Chapter 5210 — How Does One Judge the Outcome?

True, by relying on the heaven-defying restorative power of Withered Leaves Renew, Duanmu Yu very likely could win this duel. But even if she did secure a place in the Grand Antiquity Trial, what of it? Less than two months now remained before the Trial began—meaning that by then she would still be at least a month into her weakened period. To enter the Grand Antiquity Trial in such a state would be nothing short of courting death.

Better by far to simply concede. Even a child could weigh such costs and benefits clearly—was this truly nothing more than a momentary impulse?

In truth, it was no wonder Bing Wushuang could not understand. Even after Lin Dongfang had destroyed his dantian all those years ago, he had never once lost his reason. A momentary impulse was an experience entirely foreign to him, and so he naturally could not comprehend it.

Xin Yi'an, however, could well appreciate Duanmu Yu's state of mind. This was likely no impulse at all, but something long since written into her plans: the moment the tide turned against her, she would invoke Withered Leaves Renew and win at any cost.

For Duanmu Yu, this was by no means merely about the Trial qualification. More important still, the reputation of the entire Yeling Sect was at stake. She was the Yeling Sect's lead senior sister—if she could not even fight her way to the barest qualification, would that not drag the whole sect's name through the mud?

For the sake of the Yeling Sect, Duanmu Yu could not afford to lose this duel under any circumstances. Absolutely not.

The spectators saw clearly enough, but Leng Leng had never once witnessed Withered Leaves Renew. Before she had left the secular world to train, she had been no more than an early Foundation Establishment cultivator; in both seniority and strength she fell far short of the mark. And the Yeling Sect had always been cloaked in mystery—before this day she had never even heard of Withered Leaves Renew. For a moment she was quite at a loss.

Bang! This time it was Leng Leng who was sent flying. In an instant Duanmu Yu, restored to her peak condition, seemed utterly unstoppable. Even without a mighty technique like A Leaf Like a Mountain, the thoroughly depleted Leng Leng could no longer hold out against her.

Pressing her advantage without mercy, Duanmu Yu gave Leng Leng no chance to react at all, closing in at once with a relentless barrage of attacks. Leng Leng had fallen completely on the defensive.

Watching the two figures weave and clash across the arena, Xin Yi'an found something odd and could not help muttering, "If she has used Withered Leaves Renew to restore herself to peak condition, then she ought to finish this quickly with power moves like Falling Leaf Tells Autumn and A Leaf Like a Mountain. Why go to all this extra trouble?"

Ever since they had witnessed the might of the Imprisoning Circle, everyone knew that a duel with Leng Leng must never be drawn out. The longer it dragged on, the more severe the accumulating frost damage became. Duanmu Yu might hold the upper hand now, but if she could not bring Leng Leng down quickly, she might yet capsize in a ditch.

Duanmu Yu must surely know this full well, yet she had insisted on this approach all the same. Could there be some special purpose behind it?

"Five moves left!" Duanmu Yu reminded herself silently. She was calculating the frost effect of the Imprisoning Circle upon her; at this rate, in another five exchanges she would likely be frozen stiff once more—and then there would truly be no saving her.

"Five moves left!" Leng Leng's judgment was identical to hers. So long as she endured five more exchanges, she would win.

With both of them reaching such a conclusion, the next five exchanges were destined to be breathtaking. If the initial life-for-life trading had been mere probing, this time it was steel against steel in earnest.

The onlookers' eyelids twitched as they watched. Every exchange left both of them wounded, yet both maintained the most unyielding posture throughout. Neither yielded an inch—for to yield was to lose.

"Are those two even women? How are they more manly than us real men?" The men wiped their brows in shame. A battle like this ought to set the blood racing, yet the two combatants were both women—which left one at a loss for words.

"This duel is unexpectedly magnificent. Win or lose, Leng Leng should benefit enormously from it." Wei Zhao nodded. Though it pained him to watch Leng Leng take wound after wound, so long as her life was not at risk he would not step in to stop it. After all, nothing in this world matures a person faster than a fierce duel like this.

In the blink of an eye, the two in the arena had traded four more moves. Only the final move remained before the limit both had set for themselves!

"No other way!" Duanmu Yu gritted her teeth. The opponent's tenacity far exceeded her expectations; at this point she could hold nothing back, and could only pour out every last shred of her true qi in one final gamble—A Leaf Like a Mountain.

Leng Leng's heart skipped a beat. In her current state, it had been all she could do to endure the previous four moves; to think of withstanding A Leaf Like a Mountain now was sheer fantasy. More critically, her frost injuries from her own Imprisoning Circle had badly slowed her, and there was no way she could dodge!

"No other way." Leng Leng spoke the exact same words as Duanmu Yu. Without dodging or evading, she remained where she stood, forming seals with both hands as she said in a low, steady voice, "Ice Prison, Mirror Shatters."

As the words fell, everyone seemed to hear, as in a daze, the tremendous sound of a vast ice mirror shattering—and then not only within the arena, but across the entire islet, the temperature plunged abruptly, raising every hair on end.

In an instant, the fiery, furious scene froze dead. The mighty onslaught of A Leaf Like a Mountain ceased abruptly, and Leng Leng and Duanmu Yu both fell still at the same moment—because both of them had been frozen solid!

"This..." Xin Yi'an stared at the sight, mouth open, unable to string together a single complete sentence. The others needed no mention; one and all they gaped, speechless for a long while.

"To think she would even use Ice Prison, Mirror Shatters. This is truly..." Wei Zhao was rather stunned as well, unsure what to say.

Ice Prison, Mirror Shatters was the advanced follow-up to the Imprisoning Circle, its principle being to unleash the Imprisoning Circle's bone-piercing cold in an instant in a far more threatening form. But because Leng Leng had not even fully mastered the Imprisoning Circle itself, until now this move had existed only as a preliminary conception in Wei Zhao's mind—he had not even puzzled out the precise true qi circulation for it. Yet to his astonishment, Leng Leng had used it outright.

Beyond her astonishing talent, this girl's nerve was truly boundless.

"It seems both of them are frozen stiff and can no longer move. Announce the result as soon as possible—if they stay frozen too long it will leave lasting aftereffects, and that would be trouble." Wei Zhao addressed Xin Yi'an.

"But..." Xin Yi'an looked rather troubled. With a wry smile he spread his hands and said, "How is this result supposed to be judged?" (To be continued.)