As the dust from the naked ape’s attack settled, a collective gasp rippled through the crowd. What emerged shocked everyone—even the Core Elders couldn’t help glancing toward the Vice-Sect Master’s empty seat, expressions grim.

In the arena stood Sun Mei’er, her foot planted atop the three-meter-tall naked ape, now crushed into the stone stage. Its body shimmered, then began to dissipate into wisps of qi.

When the spirit vanished completely, Ling Shi collapsed, blood leaking from her seven orifices.

A Spirit Realm cultivator whose spirit was destroyed would suffer every shred of damage their spirit received. Ling Shi had just taken the full force of Sun Mei’er’s wrath. It would be a miracle if she survived without lasting damage.

“SUN MEI’ER!” Lu Cha’s furious shout echoed across the stadium. She launched herself from her seat like a blazing comet, fiery red qi flaring around her as she streaked toward the arena.

In an instant, she appeared above Sun Mei’er, qi condensing into a massive claw that arced toward her face.

But a burst of red light flared behind Sun Mei’er as two flaming phoenix wings erupted from her back. She vanished, reappearing above Lu Cha in a flash, her heel aiming squarely for the small of her opponent’s back.

Lu Cha twisted mid-air, deflecting the kick with her clawed hand. The recoil sent them both flying, each landing on opposite sides of the arena with graceful but forceful impact.

They moved to strike again—

But the air suddenly shifted. A suffocating pressure descended, locking both women in place.

“Sect Mast—”

“Ai Yun—!”

“Shut your mouths—both of you!” Chen Ai Yun’s voice cracked through the stadium like thunder, her aura washing over everything as she rose from her seat.

“Xi Yue, tend to Ling Shi. The rest of you—see to the injured disciples!” she commanded, her tone brooking no argument.

Then, she turned back to the two women still poised for battle.

“And you two! Want to fight so badly you won’t even give me face? Fine! Fight to your heart’s content. Don’t stop until you’re both crawling back up here!”

With a flick of her sleeve, her qi surged outward and erected a glowing barrier around the arena, locking both Sun Mei’er and Lu Cha inside.

All around them, healers moved quickly, rushing to treat the disciples still groaning from the aftershock.

Chen Ai Yun huffed, turned her back to the arena, and sat back down. “There. Now fight,” she muttered, ignoring the duel she had just sanctioned.

Jin Shu stared at the arena, worry tightening his chest. He couldn’t help but ask, “Um… Master? Is it really okay to let them fight like this?”

Chen Ai Yun shot him a glance, her voice soft in his mind. “Don’t worry about that dumb woman. Your mother’s much stronger than her cultivation lets on.”

At her words, Jin Shu focused on the auras clashing within the barrier. His mother was at the Seventh Stage of the Spirit Realm. First Elder Lu Cha’s presence felt stronger—at least Eighth Stage, maybe even Ninth.

All around, murmurs filled the stadium.

“Are the First Elder and Vice-Sect Master really about to fight?”

“It looks like it…”

“Is that allowed?”

“…Probably not. But who’s going to stop them?”

The crowd buzzed with tension as two of the most powerful women in the sect prepared to clash.

Sun Mei’er smiled dangerously. “Well, you heard her. Looks like one of us—you—is going to be crawling out of this arena.”

Lu Cha snorted. “I’ve heard enough out of that stinking mouth of yours. You’ll give me back what’s rightfully mine. You will hand over the Sect M—I mean, the Vice-Sect Master’s seat!”

“Oh-ho! Finally admitting to coveting something that isn’t yours?” Sun Mei’er’s grin widened. “Unfortunately, both of those things already belong to me.”

“I should be the Vice-Sect Master, not you!” Lu Cha roared. “I was the previous Vice-Sect Master’s disciple. You were just the disgraced second disciple of the Sect Master!”

“Enough talking, bitch. Let’s fight!”

With another flash of red light, Sun Mei’er vanished—then reappeared a heartbeat later, her fist buried in Lu Cha’s stomach.

Cough!

Lu Cha’s body folded like a cracked twig and shot backward, slamming hard into the barrier Chen Ai Yun had erected. But it would take far more than that to bring down a Spirit Realm cultivator.

She rose slowly, flames gathering around her like a raging bonfire.

Ptui!

She spat blood and glared at Sun Mei’er. “You sneaky bitch!”

The disciples outside the barrier were in awe, voices rising in excited disbelief.

“They’re really fighting!”

“Vice-Sect Master is so strong!”

“How is she moving so fast?!”

“That’s her spirit’s unique ability—teleportation!”

“Wow! That’s amazing!”

It was clear most of them didn’t care about the cause—just the spectacle of two top elders clashing.

Inside the barrier, Lu Cha activated her movement technique, dashing around the arena so fast she nearly left afterimages. She had no choice—Sun Mei’er’s teleportation was relentless, and even with higher cultivation, Lu Cha couldn’t land a single blow.

“Aah!” She screamed in frustration, unleashing a torrent of qi. Flames surged outward, engulfing the entire arena in fire.

Sun Mei’er stepped calmly through the blaze, completely unharmed. “Pft. Playing with fire in front of me? Did I hit you too hard?”

She tilted her head. “You do remember my Great Phoenix Technique makes me immune to flames at this level, right?”

Lu Cha smirked. “I remember. But I also remember—you can’t teleport while affected by someone else’s qi.”

Sun Mei’er raised an eyebrow. “So?”

“So…” Lu Cha’s smirk deepened. “Now I have the advantage.”

Sun Mei’er stared at her like she’d grown another head. Honestly, it wasn’t much different from how she usually looked at her—but this time there was genuine concern the woman had finally gone dumb.

With a sigh, she stepped forward, cracking her knuckles as she drew a sheathed sword from her space ring.

“Oh, right! Vice-Sect Master is a Sword Master!”

“Don’t forget—we call them Sword Mistresses here.”

“Ah, right. I forgot.”

“But she doesn’t cultivate the Sword Dao, right? So how is she a Sword Mistress?”

“You don’t have to cultivate the Sword Dao to master the sword. But the Dao unlocks a deeper path.”

“Oh… I see. By the way, isn’t ‘Sword Mistress’ kind of… dirty-sounding?”

“Ow!” The girl who asked was promptly smacked by another.

“It’s mistress as in ‘master of a field,’ not a… kept woman!”

“Oh… sorry…”

Back inside the barrier, Sun Mei’er rapped her sheathed sword with a finger.

“How would you like your beating served? Hot or cold—wait, that’s not right. Quick or slow? Either way, I’ll be sure to make it extra painful, just for you,” she asked with a pleasant smile, as if she were a waiter taking Lu Cha’s order—not someone about to deliver the beating of a lifetime.

“Slow. But I’m going to be the one giving the beating,” Lu Cha shot back, stepping toward her.

The two met in the middle of the arena, Lu Cha swinging her claw-covered arm with blinding speed. Sun Mei’er calmly lifted her sword to block—without even unsheathing it.

Ding!

The phoenix talons scraped against the sheath, leaving shallow scratches that slowly faded thanks to the engraved self-repair rune.

But Lu Cha wasn’t done. Her other hand formed a second phoenix claw, and she launched into a flurry of dual strikes.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Her blows fell like a storm—but not a single one slipped past Sun Mei’er’s defense.

With one hand, Sun Mei’er stifled a yawn. “Yawn~ Why are you so weak? Did you skip breakfast?”

Lu Cha gritted her teeth. “Keep acting arrogant.”

When even dozens of attacks failed to land a hit, she backed off and began forming hand seals to summon her spirit.

Sun Mei’er stood by, utterly unbothered, casually twirling her sword as she waited. That was just how confident she was.

Even though Jin Shu felt a pang of worry for his mother, he couldn’t help smiling at her playfulness.

Soon, Lu Cha’s spirit materialized behind her: a snake woman with a human upper body—scaled across her chest and abdomen—and a boa constrictor’s lower half. Her hair writhed with smaller snakes, and a thin veil covered her eyes.

The crowd erupted.

“That’s the First Elder’s spirit! The Medusa Queen!”

“Ranked top three among snake spirits! Said to rival the Jiaolong!”

“It can’t quite beat a flood dragon, but its special ability is deadly.”

“What does it do?”

“That’s its—”

“Medusa Queen! Use your petrifying gaze!” Lu Cha shouted as soon as the spirit fully formed.

Sun Mei’er laughed softly—and vanished before the spirit could even lift its veil.

“Too slow!” she called, reappearing above the spirit.

She tapped the Medusa Queen’s head with her foot, using it as a launch point to lunge toward Lu Cha. Her sword whistled through the air, slamming into her with the force of a raging river. Lu Cha barely managed to block with her arm before being flung backward into the qi barrier.

Clutching her broken arm, Lu Cha glared at Sun Mei’er. “How?! How did you teleport? I covered the entire arena with my qi!”

Sun Mei’er casually twirled her sword again. With each swing, the qi Lu Cha had released was swept away.

“Oh, this little bit of qi? Yeah, I blew it away. Why? Were you planning to beat me with that?” she asked with a wicked smile.

But Lu Cha’s own smirk twisted across her face. “No. Just needed a distraction.”

A snake tail shot out, coiling tightly around Sun Mei’er’s waist, binding her arms and legs in one crushing twist.

Jin Shu stood abruptly on the elders’ platform, his seat toppling over. He was ready to leap down—but Chen Ai Yun caught his wrist.

“Sit,” she said gently. “You can’t do anything.”

“But—”

“She’s not in danger,” she said, pulling him back. “Besides, a small beating might do her some good.” She smiled.

Jin Shu clenched his jaw. But when he looked again, his mother still wore that smug smirk. He sat.

“Haha! Didn’t expect to fall into my hands, did you?” Lu Cha laughed. “You’re too arrogant. You don’t see anyone but yourself. Never putting anyone in your eyes!”

“I think the arrogant one is you,” Sun Mei’er replied. “I’m not the one monologuing while my opponent gets time to break free.”

“You can’t break free! Not after my Medusa Queen hits you with her petrifying gaze!”

As she spoke, the Medusa Queen removed its veil, revealing two crystal eyes like polished mirrors—reflecting Sun Mei’er bound in its coils.

Stone began to creep over Sun Mei’er’s skin, a thin gray layer spreading slowly across her body.

“Oh no! The Vice-Sect Master’s been petrified!”

“Even an Adept Realm cultivator would struggle to break that!”

Lu Cha laughed, raising her clawed hands as the Medusa Queen released Sun Mei’er’s frozen body. She prepared to strike.

But just as her claw came down—

The Medusa Queen clutched its chest and opened its mouth in a silent scream.

A sword pierced through its torso. A fountain of blood-like qi exploded from the wound. The spirit disintegrated.

Lu Cha doubled over, clutching her chest. The pain of her spirit’s destruction was immense—but unlike Ling Shi, she didn’t faint with blood pouring from every orifice.

The stone encasing Sun Mei’er crumbled along with the spirit. She stepped forward, calm and composed.

“H-How?!” Lu Cha gasped, collapsing to her knees.

Sun Mei’er tilted her head. “You know, I’ve thought this for a while—but you really are dumb.”

“You can insult me, but don’t play with me!” Lu Cha shouted, lunging with everything she had. Her qi flared, blazing around her like a small sun.

But she froze mid-charge.

The tip of a sword hovered an inch from her forehead.

“You…! When did you gain sword control?!” she cried, staring at the weapon floating unaided.

This wasn’t just Sun Mei’er holding it with qi like Zhu Ren’s daggers—this was true sword control. A technique that could behead a foe from miles away. The signature of Sword Dao cultivators. A terrifying technique.

But Sun Mei’er wasn’t a Sword Dao cultivator.

“You know my cultivation’s been stalled because of my spirit,” Sun Mei’er said. “So I had a lot of free time… figured I’d play with my sword. Turns out—” she smiled, pressing the sword’s tip until it drew blood “—I’ve got some talent in the Sword Dao!”

She laughed as the sword whipped around and slammed its hilt into Lu Cha’s temple.

The woman crumpled, unconscious.