"That's not right." Mingyi suddenly stopped in her tracks as realization dawned. "If the Empress knew I was alive, she wouldn't have sent him to find me."
Having already spared her once, why would she give him the chance to do it again? Unless... the Empress was doing this deliberately. She wanted to prove something.
A chill ran down Mingyi's spine. Gritting her teeth, she suddenly broke into a sprint toward the competition grounds outside the city.
Going back now wouldn't save Ming An—it would only mean certain death. Unless Ji Bozhai came to her aid.
She needed Ji Bozhai.
At the competition grounds, the matches were already halfway through, with exceptionally fierce battles underway. All the teams that had been relatively easy to handle yesterday had switched out their members today.
The Star Yearn City team, already at a disadvantage without their Artifact Smith, found themselves besieged by teams from other cities. Ji Bozhai was covered in wounds, while Luo Jiaoyang and the others were in even worse shape. Qin Shangwu desperately wanted to send in replacements, but he had no Artifact Smiths available, leaving him to watch the dire situation unfold helplessly.
"Headmaster Qin, keeping Ji Bozhai in Star Yearn City is truly a waste of talent," Zuo Ping sneered. "Why not sell him to our Newgrass City? At least we have plenty of Artifact Smiths here."
"Ah, but your Newgrass City buildings collapse too easily. Better sell him to our Flying Blossom City. With Zheng Tiao as his partner, he'd be far more effective than those unfamiliar youngsters."
"Your buildings are the ones that collapse! Every single one in Flying Blossom City!"
"Headmaster Qin, don't take it too hard. After all, Star Yearn City is used to losing. One more defeat today won't make much difference."
What a shame such fine people had to open their mouths.
Qin Shangwu's face turned green with rage. Who would willingly accept constant defeat? Especially when they could have won—Ji Bozhai's Essence Power was formidable. Even after his Divine Tool was destroyed, his raw Essence Power alone could rival that of several teams using their Divine Tools. A genius like him deserved victory!
But these teams had clearly planned ahead. Unable to win fairly, they resorted to dragging out the match, ensuring Star Yearn City's team couldn't stand under the moonlight for the required half-hour. At their most shameless, two teams even attacked simultaneously.
Qin Shangwu clenched his fists until they turned white. If not for the rules, he would have stepped in himself.
"Star Yearn City requests a substitution—" someone announced.
Qin Shangwu turned, ready to berate whoever had made such a reckless announcement. Who did they have left to substitute?
But when he turned, he saw Mingyi standing in the arena, her face pale, the white cloth wrapped around her arm soaked through with blood. She swayed unsteadily, barely able to stand.
"Nonsense!" He rushed forward. "What are you doing here?"
"Headmaster, I need to save someone, but I can't do it alone. So I'm here to help them win this match," she said quickly and softly. "Once we win, I need you and them to help me!"
Seeing her so desperate was rare. Qin Shangwu nodded without thinking. "Fine."
Only after agreeing did he laugh bitterly. "What do you think this is? You can't just declare victory like that. Even ignoring your severe injuries, our team in there is already at their limit..."
"There's no battle that can't be won—only teams that don't know how to win." Pushing Xiuyun toward him, Mingyi strode into the Nether Domain at the center of the arena.
"What an arrogant brat!" The headmasters from various cities in the VIP seats burst into mocking laughter. "In that state, he'll be torn apart the moment he steps into the Nether Domain."It was difficult to replace someone mid-competition, as newcomers entering the Nether Domain couldn’t immediately regroup with their team and risked being ambushed along the way—especially someone as frail and injured as her.
All eyes turned to her, but few held any hope. Some even instructed medics to stand by in advance.
Yet, She Tianlin was visibly excited.
When he had seen Mingyi earlier, her destroyed meridians had left her devoid of fighting spirit, her demeanor calm and resigned, exuding a sense of defeat. But now, her gaze was no different from when she had been in Sunspire City, and the aura around her was so oppressive that some spectators below found it hard to breathe.
This wasn’t Mingyi—it was Ming Xian.
He didn’t know what had provoked her, but She Tianlin was eager to see what she could do with her meridians in such a ruined state.
The moment she entered the Nether Domain, Essence Power surged toward her. Mingyi shielded herself with a pure white barrier, then raised Star River Sunset and unleashed a massive counterattack toward the source of the assault.
A deafening explosion followed as a blinding white light shot skyward, nearly piercing through the Nether Domain itself.
"Utterly foolish," Zuo Ping scoffed. "This arena demands stealth. A spectacle like this will only draw enemies faster."
"Not quite," She Tianlin smiled. "Such a display won’t just attract enemies."
A colossal white pillar of light erupted from a vast sea of flowers. Ji Bozhai whipped around at the sight and immediately barked, "Go find her!"
"Mingyi?" Luo Jiaoyang murmured, blood trickling down his half-lidded eyes. "She actually came… Couldn’t bear to watch us die here, huh?"
Without confirming or denying, Ji Bozhai cleared the path, leading them toward the light at full speed.
Pure white Essence Power was rare, let alone of such magnitude. For a moment, the other teams hesitated, wondering if Sunspire City had replaced Mingyi with Ming Xian.
But the Sunspire City contingent darkened with fury, charging toward the source of the light and launching attacks the moment they drew near.
"Traitor! Traitor!"
A barrage of multicolored Essence Power surged toward her. Mingyi flung out over a dozen defensive Divine Tools, assembling them into a shell-like barrier that encased her completely.
The attacks only dented the shell, prompting the observing elders to turn their gazes toward She Tianlin.
He met their looks with shameless defiance. "Why stare at me? I didn’t teach her that."
He would never teach Mingyi such a cowardly Divine Tool—she had picked it up on her own.
With Yong Wang absent today, Wei Changsheng led Sunspire City’s team. His eyes burned with rage as he roared, "Crush that shell—and her—into dust!"
Assaulting a defensive Divine Tool head-on was far from wise, an effort that yielded half the result for twice the work. But driven by personal grudges, they channeled all their Essence Power into a tidal wave of attacks aimed at the shell.
Mingyi coated the exterior with a layer of pure white Essence Power. When the onslaught came, the shell was merely pushed back, remaining intact.
"Their Essence Power will take half an incense stick’s time to recover. What are you waiting for?" Mingyi’s voice, amplified by Essence Power, rang out as the shell swayed from the impact.
The Newgrass City team, lying in ambush nearby, immediately seized the opportunity and swiftly eliminated the Sunspire City members, whose lips had already turned pale with fury.The massive waves of Essence Power they had unleashed were still attacking all around. Mingyi drew out a wisp of her own Essence Power and flung it away, diverting the calamity eastward to drown the celebrating crowd from Newgrass City.
Though ownerless Essence Power wasn't particularly harmful, the sheer volume of it made it a persistent nuisance. The people of Newgrass City were just opening their mouths to curse her in frustration when an icy chill suddenly crept up the backs of their necks.
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