number one outer sect beauty in the sect."
Xiu Ying blinked twice then shooked her head. "Senior disciple sister Wei Ling, I don't care about such things. If you want the spot then it is yours. I have no part in it." Xiu Ying said what she felt.
She really doesn't care about it. What she only cares about now was her own cultivation and Liang Chen. Ever since Liang Chen helped her with cultivation, she admired him for his bounteous knowledge. He never asked for anything in return and was always committed to teaching her. She had never known any other person like him. Especially when they joined the sect, most people who approached her had this kind of motive, whether it was due to her looks or standing. Wei Ling didn't believe her, who doesn't want to be in the spotlight and hog all the glory? She was so envious when people started calling Xiu Ying the Azure Princess. She doesn't even have a title herself. What Wei Ling doesn't know is that Xiu Ying lived a humble life back in Green Willow village and was indifferent to fame. You could compare Xiu Ying to a country girl who went to a city to find work and just wants to live a peaceful life and play gacha games.
Wei Ling stared at Xiu Ying and said. "Whether you like it or not, people would put you on a pedestal and you need to prove yourself worthy. If you cannot, then the people who put their trust in you would think that this is your limit and disappoint them."
Wei Ling was talking about her standing and experience in the sect. If you don't show off and assert your dominance, either in strength or beauty, people would leave you behind. In her 3 years within the sect, she experienced this the hard way. That is why till now, she hasn't been recruited as an inner sect disciple. When Xiu Ying heard that, she became dazed. She didn't think about beauty, fame, standing, or strength as Wei Ling thought. What Xiu Ying thought about was the trust Liang Chen, Yu Yan, and Master Wu has given her. If she doesn't give her all, Liang Chen would leave her behind in terms of cultivation and disciple status. She wouldn't be able to go with him during missions anymore and couldn't see him often. This applies to Yu Yan as well. Master Wu will be disappointed and would think that her previous achievements in cultivation as a fluke. She didn't want that. Xiu Ying steeled herself and prepared her Primal Spring sword for battle. She would use all of the techniques she learned these past few months. When Wei Ling saw that Xiu Ying suddenly became serious, she thought that the girl in front of her was the same as the others. Xiu Ying was a hypocrite in her eyes. She smirked and went to a ready stance and pulled out a middle-grade Mortal whip which was covered with metal plating. Since this is a fight for the top 17, the elders are now keener on watching the participants. When they saw Xiu Ying bring out the Primal Spring sword, they noticed it immediately.
"What an intricate and artistic sword! Where did this girl come from?" The middle-aged woman was remarkably astounded by the craftsmanship of the sword.
"Hmmm. The sword is quite strange... It emits an aura stronger than a high-grade Mortal artifact however it is not an Earth-grade artifact at the same time. It is like a half-step low-grade Earth artifact." The Sect Master said as he observed Xiu Ying's sword. He looked at one of the elders and gave an order. "Investigate this girl's background and where she attained the sword."
The battle started and Wei Ling didn't waste any time and threw a whiplash. Xiu Ying was confused as to why would Wei Ling whip her at this range where it wouldn't reach her. While Xiu Ying was thinking, in a blink of an eye, the whip suddenly extended. The metal platings went loose and now you can see brown hair-like rope in between plates. Xiu Ying was able to fend it off in time since she was always conditioned by Liang Chen to expect the unexpected. Wei Ling was a bit astonished at how Xiu Ying was able to fend off her sneak attack. She hasn't used her whip in the competition until now. No one was able to block her whip attack once she released its full range the 1st time. Wei Ling was relentless at throwing whips. Xiu Ying can only evade and block her attacks, as she hasn't found any opening to charge at Wei Ling. This just shows Xiu Ying's lack of fighting experience as she hasn't been going on missions or fighting other people much. It took quite a lot of time before Xiu Ying decided on a gamble. If one was afraid then she was not a cultivator. Liang Chen has always been teaching her that a cultivator should not be scared of jumping into something but not be careless at the same time. She blocked the whip and then charged forward. When Wei Ling saw this, she sneered and put all of her strength into her counterattack. Xiu Ying was ready to receive Wei Ling's whip. There was a hard snap heard throughout the stage, this whip attack was very fierce. Xiu Ying took the whip attack head-on and her upper robe at the stomach was torn revealing her pure white skin, however, part of her skin where the whip landed didn't have any scratches and only left a reddish mark.