The young man charged forward with his sword drawn. His expression showed a nasty look as he licked his lips and went to strike out. What he thought would be an easy fight since he was a man going against a little girl who did not know the world, was not what he expected. He figured with a quick stab, she would regret standing up against him and jump out of the arena. But how was he supposed to know that the little girl he thought to be weak in fighting had been living in the depths of the forest with demonic beasts where she was forced to fight almost every day? How was he supposed to know that this little girl in front of him had no sense of pain?

His sword was fast, much faster than what Yuki had ever anticipated. She was more used to fighting demonic beasts than humans with swords, so she was used to larger claws coming at her. But this surprise at the situation only lasted a second. The sword skimmed her cheek, slicing into it as she tilted her head to the side to dodge it. She then used the motion of her dodge to sidestep the young man’s attack and forcefully stepped on his foot, stopping him from being able to move forward, causing the inertia he had gained to go to the top of his body, causing him to fall face first into the dirt.

Before he knew what was going on, his head was being pressed down on by a small foot, and a sword was stabbed next to his head, causing him to almost wet his pants. Everyone who saw what happened went quiet. No one expected to see something like this! Yuki wiped the blood from her cheek and pulled out a bottle of pills and poured one out, crushed it, and smudged it on her cheek to heal her wound. She did everything so naturally that it seemed as if she had done it many, many times before.

Yuki looked down at the young man and remembered the things he had said before, and pressed her foot down harder, using her spiritual qi and demonic qi to make the force she was using even greater. She realized that even though she was so close to taking this young man’s life, she still felt nothing….. No emotion. No nervousness. She began to wonder if it would be fine to just kill this man who ridiculed her for no reason.

“Winner! Yuki!” Rin smiled as she looked at the young girl standing there, still pressing the young man’s face into the ground as if it was the most natural thing to do. But when she saw Yuki was not moving but stomping her foot harder, she realized something was wrong. “Yuki!”

“Hmm?” Yuki snapped out of her trance, looked over at Rin, and tilted her head.

“You won, so let him go,” Rin replied calmly. She realized Yuki’s expression was still the same even while smashing the young man’s face into the ground, and made her truly wonder just what this girl went through.

Yuki gave a slight nod before lifting her foot and grabbing her sword. She then walked out of the arena and sat down on the ground with one leg crossed up under her, and her other leg bent up so she could rest her head on her knee. She held the hilt of her sword that was stabbed into the ground and stared at the area while lost in thought.

Rin looked at Yuki and then at the young man whose face was still stuck in the ground and shook her head. It seemed she might not get to win her bet later after these matches were over. That was when the challenge round would take place to allow those who lost to challenge the top ten.

“Alright, someone help him up….” Rin yelled out. She didn’t want to touch the idiot either. If he had kept his mouth closed instead of trying to trash talk, he might have had an easier time.

The young man was pried up from the arena ground, where a permanent indent of his face could be seen. His face was covered in dirt and mud that was formed from the blood of his wounds.

Ai took this chance to quickly make her way over to Yuki’s side and sat next to her. “Hey, how were you able to not even flinch when you were cut like that!? That scared me! I thought you were going to get stabbed through!”

Yuki was not even listening as she watched the next match, which caused Ai to purse her lips. She knew Yuki was a quiet one, but she really wished she would talk more. Her soft, cute voice was something she would die for just to hear!

Nana also found a seat next to Yuki and sat there quietly. She wondered if she could have done what Yuki did. She would have blocked the attack much earlier if it was her. But Yuki let the attack follow through and used every motion of the attack to her advantage. From the time the young man struck out until the time his face was smashed into the ground, she could tell Yuki barely used any of her stamina. Such fighting prowess was something she did not think she had.

Even Elder Nishikawa, who was ready to jump in to protect Yuki, was shocked at Yuki’s display of agility just now. She had thought she might not even be able to protect Yuki in time, but when she saw Yuki dodge the attack and then use the young man’s own force against him, easily taking the young man down, only one thought crossed her mind. “She truly is a genius!”

The excitement in Nishikawa’s eyes could not be hidden. While she wanted to rush forward and whisk Yuki away, she knew a sheltered environment would not be good for her. She needed an open environment to grow properly. But she disliked the little boy who tried to hurt Yuki’s face just now… She saw that he deliberately aimed for her face without a second thought. This she would not let pass by easily. She pondered for a moment before deciding to stick the young man in the demonic beast pens, where he would have to shovel shit for a year without being able to start his cultivation until his punishment was up. “Yes, this will do…. Maybe next time, he will think twice about trying to harm a young girl's face! Humph!”