Right after Xing Shufen responded, a transparent screen flashed before Ji Wuye''s eyes.


    His crimson eyes hardened like gemstones, anger simmering beneath the glacial surface as realization dawned. As he had suspected, the reason all of his Senior Sisters stubbornly refused to withdraw from the spar and admit defeat—despite their mounting injuries—was disturbingly clear now.


    ''They can''t,'' Ji Wuye thought grimly. His hand tightened around the jian''s hilt, knuckles paling, as he unsheathed the blade in one fluid motion.


    The tempered steel sang as it caught the sunlight, razor-sharp edge honed to perfection. His long, silver-white hair danced on the wind like a banner, while his Qi surged rapidly through his meridians, coiling with restless power.


    But then...a chorus of stern voices rose behind him, forcing his shoulders taut. A group of Official Disciples materialized, surrounding him from all sides in a tightening circle, their stances primed for confrontation.


    At their vanguard stood Wu Gao, his face a mask of hostile disdain, lips pressed in a thin line. He too gripped a jian, its blade sheathed in wavering cerulean Qi that also engulfing his entire form.


    "Outer Disciple Ji Wuye! We warn you once again to cease this folly immediately!" Wu Gao''s tone brooked no argument as the reprimand sliced through the tense air.


    "Your actions are pointless and serve only to dishonor yourself! This is an officially sanctioned spar between a Kunlun disciple and an esteemed guests of Kunlun." His eyes blazed with self-righteous indignation. "You are but an Outer Disciple. With your paltry martial realm, not only are you bringing shame to our sect with this juvenile display, but you''ll also face severe punishment for even daring to stand here and raise your blade!" The judgmental rebuke carried the weight of a death sentence. "This is your final warning. Step down at once!"


    At Wu Gao''s signal, the dozen surrounding disciples tensed, their grips tightening on jian pommels as the blades thrummed with barely leashed energy.


    "No. it-"


    Sprawled on the wooden floor nearby, Lian Rougang and the other battered Senior Sisters tried in vain to protest Wu Gao''s harsh words, but they were swiftly silenced by Hao Hanying.


    "Do not seek to protect the insolent young man again, Senior Sisters!" His rebuke dripped with mock concern. "This bold Junior has not only thoroughly embarrassed our sect''s dignity before our guests by brashly claiming you should not have yielded, but he now compounds his transgression by daring to unsheath his blade against an honored guest without issuing a formal challenge!"


    The truth was, he was also enraged by how his Senior Sister was mercilessly tortured, but as long as she didn''t give up, it would be impossible for him to help her.


    Now that the spar had ended, he also wanted to do the same thing as Ji Wuye, but then his Senior Brother Wu''s words rang in his mind, making him realize it would be a mistake. Not only had he already shamed Kunlun in the first spar, but now he wanted to seek revenge?


    Was he a child? Thus, he denied the idea. But then... Ji Wuye stepped forward, acting like a hero...


    Hao Hanying admitted that he felt… envious and jealous of him, seeing how he received so much attention from his Senior Sister.


    Thus, now, he couldn''t help but, unknowingly, try to make Ji Wuye look bad in front of her.


    Shen Bi, Qiu Xia, and Ding Xiuying fell silent, their faces etched with a mixture of shame and resentment as they found themselves unable to refute Hao Hanying''s scathing words.


    Only Lian Rougang, still doubled over in agony from her injuries, attempted a feeble protest. Her cheeks were swollen and discolored from the beating, causing her words to emerge as a pained, garbled murmur.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "N-No...you''re wr-rong!" she forced out, mustering what little strength remained. But her desperate plea fell on deaf ears, the disdainful gaze of the surrounding Officials indicating none could make sense of her anguished cries.


    Her heart hammered not from fear of the punishment her beloved Junior Brother now faced, surrounded by hostile blades, but from the terrifying aura he emanated.


    ''He''s angry! Truly, deeply angry! Get away, all of you!'' Lian Rougang''s wild-eyed expression screamed the silent warning. His eyes, once pools of tranquil calm, now burned crimson with a scarcely restrained fury.


    His long snowy hair whipped unnaturally despite the stillness in the air, as if caught in the throes of an unseen storm. Most alarming of all was the wide, empty smile etched across his face - a cold, merciless rictus she hadn''t witnessed in years.


    "J-Junior!" Finally, she managed one final shout, the rawness of her swollen cheeks laying bare the desperation in that single word. For an instant, Ji Wuye''s burning crimson gaze locked onto her pleading eyes. The bone-chilling calmness there was unmistakable, yet she silently begged him, ''Please, no! Don''t do this!''


    She fought to convey the depth of her fear through expression alone. But Ji Wuye''s response was to slowly shake his head, his terrible smile unwavering.


    ...


    ''Brainless fools, the lot of them. Even a jackass would show more loyalty in protecting its own when threatened...'' Ji Wuye''s thoughts trailed off in disgust as his eyes roved across the gathered Official Disciples.


    He saw now that their sole concern was protecting their prestige and face- their own fragile egos and arrogant notion of Kunlun''s superiority.


    His Senior Sisters'' minds were clearly not in the right state. No one in their right mind would continue a mere spar after suffering such injuries — not even women!


    These Kunlun Official Disciples should have realized something was wrong! Yet... these cowards lacked even an ounce of conviction to intervene and stop this pointless, humiliating spectacle.


    Ah...he had reached the limits of his tolerance for their idiocy. His Sisters had suffered the consequences of his secretive plans and machinations. Some part of him always assumed the Sect would still look after their own, would still honor the bonds of family and loyalty. But that was his grave miscalculation...


    Too many disciples in Kunlun had led to a smaller, fragmented circle, where there were no true familial bonds — except perhaps among the Inner Disciples serving directly under the Elders.


    The rest were left floundering without purpose or camaraderie, their lives defined only by petty rivalry.


    "Funny," Ji Wuye muttered, a humorless laugh escaping his lips as a cold smile played across his features. He raised his head toward the brilliant azure sky, squinting against the blazing morning sun that had climbed to its zenith directly overhead, casting harsh rays that seemed to sear the earth.


    On the other hand, the encircling Official Disciples felt their blood boiling with indignant rage upon hearing Ji Wuye''s mocking words, the veins in their necks and temples pulsing visibly beneath flushed skin. "Enough of your insolence!" one of them bellowed, spittle flying from his contorted lips.


    Suddenly, as if acting on the same unspoken signal, all twelve Official Disciples, Wu Gao at their vanguard, tensed and charged as one toward Ji Wuye in a furious stampede. But in the next instantaneous moment...


    A faint azure corona of Qi swirled into existence, cloaking Ji Wuye''s hands in an ethereal glow as he moved with uncanny swiftness and utter silence, like a wraith given form. Time itself seemed to slow to a crawl, the world around him frozen as his crimson eyes flickered with preternatural focus. Twelve fleeting shadows of Ji Wuye shimmered into being - each one materializing with liquid grace behind the back of one of the charging disciples.


    STRUCK!


    In one blindingly fast, seamlessly fluid motion, each ghostly apparition raised two fingers and struck with tremendous, focused force directly at the point just below the collarbone near the center of the chest.


    Then...time snapped back to its relentless march.


    THUMP!


    There were no agonized screams, no tortured groans of pain. The twelve Official Disciples, Wu Gao among them, abruptly collapsed in unison as though their bones had turned to water. They crumpled bonelessly to the hard-packed earth, eyes bulging wide, faces flushing an unhealthy crimson as spittle dripped from their gaping, gasping mouths.


    The azure auras of Qi enveloping each disciple winked out of existence in an instant, the vibrant energy suddenly bleeding away to dissipate in shimmering streamers into the surrounding air. This shocking display sowed confusion among the gathered onlookers - commoners and Kunlun guests alike observing in stunned disbelief from the elevated viewing area.


    "Did...did anyone see what just happened?"


    "Impossible! All twelve at the same time? But they were the Official Disciples..."


    "Their Qi...it''s dissolving, fading away into the very air! How can this be?"


    "Look at their vacant faces! They''re...they''re awake but rendered completely immobile. What sort of dreadful martial art allows such a thing?"


    The crowd fell into a disbelieving hush, hundreds of eyes shifting as one to settle on the culprit - Ji Wuye remained rooted in his original position, gazing impassively down at them with those eerie, tranquil crimson pupils.


    On the other hand, Ji Wuye''s focus shifted back to Xing Shufen. But...the woman now regarded him with an incredulous smile playing across her full lips, a bemused giggle escaping her throat.


    "My, so exceptionally strong!" Xing''s eyes danced with admiration as she boldly raked her gaze up and down Ji Wuye''s form. "I can only imagine what those skilled hands could do if used on me as well..." She let the coy insinuation hang in the air, lips curved in a teasing smirk.


    Yet beneath the veneer of playful interest, a glimmer of surprise flickered in Xing Shufen''s expression. She realized in that moment that this young, disarmingly handsome disciple had just demonstrated a highly esoteric technique from the ancient...


    The Tianchi point - an accupressure node located near the center of the chest just below the collarbone. By striking it with precisely focused force, one could induce severe breathing difficulties, arrhythmia, and total disruption of the target''s Qi flow...eventually leading to unconsciousness from the sheer shock of searing pain alone.


    And that was precisely the devastatingly efficient maneuver Ji Wuye had unleashed upon the gathered disciples. Yet this was intended as only a temporary subjugation technique. By channeling the full brute force of an 8th martial artist into each strike, he had achieved a much more insidious effect.


    Their finely honed combat reflexes had been permanently dulled, primal dread implanted deep within their cores...some may have even suffered lasting meridian blockages akin to the crippling injury that his Senior Sister Lian endured.


    Of course, such impediments could potentially be healed - but that was immaterial now. What mattered was that Xing Shufen had undoubtedly witnessed his movement.


    ''As expected, she''s probably in the 7th realm,'' Ji Wuye concluded inwardly, and then... "You are most kind, Miss..." his disarming smile remained fixed as he cupped his hands in a respectful bow.


    He smoothly sheathed his jian at his waist before continuing, "I am Ji Wuye, an Outer Disciple of Kunlun. I humbly ask for your esteemed guidance on my martial path."