Chapter Twenty-Six

Jia Fengluo, who always relied on magical arts to fight, had never seen such a brawl. She struggled several times but couldn’t break free from her opponent’s limbs. Enraged, she let out a furious roar and surged with power, nearly throwing Xiao Ai, who was locked onto her, off her back. The two rolled on the ground several times, tearing at each other, and soon both were covered in dust.

The spectators in the stands had never witnessed such a savage fighting style and were now stunned. Only A Xu, Little Wu, and the other youngsters were there cheering for Xiao Ai. Encouraged, Xiao Ai clamped onto Jia Fengluo’s head and rolled to get up, finally putting some distance between them. At this moment, Jia Fengluo’s hair was disheveled, and she was in a sorry state.

“You!” Jia Fengluo was clearly terrified, scrambling to her feet in a panic. Without her silver whip, her confidence was shaky. Seizing the moment, Xiao Ai cracked her wrists, rolled her neck, and let out a cold laugh.

She strode right up to Jia Fengluo. Standing face-to-face, Xiao Ai was noticeably shorter, but her presence was overwhelming.

Xiao Ai swiftly threw a punch straight at Jia Fengluo’s face. Caught off guard, Jia Fengluo could only lean backward, using her magic to stabilize herself. Xiao Ai didn’t hesitate; she retracted her fist, then swung her long leg low in a sweeping kick along the ground. Jia Fengluo couldn’t dodge in time and took the hit squarely in the back. She grunted in pain and hastily retreated.

Once back on her feet, Jia Fengluo forcefully rotated her hands downward, conjuring two beams of blue light to lift herself up. She flipped backward, narrowly avoiding Xiao Ai’s direct kick. Close-quarters combat had been a severe disadvantage for Jia Fengluo; finally learning her lesson, she quickly put more distance between herself and her opponent.

Watching Jia Fengluo flee in disarray, Xiao Ai couldn’t help but sneer. Without her silver whip, all Jia Fengluo could do was run. Perfect—this was payback for the earlier humiliation of being chased all over the arena by her.

While Jia Fengluo was busy dodging, Xiao Ai dove toward the silver whip, snatched it up, and gave it a powerful downward flick—nearly hitting herself in the process.

Xiao Ai awkwardly recoiled the long whip. Without wasting another second, she charged after Jia Fengluo again, grabbed her arm, twisted it behind her back, and locked her in another hold. In desperation, Jia Fengluo fired the blue light she had just conjured directly at Xiao Ai’s face. Unfortunately for her, the light simply vanished the moment it reached Xiao Ai.

With one arm locked and the other unable to gain leverage, a frantic Jia Fengluo unleashed several beams of light. The attacks gouged deep pits into the sandy ground beneath their feet.

“Damn, lady, are you having a fit?!” Xiao Ai grunted, holding onto Jia Fengluo for dear life as she was spun around uncontrollably. The two spun dozens of circles in the arena until Xiao Ai grew dizzy and lightheaded. She accidentally loosened her grip on Jia Fengluo, and they both crashed to the ground, half-propped up and gasping for air.

Jia Fengluo stared daggers at Xiao Ai, terrified of another surprise attack. Xiao Ai, however, didn’t have the energy to spare for her. The world was still spinning for her; lying on the ground, even the sky seemed to keep turning.

“So dizzy, so dizzy...” Xiao Ai kept muttering. Suddenly, she tilted her head to look at Jia Fengluo. Jia Fengluo watched her warily, only to hear her say...

“Hey... miss... how about... we call it... a draw?” Xiao Ai said weakly, utterly drained. Jia Fengluo stared blankly for a moment, then nodded. She then saw Xiao Ai fish a white handkerchief from her pocket, hold it up, and wave it frantically.

The moment Xu Haoyue saw the white handkerchief, she immediately ordered Su Heng to call for a stop. When Xiao Ai was carried back off the field, she promptly clung to Youyou and burst into loud, dramatic sobs.

“Geez, Youyou, do you guys have any idea how heavy she is? When we were rolling around on the ground earlier, I almost got crushed to death. So scary, so scary.”

Youyou held her, constantly soothing her, while the fatty listened to her story and nervously swallowed.

Jing Yuan couldn’t help but worry too. “Su Heng, this kind of match between different weight classes is a bit unfair, don’t you think?”

“What do you mean by weight class?” Su Heng asked, confused. Little Wu rushed to explain, “It means they’re not the same weight. The size difference is just too huge.”

Su Heng scratched his head guiltily. “This... I really didn’t consider that point. I’m really sorry.”

Xu Haoyue frowned, glanced around, and helplessly tried to mediate. “Forget it, since we agreed, we have to finish this competition. Who’s next?”

The second to go up was Youyou. Her opponent was Yue Xian from Yanzhou, who was wearing a green dress today. Floating above the dusty arena floor, she really looked like a fairy. Youyou glanced at the fatty sitting next to her, angrily closed his gaping mouth, and looked down.

The platform seemed a bit high. Wouldn’t it be even more embarrassing to jump down and fail to show off? Youyou pondered deeply for a moment before deciding to just walk down.

By the time she squeezed her way down through the crowd on the platform, Yue Xian had been waiting for quite a while. Xiao Ai, sitting up above, heard some people mocking them for not being able to fly. It really pissed her off, and she even wanted to fight them, but she couldn't deny the truth—they really couldn't fly.

Youyou cupped her hands in a salute to her opponent. Yue Xian smiled back; her small, cherry-like mouth was incredibly cute, making Youyou a bit envious. But no matter how she looked at it, she felt a hint of disdain in that smile.

Youyou got into a fighting stance, waiting for the start, when she suddenly noticed Yue Xian's figure growing fainter until it vanished completely. Youyou spun around in shock to look at the platform, swallowing nervously.

"What?" Everyone spread their hands and looked at Su Heng. Little Wu nervously grabbed Xu Haoyue's sleeve.

Su Heng shuddered and quickly explained, "I mentioned this before. Yue Xian is skilled at using shadows to conceal herself."

"So how are we supposed to fight now? The person's gone."

"Exactly!" A Xu echoed Jing Yuan's accusation. Su Heng grimaced as he tried to explain.

Youyou, however, couldn't be bothered with all that. She picked up several stones from the ground, scanned her surroundings, and with a sweeping motion, flung them out. Her movements were steady and fierce—well, without a target, there was no real accuracy to speak of.

She peppered the arena but got no reaction, leaving her flustered as she kept circling around, constantly checking behind her.

"Watch out!" Xiao Ai shouted urgently from the platform. Youyou quickly spun around to see Yue Xian, who had somehow appeared behind her, a long sword in hand ready to stab her in the back.

Youyou had no time to think; she lashed out with a sideways kick from her long legs and actually managed to knock the sword away.

The sword wasn't particularly heavy, but it was still iron. Kicking something that hard hurt her foot like hell.

Youyou quickly rubbed her toes, then launched another fierce attack, trying to grab Yue Xian as she was nearly vanishing into the shadows, but she was still too slow. The person was gone again.

Youyou was even more panicked now. Rolling up her sleeves, she made another sweeping attack but still found nothing. Suddenly, she heard Xu Haoyue shout from the platform, "The shadow! Watch the shadow!"

Remembering what Su Heng had said, she immediately spun and dropped down toward her own shadow, simultaneously throwing an elbow strike. Her elbow connected with something soft.

Youyou looked down to see Yue Xian, knocked out of the shadows, crying out in pain. She raised her sword to strike, but Youyou smoothly rolled aside to dodge. Rubbing her elbow, Youyou joked, "Hey there, miss, not bad... quite well-endowed."

Yue Xian didn't understand her implication, but she was truly enraged. Clutching her chest, she sputtered in fury, "You... you... you..."

"Alright, alright, enough talk. It's not over yet." Seeing Yue Xian sputter for a moment without getting a word out, Youyou launched another knee strike toward her. In a panic, Yue Xian dove back into the shadows.

"You've got to be kidding, again?!" Xiao Ai was exasperated and helpless seeing her repeat the same trick. Youyou snorted coldly, stepping her leg forward and slamming it down hard onto the ground.

However, things didn't unfold as they expected. Youyou didn't manage to smash her out.

She warily withdrew her long leg, guarding against the latent danger behind her. But even after her vigilant observation, she still found nothing.

Youyou clenched her fists nervously. Although she couldn't be completely certain, a powerful intuition was guiding her to do one specific thing.

Quicker than words could tell, Youyou's hands shot backward to grab. Sure enough, she caught two pale, slender arms near her neck. Using reverse force, she flung them forward, actually managing to yank a person out from behind her.

"Holy shit!" Xiao Ai and the other five all exclaimed in shock, jumping to their feet.