Dormitory Strife Concluded

At the moment the Ten Million Fire Dragon lunged, countless shards of ice erupted from Tian Ning’s body.

Frost flowers blossomed on her cold, pale skin, settling on purplish-blue veins, displaying a chillingly rich beauty.

Su Qing, being in close contact with her, naturally couldn’t escape.

Ice flowers even began to form on the skin where she touched Tian Ning. Her skin, forcibly tautened by the ice, was both painful and cold.

She shivered, and most of her body heat was drained away.

A frost-white ice cocoon then formed, thick and bone-chilling ice enveloping both Tian Ning and Su Qing.

It was both harm and protection.

In reality, their contest was a fair and open one.

For Tian Ning, spiritual energy was limited, and fire was her nemesis.

She should have protected herself alone.

Yet, the frost, without a moment’s hesitation, instantly suppressed Su Qing along with her.

The ice cocoon was as transparent as a blue lake, yet it was covered in jagged spikes.

Immediately after, Ten Million roared past.

From outside inwards, the ring of fire shrunk, intensely scorching the solid ice.

Heat waves swept through, and the temperature at the center of the Tier 4 Earth Fire was close to bubbling magma, instantly vaporizing a layer of the ice’s outer surface in the blink of an eye.

The ice layer did not show weakness, continuously healing, attempting to overpower the Earth Fire.

Cold and heat battled in alternation.

Su Qing’s eyelashes had never felt so heavy.

Not to mention her limbs and joints, even every strand of her hair was sealed by perpetually frozen ice.

So cold.

In a realm of cold, silent frost-blue, she saw Tang Yueling stride in, her expression a rare mix of panic.

As the master of a Tier 4 Earth Fire and the purest fire spiritual root, she would naturally not be scorched by the flames.

Her beautiful red robes burned in the fire, as if merging with the raging flames in the background.

Her dark hair, swept back by the tongues of fire, billowed upwards.

Her eyes were incredibly bright, intensely bright, three points brighter than the leaping, exploding sparks.

For a moment, Su Qing felt she had merged into the flames, no, she was the flames themselves.

Tang Yueling looked at the two figures encased in ice, for a moment unsure whether to be angry or worried. In the end, she merely fumed,

“Truly a pair of sworn enemies!”

Su Qing struggled to move her eyeballs, gesturing for Tang Yueling to be careful, but it was already too late.

A hidden trace of frost silently spread across the ground, snaking towards Tang Yueling’s feet.

Then, the ice and snow, like a venomous snake, coiled around her ankle, instantly pulling her into a winter of ten li of falling snow.

Now it was a party of three.

But even so, there was no reason for one to yield to another.

On this silver-white arena, the raging fire was gradually suppressed by the covering ice, but nourished by wood spiritual energy, it reignited from the ashes, surging forth once more to entangle with the ice and snow.

The spectators in the stands watched as sudden changes occurred in the blink of an eye.

The three figures battling instantly vanished into the flames.

The fire waxed and waned, at times extinguished, at times turning to white steam.

Their struggle against the ice must have been extremely difficult, yet even so, the fire never truly went out.

Someone sniffed carefully, and affirmed, “I smell the scent of burnt human flesh. And it’s actually quite fragrant. I just don’t know if it’s rare, medium-rare, or well-done.”

A Pill Cultivator next to her said, “Anything above medium-rare can be packed up and buried.”

The Body Cultivator disagreed, “Our Body School cultivators can at least withstand up to well-done.”

It was better that she hadn’t spoken; as soon as she did, it drew a chorus of low curses. “You Body School cultivators truly have cursed lives.

Go back to picking bananas, don’t come cultivating immortality, okay? Good.”

Ling Xiaorui’s eyes widened. “It’s all smoky, I can’t see anything. How am I supposed to commentate?”

Li Chaosheng took off his jacket and put it on again, then took it off and put it on again. He leaned weakly against the railing.

“How long will this fire burn? When we discussed the pay, we shouldn’t have calculated by match, it should have been by time to be worthwhile…”

The traces of ice were not as easy to observe as fire.

Only by looking at the size of the fire could one gauge the intensity of the confrontation.

The large fire turned into a small fire, extinguished into ice, and then burned again. The fire had burned for ten days and ten nights, and what had become of the people inside was still unknown.

Soon, the arena, subjected to repeated high and low temperatures, became fragile.

Finally, after another freezing, it let out a sorrowful cry, unable to bear the burden, and instantly cracked like parched earth.

The bright flame then fell downwards along the arena, landing in the center of the Night Arena’s vertical arena complex. It should have continued to fall, but it was blocked by an invisible barrier, finally stopping, burning quietly yet unyieldingly in mid-air.

Ten days of competition, ten days of brutal fighting, made this struggle all the more eye-catching. The betting volume for Arena Eleven far surpassed the other fifteen arenas.

The more intense the situation, the more people wanted to know who would ultimately win.

The Night Arena’s attendance rate had reached pleasing numbers these past few days, and more and more people paid attention to the final outcome, after all, it concerned the gambling money in their pockets.

Even the administrators behind the Night Arena, despite their busy schedules, paid attention for a moment.

“Those betting on ice to win, and those betting on fire to win are fifty-fifty?”

A steward added, “There are many betting on a draw too.”

“What a bunch of unfeeling blockheads.” Wang Quan curved his eyes, scoffing dismissively, “The answer has already been given, yet they still pretend not to see it.”

The steward asked curiously, “If that’s the case, Sect Leader, which side are you betting on?”

Wang Quan shook his head, playing coy, “I’m not betting on any side you mentioned. I’m going to make them pay for the arena repairs.”

This fire had burned for too long. Anger, frustration, grievance, confusion, impatience, and tangled thoughts were all burned away in the fire, leaving behind a clean slate.

On the fifteenth day, Tang Yueling and Tian Ning’s spiritual energy simultaneously ran dry one after another.

Their dantians were so parched that not a single drop of spiritual power could be squeezed out.

The flames and frost ceased to exist, and no one had the strength to lift a finger.

Their exposed skin was scorched black, and tender new flesh vaguely appeared in the cracks.

Yes, this seemingly unending fire, in the eyes of Body Cultivators, was actually not that serious—it was merely another round of extreme body tempering, dancing on the edge of death.

Enduring it meant another rebirth.

Tian Ning was truly too tired. Half of her strength had been used to protect Su Qing, so much so that all the accumulated power in her body was completely exhausted.

She lay on the ground, gazing up at the sky, breathing peacefully.

The sensation of being slowly carved by flames was agonizing, and exerting all her strength to resist was also extremely exhausting and arduous.

Ah, she had already given her all, reached her limit, and could no longer force herself to endure.

For some reason, after so many days, this was the one time the voices in Tian Ning’s mind disappeared.

Tang Yueling next to her also couldn’t get up, but she still had the strength to mumble, though her voice was very muffled because her throat was half damaged.

Tian Ning knew what she was complaining about: “Ugly…, never… …been so ugly.”

The only one left with any strength was Su Qing. She stumbled as she sat up, wanting to speak, but she coughed up a mouthful of black ash. Perhaps it was her internal organs, burned to slag, being vomited out.

Specifically, she had lost her voice and could barely feel the existence of the other half of her body.

‘It’s fine, this isn’t important.’

What was important was that she was the only one left with any residual strength.

Although this strength had to be desperately squeezed from every limb and bone, it was enough for her to decide the victor and loser of this battle.

Ling Xiaorui said her heart was in her throat. She rubbed her tired eyes, trying hard to stare.

“Is the winner decided? Two people are incapacitated, only one can still move? So, the winner is—”

Li Chaosheng’s emotions fluctuated, his face somewhat complex.

Although he had been despairing over unpaid overtime just a few days ago, looking at the current scene, he was at a loss for words. “Yes, only one person is sitting up. It seems she is the final victor…”

Su Qing lowered her head and found Tian Ning silently gazing at her.

Her eyelashes were curled from the burning, yet her eyes were still the same clear black and white, cold and simple.

Su Qing wanted to smile, but she found that if she even slightly moved her muscles, fragments of her charred black skin would flake off incessantly, which was not very hygienic.

She couldn’t say anything, so she merely struggled to raise a hand and gently placed it on Tian Ning’s cheek. Her palm was very warm, like a silent, tender comfort.

Tian Ning’s eyes suddenly widened, her gaze flickering, showing a hint of moist disbelief.

This small cup of strength, forcibly squeezed out, was now completely exhausted.

Su Qing fell back, dropping between Tian Ning and Tang Yueling, and let out a slow, satisfied breath.

She chose to surrender.

Because victory and defeat held no meaning here.

The magnificent Arena Eleven match ended with no victor.

The gamblers’ money instantly experienced a shocking reversal, almost making one suspect it was a fixed fight.

However, such a brutal fixed fight was rarely seen.

Moreover, it wasn’t that no one made money.

There were always a few smart ones, and also rebellious individuals who bet on the correct answer.

The rebellious person confidently argued, “The more others bet on something, the more annoyed I get. Why can’t everyone lose? Win what win? Just lose all!”

The clever one, however, said, “Not to mention that these three are acquaintances and famously have a good relationship. If one doesn’t even have that much ability to gather information, and seeing the flames scorching, and the ice instinctively protecting someone, they should know that this arena match is about friendship, and also about defending friendship.”

Those who lost money pouted and argued, “These young people nowadays really know how to play. Dormitory conflicts are even brought to arena matches. They reconcile happily, but my storage bag is empty. In the end, we actually became a part of their relationship repair.”

Su Qing was completely unaware of the aftermath and rumors of the match.

She was currently undergoing the healing phase after body tempering, a stage most coveted by all Body Cultivators.

Her entire being was like shedding skin; fragmented, withered body parts were replaced by new, stronger tissues.

Moreover, upon opening her eyes, her cultivation would advance another level.

How could there be such a good thing in the world?

Presumably, even when the Night Arena’s exorbitant bill and medical fees were slapped in front of Su Qing, she would maintain this joyful mood.

And she finally learned from Tian Ning what her inner turmoil was all about.

“You mean, the Golden Core you formed is a pseudo-core?”