Chapter 70: Sneak Away Sneak Away

"Monster Unafraid of Darkness", this title's origin is precisely from the darkness that Chengtian Bai Ren tamed and trampled.

A darkness as if substantive, upon appearing it seeks to devour everything, bringing with it palpable palpitations, tension, and even fear.

Its existence is like the remnants of a demon shattered within the mansion.

The senior horse girls who witnessed its presence once thought that the remnants had given birth to an entirely new loathsome entity, until Haoge Ju personally confirmed and denied it.

Indeed similar inside, but in terms of accumulation and scale it falls far short.

Precisely for this reason, this is instead an opportunity for Chengtian Bai Ren.

Because it is only the darkness that entwines her alone, the darkness that has long blocked her path, and the darkness she will ultimately trample and turn to her own use.

Regardless of whether she wishes to control that power, the instant she defeats it in battle, that mass of darkness will become her followers; from the moment her power erupts, like soldiers it swarms and spreads, exerting mental oppression on everything around her.

Until the next second, when she strikes the ground with a punch without hesitation!

The darkness together with the earth and stone beneath her feet shatter and fly apart under the tremendous force——

——Even if shattered, however, the influence caused by that darkness remains.

Challenger Cao Shang Fei still retains the instant state before being shrouded in darkness; her swinging naginata remains sharp, but her force is delayed by half a beat.

【ShadowBreak】

Chengtian Bai Ren's signature move, as plain as its name suggests.

While her power erupts, it inevitably also interferes with others; for enemies whose spirit is not steadfast it can directly suppress them, and at its worst it can make the opponent lose the will to fight—though on the central Saichang there are no horse girls so weak, as evidenced by Cao Shang Fei's eyes showing not a trace of fear right now.

But there is indeed a moment of hesitation born of the chaos.

And such hesitation in a duel is enough to decide the outcome in an instant——

——with Chengtian Bai Ren now performing a low stance step, closing in with a rushing punch!

Simple and direct, and it does not hinder the fact that Cao Shang Fei, who barely had time to brace and reduce impact, is truly sent flying.

Crossing a distance of several dozen meters, she slams into a massive stone pillar; though not welded into it, the countless fine cracks spreading around the pillar and the rear contact surface are enough to attest to the force of that punch.

Yet the graceful figure that wrests free from the stone wall appears completely unharmed, her decisive outfit showing no obvious damage, merely dusted with dirt and pebbles that flutter down with her steps.

"Do you want to continue? After experiencing the darkness."

Already after that punch she stood upright, Chengtian Bai Ren said lightly without assuming any further stance, not even glancing at the light screen appearing beside her, her gaze instead turned to the other side.

She was looking at her sister in the not‑distant crowd of spectators, yet she inevitably also noticed the other onlookers, and thus grew somewhat annoyed.

If those people's photo‑taking motions were not so obvious, and the shutter sounds and flashing lights not so harsh and conspicuous, she would not be annoyed to this extent.

"First round..." she weighed the naginata in her hand, the blade shaking off dust, and reset her stance.

Cao Shang Fei's movements are concise and standard, betraying a solid foundation, her azure eyes holding unyielding resolve.

She shows no intention of retreating.

"Wasn't it supposed to be best two out of three? Senior Bai Ren."

For the high‑school division's Cao Shang Fei, Chengtian Bai Ren, who is in the university division and whose racing career is nearing its end, is undoubtedly her senior.

But by now whether there is an ending or not doesn't matter, for last month the Three Goddesses' edict seemed to intend to revive horse racing and summon again the Dream Cup.

Already many graduated horse girls who were led astray by training have received blessings, gaining various kinds of opportunities for retraining.

She does not know how Senior Bai Ren views this matter, but since she dares to ask for her help in training, she likewise intends to regard her as one of her opponents on the Saichang.

"Monster"'s so‑called darkness under its rule, I want to witness it in advance and also see the gap between us.

Thus, just a moment ago, she caught a glimpse of it.

That oppression, truly akin to a savage beast, almost nightmared her; to onlookers it was merely an instant, but for her it already recalled all her past training.

Re‑centering her original resolve from the Vajra guardian statue placed in her family's dojo, she then broke free with a kasaya slash.

Just as Chengtian Bai Ren shattered the darkness, Cao Shang Fei followed up with a strike that had been delivered before the darkness swept in.

But that ultimately was a blow felt as if from a long time ago; the force and intent behind the follow‑up have changed, making it hard to establish anything against the opponent, so she could only rely on instinct to brace when the foe closed in.

She was cleanly knocked flying.

That punch, if it were real combat, would likely have slammed her into a wall and made her spit blood.

The training field's barrier device is operating stably; that source‑energy machine nicknamed the 'damage‑reduction barrier' can deduce the movements and attacks of all trainees within the field, and when one side is injured it provides an air‑wall cushion to lessen injury and output.

At the same time, the light screen appearing beside her displays the raw damage data and the opponent's output.

Cao Shang Fei glanced at it and was shocked by Senior Bai Ren's outbreak, yet even so she did not retreat.

"Although I'm glad you still have fighting spirit," Chengtian Bai Ren sighed, glancing sideways at the ever‑growing crowd around them, "but don't you feel the people here are gathering more and more?"

"Open‑official training, using media power to prepare for the Jidong Derby, that's the trainer's idea..." Cao Shang Fei greeted those gazes and cameras with poise, then looked at Chengtian Bai Ren and gave an embarrassed laugh, "If Senior Bai Ren finds it troublesome, let's next time use a closed training field."

"My older sister already guessed the intention, I'm not too bothered either, just..." Chengtian Bai Ren lowered her gaze to her own hand, relaxed yet gripping the knuckleduster, her eyes sweeping back toward the crowd where her older sister stood.

"Just that?" Cao Shang Fei asked for confirmation.

"Now that I've come to my senses, the state of the darkness is off."

Although she has no interest in that darkness whatsoever and has never considered truly mastering such negative energy, Chengtian Bai Ren cannot deny that she shares a deep connection with it.

One could even say that darkness contains a part of her own heart, as well as a part of the hearts of the other horse girls she has raced against.

As she grows, it grows too, but it forever lacks intelligence, being moved only by her emotions.

Yet earlier the darkness seemed to spread more actively, as if frightened by something; what looked like a surging assault was actually an attempt to expand and disperse in order to flee.

What is the cause? Because of who is here?

With so many people gathered around, Chengtian Bai Ren naturally subconsciously tried to find the cause here, but a glance at the crowd revealed nothing special; on the other hand, her older sister Pipa Chen Guang seemed to have noticed her condition and was already walking over.

"What's wrong, Bai Ren."

"Nothing, older sister, have you noticed any strange fellows nearby... Forget it, let's first leave this place and talk."

Originally disliking such spectators, Chengtian Bai Ren put forward the suggestion to leave.

After all, this time she is using her ability to help Cao Shang Fei train her ability; for this reason Bai Ren's own condition is also important, and since it is unstable, it should be postponed and decided later.

"Strange fellows? If we're talking about strange, there aren't any, but I did see someone rather special... Uh, Bai Ren, you don't need to drag me away."

She was still turning her head to look towards one side of the crowd, Pipa Chenguang, searching for that youth who was quite famous in the Heaven's Gate City news.

As the elder sister of Chengtian Bairen and the senior of Caoshangfei, Pipa Chenguang did not, like most of the onlookers, excessively focus on the two people inside the arena, to the point that she couldn't even move her gaze.

She had already noticed the commotion in the crowd not far away earlier; her sharp hearing could tell it was due to three youths shoving and moving forward. What was originally an unconscious glance turned out to recognize the face she had seen on TV.

However, she lacked interest in monsters as well; although seeing a 'celebrity' surprised her a bit, she also didn't care much and withdrew her gaze, continuing to look inside the arena.

If she had been closely following the recent gossip on the Teresan Forum about Ailisuzhi and Meipu Bourbon, perhaps she wouldn't have so simply withdrawn her gaze.

But that's just how it is; the serious and meticulous Pipa Chenguang lacks interest in gossip, and those around her aren't too keen to discuss such things with her, so she remains completely unaware of it.

Although she couldn't answer when her sister asked about the suspicious person, she also intended to mention that she had seen a celebrity, but Bairen's eager pulling cut her off.

Let's talk about it later... she thought, having just quickened her steps to keep up with Bairen's pace, but then she saw Bairen's steps pause slightly, his slightly narrowed eyes fixed on three figures moving away from the crowd.

The monster unafraid of shadows slightly sensed it; that emotion which suddenly surged and trembled once thus headed in that direction.

But she had no leeway to step forward and investigate.

Only because the crowd that her vigorous steps had 'broken open' around her, now also due to her stopping, showed a tendency to regroup.

Let's leave first and talk later, hoping the reason is just those three guys...

Staring at the three figures—one bright yellow, one pure white, one pitch black—Chengtian Bairen, thinking at least there would be a clue, could only keep an eye out, then quicken his pace and throw a remark at the two beside him:

"Whoever falls behind will go block the interview."

The speed of the other two also immediately picked up.