Chapter 78: A Heart as Firm as Iron

Two days later, at the Competition Peak in the central region of the Tianxuan Mountain Range.
Although not one of the ten major peaks, the Competition Peak was still towering thousands of feet high, reaching into the clouds. The summit was extremely spacious, with tiered stands surrounding the competition area, capable of holding up to two hundred thousand spectators.
At the very center of the summit stood a magnificent palace dozens of feet tall, surrounded by thirty-six competition platforms in total. Undoubtedly, many major competitions held by the Tianxuan Sect took place here, such as the internal disciple competition in five years.
On ordinary days, if fellow disciples had irreconcilable conflicts, they could also fight here, even signing life-or-death contracts and having the competition elders act as witnesses.
At the si hour in the morning (9 to 11 a.m.), Su Che and Lei Xiao climbed to the summit’s competition area, accompanied by Lei Qingxue.
Originally, Lei Qingxue had no interest in this duel. However, two days earlier, she received word from her brother Lei Xiao that Su Che had already reached the third level of Qi Cultivation, which shocked her greatly. Just a few months apart, Su Che had reached the same level as her? That was too fast—how had he done it?
So, this seemingly cold-hearted but fiercely competitive girl followed Su Che and Lei Xiao to the Competition Peak. Rather than being there to cheer for Su Che, she wanted to see just how skilled he really was through this duel…
Before coming, Lei Xiao had already found out that Zhen Lan from Tianwu Peak had set the duel for the exact noon hour. Arriving at si hour was definitely not too early.
To his surprise, upon entering the competition area, he saw that a considerable crowd had gathered around Platform No. 1 near the entrance. Judging from the identity jade plaques around their waists, they included both internal and external disciples from the ten major peaks.
“There are quite a few people,” Su Che estimated roughly—almost a hundred.
“They’re all here to watch,” Lei Xiao said in a low voice. “Some were brought by Zhen Lan from Tianwu Peak, while others are gamblers like me who placed bets in advance and definitely want to be here for the thrill.”
Su Che understood that a simple fight between him and external disciples like Fat Song would not attract so many spectators. It was mainly because of the conflicts between “Zhen Lan of Tianwu” and “Yu Qing of Xuanji” that many internal disciples were interested.

The arrival of Su Che and his two companions didn’t draw anyone’s attention, as they had no idea who Su Che was. So, the three of them went over to the stands and sat down silently.

After waiting for a while, someone shouted, “Senior Sister Zhen Lan has arrived!”

As soon as those words were spoken, a group from Tianwu Peak surrounded Zhen Lan and led her into the competition area, heading toward Arena No. 1.

Zhen Lan from Tianwu Peak also reached the highest level of Qi Cultivation, ranking seventh on the inner disciple rankings, right after Hua Lu from Tianlu Peak.

It was said that Zhen Lan had once been infatuated with Yu Qing, but since Yu Qing was devoted to cultivation and had no interest in romantic affairs, coupled with Hua Lu’s secret schemes from Tianlu Peak, Zhen Lan turned her love into hatred and began to compete with Yu Qing at every turn, constantly seeking revenge on the man who had broken her heart.

Over twenty people came from Tianwu Peak, half of them being inner disciples, showing just how much Zhen Lan cared about this duel. Song Pangzi and Jiang Chen also came, but although they were the “main characters” of the day, their lower status meant they had to follow at the end of the group.

“Su Che!”

Zhen Lan, Song Pangzi, and Jiang Chen all turned their gazes toward Su Che.

Zhen Lan’s gaze was cold; Song Pangzi’s and Jiang Chen’s were much more complex.

Song Pangzi was cunning, and it wasn’t easy to read his thoughts from his eyes. But Jiang Chen’s expression was clearly one of resentment and fear, and his complexion looked poor—likely because he hadn’t eaten or slept well in recent days.

Two days earlier, they had heard that Su Che had advanced to the third level of Qi Cultivation after his training. This was like a thunderbolt to Jiang Chen, as he was still only at the first level, one of the lowest in the cultivation world.

Think about it—if Su Che proposed to fight Jiang Chen first on the arena, what would the outcome be? Even if Song Pangzi won in the next match, Jiang Chen would still be the loser and would have to leave Tianxuan Sect as agreed beforehand.

Not only would his future be ruined, but Jiang Chen was even more afraid that during the fight, even if Su Che didn’t dare kill him outright, a slight “accident” could easily leave him seriously injured. The closer the moment came, the paler Jiang Chen’s face became. When his eyes met Su Che’s, his heart pounded wildly, his limbs trembled, and his face turned as white as death!

Su Che gave him a cold smile and thought to himself, “I know. From this moment on, you’re already dead.”

Jiang Chen’s poor performance was naturally noticed by Zhen Lan. She snorted coldly, despising the audacity of this little lackey. Fortunately, no one had expected him to pull off any miracles in today’s battle, and Zhen Lan had made all the necessary preparations.

“Su Che!” Zhen Lan called out toward the stands. “Are these all the people from your Xuanji Peak? Where’s Yu Qing?”

Following her gaze, those gathered around the competition arena also looked this way, and only then did they realize who ‘Su Che’ was. Whispers of discussion arose.

“Is he Su Che? He really is at the third level of Qi Cultivation.”

“I heard he’s a new disciple who’s only been here for half a year, yet he’s already reached the third level of Qi Cultivation. His talent is truly outstanding!”

“The odds for this match seem odd. Both are at the third level of Qi Cultivation—why is the payout two to one?”

“What do you know? Su Che just reached the third level of Qi Cultivation. Fat Song had already reached that level a year ago. Besides, with Senior Sister Zhen Lan’s strong support, his chances of winning are much higher…”

At that moment, Su Che stood up, about to reply to Zhen Lan with something like, “I don’t know if Senior Brother Yu Qing will come or when he’ll arrive.” But then he changed his expression and smiled, saying, “Junior Brother Yu Qing has already arrived.”

Everyone turned to look, and indeed, Yu Qing and the Linglong siblings had just entered the arena.

“Senior Sister Linglong is here too!” Lei Xiao immediately stood up, his eyes filled with admiration.

Lei Qingxue also stood up, but unlike her cousin, her gaze toward Linglong carried a hint of defiance. Linglong had reached the later stage of Qi Cultivation at the age of 18, and even 16-year-old Lei Qingxue wasn’t willing to be outdone. Though they were from the same sect, Lei Qingxue always saw Linglong as someone she had to surpass.

Yu Qing stepped forward, exchanged a silent glance with Zhen Lan, then looked around at everyone and said loudly, “Since everyone is here, there’s no need to wait until noon. Let’s start now.”

“No!”

Every time she saw Yu Qing, Zhen Lan’s breathing would become irregular. She longed to rush up and torment him severely… Of course, she had to suppress such impulses. With a stern expression, she said, “Since this is a gambling match, at the very least, we should invite an official judge from the Competition Peak to witness it, so as to prevent anyone from backing out later.”

Yu Qing glanced at Su Che, seeing that he seemed normal, before nodding and saying, “Whatever.”

Actually, Yu Qing really didn’t want to invite any notary. Without notarization, if Su Che lost, there were other ways to make things right—there was no need to withdraw from the sect. But once a referee from the Competition Peak was brought in, as soon as a winner and loser were determined, the loser’s jade talisman and jade card would be confiscated on the spot, and their status as sect disciples would be immediately revoked, with no chance of recovery at all.

Seeing that Yu Qing had agreed, Zhen Lan still refused to give up. She took a deep breath, seemed to steel herself, and said, “Yu Qing, since we’re both here, the stakes for this fight should be increased to make it more interesting. What do you all think? Am I right?”

“Right!”
“Senior sister makes a good point.”
“That’s true. We need more stakes to make it interesting. Otherwise, it’s just two third-level Qi Cultivators fighting each other—really not very interesting.”

The people around them were either those who loved chaos or helpers summoned by Zhen Lan, and of course, they all agreed.

Yu Qing frowned slightly and asked in a deep voice, “Zhen Lan, is this really meaningful?”

Zhen Lan’s expression changed slightly as she instinctively avoided his gaze. But soon, anger surged within her, and she gritted her teeth and said, “It doesn’t matter if it’s meaningful or not. As long as it’s interesting, that’s enough!”

“Very well.” Yu Qing suddenly smiled oddly. “How else do you want to do it? How about the two of us go to the competition stage and fight? What if the loser commits suicide on the spot? Wouldn’t that make it even more interesting?”

Huh? The loser commit suicide on the spot?

Everyone was speechless, and the scene fell silent.

At that moment, only a few who knew Yu Qing best realized that this man, who appeared gentle on the outside but was actually tough inside, was truly angry now!