Seven Ascendant Flowers*

Jianyu, Xifeng, and Mo Suyin were walking toward the arena's entrance as Jianyu turned to Xifeng with a slight smile and asked, "Xifeng, do you plan on participating in the competition?"

"No," Xifeng smiled softly as she looked at Jianyu, "I just came to see my friend who's participating. Moreover, as a direct disciple of one of the grand elders, it won't be fair if I competed for resources with others." 

Jianyu nodded in approval, acknowledging the validity of her reasoning. "That's right, such an action would only cause meaningless trouble."

As Xifeng listened to Jianyu's words, memories from her past life resurfaced in her mind.

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"You! Why did you cancel my participation in the competition?!" Yin Xifeng yelled angrily at her fiance, who responded with an indifferent expression that seemed to convey his belief in his own superiority, further fueling her anger.

"..." However, she didn't give up as she continued to glare at him with gritted teeth.

"...Sigh," He sighed after a moment as if reluctantly giving in, "You... Do you truly not realize your fault, or are you truly that foolish?"

Her fiance's words were like cold shards of ice, his voice and expression utterly indifferent to her fury.

"YOU-!" Yin Xifeng's glare intensified as she slammed her hands on the table with various jade slates in front of her, flames of rage seemingly swirling around her.

"I guess it's the latter one, then..." He continued speaking as though unfazed by her anger.

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'I was truly childish back then, wasn't I?' Xifeng mused as she recalled those memories. 'I even slapped him back then... No wonder he acted that way, anyone would grow tired of such annoyances on an almost daily basis...'

"...Xifeng?" Jianyu's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Yes?" Xifeng replied almost instantaneously.

Jianyu simply stared at her for a moment before asking, "Are you feeling unwell?" 

"Ah... I'm fine. I was just thinking about something," Xifeng said, offering a somewhat tired smile.

"Is that so..." Jianyu looked at her doubtfully, not entirely convinced by her words, "Well then, you should go with Suyin and take a seat. I'll join you two after meeting with Xin Guang."

"Mhm," Xifeng acknowledged before she turned to Mo Suyin, signaling her to proceed to their seats.

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"Sigh..."

Xin Guang let out a sigh as he mentally prepared himself once again.

He had done so multiple times till now. While he believed in his abilities, the mental scar from the humiliation of his last defeat ran deeper than he thought.

"This is the third time you've sighed, you know."

Just then a voice came from behind him, startling him.

"Huh?!" Xin Guang turned around in a hurry only to see Jianyu standing with his arms crossed, "How long have you been there?"

"For a while."

Listening to Jianyu's careless manner of speech, Xin Guang's brows furrowed.

"Anyways, don't worry too much," Jianyu spoke in an almost careless manner as if he didn't truly care, but his smile was soft and caring, "Even if you don't win, as long as you accomplish growth it's an acceptable result."

"..." Xin Guang began to feel a bit emotional in response to this like a disciple witnessing his stern teacher's care toward him.

"Ah well, just make sure to do what I told you before and everything will be fine." 

"Kuku, I will."

Remembering his conversation with Jianyu from yesterday Xin Guang had a villainous smile on his face.

"Huhu," Jianyu reciprocated with his own villainous smile," well then I'll take my leave now~" 

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After meeting with Xin Guang, Jianyu made his way back to Mo Suyin and Yin Xifeng, who were already seated in the area designated for core disciples, watching a few duels unfold.

'I guess, the quality of these seedlings is quite high... As expected of a top-tier sect,' Jianyu mused to himself as he continued to observe the fights. Some of the disciples displayed rather exceptional skills compared to the others.

'This Su Wen...'

Su Wen had initially been one of the potential subordinates that Jianyu had in mind. However, realizing that Xifeng had already made contact with her, he had given up on the idea.

'Judging by their reactions, Xifeng has already recruited Su Wen as her subordinate, huh?'

Jianyu observed as Xifeng nodded in approval at Su Wen, who had just emerged victorious from her fight.

'Well, our Xin Guang isn't lacking all that much either~' Jianyu thought with a smile adorning his feature, as he looked toward Xin Guang, who was currently waiting for his next match, 'Comparatively, his talent might be a bit lacking, but nothing that can't be made up for with wealth and hard work.'

Having completed his thoughts, Jianyu shifted his attention back to the arena. A smile adorned his face as he watched the contestants walk toward the arena.

'Finally... It's started!'

The main event had begun, the battle Jianyu had eagerly awaited, essentially the reason he had trained Xin Guang with such care.

"It's finally junior brother Guang's turn!" Mo Suyin exclaimed excitedly, drawing Jianyu's attention.

"That's right..." Jianyu replied absentmindedly, his focus momentarily shifting to another concern.

During the conversations between Yin Xifeng and Mo Suyin, there had been numerous awkward moments, mostly due to Mo Suyin's limited communication skills. Her somewhat isolated upbringing had likely contributed to her struggles in social situations.

'Maybe I should get her a spiritual beast? Ah... Perhaps an elemental spirit would be better; it would synergize well with her physique as well!' Jianyu mused for a few moments as he entertained the thought of the rather cute and frail-looking girl having a monstrous familiar.

'Well, for now...'

Halting his train of thought, Jianyu turned his gaze toward Xin Guang and his opponent, narrowing his eyes.

'Let's just enjoy seeing that bastard Xiao Dong get humiliated in front of others~'

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Standing in the same arena as when he had entered the sect, Xin Guang couldn't help but feel nervous as he laid eyes on his opponent, the same person who had defeated him last time.

'How foolish...'

He berated himself inwardly, finding the entire situation utterly ridiculous.

'I've been sparring with that demon every day, there's no way I'll be afraid of this puny bastard!!'

One of Xin Guang's most notable qualities was his tenacity. While he certainly had his fair share of pride, he was also a diligent and hardworking individual, which somewhat justified his pride.

"It seems we meet again..."

Snapping back from his thoughts, Xin Guang directed his attention toward Xiao Dong.

"Hmph! Well, I'll applaud your courage for not running away with your tail between your legs!"

"..."

Xin Guang listened to Xiao Dong's cheap provocation, his patience tested, but he kept his composure on the outside.

"Well..."

A kind smile, quite unlike anything Xin Guang had ever shown, began to form on his face.

"I'm pretty courageous after all. However, are you doing fine?"

With a slight tilt of his head and a faint furrowing of his brows, Xin Guang appeared as if he were a concerned friend inquiring about Dong's well-being.

"What?"

Xiao Dong looked visibly confused.

"Well..." Gradually turning his smile into a more playful one, Xin Guang continued, "You did go through the recent incident at the sect... You know, when you got smacked like an insec-"

"YOU!!"

Xiao Dong, enraged by Xin Guang's words, lost his temper and lunged toward him, his fist covered with wooden bark and root-like structures.

"-ct, I thought you were hiding somewhere, not daring to show your face to others out of shame~"

Swiftly dodging the barrage of attacks directed at him, Xin Guang continued his taunts, further infuriating Xiao Dong.

"Argh...! You-!!"

'It's working better than I expected... Tsk! That devil truly knows how to toy with the heart of others!'

With the first part of his plan for victory successfully executed, Xin Guang now had some leeway.

'But, this guy is truly easy to manipulate, isn't he? How can the child of peasants have such pride?'

As he contemplated further, Xin Guang's suspicion of his opponent grew.

'Sudden rise in power, a rather potent technique, greater mastery over various battle arts, and most importantly, combat experienc-'

"Huh?!"

Looking at his hand, which had been grazed by his opponent's attack, Xin Guang felt a shiver run down his spine.

He quickly backed away from his opponent in what seemed to be genuine fear.

"Hmph, finally got you!"

However, to Xiao Dong's surprise, Xin Guang simply stared at the growing roots, encroaching on his wound and launched a counterattack.

'Keep struggling like an unsightly worm then!!'

Xiao Dong continued to fend off Xin Guang's relentless assaults while simultaneously planting more and more roots. Yet, Xin Guang seemed determined and unyielding, refusing to give up.

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"Ha! You've gotten quite slow, haven't you?!"

For the past half an hour, Xin Guang had endured the taunts and insults hurled at him by Xiao Dong, and he was on the brink of exploding from anger.

'Well...' Xin Guang gave a quick look at the roots covering his body that siphoned his Qi, 'The roots are covering most of my body now, and my qi reserves have fallen to less than half. If it were someone with less purity of qi... how terrifying!'

Contrary to his thoughts, Xin Guang wasn't nearly as worried as he seemed. This situation was exactly what he had planned from the beginning.

"Well then, it's time to put an end to this charade." He muttered in a cold tone, however, anger was evident in his voice.

"Huh?! Yo-" Xiao Dong stopped mid-sentence as he witnessed Xin Guang's upper body erupt in flames, accompanied by the faint smell of burning flesh, "You madman-!!"

Sensing an impending sense of doom, Xiao Dong's intuition, which had saved him many times throughout his life, screamed at him to stop Xin Guang. Xiao Dong rushed towards Xin Guang to halt whatever he had in mind.

'Seven Ascendant Blossoms: First Blossom'

The flames of gold and crimson swirling around Xin Guang began to coalesce and condense into a bud...

"Petal Ignition"

...and then they exploded!

The force of the explosion sent Xiao Dong hurtling off the stage. However, that wasn't the most shocking part for the audience.

Instead of completely dissipating, a portion of the flames seemed to enter Xiin Guang's body, and, more importantly, his body appeared completely unharmed. It was as if everything from his exhaustion to the smell of burnt flesh had been a deception.

"The winner... Xin Guang!!"

"""WHOOOOO!!"""