Lan Qinchuan was completely baffled as to how things had turned out this way.
At the beginning, wasn’t it he who proposed a duel with Wen Qixue?
He asked in a tone of pure confusion, “Why did the people fighting end up being Wen Qixue and Si Mingyan?”
Yes, the two people fighting outside the City Lord’s Mansion were indeed Wen Qixue and Si Mingyan.
But…
Lan Qinchuan: “I clearly proposed the duel!”
Rong Mingmo pondered: “This shouldn’t be considered a duel, right? I think it’s just that this Si character saw us chatting and ignoring him, got all frustrated and temperamental, and is just picking a fight to vent his anger.”
As she spoke, she curled her lip: “He really has no poise at all. Besides, he’s in the Golden Core stage fighting someone at the ninth level of Qi Refining? Is that even a good look?”
Even though this ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator used to be a peak-level Golden Core sword cultivator, had spent years wandering through major secret realms with astonishing combat power, and now possessed the divine sense of a Golden Core cultivator, there was still a massive, insurmountable gap between the Golden Core and Qi Refining stages.
The way Si Mingyan and Wen Qixue were fighting right now was, indeed, quite unsightly.
Lan Qinchuan watched the two chasing each other outside the City Lord’s Mansion and nodded solemnly, saying, “Actually, if you ignore the cultivation levels, it’s quite entertaining.”
Rong Mingmo: …
Do cultivators not consider cultivation levels in a duel?
Suo Xuanlin had been worried that Wen Qixue might suffer, but as he watched, he seemed to spot something.
He asked hesitantly, “Brother Xue, is he not using his full strength yet?”
Lan Qinchuan nodded, but quickly shook his head: “It’s not quite right to say he isn’t using his full strength; it’s just that his combat intuition has reached the peak of the Golden Core stage. However, he is only at the Qi Refining stage now, and his cultivation and physical body can likely only handle this much at the moment.”
Suo Xuanlin was puzzled: “But, Brother Xue doesn’t seem to have attacked at all.”
He still remembered when they had just left Yuanwu City, and Wen Qixue had stood on the beast cart. The move he used against the Yuanwu City gates, which had heavily wounded Elder Yu of the Yuanwu Sect, had been so breathtaking.
Lan Qinchuan pointed to the center of the arena: “There’s no other way. Qixue’s cultivation isn’t high right now, which means his attack power is also limited.”
He gave Suo Xuanlin an example: “It’s like you fighting me. Even if I stood there and let you hit me, and you hacked at me with your blade, it might not necessarily be of much use to me. They are the same.”
“After all, Si Mingyan is in the Golden Core stage and has passed the Golden Core thunder tribulation. No matter how poor his physical strength is, it’s still much stronger than that of Wen Qixue, who is in the Qi Refining stage.”
Suo Xuanlin understood, his worry deepening: “Then what should Brother Xue do?”
Lan Qinchuan’s eyes brightened, looking straight at the center of the arena: “It needs some sort of trigger.”
“But for Wen Qixue, it shouldn’t be much of a problem.”
Wen Qixue had spent decades wandering outside; he had seen every kind of situation and had even repelled Yuan Infant stage cultivators in the past.
But Lan Qinchuan was still very curious: “I just don’t know what moves Wen Qixue will use.”
At this moment, Wen Qixue, who was being entangled by Si Mingyan outside the City Lord’s Mansion, was warily watching Si Mingyan’s every move while steadily avoiding the opponent’s attacks.
He was very clear about his advantages and understood the disadvantages he needed to avoid in his match against Si Mingyan.
His biggest disadvantage was the lack of attack power resulting from his low cultivation.
To put it bluntly, his current attacks couldn’t hurt Si Mingyan in the slightest, while Si Mingyan’s attacks, should they land, would cause him tremendous damage.
It would be a heavy injury, if not death.
That is the sheer magnitude of the gap between the Qi Refining and Golden Core stages.
Therefore, his priority right now was not attacking, but evading every single move Si Mingyan made.
For Wen Qixue, this wasn’t particularly difficult.
As a Words of Power cultivator, Si Mingyan placed more emphasis on mental cultivation; his combat moves, secret techniques, and body movements were only secondary, refined just enough to pass the thunder tribulation.
After a bout of entanglement, Wen Qixue had essentially seen through Si Mingyan’s body movements and secret techniques, making it effortless to avoid the opponent’s attacks.
The challenge remained how to deal an effective blow to Si Mingyan.
A little while later, Si Mingyan stopped.
He was tired of chasing and shouted at Wen Qixue: “Wen Qixue, are you going to fight or not? What kind of man just keeps running!”
Wen Qixue also stopped.
Hearing Si Mingyan’s words, he wasn’t angry; instead, he reassured the other: “Don’t worry, it’ll be over soon.”
Si Mingyan frowned, about to say something harsher, but before he could even utter a syllable, he sensed an icy chill in his surroundings.
To him, this chill wasn’t particularly hard to endure, and Si Mingyan could distinguish that the coldness came from Wen Qixue’s spiritual energy.
Given the massive gap in their cultivation, this coldness shouldn’t have posed a major threat to him.
Yet, coming from all directions as if to envelop him entirely, the chill made him shiver inexplicably.
He took several steps back, but the cold trailed him like a shadow.
Si Mingyan was furious: “What did you do?”
Just as his voice died away, he saw a wall of ice forming around him at an incredible speed.
In the blink of an eye, the ice walls formed a circle, trapping him inside.
Si Mingyan flicked his fan and snorted: “Petty tricks. You think this can trap me?”
He channeled his spiritual energy and pushed off the ground, attempting to vault over the top of the ice wall.
Then…
Boom.
Si Mingyan’s head slammed violently into the ice wall above.
Rong Mingmo let out a “Wow” and rubbed her own head: “That looks painful just watching.”
Wen Qixue nodded: “Indeed, I didn’t expect him to be so ruthless to himself.”
Everyone else present: …
They felt something wasn’t quite right.
Si Mingyan surely didn’t hit it on purpose, right?
Xia Changxun found it peculiar and wanted to get closer to the ice wall to get a better look: “Let me see, who’s that trapped in there in a fit of powerless rage?”
Wen Qixue reminded him: “Just to be safe, I set up quite a few similar ice cages in the area. You all should be careful.”
However, before he could finish, Xia Changxun stepped right onto an ice cage.
Xia Changxun was locked up at an incredible speed.
Wen Qixue: …
The others: …
Trapped in the ice cage, Xia Changxun yelled: “Let me out!”
After banging on the ice wall twice, Xia Changxun let out a soft “hiss”: “This ice wall is actually quite hard.”
Wen Qixue explained to him: “I added a defensive formation inside the locking formation.”
Xia Changxun was horrified: “Then how do I get out?”
“Fellow Daoist Wen, I won’t be locked in here until the ice wall melts, right?”
Wen Qixue said: “This formation was set up while I was dodging; the inside isn’t particularly precise. Search carefully; you should be able to find a relatively weak breaking point.”
Xia Changxun groped inside the ice wall: “Where, where is the weak point, there isn’t one at all…”
Lan Qinchuan sighed: “Move aside, and then get further away.”
He summoned his life-bound spirit sword and launched three strikes at the ice cage.
Dense, spider-web cracks appeared on the surface of the ice cage.
Wen Qixue reminded: “It should be fine now. Let Changxun break it from the inside.”
Rong Mingmo also added: “If he keeps striking it, Senior Brother Xia won’t just be trapped in the cage he’ll be injured by Senior Brother Lan’s sword qi.”
Lan Qinchuan nodded and put away his long sword.
Xia Changxun delivered a fierce palm strike within the ice walls, and the ice instantly shattered.
After emerging from the ice cage, Xia Changxun exclaimed: “What a powerful formation, even Senior Brother Lan has to use three strikes.”
Rong Mingmo nodded repeatedly: “Senior Brother Lan is already one of the best in terms of combat power among our peers in Danxia Valley. Even Senior Brother Lan needs three strikes are the locking formation layered with defensive formations really this strong?”
Lan Qinchuan: “…I am one of the best out there, too, alright?”