The end of the competition!

Your next match is a man known as Zheng Zexi, he’s a hardy man with a stern demeanor.

“I won’t be so easy to defeat as a woman!” He growls. You choose to not answer, instead focusing on the fight. As you both clash, it becomes clear that he’s definitely stronger then Lin, at least in raw strength. While is technique is quite good, it lacks versatility. You adapt your sword play to take advantage of his limited mobility, and quickly end the match.

“Looks like it was just shameless boasting!” You declare. Zheng huffs, but he doesn’t respond, instead leaving the stage. You do your Normal routine until the semi-final match. This time your opponent is Cao Qing. She hails from a prestigious family, and you can sense it in the air around her.

“Let’s have a fair fight!” She says, after she bows.

“Yes! Let’s us have a fair fight!” You respond, giving a bow. Her cultivation base is extremely high at the eighth level, so you’ll have to complete with skill. When you start clashing, it becomes apparent that she practices a royal sword technique. It lacks neither ****, nor versatility, making it hard to deal with. Eventually you get a feel for it’s rhythm though, as it possess somewhat formulaic movements. You adapt your technique to disrupt her natural rhythm, causing her technique to become far less effective. It’s not long after, until you win.

“Looks like it’s my loss! It was a good fight though! You should come visit my family when you have the time.” She says.

“It’ll be my pleasure! I look forward to our next fight!” You say, you both bow before leaving.

“Congratulations on the making to the finals!” Everyone says, Qian and Liao jumping into your arms.

“We’re gonna have to celebrate when you when brother!” Liao says mischievously.

“Yea? I’m sure whatever your planning will be fun!” You respond.

“You know it!”Liao responds, before laughing.

“With this, the Seductive Lotus sect should fully restore it’s former glory, so thank you Ichicka!” Jun says, with a bit of a bittersweet smile.

“It’s only right that the Patriarch brings glory to his sect! I wouldn’t be so hard on yourself! I don’t anyone could’ve handled things better as the matriarch!” You say, before giving her a kiss, causing her to really smile

“I’m not sure I deserve such praise, but thank you all the same!” She says.

“Alright let’s eat, before we continue our conversation!” You declare, leading them off.

“The next day, you go off to fight your final opponent, a man named Duan Yijun. His cultivation is at the ninth level, and his sword **** isn’t much weaker than your own. In truth, your not sure if you can win this fight or not.

“How about you just forfeit here, boy! This king promises to reward you for coming this far!” He says, a grimy smile on his face. You took great insult in his words.

“I rather fight it out!” You respond harshly.

“Are you sure you really wish to offend me? Can your sect bear the consequences?” He yells. You feel your anger boiling within you, before a sudden calm comes upon you.

“I guess we’ll just have to see, won’t we!” You declare. Just then you become aware of Master Cheng watching. You quickly das forward, and start the fight. Duan has mastered several techniques, allowing him to switch his style at random. This prevents you from being able to fully countering his technique, forcing you to merely try to test the sharpness of your technique against his. At first, with his greater strength, you were definitely losing, but your skill quickly rises to close the gap. After nearly two hours, you finally win, but the fight was quite close.

“I’ll remember this boy! Expect a visit not to far from now!” He says angrily, before storming off. You huff a sigh of relief, as you almost completely exhausted yourself in the fight. If it had gone on longer, Duan’s greater stamina would’ve given him the win. Master Cheng then comes down to the stage.

“Excellent fight! Let me take you to the treasury to pick out your prize!” Master Cheng says, before shaking your hand.

“I’ll be in your care then, Master Cheng!” You respond.

“No need to be so formal with me kid, you can just call me old Cheng from now on, I’m sure we’ll see each other much more after today!” He says, before leading you back to his Family House. The layout isn’t to different from your Yang family, but is definitely larger, and more ornate! He leads you to a type of store house, with shelves practically bursting with items. With your sensitivity to Yin treasures you immediately sense the Frozen Queen’s yin ice, but then also sense something far more powerful. You leisurely head towards it, until you find that it’s just a small bead. When you use your ordinary sense, you can’t sense anything, but your special sense detects an extraordinary yin from this bead. You pick up the small bead, inspect it.

“Interesting! While I know that bead is a treasure since even I can’t seem to break it, I have no idea what it is so I threw it in here. Are you interested?” He asks curiously. Just as he speaks, you feel the true seductive lotus suddenly engrave a technique into your spirit sea. Upon inspection, it seems to be a technique to refine a heavenly ice bead. The process involves swallowing it, as stomach acid seems to breakdown it’s seemingly impenetrable shell. This surely is an extraordinary treasure!

“Yes! I know a method to refine it! Do you mind if I also enter retreat here?” You ask.

“Sure, if that’s what you wish. I’ll tell the servants to let your friends know.” He responds, before taking to a room. Once he leaves, you immediately swallow the pill. Nothing happens for several minutes, before you suddenly are frozen solid. The true seductive lotus then responds, by practically bursting with it’s volatile yang qi. You very slowly thaw, as your cultivation rapidly rises. After only a few hours, you reach the peak of the great spirit realm. The world qi quickly builds around you, preparing to baptize you. It’s extremely powerful, and as it descends, the whole Family complex shakes, and starts breaking down. Then, the power of the heavens descend, drastically increasing the harshness of the baptism.

Despite this terrifying baptism, the yang and ying storm around you easily resist this, as your strength rapidly improves. You feel your true qi evolve into saint qi, and it’s quality is also increasing nonstop. As the baptism clears, so to do you fully refine the heavenly ice bead, and successfully reach the saint spirit realm!