I alone am the Honoured One!

568  A matchup [2]

Grabbing Li Jia's wrist, Zhao Tian twisted it just enough to make her drop the sword, which clattered to the ground.

"Oh dear, you should grip your sword tightly." Li Jia gritted her teeth, her cheeks flushing red with both anger and embarrassment as Zhao Tian's mocking words echoed in her ears.

She quickly flipped backward, putting some distance between them.

*whiish* With a flick of her wrist, she summoned twin streams of water that coiled around her hands.

"I'm not done yet..." she uttered, her gaze narrowing.

Zhao Tian chuckled and looked into her eyes "Oh, I hope not. I'd hate for this to be over too soon."

She darted toward him again, her water streams striking like whips, lashing out with incredible speed and precision.

Crack! Crack!

Each strike hit the air, missing its mark by mere inches as Zhao Tian sidestepped with at the last second.

 His movements were almost lazy, yet perfectly calculated, and every dodge only seemed to infuriate her further. "Careful now," he said, leaning to the side as one of the water streams narrowly missed his cheek.

"You're going to tire yourself out at this rate."

"Shut up." she muttered as she leaped into the air and the water around her gathered into a massive sphere above her head.

"Waterfall Crush."

With a smile, she brought the sphere crashing down toward him like a tidal wave, the sheer force causing the ground beneath to crack and tremble. *WOOOSH* The crowd held their breath as the wave swallowed Zhao Tian and the arena was momentarily silent, save for the roar of cascading water.

But when the water cleared, Zhao Tian stood completely unharmed, his clothes barely damp. Before she could react, he vanished again, reappearing right behind her.

"You're too focused on offense," he said, his breath warmly hitting against her ear.

Startled, she spun around to attack, but Zhao Tian effortlessly caught her wrist.

 With a playful smile, he pulled her forward, causing her to lose balance and stumble into his chest.

"Oops. Careful, don't fall now," he teased, steadying her with one arm before stepping back.

Li Jia's face burned with humiliation, her lips parting in a mixture of frustration and disbelief.

"You…" her eyelashes trembled as she pulled herself away from him.

Zhao Tian shrugged with a teasing smile. "What? I'm just helping."

*swoosh* She raised her hand and launched another attack, summoning sharp water blades that swirled around her like a storm.

But Zhao Tian moved with ease, dodging each strike, and when the last blade came close, he caught it in his hand, the water dispersing harmlessly at his touch.

"Alright," he said, stepping forward so quickly that Li Jia didn't have time to retreat. "I think it's time we wrapped this up."

Before she could respond, Zhao Tian bent down and, in one swift motion, hoisted her over his shoulder like a sack of grain.

"What are you—!?" Li Jia shrieked, her hands instinctively pushing against his back as her legs kicked in protest.

"Hahaha..." The crowd erupted into laughter and cheers; to see Li Jia being carried off so effortlessly was too amusing to ignore.

"Put me down, you brute!" she yelled, her fists pounding weakly against his back.

Zhao Tian just smiled, his voice light and teasing as he began walking toward the edge of the arena. "Oh, don't be so dramatic. I'm just giving you a better view of the crowd. Look how much they adore you!"

Her face burned even brighter, and she growled in frustration. "Tian, I swear-"

The crowd's cheers only grew louder, with whispers and chuckles spreading like wildfire. "Did you see how easily he caught her attacks?" "Not just that—did you see the way he looked at her? There's no way they're just friends." "I bet he's doing this on purpose to rile her up. Classic lover's quarrel." The announcer was surprised and glanced at them in confusion "The match isn't over yet."

Hm? Zhao Tian turned to look at him and spoke "Oh, Li Jia accepted her defeat."

Li Jia, who was hanging on her shoulder, bit her lips in shame and slowly nodded her head, "I-I accept defeat." The announcer, still holding the enchanted microphone, coughed awkwardly as he addressed the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen… Zhao Tian has been declared the winner of this round!" The arena erupted into thunderous applause, but the announcer's gaze lingered on the pair, a wry smile tugging at his lips. 'Young love, huh?.' Zhao Tian gave her a knowing look, his smile widening "The crowd seems to have some guesses. They're practically shipping us as we speak."

Li Jia was startled and looked around, to glance at the audience.

Sure enough, the whispers and giggles had intensified.

"They're so cute together!"

"She looks like she wants to murder him, but that's part of their charm." "Zhao Tian is such a show-off, but you can't deny he's got style." Her embarrassment only deepened as she heard someone shout from the stands, "Kiss her already!"

Zhao Tian chuckled, his eyes gleaming with playfulness. "Hear that, Jia? They're giving us suggestions."

"You wouldn't dare," she said through gritted teeth, though her tone wavered slightly.

"Hmm…" He pretended to consider it.

 "You're right. I wouldn't dare... not in front of all these people, anyway. I'm a gentleman, after all."

"A gentleman wouldn't have done this in the first place!" she snapped, kicking her legs again in a futile attempt to free herself.

"Don't struggle idiot, you can do all of that in bed."

A sigh escaped Li Jia's lips "I am going to kill you bastard..."

With a chuckle, he replied "In bed? I am all for it..." The crowd continued to cheer as Zhao Tian gave a lazy wave and walked away, carrying Li Jia while she was torn between punching him and crawling into a hole to hide. "This infuriating bastard..." she muttered u nder her breath, clenching her fists. But deep down, she couldn't help the small, reluctant smile that tugged at her lips. Meanwhile, among the disciples, a young man was standing there, his red eyes narrowing in contemplation. "So, he is that Zhao Tian."

Ren Wian had a thoughtful look on his face "Finally, I found a great stepping stone to give my debut within this sect."

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