Chapter 228: Hard-Soft

The entire Divine Wilderness Stage, that was thirty meters in radius, was engulfed by a thick fiery serpent. The fire serpent whipped around the stage with a tumultuous burning sound and it surrounded Chu Xiaoran.

Fang Jihai thrust his spear towards Chu Xiaoran’s shoulder!

Fang Jihai’s spear was nine foot long and it was made of black iron. On the other hand, Chu Xiaoran was using a sword. Using a sword, which is considered a light weapon, against a spear’s strike, it is inevitably inferior in strength!

At that moment, many broke out into a cold sweat for Chu Xiaoran.

However, Chu Xiaoran remained nonchalant within the fiery storm. As Fang Jihai thrust his spear downwards, the thrust threatened to swallow Chu Xiaoran within the flames. Only then, did she make her move!

The four foot long sword had a long yet soft blade. Like a tumbling leaf, it clashed with Fang Jihai’s spear.

Oh!?

Using a soft sword to parry a heavy black iron spear!?

People were shocked. How could this happen? Wouldn’t this strike from the spear deform Chu Xiaoran’s sword, which in turn would break her arm?

Before they could even gasp, they saw a sword beam rise up into the heavens!

Cha!

The engulfing flames were sliced apart by Chu Xiaoran’s sword!

Furthermore, Chu Xiaoran had broken Fang Jihai’s fire Yuan Qi with her sword. The sword tip came into contact with the black iron spear’s shaft.

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Suddenly, space seemed to freeze. Fang Jihai’s spear was apparently stuck in a mud pool. It was restrained by a sword that was as soft as water. The heavy black iron spear could only bend the sword’s blade slightly and it could not go any further!

Chu Xiaoran suddenly pulled out the sword, separating from the spear with ease.

“Boom!”

Fang Jihai’s spear slammed into the purple tungsten ground, causing a huge dent.

But at this moment, Chu Xiaoran struck with her sword again!

Her sword reached an extreme speed as it stabbed towards Fang Jihai’s heart!

What happened?

Fang Jihai was struck dumb with astonishment. When he crossed weapons with Chu Xiaoran earlier, he felt a very odd feeling. It was as if all his strength had been restrained by Chu Xiaoran.

And he couldn’t figure out what method Chu Xiaoran had used.

Now, Fang Jihai had no time to ponder over it. Chu Xiaoran’s blade beam was right in front of him!

“Fiery Shield!”

Fang Jihai swept with his spear and a fiery vortex formed in front of him. In that split second, a thick crimson fiery shield was formed!

“Whew!”

Chu Xiaoran’s sword sent out a ear-piercing screeching sound and it struck the flame shield!

“Peng!”

Even after the energy impact, Chu Xiaoran’s blade beam carried on flying forward. It had broken through the flame shield completely!

The fiery explosion caused a rain of fire to spread out indiscriminately. In it, there was a girl wearing a yellow swan dress, this made the scene look extremely beautiful.

Fang Jihai retreated again and again. He was amazed that his Reckless Fire attack had been blocked by Chu Xiaoran, and then his Fiery Shield had been completely broken by Chu Xiaoran.

How could this girl be this strong!?

Chu Xiaoran began sending a flurry of sword attacks. Fang Jihai rapidly retreated as he tried to use his spear to break through Chu Xiaoran’s blade beams.

However, Chu Xiaoran’s sword seemed to possess an incredible resilience within it. No matter how strong Fang Jihai’s spear beams were, Chu Xiaoran’s sword was pervasive. A thin sword Qi pierced through Fang Jihai’s Yuan Qi protection, making his whole body feel numb as if he was electrocuted.

“How is this possible…?”

Fang Jihai clearly felt that Chu Xiaoran’s Yuan Qi was not better than his, yet he was restrained again and again. He felt that he could not use all of his strength at all.

In the audience when everyone saw this scene, a person suddenly realized, “It’s a nomological truth! Didn’t you hear? Chu Xiaoran has already gained insight on the ‘hard-soft’ truth!”

The hard-soft truth was a combination of hardness and softness. Chu Xiaoran’s weapon may look like a soft sword, but after Chu Xiaoran gained insight on the hard-soft truth, this soft sword gained incredible strength!

“Swish!”

With the blade beams rising up, Chu Xiaoran forced Fang Jihai into a corner of the ring. Then, an attack came from above, flying directly towards Fang Jihai’s head!

Fang Jihai raised his spear to block it.

“Puah!”

Fang Jihai’s fiery Yuan Qi was split apart. This sword slashed down on Fang Jihai’s spear shaft. The blade carried on with its momentum and it bent the shaft as it carried on towards Fang Jihai like a whip!

Oh!?

Fang Jihai constricted his pupils. He had no way of dodging because it was too close!

The sharp blade beam had broken through Fang Jihai’s protective Yuan Qi and it opened a wound across Fang Jihai’s chest.

This wound allowed Chu Xiaoran’s Qi to rush into Fang Jihai’s meridians. With the sword Qi entering his body, Fang Jihai’s body trembled as a stream of blood gushed out of his mouth.

Before he could counter, Chu Xiaoran had struck again.

“Peng!”

Chu Xiaoran’s attack completely split Fang Jihai’s protective Yuan Qi apart. He flew back before slamming heavily onto the ground.

Chu Xiaoran wins this battle!

When the referee announced the result, Fang Jihai was dazed. He lost? He lost to a rookie girl, who was 2-3 years younger than him?

He had been training in the Tai Ah Divine City for 2 years, yet he could not compete with someone who just arrived in the Tai Ah Divine City!

Many rookies in the audience, looked at each other. They were all supporters of Chu Xiaoran and they believed she could win. But they never expected Chu Xiaoran to win so cleanly. And it seemed like she did not use all of her energy.

She had defeated a senior cultivator ranked 3780 without using all of her energy…

Terrifying!

“Amazing…The strength Chu Xiaoran that showed was on a different level compared to those on the rookie rankings! Previously someone ranked 7th on the rookie rankings challenged a senior cultivator ranked in the 5000s and they still lost…but Chu Xiaoran beat someone in the 3700s easily! This gap is too great!”

“And it’s said that Qiuniu is on par with Chu Xiaoran, could Qiuniu also have similar strength?”

Many rookies were shocked. They had already heard that while they were doing their miscellaneous jobs, Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran had already entered the Divine wilderness to hunt desolate beasts. The danger involved was obvious.

Back then, they were just impressed, but they did not know to what extent these two’s strength was. But now, it seems that there was a big difference in strength between those ranked third, fourth or fifth on the rookie rankings, even though there is only a very small difference in their rankings!

The other rookies ranked in the top 10 like Liu Yuxing can be ignored. Only Yi Yun had an impressive battle. But he did not have the stunning result like how Chu Xiaoran easily defeated Fang Jihai.

Within the hearts of many, Liu Yuxing could not compare to a senior cultivator like Fang Jihai.

And the rule set by the Divine City for the rookie rankings was that fights had to carry on till a winner amongst the rookies was decided!

The Divine City had prepared rich rewards to the number one rookie!

Now Chu Xiaoran might seem the strongest, and the only person that could compete with Chu Xiaoran was Qiuniu and possibly Yi Yun…

“Chu Xiaoran has understood the hard-soft truths. This is the foundation of the Defender Duke’s family. From a young age, Chu Xiaoran was under the tutelage of good teachers in the Defender Duke’s residence. The resources she received were also extraordinary. Compared to us, she’s on a completely different level.” Someone sighed with emotion. After all, no one could compare with a descendant from a family with great accumulative heritage.

“We might not be able to, but Yi Yun might be able to barely compete. I am really looking forward to Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran’s battle. Yi Yun has even weaker roots than us. Although his chances of winning are slim, he can still fight an exhilarating battle. If he can force Chu Xiaoran to use all her strength, then it would be something to be proud of.”

Although many were jealous of Yi Yun, some cultivators were impressed with Yi Yun’s origins. Those who came from small family clans knew the difficulty of climbing up.

“How is it? Any thoughts?” Baldy Qin asked while stroking his chin as he stood beside Yi Yun. He had always been hypercritical, but he could not help but praise Chu Xiaoran’s performance.

Yi Yun smiled and nodded, “She is indeed strong…”

In the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, there were all sorts of hidden monsters. If this was three months ago, when he just arrived in the Tai Ah Divine City, Yi Yun would feel like he could do nothing against a person like Chu Xiaoran.

They were of a completely different level!

Chu Xiaoran had great sword play, cultivation techniques and had gained insight on a nomological truth. As for states like the Tempered Body, Dragon Pulse, even a pea-sized brain could figure out that Chu Xiaoran had reached them earlier on.

Back then, Yi Yun with only his large success stage of Minute Subtlety would have no advantage against Chu Xiaoran. They were from completely different realms.

But now, everything was different. With the ‘Tai Ah Sacred Technique’, it had filled the gap in Yi Yun’s many shortcomings.

Now, Yi Yun deeply understood the importance of cultivation techniques and nomology. It could increase a person’s strength to an entirely new level.

Without a good cultivation technique and without understanding any nomologies, any amount of energy that his body absorbed would be useless. It was like a group of strong soldiers without a general commanding them. The battle prowess would be greatly reduced.