Chapter 8: Master, I've won back the money you wagered

"This Jiang Qingyi is impressive."

"I heard that when Jiang Qingyi was first brought to the Longquan Sword Sect by Elder Xiao, she couldn't even enter the Qi Refining stage for months."

"Isn't that the truth? Back then, everyone said Jiang Qingyi was like a cripple. Who would have thought she’d have some sudden epiphany and progress so quickly?"

"Elder Xiao certainly has a good eye."

In the spectator stands, those around Xiao Mo were whispering about Jiang Qingyi.

Xiao Mo watched Qingyi, who was currently receiving medical treatment, and felt a sense of daze.

Xiao Mo could never have imagined that Qingyi would actually be able to charge into the finals.

What did this feeling resemble?

Qingyi was like the protagonist of a novel; whenever she was on the verge of defeat, she would always comprehend something at a critical moment, or else her cultivation realm would have a sudden breakthrough.

Take the semi-finals, for example: Jiang Qingyi refused to surrender even in the face of danger, and in the end, she actually broke through to the ninth level of the Qi Refining stage!

Xiao Mo began to suspect whether the "Life Experience" in the *Book of a Hundred Lives* was simply a chronicle of a protagonist's struggle, and he was merely playing the role of a supporting character.

If that were the case, Xiao Mo didn't mind; at least Qingyi had the protagonist's halo, so she wouldn't meet with an accident so easily.

"Finals! Lingqian Peak's Jiang Qingyi versus Yunhai Hall's Xiao Yan!"

Following the deacon's shout, Jiang Qingyi stood up and walked toward the largest magic array in the center of the plains.

As she entered the array, Jiang Qingyi turned her head, looked toward Xiao Mo, and gave a brilliant smile.

Xiao Mo frowned and mouthed the words, "Don't push yourself."

Before the finals, a master could surrender on behalf of their disciple.

But in the finals, only the disciple themselves could surrender.

However, which of those who make it to the finals isn't a proud and arrogant genius?

Unless they are beaten to the point where they cannot stand, they will never surrender.

In previous New Blood Tournaments, there had even been instances of death in the finals.

Jiang Qingyi stepped into the magic array as if she hadn't heard her master's instructions at all.

The match began. Xiao Yan was worthy of being hailed as the favorite to win and the most promising genius of the new generation.

Having absorbed three types of exotic flames, he was at the half-step Foundation Establishment stage, and the quality of his cultivation was extraordinary.

Every exotic flame on Xiao Yan carried different properties, and as he swung his long sword, their power was even more formidable.

Jiang Qingyi didn't even have room to counterattack; she could only flee continuously, searching for an opportunity.

"Is running all you can do?"

Xiao Yan sneered and raised his long sword high.

A sword wave carrying the properties of the Bone-Chilling Flame slashed down.

Jiang Qingyi couldn't dodge in time and was forced to block it with her Xuanshuang Sword.

The young girl was sent flying twenty meters away.

With her sword stuck in the ground, Jiang Qingyi coughed a few times, blood spilling from the corner of her mouth.

Xiao Yan would not give Jiang Qingyi a chance to catch her breath.

In an instant, Xiao Yan's sword arrived again, pointing straight at the center of Jiang Qingyi's brow.

Jiang Qingyi parried with her sword, unleashing the second form of the Grass-Character Sword Art—"Brush Strokes of Dragon and Snake."

The girl's sword moves were like wild cursive calligraphy; every strike was unpredictable, yet they possessed a fluid, natural quality.

Her sword qi left ink-like trails in the air.

Although Jiang Qingyi lacked strength, her footwork was agile.

Combining her footwork with her sword moves, the angle of every attack was incredibly tricky.

Even as Jiang Qingyi attacked, afterimages remained in the air, possessing a faint deceptive quality and lingering briefly to compress the opponent's space for movement.

In less than ten rounds, Xiao Yan's body was covered in cuts.

Some people thought Jiang Qingyi had turned defense into offense and was even gaining the upper hand.

But in reality, the elders and deacons, including Xiao Mo, all knew that Jiang Qingyi's attacks on Xiao Yan were limited, and Xiao Yan was brewing a major move, intending to kill her in one blow!

"Interesting, but it's a pity. It's not enough. The winner of the New Blood Tournament will be me."

After creating some distance, Xiao Yan felt the time was right.

He stepped forward, and one after another, sword lotuses bloomed on the ground.

The scorching flames blew against Jiang Qingyi's long hair.

"As fellow disciples, I'll give you one last chance: surrender! Otherwise, if this move lands, you will die!" Waves of fire erupted around Xiao Yan.

Despite being a Qi Refining stage cultivator, Xiao Yan looked like a god at this moment.

Jiang Qingyi took a deep breath, stood up, and pulled her long sword from the ground: "Come!"

"You have guts!"

Xiao Yan shouted, and sword lotuses bloomed beneath his feet.

Each lotus flower began to crack.

The next moment, the sword lotuses exploded.

"Qingyi! Surrender!" Xiao Mo shouted.

Although he knew it was just a life experience and that everything in the *Book of a Hundred Lives* was fake, how could he not have feelings for Qingyi after spending so much time together?

It was like watching a TV show; when one sees Ran Bing in *Ling Cage* turn into a popsicle, one feels distressed too.

Xiao Yan's sword qi, spiritual power, and exotic flames were all mixed together.

Every time a lotus flower shattered, a shockwave struck Jiang Qingyi.

When the ninth sword lotus shattered, Jiang Qingyi was bleeding from her seven orifices. She knelt on one knee, unable to even stand, but she refused to surrender.

The last sword lotus was about to shatter as well; it was the most powerful one.

Looking at that sword lotus, Jiang Qingyi remembered several robbers breaking into her home, her parents stuffing her into a cabinet, and through the cracks, she could only watch helplessly as her parents died before her eyes.

She remembered being taken away by the robbers to a magnificent mansion, where they talked about taking her bones.

She remembered waking up and being thrown onto a hillside filled with corpses.

She remembered begging on the streets, living one day at a time.

Finally.

The young girl remembered stealing a few steamed buns and being about to be beaten by the shop owner when her master stood in front of her.

Because she met her master, she was able to live.

Because she met her master, she was able to cultivate.

I cannot let Master down!

Master is my everything.

The young girl took a deep breath, stood up, and her Xuanshuang sword bloomed with one sword intent after another.

A total of nine.

"This is... the fourth form of the Grass-Character Sword Art, Nine-Leaf Sword?"

"Boom!"

The moment the last sword lotus exploded, the girl thrust her sword forward.

A massive sound erupted from the magic array, and dust filled the air ten meters high.

Xiao Mo hurriedly flew down from the spectator stands and rushed into the magic array.

With a wave of his hand, the dust cleared, and he saw Qingyi standing where she was.

On the other side of the array, Xiao Yan had collapsed, having completely lost consciousness.

"Qingyi!" Xiao Mo called out.

Hearing his voice, Jiang Qingyi turned around, gave her master a faint smile, and then fell forward.

Xiao Mo rushed forward and caught Jiang Qingyi.

"Master..."

In Xiao Mo's arms, Jiang Qingyi said weakly.

"The money you bet... I've earned it back for you."