Bai Lianfei was the undisputed winner of this match.
As soon as the referee proclaimed the result out loud, a group of servants from the medical section rushed to tend Ming Libai’s wounds. Meanwhile, the victor was unscratched, and not even her clothes were damaged. The crowd cheered her name, and everyone’s gaze, male or female, human or yaren, young or old, was fixated upon her. However, she didn’t appear to care about any of that, and calmly left the ring. She’d spend the remaining time in the secluded chambers attached to the library building, meditating, and replenishing her mental and physical strength before the final match.

Her next opponent was Wang Shunji, who easily won all his matches earlier, and was eagerly anticipating the final fight against his best friend. However, the way things played out now, it seemed he will have to face Lan Caolu’s granddaughter instead. This was fine, he was somewhat prepared for this turn of events, as the girl’s growth over past couple of years was quite rapid.

What was not ok was the way she won her semi final match. It was painfully obvious to the onlookers that she had the upper hand there all along. However, instead of finishing the fight quickly, she toyed with her opponent so much and wounded him so badly! Ever since her mother’s tragic death she was almost like a different person, but despite his personal dislike for Bai Lianfei’s conduct and values, he always believed her to be a good person at heart.

So why did she go so far!!?
After all this was over, he was going to give her a piece of his mind!

But for now, he had to rush to Ming Libai’s side, he wasn’t the one to leave his friend in such state alone!

……

While Wang Shunji was making his way through the crowd of rowdy onlookers, Ming Libai was resting in the relatively secluded medical camp, the smell of burning moxa penetrating his nostril and pores, and relaxing every muscle and damaged tendon in his body. While he lied down on the wooden table motionless, several servants were working on him, applying warm stones to his frostbitten body parts, and inserting acupuncture needles to vital meridians of his body.

The head servant informed him that, fortunately, no permanent damage had been done, but he will most likely be out of commission for several weeks. No training, no exercise, and a strict diet were prescribed to him. The young warrior kept nodding half-heartedly, too stoned and relaxed to protest or converse.

Suddenly, he felt a presence looming over him. All cultivators had somewhat enhanced senses, training daily in the ways of detection and staying undetected, and just by the virtue of not having realized someone is next to him until now, he knew it’s a fairly high-level warrior. He slowly opened his eyes and saw a supremely handsome face adorned by long, well-maintained brown hair and a pair of hazel eyes that looked like a pair of twin moons, looming over him.

“….Chen Mengyao”

The name of the red ribbon clique’s “second in command” slowly escaped his dehydrated lips. The older man didn’t participate in the tournament, on the grounds that it would be unfair to the newbies to face such a grizzled old veteran like himself, and spent most of the tournament doing who knows what who knows where.
Frankly speaking, even though they were from the same sect, and Ming Libai was training here ever since he was a kid, he could never quite get a hold of what this guy is all about. He was a walking, talking enigma. One thing, however, was certain-he was no pushover, and no one in the cultivation world would dispute his skill or devil-hunting abilities.

And now this mysterious, powerful man wanted something from him…?

Suddenly a wild smile appeared on the otherwise cold and impenetrable face, and a short chuckle escaped the senior’s lips.

“…what are you laughing at?”
“….well, you know, I’m always happy to see a junior get his first reality check. How does it feel? It hurts, right~?”

Ming Libai nodded, not having any strength left to deny the obvious. It hurt, both physically and mentally. His pride was wounded, and he was humbled.

“But!” the older man raised his finger meaningfully “You mustn’t hold it against miss Bai! The only one you should blame is yourself-you thought your one trick is going to win you the tournament, and that overconfidence was your demise!”

Once again Ming Libai nodded. He didn’t feel wronged by Bai Lianfei.

In fact, in that moment, when she stood over him victorious, he felt something move within his heart, and a sense of admiration he never felt before overtook his heart. That feeling was very different from his admiration for Wang Shunji, whom he only respected for his power, it was something deeper, but he couldn’t quite voice what exactly it was.

However, there was someone who couldn’t approve of that.

“What do you mean, it’s his fault!?” Shouted Wang Shunji, pointing his finger at Chen Mengyao. He had just arrived at the medical encampment and heard the last part of the conversation.

“Oooh? A rabid dog is here. Don’t worry- by the time this tournament ends, you will be sprawled on the table next to your friend, as humbled and defeated as he!”

Hearing this taunt, Wang Shunji’s mind clouded with rage. Who does this suckup think he is!? But he stopped himself with the last bits of his willpower, repeating in his head over and over again, that he mustn’t cause an incident among the wounded.

Perhaps later, he will have a one on one chat with this arrogant jerk-for now, it’s best to retreat and calm down. He will, however, unleash all his pent-up anger in the final fight, and show these upstart red ribbons who is the number one student of this school!

After Wang Shunji stormed out, angrily, not exchanging even a single word with his friend, Chen Mengyao turned back to the wounded man and continued his sermon.

………………

When the final match was about to begin, it was already completely dark. The arena was surrounded by countless torches and several large fireplaces.

The smell of alcohol and grilled meat assaulted Zhanzhan’s nostrils, and she could feel herself involuntarily salivate. All this was simply too much for her animal instincts to bear, and her stomach made a loud rumbling noise.

She even requested permission from the Wuyun group to leave and bring them all some snacks, but this request was swiftly denied.

“Ha! You tried spying on us! I bet you are going to report everything to your master now, and we will never see you again!” exclaimed Mei Rulan, smiling mischievously. Bai Yunru nodded in agreement, but frankly speaking, he also wanted some food. But he didn’t dare to voice that out loud when master Bao was nearby!

“You superhuman monsters have stomachs made of steel! You will never understand the struggles of us, the common folk!”
“Which part of you is common, huh!?” exclaimed Mei Rulan, and squeezed her cat ears again.

Suddenly, the gong rang. It was time for the last, and most important, fight of the sparring tournament. Whoever shall carry the title of top student for next year, shall be decided now!

On one side stood Wang Shunji. Born into the prestigious northern Wang family, his appearance was as noble as his heritage. However, right now, his handsome face was distorted by rage, and his usually fairly well-trimmed and brushed hair were somewhat disheveled. He pointed his sword at his opponent in a challenging motion.

Like Bai Lianfei, he was fond of double-edged blades. And just like hers, his weapon was nothing ordinary. His sword was called Yeliu, and it was an heirloom given to him by his father, who in turn, received it from his father. Despite its age, its pristine white blade never dulled, and some speculated that there must be some hidden power or magic at work. And now that blade was pointing straight at Bai Lianfei’s heart, as if trying to say it’s going to pierce it.

Of course, killing the opponent is against the rules of the competition. Not only would it get him disqualified, depending on how things played out, he could be expelled from the sect and hunted down like a criminal or a devil cultivator.
However, at this moment, he didn’t care. He wanted to avenge his friend, and Bai Lianfei’s behavior didn’t make it any easier for him to calm down.

If she acted like some sort of emotionless doll, like she always had, it would be somewhat bearable. But right now, this unforgivable woman, in a manner so uncharacteristic of herself was smirking at him, a look of amusement clearly painted on her face.

“Bai Lianfei! Explain yourself!” he shouted, wanting to give her one last chance at diplomacy before he unleashed all his powers upon her.

However, she only laughed and swung her sword a couple of times through the air, the light of the full moon reflecting in its blade- as if it was some kind of magical attack directed at him.

*This is unforgivable*

He could feel his fingers tingling with qi energy flowing through them.

*This will not be forgiven*

Suddenly the gong rang again. Without warning, he fired a qi blast towards his opponent, using just his left hand to direct the flow of energy. However, the distance between them was just too large-she gracefully stepped out of the way of the invisible strike and continued taunting him wordlessly.

*Unforgivable….*

-moxa: a herb with miraculous healing properties. The most effective way to administer it is through inhalation; it also has sedative and relaxant properties, and in certain circles, is used recreationally 
-double-edged straight swords are considered weapons of scholars and aristocracy, and rarely wielded by the common man