Long Yifei bowed to her opponent. Zhang Nuo's expression was even and did not carry too much disappointment. Long Yifei's reputation was well known. Someone like Zhang Nuo was destined to lose.
"Good job," Chen Wentian said when Long Yifei returned to his side.
"Thank you, master." She nodded with a light smile.
It was still the first round out of eight. Depending on the luck of the draw, she would not face any difficult opponents until the sixth round.
Around them, the duels continued. Spirited singing and beautiful dancing filled the middle of the campus. It was a pleasing sight for the male gaze. Though, much of it had little to do with the usual affairs of cultivators.
Chen Wentian was used to fighting and killing. His path of cultivation was one drenched in blood. He could no longer count the souls he had destroyed, especially when he was still in the mortal realms. The kind of cultivation that the Virtuous Order eschewed differed from what he was used to. But he could still appreciate it.
"Yifei, will you still be learning these basics next year?" He asked.
"It depends on each sacred daughter's talent and their examination scores. These songs and dances help to build my foundation so that I may cultivate the true Daos of the Order. I will also begin cultivating the Frostfire Battle Dance that you gifted me. For other sacred daughters, they may have to practice the fundamentals for another year or two years."
"Mmm," He nodded, "The Frostfire Battle Dance… that is indeed a very good cultivation art. Though, I am still not completely sure if we can trust it. It is a pity that cultivating Winter's Snow Dance has hit a dead end."
Long Yifei glanced at him with a wistful expression and sighed.
Unlike Li Yuechan and her sisters, Long Yifei could not follow their cultivation path and she could not properly cultivate Winter's Snow Dance. As a part of Summer and Winter's Eternal Sutra, it was a true dual cultivation art that required the union of a man. Since she could not lose her virginity, she could not follow its methods. She was also stuck at the first seven stages of Winter's Snow Dance as the final three stages required dual cultivation.
Because of this, she was still stuck at the peak of the Spirit Initiate Realm. She had yet to touch the Lesser Realm of Spiritual Growth even though the other disciples had already reached that realm. In a blink, she had already fallen behind Wu Qianyu, Peng Lingxi, and even Li Yuechan.
She wasn't worried but she couldn't help but feel a little sour.
Chen Wentian tried to comfort her, "Although the Frostfire Battle Dance can take you to far higher realms than Winter's Snow Dance, I think we can't place all of our hopes on it. The key lies in its name. Frostfire, frost and fire, yin and yang, one may be able to keep their virginity for a longer time with the Frostfire Battle Dance. But I suspect, it will still require some dual cultivation elements towards the higher tiers."
She nodded, "That makes sense. But then, what should I cultivate?"
He didn't have a good answer. He had thought about this problem for a long time. Even so, he still didn't have a good answer.
Then again, he didn't have a good answer for his other disciples as well. Lin Qingcheng, Zhou Ziyun, and Wu Qianyu; all of them were muddling through their cultivation path, sometimes with his help, sometimes on their own. He trusted them so he should trust Long Yifei as well.
"Long Yifei… report to arena one." A stale voice called out. "Ma Zhenyu, report to arena one."
"Oh, that should be the singing duel." Long Yifei said.
"Looks like we're unlucky again." Chen Wentian said.
It was still the first round for the singing portion. They were not among the lucky ones who got to advance to the second round without competing. He wondered if they would ever get lucky during these end-of-year exams.
Long Yifei entered the same arena again. This time, her opponent was different, a sacred daughter by the name of Ma Zhenyu. She was a little short and perhaps a bit on the plump side. Long Yifei wasn't familiar with her.
A crystal bell rang and her second duel began.
This time, it was a singing duel so both contestants began to sing.
Long Yifei chose the same song she had performed before, Reflections Beside an Icy Stream. She had practiced a lot, almost to perfection. Although it was a mortal song, it was well suited to her icy cultivation base.
Her opponent's song was loud and powerful. Her voice was filled with strength. It was an offensive type of song that could attack others with one's voice alone.
Ma Zhenyu's face contorted as she put all of her strength and spiritual might behind her song. Waves of energy spread out from her wide-open mouth in a cone. The edges of the cone reached the walls of the arena and bounced back due to the built-in protective array. As a result, most of the attack was directed toward Long Yifei.
Long Yifei stood her ground and calmly sang. The verses of her song formed an icy barrier around her figure. Although it was the most basic ice attribute song, it carried her will, her spirit, and her talented voice.
Ma Zhenyu's song reverberated around Long Yifei, trying to crash through her barrier. It was like a thousand little daggers trying to stab their way through a solid steel shield. One could imagine, it was a completely futile effort.
Although the two women were in the same cultivation realm and at the same level, the quality of their spiritual energies was not the same. One person's was tough and unrefined. The other was smooth and elegant like icy jade. It was comparing the finest treasure to common mud.
Long Yifei's voice could be said to be flawless. Her control, her pitch, and her delivery transformed an ordinary song into a wonder. And even after Ma Zhenyu had sung herself hoarse, Long Yifei's voice continued to drift into everyone's ears.
"Winner, Long Yifei!"
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