I, Who Hate Marine So Much, Have Become A Future Nika?

Chapter 28: Yan Lingdie's Challenge

After adjusting his mood, Zhong Cang closed the courtyard door and hurried towards the training ground.

On the way, for some reason, Zhong Cang suddenly smiled and muttered to himself.

"To challenge me today, I have to say, Yan Lingdie, your luck is really bad... one day late."

"Shua..."

As he finished speaking, with a gust of wind, Zhong Cang's figure disappeared without a trace.

...

While Zhong Cang was heading to the training ground, on the other side, Yan Lingdie hadn't arrived yet.

At this moment, she was clinging to her mother's arm, acting spoiled.

"Mother, just accompany me there."

In response, the woman in palace attire did not comply with Yan Lingdie's request, but instead patted her head and said, "Xiaodie, be good, I have something else to do, you can go by yourself."

"Um... this battle is my chance to prove myself. Mother, don't you want to see my heroic appearance?"

Yan Lingdie felt that this battle was very important, so she wanted her family to witness it.

However, her mother had a different opinion.

"Xiaodie, I do want to see how you fight, but I will accompany you when you fight against the legitimate heirs of other families."

"But today's battle is just a farce... and don't treat that sparring partner as an archenemy."

At this point, the woman in palace attire's tone became serious.

"Take from the top, gain from the middle; take from the middle, gain from the bottom; take from the bottom, then there is nothing to gain."

"Using your opponent as a mirror can push you to grow faster, but the choice of opponent is extremely important. You are the legitimate daughter of the Yan family. Your goal is to become a true disciple of the sect and a genius of other sects, not just a sparring partner."

"Using him as a mirror, you are aiming for the bottom. Even if you surpass him, you will still be at the bottom among cultivators."

"...Um, I understand."

Unable to have her mother accompany her and being scolded, Yan Lingdie could only sulk and go to the training ground by herself.

When she arrived, Zhong Cang had been waiting at the tree for a long time.

"You're here."

"Yeah, I'm here."

"You shouldn't have come."

"???"

Looking at Yan Lingdie's confused expression, Zhong Cang felt a little embarrassed by his impulsive remark.

"Cough, let's begin."

"Yeah."

On the stage, Yan Lingdie didn't attack immediately.

Looking at Zhong Cang, she sighed with emotion, "You have taught me a lot, and fighting against you is also interesting. But my progress won't stop, so I'm sorry, today I must defeat you."

These words made Zhong Cang raise an eyebrow, and his expression became somewhat strange.

"Cough, if I remember correctly, you said the same thing ten days ago."

"..."

This sentence broke through Yan Lingdie's defense.

Zhong Cang's response reminded her of the time when she confidently stepped onto the stage, hoping for a perfect ending to their duel.

However, she ended up being beaten up.

She even began to doubt her life.

Such a thing was embarrassing.

And Yan Lingdie was still young and had a thin face. Zhong Cang's words made her blush.

After a while, she finally reacted and became somewhat annoyed, "That doesn't count, and besides, things are different now. Three days apart and we should treat each other with new eyes. I am different from who I was ten days ago!"

Finding an excuse, Yan Lingdie didn't continue to argue. Zhong Cang nodded and agreed with her statement.

"You're right, three days apart, we should indeed treat each other with new eyes. I am also completely different from who I was ten days ago... I have advanced to the fourth level of Qi Refining."

"Hmph, although you are as stubborn as a stone, you can still understand what I'm saying. But wait, you've reached the fourth level of Qi Refining!"

At first, Zhong Cang's agreement with her "three days apart" statement made Yan Lingdie feel triumphant.

But upon hearing Zhong Cang say that he had advanced to the fourth level of Qi Refining, Yan Lingdie realized something was wrong.

Wide-eyed, she stared at Zhong Cang for a while, feeling a bit dumbfounded.

After a while, recalling the power of her secret technique, she nonchalantly said, "It doesn't matter, whether you're at the third level or the fourth level of Qi Refining, it won't make a difference against this move."

"Boom!"

As she finished speaking, instead of rushing forward with a heavy sword like before, she plunged both hands into the ground.

As the heavy sword plunged into the ground, a furious shout erupted.

"Divine descent!"

"Boom!"

With Yan Lingdie's delicate shout, flames surged out from her body.

The boiling flames, like exploding fireworks, soared several meters high in an instant.

Unlike fireworks, the flames on Yan Lingdie's body did not disappear in a flash.

The scorching fireworks burned and danced on her like a raging dragon.

"Flame Spirit of the Radiant Blaze!"

In the next moment, as Yan Lingdie uttered the last four words of the spell, the raging flames converged into a humanoid form under her control.

A towering three-meter-seven humanoid flame giant with a majestic posture!

"Buzz!"

The flame giant's spirit body was massive and awe-inspiring. Even from a distance, Zhong Cang could feel a wave of heat rolling towards him, which left him silent.

"This is something that can be learned in just twelve days of seclusion?"

At this moment, Zhong Cang understood the source of Shui Bo's confidence and why he was so wary of the direct descendants of the cultivation clans.

To think that a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl could master such a terrifying spell in just a short period of ten days, the depth of the cultivation clans' heritage was truly unfathomable.

While Zhong Cang was feeling shocked, Yan Lingdie made her move.

"Boom..."

With a casual pull, Yan Lingdie retrieved the long sword she had plunged into the ground, which was then held by the flame giant.

And in the next second, the flames on the flame giant extended towards the heavy sword. This caused the originally 1.8-meter-long sword, taller than Yan Lingdie herself, to double in size, reaching four meters and two.

"Boom!"

In Zhong Cang's eyes, the heavy sword appeared as massive as a door.

But even with such a door-like heavy sword, it seemed like an ordinary long sword in the hands of the flame giant, effortlessly and freely wielded with just one hand.

Without even using both hands, the flame giant swung the long sword towards Zhong Cang.

"Boom..."

The overwhelming force made Zhong Cang feel that the incoming heavy sword was not just a sword technique attack, but rather a heavy truck rushing towards him at full speed.

A burning truck!

"This move cannot be blocked by pure sword techniques!"

Even though his cultivation had reached the fourth layer of Qi Refining, Zhong Cang had no confidence in blocking the heavy sword swung by the flame giant with his Maple Flower in hand.

The heavy sword, which came rushing through the air, caused a sonic boom.

Such overwhelming force made Zhong Cang have no doubt that this one sword could shatter rocks and split the earth.

Moreover, the heavy sword wielded by the flame giant not only carried the attack of the sword itself but also brought forth a scorching wave of fire.

The raging flames were all-pervading, and the slender Maple Flower alone, relying on the sword's body, was unable to block all the flames from entering.

Fortunately, Yan Lingdie's flame giant was strong, and the quality of the Maple Flower in Zhong Cang's hand was not low.

Facing the danger and fully activating the Sword Heart, which merged the person and the sword, Zhong Cang was able to fully unleash the power of the Maple Flower.

"I can win!"

After firmly affirming his own heart with words, Zhong Cang swiftly drew out his long sword with a "swish."

Instead of using his sword to block as he had done in the past, Zhong Cang pointed the tip of the sword towards the ground.

Taking a deep breath, Zhong Cang merged himself with the sword and suddenly lifted the Maple Flower diagonally upwards.

"Chi-la..."

With Zhong Cang's movement, the sword tip that pointed towards the ground left behind a trail of fire and scratches on the ground.

And as the sparks burst forth, the mana within Zhong Cang's body surged rapidly.

"Buzz!"

The surging mana resonated with the Maple Flower, causing the natural wind to stir.

"Whoosh!"

With Zhong Cang's upward motion, a roaring wave of wind was suddenly lifted by him.

The surging wave of wind formed a barrier of wind, seemingly capable of blowing away everything.

And at the same time as the roaring wind wave, the flaming giant's giant flaming sword also came crashing down.

This was not a coincidence but rather, under the Sword Heart, Zhong Cang accurately calculated the timing of the heavy sword's descent.

The descending heavy sword clashed vertically, and the roaring wind wave soared into the sky.

These two forces collided without any fancy moves.

"Boom!"

(End of this chapter)