Jiang Luo spotted Xu Lin at a glance.
After he had looked around for a moment, she noticed him gazing in her direction, and her heart could not contain its flutter.
“Were you just looking for me, Senior Brother?”
Jiang Luo instinctively wanted to raise her hand and wave at Xu Lin, but the moment her hand lifted, she thought of something and restrained herself, letting it fall.
In the end, she could only fidget restlessly with the hem of her robe.
She even had to pull her gaze back slightly, yet she still could not help glancing toward Xu Lin from time to time.
She was used to joking around with Xu Lin on ordinary days—or more precisely, she was mostly on the receiving end of Xu Lin’s one-sided teasing.
It nearly made Jiang Luo forget the situation at hand.
No matter how mischievous Xu Lin usually was, at this moment he was the Saint standing beside the Sect Master, while she was merely an Outer Sect disciple.
If she openly waved at him, it would be a complete breach of propriety.
Not far in front of Jiang Luo, the opponent she was about to face in the match saw her awkward, hesitant demeanor and could not help feeling puzzled.
“Junior Martial Sister Jiang.”
He reminded her, his expression turning cold.
“If you don’t focus, don’t blame me for showing no mercy later.”
At that reminder, Jiang Luo snapped back to attention and immediately put on a serious expression.
Everyone in the Outer Sect knew that Jiang Luo had lost to an Essence Coagulation Realm disciple last time while she herself was at the Spirit Returning Realm.
This time, when he learned his opponent was Jiang Luo, he was secretly delighted and planned to end the match quickly to avoid any talk of him bullying the weak.
Instead, this girl was so distracted.
If he ended it with a single move, it would be far too boring.
“I imagine you’ve improved quite a bit recently.”
The man said.
“How about I give you a few moves’ head start, so you don’t lose without even getting a chance to strike?”
The praise was nothing but empty flattery.
Given Jiang Luo’s last performance, how much could she have improved?
No one believed she could stir up any waves.
Jiang Luo blinked, genuinely thinking the man was just being courteous with her.
“Then I won’t hold back.”
“Junior Martial Sister Jiang, please.”
As soon as the word “please” fell, Jiang Luo raised her sword with a sweep of her embroidered sleeve.
Spiritual energy surged as a fierce sword light blazed forth.
In an instant, her body turned into a streak of light, and the distance between them vanished.
The man was startled and barely had time to react.
How had Jiang Luo’s strength risen by more than a whole tier since last time?
Seeing the sword gleam right before him, he abandoned his earlier promise to give her a head start and hurriedly raised his sword to meet it.
Sword met sword, strength clashed against strength.
He barely managed to deflect Jiang Luo’s blade, but the sword qi veered off and struck the side, shattering a corner of the arena beneath them and sending rubble flying.
The man’s eyes widened.
His peripheral vision caught the shattered corner, and alarm surged in his heart.
‘What’s going on? I’m already at the Spirit Returning Realm, so why does this girl’s momentum feel fiercer than mine?’
He had assumed that even if Jiang Luo was also at the Spirit Returning Realm, with her last performance as precedent, defeating her as a fellow Spirit Returning Realm cultivator would be a sure thing.
But the moment Jiang Luo attacked, he immediately felt something was wrong.
The disciples watching from the side also noticed, and they all turned their gazes toward Jiang Luo.
“Isn’t that Junior Martial Sister Jiang? Why does she seem a bit different from before?”
“……”
The murmurs rose and fell.
Even they had noticed that Jiang Luo—whether in that strike just now or in her overall demeanor—was nothing like her former timid, submissive self.
The words reached Jiang Luo’s ears, making her a little embarrassed.
She could not help awkwardly scratching her cheek.
She looked at the man before her, who still wore an expression of astonishment.
“Didn’t you say you’d let me have a few moves?”
Jiang Luo’s face was full of sincerity, her expression slightly puzzled as she spoke bluntly.
But in the eyes of everyone else, her words carried an entirely different flavor.
This was no longer just gaining an advantage and acting innocent—it was plainly provocation.
The man’s gaze turned icy.
“Since Junior Martial Sister Jiang says so, I’ll stop being polite with you!”
His eyes hardened and his heart sank.
He no longer held back or yielded in the slightest.
His long sword was drawn, and a vast aura burst forth instantly, a domineering pressure that was the very hallmark of a Spirit Returning Realm peak.
“Junior Martial Sister Jiang, be careful!”
Sword light flared abruptly, wrapping around him as he charged forward.
There was no intention of showing mercy.
This was just like the unwritten rule of the Sunset Sect.
The sect did not stop disciples from privately fighting among themselves, and on an occasion like this, life and death were of no concern.
No methods were restricted, and even if one took a medicine pill mid-fight, no one would criticize.
“Alright.”
Jiang Luo responded.
Then she raised her sword and assumed her stance as well.
Upon closer inspection, unlike the surging demonic aura and killing intent radiating from her opponent, Jiang Luo’s exposed wrist shimmered with crystalline specks.
Though demonic aura also rose from her, it could not conceal that luster.
In the blink of an eye, they clashed, the ringing of metal unceasing.
The two figures darted back and forth, yet neither could gain the upper hand for a time.
This left the onlookers dumbfounded.
Setting aside that the man was at the peak of Spirit Returning Realm and already an outstanding figure among the Outer Sect disciples—what in the world was going on with Jiang Luo?
In the past, Jiang Luo would have already lost within a few exchanges.
Xu Lin, watching from the high platform, took in everything.
A faint smile curled at the corner of his mouth, but in the end, he shook his head.
Because of her previous cultivation problems and rigid sword moves, even at the first tier of the True Mystery Realm, Jiang Luo could barely manage a draw against her opponent.
If it had been like before, she would have lost long ago.
But with the few moves he had taught her, there should not be much of a problem.
With each successive clash, not only were those below the stage astonished by Jiang Luo’s transformation, but the man also found things increasingly wrong.
With his peak Spirit Returning Realm strength, he seemed unable to gain the slightest advantage over Jiang Luo—she even appeared completely at ease.
His heart grew more vicious, and his attacks followed suit, every move aimed at her vital points.
If Jiang Luo truly met with an accident, she could only blame herself for not knowing when to back down and daring to compete with him for a place as an Inner Sect disciple.
Just as Xu Lin had predicted, Jiang Luo’s sword moves were all seen through and instantly dismantled.
Clearly, her opponent was more adaptable than she was.
In an instant, Jiang Luo fell back step by step, unable to withstand a single move.
Her long sword rang and trembled as cracks appeared along its edge, and even a corner of her sleeve was sliced off.
The two withdrew to opposite sides.
The man was slightly out of breath.
He pressed his hand on his storage pouch and spoke to Jiang Luo in a warning tone.
“Junior Martial Sister Jiang, if you know what’s good for you, it’s not too late to concede now. But if you insist on pressing forward, I can’t guarantee what will happen next.”
For this Grand Tournament, he had spared no expense in spending his Spirit Stone Vouchers to obtain a medicine pill that could temporarily boost his spiritual energy, keeping it as a trump card.
He had initially thought that with Jiang Luo as his opponent, he could save the pill this time.
But now, he had changed his mind.
Sweat slid down Jiang Luo’s face.
She had expended a great deal of energy, but she still declined.
“Thank you for the kind intention.”
Yet what happened next left everyone bewildered.
Jiang Luo glanced at her nearly broken sword, then thrust it into the ground at her side.
She reached for the already-sliced corner of her sleeve, tore off another strip, and exposed her fair wrist.
Under the gaze of the crowd, she gathered her hair and, without hurry, tied it up into a high ponytail.
“What is Jiang Luo doing?”
No one understood.
They all stared at Jiang Luo in confusion.
Her opponent had already declared he would get serious and stop being polite, so why was she not anxious at all, and instead tying her hair into a high ponytail?