"... Fight!"
With the elder's shout, Rihai ignored how direct and unusual that announcement was for the start of a match and, wasting no time, tapped her storage pouch and summoned the sword the sect had given her.
The sword appeared amidst a trail of flames. Rihai raised two fingers in the shape of a sword and guided the blade, which spun skillfully around her.
Her opponent also summoned his sword, equally fire-elemental, and controlled it.
The blade suddenly flew like a swift fish in a river, fiercely chasing after Rihai, trying to impale her. Knowing her life wasn't in danger, the man fully trusted the elder's supervision and didn't hold back at all in his attack.
His fingers moved nonstop, forming complex seals that increased the speed of his energy control. A whirlwind of flames surged before him, fueled by his spiritual energy, and like a fire tornado, it furiously charged toward Rihai.
Unsatisfied with just that, crimson runes glowed on his body as he dashed through the tornado itself, heading straight for the girl who remained still.
Rihai calmly watched her opponent's movements.
To her, it was evident that this was the strongest opponent she had faced since arriving in the desert—surpassed only by the Red Tiger, and that only because his cultivation realm was higher. Otherwise, it might've been different, which showed the excellence of the Infinite Dao Sect's disciples.
It wasn't just about the spells, but the solid foundation they cultivated, which allowed attacks beyond their usual level. With robust dantians and well-nourished roots, they could channel much more intense power—in quantity, quality, and speed—than ordinary cultivators in the same stage.
But Rihai wasn't lacking. She also cultivated using the Infinite Dao Sect's techniques, and her cultivation level wasn't far behind. Moreover, she had a great advantage: body refinement.
It wasn't about the strength of body refinement itself, but the fact that, as her roots regenerated, her divine physique was also slowly regaining its power, greatly increasing her strength.
When her opponent's sword gleamed before her eyes, she raised two fingers in a scissor shape, wrapped in crimson runes—a Refiner-Tier spell from the Infinite Dao Sect—lifted her hand, and effortlessly caught the flaming blade coming at high speed.
The crowd watching the battle widened their eyes at the sight of the girl calmly stopping a flaming sword with just two fingers. The blade was mere millimeters from her neck.
Despite coming at such speed, the sword was stopped cold by Rihai's strength and didn't move an inch once caught. Only her hair flew back from the force of the wind.
Even Chen Hao, the opponent, lost his rhythm for a moment at that unbelievable scene.
"H-How..." he murmured in disbelief.
But the vortex of fire did not stop. It continued surging toward Rihai.
She lowered the sword that was against her neck, which still struggled against her control, but under her firm grip, the energy within the blade was powerless.
Then, raising her eyes to the approaching flames, Rihai controlled her own sword, which had been spinning around her, to move forward.
The sword accelerated like a flaming comet, and suddenly, it began spinning like a pinwheel at high speed, creating a blazing disc that sliced through the fire vortex with ease and shot toward Chen Hao.
It was at that moment that he snapped out of his shock—but it was already too late.
Gritting his teeth, the defensive runes on his body shone even brighter. Crossing his arms in front of his body, he tried with all his might to withstand the flames now upon him.
The edge of the blazing blade struck him, sparking violently, as the runes on his body clashed directly with it, resisting fiercely.
Sparks flew into the sky as the temperature soared, creating a vivid red atmosphere on the stage, distorting the air with heat.
It was impossible to tell who would prevail in that brief moment—until suddenly, Rihai appeared behind him, holding his own blade to his rune-covered neck.
"You've lost," Rihai declared with a soft yet firm and calm voice, shocking the man and making his eyes widen in disbelief—causing the runes on his body to momentarily flicker out of control, putting him at risk.
At that moment, Elder Zhen appeared and waved his hand, effortlessly dispersing the flames of Rihai's sword and ending the match, as the stage's temperature slowly dropped back to normal.
Seeing that scene, even Rihai was surprised and looked curiously at the elder.
'Are even the outer elders Golden Core cultivators? And are the inner ones disguised Nascent Souls?' she pondered after witnessing how easily he had neutralized her attack, and she wouldn't have been surprised if it were true.
But this time, she was mistaken. The avatars of the outer elders hadn't reached that level yet. However, due to the exceptional foundation cultivated by Aotian in previous stages—combined with heavy use of pills—their levels were extremely high. Although their foundations had deteriorated, their strength was still notable. That's why he had been able to dissipate her attack so naturally.
In truth, he was also using a discreet Founder-Tier synthesized spell, which allowed him to cancel her spell with a simple gesture, making it look completely casual.
"Disciple Liu has won this match."
Elder Zhen declared, as Rihai recalled her sword—still floating in the air—back into her pouch. She then removed the blade from her opponent's neck, turned it around, and handed it back to him by the hilt.
Disciple Chen Hao, with a complex expression, deactivated the runes on his body. He knew he had lost.
Taking his sword back and storing it, he clasped his fists and respectfully bowed to the elder, and then to Rihai. Next, he summoned his sword again and departed on it without saying a word.
Apparently, he wasn't feeling well after the defeat. Besides, that had been the fastest match so far. The difference in strength and skill was just too great.
Rihai hesitated for a moment, wondering whether she should have gone easier on him.
But at that moment, the elder spoke, surprising her.
"Girl, you fight very well. Don't feel guilty for showing your power. Many disciples, upon realizing the potential the sect allows them to reach and what it offers, end up developing an invincibility mindset, forgetting that there is always someone stronger out there—or even within the sect itself. What you did is essential to show them reality. He'll improve soon and return to normal. This will only make him stronger... but if he can't handle it, maybe the path of cultivation isn't right for him."
The elder consoled her, ending with words that were a little cold but true.
Rihai nodded in agreement, and even if it seemed a bit harsh, it was the reality of the cultivation world.
"Thank you, Elder Zhen, for the clarification."
She replied politely and left the matter behind.
Clasping her fists and bowing, she took her leave, turned around, mounted her sword, and flew back to Aotian.
As she approached him after the short flight, she descended from the sword, stored it in her pouch, took two steps forward, and naturally took his hand, turning her gaze back to the ongoing fights.
Aotian watched her and smiled.
'You looked so sexy fighting with that serious expression,' he transmitted to her, a teasing glint in his eyes.
Rihai didn't turn to face him and kept looking forward, but her quickly reddening ears made it clear she wasn't as calm inside and felt embarrassed to meet his gaze.
Leaning in, he gently kissed her soft cheek, catching her a bit by surprise, and then returned to watching the battles with her.
Rihai, noticing Aotian had turned his gaze from her face, discreetly glanced at his profile, her cheeks still red. She moved closer, gently hugged his arm with her other hand, and rested her head on his shoulder.
Aotian, feeling the delicate gesture, just smiled silently and squeezed her small hand, fingers intertwined with his, a bit more firmly.
And so, the two watched together. About half an hour passed as the final match of the second round came to an end.
Soon after, the third round began, and the names of disciples number 21 to 30 were called.
Among them were Hui Lang, the toothless old man, and Lin Xiaoxue, the little girl.
Both won their matches after frantic and difficult fights, although it was still clear they held a certain advantage.
Lin Xiaoxue had been trained by her senior sister, Xiao Ling, during this time, so she didn't perform poorly.
As for old Hui Lang, he was one of the first disciples to reach Foundation Establishment in the sect. And being a veteran of many battles in his youth, he possessed various tricks that helped him surprisingly be the first to finish his fight in that group, taking about 12 minutes.
With the third round ending in about 50 minutes—making it the longest so far—the names of the participants for the fourth set, fights 31 to 40, were called.
"Fight 31..."
"Fight 34..."
"Fight 37..."
"Fight 38. Long Aotian vs Gao Lin. Competitors, report to platform 8 immediately."
The elders called out in succession until the soft and warm voice of Yang Shi, outer elder of the Alchemy Pavilion and responsible for platform 8, echoed through the crowd. Aotian's name had been called.
Rihai turned to him, stood on her toes, and kissed his cheek.
"Good luck, Tian'er," she whispered, even though she knew he didn't need it.
He turned to her and smiled.
"With a prize like that, even if I lose, it'll have been worth it," he joked, pointing to the cheek she had kissed.
Rihai couldn't hold back the wide, warm smile that spread across her face, and she rolled her eyes to tease Aotian.
Then she bit her lip playfully and made a shooing gesture with her hands, telling him to go fight already.
Aotian widened his eyes at the gesture, opened his mouth in mock surprise, and pointed at her, then at his own neck, making a slicing motion, as if to say she was "dead."
"Haha! Go already, stop making the elder wait." She laughed at the scene and gave a light, playful tap to his chest.
"Okay!" Aotian raised his hands in surrender, gave her a final kiss on the nose, grabbed his sword, and flew to the stage under Rihai's shining gaze.
She watched his back as he moved away, a proud and happy smile on her face.
'Go on, show them what my man is made of.'