Chapter 47: Honor in Defeat

On the stage, only Bai Yue Ning’s heavy, labored breaths remained, mingling with Yao Feng’s increasingly cold and ferocious aura.

Yao Feng lowered his gaze, staring at the tear in his robe beneath his right ribs and the faint trace of blood on his skin. Shock and anger gave way to a humiliation born from being wounded by someone weaker.

He slowly lifted his head, his eyes locking onto Bai Yue Ning, who could barely stand.

“Good… very good…” Yao Feng’s voice squeezed out through clenched teeth, stripped of all former composure and pretense, leaving only a raw chill.

“I underestimated your tenacity and that bit of cleverness. But this is where it ends!”

Scarlet spiritual energy erupted from him, the full pressure of the tenth level of Qi Refinement unleashed without reserve, causing the light barrier of the stage to ripple violently.

Scorching waves twisted the air, making even distant disciples feel their breaths burn.

Crimson radiance gathered in his palms, subtly forming the roaring heads of fire lions.

This was his true killing move!

“To force me to use ‘Blazing Lion’s Wrath’—you may take pride in that!” Yao Feng sneered, thrusting both palms forward!

A lion’s roar seemed to thunder as two ferocious fire lions tore free from his hands, surging toward Bai Yue Ning with the force to incinerate all before them, crisscrossing and sealing off every avenue of retreat.

Despair.

True despair.

A chorus of gasps rang out below; many could not bear to watch and closed their eyes.

This attack dwarfed all that had come before, capable of severely wounding or even burning away a Qi Refinement ninth-level cultivator in full strength, let alone Bai Yue Ning, who was utterly spent.

On the high platform, Li Qi Feng sprang to his feet, Zhou Qing Wan’s face went pale, and Zhu Yu’s playful smile deepened.

The scent of death swept in.

Bai Yue Ning knelt on the ground, the scorching wind nearly lifting her off her feet, singeing her hair.

Emptiness and searing pain surged within her like a tide, threatening to drown her consciousness.

Was it ending…? The shadow of despair closed in yet again.

“No… I can’t end here.” Ye Ming’s thoughts were weak, but still stubbornly conveyed a final message.

“This fire… it seems wild, but at its core, the spiritual energy flows along a discernible path.”

“Left front… that power is weaker, the only chance… the flaw…”

Ye Ming’s voice flickered, as if about to vanish at any moment.

Yet he clearly pointed out the sole weakness he’d sensed in the flames.

Meanwhile, scenes from the past flashed rapidly through Bai Yue Ning’s mind.

Ye Ming’s tireless guidance in the Sword Valley, the desperate surge of spiritual energy in moments of life and death.

The flawless precision when breaking through energy barriers, and the faint shield that blocked a toxic strike at dawn…

Trust, reliance, fighting side by side, sharing life and death…

All these emotions and insights, in this instant of peril, merged fiercely with Ye Ming’s final perception.

A sudden clarity struck her mind!

She had always depended on Ye Ming’s guidance, like a blind person leaning on a cane.

But now, that cane was about to snap.

All her experience, all her understanding, all her unwillingness and will—

Under this ultimate pressure, fused with Ye Ming’s last gift, it nurtured something that belonged to her alone!

She lifted her head abruptly, her eyes no longer filled with despair or exhaustion.

She ceased to listen, ceased to watch, and instead began to feel.

To feel the trajectory of the wild power coursing through the fire lions.

To sense the fleeting weak spot, to feel every tremor in her sword, to grasp her own remaining, yet fiercely focused will!

She forgot about victory and defeat, forgot about life and death, holding only a single pure thought—strike!

To pour all her unwillingness, her persistence, her clarity, her everything into this sword!

“Slash!”

Bai Yue Ning squeezed the last trace of spiritual energy from her meridians, even burning some of her blood, and her body sprang upright.

The dim longsword in her hand, in that moment, seemed infused with a soul, emitting a faint yet clear hum!

A simple, slender streak of azure sword light burst from its tip!

This sword lacked the wild might of Yao Feng’s Blazing Lion’s Wrath, but it was refined to perfection, swift beyond measure, and absolutely precise!

It followed a mysterious path, striking unerringly at the weakest point in the flow of power on the left side of the fire lion’s head!

No earth-shattering explosion followed.

The ferocious fire lion’s head, upon contact with the slender azure sword light, immediately lost its core, let out a mournful cry, and disintegrated in midair, scattering into countless sparks that faded away!

The azure sword light, having broken through a lion’s head, exhausted its energy and vanished quietly.

But it was enough!

The other fire lion’s head crashed down just behind Bai Yue Ning, slamming into the stage’s light barrier with a deafening roar. The barrier shook violently, but not a hair on her was harmed!

Everyone stared, stunned, at the stage and the spectacle before them.

A single, slender streak of sword light… had directly broken one of a tenth-level Qi Refinement cultivator’s strongest killing moves?!

What peerless mastery and insight was contained in that sword?!

“Sword intent… the first glimmer of it?!” On the high platform, a long-closed-eyed elder suddenly opened his eyes and cried out in disbelief.

“Weak, but pure! To comprehend it in battle?!” Another elder’s face changed dramatically.

Li Qi Feng’s eyes blazed with unprecedented light, tightly fixed on Bai Yue Ning.

Even the always-composed master of Azure Cloud Sect, Master Xuan Cheng, who seemed indifferent to the competition below, nodded slightly, and a barely perceptible hint of admiration flickered in his placid gaze.

“In the depths of despair, she found clarity and touched the threshold of true swordsmanship. Her temperament and perception are both first-rate.”

“Pity her cultivation and talent are lacking.”

To earn a “first-rate” from the sect master was no small feat!

On the stage, Yao Feng’s sneer froze, replaced by utter shock and bewilderment.

He simply could not comprehend how his certain victory had been so easily undone.

Bai Yue Ning, after delivering that earth-shattering sword, felt her vision go black and collapsed forward, losing all consciousness.

She had done it!

Her sword fell with a clatter, its spiritual glow extinguished.

Yao Feng remained standing, gazing at Bai Yue Ning’s unconscious form. His expression shifted, but there was no joy in victory—his face burned with humiliation.

He had won—by cultivation, by spiritual energy—but in another sense, had been utterly defeated.

The chief judge took a deep breath, suppressing his own shock, and announced loudly, “Yao Feng wins!”

Yet no cheers rose from below.

All eyes focused on the unconscious girl, filled with awe, respect, and even a hint of reverence.

With only a sixth-level Qi Refinement cultivation, she had fought her way to the semifinals.

Facing a tenth-level opponent, ambushed and injured, she had ultimately, in utter despair, unleashed a sword containing the first glimmer of her own sword intent!

Defeat, yet honor!

Zhou Qing Wan and Liu Ling Yun rushed onto the stage, carefully lifting Bai Yue Ning.

Above, Zhu Yu watched as Bai Yue Ning was carried away, especially eyeing the dull longsword. His interest not only remained but grew deeper and more intense.

“The first glimmer of sword intent… and that ancient sword that enabled her to reach this point… truly… this is becoming more and more intriguing.”