Chapter 539: The Duel Between Mu Qing and Wang Ji

The news that the fifth position had changed hands spread across the entire Flying Boat like the wind.

As Chen Jiuling embedded his Jade Tablet into the number five Array Eye, the struggle between the third and fourth levels suddenly became much more intense.

Many people had previously remained on the sidelines, feeling that while the top five were good, they were not worth risking their lives for.

Pragmatism and profit were what mattered most.

But the battle between Chen Jiuling and Lu Zhen made one thing clear to everyone: rankings were not set in stone, and even the top five were not an impenetrable block.

If you do not fight, others will step on your position to climb higher.

If you block someone else's path, you will have to fight it out sooner or later.

Thus, from the moment the bell rang at the hour of Chen the next day, there was not a moment of peace on the boat.

The number of challengers had more than doubled since yesterday, and the Array Eyes on the third-level deck were almost never empty.

Often, just as one match was decided, the next person's Jade Tablet had already been slapped into the Array Eye.

The heavy sounds of fists and kicks breaking the air, the clashing of swords, and the humming of Jade Tablets falling into Array Eyes continued from the first appearance of dawn until the sun hung high.

Cheng Feng still had not moved. He sat on the railing of the second-level corridor, looking down, his gaze drifting between each match.

Unlike yesterday, although there were many challenges today, most people held back.

Fighting was fighting, and competing was competing,

but once an opponent was clearly outmatched or too heavily injured, the winner would stop; no one was truly going for the kill.

The losers were also wise enough to know when to yield, stepping down while they still could.

After all, the Ranking Battle was to last for three days; no one knew if they would become someone else's stepping stone tomorrow, so leaving a margin for error was also leaving a way out for oneself.

"It's quite interesting today." Zhou Tieyi sat cross-legged beside Cheng Feng, chewing on a Bigu Pill, and said indistinctly, "Yesterday it was a life-or-death struggle, today it's just sparring. I think this lot has finally figured it out."

Cheng Feng nodded: "By this point, the general strength of the top twenty-five is clear. Aside from a few who want to push upward, the rest are mostly probing, confirming who they can't afford to provoke."

Zhou Tieyi snorted: "Indeed, you count them—from morning until now, not a single person has challenged you or me."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a low murmur of discussion suddenly rose from below.

A slender figure emerged from the crowd on the fourth level and walked straight toward the third-level deck.

It was a young woman, very tall, with long legs and narrow shoulders, her black hair tied high in a ponytail.

Her expression was cold and stern, and she wore a dark green martial outfit with a wide leather belt cinched around her waist, making her lean midsection look as if it could be spanned by a single hand.

Her stride was crisp and decisive, lacking the reserve of typical female cultivators, each step carrying the ruggedness honed by the northern wind and snow.

"Mu Qing." Zhou Tieyi sat up straight. "From the North; she didn't move all day yesterday, I thought she didn't want to compete."

Cheng Feng studied the woman's back. Although this Mu Qing's ranking was not high,

she had not been seen at the previous Martial Dao gathering, which meant she was also one of the Immortal Seeds admitted by the Immortal Sect.

It was just that she had never made a move, as if waiting for the right moment.

Now, the moment had arrived.

Mu Qing walked to the center of the third-level deck, took out a Jade Tablet, and defeated those ranked ahead of her one by one in a progressive sequence.

It was the kind of defeat decided in three moves—clean, decisive, and heavy with force.

Fourth level finished.

Third level, one, two, three...

Until.

"Consecutive winner, twelfth place, Mu Qing." Her voice was clear and cold, like the north wind scraping across ice. "Challenging the eleventh—Zhou Yanran."

The boat fell silent at once.

Zhou Yanran was a Wang Ji, a direct descendant of the Zhennan Prince of Great Zhou. She had not made many moves during the ranking last night, but by relying on a Qingyuan Sword and a beautiful Sword Technique, she had firmly occupied the eleventh position.

Afterward, she had remained in a corner, observing, and did not strike again.

At this moment, she was standing on the east side of the second-level corridor. Hearing this, she merely smiled slightly, raised a hand to tuck back a stray lock of hair, and leaped lightly from the corridor.

"Mu Qing, I remember you." Zhou Yanran landed on the deck, her voice gentle like the fine rain of Jiangnan in March. "The youngest daughter of the Northern Mu Family, firm as a rock, famous throughout the North. I didn't expect to meet you here."

Mu Qing's expression was calm: "Just a martial artist. You are too kind, Wang Ji."

Zhou Yanran's smile remained unchanged. With a flip of her jade hand, a Xuan Weapon sword appeared in her palm.

The blade was as pale blue as a winter morning stream, and the scabbard was engraved with extremely fine landscape patterns; it was the Qingyuan Sword, a Xuan Weapon bestowed by the Shangqing Immortal Sect.

"We are both female cultivators, let us stop at a touch," Zhou Yanran said.

Mu Qing did not reply; she reached behind her waist with her right hand and slowly drew a short sword.

The sword was barely two feet long, the blade thick and wide, entirely gray-black, far less exquisite than Zhou Yanran's Qingyuan Sword.

Moreover, the blade was covered in dense, fine patterns, like cracks in rock eroded by the north wind.

"Please," Mu Qing said.

Zhou Yanran wiped away her smile and nodded slightly.

She tapped her toes, her figure like a swallow, and her pale blue thin sword wove a sword flower as she thrust toward Mu Qing.

The sword momentum was light and nimble, the tip carving a silver streak through the air with a faint whistling sound.

Mu Qing did not retreat.

She stepped half a pace forward with her left foot, holding her short sword horizontally before her chest, the blade tilted slightly, like a silent rock.

As Zhou Yanran's sword tip arrived, she flipped her wrist, and the short sword lashed out violently, the blade precisely striking the Qingyuan Sword two-thirds of the way down its length, emitting a crisp metallic ring.

Zhou Yanran felt her hand go numb, and the thin sword nearly slipped from her grasp.

Her heart skipped a beat; this Mu Qing's sword had such heavy force, and her eye for detail was incredibly sharp—her True Qi had struck the weakest point of her sword momentum in a single blow.

"You are at the Peak of True Qi Realm? I truly underestimated you."

"Truly a fine Sword Technique." Zhou Yanran flicked her thin sword, the tip drawing a circle to stick to Mu Qing's short sword, then used the momentum to lead it aside, dissipating eighty percent of the force.

Her figure turned with the motion, and the Qingyuan Sword, like a nimble snake, slipped beneath Mu Qing's blade to strike directly at her wrist.

Mu Qing retracted her wrist, the short Sword returning to defend, the blade held vertically before her wrist to block this strike.

But Zhou Yanran's Sword momentum suddenly changed, the tip flicking upward to carve a pale cyan arc, aiming straight for Mu Qing's throat.

This strike was fast and light, fully displaying the nimbleness of Zhou Yanran's Sword Technique.

Mu Qing tilted her head back to avoid it, the blade grazing her chin as it cut through the air, and a few strands of hair drifted down.

Her figure suddenly leaned forward, almost brushing against Zhou Yanran's blade as she lunged, her short Sword held in a reverse grip, the hilt thrusting directly at Zhou Yanran's chest.

Zhou Yanran retreated rapidly, the Qingyuan Sword tapping three times in front of her, each strike landing on Mu Qing's path of attack, sealing off her offensive completely.

The two went back and forth on the deck, Sword light crisscrossing, one light and agile, the other heavy and fierce, leaving the onlookers dazzled.

"Neither of these two is using their full strength," Cheng Feng commented in a low voice.

Zhou Tieyi was surprised: "This isn't their full strength yet? It looks to me like they're about to start fighting in earnest."

Cheng Feng shook his head: "Mu Qing is using the Northern Frontier Battlefield Sword Technique, which emphasizes subduing the enemy with a single strike and breaking finesse with brute force.

But she is likely using only fifty percent of her strength right now. Zhou Yanran goes without saying; the manifestation of her Qingyuan Sword Body has yet to be activated, so she is mostly testing Mu Qing's true capabilities."

Zhou Tieyi looked thoughtful: "That's true. Between one Immortal Seed and another, such duels often involve many factors. The sect's admission quotas are limited, and those in the same batch are also rivals."

The two in the arena fought for another twenty-odd rounds, the sound of clashing blades rising one after another, moving from the center of the deck to the edge of the ship's rail, then returning to the middle.

Zhou Yanran's Sword Technique became increasingly elegant, her feet barely touching the ground as if she were dancing in the wind.

Mu Qing, however, was as steady as a rock, her short Sword moving with wide, sweeping motions, each strike carrying the biting Sword intent of the northern winds and sands.