Chapter 49: Clash of Elements
Hua Shu and Yun Huan began to stare each other down, to see who would stop infusing energy into their attack first. The sphere of fire and water was growing rapidly, but the heavenly energy in the two of them was depleting at an equally fast rate, and the first person to let go would lose the clash, and receive the full brunt of both their attacks.
Both Hua Shu and Yun Huan gritted their teeth, persevering through the pain of their heavenly energy being drained.
What no one expected, though, was that they both lost the clash. The sphere of fire and water, after reaching the size of five meters in diameter, simply exploded, without warning.
There was no time for either of the two to react, as they were instantly engulfed by the clashing energies, and flung backwards onto the walls of the arena.
"Are they okay?"
"What do you think, would you be okay after being hit by such an attack? They're probably dead!"
"No, Yun Huan wouldn't die just like that!"
Murmurs rippled across the stands, as people gave their opinions on Hua Shu and Yun Huan's situation.
No one could yet see anything, since the arena was full of smoke and steam, blocking the spectators' vision. All they knew was the power that the explosion contained, since even with the protective barrier, the energy could still be felt in the stands, frightening many weak disciples.
'This is in an interesting fight... Hua Shu has improved a lot!' thought Li Zhu, who had felt the power of the explosion more clearly than the disciples on the stands, since he was on the sidelines, unprotected by any barrier. Just as he had improved his cultivation by leaps and bounds, Hua Shu had not slacked off, and though she was still in the ninth stage qi gathering, her skills were now much stronger.
Just as the spectators really began thinking the two powerful fighters had been killed by their own attacks, movement could be spotted in the arena.
Yun Huan, holding her right arm tightly, slowly stood up, her body covered in gashes and light burn marks.
Although she looked very haggardly, there was pure joy in her eyes, as she said, "I'm the last one standing... so I win!"
The crowd erupted into cheers at this point, everyone somehow forgetting the fact that the judge elder had not yet stated the results of the fight.
As everyone was cheering for Yun Huan's victory, Li Zhu was simply smiling, as he knew Hua Shu would not be beaten so easily.
As he expected, the moment later a voice came from the smoke, "You haven't won yet, kid... I still have some fight left in me!"
The stands instantly turned silent, as everyone looked more clearly towards where Hua Shu had landed after being hit by the explosion.
There, a bloody Hua Shu was standing proudly, her bow held steadily in her hand. She did not look the least bit like someone who had been heavily injured, rather seeming as though she was bound to win the fight.
"Just because you can stand up doesn't mean you will win!" angrily replied Yun Huan, the glory of winning being taken away from her.
The two did not speak any longer, and they started fighting at a much faster pace than before. Though they were injured from the explosion, they still had about half of their heavenly energy, since their injuries were not internal.
That said, they were still in immense pain and completely exhausted, which would drag down most cultivators. Seeing the two fighting with such vigor even with their current conditions, even the judge elder could not help but nod her head in approval.
Most of the spectators, with weaker cultivation than the ninth stage qi gathering, could only see flashes of light appear all over the arena.
The experts, instead, noticed Hua Shu and Yun Huan moving at top speed, as arrows were shot, deflected and dodged. Yun Huan constantly tried to get closer to Hua Shu, but the endless barrage of flaming arrows would not allow it, keeping the two opponents at a substantial distance.
Yun Huan was gaining ground, though, and she was slowly but steadily approaching Hua Shu, who would probably be defeated the moment she was reached, since her forte was archery.
'I need to use that move, it's the only way!' thought Hua Shu, her face turning serious. If she kept this up, her heavenly energy would either run out, or Yun Huan would reach her, in both cases putting her in a very dangerous situation.
Other than the flaming burst skill she had used to break out of the water chains, Hua Shu had learned one more skill during her time at Archery Peak, but this skill was only to be used as a last resort, since it drained her heavenly energy completely the moment she used it.
At first, she had decided to only use the skill during her last fight, in an attempt to gain the highest ranking possible in the tournament. Due to her unlucky matching with Yun Huan, though, it seemed as though she would need to use it on her first fight, which would put her out of commission for the rest of the competition.
As Yun Huan was flying around the arena, water was pushing her towards Hua Shu, while she deflected all the arrows coming towards her.
A confident smile was etched onto her face, since she clearly knew she had an advantage in this fight.
At this moment, though, Hua Shu launched herself high up into the sky, pillars of flames pushing her higher and higher.
'What is she doing? Wait… this isn't good!' thought Yun Huan, before hastily retreating to the opposite side of the arena. Although she was a bit arrogant, the young girl would not fail to recognize the preparation for a final attack, and having experienced the power of Hua Shu's flames firsthand, she did not want to take any chances.
Predicting a powerful, final strike from Hua Shu, Yun Huan began to move her hands in a frenzy, forming hundreds of symbols in the span of seconds.
Her hands were simply a blurry circle, since they were moving too fast for even cultivators at the ninth stage to see, yet each symbol was intentional and precise.
In the mean time Hua Shu had finally reached the desired height, before turning her attention down towards the arena, flames still supporting her in the air. Although she could not yet fly, with the use of flames she could simulate flight temporarily, though her energy was rapidly exhausted in the process.
Hua Shu pointed her bow towards Yun Huan, deep concentration visible in her eyes. Surprisingly, flames began to flow into the bow quite slowly, seemingly not enough to muster up a powerful strike.
The pace of the flames increased, though, as suddenly all the heavenly energy in a twenty yards radius from Hua Shu was directed into the bow, where an arrow made out of condensed Yang qi was being formed.
This was the reason why she had flown into the air, since the barrier in the arena would have limited the heavenly energy which was able to be absorbed. Although this placed her in the danger of falling from great heights, it was the only way to properly feed her attack the required amount of energy.
The shining red arrow, in Hua Shu's bow, was finally released, causing the temperature of the arena to instantly increase by several degrees.
Yun Huan had finally managed to finish her series of hand symbols, too, as a massive pillar of water rose from beneath her feet.
Contrary to the spectators' expectations, though, the domineering pillar was not the final form of Yun Huan's attack, as it quickly began to change shape.
Hua Shu's arrow was not simple, either, as all the flames pressed into it were suddenly released, forming a massive phoenix-shaped ball of flame, which occupied half of the arena, as it shot down from the skies.
The water pillar had finally changed shape completely, taking the form of a massive flood dragon, which pounced towards the flaming phoenix.
Both attacks were simple representations of these beasts, yet the energy released shocked everyone in the crowd, including many of the elders.
'That strike... the Yang energy contained in it is extremely pure!' realized Li Zhu in shock, not having expected Hua Shu to have such a skill in her arsenal. Yun Huan's flood dragon strike was much less surprising to Li Zhu, since he knew the skills of the Divine Water Clan were all very powerful, and many took the form of spirit beasts.
Both strikes were fired very quickly, but for the spectators, the scene of a flaming phoenix flying into a water filled flood dragon, was one which they would remember for years to come.
The two imposing skills finally crashed into each other, and for a second no sound could be heard. Everyone in the stands was holding in their breaths, excited to see the result of the clash.
Surprisingly, though the two spirit beasts were only representations made out of elemental qi, the moment they met they began to clash like actual beasts.
The flood dragon wrapped itself around the phoenix, its large jaw biting into the flaming bird's neck. At the same time, the phoenix used its beak and claws against the long body of the flood dragon, causing long gashes to form.
The beasts fought for a good minute, the phoenix managing to release itself, and striking the flood dragon as fast as it could. Each time the phoenix hit the flood dragon, though, steam would rise up, the water evaporating and fire being extinguished.
Finally, the flood dragon gained the advantage, as it charged into the phoenix's chest, its claws and teeth showing no mercy.
It was at this point, though, that the "phoenix" grew serious, its eyes turning bright yellow, all the flames which formed it changing color.
The phoenix then continued by wrapping its long wings around the flood dragon, which was now held in its grasp.
With a burst of energy, the phoenix slowly held its wings tighter together, gradually evaporating the flood dragon. Inch by inch, the water was all being evaporated, and before the spectators could even understand what had happened, the phoenix had won the clash.
From then on, the phoenix turned back to the lifeless bundle of flame it previously was, flying into a defenseless Yun Huan.
At the same time though, Hua Shu had begun falling from the sky, no energy left in her system that could sustain her in the air. Though she knew the crash would injure her greatly, a smile surfaced on her face, knowing she had won the fight.
Before Yun Huan could be harmed by the flames, the judge elder stepped in extending her hands towards the phoenix, which instantly dissipated into thin air. This was the power of a golden core realm expert, which could make the strongest attacks in the qi gathering realm seem completely useless.
Just as she had helped Yun Huan survive, the elder also stepped towards Hua Shu, gracefully catching the falling body in her arms, and flying back down to the arena.
Hua Shu and Yun Huan both were in shock, the adrenaline from the fight still present in their veins, as they lay on the hard, stone floor. They had both used their most powerful attack, and their heavenly energy was completely drained.
At this moment, the elder flew into the center of the arena, announcing, "For the first fight, since she would have been the only contestant of the two to survive this last attack, Hua Shu has won!"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone