Seeing that the two of them not only had no intention of stopping but had even started taking medicine, Qin Xiao fell into an absolute panic. He had no idea what to do.
"So you want to see who has more Spirit Liquid? Fine, let's find out."
Seeing Lin Shimeng also take out a drop of Spirit Liquid and swallow it, Yun Man became even more unwilling to back down. Competing in Spirit Liquid? As if she would be afraid of her!
With those words, Yun Man directly took out another drop of Spirit Liquid and tossed it into her mouth.
Seeing Yun Man's actions, Lin Shimeng gritted her teeth in anger. Naturally, she still had more Spirit Liquid, but how could anyone waste it like this?
Although infuriated, she was even more astonished. This Yun Man was only at the late Golden Core stage, while she herself was at the early Nascent Soul stage. This was a gap of an entire major realm. Why wasn't Yun Man's spiritual power much weaker than her own? How was she actually able to exchange blows with her like this?
Lin Shimeng had become the Sect's Holy Maiden not merely because she was the Sect Leader's daughter, but because she similarly possessed a Heavenly Spirit Root. She also received the Sect's full support in her cultivation. Yet, despite all this, she still couldn't secure an overwhelming victory.
A proper sparring match had turned into a battle of attrition. If this were actual combat, Lin Shimeng's true strength could naturally be fully displayed. However, this was merely a clash of spiritual power. Competing purely in reserves, Lin Shimeng's advantages could not be brought to bear at all.
After all, Yun Man had been cultivating entirely with Spirit Liquid. Her Spiritual Qi, in both purity and sheer volume, was somewhat stronger than Lin Shimeng's. Under these shifting dynamics, even with the gap in their cultivation realms, they were actually fighting to a draw.
It seemed she would have to pay a price to end this.
After a moment of internal struggle, Lin Shimeng took out another drop of Spirit Liquid.
These two drops of Spirit Liquid were the Stipend she had accumulated over two months. The Tianyuan Sect provided her with one drop of Spirit Liquid each month as a Stipend—this was a treatment unique to the Holy Maiden. All her previously saved Spirit Liquid had been used up when breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, making these drops her most recent savings.
She would win first. Once the Spirit Liquid was gone, it was gone. She could always save up more later.
Without much further hesitation, Lin Shimeng directly swallowed her second drop of Spirit Liquid.
Upon swallowing the second drop of Spirit Liquid, Lin Shimeng's Spiritual Qi surged once more, and Yun Man found herself struggling to hold on.
As expected of the Holy Maiden, Lin Shimeng could produce another drop whenever she needed it. But Yun Man felt guilty about using up so much of Master's gift herself.
Yun Man felt somewhat conflicted. She originally thought that two drops of Spirit Liquid would be enough to exhaust Lin Shimeng's spiritual power, but she hadn't expected the other party to have more than one drop as well.
Yun Man did not lack Spirit Liquid. Qin Xiao had given her fifty drops as a Reward. Even after using two drops, there were still forty-eight left. But this was, after all, an incredibly precious resource. Continuing to waste it wasn't worth it.
"Alright, alright, Senior Sister Lin, please stop. My disciple concedes."
Seeing this, Qin Xiao quickly stepped forward to yield. If they continued this competition, a major disaster was going to happen.
By now, the ball of Spiritual Qi had expanded to one zhang in size. Qin Xiao was certain that once it exploded, his entire courtyard would be wiped off the map.
"Master, I can still hold on."
Seeing Qin Xiao yield, Yun Man quickly spoke up.
By now, Yun Man was struggling immensely, purely because she really didn't want to waste any more of the Spirit Liquid Qin Xiao had given her.
"Hold on, my ass! Are you defying your Master's words now?"
Seeing Yun Man still stubbornly enduring, Qin Xiao immediately shouted.
If she kept holding on, they wouldn't have a place to stay tonight. Actually, she might not even have a Master anymore!
A ball of Spiritual Qi over one zhang wide was practically a ticking time bomb. Hovering right there in mid-air between the two of them, it could explode at any moment.
If the chaotic Spiritual Qi inside were to detonate, its destructive power would be absolutely devastating.
Although Qin Xiao couldn't cultivate, he had witnessed the clash of sword qi between Yun Man and Li Cheng last time. Two early Golden Core stage cultivators could create such a massive commotion. Now, this was a late Golden Core and an early Nascent Soul going all out. Once this exploded, he feared that an entire layer of the Seven Stars Peak would be shaved off.
"Master, I know I was wrong."
Seeing Qin Xiao's firm attitude, Yun Man obediently admitted her mistake.
"Since you've asked, Junior Brother Qin, I'll stop for your sake."
Lin Shimeng also knew that if they continued this stalemate, the ball of Spiritual Qi could lose control at any moment, so she took the opportunity to agree.
"Then hurry up and retract the Spiritual Qi from this ball."
Seeing that both had agreed, Qin Xiao hurriedly urged them.
"Retract it?"
Lin Shimeng asked with a baffled expression.
"Yeah, just draw back the Spiritual Qi you released."
Qin Xiao replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"I almost forgot, you're just a mortal who cannot cultivate. If Spiritual Qi were simply released into the open, we could indeed retract it at will. But this ball of Spiritual Qi contains the power of both her and me. Our energies are entangled together, making it impossible to draw back. It's like an attack that has already been launched—how can you pull it back?"
Lin Shimeng explained, somewhat speechless.
"Ah? You can't retract it? Then what do we do about this ball of Spiritual Qi? My small courtyard can't withstand any more torment."
Hearing that it couldn't be retracted, Qin Xiao's expression turned incredibly sour. When all was said and done, his courtyard was still going to be destroyed.
"There's no need to panic. As long as she and I push this ball of Spiritual Qi high up into the sky and let it detonate in the air, there will be no harm done. As long as the distance is great enough, it won't cause any damage to your courtyard."
Lin Shimeng explained once again.
"Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up and push this ball into the sky."
After Lin Shimeng had swallowed the second drop of Spirit Liquid, the ball of Spiritual Qi had grown somewhat unstable. Since the balance of Spiritual Qi from the two sides had shifted, there was a risk of explosion at any second. Qin Xiao had no choice but to rush them.
"We will circulate our qi together and send this ball of spiritual power into the sky."
Ignoring Qin Xiao, Lin Shimeng addressed Yun Man.
"Alright."
Yun Man was already barely holding on, so she didn't waste words. With that, she began to adjust her Spiritual Qi.
As the two women synchronized their efforts, the massive ball of Spiritual Qi slowly began to ascend into the sky.
"That was close. The crisis is finally resolved."
Qin Xiao watched the ball of Spiritual Qi drift farther and farther away and finally relaxed.
Everyone's gaze was fixated on the ball of Spiritual Qi. No one noticed that Yun Man's complexion had grown terribly pale. She had been forcing herself to hold on, and to avoid wasting Spirit Liquid, she hadn't replenished her spiritual power.
However, she had overestimated her remaining spiritual reserves. As the ball of Spiritual Qi rose higher and higher, the drain on her energy rapidly increased.
Having ascended less than three hundred meters, the ball of Spiritual Qi began to turn violently turbulent, looking as though it could burst at any moment.
"What's wrong?"
Lin Shimeng felt the instability and quickly asked Yun Man.
"I'm fine, I can still hold on."
Yun Man didn't offer any explanations, merely continuing to channel her Spiritual Qi.
To ensure their safety, the ball of spiritual power needed to be pushed past five hundred meters. Right now, it was barely past three hundred meters; they were not out of danger yet.
"Disciple, take another drop of Spirit Liquid immediately. Now is not the time to be frugal!"
Only then did Qin Xiao notice Yun Man's terrible complexion. Realizing that this was likely a sign of Spiritual Qi exhaustion, he hurriedly called out to her.
"Yes, Master."
Yun Man also knew that a disaster might occur if she kept forcing herself, so she retrieved another drop of Spirit Liquid.
But before she could swallow it, the ball of spiritual power high above suddenly lost control and began to spin furiously.
"Oh no, it's out of control!"
Lin Shimeng sensed it first. Shouting loudly, she immediately flew toward Qin Xiao.
Yun Man sensed it as well and hastily activated the Protective Dharma Treasure on her body.
The ball of Spiritual Qi spun erratically for a moment before instantly detonating.
A devastating shockwave rapidly blasted outward in all directions, with the Seven Stars Peak bearing the absolute brunt of the impact.
Like divine punishment, the mighty shockwave crashed directly toward the summit of the Seven Stars Peak.
Lin Shimeng urgently channeled her Body-Protecting Dharma Treasure, shielding both herself and Qin Xiao within its glow.
Just before the shockwave struck the summit, a shield appeared above the courtyard and enveloped all of Seven Stars Peak.
When the shockwave slammed into the shield, it failed to stir up even the slightest ripple and was completely absorbed.
"Huh? What's happening?"
Lin Shimeng reacted first. Could it be that Grandpa Qin's Peak-Protecting Grand Formation had been activated?
When she was young, she had visited the Seven Stars Peak often. The Seventh Elder had once told her that although this courtyard appeared dilapidated, it would be impossible for ordinary people to destroy it. He had laid down a powerful Formation here. But having never seen this Formation activate over all these years, she had always assumed the Seventh Elder was just teasing her. She hadn't expected it to actually be true.
Although the Seven Stars Peak was spared from destruction, the sheer force of the explosion made the entire Tianyuan Sect tremble.
Everyone turned to look in the direction of the blast.