A Thought Through Eternity

Chapter 32 - Luck that Defies the Heavens

The emotions stirring at the bottom of one’s heart weren’t limited only to the audience. Even Du Lingfei felt a bit envious towards Bai Xiaochun’s luck, and so did Chen Zi’ang and the other competitors. The four of them who entered the top five had expended a lot of energy in each of their matches. If any one of the four had received the chance to skip a round and rest for a while, they would definitely have an enormous advantage in the following matches.

Elder Sun glanced at Bai Xiaochun and smiled. He didn’t think too much about it. As for Li Qinghou, his expression remained unperturbed.

As Bai Xiaochun watched the commotion, Du Lingfei and the others began fighting. Du Lingfei’s strikes to her opponent were clean and precise. It was clear that she often took missions involving the hunting of wild beasts, and has seen plenty of blood and gore. Moreover, Du Lingfei’s technique of Lifting the Heavy as Though It Was Light was overwhelming. She used her speed not only to attack lightning fast, but also to defend her entire body.

This duel had completely absorbed the surrounding audience’s attention. The dangerous fighting styles the two used caused shocked cries to fill the air. Among the startled cries, a sharp and thin voice could easily be distinguished. It was imbued with a sense of momentum that lead the crowd’s rhythm.

“Uwah, good sword!”

“This technique, Heavenly Dragon’s Sweeping Tail, is just so good! No, stop! Turn back! Quickly turn back!”

“You can do it!!” Bai Xiaochun was completely immersed in the fight, to the extent that he had even began clapping. He was not even doing this on purpose, but rather, he truly felt that Du Lingfei had performed pretty well in this match. In his mind, he had long since dismissed himself as a competitor.

Bai Xiaochun’s actions caused Elder Sun to cough dryly a couple times. Beside him, Li Qinghou was still expressionless but in the bottom of his heart, he felt rather helpless. After all, Bai Xiaochun had truly accomplished his demands.

At this moment, Du Lingfei was fiercely battling with her opponent and didn’t have time for any distractions. Finally, when the match had persisted for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Du Lingfei had finally managed to ‘lift the heavy as though it was light’ for the third time. Only then did she achieve victory.

However, she had already depleted more than half of her spirit Qi. As she exited the stage completely drenched in sweat, she heard Bai Xiaochun’s loud cheering . When she thought about how she had struggled and suffered to enter the top three while he hadn’t even exerted the slightest bit of effort to achieve the same results, she felt deeply wronged. She really wanted to violently beat him up.

Bai Xiaochun blinked. He had long since noticed that Du Lingfei did not like him. At this moment, Bai Xiaochun also felt deeply wronged as he blankly stared at the other party. This blank stare nearly caused Du Lingfei to lose control and attack him.

Chen Zi’ang’s match was easier in comparison. Even so, he too consumed some of his spirit Qi to achieve victory during his battle which lasted half the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

He felt deep envy and jealousy toward Bai Xiaochun.

“The top three have been determined! The three of you are all the… pride of the Outer Sect. Come forward and pick your matches for the next round. The little ball that’s labelled three is considered a blank and will automatically advance you into the finals.” Elder Sun gave a dry cough. As he was speaking, he had paused shortly on the word ‘pride’. With a wave of his right hand, the small sack appeared again.

This time as well, Chen Zi’ang was the first to go over to pick out a small ball. When he saw the number two written on it, he sighed in his heart and walked to the side.

Du Lingfei took a deep breath. Just as she was about to step forward, she suddenly stopped and looked coldly towards Bai Xiaochun.

“You go first!” She said in an icy voice.

Bai Xiaochun had been spectating from the sides. When he heard Du Lingfei, he did not refuse as he walked over and inserted his right hand into the small sack. Du Lingfei directed her cold gaze towards him. It was not only her; all of the surrounding disciples were looking at his direction.

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Even Elder Sun and Li Qinghou were staring at him.

Under the watchful gazes of the audience, Bai Xiaochun was actually a little shy. He really didn’t care what number he got so he randomly grabbed a small ball. When he took it out of the sack and peered at it, even he himself was momentarily stunned.

Number three.

“Well, you told me to pick first!” Bai Xiaochun coughed and looked at Du Lingfei who stood beside him.

Du Lingfei’s eyes revealed killing intent as she tightly clenched her fists, glaring at Bai Xiaochun. Her chest rose and fell violently as she felt like her rage could explode at any moment.

Chen Zi’ang’s eyes had also widened as his body froze in complete shock. He just couldn’t imagine that a person could be so lucky as to… pull a blank again.

The surrrounding disciples were all staring at the small ball nestled in Bai Xiaochun’s palm until they could tolerate it no longer. Soon, they began a loud clamor.

“He actually pulled a blank again! His name is Bai Xiaochun, right? He...What kind of luck does he have? To actually pull a blank twice in a row!”

“This shameless guy. Without doing anything, he advanced into the finals…”

“Damn it, for this kind of person to enter the finals! If I had that kind of luck, I could have also done it!” As the surrounding crowd bursted into an uproar, the disqualified competitors within the crowd were also jealous to the extreme.

Elder Sun hesitated briefly, glancing towards Li Qinghou. Li Qinghou internally breathed out a long sigh. Concerning Bai Xiaochun’s luck, he was also truly impressed.

Bai Xiaochun felt that the atmosphere was not quite right so he smiled uncomfortably and hurriedly scampered off the stage. His expression was filled with embarrassment as he stood at the entrance.

“Sigh, I originally decided to admit my loss…” Bai Xiaochun looked at the small ball in his hand and also felt it was hard to believe.

Du Lingfei took a deep breath and took a good while to supress the sour feelings in her heart. She clenched her teeth and looked towards Chen Zi’ang. She had no choice but to concentrate on her match as Chen Zi’ang was a powerful opponent from what she had seen.

Chen Zi’ang smiled bitterly before he also took a deep breath and focused on Du Lingfei.

The two of them stared at each other for a couple of breaths. Time slowly inched forward before suddenly a loud -peng- resounded. This match could be said to be the most exciting battle so far. Chen Zi’ang unleashed his whole strength. In particular, he took out many funicles, transforming them into spirit plants that possessed offensive power during the battle itself. This method of using herbs caused Bai Xiaochun’s eyes to light up.

On Du Lingfei’s side, her skill with Lifting the Heavy as Though It Was Light manipulated the flying sword as it whooshed around. Further into the match, she even took out another wooden sword. The two flying swords intersected in the air, creating a garotte and instantly brought the battle’s intensity to a new high.

The two people had no way to maintain their trump cards for long and found it difficult to control their spirit Qi consumption. The battle was becoming only more and more intense.

Standing outside the stage, Bai Xiaochun watched the battle in high spirits, his cheers rose and fell.

This battle lasted for over an hour before finally, with a loud rumble, Du Lingfei unhesitatingly destroyed a wooden sword, completely shattering it into countless wooden splinters. With the speed from her Lifting the Heavy as Though It Was Light technique, the splinters flying towards Chen Zi’ang became deadly technique. This forced Chen Zi’ang to continuously retreat. His spirit Qi was already completely exhausted so he released a long sigh before choosing to admit his defeat.

When the surrounding disciples saw the tragic outcome of this match, their eyes revealed both admiration and respect. They were thoroughly convinced of Du Lingfei’s prowess and even Chen Zi’ang’s standing was raised by this match.

Although he had lost, his fame would definitely spread in the following days.

Elder Sun was also fairly satisfied, especially with Du Lingfei, to the extent that he even considered taking her as a disciple.

Similarly, no matter what the results of this little competition were, Bai Xiaochun’s name would also spread...

When Chen Zi’ang’s words of defeat echoed out, Du Lingfei’s face was deathly pale. She stood on the stage with unsteady legs, her spirit Qi was almost completely depleted. At that moment, she took a deep breath, took out a medicine pill and swallowed it, but she already knew that this was useless since it would not replenish much of her Qi. What she needed right now was to cross her legs and meditate for an hour. After all, she had already continuously battled for four rounds.

But the rules of this small competition dictated that disciples would not receive much time to rest since after all, this competition was only a minor one.

“Bai Xiaochun, get the hell up here!” Du Lingfei gritted her teeth, her eyes revealing a ferocious killing intent as she gazed towards Bai Xiaochun who stood outside the stage. She wanted to use the time she had left before her spirit Qi would completely dry up to end the problem; this damned Bai Xiaochun who had relied on his sheer luck to enter the finals.

The moment Du Lingfei’s words left her mouth, the surrounding audience all looked towards Bai Xiaochun, their gazes exposing their glee from his impending misery. From their perspective, even if Du Lingfei was completely exhausted, she could still easily take care of Bai Xiaochun and achieve victory.

Bai Xiaochun blinked. As he gazed at Du Lingfei who was already unsteady on her feet, he suddenly felt like… he could attain first place.

“This time, I, Bai Xiaochun, can finally establish my name in front of thousands of people. After I step up and display my skill in Lifting the Heavy as Though It Was Light, I will make the surrounding people exclaim from surprise.” Bai Xiaochun puffed up his chest, an awe-inspiring image surfacing in his mind. Thus, with large strides, he stepped onto the stage.

But at the instant that Bai Xiaochun entered the stage, Du Lingfei’s eyes glinted coldly. With a violent point of her right hand, the wooden sword at her side instantly shot towards Bai Xiaochun.

The killing intent clearly spread outwards, causing a chill to instantly pass through the surroundings. It was obvious that Du Lingfei had put the energy of all the spirit Qi she could muster into this sword which made its power extraordinary.

What was even more shocking was that in this instant, Du Lingfei’s body also violently shot fowards and actually caught up with her sword! She pressed a finger onto the hilt as her body seemed to fuse together with the flying sword, destroying boundaries to become a single entity. She flew directly at Bai Xiaochun.

With a loud rumble, the speed of the flying sword instantly exploded to unbelievable heights, even eclipsing the speed she had used when fighting Chen Zi’ang earlier, creating a high pitched whistle. Then, with an air-splitting sound, the sword transformed into a long streak of light as it rapidly approached Bai Xiaochun.

All the surrounding people became excited. They yelled in shock as their attention was drawn to this sword.

“One Sword Flying Immortal!”

“Senior Sister Du has actually mastered that sword technique!”

Elder Sun’s eyes lit up brightly and Li Qinghou also nodded his head slightly. These two people could naturally see that in reality, Du Lingfei had not completely mastered that technique. Instead, at the moment when her spirit Qi almost completely dried up, she had spread out her power and with a single breath of spirit Qi, and she had actually managed to manifest the power of this sword technique.

“To comprehend the meaning of this sword technique under such desperate circumstances, this Du Lingfei is truly not bad. This girl is actually more suited for the Green Peak Mountain.” Li Qinghou’s eyes shone with approval.

At this moment, all the outer sect disciples on the scene were watching with great excitement. It was as if all the scenery before their eyes had blurred in contrast with Du Lingfei and the figure she formed when she fused with her sword that was exceptionally clear.

The sword that whistled and the person that followed the sword -- this became a startling strike. Du Lingfei’s expression was filled with exhaustion but her gaze revealed a sharp glint. She had complete confidence that with this strike, she would achieve victory.

At this time, just as the flying sword and Du Lingfei approached Bai Xiaochun, he squinted his eyes. His entire figure rumbled. The jade tablet, the curse tags, all of them shot outwards, forming layers of protection as he rapidly retreated.

But this flying sword was clearly not an ordinary weapon. It penetrated past all the defences, layer by layer. Even though its speed plummeted and it could not break apart the brilliant rays of protection, it still completely pierced through them, with the tip of the sword piercing into Bai Xiaochun’s body.

However, it seemed it couldn’t go any further. The moment it pierced Bai Xiaochun’s body, it became stuck and moved according to the sway of his body as he retreated. From his torn outer clothing, one could see that there were actually layers and layers of leather armour underneath.

The surrounding people who saw what had happened all stared in shock, their jaws agape. One by one, they sucked in their breath.

“This...this Bai Xiaochun, his body has yet another defense?!”

“This guy should just go and die! Is this really necessary? It’s just a small sect competition but not only does he have defensive treasures and talismans, he’s also wearing multiple layers of leather armour?”

Du Lingfei’s face was deathly pale. She looked at Bai Xiaochun, who was rapidly retreating like a rabbit whose tail had been stepped on - not only was he lightning fast but her flying sword had also stuck onto him. She gritted her teeth and pointed a finger to pull back the flying sword but her spirit Qi had depleted to the extent that only a strand of it was left. At the moment, no matter how she tried to move it, the flying sword only trembled without being able to extract itself from the leather armour.

In the end, Du Lingfei lost her patience and revolved her spirit Qi within her body again. Before the flying sword could even be extracted, fresh blood spilled from the corners of her mouth. She took a few staggering steps back before she could no longer stand steadily and dropped down on the ground. Her complexion was ghostly white and the spirit Qi within her had been completely depleted.

In her heart, she felt infinitely wronged. Thinking about how this Bai Xiaochun had effortlessly progressed to the finals, barely consuming any spirit Qi while she had suffered and toiled for the same position, the discontent in her heart turned into fury. She gritted her teeth and glared directly at Bai Xiaochun. If looks could kill, Bai Xiaochun would definitely have been exterminated by her over and over again. In fact, if she had any strength left, she would even go forward and bite him violently.

Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath. The speed of his retreat had been extremely fast since even he had not expected that Du Lingfei would possess such a technique.

And to think that his defences had been pierced.

“Fxxk, good thing I came up with another idea when I came here and put on seven layers of leather armour.” Bai Xiaochun glanced at the flying sword that was stuck in his shoulder. After penetrating his defensive layers, its power had already decreased. Since it had then been blocked by seven layers of leather, when it made contact with his skin, its power had already been reduced to almost nothing.

With his impenetrable skin, it only felt as if a mosquito bit him.

Bai Xiaochun’s face held traces of lingering fear. He looked at the flying sword that was stuck into his shoulder and with a heave, he pulled the the sword out and glanced at Du Lingfei who was breathing heavily as she sat on the floor, her eyes fixed in a death glare towards him.

“Senior Sister, it’s not right to throw your precious weapons around so recklessly. Don’t you want this sword anymore? Since you don’t want it, I’ll keep it.” With a look of satisfaction, Bai Xiaochun put the flying sword in his storage sack. After that, he retrieved his small wooden sword, preparing to stun the audience by displaying his ability in Lifting the Heavy as Though It Was Light.

“You…” As Du Lingfei watched Bai Xiaochun take her flying sword away, her eyes had already turned red. She was about to go mad. Her rage shot to her heart and she actually fainted from anger.

In this small competition, this was already the second person who had fainted from being angered by Bai Xiaochun.

“Eh, fainted again?” Bai Xiaochun stared at the unconcious Du Lingfei, holding on to his small wooden sword helplessly.

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Regular chapter 1/3 for the week