In the Platinum Cultivator’s eyes, all he saw was Jiang Ke’er’s speed suddenly surge, turning her into a blur he couldn’t even track, as she darted beneath his sword and shot past him.
A moment later, the tip of a sword emerged from his chest.
As the long sword was withdrawn, blood sprayed everywhere.
He clutched his wound in disbelief. “You… you hid your strength as well… You hid it so well…”
Jiang Ke’er didn’t explain, she simply smiled. “You fought well, I learned a lot. Farewell.”
She flicked the blood from her sword and slipped away.
Defense? No! The initiative must be seized!
Her initial strategy was wrong.
She’d been preoccupied with how her Spiritual Power was suppressed and her movements were sluggish, so she thought she had to defend with everything she had, dodging as best she could to keep herself safe.
But precisely because her abilities were so weak now, turtling up was meaningless—she would only be battered about, thrown into disarray, and never find a chance to strike back.
So, she needed to go on the offensive, find a way to trigger her Domain, and seek that one thread of survival!
Still, the fight was already over.
Seeing their strongest cultivator fall, the remaining three didn’t hesitate—they broke away from the battle and ran straight into the Surrender Zone.
Jiang Ke’er’s sudden outburst had convinced them they were up against a hidden expert, and besides, they were already at a crushing disadvantage.
Three against five, their fighting spirit was gone.
“Battle over! Bagpipe Squad wins!”
Bagpipe Squad was the name of this demon team—no one knew why Si Lian always picked this name, and every year, she did.
When the Token flashed with the light of added points, Jiang Ke’er finally let out a sigh of relief.
Truthfully, her Spiritual Power was already more than half exhausted.
She’d been keeping up Dynamic Vision from Treading-Forward Slash the entire time, which was extremely taxing on Spiritual Power.
She no longer had her peak reserves to spend like before—she couldn’t afford that extravagant style anymore.
As her reserves dwindled, her recovery speed slowed, too.
Once, her Spiritual Power recovered at a terrifying rate—even keeping Dynamic Vision on constantly felt like no drain at all.
But now, she could only hold out for half an hour, and that was without using Wind Sword Intent.
With Wind Sword Intent, the drain was even scarier.
Luckily, she’d found her path forward.
“That was brilliant!”
The audience was silent, but Jie Shui’s excited and worshipful voice sounded out of place.
“Your fighting style, it’s my dream!” Jie Shui pumped his fists in excitement. “I, Jie Shui, am willing to call you Yi Shen! Uh, that sounds kind of weird… Forget it… Anyway, you’re amazing! This time it was really all thanks to you!”
“Stop it, you’re making my skin crawl,” Jiang Ke’er shook out her arm.
“All of you come down now,” Si Lian called out.
“No need to rush into the next match. This was a rare high-quality battle, we need to do a Review right away and clear our heads.”
No one dared disobey Si Lian’s orders anymore, not even the thick-skinned Jie Shui.
He held back his urge to keep fighting and obediently left the Arena.
Si Lian led the little demons away from the Arena and into the woods, where they sat down in a circle.
The others followed suit and sat.
“That last situation was very dangerous. Though Qing Yi resolved the crisis, Qing Yi, you should explain the situation so everyone can feel at ease and work together better,” Si Lian said, looking at Jiang Ke’er.
Jiang Ke’er nodded. “That was an ability derived from my Dao Foundation. In a life-or-death moment, my speed increases.”
Some cultivators in this world, when they advanced, would sometimes gain a Dao Foundation Ability.
The higher the quality of one’s Dao Foundation, the greater the chance of gaining such an ability.
But even with the very best Dao Foundation, the odds were less than one in ten million…
That’s why Dao Foundation Abilities were always legendary—at least several centuries had passed since one last appeared.
But even if it was legend, it still existed, so everyone believed Jiang Ke’er’s words, though their hearts churned with envy.
What luck Qing Yi had—her cultivation talent was already better than everyone else’s, and now she’d even developed a legendary Dao Foundation Ability.
“So it’s a Dao Foundation Ability,” Si Lian was shocked.
“I’ll take your word for it. It explains your actions earlier, but… it’s far too risky. You should use your Dao Foundation Ability as little as possible—just one mistake, and the consequences could be more than you can bear.”
Jiang Ke’er shook her head. “What happened last time severely damaged my cultivation. I’m only at the Four Symbols Realm, one realm below most participants’ Five Elements Realm. If I don’t rely on my ability, I’ll only drag the team down.”
Si Lian frowned. “Anyone can make mistakes. We can always find another member to replace you—better than you risking your life again and again.”
“Who here isn’t risking their life just by joining the competition?” Jiang Ke’er smiled.
“Everyone knew it would be hard to come back alive.”
“Your risk is greater than most. If you die, it’ll affect the survival of the whole team,” Si Lian said bluntly.
Jiang Ke’er understood. If a team member died in the competition, it would trigger a chain reaction—the other four, now outnumbered, would face doubled pressure and almost no chance of survival.
Jiang Ke’er closed her eyes for a moment.
In the end, she decided to trust herself. “I trust my ability, and I ask you to trust me too. I won’t hold everyone back.”
In the blink of an eye, she’d become the team’s weakest and most unstable point. Jiang Ke’er couldn’t help but feel a bit rueful.
But she looked calmly into Si Lian’s eyes.
There was no arrogance or recklessness, only the confidence of someone betting everything on one roll of the dice.
“I believe you,” Si Lian nodded.
“But I’ll see what the rest of the team thinks.”
“I agree,” said Jie Shui and Gan Ruǎnruǎn without much objection.
“I don’t care,” A Miao scratched his head.
He didn’t worry much about his own safety anyway.
“I… don’t really agree,” Lin Gang spoke up bluntly.
Jiang Ke’er looked at him.
“I don’t like people who force themselves and drag everyone into danger. Qing Yi’s state is unstable. This isn’t something trust alone can fix—blindly trusting her might be the reason we all die,” Lin Gang said, ignoring Jie Shui’s unfriendly glare. “But I don’t know Qing Yi well enough yet. I need more time to observe if she’s worthy of trust…”
“I don’t believe in her, but I won’t deny her blindly either. For now, I’ll reserve my opinion. I’ll give her a chance to prove if she’s a trustworthy teammate. But if she dies, I’ll immediately enter the Surrender Zone. I don’t want to die.”
Si Lian nodded. “Understood. I’ll reserve my opinion as well, and watch Qing Yi’s state closely… At the same time, I’ll watch all of you. If any part of the team shows signs of trouble, I’ll advise them to leave. Understood?”
“I accept. That’s only right.” Lin Gang nodded, and mentally jotted down a few ideas for revenge on Jie Shui for glaring at him earlier.
“All right, let’s continue the Review.”
“Wait,” Jiang Ke’er suddenly spoke up.
“Hmm? What is it?” Si Lian was puzzled.
“I request a change in formation. Let’s use Formation 1211.”
Jiang Ke’er knew how crazy her suggestion sounded, but she pressed on, “I want to be in the front row, taking the brunt of the attacks, facing the enemies head-on. That’s the only way I can maximize the value of my Dao Foundation Ability.”