Team Competition (5)

After the battle, the next match started not too long after. Meanwhile, Khoru was looking around the competition grounds looking for a specific person.

The inner disciple of the Purple Haze Sect that was set to be overseeing the competition.

He wasn't too avid on meeting the inner disciple, but he still wanted to see what they at least looked like. It didn't take long for his gaze to fall upon an interesting-looking person among the crowd.

They weren't more-so among the crowd, just standing closely by the seats alongside the man who announced the competition.

"So that's the inner disciple. She looks pretty mysterious." Khoru was intrigued by her appearance, which attracted the attention of a few spectators. She had long dark purple hair that went down to her waist.

Her enchanting purple eyes were hidden away by the silky bangs of her hair on the edges of her face. Despite that, anyone could see her cold gaze as it swept over the stadium. She wore a long dark purple robe that had a white symbol in the middle of it. It was in the shape of a diamond with a small triangle on each side.

As Khoru eyed the inner disciple, she seemed to have noticed him staring at him so she turned to look at him. Her glare was piercing and Khoru felt terrifying strength coming from her eyes. He quickly turned away and went back to observing the battle, which, wasn't too eventful.

Thankfully the opponents were as devilish as Yu Xiang and Feng Xuan. Or else, Khoru might've just quit the competition regardless of how Jin Xiang felt.

As he watched the match unfold, he noticed the inner disciples gaze continued to linger on him until a few minutes elapsed.

"Ha! Whisper Wind Sword-Art!"

"Willows of Death Sword-Art!"

Deathly Spirit Qi and Thin Wind Spirit Qi clashed against each other and the opponent using Whisper Wind Sword-Art ended up losing.

"Argh!" He shouted as he flew back due to the Deathly Spirit Qi overwhelming him and his attack. He struggled to lift his head up as blood lightly ran from his mouth. He grunted before the Addresser finally spoke.

"Number 12 wins. Number 19 loses."

"There will be a brief intermission to make sure the opponents from last match are back in good health." The Addresser brought down the exhilarated mood of the crowd when he spoke, but he ignored it. He got up from his seat and went into a small building to check on Yu Xiang and Feng Xuan.

"Hm..." Khoru wasn't particularly sad but he was a bit disheartened at the fact that the competition was temporarily halted. He looked around, trying to find his mother somewhere amongst the crowd, though it was of no use.

All of a sudden he felt his senses go haywire, warning him of imminent danger. He reared his head back and look in shock at the sudden appearance of someone.

It was the inner disciple.

She disappeared from her previous position and reappeared right in front of Khoru. He was shocked and jerked back in surprise. He was at a loss for words and didn't know what to say to the cold-beauty.

She didn't speak either, she only stared at Khoru silently. The crowd around him was just as equally as surprised. They all looked at the inner disciple in surprise at the fact that she just teleported.

"H-Huh? Who is she?"

"I think that's the inner disciple from Purple Haze Sect! Why has she come here?"

"She's looking at that boy. Perhaps she knows him?"

"How could she? That's the illegitimate young master of the Ghostly Blade Family! Why would she be interested in him?"

"Who knows..."

The crowd questioned her motives but she never responded.

She reached out and placed her hand on Khoru's head and her face suddenly turned pink.

"Soft... Hm..." She rubbed Khoru's head repeatedly, but to Khoru it didn't feel as if she was rubbing his head. It was like she was rubbing something deeper in his body, like his soul.

'What the hell? Why does this feel like this?! Is she touching my soul or something? I feel like throwing up...' Khoru suddenly felt nauseous and covered his mouth but thankfully the inner disciple stopped rubbing his head.

Her expression became cold once again and she spoke. "Hm. Your cultivation base is on the weaker side but you have excellent mastery over your sword art. You might be capable of holding your own against Yu Xiang and Feng Xuan. Though I doubt you'll reach top 5."

After that, the inner disciple disappeared as quietly as she came. There was no sign of Spirit Qi fluctuation and a few people didn't even realize she left until a few seconds later.

Khoru was particularly starstruck and still said nothing. He didn't know what to do or how to react to what just happened. Whatever that inner disciple did, it had to have been the result of some mysterious technique.

'How did she touch my soul just now? If that's the case, she could have crushed it just as easily. I could've died just now...' The truth of the matter finally started to settle in and Khoru began to realize just how close he was to death.

Khoru took a while to digest what just happened and thankfully Yu Xiang and Feng Xuan were confirmed to be back in good health.

'Good thing the competition is about to start, now I don't have to endure the angry shouts of this mob behind me.' Khoru had a smirk on his face that twitched every now and then. He could clearly hear the jealous shouts of the people around him.

"You bastard! That's not fair!"

"Why did she rub your head and not ours?! Just because you're a kid doesn't mean I won't beat your ass!"

"You think you're special because she rubbed your head?! You heard what she said, you're too weak to reach the top 5!"

"No wonder you're a bastard child!"

The shouts slowly became personal and Khoru's expression turned dark. He summoned his blue sword and pointed it at the neck of someone to his right.

"That's enough."