Jing's First Ranking Match!

Jing cycled her qi throughout her dantian. The barrier preventing her from passing to the 3rd stage wasn't something that could stand against her qi. Her qi was like an unstoppable force of nature to the barrier. If barriers could feel then it would be shaking in terror right now just by being near her internal energy. Jing willed her qi forward towards the barrier. It obeyed her will without a shred of hesitation. It was a part of her after all.

Crash! The internal energy destroyed the barrier like an elephant charging down a wooden fence. It was impossible to resist against. It could only shatter under the mighty power of it. Once Jing became a 3rd stage Qi Gatherer, she only felt her body become slightly stronger and the way she could control her qi became a little bit better. It was understandable that it only brought a small boost to her current strength. She was still at the starting stages of cultivation after all. It would be crazy to think that she would gain a larger boost in power when she was refined by something as powerful as 914.

It was time for her ranking match that she intentionally delayed to the last moment. She got up from her bed and grabbed her refined satchel. Inside of it, was everything she needed for the battle. Li Li was off in the forest for breakfast right now. She would have to leave without him it seems. It would be better since he was absent though, with him being at the 9th stage, she doubted they would allow her to challenge people at her own rank. Not that it would truly matter if they were at the 9th stage or the 3rd stage. Jing could deal with them both with her true strength but publicly 3rd stage was the limit.

She left her house and walked towards the ranking ring. Since she took so long to apply for a ranking match, her opponent was automatically chosen for her. The disciples who chooses opponents typically pick strong opponents for disciples like her who take so long to participate in a ranking match. It was one of the ways they got their kicks by sending cowards up against lions. That's why Jing was standing in front of a 3rd stage Qi Gatherer. He glared at her with a frown. If she didn't breakthrough earlier this would have been an ugly matchup if she was an ordinary cultivator.

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'So, this ugly girl is my opponent huh? She doesn't look like she could hurt a fly. I thought they said she was a 2nd stage but I guess she breakthrough before the battle.' Kuo thought to himself as he glared at her, making her flinch and look away.

This ranking match will be a cakewalk if he has to face against someone like this. She couldn't even look him in the eyes without shaking. If her skin was lighter and tits were bigger, maybe he could feel something looking at this pathetic girl but looking at her now just made him disappointed and frankly angry. This'll take no time at all.

"You should surrender while you can. It won't be much fun beating up a girl like you." He told her in hopes of getting her to surrender so that he can go back home and train.

"I can't give up without even trying... I'm sorry." She squeaked annoyingly.

Stop trying to act so cute when you're so damn ugly! That just pissed Kuo off even more. He ran towards her, intending to end it in one punch. She should be grateful he won't aim at her face; she's already struggling enough in the looks department with skin like that. Her small tits and tiny ass aren't giving her any help either. He aimed a punch towards her stomach.

She frantically reached into that furry bag of hers and took something out. No matter what it was, it couldn't help her against him. Kuo was training to become a body cultivator. Body cultivators held the advantage over qi cultivators due to their strong bodies that could nearly resist everything. Kuo himself has been training with the Iron Body martial art to make his body as hard as iron! He has reached the intermediate realm with it thanks to his family's resources and trained the upper half of his body to be as strong as iron.

He slung his fist towards her abdomen. He waited for his fist to feel the soft belly of the ugly girl and her internal organs to shift from his punch but only felt his fist strike through the air. Huh? What the hell is going on? Kuo looked up and couldn't find any sign of her in front of him. He started looking around the arena and saw something flying towards him! He caught it with his hand and scowled at the girl. What kind of technique allowed her to escape from his fist?

The object in his hand started sizzling and he finally looked at it.

'She threw a talisman at me!? Is that how she got away from me the first time!? Wait this damn thing is active!' Kuo rapidly tried to shake off the talisman slip from his hand but could only watch as it exploded in a powerful force of qi that knocked him to the edge of the ring.

His head rung from the impact of the spell and he had trouble getting back up. Everything sounded muffled in his brain but his body wasn't hurt. That was the good part of this situation. At least he couldn't hear those annoying girls anymore. Screaming about Shang Zhai and whatnot. Who the hell even is Shang Zhai? What was a bastard like that doing watching his ranking match in the first place?

Kuo shook his head and focused his attention back on the frail girl. She was setting up a formation! He had to stop her no matter what before she could finish it. He didn't know what kind of formation she was trying to place but knowing just one was set up was enough to get his head back in the fight. He rushed towards her.

"Get over here and fight me bitch!" Kuo roared.

The girl ran away with her bag around the stage. She couldn't run forever and Kuo was not stupid. He made sure she couldn't run around him and trapped her at one of the edges of the stage. He kept his eyes focused on her like a hawk. He didn't know how she got away from him earlier and if she tries it again, he'll get to see how this time. He pounced at her with his arms outstretched.

She looked about as frightened as a damn cat. There's no way she'll be able to escape his hands this time. He was about to grab her throat with his hand and slam her into the ring's stone floor but before he could even touch her, she disappeared again! Just what in the hell was going on here?! He whipped his head around to see that she was directly behind him and he lunged again.

She barely managed to roll out of the way and placed another talisman on the edge of the ring's floor. That's two talismans he failed to stop her from placing. He couldn't let her place anymore or what face could he possibly keep by the end of this fight? Just look at the clumsy untrained cowardly mess of an opponent he was facing. She was only getting by through luck!

'If she faced me head on there would be no way she could stand up to me!'

Kuo couldn't help but roar out his frustration as he charged towards the girl once more. He even heard her squeak as he was coming towards her. She ran away again while digging into that bag of hers again. There's no doubt that's where those talismans where coming from! Even if Kuo had no experience fighting spellmasters, he knows enough that they are weak crafty cowards who can't handle a fight up close. All he had to do was fight her up close and it'll be his win!

The strange thing about this situation was that even with how strong his body was, that girl was just a step slower than him somehow! His eyes had to playing tricks on him, there was no way she could be that fast. It had to be a spell or something that is increasing her speed. It won't last forever though and once he gets his hands on her, he'll wring her neck for placing him in such an annoying situation!

He caught her bag's strap as she was running and lifted it up along with her. A grin filled with all his anger and annoyance shined at her. The damage he plans to give this girl isn't something pretty. She has run around and treated him like a fool this entire time. If she isn't at least crippled for wasting his time like this, he'll make sure to try and cripple her a second time.

He threw his fist towards her face and she held up her bag to defend against his punch. He could only laugh at her miserable attempts to protect herself. His attack launched her and her bag towards the edge of the ring. She flew through the air and just barely managed to stay in the ring. She crouched near the edge with blood leaking down her mouth and holding her head. He could feel a terrible killing intent focusing in on him from the stands and felt like pissing his pants.

Did he just mess with some guy's girlfriend whose way stronger than he is? He looked towards the stands and met eye to eye with the guy who came here with his groupies, Shang Zhai. From what he could sense, he was an 8th stage Qi Gatherer. He was glaring at him with enough killing intent to scare him into his next life.

'Yeah, I just signed my own death warrant by getting in a match with this guy's ugly girlfriend. Why the hell would he care for someone like this when he has so many beautiful girls on his side right now? I would take literally any of those beautiful flawless jade skinned girls next to him over this girl. She literally has no appeal in the looks department!'

"I did it..." Kuo heard a voice softly mutter. She stabbed a sword into the ground and attached a spell onto the hilt.

He looked around to see that qi barriers were rising above him before trapping him inside a cube. He banged his fists on the barriers with all his strength to try and get out but only managed to cause ripples on the surface of them. Impossible! Impossible! He only saw her place down 2 talisman slips! A formation takes at minimum 3 to form but this has four sides! When could she have possible had time to place two...

His brain worked faster than it has ever worked before. It had to have been when she threw that first spell at him! When he caught it in his hand and was knocked to the edge of the ring! He couldn't see nor hear anything during that time so, she must have used the opportunity to place down two talismans! That sneaky little bitch! Kuo banged on the barriers with his anger and frustration fueling his strength to pound her into a messy pile of meat but it was useless. It's impossible to break free of an activated formation unless a cultivator is vastly stronger than the spellmaster they are facing against.

"I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL TEAR YOU APART YOU UGLY BITCH!"

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Darkness filled the formation. Those within the formation couldn't see anything inside the formation and those from outside couldn't see anything either. This was the Nightmare Rending Array. Those that find themselves trapped within it will have their senses slowly removed from them and lost in a world of eternal darkness. There is no light, there is no hope, and there is no feeling. Only their thoughts are present in the never-ending darkness. The connection to their body will be lost and soon the only thing they'll be able to feel is the darkness encroaching on their mind and soul as it lulls them into an infinite sleep.

Quite the nasty formation isn't it? It isn't Jing's style to torture in such a soft way but then again, is it really soft? It could be one of the nastiest ways of causing someone to suffer. To some physical torture is definitely the better option which is what she would be putting him through if this battle wasn't public. A simple foolish way of describing this array would be to say it's the Sleeping Array. It simply puts your opponent to sleep.

That's probably why no one really uses it. Even her master looked down on this spell but after experiencing it for herself, she can definitely say it's much more than just a sleeping array. The mental damage you can put someone through using this formation is especially delicious. It would be so much better if she could witness what they were going through outside the spell, seeing them slowly lose themselves as they are swallowed by the darkness. But no such luck for her. She couldn't see what was going on inside and could only guess when enough time has passed. That was another one of the negatives of this formation.

If she faced against someone with an especially strong mind it could be days before they succumb to the darkness. Thankfully, this Kuo fellow was rather weak. He couldn't last 5 minutes before losing. The formation dropped once it sensed he was no longer resisting and he was curled up in a ball in the middle of the ring. She looked towards the referee and he called the match, prompting Jing to give a victorious fist pump to herself. A cheerful joyous smile to keep up appearances before looking embarrassed and shuffling away.

She managed to catch a small smile on Shang Zhai's face and honestly felt like smashing the little love idiot's brain in. Does he know how much attention he's bringing to her by watching her match like this? How did he even find out about it?! Has he been watching her since she's got here? Doesn't that mean he might also know her relation to her followers?

'Will I have to kill him to silence him or can I use his obvious affections for me...?' Jing thought to herself.

There was no doubt in her mind that he knew of her followers meeting at her house often. She doubted he would try and use that information against her but there's no guarantee that he would keep it secret either. If he's really annoying, he might just go to her followers personally and ask them. She'll have to think of a way to deal with lover boy eventually. For now, she'll continue preparing her plans for the Treasured Plains and make sure to avoid gaining attention. It's too early to have any important eyes on her and with someone as talented and popular as Shang Zhai watching her, he's bound to bring trouble.