Seeing Yun Man walk out, Qin Xiao immediately felt his head ache.
My dear ancestor, please don't come out and cause trouble at this time. This isn't some ordinary character; this is the number one disciple of the Sect, the Sect's Holy Maiden, and the Sect Leader's daughter. We can't afford to offend her.
"Disciple, you should go back and cultivate first. Your master is here, so hurry and cultivate."
Although Qin Xiao was helpless, he still kept pushing Yun Man to go back.
"Halt, Junior Brother Qin. Since your disciple has already stepped forward, why not let them try?"
Seeing Yun Man emerge, Lin Shimeng stood up and locked gazes with her.
She also possessed a Heavenly Spirit Root, having long since far surpassed her peers by a wide margin. Having finally found a worthy opponent, she had no desire to miss the chance.
"Master, don't worry. I might not necessarily lose to her."
Even as Qin Xiao pushed her back, she held her own pride and refused to retreat.
"Oh? Since that is the case, I shall properly test her skills."
With that, Lin Shimeng's entire body erupted with powerful Spiritual Qi.
"Then let's fight."
Yun Man refused to back down either, the Spiritual Qi throughout her body surging wildly until the resulting pressure forced Qin Xiao back.
Though the disciples outside could not see what was happening within, they keenly felt the two massive waves of spiritual fluctuation.
"What is going on?"
"Could Elder Lin have come to pick a fight?"
"Such powerful spiritual fluctuations could only come from Elder Lin and Senior Sister Yun. What should we do?"
"Don't worry. Senior Sister Yun might not lose. After all, even Holy Son Yao was no match for her."
Outside the courtyard, the disciples began discussing in anxious whispers.
Meanwhile, Qin Xiao found himself powerless to intervene in the courtyard. The two powerful forces of Spiritual Qi collided and churned, raising clouds of dust that blew away even his usual reclining chair.
"What am I supposed to do? A clash of this level is completely beyond me."
Qin Xiao could only pray that some Elder from the Sect would happen to pass by and mediate, or that the Sect Leader would hurry over. Your daughter is out here fighting-shouldn't you, as her parent, step in to stop it?
Seeing the situation escalate to the point where his entire courtyard was about to be demolished, Qin Xiao could no longer stand by.
"Both of you, stop!"
At Qin Xiao's shout, Lin Shimeng and Yun Man simultaneously reined in their power.
"Junior Brother Qin, what is the meaning of this?"
Lin Shimeng asked with a trace of displeasure.
"Master, don't be afraid."
Yun Man quickly spoke up.
"You two, can't you find a more civilized way to spar? Must you tear down my courtyard?"
Qin Xiao knew he could not stop them by force, but surely they could change methods. His little courtyard was barely holding together.
"It seems this really isn't a good way to go about it.
Hearing Qin Xiao's words, Lin Shimeng cast a look around the courtyard and realized it truly could not withstand their spiritual impacts.
"If you wish to spar, I have no objections, but can it be a civil contest rather than a martial one? My shabby little courtyard really cannot take much more."
Seeing that both had calmed down slightly, Qin Xiao hurriedly pressed his advantage.
"A civil contest? How would that work?"
Lin Shimeng had no wish to wreck the courtyard either. Out of respect for the Seventh Elder, who had treated her well in the past, she preferred to leave the grounds intact.
"Well... how about this? You two pit your Spiritual Qi against each other without letting it burst outward. Compete purely on the purity and volume of your Qi. That way, the courtyard remains undamaged. What do you say?"
Qin Xiao had simply blurted out the idea, recalling martial arts masters in television dramas testing internal energy without causing collateral destruction. He could only hope the cultivation world allowed for such methods.
"That could work, though I must ask if your disciple is willing."
After a moment of thought, Lin Shimeng agreed. It was indeed a way to avoid destroying the courtyard.
"I am willing."
Seeing how the yard had been left in disarray, Yun Man felt a twinge of embarrassment and readily agreed to spare the property.
"Since neither of you objects, let us do it this way. It preserves the courtyard and avoids hard feelings."
With both parties in agreement, Qin Xiao finally breathed a sigh of relief. As long as his roof stayed on, anything else was fine.
Moments later, the two women moved as one, each releasing a stream of Spiritual Qi that coalesced into a visible sphere between them.
They began frantically channeling Qi into the sphere. Whichever side channeled less would see the sphere drift toward her.
At first, both tested the waters cautiously. The sphere grew slowly, shifting back and forth-now drifting toward Yun Man, now toward Lin Shimeng.
"Now this is more like it."
Watching the two quietly contest one another, Qin Xiao felt immensely satisfied. Civil contests were far superior.
Inside, peace had seemingly been restored, but the disciples outside the courtyard were left entirely bewildered by the sudden halt.
"What happened? Is the match already over?"
"Who knows who won?"
"That goes without saying-it has to be Elder Lin. She's the undisputed head of all disciples beneath the Elders."
"Not necessarily. Holy Son Yao was called the foremost disciple outside the main peaks, and Senior Sister Yun defeated him all the same."
"You don't understand. Elder Lin is no ordinary Personal Disciple; she's in a different league from Holy Son Yao. As much as I want Senior Sister Yun to win, it'll be difficult."
Though these disciples were devout followers of Yun Man, they were not entirely blind and weighed the situation with reasonable logic.
Back in the courtyard, however, Qin Xiao began to feel that something was deeply wrong.
The sphere of Spiritual Qi between the two had expanded from the size of an egg to that of a washbasin, radiating a terrifying amount of energy.
"Is this going to end in disaster?"
Panic began to creep into Qin Xiao's heart. Though he could not sense Spiritual Qi directly, his instincts screamed at the sheer destructive potential packed into that sphere.
"You are only at the Golden Core late stage. To hold out against me this long is already enough for you to be proud of."
Lin Shimeng had not expected Yun Man to last so long, and her eyes held a measure of genuine respect.
"Proud? I know you are at the Nascent Soul early stage, but you don't seem all that remarkable yourself."
Though straining, Yun Man remained confident. If worst came to worst, she could simply swallow a drop of Spirit Liquid.
"A single word of praise, and you think yourself qualified to rival me?"
Stung by the girl's defiance, Lin Shimeng increased her Spiritual Qi output. Excessive pride, after all, easily crossed into arrogance.
"Whether I am qualified or not, we shall see."
Yun Man refused to yield an inch, pouring more of her own Qi into the sphere.
"Could you two please just call it off?"
Seeing the glowing sphere swell past a meter in width, Qin Xiao's face turned pale. If that thing detonated, forget the courtyard-he would likely lose his life.
The two women completely ignored his plea, continuing to pump energy into the sphere until its diameter surpassed one zhang.
By now, the disciples outside could clearly see the gigantic sphere of Qi, leaving them struck dumb with horror. The terrifying Pressure radiating outward chilled them to the bone.
The courtyard of Seven Stars Peak was no ordinary place; the Seventh Elder had originally laid down formations to mask ordinary spiritual fluctuations. Clearly, the energy of this current sphere had completely overwhelmed the formation's upper limit, causing the pressure to leak straight through.
Beads of sweat formed on Yun Man's forehead as she neared her absolute limit.
Lin Shimeng was faring little better. Having already drawn upon ninety percent of her power, her spiritual reserves were nearly exhausted. She found it utterly baffling that her Nascent Soul stage Qi was running neck-and-neck with her opponent's Golden Core late stage.
Unable to afford hesitation, Yun Man retrieved a drop of Spirit Liquid and swallowed it.
"What? Relying on Spirit Liquid to replenish? Such waste!"
Noticing the action, Lin Shimeng scoffed at the extravagance.
"In that case, I won't stand on ceremony either."
With those words, Lin Shimeng produced her own drop of Spirit Liquid and downed it.
Having just condemned her rival for wasting resources, she followed suit without hesitation, for she neither could nor would afford to lose.
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