533: Chapter 43 The Martial Arts Tournament Concludes

Seeing Tian Linger activate her hairpin to easily block Lu Xueqi's Divine Sword Control Thunder Technique, not only did the Disciples below find it inconceivable, but Mysterious Dao, Tian Buyi, Water Moon True Person, and the others on the high platform were equally astonished.

For as those Disciples had said, no matter how powerful a Magic Treasure was, the amount of power it could exert depended on its owner's strength.

Tian Linger only had a cultivation at the seventh level of the Yuqing Realm; for her to activate that hairpin Magic Treasure and block a strike comparable to the Shangqing Realm level was indeed somewhat contrary to common sense.

Water Moon True Person asked Su Ru directly, "Junior Sister, that hairpin of Linger's is...?"

Upon hearing this, Su Ru replied truthfully, "Old Seventh gave it to her."

As she spoke, she glanced sideways at Meng Li.

Water Moon True Person, Mysterious Dao, Zeng Shuchang, and the others did the same.

Meng Li coughed lightly and explained, "That hairpin is a special protective Magic Treasure that can store Dharmic power; once activated, it can exert its full might. I infused a significant amount of Dharmic power into it when I was at the ninth level of the Shangqing Realm. Once triggered, even a Cultivator of the same Realm wouldn't be able to break its defense for a while."

"Senior Sister Lu's Divine Sword Control Thunder Technique is certainly formidable, but there is still a gap between her and the ninth level of the Shangqing Realm. It is only normal that she couldn't break the shield."

Water Moon True Person, Mysterious Dao, and Zeng Shuchang finally understood.

So the shield was constructed from the Dharmic power of the ninth level of the Shangqing Realm; it was normal that Lu Xueqi couldn't budge it, as there was a whole major Realm of difference between them.

In an instant, a question occurred to them: the ninth level of the Shangqing Realm, and even a Cultivator of the same Realm couldn't break it for a while?

Among those present, except for Mysterious Dao, everyone's cultivation was below the ninth level of the Shangqing Realm. If they were to face this shield, wouldn't they also find it difficult to do anything?

Thinking of this, they couldn't help but feel a bit depressed, yet at the same time, they felt a surge of pleasant surprise.

If more Magic Treasures like this were to appear, the life-saving capabilities of the Qingyun Sect Disciples would undoubtedly increase significantly.

After all, experts of the Shangqing Realm were already rare, and those at the Peak of the Shangqing Realm were even fewer.

Just then, the situation on the arena stage began to become clear.

Seeing that one strike couldn't budge Tian Linger's shield, Lu Xueqi refused to believe it and attacked repeatedly, but she failed to change the outcome. Instead, her Dharmic power was depleted to less than ten percent, and she herself fell into a state of weakness due to overusing the Divine Sword Control Thunder Technique.

On the opposite side, Tian Linger remained calm and composed.

Seeing this, Lu Xueqi couldn't help but feel bitterness in her heart, and the thought of surrendering arose.

She had given it her all but couldn't even break through the defense. Now that she was weakened, she had absolutely no chance of winning.

At that moment, Tian Linger withdrew the shield and spoke words that shocked everyone: "I surrender."

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire audience erupted in an uproar.

"Junior Sister Tian surrendered?!"

"What's going on?"

"Did I hear that right?"

"Junior Sister Tian clearly had the upper hand and was about to win. Why did she suddenly surrender?"

"I don't know."

"I don't understand."

...

Mysterious Dao, Tian Buyi, Water Moon True Person, and the others on the high platform, however, understood what was happening.

Although that hairpin Magic Treasure belonged to Tian Linger, the shield that blocked Lu Xueqi's Divine Sword Control Thunder Technique was composed of Meng Li's Dharmic power. In a sense, it was Meng Li, an outsider, who had blocked Lu Xueqi's attack, not Tian Linger.

It wasn't that Tian Linger couldn't win this way.

Since this situation had occurred for the first time and the competition rules did not explicitly forbid it, strictly speaking, it wasn't a violation.

But in doing so, Tian Linger's victory would inevitably be somewhat unearned.

Once the reason became known later, she would easily face criticism.

Choosing to surrender, on the contrary, showed more integrity and openness.

Therefore, even though Tian Buyi felt a bit of regret that Tian Linger hadn't taken first place, he couldn't bring himself to blame her and instead felt gratified.

Su Ru also had a smile on her face.

Mysterious Dao, Zeng Shuchang, Water Moon True Person, and the others also couldn't help but secretly praise her.

On the other side, the Qingyun Disciple acting as the referee didn't know the inside story and was a bit dazed by the situation. However, he quickly recovered and confirmed with Tian Linger once more. After ensuring there was no mistake, he loudly announced the result: "The grand finale of the 20th Seven-Peak Martial Tournament: Tian Linger of Dazhu Peak versus Lu Xueqi of Xiaozhu Peak."

"Lu Xueqi wins!"

On the stage, Lu Xueqi looked at Tian Linger as she approached and asked, deeply puzzled, "Why?"

Tian Linger smiled and said, "Because I am not as good as you, Senior Sister."

Lu Xueqi frowned and said, "How can that be? Just now, you clearly..."

Before she could finish, Tian Linger interrupted, "That wasn't my own power; it was Junior Brother's. This protective Magic Treasure of mine is a bit special and can store Dharmic power. Although the protective shield just now was formed by me activating the hairpin, the Dharmic power that constructed it was stored in it beforehand by Junior Brother."

"That was the power of the ninth level of the Shangqing Realm. It's only normal that you couldn't do anything against it, Senior Sister."

"And if I were to win because of that, it would be an unfair victory."

Lu Xueqi finally realized the truth, then murmured in her heart: The power of the ninth level of the Shangqing Realm, which she couldn't budge even an inch despite her best efforts, was truly powerful!

If the ninth level of the Shangqing Realm was so powerful, how strong would the even higher Taiqing Realm be?

She couldn't even imagine it.

...

Many Disciples below were puzzled by Tian Linger's sudden surrender, but no commotion broke out.

This was because Mysterious Dao, Tian Buyi, and the others on the stage unanimously agreed that the result was correct.

Song Da Ren, Zhang Xiaofan, and the others were doubtful, but seeing that even Tian Buyi had spoken, and Su Ru and Meng Li had no objections, they knew there must be a hidden story, but no injustice. Otherwise, the three of them would have surely raised an objection.

Therefore, after a brief discussion, the Disciples of Dazhu Peak chose to accept it.

When the Disciples of the other Peaks saw that Dazhu Peak, which should have been the most vocal, remained silent, they said nothing, at most whispering a few words of confusion.

After all, the victory or defeat of this final match only concerned Dazhu Peak and Xiaozhu Peak; it didn't have much to do with them.

Although the people of Xiaozhu Peak were puzzled, they were naturally overjoyed that the top spot had fallen to their Peak, so they didn't cause any trouble.

Afterward, Mysterious Dao came forward to give a speech.

After finishing a long discourse, he then said, "Lu Xueqi, Tian Linger, Lin Jingyu, and Zeng Shushu, stay behind. Everyone else may disperse."

"Yes."

With that, this Seven-Peak Martial Tournament officially came to an end.

Once the Disciples had dispersed, Mysterious Dao said to Zeng Shuchang, "Junior Brother Zeng, take the four Martial Nephews to receive the Transmission of Power from the Kunlun Nine Instruments Cauldron."

"Very well," Zeng Shuchang agreed. He turned to Lu Xueqi, Tian Linger, and the other two, saying, "Follow me."

Having said that, he turned and left.

Lu Xueqi, Tian Linger, and the others hurried to follow him.

After they had left, Mysterious Dao coughed lightly, looked at Meng Li, and asked, "Nephew Meng, regarding the protective Magic Treasure that Martial Niece Linger used, could you refine another one?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Water Moon True Person, Shang Zhengliang, and the others immediately understood the intent, and their eyes brightened slightly.

Meng Li also understood Mysterious Dao's meaning and said bluntly, "I can refine it, but it's a bit troublesome. Most importantly, good Materials are hard to find."

Mysterious Dao, Water Moon True Person, and the others thought to themselves, "As expected," and had no doubts.

That hairpin of Tian Linger's could store the Dharmic power of the ninth level of the Shangqing Realm and exert its might, allowing her to use borrowed strength to defend against the strong; it was quite extraordinary.

It was only natural that such a powerful Magic Treasure would require rare Materials to refine.

Since they were rare Materials, they were naturally precious and scarce.

"Specifically, what Materials are needed?"

...