Daughter of the Waters, Yinshao of the Flame

Staring daggers- and also tongues of flame and shards of ice at each other, Bi Xue and Yan Yinshao stewed in their hatred of each other.

On one end of the stage, the fiery-haired girl's face was the picture of disgusted contempt as she glowered at Bi Xue.

"Wait a minute," someone in the crowd suddenly said, "Yan Yinshao ...from the Yama Clan. Oh my Wuji! That's Yan Yinshao from the Yama Clan!"

Pow!

"Don't use the Young Master's name so freely, as if you're friends with him. You aren't fooling anyone."

Still though, he had ushered in a wave of realization among the people.

"It really is her! Yan Yinshao, that girl from the Yama Clan! WOW! ... Hey brother, can you tell me who Yan Yinshao is?"

"You fool! Yan Yinshao is the ace of the Yama Clan, better than even the Clan Leader's son. Rumor has it that her cultivation base has long exceeded the Divine Qi Realm, meaning she must be at the Divine Opening Realm!"

"That means that the snow fairy is in danger. Her aura is grand, but it's still at a lower intensity that Yan Yinshao's. That's a Divine Qi aura, Fifth Step at best."

Those with sufficient cultivation were able to deduce these things a lot faster than others, thus they were mainly the ones giving the information. On the roof of another house, sitting with his students, Gouki heard this. "Hm!? Only Divine Opening? But back then I clearly sensed the power of a Divine Spirit cultivator coming from her. Something's up."

His students didn't even think to doubt him. Their eyes narrowed, and they stared at Yan Yinshao's flaming figure. One of them, a bald scar-faced man with the 'heaven' character on his forehead, said, "Master, could it be that her mental realm is greater than her cultivation realm?"

"Mm! That would explain it. However, the fluctuations coming from her now match those from before. This isn't mental energy. It's more likely to be a kind of artifact or technique that can boost her cultivation. We shall see."

Bi Xue guffawed hysterically, pointing a frosty finger at Yan Yinshao before saying, "Me, a traitor? I'd say don't make me laugh, but you already did you stupid bitch! I'm no more a traitor than you are a virgin!"

Yan Yinshao's eyes widened suddenly, but briefly, and she glanced at everyone in the crowd for a short second before scoffing and saying, "Whatever you say, Bi Xue. We'll see if you won't change your tune after I roast your eyes and feed them to you!"

Yan Yinshao gave a labored grunt, evidently putting her all into her every move. Her arms swung haphazardly, each movement launching dozens of fiery arcs of flame, like curled serpents striking at Bi Xue.

The temperature skyrocketed yet again, but Bi Xue was not deterred. Instead, she took a short breath and blew with all her strength. At the same time, her energy manifested in the shape of an illusory body of water and bolstered her ability.

Like a snowstorm, her breath filled the plaza with a frigid cold. As for the fiery attacks of Yan Yinshao, they were easily negated. Unlike everyone else, Yan Yinshao was Bi Xue's target and thus she bore the brunt of Bi Xue's concentrated energy.

Her body tensed up for just a moment as the cold snuck its way in, but she released a breath of fire from her nostrils, looking every bit like a fire dragon as she did so.

"Very nice, Bi Xue. You've gotten better at cooling the place down for me, thanks ...a lot!"

During her remark, she leapt into the air. The crisp sound of her fingers snapping could be heard, immediately after which a ring of flame ignited around her body. Like a literal bat out of hell, she flew about in the sky, instantly leaving trails upon trails of fire in the air.

Bi Xue took a breath, raised her leg and got into a high stance. She already knew what was coming, yet she could not fight the lingering nervousness and anxiety. Growing angry, she opened her eyes and let out a reverberating shout, loosing her frustrations.

Yan Yinshao was heading straight toward her, the multiple trails of fire forming a web-like net that came crashing down behind her. "Interlacing Flame Prison!"

"I don't think so! Ruling Water, Murderous Frost; Skyward Waterfall!"

At that moment, the illusory projection of water around Bi Xue rose up before her, exploding into life as an almost endless amount of cold energy tore the flaming net apart. All that remained afterward was the image of an endlessly rising waterfall, rushing into the clouds. Yan Yinshao barely escaped the massive attack, shocked that Bi Xue could perform a technique that powerful.

"Where did you learn this technique!? You aren't of the Snowfall Sect, so just who the hell are you? Speak!" Yin Yanshao shouted this, but there was no response on the other side of the rising waterfall. In her anger, she swept her hand out and sent a surging tongue of fire outward to eradicate the waterfall, then flew forward toward Bi Xue.

This had caused a considerable amount of vapor to be released into the air, but she thought nothing of it.

"Tch! Answer me, you cun-"

"Ruling Water, Murderous Frost; Pure Ice Bow."

Just as she made it past the cloud of vapor, she saw Bi Xue's graceful figure holding onto a bow that seemed to made of pure ice. The minute Yan Yinshao showed herself, Bi Xue released an arrow composed of cold energy that shot into the sky and struck Yan Yinshao's shoulder.

Instead of piercing into her shoulder and dealing serious damage to a single location, the energy was evenly distributed within Yan Yinshao's body, rampaging about and dealing widespread damage.

"Ahh! Bi Xue, you- You!"

"Ha! Looks like someone changed their tune!"

Before the last word of Bi Xue's statement could fall, two more arrows struck Yan Yinshao, becoming frosty qi that invaded her body, leaving her unable to even circulate her energy for a while.

"Yan Yinshao, do you remember that day?"

Yan Yinshao, temporarily crippled, fell from the sky as the ring of fire around her grew smaller and smaller. Seeing as she could no longer provide it with a steady flow of energy, it could no longer sustain itself.

Yan Yinshao's hateful gaze was trained on Bi Xue as she walked toward her. She sneered inwardly, as she was already hard at work getting rid of the foreign energy within her body. Right when the last of Bi Xue's invasive energy was going to be dispelled, Yan Yinshao's eyes widened.

That was because, flitting through the air were four more arrows and each of them was carrying a significantly more potent energy than the last three.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Four arrows struck into Yan Yinshao's light armor, pierced her body and then dissolved into it. Her veins were frostbitten, her blood almost solid, her organs covered in layers of ice and cracking. She struggled to cough up a mouthful of blood, shivering as even her mouth and teeth became icy.

She tried to say something to Bi Xue, but her throat was drying up rapidly.

'There's no way this is normal. I could clearly tell that Bi Xue is only at the Fourth Step of the Divine Qi Realm. She's bypassed more than just a major realm. This isn't right!'

Panicking inwardly, Yan Yinshao landed on the floor with a thud, unable to even fall properly. Her insides were already freezing solid, preventing her body from bending normally. Another surge of blood came up, but was caught in her throat, sticking to the frosty tract. She convulsed violently, attempting to get it out. Instead, she found that the entire passageway was now blocked, and she couldn't even breathe any longer.

Even still, two more arrows buried themselves in her chest. The last four arrows were already the result of Bi Xue overtaxing herself, yet she could not bring herself to merely stand and watch Yan Yinshao. Bi Xue did not care that Yan Yinshao was suffering.

She did not care that she was, at that moment, more scared of death than she had ever been in her entire life. She did not care that Yan Yinshao was already knocking on death's door.

All she cared about was the recurring memory in her head, replaying over and over until her brain heated up. All she could hear were the words that had echoed in her subconscious ever since that day she and her father were banished. However, above all this, what she could never forget was what Yan Yinshao had done to her father.

Bi Xue pulled the string once more, crying out in anguish as her soul's essence burned just to produce enough energy for her to create more arrows.

Even after that, she did not stop.

"GAHH!!!" She conjured up one, causing her nose to bleed. She was still dissatisfied.

"AAHH!!!" Panting, her legs weak, Bi Xue shot yet another arrow into Yan Yinshao's stomach. At this point, Yan Yinshao was like a cold corpse laying on the ground.

No one knew if the girl lying on the floor was dead or alive, and no one dared say anything to point this out. It was a kind of silently accepted law, in this moment, that no one should interfere with this battle.

So, no one did.

There was an enmity here that could never be reconciled, not even after Yan Yinshao had died for a dozen times and more.

"Mmph..." Lacking enough energy to even scream, Bi Xue fired her last arrow. Her eyes were dim and bleeding, glazing over just a bit. The bow in her hand shattered; she was no longer able to keep it out without fatally damaging her soul.

She fell to her knees beside the motionless Yan Yinshao, whose skin was bright blue and cold. Even with all that, Yan Yinshao was still conscious, suffering but unable to make a sound. By some sadistic miracle a crack formed in the ice of her throat, allowing her to breathe, albeit weakly and slowly.

All were silently looking on. The experts were shocked beyond words, yet also horrified by Bi Xue's tenacity. The village elders looked on proudly even though they did not know the full story. Even Logean Wuji was pleased with this outcome, and with Bi Xue's attitude toward her enemy. He found it quite entertaining since, after all, that was his entire reason behind orchestrating the events that led to this match.

Of everyone present, only one person was not pleased. That was Yan Longxi.

He could not see, but thanks to his divine will he could more or less sense what had transpired. He shook his head slowly and wept, covering his face with his hands and saying, "Oh, Xue'er. Was it worth it, my child?"

He did not say this because of what she had done to her opponent; rather, it was what she had done to herself that saddened and pained him so. He could sense it all-too well and, being her father, he was in overwhelming pain. His deep regret regarding the hardships his daughter had to suffer through flared up, making him wish she could have lived without that hatred and pain inside.

Bi Xue's soul was, at that point, even more than half-extinguished. She had not just burnt the essence of her soul in exchange for more energy. This was something that could be fixed with some days of rest. She had gone too far and sacrificed even her longevity for this madness.

Despite all that, Yan Longxi could only be mad at himself. "Tethys... I have failed our daughter and ...I have failed you..."

After taking a while to catch her breath, Bi Xue stared down at Yan Yinshao's pitiful face. As she spoke, several of her snow-white hairs fell from her head, raining down atop Yan Yinshao. The flame of life in her eyes was weakening already, even though her soul was still very much alive.

It was simply too much.

"I hope that... you can hear me... Yan Yinshao. Through all the pain... and the suffering that I... that I caused you. I hope you hear me..."

Bi Xue spoke softly, at a level which would not normally have been heard. However, the plaza was deathly quiet and everyone could hear.

"Do you remember that day? Do you? What was it... that you said when Yan Feng beat me down to the ground... forcing me to watch as you held down my... crippled father... and tore out his eyes!"

From somewhere within, Bi Xue felt an enormous surge of strength that empowered her to deliver a solid slap to Yan Yinshao's frozen face, cracking and breaking open the skin of her cheek.

"What did you say!? Didn't you say it proudly then!? Say it again!! I dare you!! SAY IT AGAIN!!!"

With each shout, Bi Xue relied on that surge of power to deliver five mighty slaps to Yan Yinshao's fragile face. By now, it was like a shattered mirror, exposing the frozen innards of Yan Yinshao's mouth and face. Of course, Yan Yinshao could not speak and answer, even though she wished to Heaven that she could. No matter how much she struggled, it was impossible for her to speak.

She could barely even make a grunting sound.

Bi Xue's eyes once again started bleeding; drop after drop of her blood fell onto Yan Yinshao's broken face.

"I'll tell you... what you said..." This time, Bi Xue got down low, until her eyes were almost an inch away from Yan Yinshao's terrified eyes.

"You said that... my father... did not deserve even to live. That you... were being merciful... and lightly punishing him. You said that... he should not scream and instead should... gladly receive his punishment..."

"I am glad... that you cannot scream..."

"Ruling Water, Murderous Frost..."