Chapter 278 When Protagonists Fall Short
Bai Zihan's eyes narrowed as he watched the scene unfold.
As he thought that Bai Xueqing would lose, she used the Technique that she found from ancient ruins.
Silver-blue frost surged outward from Bai Xueqing, her Absolute Frost Domain twisting violently as it sought to subdue Nie Fengzhuo.
With her Heavenly Ice Body, naturally the power behind the Ice Technique was far stronger than if it was another person using it.
(Eh? Is Nie Fengzhuo going to lose?)
With Bai Xueqing not holding back and using Absolute Frost Domain, it seemed very possible that Nie Fengzhuo, the Heaven Chosen One, would lose.
Bai Zihan was very shocked by that.
Firstly, Bai Xueqing's strength was stronger than he thought.
She was easily better than Nie Fengzhuo and while Nie Fengzhuo seemed to have grown stronger, he still fell short.
(How can a protagonist be weaker than his sworn enemy, that too on the stage where he is finally going to redeem himself?)
Another thing was Nie Fengzhuo was injured from the previous match.
How could that be?
As the protagonist, until the final it should have been easy fights, or fights that further elevated his power.
But no, he had to sustain injuries which further decreased his chance of winning and finally, it seemed that is how its going to be.
(Did I overestimate Nie Fengzhuo just because of his Heaven Chosen's status?)
No!
His power was more than enough to beat all the previous champions of the Dragon and Phoenix Competition easily.
It wasn't that he overestimated Nie Fengzhuo.
(It seems like I have greatly underestimated Chu Ziyan and Bai Xueqing.)
Normally, it shouldn't have been possible for a side-character like Chu Ziyan to injure a protagonist to the point that his real battle begins with sustained injuries.
Additionally, he had also heard about Chu Ziyan forcing Nie Fengzhuo to reveal his trump card-Heaven-Rending Breakthrough.
And a technique of that level should have side effects that aren't easy to offset. He might still be suffering from those side effects after using it against Chu Ziyan.
So, with so many variables in play, is it possible to change the fate that is already thought to be decided?
"Tsk!"
He had bet 5 Million Gold on Nie Fengzhuo and thought he would become very rich overnight, but it looked like that wasn't possible.
He wasted 5 Million for nothing.
More than that, he still remembered the bet he made with Bai Xueqing to avoid being nagged.
Thinking that a Heaven Chosen winning should be inevitable, he didn't care what bet he made.
But now, he couldn't help regretting it.
Nie Fengzhuo was caught in Bai Xueqing's Absolute Frozen Domain and with his depleted Qi, there was no way that Nie Fengzhuo could turn this.
For a moment, it seemed as if victory might belong to his sister.
But then-
CRACK! BOOM!
The black-crimson qi erupted with a force that shattered the ice, scattering shards across the arena like fallen stars.
Nie Fengzhuo rose from the shattered frost, his blade now radiating an aura even heavier, darker, more oppressive than before.
Gasps rippled through the spectators.
"Impossible... how can he...?!"
"Was he hiding strength all along?"
"Did he somehow reach the Spirit Severing Realm...?!"
Bai Zihan's lips pressed into a thin line. He didn't need the speculation of the
crowd. He already knew.
His frown deepened.
(This is...)
His eyes flickered to Nie Fengzhuo, the aura around him like a tyrant
unleashed.
The black-crimson flames surged violently, yet the attack patterns retained a precision that spoke not of chaotic power, but of absolute control.
His cultivation realm also seemed to have reached the Spirit Severing Realm, with his Qi now almost fully recovered.
(Du Changsheng must be lending him strength.)
There was no way that anything he was seeing was possible with Nie Fengzhuo
himself.
His realm also couldn't be hidden, it was clearly Soul Formation Realm when System detected, so no way that he was hiding his strength.
"Tsk! Can't take a loss!"
Bai Zihan said in disappointment.
"I don't like this!"
The voice of his Immortal Soul Feilian stirred beside him, a whisper tinged with
anger.
"That loser can't even fight on his own. Borrowing strength from an old fossil...
pathetic!"
Bai Zihan was half-amused, half-exasperated.
Calling the soul of Du Changsheng an old fossil was insulting, but she too was
the same, and was indirectly insulting herself too.
Well, he didn't say anything about that since Feilian seemed furious.
"So, that Soul is really helping Nie Fengzhuo!"
Feilian nodded, her eyes staring hard at Nie Fengzhuo.
Bai Zihan thought that perhaps, like every protagonist, Nie Fengzhuo might
have a trump card that could surpass his expectations, but no-he was just
cheating.
Yes! This was cheating.
Bai Zihan wouldn't have bothered if it was truly a life-and-death situation and
he made use of whatever was at his disposal.
But this was a competition and that too between him and his enemy of a similar
age.
If he had lost, he should have taken it like a man.
But no, he resorted to borrowing strength from another, just in order to win.
For Bai Zihan, he lost all respect for Nie Fengzhuo.
Nie Fengzhuo might be Heaven Chosen, but with this, Bai Zihan just classified him as an ordinary cultivator with insane luck.
He didn't have a good mentality, and for Bai Zihan, his future was limited
whether the system called him Four Star graded Heaven Chosen One or not. (Hmph! I should just force him to give me the method to resurrect the deah.) Bai Zihan already made a decision. Nie Fengzhuo was useless except for his technique to bring back the dead.
"Bai Zihan, I will go and teach that old fossil a lesson!"
Feilian said.
Bai Zihan flicked his hand, not caring about her decision.
Well, beating Nie Fengzhuo and Du Changsheng at their own game might be a
bit satisfying.
***
On the stage, Bai Xueqing seemed to lose control of her power.
"Chance!"
Du Changsheng didn't know what was wrong with Bai Xueqing, but I was a
golden opportunity to finish the job.
Bai Xueqing's knees buckled as jagged Ice qi erupted violently from her dantian.
Her meridians screamed, blood streaking the corners of her lips as ice cracks
crawled up her arms.
Her breathing hitched-fast, shallow, panicked.
"No... no, I can't... I can't...!"
The Ice surged higher, lashing out like a beast unchained, drowning her in
terror.
Then- "Calm down!"
It was a familiar voice, like she had heard the same voice somewhere but
couldn't remember it.
"Y-you..."
She didn't know what it was-whether an enemy attack or something else-but
then realized that the being seemed to have helped calm down the Ice Qi in her
body.
"Don't be afraid!"
The voice echoed within her sea of consciousness, vast and immovable.
"This is your power!"
By then, her rampaging Ice Qi had settled down.
(Who?)
She still didn't know what was happening, but having helped calm down her Ice
Qi, she didn't become wary.
And then, before she could even ask a question-
"Now... watch and learn!"
As the voice said that, it seemed like Bai Xueqing had lost control of her body,
which made her cautious again.
However, after the exhaustion from the fight and fear of her Ice Qi going out of control, she couldn't even contest or resist Feilian's forceful takeover.
"Let me show you the full extent of your Heavenly Ice Body!"