Chapter 105: Blazing Flames

She had barely finished speaking when she charged forward with her sword.

The burly man clearly wasn’t weak either. He countered with a single move and quickly adjusted his position, stepping back a few steps before attacking from the side.

His companions weren’t idle either. They surrounded Lian Mu, attempting to block her movements.

“In this Beast Arena, there are some people you can’t afford to provoke!” The burly man said, raising his foot to kick her sword.

The sword she had just refined, after the dark red Refined Jade was fused into it, now had a red marrow line running through the middle of the blade. His foot landed right near that spot.

Lian Mu gathered her spiritual energy in her hand, and the red marrow line began to glow. The heat traveling from the sword handle made her palm slightly warm.

The burly man and his companions worked together. One of the talisman cultivators pressed several talismans onto him, then quickly retreated.

With the talisman’s assistance, the man became lighter on his feet. A gust of wind seemed to form under him, and in the blink of an eye, he had moved to another position.

Seeing that the two were already fighting, the surrounding crowd immediately scattered. Even Silver Crane took his Spirit Pet and retreated to a safe distance.

The silver-faced man quickly entered the fray, preparing to find more people to stop them. Judging by the situation, neither side was ordinary, and it would be impossible to mediate with just one person.

“What’s going on? Why are they suddenly fighting?”

“Friends of Linghu Meng came to seek revenge. General Dou killed his Spirit Pet and seriously wounded him.”

“Getting injured after losing in the Beast Arena is common. Making such a fuss only shows he has no grace.”

“I heard it’s General Dou’s fault. That Spirit Pet was too evil. It didn’t seem like a normal magical beast. People from Linghu Meng suspect there’s something fishy going on, and that’s why they can’t accept the loss.”

Silver Crane stood aside, silent. It seemed like such matters weren’t worth his comment, but he didn’t leave. His gaze remained focused in one direction.

“Loss is Loss, so why trouble me?” On this side, Lian Mu swung her sword to scatter the burly man’s wind-infused fist.

She had already heard that Linghu Meng had good relations, but she didn’t expect it to be to this extent. As soon as he encountered trouble, people from all directions came to help seek revenge.

Lian Mu aimed at his abdomen, feinting a thrust toward his clenched fist. Just as the sword neared his skin, she quickly redirected the blade, using its sharp edge to graze his abdomen.

He immediately realized he had been tricked, but with the talismans on him, he dodged in an instant and even had time to counterattack.

“Tch.”

Lian Mu couldn’t help but recall her previous encounters with talisman cultivators on Suiqiu Peak. She hated fighting with talisman cultivators, and now it seemed, even Body Cultivators with talismans were a nuisance.

The burly man was tall and massive, his attacks incredibly brutal. Every strike seemed intent on causing serious harm or death. His face, however, remained expressionless.

It was unclear whether he was genuinely angry for Linghu Meng’s injuries, or if he was simply a hired thug.

Lian Mu grew more irritated, and her movements became faster as she sought to finish him off quickly.

“Is that all?” The burly man said, “I thought General Dou’s beast master was some big shot, but you look like just an ordinary Three Spirit Roots.”

It seemed like he was above the Three Spirit Roots, deliberately holding back his true strength. Lian Mu couldn’t figure out how many spirit roots he had.

After testing her moves, he stopped hiding and went all out. A vortex of wind began to form in his palm.

In an instant, Lian Mu felt a strong gust of wind brushing past her ear. When she blinked again, the wind vortex was already just a palm’s distance away.

She had never encountered a Wind Spirit Root Body Cultivator before.

The strike hit her shoulder, and the powerful wind nearly knocked the sword out of her hand. The vortex mixed with sand and dirt, forcing her to squint her eyes.

Seizing the opportunity, the burly man rushed forward, his fist charged with spiritual energy, aiming to strike her down.

“This… this could kill someone!”

“Are Linghu Meng’s people really going for a kill?”

At this point, Lian Mu’s patience had completely run out. She opened her eyes despite the sand and wind and, almost simultaneously, moved her feet.

Suddenly, she felt a heat surge in her Dantian. Instinctively, she raised her sword, and Wealth Bringer’s blade cleared the sand and wind, its surface now covered in flames. When she swung her sword, a streak of fire shot out in the direction of the swing.

The fire blade struck his face, and his silver mask melted away.

“Zzzt—”

The unmistakable sound of skin burning reached everyone’s ears. When they turned to look again, the burly man’s face had been completely burned away.

Lian Mu gripped Wealth Bringer, feeling incredibly irritated. The more agitated she became, the fiercer the flames on her sword burned.

Silver Crane, watching from the side, narrowed his eyes in shock. “It’s turning into a fire shape… A low-tier sword can have this effect?”

There was a hint of interest in his gaze as he continued to watch.

“If you want to fight, let Linghu Meng come himself,” Lian Mu said. “Sending a bunch of small fry—how embarrassing.”

Her anger flared, and it felt as though a surge of power had built up in her Dantian, ready to explode at any moment.

For some reason, her hand trembled, and at that moment, she desperately wanted to sever the head of the man in front of her.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, her hand reacted faster than her brain, and she had already raised her sword, slashing directly toward the burly man’s neck.

His face had been destroyed, and half of his body was burned. The fire blade struck him, and within the blink of an eye, he didn’t even have time to react.

Looking up, the indigo blade was already descending upon him, aiming for his head.

At the critical moment, a flash of sword light appeared and blocked Lian Mu’s strike.

“Little friend, calm down.”

A hand landed on Lian Mu’s shoulder, quickly pressing several acupoints. The spiritual energy that had been building up inside her instantly dispersed, as though it had never existed.

Bai Su’s fingers paused slightly, and her brows furrowed, but quickly returned to normal.

She steadied Lian Mu, while Bai Lingque, rushing over, immediately subdued the several troublemakers who had started the fight.

“Anyone who openly attacks others in the Beast Arena should be expelled from Feihai Pavilion, according to the rules.” Bai Lingque grabbed the burly man, and his companions immediately surrendered.

Bai Lingque said coldly, “Who sent you?”

His throat had been burned, and he couldn’t make a sound.

Bai Su pressed her hand on Lian Mu’s shoulder with one hand while drawing her sword with the other. She spoke to Bai Lingque, “Take them away. Don’t let them show their faces in Feihai Pavilion again.”

Her expression was serious as her gaze swept over the other people around, finding no other anomalies. She then released her grip.

“Little friend, are you alright?”

Lian Mu snapped out of her thoughts, the irritation in her heart dissipating. She calmed down, and the flames on Wealth Bringer’s blade slowly extinguished.

She recalled the state she had been in earlier, a strange sense of familiarity rising in her heart. She glanced at her hand.

“……”

The sudden surge of power earlier seemed like…

“Little friend, have you been advancing too quickly lately? Is your body having trouble keeping up with the flow of spiritual energy?” Bai Su asked.

Lian Mu: “……It’s fine.”

She suppressed the odd feeling in her heart and kept her expression neutral. “My sword was just refined. I’m not fully in control yet.”

“As long as there’s no major issue, it’s fine.” Bai Su smiled slightly. “I received news and came over immediately when I learned you had a dispute with others in the arena. I was worried you might be in danger, but it seems I overestimated the situation. With your strength, handling something like this should be no problem.”

Her tone was suggestive, and after thinking for a moment, Lian Mu replied, “He’s from Linghu Meng. He challenged me before, lost, and then called for revenge. I acted in a moment of desperation. It wasn’t my intention to kill him.”

For some reason, at that time, the only thought left in her mind was that one idea.

Lian Mu thought for a while, trying to understand what exactly had happened. She didn’t continue revealing more about herself and casually dismissed it. “I’m just hot-tempered. I can’t stand petty people plotting revenge from behind.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Bai Su holding a sword. With just one glance, she could tell that Bai Su’s sword was no less than a third-tier one.

She was most likely a Heavenly Spirit Root Sword Cultivator.

Lian Mu subtly shifted her gaze away, but in her mind, she silently noted the appearance of the sword.

It looked like a masterwork at first glance—its blade was long and sleek, with a blunt tip, as though a section had been deliberately cut off. The break was clearly intentional. When the sword was tilted in the light, the blade shimmered like the surface of the sea under moonlight.

Lian Mu mentally recalled the sight of Bai Su’s sword flying toward her earlier, and she inexplicably felt a sense of déjà vu, as though she had seen such a sword before.

“I acted impulsively, causing you to worry.” Lian Mu casually said a few polite words. Bai Su was a Heavenly Spirit Root Sword Cultivator and the Pavilion Master of Feihai Pavilion. In someone else’s domain, she had to put on an act.

Bai Su: “It’s nothing. You are a distinguished guest personally invited by me. If anything happens, I will naturally take responsibility. I will deal with those few people myself. You don’t need to worry. Feihai Pavilion will not allow such things to happen again.”

Her voice was neither loud nor soft, just enough for everyone around to hear. It felt like a subtle, indirect warning.

“I will investigate this matter right away and provide you with an explanation another time.”

After saying that, Bai Su sheathed her sword. The sword turned into a mist in her hand and then dissipated.

After she left, only Lian Mu and the onlookers remained. They were still waiting to see the contest.

Lian Mu didn’t put her sword away but instead kept it in hand, just in case. She raised her eyes to look at Silver Crane not far away and asked, “Shall we continue?”

Silver Crane waved his sleeve and walked over with the golden toad, smiling. “I concede this round.”

The crowd: “???!”

He’s conceding before the match even started?!

Lian Mu couldn’t understand what he was doing. “Are you sure?”

If he concedes, she could just exchange ranks with him and wouldn’t even need to enter the arena.

He crushed the jade pendant in his hand, and news immediately came from the silver-faced man: “Sixth-tier match, number five, Silver Crane voluntarily forfeits. This round, ‘Invincible General Dou’ wins!”

Upon hearing his name, Green Bean turned in another direction and glanced at the golden toad on Silver Crane’s shoulder, snapping its pincers. It had been suppressed by Lian Mu earlier and couldn’t join in the fight between her and the burly man, but now it was finally able to move.

“Do as you please.” Lian Mu didn’t mind. If he wasn’t going to fight, she could skip the beast battle and go straight for the last piece of Refined Jade.

The people who had bought the spectator tickets for this match were dissatisfied and shouted, “Why forfeit? We were looking forward to the contest!”

“Anyone who lost money today, I’ll cover it.” Silver Crane waved his hand. “Take your spectator tickets and go to my attendant. He will reimburse you with Spirit Stones.”

He smiled and turned his gaze toward Lian Mu. “I wonder if this little friend might be interested in having a chat with me?”