Ch 24: Painting Destiny
The next day,
The most significant event was the lifting of the Level One Restriction, which meant that Sect Master Li Canghuang had returned to the Ask Dao Sect.
The next most important thing was – the final day of the Martial Arts Grand Competition, beginning now!
Main Peak,
All five members of Lucky Peak were present, sitting around the periphery of the top ten arenas,
It is worth mentioning that there were VIP seats around the arenas, which were reserved for competing contestants or staff. As for ordinary people, they could only choose to watch the competition from grandstands further away.
However, the grandstands in this vicinity were already full, with some people even starting two to three days in advance to secure their spots for a chance to witness it live.
Witnessing the decisive battle of geniuses could potentially bring them considerable gains.
Xia Jiuyuan looked towards the center of the arena in front of him, which was nearly as large as a playground spanning five hundred meters. Little Mo Mo was happily waving her arm at him,
If a cultivator’s eyesight hadn’t also improved, he wouldn’t have been able to clearly see her expression at all.
“When do you guys go on?”
“The top four will compete for the championship with Junior Martial Sister Jun, while positions five through ten will be our battlefield,”
Duan Shahe looked at these quiet, large arenas and continued,
“It seems like no one wants to be the first bird to show their skills.”
“Since that’s the case, I’ll make the first stroke.”
Mo Mo made the final stroke on her drawing paper and looked towards the ninth arena,
“I’m going, Brother.”
“Mm, be careful and don’t underestimate your opponent.”
Mo Mo handed the artwork she had just completed to Xia Jiuyuan, then took her paintbrush, easel, and canvas and headed towards the arena.
“Woo…”
Stepping onto the arena, Mo Mo wiped the sweat from her forehead. Her constitution was arguably one of the worst among those in the Third Rank.
“Nineteenth, challenging, ninth.”
“Oh? The young lady from Lucky Peak?”
On the arena stage, Ren Bufang, a Spirit Fox from Liu Jing Forest, her eyes shimmering with curiosity.
“I didn’t expect the first match of the top ten today to start with me. Do I look easy to bully?”
Mo Mo said as she set up her easel and canvas,
“Sorry, I like the number nine.”
Ren Bufang’s eyeballs spun rapidly. Her extremely keen senses detected an unusual emotion,
“Nine? That’s quite a coincidence. Our Princess of Liu Jing Forest, it’s said she recently fell in love with a human, and his name also happens to contain the character ‘nine’.”
The hand holding the paintbrush trembled slightly as Mo Mo asked in disbelief,
“Love, do you know what love is?”
“I do. I am a Spirit Fox, with the bloodline of a Nine-Tailed Fox,” she said, pointing to the three fluffy tails behind her,
“The scent of love is wonderful,”
“…”
“Hmm, is that the scent of anger?”
Mo Mo shook her head and said to the referee who was already ready,
“Please begin.”
“Don’t rush. We can chat a bit longer. Actually, when you said ‘nine’ just now, there was also that scent, although it was slightly different…”
Mo Mo’s eyebrows shot up. She hadn’t expected the Spirit Fox race’s talent to be so strong. She briefly considered having Ren Bufang smell the scent Jun Liuhe had for Xia Jiuyuan.
“Prepare to begin.”
The referee looked at Ren Bufang, who then reluctantly grumbled, “Okay, okay, let’s begin!”
“Alright, we’ll officially start counting down from one. 10, 9… 3, 2, 1!”
The moment the countdown ended, Ren Bufang began to chant in her heart:
“Brother, quickly grant me power!”
“Sigh, I can’t do anything about you.”
Following the response in her heart, Ren Bufang’s aura began to surge rapidly!
Mo Mo completely ignored this strange phenomenon, solely focused on her drawing.
Xia Jiuyuan, watching from the side, was quite shocked. He recalled the contents of the booklet given to him by Fang Hao:
Ren Bufang, Spirit Fox bloodline, possesses Spirit Fox Intent, skilled in Charm and other Mental Attacks, and her overall power can be amplified by her Brother Ren Bufeng.
“This is amplification? That’s absurd.”
“Don’t panic,” Duan Shahe comforted him,
“Although this is close to Fourth Rank standards, don’t panic. You haven’t seen how outrageous Mo Mo’s combat methods were in her previous matches.”
This was indeed Xia Jiuyuan’s first time seeing Mo Mo fight, so he was a little flustered. Duan Shahe, on the other hand, was not worried about Mo Mo at all; instead, he thought about his own challenge:
“I’m curious if my Rules Game can sever their connection?”
“Who knows? You can go and try it with them.”
As Xia Jiuyuan spoke, he unfolded the drawing Mo Mo had handed him.
It was a sketch. In the drawing, Mo Mo stood on the arena, her paintbrush poised at the center of the canvas, while her opponent, Ren Bufang, knelt on the ground in a defeated posture.
This was… a Declaration of Victory?
Looking back at the arena, Mo Mo, facing Ren Bufang whose power had surged, danced her left hand on the canvas, while her right index finger began to draw in the air,
As her finger moved, it left behind streaks of ink lines in the air. These ink lines remained suspended in the air, unmoving, appearing quite magical.
Ren Bufang, with her greatly increased power, certainly wouldn’t allow Mo Mo to continue this strange behavior. She charged towards Mo Mo, chanting captivating words,
“Beautiful maiden, tell me, what is love?”
Facing Ren Bufang’s charming voice, Mo Mo’s skin crawled. She forced herself to suppress the urge to make eye contact and closed her eyes.
Within a few short seconds, Ren Bufang had closed in on Mo Mo. However, at this moment, as if triggering a safeguard, the silent ink lines in the sky began to move,
The entire arena transformed into a canvas. Ink lines drifted everywhere; some wrapped around Mo Mo’s waist, guiding her movements freely; others turned into ropes, appearing and disappearing at Ren Bufang’s feet to trip her before darting away; some became sharp swords, searching for angles to attack Ren Bufang.
Ren Bufang, through her fusion with Ren Bufeng, had already reached an extremely terrifying level of power. The attacks she unleashed could easily sever the ink lines,
But for every line severed, two more would appear. Their life force had not vanished;
Although Ren Bufang had witnessed Mo Mo’s abilities in previous battles, experiencing it firsthand still left her marveling,
This combat style was so beautiful!
Not troublesome, but beautiful, because Ren Bufang was confident of victory,
Although the situation was at a stalemate, energy is conserved. For a Third Rank cultivator to use such a Secret Technique, the spiritual energy consumption would definitely be immense. Once her spiritual energy was depleted, she would naturally be defeated.
Moreover, she herself consumed very little energy and could borrow spiritual energy from her brother. If she dragged it out, she would surely win.
But… what exactly was she painting?
Even with her eyes closed, even being pulled around by the ink lines, Mo Mo’s left hand did not stop!
In her previous arena matches, she hadn’t used a canvas to draw; she had directly won using these ink lines.
Ren Bufang’s hairs twitched slightly. She felt a sense of danger,
“Maiden, love must never be blind; love must be faced directly!”
The charming voice shattered Mo Mo’s ink earplugs and entered her ears.
Instantly, Mo Mo blankly opened her eyes and met the pink pupils,
“Yes, come closer. I will tell you everything you desire!”
Ren Bufang now used all her might to enhance her charming voice and continued to chant. Wherever her voice reached, the ink lines shattered and then reformed, only to shatter again…
Mo Mo walked towards Ren Bufang blankly, step by step, while the lines around her continuously shattered and reformed.
But her left hand still didn’t stop!
Three… two… one!
As she got closer, Ren Bufang abandoned her chanting and instead used her strongest means to attack Mo Mo in front of her.
The ink lines instantly reformed, but it was too late. Ren Bufang was too close!
Mo Mo regained consciousness. In her vision, the scene within the canvas seemed to be merging with the scene before her.
Ren Bufang’s three tails lunged towards her head and neck, her right claw reached for her chest, her right foot forward and her left foot back.
All of this perfectly coincided with the scene depicted on the canvas!
Mo Mo’s breathing quickened, and she became unusually excited. Her left hand moved slightly, controlling the paintbrush to touch directly above Ren Bufang within the canvas.
What I paint is your destiny!
In reality, a black spot the size of a football appeared out of nowhere above Ren Bufang’s head.
At this moment, Ren Bufang’s body went limp, and her heart was suddenly filled with an inexplicable panic. She felt as if she had entered someone else’s world and her future had been seen through!
Surrender! Although it seemed like she was about to win, she only wanted to surrender at this moment!
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