Spirit Cultivation

Bang!

An explosion resounded throughout the arena as the judge blew a hole inside Xuefeng's Wind Domain. Everything seemed normal when the judge started cursing under his breath and dove downwards to interrupt the match. 

Although all the stages were separated and they were surrounded by various soundproofing barriers, the participants could still see the other stages. It was an additional difficulty for them as it was hard to focus on their own opponents when tens of explosions could be seen around them. 

It was especially hard for Xiao Wen, taking into fact that the love of her life was fighting right next to her on the first stage. At first, she trusted in his abilities and focused on her battle but when angrily broke Xuefeng's Wind Domain, she couldn't help but get distracted, worrying about Xuefeng. 

Too bad that just as she turned her head to look, Black Mamba struck her with another fang, finally hitting her on the chest and blew her away. 

"Hehe, you shouldn't get distracted when you fight me. Now it's over!" Black Mamba shouted, looking completely different than before. 

Her upper body was similar to her previous self with the exception of sharp fangs but her lower body turned into that of a snake. It was her signature transformation from which she received her nickname. 

Each time she opened her mouth, two poisonous fangs made from Qi would leave her mouth and strike her opponent. They were slow and easy to dodge but once they hit you, they were deadly. 

"Everyone knows that once they get hit by my fangs, the battle is lost. You fell for it the last time and now it wasn't different," Black Mamba trash talked as she slowly slid towards Xiao Wen. 

She could see Xiao Wen laying on the ground with her poison-filled Qi entering through her chest. She couldn't help but grin, thinking she won. No one has even survived her poison as she was the only one with the antidote for it. After battle was over, her opponents would still be left poisoned, forcing them to beg for the cure. 

"Hehe, I really want to see you begging for the antidote," Black Mamba giggled, ready to finish Xiao Wen off. 

She was already pale so the poison should be wreaking havoc in her body. Black Mamba wasn't especially agile but knowing her poison had paralyzing effect, she didn't mind closing the distance. 

Just as she thought she was safe, Xiao Wen's chest burst with gold light and she swiftly extended her hand forward as if she was throwing something. Before Black Mamba could do anything, she felt immense hotness on her back and soon found herself in the air, flying in Xiao Wen's direction. 

Splash!

Dark blood sprayed in all direction as something pierced through her chest, shocking her to the core. 

"Bitch," Xiao Wen spat coldly and pulled the sword from Black Mamba's belly. It intensified the bleeding even further and the half-snake fell to the ground with a thud. 

Xiao Wen didn't bothered with her anymore and looked at her chest instead where two fangs were stuck. She pulled both of them out and black liquid began dripping out as if poison was being expelled from her body. In the matter of seconds, her chest wound closed up and she was left with no injury. 

She had to thank Xuefeng later for help. Her own regeneration ability was too weak to stop the poison the last time she fought with Black Mamba but Xuefeng got rid of it for her in no time. 

Xiao Wen glanced at the judge and asked, "Is the battle done? I don't have time to waste on her." She wanted to check up on Xuefeng as soon as possible, knowing he could be in trouble. 

The young judge awakened hearing her and announced, "Xiao Wen wins! Is there any specific Ability you would like to claim from your opponent?" 

Xiao Wen wanted to quickly claim the snake transformation, just cause she hated Black Mamba but she stopped herself, recalling the hidden ability she didn't even use in this battle. Black Mamba just didn't expect her poison to fail. 

She knew she had to be specific in her claim but she had no information what that new ability of hers did or how it was called. She had to use her luck this time. 

"Please select one at random," Xiao Wen decided and looked back at the first arena, checking on Xuefeng. 

Her eyes widened when she saw his Spirit, Ling, on the stage, battling against the judge with hundreds of swords flying around. Xuefeng, on the other hand, was crouching next to Quickshots body while extracting a ball of light from his stomach. 

It was the first time she saw someone fighting the judge but she was glad he was alright. 

The judge from her arena was busy extracting an ability from the unconscious Black Mamba so he didn't see the ongoing battle on the main stage. According to rules, they couldn't leave the stage until the battle was over. 

On other stages, the participants called for a break in the battle just so they could watch the ongoing action. The judges were forced to stay put as well, watching as one of them was attacked. 

'Wouldn't he help fight against Xuefeng if he spots what's happening there?' Xiao Wen asked herself as she watched her judge and just as she decided to stall for him, he stood up while holding a golden ball in his hand. 

"Here you go lady. I picked one at random. It seems to be one of the newest she got as it was really easy to extract. Congratulations on the win," the young judge said with a smile as he passed her the ball. 

Her eyes widened, wanting to quickly check what is it but instead she called out sweetly, "Sir, could you check on her, please? She is still injured." 

Having a beauty like her asking, the judge couldn't really reject her. "Oh, well. I stopped the bleeding but I might as well help her more." 

Even though she wanted Black Mamba dead, Xiao Wen needed to stall for Xuefeng's sake. 

Meanwhile, she absorbed the golden ball into her body. She could only learn what ability it was after testing it properly later.  

——— 

'I'm done! I extracted the Spirit and I temporarily stored her in the bracelet,' Drakos called out as soon as he was done. 

'Oh, so its a female Spirit?" Xuefeng asked with relief. He didn't want to do anything with male Spirits. He would rather consume it rather than give it to one of his women. 

'Yeah. She was rather willing to join us so she didn't fight back. It seems this guy abused her a lot. She only demanded that her new Fate Holder will be a girl. I said it wouldn't be a problem.' Drakos explained in details. 

'Guys, I'm struggling here.' Ling broke their conversation, sounding a bit desperate. 'He is stronger than I thought. Without Drakos we can't deal with him.' 

'You can come back Ling, I will handle him,' Xuefeng informed, standing up to face the judge. 

Ling immediately listened and retreated, collecting all the swords before disappearing into Xuefeng's body. 

"You think you can get away with killing him?" the judge barked angrily closing in on Xuefeng but he just shrugged and did what he could do best. 

"I have an ability that lets me detect Fate Spirit's suffering. I discovered that Quickshot was abusing his Spirit so I decided to end her suffering. She will hopefully find a better home soon," Xuefeng explained with straight face before taking away Quickshot's Storage Rings. 

"I will take those as a reward."