Phoenix Rise: XieRong

Chapter 43 - The Competition |Part 3|

"It looks like he let you win."

"And it looks like elder brother knows him," XieRong whispered beside him, her eyes on the competition.

The amused tone laced in her elder cousin’s voice irked her even more than she already was.

"Even if I do know him, I am not at liberty to say, besides I have a feeling you will be meeting him soon anyways."

XieRong was not looking forward to that encounter.

The rest of XieRong’s opponents were weak compared to that man and compared to her. She felt frustrated when she heard that not even the second young miss of the Shan family was participating in the martial arts or the weapon fighting competitions. With no other way to take out her irritation, she chose to eliminate her opponents as fast and quickly as she could, itching to fight against the second young miss of the Shan. XieRong hadn’t ever felt this need to prove herself before.

FeiHong could feel how the victory her sister had not earned rattled her.

-Jie, our aim is to help the duchess. Jie must not lose sight of our long term goals for short term thrills. Do not lose your calm over such a minor competition. Doesn’t Jie see the power you are giving the boy over you by giving in to his actions?-

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XieRong took deep breaths, clearing her mind. Her sister was right, she would be giving the boy power over her by falling for his actions. She might not be strong now but it wouldn’t remain that way forever. Besides, she had bigger fish to fry. If she let such measly things get to her and make her fight recklessly then how would she face off against stronger opponents in the future?

-Thank you, FeiHong. Jie was being foolish.-

-Jie, you once told me that everyone make mistakes, the smart ones just learn from it. Both, Jie and I, have a lot to learn still.-

XieRong gave a slight nod to her sister before proceeding to win the martial arts competition.

Finally, the competition between the general families was about to begin, however there had been a change in this year’s competition. Instead of two participants from each of the general families, there would be three that had to take part this year.

The first young miss, the second young miss, and the first young lord would be participating on behalf of the Shan family. From the Liu family, the first young master, second young master and third young master would be participating.

The old general volunteered FeiHong, who eagerly agreed to participate with her elder sister and elder cousin brother in the competition.

-WeiSheng, I want you and the others to spread news amongst the crowd. Make it so that nobody traces the origin back to you, but also make sure that it reaches the emperor’s ears.-

-This servant understands. What news does master want this servant to spread?-

-You must bring up the topic that the two new young misses of the Guo family have only trained for less four months. Make the people empathise with me, make them think that me and my sister worked hard to earn our family’s favour, so the emperor must reward us.-

WeiSheng was baffled at his master’s odd and rather shameless news but said nothing. He knew his master always had bigger plans when she ordered them to do something or did something herself, so he carried out his master’s orders swiftly.

XieRong was impressed when the first young miss of the Shan family exchanged blows with her brother. They were evenly matched such that even the slightest of mistakes on either side could be fatal. Their swords clashed at an alarming speed, with force that sent sparks flying. The movements were precise and quick and one had to have their eyes peeled open all the time to not miss a single movement.

The winner would be the one who drew blood first. However, even after a quarter Shi Chen had come to pass, the two of them had yet to draw blood, thus the match had to be declared a draw.

XieRong wondered if she had even the slightest of chances of defeating the second young miss of the Shan family if she were anything like her older sister. She strapped two daggers to either side of her hip, deciding against using her needles as she had not mastered using spiritual energy strings to control her needles. Besides, they were meant to be an assassination tool. It would be better if no one knew she used them.

The girl who stepped out of the Shan family’s tent was quite tall for a ten year old. She looked handsome with her slightly tanned skin, phoenix eyes, and black hair up in a pony. Her confidence and aura was no less than that of a general’s.

XieRong went to the ring and bowed to the formidable opponent that stood opposite her after they had both bowed to the emperor.

Shan Hu used her spear, a godly weapon, with a royal blue handle and a silver blade that glinted under the sun. There was a carving of a tiger’s roaring face where the handle was attached to the blade. The tiger’s ruby eyes looked fierce and intimidating.

XieRong knew she would be at a disadvantage as long as she didn’t close the distance between them. It was Shan Hu who made the first move, jabbing in quick successions with her spear. XieRong dodged and blocked one of the slower jabs with her dagger. She jumped on the spear and tried to close the distance between them, but before she could reach the spear was flipped over making XieRong land dangerously close the boundary of the ring. XieRong had greatly underestimated her opponent’s strength. Shan Hu was a cultivator in the mid Dantian formation realm after all.

The second young miss of Shan family didn’t waste any time before she started to attack again. XieRong made her way towards Shan Hu, dodging a barrage of attacks as she did. Her clothes were torn up in several places.

When Shan Hu was right within arm’s reach, XieRong felt a heavy pressure on her back. As she was in midair, she fell flat on her stomach, all her movement blocked off. XieRong looked up to see a slightly shocked expression on Shan Hu’s face.

-Miss, I can negate the effect of the pressure by releasing my own.-

-No Feng, just quickly lift only some of the pressure on my right hand without revealing yourself.-

Just as some of the pressure on her arm lifted, XieRong scratched Shan Hu’s leg with her dagger, drawing blood.

"The fight’s over, so can second young miss of Shan family let me go now?"

XieRong saw Shan Hu’s shocked expression slowly turn into one of curiosity, then one of amus.e.m.e.nt in a matter of seconds. The pressure lifted and XieRong sprung up and started dusting the reddish brown mud off from the front of her robes coolly as though she hadn’t been the one who had fallen flat on the ground.

The two girls bowed to each other after the winner was announced and made their way back to their tents with the crowd cheering and applauding in the background.