82 Fiery

The difference between Cultivators at different stages, depending on the skill and elemental matchup, was oftentimes an insurmountable gap. As it took an extreme amount of effort to transition between each stage, someone at the Second or Third stage was often twice as strong as someone at the First or Second. Thus, with Gong Xinyue being at the Fourth Stage of Qi Refining, while her opponent was only at the First Stage, the best her opponent could do was draw out the battle to make a better impression on the Judges.

Unfortunately for Quan Zhen, Gong Xinyue's temperament could be just as fiery as her Cultivation method, causing her to unceremoniously lash out with her whip and sending it slicing across the pale-faced youth's chest. As a result, he was sent careening from the arena like a kite that had its strings cut, slamming hard into the outside walls before ultimately plopping to the ground.

Seeing how fierce Gong Xinyue's attack was, many in the crowed sharply inhaled while some shook their head in dissatisfaction, muttering things like, "Of course a woman who uses Fire Qi would be a brute..." or "So vicious. She is like an unleashed Tigress...!".

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Since Cultivators all had excellent senses, Gong Xinyue heard most of these comments but, believing such remarks were just how the weak expressed their pettiness, she ignored them with a cold glint in her uncharacteristically purple eyes. This earned her a few nods of approval from many of the older Cultivators who, unlike their younger counterparts, knew the road towards true strength was a long and arduous path. If you allowed yourself to suffer setbacks by getting riled up at every middling remark from those weaker than yourself, you would be drowned in the monotony of the average.

It was generally considered 'proper' for those who wielded true talent and power to be somewhat haughty and prideful by nature as, if not them, who else had the right to be? Any sign of weakness would be exploited by your enemies, this being doubly so for any Cultivators who were females. As male Cultivators easily outnumbered their fairer counterparts, almost four to one, females were just a small minority that was often exploited, even in the so-called righteous Sects. This was due to the fact that many of the more established families focused on grooming their male heirs and, with the body of female cultivators one of the greatest aids to increase the potential of a man, there was no end to the number of tragic stories, so commonplace that even children as young as three or four knew the 'truth' of the world...

Being one of the few to 'escape' the vicious cycle, even though she was still in danger of sharing the same fate if captured, Wen Xiulan looked down at Gong Xinyue with a ruminating gaze. Though she felt the latter's disposition was a little too fiery, that was something that could be fixed with proper guidance. Thus, even though many of the other contestants made snide remarks, she had decided to make Gong Xinyue one of her personal disciples in the future. Hopefully, before their Sect Guardian decided their small mountain was no longer suitable for her training, they would all be able to grow strong enough to protect themselves from outside forces...

(Fenrir's Commentary: 'I miss Master's cooking. The food stalls in this world only serve bland items...')