Daily life of a cultivation judge



When Zou Yi and the rest joined the fight, he sunk back. Zou Yi was worried he was preparing to escape and leave them holding the bag, but his worries were unfounded.

Lai Rou seemed to be regulating himself, preparing for another go. Only when they clashed against her did they realize how strong Lai Rou was for going toe to toe with her. If they wanted to get out of it, they couldn't do it without him. If he left or was out of commission their defeat was all but guaranteed.

The four all nodded as they spread about, with Lai Rou striking Yin Rong with his saber.

"Don't think it will be easy for you like before.." Yin Rong mockingly said as she swung her swords to meet his saber strike.

Even though she showed a modicum of seriousness when facing Lai Rou, one could still detect a sense of casualness from her as she faced him, however, that instantly changed when their weapons clashed. 

At the final moment, the saber in Lai Rou's hand seemed like it had a life of its own as it slithered through the tiniest of gaps between the two swords before they connected and struck one of Yin Rong's arms.

She hurriedly dodged backward, but one of her sleeves had been torn and one could see blood dripping from it.

" Saber sense?!" she said in shock.

"Don't think it will be easy for you like before.." said Lai Rou trying to act pompous like her.

"Sorry I was trying to sound cool.." he said with a smile of embarrassment when he saw the looks Zou Yi and the others were giving.

"Mmph! it's just saber sense. Your cultivation itself isn't strong enough to make use of it.." Yin Rong said as she geared up for another attack.

Even though she sounded unperturbed from her statement, her gaze and demeanor were much more solemn. The white flames that were wavey on her sword became much more streamlined to the point one couldn't tell them apart from the blade.

Seconds later a thunderous clash ensued between her and Lai Rou, except this time, Lai Rou wasn't being put on the defensive. He matched her movements with his saber.

"Our bet may pay off.." Zou Yi thought with glittering eyes as took the terrifying battle before him.

Lai Rou was tall but his body seemed like it had no bones from the flexibility and agility with which he moved, dodged, and attacked. The movements of his saber and his body were so in synch that one couldn't tell the saber apart from his long arms.

With clear hope in sight, Zou Yi and the rest all threw caution to the wind and attacked without a care in the world. 

At first, they struggled in their coordination and were at times in Lai Rou's way, but with his encouragement, they kept going.

Soon the attacks became much more coordinated and fluid as they took advantage of the gaps in Yin Rong's defense created by Lai Rou, to strike at her. They managed to injure her, but for close combatants such as Zou Yi and Zou Liqin, it came at a cost of injuries of their own even with Lai Rou keeping her at bay.

Despite being swarmed and the growing injuries, Yin Rong showed no signs of shrinking back. She faced them all and increased the ferocity of her attacks, even going so far as accepting certain attacks if it meant she had a chance of trading a greater one in return.

If an outsider saw their fight and the degree of ferocity they had, one would think it was an irreconcilable blood feud that had resulted in a battle to the death.

In some sense, it was indeed true. While they didn't have a blood feud, they were fighting with their lives on the line. They all aimed to take the other party's life in their attacks which only grew in intensity and desperation as time flew by.

Each and every one had their robes bloodied with cuts all over but their expression remained determined. Minutes flew by and soon a quarter of an hour flew by with them locked in a battle that showed no signs of stopping causing chaos and destruction in the area.

There were a few spirit beasts that had been drawn in by the commotion with the goal of trying to fish in troubled waters, but quickly shrunk back in fear when they saw the scale of destruction up close. 

As time went by, Lai Rou grew in his ability to use saber sense and when it came to Zou Yi and the rest, their familiarity with the cultivation arts of the 108 steps of the Autumn leaves had also improved while Yu Mei discovered new ways to use her heart mirror especially when Yin Rong was looking to deal fatal injuries she could sense it a couple of times which proved to be a lifesaver to the team more so Lai Rou who was in the front line keeping Yin Rong at bay.

Sadly for them, they were not the only ones. Yin Rong's roses had vines in them that extended to her neck with white leaves at the side. This seemed to have increased the destructive capabilities of her attack by making it more colder and Zou Yi wasn't sure but he felt different the more the fight went on, he couldn't tell where and how.

Other than that, her sword skills became much more refined. They weren't the only ones who chose one art from the 108 steps of the Autumn leaves. Yin Rong had done so too. The sword art' the dual flow transition'. Her attacks were forceful and gentle at times; nimble and firm. It kept contrasting and alternating, which added variability.

They would have despaired were they to face her alone or with their numbers short of one of them. But as the fight progressed the more Zou Yi and the rest struggled to keep up. They could finally tell the gap between them and Lai Rou and Yin Rong.

The grace of their movements, the ingenuity of their attacks. How they pulled off dodges like they had eyes on the back of their heads and transition to an attack just as fast.

One hour quickly passed by, with the fight ongoing and by the look of things, it was soon approaching its end.

Five kilometers around the battlefield had nothing but cracked ground, mist, and smoke that was filled with different colors and scents spread about being carried by erratic winds. The winds not only carried the scented smoke, but roars that were too wild to be human, and too soft to be from a beast and were followed by the sound of trees falling and ground trembling.