Chapter 85: The nth Time Being Deceived

After calming down for a while, Ruan Xing finally thought of the suspicious points in all of this.

The "Wang Zhi" who killed her in the simulation just now used Spiritual Power, not the Wang Zhi who had openly exposed his Demon Cultivator magic in Black Water Lake.

This face was also definitely not Xu Sixi himself; according to the personality of Xu Sixi she had inquired about, he was a very arrogant person. When he had just come out of the Cold Mountain Secret Realm, he would never have had that kind of long-suffering attitude when facing Zhao Fengchun who did not recognize him.

But the "Wang Zhi" at Elder Peak wanted to kill her the moment they met, which shows that there is still a connection to the Demon Cultivator...

Then why would the two of them use the same face? Ruan Xing racked her brains, but her mind became more and more chaotic.

That's not right either. Xu Sixi has Elder Xu as his backer at the Xuanbing Sect in Nanzhou, and he is surrounded by a bunch of junior brothers; what reason would he have to collude with a Demon Cultivator and betray the Sect? Unless... he didn't know Xie Huai was a Demon Cultivator and was just deceived by him.

If you look at it this way, it would be impossible for Xu Sixi to have mastered the Illusion Technique so quickly.

Could it be that she was deceived by Xie Huai again? That he didn't rely on the Illusion Technique to change his appearance at all?

Damn that Xie Huai, who exactly is it that only realized they were being deceived after half a year had passed? It's Ruan Xing herself! Ruan Xing was so angry her liver ached, but there was nothing she could do, because the one who taught her the Illusion Technique was the Xie Huai in the simulation; the Xie Huai in reality didn't know about this at all...

She could only swallow this bitter pill herself.

She didn't intend to go and give gifts to Xu Sixi anymore, because she didn't know when Xu Sixi had hooked up with Xie Huai. Even if she went to curry favor with Xu Sixi, it would be very difficult to succeed with Xie Huai around.

The most important thing right now is to pass the preliminary round first.

Ruan Xing found some mulberry bark rope to wrap around the hilt of her Sword, covering it in a thick layer. Although it affected her grip a bit, she got used to it after practicing a few more times. She brushed several layers of tung oil onto the soles of her shoes and dried them with Spiritual Power, then took out a floral hair tie to tie all her hair behind her head.

After getting these small details sorted out, Ruan Xing went to sleep with peace of mind, waiting for the next day's competition.

The next day, Ruan Xing did not go to talk to Xiong Dacheng. It was only when the referee announced it was their turn to take the stage that the two people's gazes met for the first time.

Ruan Xing sighed secretly and said, "Please."

As the words fell, the protective barrier rose. Ruan Xing lifted her Sword and leaped, attacking first to gain the upper hand. A light, basic strike left a white mark on Xiong Dacheng's bronze-colored skin.

Xiong Dacheng did not dodge; instead, he followed the force of Ruan Xing's Sword edge, turning sideways to try and grab her.

With yesterday's experience, Ruan Xing naturally knew that Xiong Dacheng's Spiritual Power was hidden within his skin, flesh, tendons, and bones. He didn't use a Dharma Artifact because his own body was the best Dharma Artifact. Within the same realm, it was almost impossible to break his defense.

And likewise, his time and energy were spent on body training, so he wasn't that proficient in Magic Arts. If he were to encounter Xie Huai, he might be spun around in circles by Xie Huai's arrays.

Kicking Xiong Dacheng's solid calf, Ruan Xing used the reaction force to fly backward rapidly. She formed a seal with her hands and said, "Five Directions Water!"

A long whip made of clear water coiled around Xiong Dacheng like a water snake. Within a few breaths, it had quickly slithered over his entire body, gathering at his neck and turning into a large, circular water bubble over his head, covering his mouth, nose, and eyes.

Foundation Establishment Cultivators, although they have evolved past the need for eating and sleeping, still need to breathe. However, Cultivators have long, steady breaths, and staying in a water bubble for an hour is no problem at all, so this didn't seem to have much of an effect.

The only impact might be that through the refraction of the water, Xiong Dacheng's vision was no longer accurate, but that didn't matter; he had Divine Sense.

"This doesn't seem to be of any use, does it?" a disciple off-stage asked, puzzled.

But Ruan Xing couldn't hear that; at this moment, all her attention was on Xiong Dacheng.

Seeming to find it troublesome, Xiong Dacheng clenched his palm into a fist and swung it toward a point in front of his nose. The forceful fist wind shattered the water bubble into pieces. A large splash of water rained down all over him, soaking him like a drowned rat. He was drenched, but he didn't waste his Spiritual Power on drying the moisture; instead, he shook his head, letting the water droplets on his face and hair fall naturally, and took off his short shirt—which had little presence anyway—tossing it aside to reveal his toned upper body.

His inverted-triangle, massive body looked somewhat uncoordinated with his small head.

The two went back and forth. Xiong Dacheng's goal was very clear: since he had determined that Ruan Xing's Dharma Sword couldn't hurt him, he didn't dodge or evade her attacks, only wanting to grab her Sword blade and repeat his old trick. Ruan Xing, however, had more to consider; while constantly casting Five Directions Water Magic Arts to create obstacles for Xiong Dacheng, she also kept a constant watch on maintaining distance so the opponent couldn't grab her. Even when using the Lianyun Sword Art to attack the opponent, she had to retract the Sword in time to prevent Xiong Dacheng from grabbing it.

Before long, the entire arena looked as if it had been hit by a sudden rainstorm. The floor had all become wet, and the water traces gathered into a pool on the ground. As the two chased each other, they made splashing sounds with every step.

If not for the protective barrier, this water would likely have flowed off the stage.

The timing was right. Ruan Xing no longer focused solely on dodging. She turned her hand and thrust her Sword toward Xiong Dacheng. The latter did not avoid it at all, directly using his fan-like large hand to grab the Sword blade, pulling and wrestling with Ruan Xing.

This was a situation Ruan Xing had been avoiding all along. Her strength was not as great as Xiong Dacheng's; if she were grabbed by him, she would either have to abandon the Sword or be pulled over by the opponent.

Ruan Xing did not let go, but smiled slightly. At the moment she was pulled toward Xiong Dacheng, she stuck a Talisman she had been preparing in her other hand onto the Sword blade, simultaneously activating it with Spiritual Power.

Xiong Dacheng let out a roar of pain and hurriedly let go, retreating. He looked down at his palm; from his palm to his wrist and forearm, there were almost entirely traces of Thunder Fire burns. The skin and flesh were charred and turned outward, emitting a burnt, savory scent.

The people off-stage were instantly horrified.

"What is that!?"

"A Third-Grade Thunder Fire Talisman!"

"Using a Talisman worth several hundred Spirit Stones in the preliminary round, you've got to be kidding."

As for Ruan Xing, the mulberry bark rope on her Sword hilt was an insulator. Although she also felt her hand holding the Sword become slightly hot, she did not suffer any burns from the Thunder Fire.

Although Xiong Dacheng had retreated, the effect of the Thunder Fire Talisman on Ruan Xing's Sword had not yet finished. She flipped the Sword blade and thrust it into the ground. Although it didn't destroy the arena tiles, the water traces on the ground rippled as a result. The lightning traveled through the water without any obstruction and connected to Xiong Dacheng. His whole body twitched and jerked. Although it wasn't as severe as the direct contact with the Thunder Fire Talisman, his bronze-colored skin began to develop small, cracked wounds.

The tung oil on the soles of Ruan Xing's shoes was waterproof, insulating her from the lightning damage.

Since Xiong Dacheng's bronze skin had already been broken by her, she naturally had to press the advantage. Ruan Xing formed a seal with one hand and swung the Sword with the other. A large water bubble fell onto Xiong Dacheng. He finally couldn't hold on and collapsed to the ground, and Ruan Xing's Sword also pierced into his shoulder blade.

The protective barrier was withdrawn, and the referee stepped forward, waving a hand to cast a spell to clean up the water traces on the arena. "Ruan Xing, wins."

"This Body Cultivator actually lost, did I see that right?"

"He did indeed lose. Although it was due to the power of a Third-Grade Thunder Fire Talisman, to have the ingenuity to use water to conduct lightning, she doesn't seem like a cowardly person." "It seems yesterday it really was that male Cultivator who used dirty tactics. If I have to compete against him tomorrow, I definitely won't be fooled by him!"

The discussions off-stage reached Ruan Xing's ears. She jumped off the arena, and Xiong Dacheng was also carried away by others.

Because Ruan Xing had the intention of self-preservation, Xiong Dacheng's injuries were not as severe as in the simulation, but his performance in tomorrow's competition would likely only be at fifty percent of today's strength. With a damaged shoulder blade, it was equivalent to crippling one of his arms; it was certain he wouldn't recover well in one day.

Because of Xiong Dacheng's miserable state today, many Cultivators were afraid of encountering Ruan Xing tomorrow. After returning, they all quietly put on rubber shoes brushed with tung oil, or prepared waterproof and fireproof Dharma Artifacts and Talismans.

It's just a pity that Ruan Xing only prepared that one Thunder Fire Talisman, and since the person she was facing tomorrow was a Sword Cultivator, the others wouldn't have the fortune to experience it.

After the competition ended, Ruan Xing returned to her residence and opened the Real-scene Simulation, preparing to see how to deal with that Sword Cultivator, but she was stunned.

Why had the person changed? Ruan Xing's third match was against a Foundation Establishment Early-stage Cultivator. Their strength was average; just by relying on the Lianyun Sword Art and cultivation suppression, she could easily win.

After ending the simulation, she frowned and pondered: why was her opponent changed for the third match? It was known that her initial three opponents were all arranged specifically for her because she had snatched Xu Sixi's business by selling Pills.

Changing the opponent was naturally because Xu Sixi had changed his mind. Compared to the first Text Simulation, there were two differences in the variables: one was that she had mocked Xie Huai in front of the water screen and conceded directly in the first match, making Xie Huai lose face; the second was that she won against Xiong Dacheng in the second match and left him severely injured.

So... Xie Huai hooked up with Xu Sixi around the time of the first match. Through Xie Huai's instigation and the incident of Xiong Dacheng's injury, Xu Sixi changed his mind, changed her opponent to let her enter the secondary round, or perhaps enter the Secret Realm.

It was unlikely he wanted her to enter the secondary round just to have someone else beat her up, because there were Elders watching. Whether it was the preliminary round or the secondary round, where wouldn't she get beaten up? And they couldn't kill her.

As for the latter... did Xie Huai want to kill two birds with one stone, getting her into the Secret Realm to wipe her out? She didn't have many points left, so Ruan Xing hurriedly topped up another one hundred Spirit Stones and opened the Text Simulation to see the subsequent results.

After choosing to remember, sure enough, she hardly encountered any troublesome opponents afterward, making it into the top thirty as a bunch of small fry, successfully obtaining the qualification to enter the Secret Realm. However, on the second day after entering the Secret Realm, she was blocked by "Wang Zhi" and several other Cultivators and killed.

Tsk... Xu Sixi wanted to kill her.

He himself was at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage, and he brought along a Foundation Establishment Late Stage and two Foundation Establishment Mid-stage lackeys; killing someone in the Secret Realm was simply a piece of cake.

I must think of a way to deal with this.

The third day of the competition proceeded as usual.

Some disciples who had been more seriously injured over the previous two days spent a high price to buy Senior Brother Xu's Second-grade Healing Pill, and after resting for a while, they were barely able to participate in the third day's competition; it was just that the spectacle was not as high as the previous two days, and sometimes when two injured disciples were matched in the same bout, they inevitably sympathized with each other, looking like the old, weak, sick, and disabled, listless and feeble.

There were also people who privately sought out Ruan Xing to purchase Healing Pills, but she truly did not have many left this time and was unable to help; if she were to use the Simulator to go and get more Second-grade Healing Pills, it would be more trouble than it was worth, as Spirit Stones and points all had to be used sparingly.

Ruan Xing's match was in the first round, and after she easily achieved victory, she walked off the stage to the water screen.

She did not know the name of that Sword Cultivator, she just wanted to take a casual look, but upon looking, she discovered something different.

The number of people participating in the competition was an odd number, and for the first two days, one person had a bye each day, but today on the water screen, no one had a bye.

Did someone withdraw from the competition due to serious injury? She hadn't heard of it.

She was a bit glad that she had gone to look at the water screen during her Real-scene Simulations these past few days; closing her eyes to search the memories obtained from the simulations, after several comparisons, she finally confirmed that it was not that someone had withdrawn, but that there was one more name on the water screen.

Xu Xi.

Is this person Xu Sixi? Just as Ruan Xing was thinking this, she saw the figure of Xie Huai out of the corner of her eye, and there was another person accompanying him.

With these two people appearing together, Ruan Xing's brain almost crashed.

But fortunately, she had already known in the simulation beforehand that Xu Sixi was using Wang Zhi's face, so she had been mentally prepared; she only froze for a moment before restraining her emotions, not revealing a single shred of shock or surprise.

After Xie Huai saw her, he came over with a face full of smiles to take the initiative to greet her, then introduced: "This fellow disciple is named Xu Xi, at the Foundation Establishment Mid-stage; yesterday the two of us hit it off at first sight and talked very happily, so today we came over together."

Fine, so they came to scare her on purpose, right?

"Greetings, Senior Brother Xu." Ruan Xing bowed obediently, blinking her eyes, "Since it's our first meeting, does Senior Brother have any meeting gift for me?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Xi was startled, and the expression on his face seemed to crack for an instant, "A meeting gift?"

"Yes, Junior Brother Xie is very generous; when he first met me in the Outer Sect, he gave me a meeting gift of one hundred Spirit Stones. I just assumed Junior Brother Xie's friends were all like him. It's fine if you don't have one, I won't blame you." Ruan Xing's tone was filled with disappointment mixed with fortitude.

Xie Huai now somewhat regretted letting Xu Xi meet Ruan Xing.

He hurriedly smoothed things over: "It was just that Senior Sister Ruan helped me with a small favor, and it was just a meager gift as a token of gratitude... Senior Brother Xu, let's hurry over, it will be our turn in the next match."

Xu Xi looked at him somewhat strangely, said nothing, nodded, and left with Xie Huai.

The opponent Xie Huai was to face in the third round was Xu Xi.

Ruan Xing watched the two people on the arena from afar; they appeared to be fighting with all their might, trading blows evenly, but in reality, their acting was superb—a quarter of an hour later, they were still full of Spiritual Power with no consumption and no skin or flesh injured; after half an hour, the winner was finally decided, Xie Huai lost by a narrow margin, and the two of them walked off the stage harmoniously, chatting and laughing.

"Sigh." Ruan Xing sighed melancholically.

One Xie Huai was already hard enough to deal with, and now another Xu Sixi had come.

High in the air, the two Elders were still sitting on the Crystal Chairs, appearing to be watching the matches on several arenas with focus.

Should she report them? But how would she explain the source of the information... If she sabotaged Xie Huai, he would definitely bring out her leverage.

Damn it, why is it that only they can kill her? Once her cultivation reaches great success, she will slaughter all of you!

Thanks to Qiushui Ji Na Jia for the monthly ticket~(End of chapter)