Long Youyou woke up in a warm embrace. As soon as she opened her eyes, she remembered her defeat. Although she wished it had only been a nightmare, the burning pain throughout her body proved that her loss was an unchangeable fact.
“Top three among the celestial orderians, yet she lost to a nobody who’s seventh on the imperial star ranking!”
At the thought of that, Long Youyou felt as if her internal organs were convulsing. She was too humiliated to face Li Haochen and her elders. She was an embarrassment to the Veildragon Palace.
“Big Brother Haochen, I….” Realizing that it was Li Haochen holding her, Long Youyou burst into tears. “I’ve embarrassed myself. I’m sorry, I didn’t think she would be so powerful. She wasn’t this strong in the Voidsky Realm.”
“Alright, it’s over.” Li Haochen didn’t mind how ugly she was at the moment, because she would soon recover. Caressing her head, he said, “It’s fine. I underestimated them as well. This battle was a wake-up call for Shishi and me.”
Long Youyou breathed a sigh of relief when she realized Li Haochen wasn’t blaming her. What she didn’t know was that he was smoldering with anger inside, the red-hot rage spreading to his bane-rings.
“Ruoshi, do your best. You can’t lose this duel or we’ll become a joke,” Li Wushuang said through gritted teeth.
“Yes.” Li Ruoshi nodded solemnly. She didn’t think she had anything to fear, but Li Haochen was right—Long Youyou’s battle served as a reminder for both of them to take the duels seriously. taking a deep breath, she stepped into the battlefield.
“Shishi, take down your opponent,” Li Haochen said.
“I will.” Despite her soft temperament, Li Ruoshi showed an iron will at this critical moment. The soul tribulators were a part of the celestial orderian clan; they were totemancers. If she lost to Lingfeng, the celestial orderians would be even more embarrassed. More importantly, this was a best-of-three match. Her defeat would mean victory for the Azuresoul Palace, and Li Haochen wouldn’t even have the chance to fight.
“Specter.” Her gentle gaze landed on her opponent—a cold, silent, boy who was almost indistinguishable from the human race. Needless to say, the second duel had begun. The elders on both sides stared at the two, especially those from the Supracloud Sanctuary. They were no longer hanging around, but nervously watching.
“The celestial orderians won’t lose two in a row, will they?”
“Long Youyou lost because she underestimated her opponent, but Li Ruoshi won’t this time.”
“The specter called Feng defeated a junior of the Voidword Shrine at the fifth level of the Constellation stage, but Li Ruoshi is a seventh-level constellier and possesses seven and a half totems.”
There was complete silence before the duel began. The excitement and suspense peaked. What they didn’t know was that Lingfeng’s strength had grown by leaps and bounds since the Voidsky Skirmish.
“Please.” Like a goddess in the wind, Li Ruoshi pointed her sword at Lingfeng.
A storm swept across the battlefield, howling winds swaying the Azurecloud Divine Tree. Li Ruoshi’s totems appeared with a gust of wind. An illusory sea of flowers blossomed around her, spreading through the air and on the bark and leaves of the divine tree. Millions of flowers enveloped the entire battlefield, their rich fragrance permeating the air and transforming the scene into paradise.
Li Ruoshi had almost become a celestial surrounded by a sea of flowers. As her long flower dress swayed in the wind, more flowers blossomed on her clothes, covering her hair, sleeves, and even her weapon. A blaze of colors—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple—stretched as far as the eye could see. Amidst the vast sea of flowers, Li Ruoshi was the epitome of beauty, saintliness, and elegance.
There were countless beautiful girls born among the soul tribulators. That was the reason they were the clan of empresses. From just this scene alone, Li Ruoshi had proved that she deserved her title as second-best totemancer of her generation. Of course, that excluded Qingyu, who almost never showed her face.
Li Ruoshi and Long Youyou were able to climb to a position second only to Li Haochen because they were ahead of all the other geniuses. If Long Youyou hadn’t encountered Xiaoxiao, she would be so powerful that she could do as she pleased in the Myriad Solar Sects. In terms of beauty, she was charming and lively, with a sensual figure and a childlike appearance. She was spirited and lovely, while Li Ruoshi resembled an unattainable goddess. Li Haochen knew how to choose them, and how to have a good time. Many celestial orderians envied him for having the pair of beauties by his side. Of course, there were also countless women who envied the two for their closeness to Li Haochen. However, none of that meant anything to Lingfeng. All he wanted to ask was how Qingyu was doing, though he understood that he couldn’t.
“I must make an impression so they’ll tell Qingyu about me when they go back….” At the thought of that, Lingfeng gripped the Evil Suppression Pillar in his hand and began his attack.
Li Ruoshi’s totems came to life. The sea of flowers was merely a scene created by the combination of her constellation and totems. At that moment, a total of seven goddesses appeared in the flowers, waving their swords. The seven fantasy flower goddesses almost resembled an enlarged version of Xian Xian’s spiritform. Although Xian Xian’s spiritform possessed no combat power, the two were similar in nature.
Li Ruoshi’s half totem had yet to take shape and remained on her body. With the manifestation of the seven totems, the entire scene belonged to Li Ruoshi. Without so much as a word, she shot toward Lingfeng amidst the flying petals, brandishing her sword.
The young man dressed in black met her halfway, the power within his body gathering and forming a black sea of fire. A huge wave swept toward his opponent. This was his ability, the Infernal Soul Curse. A burning vortex raged around him, crashing into the fantasy flower goddesses as the Infernal Soul Curse enveloped them.
“What?” Almost in that instant, Li Ruoshi could sense that Lingfeng’s soul power was far stronger than she had imagined. Like poison, the flame spread from one totem to another, engulfing everything in its wake. Lingfeng’s Evil Suppression Pillar slammed down onto her head while Li Ruoshi unleashed her sword art, the two exchanging blows.
Meanwhile, the Infernal Soul Curse constantly spread through her body and totems. With every hit, her flesh remained unharmed but her soul stung with pain.
In less than fifteen minutes, the psychedelic effect of the fantasy flowers had no effect on Lingfeng. The totems didn’t even have a chance to demonstrate their power. Li Ruoshi had never imagined that her totems would one day become a drag. The grim young man continued suppressing her with the Evil Suppression Pillar, drawing a blood-red dagger from his head.
When the Evil Suppression Pillar transformed into armor, the young man broke through the totems, the blood-red dagger in his hand transforming into red needles that filled the sky. They shot toward the totems and poked countless holes in them. The needles seemed connected to thin, red threads through which Lingfeng manipulated them. The threads formed a dense cage, and as soon as Lingfeng pulled, Li Ruoshi’s totems collapsed.
The pain intensified, making it impossible for her to fight as she usually did. The collapse of her totems reduced her combat effectiveness by seventy-five percent. In the face of Lingfeng’s attacks, Li Ruoshi was completely suppressed and forced to retreat. She didn’t even have the chance to use her abilities. Lingfeng had truly crushed his opponent.
The Evil Suppression Pillar returned to his hands and collided with Li Ruoshi’s sword. Although she managed to block the attack, she couldn’t stop the sharp needles that coursed through the air and pierced her flesh.
“It hurts….”
Li Ruoshi had never encountered such an opponent; it was as if her hands and feet were bound. When the needles stabbed her flesh, her physical body was fine, but her vita was in agony. The pain only deepened.
More and more needles flew through the totems and pricked her flesh. As the pain in her vita increased, her combat power decreased. Like a madman, Lingfeng’s weapon repeatedly struck her. As he had predicted, she eventually failed to hold on.
“I….”
Li Ruoshi’s vision turned dark. In that instant, Lingfeng slammed his weapon into the back of her hand, driving through her palm to her abdomen. Then he dragged her forward and smashed her into the Azurecloud Divine Tree. With a dull thud, the back of her head hit the tree. A dizzy Li Ruoshi spat a mouthful of black blood and slid down to the ground, her body limp.
“There’s no need to continue, is there?” As Lingfeng spoke, the countless thin, red threads and sharp needles surrounded Li Ruoshi, threatening to stab her at any moment. Under the combined attack of the Infernal Soul Curse and Heartpiercer Soulblade, her fantasy flowers had already returned to her bane-rings and were too afraid to appear again. The outcome of the duel was apparent. No matter how beautiful Li Ruoshi’s totems were, she had been crushed by Lingfeng from start to finish. It was a fact that everyone could see. She might have died if it weren’t just a match.
There were no objections to the results. Thus, Lingfeng withdrew his weapon and abilities and returned to Tianming’s side.
“How was it?” Tianming asked.
“It was alright, but I think I can go up against an eighth-level totemancer,” Lingfeng replied.
The Soulfiend hadn’t joined him in battle, otherwise it would have ended sooner. The junior celestial orderians weren’t weak, but the three of them had already fought similar opponents on the Violetglory Star. On the whole, the Violetglory Star was stronger than Orderia. Despite their ease, this duel had left the celestial orderians, and those of Blueblood Starocean and the Supracloud Sanctuary, even more amazed, bewildered, and depressed than the previous match. They had been humiliated!
“We already have two wins, the third match is unnecessary. So according to our agreement, it’s time for you to leave.”
Tianming turned to Li Haochen and the others with a smile on his face. He knew they had been stunned by the two consecutive defeats.
