Chapter 122: Xiang Xiaoqing

The woman who entered the arena with me glanced at me with eyes of admiration. Well, more like her eyes expressed the surprise she felt when the whole crowd reverted back to their quiet state.

Still, I get why everyone was screaming their lungs out when she entered the stage. Her beauty was something out of this world, sort of universal since everything about her is balanced and well-placed. Her silken hair waved down to her slim waist that enhanced her wide hips and plump breasts. Her figure has much to be desired, and her face even more so. If one were to distract themselves by staring at her face, then he might find himself mesmerized by her white irises with a hint of light blue in the middle of it. She's like the snow woman in the legends and calling her that would even be an understatement.

There's only one thing I could say after admiring all that... her beauty is dangerous. Really dangerous. Even I'm having a hard time concentrating on the upcoming match since I just can't avert my eyes off of her.

In the end, I decided to just stare at her while wearing my best poker face.

Xiang Xiaoqing's eyes turned into slits as she wore a mischievous smile. Her parting lips revealed the most perfect set of teeth underneath it. I wonder if it would be easier to bite someone with that kind of teeth. What am I thinking?! My teeth are pretty good as it is.

"You did well maintaining your composure in front of me." Xiang Xiaoqing spoke, her voice was as mischievous and coquettish as I had expected. "Most of the guys who fought me in the past forfeited the match before it even started. I hope such is not the case for you. It would be in my honor to display my skills rather than flaunt my beauty in a match."

Somehow, her voice and the way she composed herself reminded me of a certain woman that locked me in my embrace. And then bit me.

Yeah, Natalia, I'm singling you out.

Nevertheless, I never expected Xiang Xiaoqing to be like this. When it comes to prepossessing women, if they knew for a fact that they are beautiful, they will use that to their advantage to get whatever they want. And yet this is not the case for this woman. She's basically telling me that her skills are just as good as her beauty. Hence, she indirectly relayed that I don't have to hold back when it comes to the match.

I cupped my hands towards her in return. "I am Yong Rui of the Red Sea Shelter. I hope that my fists are worthy enough to exchange blows with yours." I didn't want to sound so formal but after her little speech, I couldn't help but revert to my nature as a Sect Master. After all, this is an official match and formalities are there to be used in appropriate times.

"Then, I look forward to a great match." Xiang Xiaoqing lightly spoke, releasing a portion of her aura before the match even started.

Unlike the ambiance that enveloped her beauty, the aura she emitted was nothing close to that. Although the aura was white, it gave off an ominous aura that rivaled mine. And my aura was pitch-black, to say the least. Even Shen Rong, who just so happened to return to his position as the referee, was taken aback when he felt it.

I don't know what effect her aura would have so I decided to cover myself in my own Qi Energy just to make sure. I didn't want to release a portion of my aura just yet since that would just end this match once and for all. Just like me, I think Xiang Xiaoqing is still hiding a lot of her skills and I've decided to unravel every skill she has in her arsenal before giving her a taste of defeat.

If she meets the criteria— and my criteria is not that high, if you ask me— I might even invite her over to the Tang Shelter. Based on her presence alone, I could tell that she's a cut above the other participants on the Red Sea Tournament. She's at least eighteen years old with the cultivation of the Peak Immortal Realm. She's a rare genius but I have to see for myself if her skills match my expectations.

Why did I think of recruiting her? It's because she's strong, I could tell.

"Start!" Shen Rong announced with great vigor.

The ominous aura coming from Xiang Xiaoqing was enhanced as she released a large portion of Qi Energy. Intricate markings and undecipherable ancient texts formed on the arena stage. And because of that, the audience erupted into cheers once again. I didn't bother listening in on their bellows since I've got a fight to do.

At first glance, I thought that she was just using a cultivation technique since the markings on the ground were on ancient text. But once the text began to glow and some sort of portal opened on the arena stage, I finally realized what she was doing.

She was summoning a spirit beast!

Who would've thought that Xiang Xiaoqing has the Summon Element!

The writings on the arena stage floated up as soon as it began glowing. At the same time, Xiang Xiaoqnig's eyes also glowed light blue as well as she raised her hands in the air and muttered some sort of mantra. I'm guessing that's her beckoning call towards her spirit beast when she summons it.

A hazy white smoke slowly crept from the portal and then something white started coming up from it. It was probably a good time to attack Xiang Xiaoqing so I could snag an easy win but I was curious as to what her spirit beast is. It was probably not a good idea since I'm basically courting death right now but my curiosity was piqued. Besides, this is a good way to assess what level she is at right now. 

Kiiiiaaahhhhkkk~!

A screech resounded from a portal as a huge beast came out of it. The first thing that came out was its long red tongue that made a hissing sound. Following that was its huge head and then, its long body with a thick girth followed.

I subconsciously craned my neck to get a good look at the creature that came out of the portal. It was a White Snake, specifically a White Pearl Snake. And I guess calling it gigantic is an understatement.

The White Pearl Snake stared into my eyes while it continuously hissed. It was clear that the hunt has started and I was the prey. However, that was just the delusions of a mere Spirit Beast.

As far as I can remember, I've encountered the White Pearl Snake once in my past life and it was definitely larger than this. The size may be surprising even until now but I'm sure that this White Pearl Snake is just a snakelet. Could it be the offspring of the one I met in the past? I mean, the one I met in the past was a Titanium Rank Spirit Beast. This one is at least at Peak Gold Rank, almost at platinum rank.

"Xiang Xiaoqing, is this a joke?" My voice came out before I do anything about it. "Are you really going to fight me with a baby White Pearl Snake?"

The cheers from the audience turned into jeers as the audience heard my statement. In any case, I was telling the truth. Although I greatly admired the size and formidable aura that came out of Xiaoqing's White Pearl Snake, I still felt insulted by the thought that she summoned such a weak Spirit Beast to fight against me.

"I'm so sorry if my Spirit Beast didn't meet your expectations. I've seen your Spirit Beast, and I must admit that your Spirit Beast is much stronger than mine. However, I hope that you please let us finish before you start blindly speaking about us." She answered as she cupped her hands.

Well, she was a bit mistaken about that part. My spirit beast, the Evolved Fanged Ice Wolf, is not a summoned spirit beast but a spirit beast that you can fuse with. the difference between a summoned spirit beast and an integrate-able spirit beast is that the summoned spirit beast is alive and the other is not. That's why you have to skill a spirit beast and hope that you could get its soul so you can integrate with it.

In short, my spirit beast is not a summoned spirit beast.

Well, enough about that, on with the match!

Since Xiaoqing and her summon were not moving at all, I decided to make the first move by attacking the White Pearl Snake. Since it was just on par with Immortal Realm cultivators, I knew it was easy to deal with it so I decided to punch it.

But then, the strangest thing happened. As soon as I punched the White Pearl Snake straight into oblivion, its head regenerated in a split second.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I watched as Xiaoqing's lips curved upward into a smile.

This girl, she has the Healing Element!