Don't Cause Trouble Chapter 119: Lightning Tribulation

Maybe because of what happened last night, when Ye Su went to the arena today, it was the first time she truly looked carefully at Ning Qianyao.

She wore a white robe, her eyes bright and moist like water, her face pure and innocent. Her waist was cinched tightly, making it appear especially slim, adding a hint of youthful allure.

Standing beside Lu Chenhan, she tilted her head slightly to look up at him. The pale light filtering through the clouds happened to fall right across her face.

From the perspective of an onlooker, she was indeed pleasing to the eye.

All along, though Ye Su knew how many strokes of luck Ning Qianyao had and how far she could go, she had only cared about the Qianji Sect mentioned a few times in the book.

As long as it didn’t involve that sect, she didn’t concern herself with anything Ning Qianyao did.

But now… Ye Su suddenly changed her mind. She wanted to know exactly where Ning Qianyao’s fortune came from.

"The third round has no time limit," the brown-haired elder said, pointing to the eight arenas on stage. "We’ll keep going until the top ten are decided. After each match, come to me for another draw."

In this final round, there was no break for the disciples. Once one match ended, the next began immediately.

The top eight and the lower eight drew lots separately.

For the first match today, the Qianji Sect had poor luck, You Fushi was paired against Yi Xuan, while Ye Su drew Lian Lian.

"Running into you this early isn’t bad," Lian Lian said to Ye Su. "I’ve always wanted to see how skilled you are as a talisman cultivator. I won’t hold back."

The two stood on the arena stage, the atmosphere fairly friendly unlike the neighboring arena, where You Fushi and Yi Xuan stood facing each other, sword and saber brimming with restless energy.

The Chongming Sword was a demon sword, always eager to cause trouble. The Chongming Sword was steady and composed, but after years inside the Sword Tomb, the demonic and scheming Chongming Sword had constantly tried to confuse others’ minds, making the Chongming Sword dislike it even more.

Not to mention, their wielders didn’t get along either.

"Are you just going to let your sword fight on its own?" Yi Xuan asked, gripping the Chongming Sword.

You Fushi could clearly sense Yi Xuan’s mocking tone, so he simply nodded in acknowledgment. "Yes."

Yi Xuan: "…" He had forgotten, some people simply didn’t care about saving face.

Even so, Yi Xuan didn’t underestimate him especially since he had once almost chosen the Chongming Sword himself and paid more attention to it than to other weapons.

It seemed the stronger You Fushi’s cultivation grew, the more powerful the Chongming Sword became.

Yi Xuan struck first. After several exchanges with the Chongming Sword, he still hadn’t used his full strength. A faint red light began to flicker along the blade, and it started trying to confuse its opponent again.

In the past, Yi Xuan would probably have fallen for it. But now his mind was far more resolute, especially with the Chongming Sword in hand, keeping his spiritual core clear and unaffected.

Deliberately feigning a mistake, Yi Xuan made the Chongming Sword lower its guard. Then, with a push off his toes, he leapt over it, charging straight toward You Fushi, who stood near the edge of the arena.

The Chongming Sword couldn’t catch up in time. Yi Xuan swept his saber horizontally, but You Fushi simply leaned back, nearly parallel with the ground, avoiding the strike. At that moment, Yi Xuan’s knee shot toward his abdomen.

If the kick landed, You Fushi would definitely be knocked off the stage but the next instant, Yi Xuan’s knee slammed into his palm instead, as if striking a solid iron wall.

Even so, You Fushi didn’t fall. He stayed perfectly balanced, hanging back over the arena’s edge, showing the explosive strength of his core muscles.

Meanwhile, the Chongming Sword had caught up, stabbing toward Yi Xuan. He reversed his grip on the Chongming Sword to block, forcing himself to retreat a few steps.

Only then did You Fushi straighten, smooth his robe, and shift his stance again, this time leaning casually against one of the corner pillars.

The Chongming Sword kept trying to disturb Yi Xuan’s concentration, and over time, it managed to induce brief moments of distraction. But each time, the overwhelming, steady power of the Chongming Sword would snap him back.

He remembered how, back in the Sword Tomb, none of the swords had accepted him, only the Chongming Sword had chosen to be his weapon.

This match between Yi Xuan and the Chongming Sword was more like an exercise in self-awareness, dispelling desire and achieving deeper unity with his saber.

"Senior Brother, look up there!" Ma Congqiu had just helped Xu Chengyu over to watch the match. He pointed in shock at the sky above You Fushi and Yi Xuan’s arena.

Xu Chengyu looked up: the sky was darkening, clouds slowly gathering. This was the sign of a lightning tribulation.

The two fighters in the arena below didn’t seem to notice at all.

Yi Xuan gripped the Chongming Sword, each strike flowing more smoothly than the last. The moves he had practiced day and night with Xin Shenzi now came instinctively, his body executing them before his mind even had to think.

A sword has sword-intent, so how could a blade not have blade-intent?

A faint layer of blue light covered the body of the Chongming Sword, carrying a force of ten thousand juns, its unstoppable intent surging toward the Chongming Sword.

Blade and sword collided. The splintering burst of blade-intent actually broke through the barrier around the arena, nearly injuring the watching cultivators nearby. The brown-haired elder hurriedly re-established the barrier.

Yi Xuan gripped the Chongming Sword with both hands, eyes fixed on the Chongming Sword wrapped in ancient silver. His mind, spiritual power, and the blade in his hands became one. Bit by bit, he pressed the Chongming Sword down with all his strength, until at last it lost power and fell to the arena floor.

"So the Chongming Sword has surfaced?" Sect Master Wu Yue of the Hehuan Sect looked down at Yi Xuan and asked.

She had never paid much attention to Yi Xuan’s blade before, he had always seemed clumsy using it so she hadn’t thought much of it.

"The lightning tribulation is coming," said Zhou Qi, sect master of the Sword Sect, tilting his head back. At that moment, Yi Xuan on the arena looked more like someone about to face a tribulation. Zhou Qi felt a surge of joy. After all, Yi Xuan was considered a disciple of the Sword Sect.

The Chongming Sword lay on the ground as if badly hurt, unmoving, pretending nothing had happened.

"Little junior brother." Yi Xuan looked toward You Fushi and slowly walked over. "Your sword lost."

"Your blade’s not bad," You Fushi said, for once offering a compliment.

"It’s still mine, you can’t steal it," Yi Xuan replied, still holding a grudge over the sword being taken.

Even the title "little junior brother" had been stolen by You Fushi.

"Sword, come." You Fushi opened his right hand slightly, and the Chongming Sword, which had been lying on the ground, flew swiftly into his grasp. It was as if it had found its true master again, flaring bright red.

"You still want to keep fighting?" Yi Xuan asked.

You Fushi said nothing. The moment he held the sword, his wrist gave a light flick. The Chongming Sword quivered like a living thing, giving the illusion of a creature.

A sense of danger rose in Yi Xuan’s heart. He stopped moving forward, stepped back a few paces, and gripped the Chongming Sword tightly.

"This is the first time I’ve seen Young Master You hold his sword so seriously," Ma Congqiu said excitedly, rubbing his hands together, nearly making Xu Chengyu, whom he was supporting, stumble.

Ma Congqiu quickly caught him. "Senior brother, sorry!"

"No need to hold me. Watch the match yourself," Xu Chengyu said.

"But senior brother, your injuries aren’t healed yet," Ma Congqiu said apologetically, reaching out again to help.

"I brought a chair," Xu Chengyu replied. On the way here, after much thought, he had brought a chair from his room, though he was embarrassed to sit in it in public.

But right now, he wanted nothing more than to sit and watch the match to the end.

Below the stage, Xu Chengyu sat down at last in front of the watching crowd, looking a little awkward, ears turning slightly red, and took a long moment to settle himself.

On the stage, You Fushi faced Yi Xuan, his sword moves light and ethereal, unpredictable as mist, while the Chongming Sword moved like a living dragon.

Yi Xuan suffered several setbacks, unable to catch his opponent’s sword.

"This is just… too amazing," Yan Hao said in awe. She had just won her own match and stopped to watch, her jaw almost dropping.

Yi Xuan’s looks were striking, the red mark between his brows adding a touch of beauty beyond gender. Yet in his hands was the heavy Chongming Sword, each strike solid, weighty, and steady.

He himself was already a striking contrast to the weapon he wielded.

You Fushi, on the other hand, was the complete opposite extreme.

Set aside his usual laziness, just from his looks, anyone would take him for a refined, elegant young master of noble birth. But the sword in his hand carried a demonic aura, and his sword moves were as fluid as a swimming dragon.

Most of the crowd’s eyes were locked on the two of them.

At that moment, only Yi Xuan could truly feel the pressure You Fushi was placing on him.

From the instant You Fushi gripped the sword, the Chongming Sword seemed to truly awaken. Its bloodthirst and killing intent wove into a suffocating net that Yi Xuan could not escape.

But he would not give up.

Determination burned in Yi Xuan’s eyes. He raised the Chongming Sword and, with all his strength, struck toward You Fushi, breaking through the killing net of the Chongming Sword and even splitting the arena in two.

But the sword’s killing intent struck back at the same time. Yi Xuan had no time to celebrate his counterattack; he dodged aside, landing on the other half of the arena, and swung again.

You Fushi was incredibly fast within a blink, he was standing right before Yi Xuan.

Yi Xuan thought he would strike with his sword, but instead, You Fushi drove the Chongming Sword into the arena stone beneath his feet.

By the time Yi Xuan realized something was wrong, the stone beneath him had turned to dust, and he was standing on the ground below the arena.

According to the rules, leaving the stage meant defeat.

"Does this mean it’s a draw?" Ma Congqiu asked excitedly. The arena beneath the two fighters had turned entirely to ash.

It seemed most people thought the same, including Yi Xuan himself.

But then they saw You Fushi sweep away the ash under his feet, revealing a bright little stone he was still standing on.

Yi Xuan: "…"

Before he could react to such shamelessness, the lightning tribulation fully formed above, thunder booming as bolts crashed toward him.

"Everyone, fall back!" Daoist Fengchen acted quickly, setting up a barrier around Yi Xuan and urging the others to move away.

The black clouds churned, lightning thick as a man’s arm striking straight at Yi Xuan.

When Yi Xuan first saw the thunderclouds, he was dazed, he hadn’t expected to trigger a tribulation. But his reaction was swift. In the next instant, he gripped the Chongming Sword and met the lightning head-on.

The Chongming Sword could truly be called a divine weapon of this age, countless great predecessors had once wielded it to slay demons and achieve glory.

As he cut down the first bolt, Yi Xuan began to feel the lingering wills of those seniors, along with remnants of their blade-intent.

It was as if they were whispering in his ear, guiding his hand, teaching him how to fight alongside the Chongming Sword, how to resist the lightning.

In the flashing storm, the red mark between his brows shone even more brightly.

……

Once You Fushi confirmed his win, he went to watch Ye Su’s match. Compared to his fight, this arena was much calmer.

Ye Su and Lian Lian were only competing with talismans, Ye Su hadn’t even brought out a magic weapon.

You Fushi stood below, holding the Chongming Sword, looking up at the two on stage. His expression grew distant. He remembered someone had once tried to teach him to draw such things, but he could never quite learn.

Those talismans were too complicated, they gave him a headache just to look at.

He had always assumed someone else would draw them for him.

"I’ve lost," Lian Lian said, raising both hands and standing still.

She had fallen into a talisman formation trap set by Ye Su. If she moved, the array would instantly destroy her.

Ye Su dispelled the formation and turned, only to meet You Fushi’s gaze from below the stage. She froze for a moment.