"Yes, Elder Sister!"
With a light push off her toes, Yunxi leapt onto the dueling platform. She cupped her hands toward the girl standing across from her, who looked about the same age.
"I am Wei Yunxi. Please offer your guidance."
"Qin Tongshuang."
The girl responded with an aloof bow. As soon as her hands lowered, she quickly formed a hand seal, sending a shard of ice shooting straight at Yunxi.
Yunxi was caught off guard for a brief moment. An ice spiritual root? In the Outer Sect? That alone made her wary. Clearly, this girl wasn't ordinary. She became even more cautious.
She couldn't afford to lose face. With a nimble step, she activated Thousand Shadows Riding the Wind and shifted positions just in time to dodge the incoming ice.
The shard embedded into the platform, shattered into glittering pieces, and instantly began spreading frost toward Yunxi's feet, aiming to freeze her in place.
Yunxi swiftly moved again, reappearing behind Qin Tongshuang in a blur, swinging her fist toward the girl's back.
Qin Tongshuang reacted just in time. Though the wind from the punch grazed her, she stepped onto her own ice and used it to spin and slide away, widening the distance. Another hand seal sent the frost crawling back toward Yunxi.
Yunxi formed her own hand seal, raising an ice wall to block the encroaching spell.
Qin Tongshuang faltered slightly. She hadn't expected Yunxi to be so familiar with ice techniques. Intrigued, she canceled her ice spread and started forming dozens of ice needles instead.
Forty needles—that was her limit. As soon as they formed, she flung them all at once.
Yunxi mirrored her perfectly, creating the same number of needles. Thanks to her early Foundation Establishment divine sense, every needle struck its counterpart in midair, shattering both.
As shards fell, Yunxi poured spiritual energy into her feet. Thousand Shadows Riding the Wind carried her forward, and in a blink, she was right in front of Qin Tongshuang again. This time, her punch was fast and direct. Though it contained no spiritual power, it struck the girl's shoulder with enough force to send her flying off the stage.
Only then did Yunxi lower her fists.
Truthfully, she had cheated. Her spiritual reserves were far greater than the young girl's, allowing her to maintain spellcasting and movement techniques simultaneously. That was the only reason she had managed to catch her opponent off guard.
She deliberately refrained from infusing her punch with spiritual energy, both to protect the girl and to avoid suspicion. After all, casting hand seals while using Thousand Shadows Riding the Wind should have already drained a sixth-layer Qi Refining cultivator's reserves. Any more would raise questions.
It was fine to have slightly more spiritual energy than average, but not too much. People weren't fools. Yunxi had never underestimated the intelligence of native cultivators—how else would all those cultivation techniques have come into being?
She cupped her hands respectfully.
"Senior Sister Qin, thank you for the guidance."
Then she stepped down from the platform. Knowing when to stop was also part of playing smart.
"No, it's I who should thank you."
Qin Tongshuang returned the gesture. She had sensed that Yunxi had held back during the final blow. Though she'd lost, she hadn't been humiliated. It was a respectful defeat, and she accepted it without bitterness. She had only been brought along to gain experience, after all.
With that, she walked calmly to stand among her own group.
Of the three matches, only Wei Yunqing—the one who had stirred up trouble—had lost. The other two Wei family disciples had secured clean victories. The Outer Sect disciples watching began to realize that not all Wei family cultivators were bluster and no skill.
Senior Sister Mu remained composed. She stepped toward the Wei family's group and offered a respectful bow.
"A bet is a bet. I will vacate my courtyard."
Wei Yunting didn't let her finish before she bowed in return.
"Senior Sister Mu, Wei Yunqing lost. She has no right to your courtyard. We may have won overall, but that was only to preserve our family's reputation. If Yunqing is dissatisfied, she may challenge you again, but this time, no other Wei disciple will get involved."
Beside her, Wei Yunqing stood with her head lowered. Her face flickered from red, to white, to green—like a palette being stirred. If this conversation went on any longer, her face might have turned purple.
Senior Sister Mu understood the message well. The other Wei disciples weren't defending Wei Yunqing out of favoritism. In fact, they barely supported her at all. Clearly, they weren't about to flatter someone undeserving, which gave Mu a sense of satisfaction.
She had already predicted an outcome like this. After all, the Wei family had Foundation Establishment members in the Inner Sect and even a Golden Core elder. She never intended to make an enemy of them. Defeating Wei Yunqing had been necessary only to crush her arrogance.
Letting go of the courtyard was a small price to preserve peace with the Wei family. What happened with Wei Yunqing after this was irrelevant.
Although the events had played out as expected, the outcome had shifted. The Wei disciples had shown no signs of bullying or arrogance. They knew where the lines were, and they held to them.
Senior Sister Mu nodded, then turned to Wei Yunqing.
"What do you think, Junior Sister Wei?"
What could Wei Yunqing say? She had shamed herself in front of the entire Outer Sect. With her head down, she muttered,
"I was outmatched. Please forgive me, Senior Sister Mu. I'll choose a different courtyard."
She gave a brief bow, then turned and left without offering a single word of thanks to the Wei disciples who had fought on her behalf.
Wei Yunting and Wei Zonghan both shook their heads. They didn't say anything, only cupped their hands to bid Senior Sister Mu farewell.
Just as Yunxi and the others were about to head back to the outermost disciple peak, Qin Tongshuang stepped in their path. She walked straight up to Wei Yunxi and said,
"Your ice spells are impressive. I'd like to be friends. Maybe we can take on some missions together in the future."
She handed over her communication talisman.
Yunxi hadn't expected to earn this girl's favor. Her smile lit up as she responded,
"You're impressive too. I'd be glad to be your friend."
She took the talisman and offered hers in return.
Qin Tongshuang accepted it, bowed politely, and left without delay. Today's battle had been meaningful for her. She needed to reflect on how to counter attacks when her spiritual energy was running low.
Wei Yunyīng grumbled, her tone slightly sour.
"Yunxi, you really have a way with people."
Yunxi laughed.
"Guess we bonded through combat. You can try it too, Sister Yunyīng. A few matches on the platform, and you're sure to make friends."
Yunyīng curled her lips and didn't reply. She still felt that getting knocked off the stage was humiliating.
The group made their way back to the disciples' courtyard without incident. Both Yunxi and Zonghao hung up their closed-door cultivation plaques, planning to digest what they'd gained from the match.
News of the event soon reached the Inner Sect, where a Golden Core elder of the Wei family reviewed the battle through an image-recording stone. She gave a faint smile, though a trace of sarcasm flickered in her eyes.
"The Wei family is always the same. The one with the best talent and the most favor turns out to be the worst of them all. The overlooked ones are always the ones who shine."
With that, she sent out a communication talisman and closed her eyes to meditate.
Meanwhile, Wei Yunqing had picked a random courtyard on one of the three outer peaks. Inside, she smashed everything she could get her hands on, cursing Yunxi and the others through gritted teeth.
===
To be honest, I have difficulty when translating this name "溱潼霜" because this character "溱" has multiple pronunciations: Zhēn and Qín.
So I dig deeper for that. The result are like this:
"溱" is almost always romanized as Qin when used in names.
Zhen (as in 甄) is a different character entirely and much more common as a surname.
Pronunciation dictionaries and place-name references almost always default 溱 to Qin unless context demands otherwise.
Thus I ended with Qin, but if there's Chinese person or you learn about the "naming" term on Chinese and more knowledgeable in this matter. Please comment down below if my translation is wrong.