When Luo Yunbing's fist was about to strike Qin Xiao, she abruptly held back her strength, realizing that Qin Xiao truly seemed foolish enough not to put up any defense; she feared a full-force blow would kill him outright.
"Bang!"
A heavy thud echoed across the arena.
Luo Yunbing staggered backward nearly ten paces.
Qin Xiao, by contrast, remained completely motionless, not even a fold out of place on his robes.
Though she had checked her momentum in time, it had still been a formidable punch. The impact made Luo Yunbing feel as though she had struck an exceptionally dense slab of black iron.
Her arm tingled and grew numb from the fierce rebound.
"How is this possible? Why was Eldest Sister thrown back by the recoil?"
Luo Yunshuang stared in utter disbelief.
She had clearly seen her sister pull her punches at the last instant, yet such a blow was still far beyond what any ordinary person could endure. How could he remain entirely unscathed?
"Am I seeing things? The lad didn't suffer the slightest scratch?"
"Could this Mysterious Yin Sect disciple have taken a fancy to the brat? Is she throwing the match this openly?"
"The kid's passable, I suppose, but hardly better looking than me. Why does he get all the romantic luck?"
"You? Round-faced and plump with such a charming little mustache, care to become this old man's Dao companion?"
"Senior flatters me, but Junior lacks that particular inclination."
Seeing how the exchange had ended, the spectators began to murmur, convinced that Qin Xiao and Luo Yunbing had some private arrangement. The match-fixing seemed far too blatant.
"I underestimated you. So you rely on a protective treasure; no wonder you dared to act so arrogant."
Suffering a setback on her opening move, Luo Yunbing drew her sword, certain that Qin Xiao must be harboring some defensive Dharma Treasure.
"Quite right. You really shouldn't have held back just now; it made it impossible for me to gauge anything."
Qin Xiao felt a twinge of speechlessness. Luo Yunbing's last-second restraint had ruined his chance to test the true caliber of a late Nascent Soul cultivator.
"Then see if you can gauge this sword strike properly."
Luo Yunbing was nearly provoked into a rage by his words. Her good intentions had been treated like garbage-had she not feared ending his life with a single punch, she never would have pulled her strength.
Furious, she lunged straight at Qin Xiao with her blade, the Spiritual Qi wreathing the steel growing denser with every foot she covered.
"Not dodging? Then I'll pierce right through you."
Throwing aside all restraint, Luo Yunbing no longer cared whether Qin Xiao could withstand the blow; she was determined to make him pay for provoking her.
Facing this unreserved strike, Qin Xiao's expression finally shifted. This was a lethal blow, and since his Heart-Protecting Turtle Shell was not currently on him, he knew better than to take it bare-chested.
As the cold edge flashed closer, he hastily brought his palms together.
"Hundred Percent Barehanded Blade Catch!"
Qin Xiao shouted aloud, clamping his hands shut just in time to trap the tip of the blade.
Yet the tremendous kinetic momentum was not so easily neutralized. Luo Yunbing drove forward, pushing Qin Xiao back more than ten meters before coming to a halt.
It was not that he possessed some genuine miraculous catching technique, but rather that he had already swept the area with his Divine Sense, predicting her trajectory down to the fraction of a second.
"How is this possible? How could you catch it? And with your bare hands?"
Luo Yunbing was struck dumb with shock. Even another late Nascent Soul expert would have struggled to deflect or dodge such a strike, let alone catch the blade barehanded.
"I refuse to accept this! It's a fixed match!"
"Indeed! They aren't even bothering to pretend anymore!"
"Fixed match! Fixed match! Fixed match!"
If the initial punch could be dismissed as a probe, catching the sword point-blank crossed the line for the onlookers who had wagered heavily on the Mysterious Yin Sect. If the Mysterious Yin Sect lost, their entire fortunes went down with them.
"It's over... I put a thousand Spirit Stones on this! I'm ruined.
"A thousand? I dropped five thousand on the Mysterious Yin Sect because Yun Man was supposed to be injured! I could slap myself right now.
"Good thing I backed Tianyuan Sect. Four thousand stones at one-to-three odds means eight thousand profit. Not bad at all."
Those shouting loudest about a fixed match were invariably those who had bet on the Mysterious Yin Sect; the Tianyuan Sect backers maintained a discreet silence.
"What's this? There was an outside betting pool going on and nobody told me? I've been fleeced."
Qin Xiao's Divine Sense reached far enough into the stands for him to catch every word.
While he was hardly short on Spirit Stones, the ingrained philosophy that failing to profit was equivalent to losing left him feeling deeply aggrieved.
"Silence! Anyone attempting to disrupt the competition again will be expelled from the grounds!"
Grand Elder Wei Jian of the Mysterious Yin Sect thundered the command, having heard enough of the scandalous murmurs.
Recognizing the voice of a Body Integration stage powerhouse, the unruly spectators prudently swallowed their complaints.
Wei Jian's expression remained dark and troubled. What on earth was happening? Bing'er had taken a Spirit-Burst Pill to force her cultivation up to the late Nascent Soul stage. Even if Qin Xiao possessed a defensive treasure, how had he managed to intercept her attacks so effortlessly?
Many elders shared his bewilderment. Unlike the ignorant crowd, their cultivation allowed them to see that Luo Yunbing had held nothing back, making Qin Xiao's defense all the more baffling.
"Let go."
Mortified at finding her weapon pinned between his palms, Luo Yunbing tugged fiercely at the hilt, only to find it immovable.
"Ah, my apologies. I was distracted by some gossip just now."
Prompted by her demand, Qin Xiao finally opened his hands, having spent the last few seconds mentally calculating his lost gambling revenue.
"Courting death! You dare ignore me mid-fight?"
Incensed beyond measure, Luo Yunbing abandoned all technique, unleashing a frantic flurry of wild slashes.
Qin Xiao merely sidestepped the vital angles, letting the erratic storm of blows wash over him since they posed no genuine threat. Seeing her frustration, he decided to indulge her.
"That's the spirit! Don't hold anything back!"
"Hack him down!"
"Don't let up! Chop him to pieces!"
Delighted to see the arrogant youth finally forced onto the defensive, the hostile crowd and the disappointed gamblers roared their encouragement.
Back at the Tianyuan Sect pavilion, Lin Tiancheng was beside himself with anxiety, while Yun Man and Lin Shimeng looked entirely unconcerned, quietly trading a few medicinal pills between themselves.
"Are you two blind to what's happening out there? Make him step down this instant!"
Unable to bear the suspense, Lin Tiancheng urged them to intervene.
"Father, calm yourself. He is in no danger."
Dismissing his concern with a brief reply, Lin Shimeng resumed her hushed discussion with Yun Man.
With new disciples scheduled to arrive soon, the two senior disciples were quietly cementing an alliance to ensure their established authority remained unchallenged.
As the flurry of strikes continued, Qin Xiao's outer garments were reduced to a tattered mess; had he not carefully guided the blade away from certain spots, he would have been left entirely bare.
"Enough. Thrashing about like this serves no educational purpose. You should step down now."
Judging the test complete, Qin Xiao executed his barehanded catch once more, trapping the sword between his palms.
"Let go."
Tugging vainly at the locked blade, Luo Yunbing repeated her demand through clenched teeth.
"I refuse. Will you step down voluntarily, or must I escort you? My patience has its limits after taking so many of your blows."
Refusing to drag the match out further, Qin Xiao issued his ultimatum.
"Bing'er, withdraw. We concede defeat."
Seeing that she intended to persist, Grand Elder Wei Jian intervened from the sidelines.
Su Lin's capabilities were roughly on par with Luo Yunbing's; since the latter could do nothing against Qin Xiao, continuing would only pile further humiliation upon the sect.
"Still refusing to release it?"
Crestfallen yet bound by the Elder's command, Luo Yunbing glared at Qin Xiao.
"I'm letting go, but don't forget our wager. Tomorrow morning at the Heaven No. 1 Private Room, I'll expect you."
Whispering the reminder just before he released his grip, Qin Xiao stepped back.
Without a word in response, Luo Yunbing snatched back her sword and stalked off the stage.
With the Mysterious Yin Sect Elder conceding defeat, the contest concluded, handing the victory to the Tianyuan Sect.