Chapter 211 - Second Round of Group Stages
“It looks like you must have had various strange encounters that allowed to you to greatly reform your body. This is due to your good luck.” Chu Yueli slightly nodded: “From now on, I believe that Qingyue will be more relieved. But…” Her gaze grew cold: “I hope you won’t forget about the status of Frozen Cloud Asgard disciples and moreover, won’t forget why Frozen Cloud Asgard permitted her marriage to you. I don’t want you to harbor any intentions that you should not have just because you no longer have crippled profound veins.”
Yun Che smiled indifferently and said: “Senior should be at ease. With respect to Qingyue, Junior only has unlimited admiration and gratitude. Junior would definitely not do anything that would ever inconvenience her.”
Even though those words were meant to deal with Chu Yueli, but behind her back, they actually had a second meaning… To never inconvenience her, as for whether or not she would be inconvenienced, hmm…
Chu Yueli took a glance at Chu Yuechan. She knew that Chu Yuechan had an aloof nature and did not like to socialize with others. She immediately said: “Let’s go.”
“Yuanba, take good care of yourself and father.” Xia Qingyue told Xia Yuanba in a gentle voice. A pair of beautiful eyes swept across Yun Che’s face and then turned to leave with Chu Yuechan and Chu Yueli.
“Awhh… Big sis, I still have so many things to tell you ! “
Yun Che held back Xia Yuanba who was trying to chase after his sister and shook his head : “That’s enough Yuanba, do not go over there. The day that she became a Frozen Cloud Asgard disciple, she could no longer be considered a member of the Xia family. Even after disciples of the Frozen Cloud Asgard Palace die, their bodies eternally remain within Asgard.”
“Oh.” Xia Yuanba nodded his head. No one could tell whether he really understood. His lips curled up in a laugh: “No matter, at least brother-in-law is still here. When big sis went there for two years, you already became so powerful. She will definitely be very happy.”
“…” Yun Che was suddenly left speechless for a long time by Xia Yuanba’s big heart.
“I heard that the ones leading the Frozen Cloud Asgard team this time, are the Fairy of Frozen Glass, Chu Yueli, and the Fairy of Frozen Beauty, Chu Yuechan, who has not made a public appearance in a long time. The one by Chu Yueli’s side should be the Chu Yuechan who pulled the souls and plagued the dreams of uncountable handsome and outstanding youths in the past.” Cang Yue walked over and said : “Too bad she’s wearing a veil. I would really like to see how beautiful “Blue Wind’s Number One Beauty”, whom my father has been harping about for half his life, is.”
“This Fairy of Frozen Beauty is as cold and aloof as rumored. Simply looking at her for a while makes me feel like my soul is getting frozen, giving me no confidence to go up and speak to her.” Cang Yue gently petted her chest. Chu Yuechan’s incomparably cold attitude left her an immeasurably deep impression. She carefully said: “However it’s strange. It’s rumored that she usually stays at the Frozen Cloud Asgard, and has never left for a few years or even a few decades now. It’s harder for someone to meet her than to ascend to heaven. Why did she choose to come to this particular ranking tournament?”
“…Perhaps the Frozen Cloud Asgard was too dull for too long so she came out to get a breath of fresh air.” Yun Che randomly said, before sighing faintly in his heart. A while ago, he had been looking at Chu Yuechan continuously, hoping to catch her gaze. Even if his target was cold and unfeeling, any apathetic glance would do… but Chu Yuechan concentrated on her tasks from beginning to end and was as cold as an ice statue. The face behind the veil was serene and completely ignored his existence.
The way she was ignoring him was worse than if she simply had no feelings.
“But I still get the feeling that Chu Yuechan seems to be stealing glances at you.” Cang Yue suddenly said.
“Stealing glances… at me?” Yun Che’s mouth grew wide open: “She was clearly just standing there without even moving, how do you know that she’s stealing glances at me?”
Cang Yue’s small head was shocked. After thinking it through for a while, with an entirely serious face, she replied: “A woman’s intuition.”
Yun Che: “Pfft…..”
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“In this boundless universe, there just aren’t any impossible miracles. Even a person who originally had completely crippled profound veins managed to show a shocking performance at this ranking tournament in not even two years. Looks like I had been staring at the sky from the bottom of the well when I stayed in Frozen Cloud Asgard for these past years..”
Chu Yueli sighed as she lamented. Clearly, Yun Che’s dramatic transformation had given her a big shock.
“Elder sister, do you know of any method in this world that would let a person whose profound veins which had been destroyed since they were young, be completely restored?” Chu Yueli faced Chu Yuechan and asked. However, even after waiting for quite a while, she did not get a reply. Chu Yuechan looked straight ahead, the light in her eyes like the reflection of a clear pool of still water, completely without ripples. It seemed like she did not not even hear what she had said at all.
“Elder sister?”
Chu Yuechan still did not respond.
Chu Yueli no longer said anything… Ever since Chu Yuechan suddenly left the palace half a year ago and came back, she suddenly seemed to have become a different person. Even as her younger sister who understood her the most, she could not guess what she was thinking at all.
Behind her, Shui Wushuang and Wu Xuexin gathered around Xia Qingyue on her left and right, having a private conversation.
“Junior Sister Xia, is that really your brother? The difference between you siblings is really great. You have such a soft and weak body but your brother is like a small giant.”
“That Yun Che is the person that you married? It’s such a surprise to have met him here. However, he’s actually quite good looking… Junior Sister Xia, the reason you persisted in marrying him, was it because you actually like him just a little bit?”
Xia Qingyue gently shook her head: “The only reason I married him was to fulfill the promise my father made in the past and because of my gratitude about his father’s rescue that saved my life. Since I have already become a disciple of Frozen Cloud Asgard, how could I have developed feelings for him?”
Having said to here, her mind flashed to a scene of when she saw Yun Che for the first time. He was walking together with a maid who had an elegant air and a pretty face, and they were obviously quite close. Her heart suddenly felt just a tad uncomfortable… but this uncomfortable feeling was very slight, and it disappeared in a flash.
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On the second and third day, the first round of the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament continued.
In this first round of group stages, Yun Che was indeed quite lucky. In the group of fifty people that he was in, not only were there no disciples from the Four Major Sects, the strongest practitioner was only at the fifth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. But of the six disciples that were at the fifth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, he did not even meet a single one. Within three days, he fought twelve battles and the strongest expert he met was only at the fourth level of the Spirit Profound Realm… With his undefeated streak of twelve wins, he entered the top 300 ranking, entering into the second round of group stage matches.
This result was enough to make anyone drop their spectacles.
“Damn! Even though I admit that this person of the True Profound Realm is much stronger than expected, to even be able to fight with others of a higher realm, but to actually enter into the second round of the group stage with an undefeated streak… This is just too exaggerated.”
“This guy’s luck is just too good. The strongest opponent he met was just at the fourth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. My luck is not as good. Everyone I met was abnormally strong. If I was in his shoes, I would have an undefeated streak too.”
“Forget it. It’s easy talking about it, but getting it done is another matter. Why don’t you try fighting with someone at the third or fourth level of the Spirit Realm while you’re only at the tenth level of the True Profound Realm!?”
“…”
Without any suspense, Xia Qingyue and Ling Yun were also able to clear the first round of group stages with undefeated streaks. Of their twelve rounds, about half their opponents surrendered without a fight. The efficiency simply could not be any higher.
After the first round of group stages ended, Xia Yuanba pumped his fist and cheered. Cang Yue was beaming, and Qin Wushang could not contain his smiles any longer. Even though he was confidence that Yun Che could make it into the second round of group stages, when it finally happened, he was still unable to control his emotions… Because this was the first time ever that the disciples representing the Blue Wind Imperial Family made into the second round of group stages! The first time a disciple entered into the top three hundred rankings!
“I will immediately send news to the Emperor. He will be very happy upon receiving this news. Perhaps if his mood improves greatly then his health might make a turn towards improving.” Qin Wushang said in an incomparably emotional way. Without waiting any further, he found a corner to send news to the Emperor.
“This is too wonderful Junior Brother Yun. You have established a new ranking record for disciples representing the Imperial Family. After Father receives news of this, he will certainly be very happy. If you could reach the top hundred ranks, then even if Father had to return to heaven, he could do so without any regrets… Junior Brother Yun, I sincerely thank you.” A red flush filled Cang Yue’s face. She gently held Yun Che’s hand, as her brows curved into two beautiful crescent moons.
Yun Che was about to say something when he suddenly felt a faintly discernable killing intent drift across his face. With the smile not leaving his face, he gripped Cang Yue’s hands and gently said: “Then… Senior Sister, how do you intend to reward me?”
“Ah? What kind of reward do you want?” Cang Yue blinked her beautiful eyes.
“I want Senior Sister… to kiss me.” Yun Che slightly turned his face and grinned.
“Ah? Right here?” Cang Yue looked around in all four directions and a shade of pink spread across her absolutely beautiful face. Her lips puckered slightly. She suddenly moved forward, left a quick kiss on Yun Che’s face, and then immediately lowered her head with her heart pounding fiercely.
Not far away, Fen Juecheng was looking at Yun Che and Cang Yue. From his hands came a “bang” sound. The second armrest of his chair had been broken in his fury.
“Big bro, what’s the matter?” Upon hearing this sound, Fen Juebi turned his head to ask.
The flesh on Fen Juecheng’s face spasmed. His face, which was originally handsome, now had a sinister air spread throughout. His eyes were filled with a shocking venom : “I’m going to chop this little bastard… in… to… thousands of pieces!!”
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On the fourth day of the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament, the second round of group stages officially started. At the same time, the one thousand and two hundred disciples that were eliminated in the first round went to the secondary venue in the rear hills to compete for the rankings below the top three hundred. It was only that the ranking tournament at the secondary venue had a far smaller audience. Both the quality and atmosphere of the secondary venue could not compare to that of the main venue.
The second round of group stages was likewise held on the thirty little sword arenas. Even though the number of participating disciples were condensed to only three hundred, every person had to fight a full fifteen matches! At the same time, even though this round of group stages was still by “group matches”, the competitors were no longer divided into groups. Everyone’s opponent was no longer restricted to a small range and could be drawn from the entire set of disciples who had entered into the second round. This allowed the highest chance of making sure that everything was fair.
However, there was no such thing as absolute fairness. Even though the second round was not divided into groups, the opponent that was selected for every match was still something to watch out for. If someone originally had the ability to rank within the top hundred but was so unlucky as to encounter opponents from the Four Major Sects for all fifteen of his battles, then he could only cradle his head and cry in pain. There was no way to logically debate against that. And someone else, whose strength was only average but only met opponents who were below average, could manage to win all his battles.
Of course, the chances of either of these two extremes happening were very low. Everyone’s fifteen matches were on the whole bound to be fair and equal.
“Sword Discourse Arena Number Seven, first match. Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che —— versus —— Thunderbolt Lightning Pavilion’s Lei Zhentian!”
The battles at the thirty Sword Discourse Arenas proceeded at the same time. Yun Che’s first opponent was already standing in front of him. With an incomparably stout body, he was only twenty years old but looked like a buff forty year old man. The weapons in his hands were two large round hammers.
The Yun Che who had exploded into the second round of group stages with an undefeated record naturally drew more attention. Looking at his next opponent, everybody’s heart had exactly the same idea: This time, this Yun Che would lose for certain.
He could defeat opponents at the third level of the Spirit Profound Realm and opponents at the fourth level of the Spirit Profound Realm… but no matter how overpowered he was, there must be a limit, and this Lei Zhentian was the Young Pavilion Master of the Thunderbolt Lightning Pavilion from the Northwestern Reaches of the Mighty Jolt Region! His profound strength was at the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm! The Twin Thunderbolt Hammers he held in his hands were sufficient to smash a large boulder into small pieces. If smashed onto a person’s head it would directly turn them into pulp.
“Junior Brother Yun, do your best…” Cang Yue gripped the hem of her skirts with both hands and nervously mumbled.
Chapter 212 - Consecutive Victories!
Seeing that his opponent was Yun Che, Lei Zhentian was evidently startled for a moment, and then began to laugh out loud. “I didn’t expect that my first opponent today was actually you, brat. Looks like this great dark horse, is about to become a dead horse soon. Reveal your weapon!”
“Then that will depend on whether you have the capability.” Yun Che said indifferently.
If the opponent who said that was several levels higher than him, he would have been alright with it. However, the person who said this was someone who was only at the True Profound Realm; undoubtedly, he instantly went into a rage. Without saying anything more, he swung his twin hammers, creating two fierce and abnormal waves of wind which struck directly towards Yun Che’s chest.
Lei Zhentian’s Twin Thunderbolt Hammers weighed four hundred kilos each, but in his hands, they were incomparably light and nimble, and the roaring of the wind brought by the swings were especially deep and heavy.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Six incomparably fierce hammer strikes were entirely blocked by the back of Yun Che’s hands. Those concentrated banging sounds were completely unlike the sound of impact between a heavy hammer and a human body and were more like the sound of a heavy hammer smashing onto a rock. When these six blows landed, shocked surfaced from Lei Zhentian’s expression. With the Twin Thunderbolt Hammers that weighed a total of eight hundred kilos together, and adding his innate profound strength, they were actually blocked continuously by his opponent’s bare hands!
And after blocking them, forget about injuries, there were not even reddened marks on his hands.
Is his body actually made of iron!?
I simply won’t believe that you’ll be able to continue blocking all of them!!
Lei Zhentian’s gaze darkened. The profound energy in his entire body began to flow wildly and just like a blazing wheel of fire, his body began to spin at high speed. Like a fierce hurricane, he smashed his Twin Thunderbolt Hammers towards Yun Che, with each strike fiercer than the previous one.
Bang bang bang bang…
In a few breaths of time, dozens of crazy hammer strikes had landed, yet, still none of them had stained Yun Che’s clothes; all of them were blocked by the back of his hands and wrists. The more Lei Zhentian struck, the more shocked he became. Finally, with a great roar, his sect’s profound art exploded out instantly.
“Rumbling Thunderbolt!!”
The Twin Thunderbolt Hammers suddenly smashed down at the same time with a pressure that was much stronger than earlier by several times. Yun Che frowned. He did not take the hit directly, instead, he retreated a distance of three body lengths. When the two hammers struck empty air, they suddenly smashed against each other. A bolt of lightning which contained a strong concentration of lightning energy was suddenly released, charging straight towards Yun Che’s side.
Crack!
With a deafening screech, the bolt of lightning exploded as it made contact with the floor, causing a big portion of the floor to turn crisp black. As for Yun Che, he had already leaped far behind. When he landed, with a swing of his arms, he held onto the Overlord’s Colossal Sword in front of him with his two hands.
For the first time in the Ranking Tournament, he finally revealed his heavy sword.
“The hell! What a big sword! So that’s his weapon?”
“Is that the legendary heavy sword? He’s actually using a heavy sword as his weapon? Can he actually swing it?”
The moment Yun Che brought out his heavy sword, it brought about a huge wave of astonishment and whispering voices. On the Sword Discourse Arena, Lei Zhentian’s expression shook, because he realized that the moment Yun Che wielded his heavy sword, he had changed into a completely different person.
Heavy swords were excessively large; no matter the weight, or size, they were extremely difficult to wield. However, when Yun Che was wielding such a huge sword in his hands, it actually looked very fitting, and there was not even a hint of incoordination, as though the sword was birthed just for him, forming a single entity with Yun Che. It was not grabbed onto by his hands, rather, it grew from his hands, and was a part of his body in the first place.
The atmosphere around Yun Che had undergone an earthshaking change as well. Earlier, he saw that under Yun Che’s calmness, there was a hint of mysteriousness but he had not possessed any sharp edges. However, the moment he brought out his heavy sword, it was as though he was looking at a towering mountain with a indiscernible peak in front of him. A thought of “basically no possible way of winning” quickly sprouted in his heart, causing him to grip onto his two hammers even more tightly. However, even after a long while, he did not dare to take a step forward.
Just what kind of freak is this… I had once tried a heavy sword-type weapon, but I was completely incapable of wielding it, hence, I could only give up on it. But this person, not only can he wield a heavy sword, his compatibility with the heavy sword could actually reach such an extent… With the heavy sword’s characteristics, even if it’s a genius, he would at least require hundred, or even hundreds of years to reach a realm as high as this…
As he thought of this, Lei Zhentian’s back was drenched with even more sweat.
“Receive my blow!”
Yun Che wielded his heavy sword horizontally and with a flash of his body, he instantly closed the distance by fifteen meters. Lei Zhentian quickly regained his senses. With a loud roar, he poured all of his strength into his two arms, taking the blow head on… The heavy sword in his hands moved so quickly that it might be possible that his heavy sword was simply large in size while its actual weight was not that heavier than a light sword.
Only when the Twin Thunderbolt Hammers clashed against the Overlord’s Colossal Sword, did Lei Zhentian realize that the thought he had in his mind was nothing but laughable imagination. A majestically large force that exceeded far beyond his expectations came from right in front of him, causing the hands he was wielding his two hammers with to momentarily numb. As though it had been blown away by a hurricane, his body was sent flying high in the air…
Bang!!!
Lei Zhentian struck heavily onto the profound energy barrier in the rear, tumbled down onto the ground, and he was completely in a daze. When he finally managed to stand himself up, his Twin Thunderbolt Hammers had long flown away from his hands.
“Do you still want to fight?” Yun Che lightly tapped his heavy sword on the ground. With the tip of the sword as the starting point, a fissure appeared on the incomparably hard floor of the Sword Discourse Arena. If he had not pulled out his heavy sword, Lei Zhentian could still stand up against him, however, the moment he wielded his heavy sword, Lei Zhentian simply turned into fodder.
It could be said that, when compared to his unarmed state, Yun Che’s combat strength wielding his heavy sword was in a completely different realm.
Recalling the catastrophic strength he demonstrated earlier, although Lei Zhentian did not receive any substantive injuries, he no longer had the courage to continue the battle. With a bow, he softly said. “I admit defeat… Since you’re able to wield a heavy sword which I am not capable of even after working so hard to do so, I’m well convinced about my lost!”
“Lei Zhentian admits defeat, Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che wins!!”
The people who paid attention to this match, who waited for Yun Che to lose terribly, were once again completely dumbfounded.
Even Lei Zhentian, had actually lost in the hands of a disciple from Blue Wind Imperial Family who only possessed the strength at the tenth level of the True Profound Realm!!
A result like this, could only be described ‘incredible’.
In Yun Che’s second match, his opponent was a spear-using practitioner with strength at the fifth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. This time, Yun Che wielded his heavy sword the moment the match started, and after three exchanges of blows, his opponent’s spear was sent flying, and his opponent was sent flying as well after the fourth exchange…
“…Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che wins!”
Third match…
“…Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che wins!”
Fourth match…
“…Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che wins!”
Fifth match…
Sixth match…
Seventh match…
Eighth match…
………
Yun Che’s matches began to receive even more attention with each subsequent match, to the point when, the moment he stepped onto the Sword Discourse Arena, even if disciples from the Four Major Sects were competing on another Sword Discourse Arena, a large number of eyes would still immediately shift onto his Sword Discourse Arena. And then, they saw him obtain victory… victory… victory… another victory… and still another victory… Their expressions toward him would change over and over as well, startlement… astonishment… shock… horror… and at the end, they were basically numbed.
Every one of them still recalled the first day of the Ranking Tournament; that burst of laughter that resounded through the entire audience when Yun Che came up on stage for the Profound Strength Assessment. But now, he used one match after another, with each match capable of being crowned as ‘impossible’ and ‘miraculous’ victories, to respectfully give every one of those, who laughed at him, a resounding slap on the face in turn.
Whenever each match began, everyone would think that he would definitely lose that match, but he still turned out victorious… Everyone then began to feel like watching a match he would lose in, but they were still left disappointed. In the first round of group stages, Yun Che obtained complete victories in all twelve matches. Even during the second round of group stages, as each match went by, he still obtained victory in every one of them, not giving them the chance to see a single loss.
If he was at the peak of the Spirit Profound Realm, or a practitioner at the sixth or seventh level, then everyone would be shocked when he obtained successive victories, but they would not feel that it was unacceptable. But this Yun Che… His strength was merely at the True Profound Realm! A profound realm in which they thought was simply unworthy of participating in the Ranking Tournament.
Yet he swept through one Spirit Profound Realm absolute genius after another!
And he swept through their understanding as well.
As Yun Che accumulated victories, Qin Wushang’s expression became more and more agitated as well. When Yun Che won his tenth match, he was so agitated that he stood up from his seat and momentarily teared up… Because with these ten victories, even if he were to lose all of the five remaining matches, it would still be enough to for him to place in the top hundred of the individual ranking! Blue Wind Imperial Family’s group ranking, might even directly enter the top fifty as well!!
Not only did it break Blue Wind Imperial Family’s history of never being in the top hundred of the Ranking Tournament, it was even a huge breakthrough!
Covering her lips with her two hands, Cang Yue’s cheeks were also stained in tears. She looked at Yun Che who was walking down the Sword Discourse Arena. Her vision was become more and more blurry, and in her heart, she was screaming this over and over: ‘Father, are you seeing this? Junior Brother Yun has carried us to the top hundred rankings… Father, your dream has truly been fulfilled. With this one vent of frustration, our Blue Wind Imperial Family will no longer be ridiculed by others… Father, are you seeing this…? Are you seeing this…’
Where there were happy people, there would naturally be angry ones as well. At the Burning Heaven Clan’s seating area, Fen Juecheng’s expression was sullen and his lungs were about to explode from anger. He was currently really regretting coming to the Heavenly Sword Villa personally. Otherwise, he would not be so angry to the extreme, because he was unable to personally take action, and had to suppress his rage so much that he felt like dying. He wanted to see Yun Che being ridiculed. He wanted to see him tortured by his opponents. Yet, what he saw was Yun Che taking the spotlight time and time again, while grabbing everyone’s eyes time and time again; he even suppressed the spotlight of all the Four Major Sects’ disciples.
These two rounds of small group matches, were basically his own personal performance matches!!
“Big bro, it’s completely unnecessary for you to be so angry over such a small figure.” Fen Juebi said slowly. “For him to be capable of winning up till now, I can only say that his luck is simply too great. In the first set of small group matches, he was basically alloted into the group with the weakest average strength… and in this second set of group matches, hehe, did you see all those trashy opponents he encountered? Until now, his strongest opponent was only at the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. If he had encountered any single disciple from the top ten sects, he would have been thrashed so hard his own mother would’ve been incapable of recognizing him.”
“Hmph!” Fen Juecheng gave him a glare. “When you’re at the tenth level of the True Profound Realm, were you able to defeat an opponent at the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm!?”
Fen Juebi was momentarily at a loss of words, and then, he simply pouted his lips. “If you put it that way, then he’s indeed a freak. But currently, I really wish to see him continue winning, until… he enters the top thirty-two.”
Fen Juecheng’s eyes flashed. “Are you saying?”
“Hehe! If he were to really reach the top thirty-two, enter the elimination matches, and unfortunately be matched up with me, tsktsk…” Fen Juebi licked his lips, his expression revealing a smile like that of a poisonous snake. “I have a way to turn this freak into trash. The exhilaration from personally destroying a freak-level genius, big brother, you know of it as well, it’s a wonderful sensation that cannot be described.”
Chapter 213 - Qingyue Under the Moon
The wind was blowing loudly in the pitch black night. The moonlight was dull and the stars were sparse; it was prime time to secretly sneak around… Ah no, to secretly night crawl.
Tomorrow was the last day for the second round of the group stage. Yun Che, who won ten out of ten matches, had already secured his rank in the top hundred. Yun Che didn’t even think of it as anything special himself, yet Qin Wushang was unbearably full of joy, and that laughing mouth of his had not closed from afternoon all the way till evening. Of course, Cang Yue was also terribly delighted, and when a beauty was delighted, it was naturally much easier to take action.
Perhaps, she would fall to him tonight.
As he thought to here, Yun Che instantly started to laugh lewdly. Just as he jumped off the bed and was about to head out for Cang Yue’s room, the door to his room was suddenly knocked, and Xia Yuanba’s voice came from the outside: “Brother-in-law, are you asleep yet?”
The time wasn’t very late yet, but it was already very quiet outside. In order to not disturb him, Qin Wushang and Xia Yuanba would never visit him at night, unless there was some urgent matter.
Yun Che walked over to open the door: “Yuanba, what is it?”
“Oh, it’s that big sis just came earlier, and wanted me to give this thing to you.” Xia Yuanba took out a small spatial ring, and gave it to Yun Che.
“Your sister? Qingyue came over earlier?” Yun Che took the ring, and said in a surprised tone.
“Mhm.” Xia Yuanba nodded: “Big sis said that you actually don’t need these things anymore, but they are also useless to be carried around on her, and wants me to pass this on to you anyway.”
Something that Qingyue my wife would give to me? What would it be?
Yun Che lifted the ring, and opened his inner vision… In the spacious spatial ring, there only existed three things.
A profound core. Its aura was thick and rich; it was clearly an Earth Profound Beast’s profound core! A chunk of fist sized crystal that looked like purple-colored ice crystals… it was shockingly a Purple Veined Heavenly Crystal! And planted within a transparent jade bottle, was an eccentric grass with a twisted stem, seven sharp and long leaves, as well as a seven-colored brilliance flowing through its entire body…
Seven Profound Gem Grass!!
The inside of Yun Che’s heart violently shook.
Seven Profound Gem Grass, Purple Veined Heavenly Crystal, Earth Profound Beast’s profound core… These were clearly the three things that he had mentioned to Xia Qingyue back then, that could be used to heal his crippled profound veins at time.
Yun Che lifted his head up, and asked urgently: “How long has it been since Qingyue left?”
“Ehm, she just left a little while ago. Brother-in-law, you want…”
Before Xia Yuanba finished talking, Yun Che had already rushed out like a gust of wind, and instantly vanished before Xia Yuanba’s eyes.
Xia Yuanba stood in front of the room’s door, scratched his head with a innocent face, and muttered in a small voice: “Should I have told Brother-in-law right when Big Sis came…”
After exiting the courtyard, Yun Che stopped for an instant, and perceived the remaining threads of ice-cold aura with his incomparably sharp sense. Following the direction that the ice-cold aura had lead to, Yun Che went full throttle, and madly chased. Not long after, under the pitch-black curtain of night, a graceful figure in fluttering snow-colored attire appeared in his vision. He slowed down his footsteps, and quickly shouted: “Qingyue!”
The voice that came from behind made Xia Qingyue stop her feet. She quietly turned around, and her eyes met with Yun Che, who had chased here. In regards to Yun Che’s pursuit, she did not seem to be very surprised. Her charming eyes did not waver, and her voice was soft and calm: “What matter does Sir Yun seek from this Qingyue?”
The form of address “Sir Yun” made the corner of Yun Che’s mouth slightly cramp. He opened his mouth and asked: “Qingyue my wife, I want to ask you a question… Our marriage certificate that I passed over to you that day… is it still there?”
Xia Qingyue lifted her snow-white hand, and lightly stroked her ring. A sheet of flat and undamaged marriage certificate that was meticulously protected within a colorless crystal was taken out by her. With a lifting motion of her hand, the marriage certificate flew toward Yun Che, and landed in his hands… And this sheet of paper, was precisely the marriage certificate between him and Qingyue that was perfectly flawless and undamaged!
A kind of wordless moved emotion birthed in Yun Che’s heart. The existence of this marriage certificate, perhaps could not prove that Xia Qingyue truly held some feelings toward him, but it proved that after the day he left, she protected his last bit of dignity with all her might.
At least, when her husband was in a perilous situation, she, as the wife, did not take the opportunity to forsake him, but had actually went through with the most sacred part of a wife’s duty.
The existence of this marriage certificate, was also proclaiming that they had always been husband and wife, including now.
“That time, you didn’t have the power to protect this marriage certificate, so you passed it on to me. Now, I believe you already have the strength to protect it, so it should be returned to you anyway.” Xia Qingyue said in a light voice.
“Then, do you remember what I said, when I gave the marriage certificate to you?” Yun Che asked in a very quiet voice as he carefully put away the marriage certificate.
Xia Qingyue: “…”
“I said at that time: ‘If you still want to continue being my wife, then protect it; if you want to obtain complete freedom, then destroy it’….” As he spoke to here, Yun Che made a self-mocking laugh: “Actually, when I left that day, I had always thought that your choice would be to destroy the marriage certificate. Because, no matter if it’s for your father’s promise, or repaying the debt of gratitude toward Uncle Xiao Ying, the person you ought to marry was Xiao Ying’s son. However, you had already known that I wasn’t even Xiao Ying’s son at all, and was only a ‘bastard that was picked up’ in their mouths. You totally could have destroyed the marriage certificate, as well as our name as husband and wife in a right and proper way, and then cleanly enter Frozen Cloud Asgard. Why did you choose to instead, protect this marriage certificate?”
Xia Qingyue’s charming eyes looked straight at Yun Che’s, and did not have even a tiny bit of the intention of avoiding anything. The expression in her gaze was completely tranquil. After these one and half years in Frozen Cloud Asgard, Yun Che clearly felt that Xia Qingyue’s entire disposition had changed so much that it was as if heaven and earth had flipped. In those few days that they lived together after marriage, her gaze was indifferent, cold, and even a little bit loftiness and immaturity was hidden within. But now, the coldness in her eyes was completely replaced by apathy, and was as unfeeling as tranquil water, without the slightest of perturbation. The aura of her energy, however, had become bone-chilling cold.
Other than Frozen Cloud Arts, the Frozen Cloud Asgard’s core profound arts also included Frozen Heart Arts. The latter, could make one calm the heart, and empty the mind. To the extremes, one could achieve a state of truly having no desires, and look disinterestedly upon all life and death, victory and defeat, ambitions, as well as any good and evil in the world…
However, could a human without desire and pursuit, still be considered “human”?
“Qingyue cannot answer this question.”
“Why can’t you answer?”
Xia Qingyue said quietly: “Because what Qingyue thought that time, is already now forgotten. Perhaps, it is because the fate of us as husband and wife had yet to be finished.”
As she said the words “Fate as husband and wife”, these few words that were supposed to carry a sense of sentiment, were spoken with indifference, and without any hint of drifting emotions. And this kind of indifference, gave Yun Che an uncomfortable feeling of suffocation. The Xia Qingyue of the old days was like an aloft ice lotus situated on a snow mountain. Even though the him that time was disabled and insignificant, he still had the incessant intention to probe and tease, and the desire to conquer and pluck her. If not for the unforeseen event that happened after, if given enough time, he firmly believed that he would succeed if they were under the same roof day and night.
But the Xia Qingyue now, gave him a feeling comparable to the bright moon that hung atop the blue sky; still impeccable as always, but was already extremely far away from him, to the point that it was impossible to reach.
Ahhh!! This Frozen Cloud Asgard place, is really harmful!!
As he thought about how Chu Yuechan, who had lived together with him for five months, still left resolutely even after XXOOing, along with the changes in Xia Qingyue… Yun Che’s heart instantly boiled with an impulse to destroy Frozen Cloud Asgard.
Taking in so many peerlessly beauties, yet turning them into otherworldly beings unstained by the desires of the world… It was virtually a place that all men, no matter human or god, would be angry towards in their hearts!
Yun Che’s chest rose up and back down. After calming his state of mind, he said with a peaceful tone: “Thank you for finding me the Seven Profound Gem Grass, Earth Profound Beast’s profound core, and Purple Veined Heavenly Crystal. I know that even if it’s Frozen Cloud Asgard, to find all three of these within one and half years would not be that easy. Moreover, you were only a newly entered disciple.”
“No need for thanks,” Xia Qingyue’s voice was light yet graceful: “Compared to your favor of opening all of my profound entrances, these, can’t be considered much.”
“Me opening your profound entrances, was only expending a few drops of sweat. But you finding all these things for me, was not as simple as just expending a few drops of sweat. However, I indeed should not say thank you, since we are husband and wife.” Yun Che slightly smiled.
Xia Qingyue: “….”
“May I ask you three questions?”
“Please ask.” Xia Qingyue did not refuse.
It had gone deeper and deeper into the night. Even though there were only a few sparse stars in the sky, the round moon was extraordinarily brilliant, and generously poured down its bright moonlight. But as it shone on Xia Qingyue’s body, these flawless and beautiful moonbeams, could only be reduced into the unnoticeable background. Emanating a kind of indescribable and suffocating beauty, the Xia Qingyue under the moonlight was as if a goddess had descended from the heavens. Seeing this figure that was beautiful to the point of almost illusory, to say that Yun Che’s heartbeat did not increase in pace was impossible. He slowly took a breath in, and asked: “In Frozen Cloud Asgard, did you live well?”
“Very well. The Asgard Mistress, Master, Senior Masters, Junior Masters, as well as all the Junior and Senior Sisters all treated me very well.” Xia Qingyue answered in a very succinct manner.
“Mn, then that’s great.” Yun Che nodded: “Second question. I had wanted to know this answer a long time ago. However, at that time, you did not tell me… I want to know, when we married, exactly what realm was your profound strength already at?”
The Yun Che at that time was absolutely sure, that Xia Qingyue’s profound strength was definitely not the tenth level of the Elementary Profound Realm that was shown on the surface. However, the rank of her profound strength at the tenth level of the Elementary Profound Realm was known throughout the entire city, and no one had ever questioned it. Even those of the senior generation, who had strength far surpassing Elementary Profound Realm, thought her as only in the tenth level of the Elementary Profound Realm. It was as if her true strength was hidden with some kind of special method. As for the reason to hide it, Yun Che understood that very well. In a little place like Floating Cloud City, a 16 year old at the pinnacle of the Elementary Profound Realm was already a number one genius recognized by the masses. If the profound strength she exhibited was of the Nascent Profound Realm, or even the peak of the Nascent Profound Realm, it would definitely instigate an unpredictable uproar.
This time, Xia Qingyue did not refuse, and directly answered: “When I was twelve, I met Master. At the age of thirteen, I broke through the Elementary Profound Realm, and stepped into the Nascent Profound Realm. Fourteen, I broke through Nascent Profound, and entered the True Profound Realm. After my marriage with you at the age of sixteen, I was at the pinnacle of True Profound Realm, just like you right now.”
Yun Che: “…!!!”
Chapter 214 - The True Beginning
Yun Che was silent for a long time with only shock in his heart.
At that time, even though he was absolutely certain that Xia Qingyue’s profound strength was not just at the tenth level of the Elementary Profound Realm, he only surmised that her true profound strength was at the Nascent Profound Realm, and at most, the peak of the Nascent Profound Realm. Never would he have expected that the Xia Qingyue then, was actually the same as the current him, at the tenth level of the True Profound Realm! And was only at a distance of a step away from the Spirit Profound Realm.
It was something the him at that time would never imagine. Because to a little Floating Cloud City, reaching the pinnacle of the True Profound Realm at the age of sixteen, was even more mythical than myth.
If she had immediately announced her sixteen year old self’s profound strength to be at tenth level of the True Profound Realm at that time, that kind of sensation, would not merely be in just a Floating Cloud City, but also deeply startle the surrounding cities, including the Blue Wind Imperial Family. If that happened, it would be fundamentally impossible for Xia Qingyue to even think about comfortably staying within Floating Cloud City.
It was also no wonder that Frozen Cloud Asgard would choose Xia Qingyue. Her innate talent, was actually at this shocking level!
“So that’s how it is. I suppose your Master was afraid that your profound strength was just too universally shocking, so she used some kind of method to help you cover it up and let your profound strength aura be only at the tenth level of the Elementary Profound Realm. Right?”
Xia Qingyue nodded slightly.
“Third question.” Yun Che looked straight at Xia Qingyue with a bit of an assertiveness in his gaze: “I want to know, in this period of time you’ve been at Frozen Cloud Asgard, have you ever, once in awhile, thought about me?”
“…” Xia Qingyue became silent. After a short while, she turned around and softly said: “It is already getting late. There are still matches tomorrow, it’s best to rest early. Qingyue should also return now.”
When she finished speaking, without waiting for Yun Che’s response, she was already shifting away with light steps. After her snowy clothes started to float lightly, her figure was already moving further and further away at a fast pace… without the slightest hesitation.
Yun Che did not chase after her. He sucked air in and softly yelled out in a voice loud enough for her to hear: “After tomorrow, I will definitely enter the last thirty two ranking battles! If we meet during the Round of Thirty Two, I hope that you will not go easy on me!!”
His voice slowly swept outwards and Xia Qingyue’s silhouette, had already disappeared from his line of sight.
——————————————
Sixth day of the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament, which was also the last day of the second round of group stages.
The focus of most of the gazes, was still upon Yun Che’s matches. Everyone wanted to see how far this person with the lowest profound strength amongst numerous disciples, who was a freak level super dark horse, could possibly go in this ranking tournament.
Since yesterday’s ten consecutive wins in the second round of group stages, Yun Che’s victories within the group stage had not stopped, rather, it continued on after every match within each and every shocked shout.
Eleventh match:
“…Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che wins!”
Qin Wushang tightly gripped both hands in excitement, itching to wave his hands in the air and shout loudly without the slightest of elegance.
Twelfth match:
“…Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che wins!”
Qin Wushang stood up in excitement with trembling lips. As both his hands shook, it was as if he did not know where to put them.
Thirteenth match:
“…Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che wins!”
Even Qin Wushang’s black beard started to shake as he continued to repeat himself: “Top fifty… Top fifty… Top fifty…”
Top fifty in the individual ranking was a position that he did not even dare to even wish for! His long time wish was the same as Cang Wanhe’s, and he only wished for their power ranking to be in the top hundred. And now, Yun Che alone, had already let the entire Imperial Family obtain a rank so high it was not known how many times higher it was from their original goal… He could imagine how excited this would make Cang Wanhe feel when he received news of this.
…………
Fifteenth match, which was also the last match:
“…Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che wins!”
“Blue Wind Imperial Family’s competing disciple Yun Che, second round of group stages, complete victory in all fifteen matches, directly advances to tomorrow’s elimination rounds!”
The referee declared these achievements with a type of incomparable amazement when looking at Yun Che… Fifteen consecutive victories. In the previous ranking tournaments, even though there were very few disciples outside of those belonging to that of the Four Major Sects who had accomplished this, it wasn’t like there weren’t any who had not done it before. But, obtaining fifteen consecutive victories with a profound strength at the tenth level of the True Profound Realm…
A single phrase wildly surged inside the referee’s heart… What kind of cosmic joke was this! Have I gone crazy or did the entire continent already go mad!
Aside from Yun Che, Xia Qingyue, Ling Yun, Fen Jin, Xiao Kuanglei, and other disciples within the Four Major Sects also finished with complete victories in the second round of group stages, which meant that they too, did not need to be ranked and could directly advance into tomorrow’s elimination rounds.
“Complete victory… top thirty two… Even if he were to place last in tomorrow’s elimination rounds, his individual ranking would still be at thirty second place…” It had been a while since Qin Wushang’s bottom had touched his seat. He was so excited that he was essentially incapable of sitting down as he continued to rave deliriously, with each of his words carrying a deep vibrato. At this moment, he deeply felt that he was currently dreaming, and was also deeply afraid that this was merely a dream…
In contrast, Cang Yue was much more tranquil. After all, unlike Qin Wushang, she did not carry the burden of always seeing the previous ranking tournament’s dismal performance results that brought along such humiliation, resentment, and unwillingness. She also had never constantly dreamed, and wished for a day of one day being this proud with elation. Seeing Yun Che knock down every opponent that came his way, while reaching an even greater height that evoked a higher cry of surprise from the entire audience, she was inwardly joyous, proud, and completely filled with a sense of satisfaction. As she thought back to the time when she had first gotten acquainted with him in New Moon City and all the little details that came after that, she unwittingly, began to smile.
He is a person who has always brought hope, nice surprises, and miracles…
Meeting him, is my lifetime’s most fortunate of miraculous encounters.
“What a truly unforeseen outcome. I originally thought that I was already overestimating him, but I didn’t expect that I was still greatly underestimating him. He actually entered the top thirty two with a sweeping victorious performance. For a True Profound Realm to obtain such an accomplishment is the first of all historical precedents, and is also something that is fundamentally impossible to happen again in the future.” Ling Yuefeng lamented with sincerity as he watched Yun Che walk down the Sword Discourse Arena after fifteen consecutive victories.
“Mn.” Ling Yun nodded slowly.
“However, for him to obtain such a result, we also have to say that a large portion of that is due to good luck. After all, in the second round of group stages, he had never come across anyone from any large sects; especially, disciples from our Four Major Sects. Otherwise, it is fundamentally impossible for him to continuously keep up his consecutive victories. But if we put this aside, for him to have reached this point with strength only in the True Profound Realm… this younger generation will surpass us in time.”
“Father, for one to defeat an opponent of a higher level, there are only three possible reasons why. One of them, is when one’s innate talent of using of profound energy is so high that they are able to bring out a power that’s double their own profound strength. The second, is when one’s profound arts and techniques are so strong that they are able to completely crush their opponent. The third, is when one’s innate talent is astonishingly superior with a special nature, like an innate divine strength, a hardened body, a sharp perception, and so on. The majority that appear amongst all these are those who have crushingly strong profound arts and profound techniques… Father, can you tell what kind of profound art he is using?” Ling Yun cautiously asked.
Ling Yuefeng actually shook his head: “I am completely incapable of seeing through his profound art. No matter his freestyle martial arts or his use of the heavy sword, the profound energy that he releases is incomparably fierce. It directly releases and retracts; the feeling it gave me was instead more like pure profound energy, without the existence of any profound arts. However, the strength of this pure profound energy far surpassed the limit of the True Profound Realm… To be able to triumph over opponents across such a big gap, is also the first I’ve seen in my life. Seems like, after the match, it’ll be necessary for me to find him for a little chat.”
Ling Yun glanced at his father with a slight surprise. From his birth until now, it was actually the first time he had see his father show such curiosity towards a youth. However, Yun Che did indeed have such qualifications.
After the second round of group stages, the sect’s disciples were directly ranked out using the number of wins. Among them, the top thirty two disciples in the rankings would proceed to the last elimination round on the main Sword Discourse Arena tomorrow. Disciples below the one hundredth rank, as well as rank thirty three to one hundred, would respectively be transferred to different secondary arenas, and progress to the ranking battles between their ranks.
The elimination round, was the last stage of the Ranking Tournament, as well as the core existence of the entire Ranking Tournament. Because, among over one thousand and five hundred participating disciples, these were the decided strongest thirty-two people! Who represented the pinnacle of the Blue Wind Empire’s younger generation’s strength! Even though the elimination round only had thirty two people, it would last for an entire five days, longer than any round of group stage matches. The arena would also no longer be the small Sword Discourse Arenas, and would instead be the enormous central Main Sword Discourse Arena.
————————————
The next morning, as the sky was just barely lighting up, the Sword Discourse Arena in the Heavenly Sword Villa was already clamoring.
The final event of Blue Wind Ranking Tournament, the Round of Thirty Two, had finally begun!
An enormous profound stone was temporarily erected in the center of the Main Sword Discourse Arena, and the names of the thirty two people who had entered the Round of Thirty Two, as well as the sect they belonged two were displayed on top. Amongst these thirty two names, the twelve disciples from the Four Major Sects were all present without any exceptions.
But in the history of this Ranking Tournament, this was a sight that was most common. If even one were to be missing from there, it would instead be abnormal. The great disparity between the Four Major Sects and the other sects, could be glimpsed at from this. And so, there was another name for this last Round of Thirty Two, called the “Four Major Sect’s Showdown Battle”, which by name, wasn’t exaggerated in the least.
“I had never thought even in my dreams, that there would be a day our Blue Wind Imperial Family’s name would actually appear on it.” Looking at that enormous profound stone in the arena, Qin Wushang’s complexion actually carried a deep devoutness within. He was excited to the point of being unable to sleep at all last night, and to also come here so early in the morning. His feeling of excitement could not be suppressed no matter what.
Every single name on the profound stone was more breathtaking than the last, and the name of the sects was also more astonishing than the last. Qin Wushang believed, that Yun Che’s steps in this Ranking Tournament would be stopped here, because none of the last thirty one could be compared to the opponents he had encountered before. But even if he were to lose on the first round, the gains from this Ranking Tournament would already far surpass the original expectations; there was already nothing he was unsatisfied about.
“Participating disciples of the Round of Thirty Two, please come to the stage and draw the lot for battle order!”
There was only one judge during the entire Round of Thirty Two, and that would be Ling Wugou. Following Ling Wugou’s loud cry, thirty two people came up one by one and drew their own battle number.
“Junior Brother Yun, what number… Ah? It’s actually… Number one!”
Cang Yue took the plate in Yun Che’s hand. The number on there, was shockingly, a large “One”.
Which is to say, that in today’s match, Yun Che would the first to take the stage!
“If I’m first, then I’m first. Saves me from impatiently waiting anyway.” Yun Che said nonchalantly.
“Yun Che, it is already very very impressive of you to be able to enter the Round of Thirty Two.” Qin Wushang said: “However, in the Round of Thirty Two, every single opponent would be extraordinary. Especially the Four Major Sect’s disciples; you have never met them before, and simply do not know their dreadfulness at all. So, in today’s matches, if you feel that you cannot win, it is not shameful at all to surrender early. You have already created a miracle that has shocked the entire audience, so you definitely should not try to flaunt yourself. Otherwise, it would be bad if you, by any chance, receive malicious injuries from the opponent. It is already enough for you to reach here in this year’s ranking tournament. The next ranking tournament, would be your true stage.”
Yun Che nodded: “Palace Chief Qin, be at ease. I will definitely advance when I need to, and when I ought to retreat, I won’t brainlessly overexert myself either.”
“That’s good then.” Qin Wushang nodded while smiling.
Gripping his own number plate while looking toward the gigantic central Sword Discourse Arena in front of him under rows after rows of gazes with variant intentions, Yun Che truly felt that this current round in the ranking tournament, was not at all the finish line that Qin Wushang had expressed…
Instead, it was the true beginning!!
————————————
Author note: 【That’s right, the Ranking Tournament has just begun. The earlier group stages was all for(filling)-mali(up)-ty(words), the true match only starts now. Speaking of which, in the last last book from this Mars, Pig Feet and Hua Qimeng fought for an entire ten-odd chapters on the final match… I was thinking, if I did ten-odd chapters for every single match ahead here, Mn… I believe that all of you definitely would not beat me to death!! 】
Chapter 215 - Fighting Xiao Nan
After all thirty two remaining people selected their numbers, their battle order appeared on the Profound Stone.
Once the order was released, it instantly caused a large debate amongst the audience.
The thirty two contestants were split into two groups of sixteen. Every match, one contestant would be eliminated. The two victors of the groups would eventually face off in the finals to decide who will be the champion.
However, the two groups that the participating disciples had been separated into were far too different in terms of their strength!
The finale of the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament would usually turn into a ranking tournament for the Four Major Sects. It was always the case for the past hundred years, and would undoubtedly be the same this time as well. When comparing the strength of the group, simply comparing the quantity and quality of disciples from the Four Major Sects would be sufficient.
In the second group, there were seven disciples from the Four Major Sects. They were: Heavenly Sword Villa’s Young Villa Master, the one who everyone was certain would be victorious, Ling Yun. Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Shui Wushuang, Wu Xuexin, Xia Qingyue were all in the same group. The last three were Xiao Sect’s Xiao Kuanglei, Xiao Zhen and Burning Heaven Clan’s Fen Jin!!
The main disciples in the Four Major Sects, were all gathered in the second group!
Needless to mention Ling Yun, who was in the third level of the Earth Profound Realm and looked down upon the whole crowd. Shui Wushuang, Wu Xuexin, Fen Jin, Xiao Kuanglei, and Xiao Zhen were all at the ninth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. All their profound strengths lost to Ling Yun and they all had a chance to obtain second. The lowest, Xia Qingyue, was also in the eighth level of the Spirit Profound Realm.
Looking at the first group, there were five contestants from the four main sects. However, all of them were either not their main force and were all their second or third tier. The contestants were Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Feiyu and Ling Jie, Xiao Sect’s Xiao Nan, and Burning Heaven Clan’s Fen Juebi and Fen Yuange.
Among them, only Ling Feiyu was in the ninth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, the others: Fen Juebi was in the eighth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. Ling Jie being the youngest, was only in the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. Xiao Nan and Fen Yuange were also young and had only came for experience; respectively, they were only in the sixth and seventh level of the Spirit Profound Realm.
The difference in the two groups was really overwhelmingly huge!
“The difference in strength between the two groups can’t be this huge? This is the first time a Ranking Tournament has such an overwhelming difference in strength between the two groups, right?”
“Such an overwhelming difference has never happened before. However, this was all based on the number randomly ‘selected’ by each contestant. We can’t do anything even if such a situation happens. We can only say that those who were split into the first group were very lucky. Any disciple from one of the main sects in the second group could trash the entire the first group.”
“No matter what happens, the victor would no doubt be Ling Yun.”
“That’s great, the group Junior Brother Yun is in has very little top class opponents.” Cang Yue said happily as she saw the battle order.
Qin Wushang also smiled and nodded: “Not very little, there are practically none. It looks like Lady Luck has been shining down on us all this time. If our good luck continues, Yun Che’s progress might not stop at the top thirty two. He might even progress to the top sixteen! If that really happens, it would really be a miracle amongst miracles.”
“The first match is brother-in-law’s, his opponent… Ahhh, it’s Xiao Sect’s Xiao Nan! Wahh, it’s the Xiao Sect… Ugh, however, he is only in the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. Brother-in-law has already been numerous opponents at that level. He can definitely win this match for sure!” Xia Yuanba said full of anticipation.
“No,” Qin Wushang was not as optimistic: “Although at the same level, a disciple of the Four Major Sect’s strength far exceeds one of another sect. Despite being only the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, it wouldn’t be weird if he could beat an eighth level Spirit Profound Practitioner from another sect. That is also why he was able to enter the top thirty two with this kind of profound strength… Yun Che, don’t be careless. If it becomes too tough, remember what I said before.”
“Yes.” Yun Che replied.
On the Sword Discourse Arena, the profound stone that has displayed the battle order was kept by Ling Wugou and said loudly: “The battle order of the thirty two contestants has been decided and the first match shall begin soon. The contestants are: Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che and Xiao Sect’s Xiao Nan. Please prepare yourself and come onto the arena within sixty breaths of time!”
Yun Che did not hesitate at all. He stood up and walked towards the Sword Discourse Arena immediately. Behind him came the nervous cheers of Cang Yue and Xia Yuanba… After all, who he was going to face was a disciple of the Four Major Sects!
“Nan’er, go, this opponent should be an easy victory for you. However, it is only ‘should be’ and not ‘for sure’. Remember what Grandfather always says, no matter who the opponent is, never underestimate him.” Xiao Wuji reminded Xiao Nan.
“Yes, Grandfather.” Looking at Yun Che who was already on stage, Xiao Nan also stood up, breathed in slightly and lifted himself high, jumping across several tens of meters before landing gently on the Sword Discourse Arena, standing face to face with Yun Che.
“Yun Che… This name, why do I have the feeling that I have heard it before.” Seeing the two on stage, Xiao Wuji knitted his brows and spoke to himself.
“Xiao Nan’s first opponent is actually a dark horse that only climbed so far due to good luck. Heh, what luck. If he loses this, it would put shame upon the family.” Xiao Kuanglei muttered under his breath at the side.
On stage, Xiao Nan had already taken out his weapon. it was a jade sword that gave off a cool glow. The jade sword was called Wind Spirit Sword and it was a Earth Profound Weapon. With sword in hand, he signalled towards Yun Che: “Xiao Sect Sword Sect’s disciple Xiao Nan, please guide me!”
Because of Xiao Kuangyun, Yun Che already had a very bad impression of Xiao Sect. However, Xiao Nan was obviously completely different from Xiao Kuangyun. He looked determined and was very courteous. Even though he faced an “extremely weak” opponent, he still viewed him with caution and did not appear to underestimate him by any means. Yun Che nodded and took out his Overlord’s Colossal Sword: “Blue Wind Profound Palace’s disciple Yun Che… Please guide me… Elder Ling, no need to wait sixty breaths, we can start immediately.”
“Good!” Ling Wugou nodded: “Round of 32, 1st Match —— Begin!”
Once Ling Wugou finished speaking, the originally noisy arena suddenly became silent as everyone focused on the Sword Discourse Arena. However, they were not looking at Xiao Sect’s Xiao Nan but instead, at Yun Che. The difference in profound strength between the two parties in this matchup were rather exceptional but no one jeered, nor did anyone look down upon Yun Che. No one could say for certain that he would definitely lose. Every time someone said that during one of Yun Che’s matches, Yun Che would leave them embarrassed until their ears were red and amazed at the end.
Now, even more people wanted to know whether Yun Che, who was able to breakthrough to the top thirty two with only a profound strength at the True Profound Realm, was able to create another miracle and beat this disciple from the Xiao Sect.
Hoping to see a dramatic finale, in certain aspects, was a part of human nature.
On the Sword Discourse Arena, after Ling Wugou finished speaking, a fierce storm was released from Xiao Nan and the Wind Spirit Sword’s bodies. The storm surrounded his body and revolved around him. Although the storm was not strong, it was extremely sharp. It was as though there were numerous swords dancing around him. Even those seated far away from the center of the Sword Discourse Arena could feel an unexplainable form of scary sharpness in the air.
Despite the audience’s reactions, Yun Che however, was unfazed when he looked at Xiao Nan. Neither he nor his sword moved and it did not seem as if he had any intention to attack first.
“Receive my attack… Extreme Wind Slash!!”
The sword in Xiao Nan’s hands pointed forward, and instantly, all the storm that had been surrounding him turned into the silhouette of several swords, causing wind, so sharp that it even frightened the audience, to blow towards Yun Che. Wherever the wind went, it tore apart the sturdy Sword Discourse Arena into pieces.
The might of the sword caused everyone in the arena to be cry out in surprise.
“Uwaahh… Such, such scary swordsmanship!” Xia Yuanba said in surprise, his face full of fear. Even an Elementary Profound Realm practitioner like him could clearly see the might of that sword.
“One of the advantages of the Four Major Sects is that their profound arts and techniques are very powerful! With one slash, an opponent of the same level who does not belong to one of the Four Major Sects would not be able to receive the attack!” Qin Wushang said in a dignified manner.
“Quick, dodge!” Cang Yue shouted in a nervous manner.
The storm and the sword silhouettes attacked simultaneously but Yun Che still remained still as though he had already been scared silly. Only when the storm and the sword silhouettes approached, blew up his hair and shirt violently, did he finally move… One second ago, he seemed as immovable as a mountain. One second later, he suddenly seemed like a volcano that had just exploded.
All fifty four profound entrances opened and his berserk profound strength loudly exploded in an instant. The Overlord’s Colossal Sword in his hand welcomed the storm of sword silhouettes with a sweep. Bringing along a huge maelstrom of power, it heavily clashed onto the storm of sword silhouettes.
BANGBANGBANGBANG…
The violent clash was so loud that it made one wish to be deaf. One swing from the heavy sword seemed like it had released a malevolent dragon. With its incomparably strong body and claws, it attacked the storm of sword silhouettes. As it collided, the storm of sword silhouettes released by Xiao Nan were shattered layer by layer, and eventually disappeared completely… However, the heavy sword’s power did not disperse continued onwards, bringing along raging winds which struck Xiao Nan’s body, causing him to almost fall back due to the suffocating attack.
Wh… WHAT!?
Xiao Nan’s two hands and soul trembled at the same time as his face revealed a strong sense of disbelief.
When facing Yun Che, he had not underestimated him. Although the strike just now was not his finishing move, it was already one of his strongest sword skills. When he executed the skill, he did not believe that Yun Che could face it head on. He thought that he could only avoid with all his might. With that belief, he clutched his sword’s hilt firmly and stared at Yun Che, waiting to chase after him, lightning quick, once he tried to avoid the strike. After catching him unprepared, he would then attack him relentlessly in order to gain an advantage and finish him off quickly.
Never did he expect that Yun Che did not avoid the strike, but take it head on… And with only a single swing, he completely took down his attack!
“He actually… received it!”
“Is this Yun Che really only in the True Profound Realm? This swing of Xiao Nan, even if it was me, I cannot take it head on!”
The surrounding people were all nearly numb with shock. Yun Che seemed like a monster to them. Time and time again, he displayed the impossible in front of their eyes. Especially the members of the Xiao Sect who knew that strike. Their faces all turned pale.
Yun Che stepped forward, called upon all the profound strength within him, and swept the heavy sword forward. After a split second, an extremely frightening storm brew atop the Sword Discourse Arena. Within the storm, Xiao Nan could neither breathe, nor could he even open his eyes. The sword that he had originally swept out was quickly withdrawn… Because all of his instincts told him that Yun Che’s strike possessed the ability to crush mountains and crack the earth. If he were to take the attack head on, he might be severely injured or worse, lose his life.
Before he could comprehend how a True Profound Realm profound practitioner was able to execute such a scary attack, he gathered his profound strength onto his feet and jumped several tens of meters into the air to avoid the storm. He stopped at the highest point in midair, and suddenly, rounds and rounds of ripple-like water surrounded him. Behind him, a giant green colored eagle silhouette appeared and proudly spread its wings to fly.
Xiao Nan flew down. As he was flying, his whole body merged with the silhouette of the giant green eagle, and he seemed like descending mighty eagle. He pointed his sword forward. While bringing along an incomparably sharp aura, he thrusted towards Yun Che’s chest. The sword was extremely sharp, and the air seemed to have been split apart like waves.
The sword that came from above was extremely sharp, and from several tens of meters away, Yun Che felt the scary sensation of his chest had been pierced. However, the him who wielded a heavy sword, definitely would not back down against a normal sword. He remained unfazed and swung both his arms towards the sword above him.
The might of the heavy sword could move mountains and turn oceans. Wherever the heavy sword pointed, slight distortions appeared within the empty air. Yun Che’s first strike was instantly avoided by Xiao Nan. But this time, he was in midair. Even if he wanted to avoid it, it was not possible. But when facing Yun Che’s berserk strike head on, he did not look the least bit nervous as a cold determined radiance flashed past his eyes.
The giant eagle silhouette at his rear suddenly spread its wings as a light green glow emitted from the Wind Spirit Sword.
RIIIIIIP!!
The storm brought about by Yun Che was cut apart by Xiao Nan under a distinct ripping sound. It seemed as if a stream had been directly split into two and scattered to both sides.
The Wind Spirit Sword that had cut the storm brought along a sharp aura that continued onwards, piercing straight towards Yun Che’s left shoulder.
“Ah!!!” Cang Yue cried out in alarm, and her complexion instantly paled.
“What? What… What kind of sword technique is that? He… He cut apart his profound energy!” Qin Wushang’s expression paled as well.
“Although there were some scares, it still went according to plan. Victory has already been decided.” Looking at the sword that pierced Yun Che, Xiao Sect’s Xiao Kuangyu faintly laughed.
Chapter 216 - Complete Victory
With a slash of his sword, he sliced apart Yun Che’s force blast. Then, as he stabbed towards Yun Che’s shoulder, the corner of Xiao Nan’s lips curved slightly upwards… The sharpness of this sword was enough to penetrate through fine steel. He was ten thousand percent sure that the moment this blow landed, Yun Che’s shoulder would be easily skewered.
He felt his Wind Spirit Sword slice apart the force produced by Yun Che, slice apart the profound energy protecting his body and his clothes, and then, he stabbed onto his body. The curve of his lips slowly grew larger, but in an instant later, his expression stiffened completely.
As his Wind Spirit Sword stabbed into his flesh, blood scattered from Yun Che’s left shoulder. However, the Wind Spirit Sword was also fixed in that position, and was no longer able to pierce half an inch deeper, as though that half-a-finger width of flesh, was basically an indestructible ten thousand year old profound iron!
Wha… What!? Xiao Nan was utterly shocked, as if he was unable to believe his own perception.
And Yun Che’s explosive counter-attack also came at this moment. As his heavy sword moved, the surrounding air within the space of thirty meters was stirred by the strong horizontal swing. The violent airflow caused the hairs on Xiao Nan’s entire body to stand on end. Without even thinking, he pulled his sword out with his quickest speed, and leapt back with all his strength, retreating a distance of about thirty meters. Then, he heavily panted, as he looked at Yun Che’s shoulder with an expression filled with shock.
On Yun Che’s left shoulder, a small stain of blood was slowly spreading on his clothes, but this spread had stopped just a few seconds later. From the bloodstain, his injury did not look serious, and the wound had already stopped bleeding completely… The corner of Xiao Nan’s eyes constantly twitched. He had almost put in his all in that one attack, and an Earth Profound Weapon had even been used to coordinate with that strike. The incomparably sharp Wind Spirit Sword, when used to pierce head-on, even a giant rock, or steel, would be easily penetrated like a piece of tofu. However, this same sword did not penetrate through his body, and even his bone was left untouched… His attack had only caused a simple flesh wound.
It was not just him; even the entire audience, including the Ling Wugou who had seen the entire exchange the most clearly, had an expression filled with disbelief. All of them had personally witnessed Xiao Nan’s full-powered strike piercing onto Yun Che’s body. As for the sharpness of the sword, even if the target were to protect himself with a profound energy defense at the peak of the Spirit Profound Realm, there was still a possibility of being penetrated through. But, Yun Che, who simply had only had the strength at the True Profound Realm, had evidently received a mere flesh wound.
“What’s going on?” The smile on Xiao Kuangyun’s face fell, and asked with a frown.
“… It’s definitely because Yun Che’s wearing some sort of armor! That’s the only explanation possible!” Xiao Kuanglei said.
Naturally, Yun Che was not wearing any sort of armor on his body, and had only a single thin layer of clothes. Although his protective profound energy defense was only at the True Profound Realm, his body had the protection of the second stage of the Great Way of the Buddha, and earlier, he had even refined the Dragon God’s blood within his body —— That was not just blood from any ordinary dragon, but the blood of an actual Dragon God! Currently, Yun Che possessed a part of a dragon’s bloodline power and physical body strength, and was already completely not inferior to an actual True Dragon… And, could an Earth Profound sword wielded with the profound energy at the Spirit Profound Realm, be able to penetrate through the body of a True Dragon?
Of course not!
Forget about Yun Che using his True Profound Realm’s profound energy to protect his body, even if he did not have that layer of profound energy, and was simply standing defenseless while allowing Xiao Nan to attack him, Xiao Nan should throw away the thought of using his Wind Spirit Sword to penetrate Yun Che’s body.
“Not a bad sword.” Yun Che glanced at the wound on his left shoulder with a calm expression, and said with a praising tone. This strike, had given him a sound warning as well. One main reasons why the Four Major Sects were large and strong, was because of the strong profound arts in their sects. Although this Xiao Nan before him was considered to be at the bottom in terms of strength among the participating disciples from the Four Major Sects, he should definitely not be careless. If not for the tyrannical defenses his body had, if it was someone else, that person would have already suffered really terribly from that strike.
With nothing more to say, Yun Che stepped forward, and slashed his sword.
Following the trails of the slashing heavy sword, as though the airwaves produced were given actual forms, the space slightly distorted as the airwaves charged towards Xiao Nan. Xiao Nan quickly regained his senses from the shock earlier, stared head-on at the approaching waves, and slashed out his Wind Spirit Sword consecutively, producing a heavy storm of sword silhouettes to quickly scatter the incoming blasts of air… But, Xiao Nan had to slash a total of more than twenty times to completely disperse the force created by one of Yun Che’s simple slashes. This truth, once again tightened Xiao Nan’s heart.
In the earlier two rounds of small group matches, he had once paid attention to Yun Che’s matches, and had simply given a snort of contempt to each and every one of those sect disciples who was easily defeated by Yun Che.
And now, only after personally exchanging blows with him, did he clearly understand why those people would always be defeated so quickly… Because he had now understood that a terrifying might was hidden in every single one of Yun Che’s simple sword strikes.
He had only exchanged a few blows with Yun Che, but the consecutive shocks he had received was already causing the mental barrier in his mind to soon collapse. He once again looked at Yun Che and the gigantic pitch-black sword in his hands as a terrifying seed of “victory was basically impossible” sort of thinking quickly grew in his heart.
“Hawk of the Storm!!”
Xiao Nan took a deep breath, and sword energy began to surge towards the top of the Wind Spirit Sword; every single thread of that energy like a sharp steel needle capable of piercing deep into one’s bones. He gave a long howl, leapt high in the air, and thrusted towards Yun Che’s head with his sword. Yun Che, however, did not even attempt to dodge or avoid the attack, and simply took the incoming Wind Spirit Sword head-on with a swing of his sword…
Boom!
The airwave brought about the heavy sword actually brought along a dull explosive sound. Even though Xiao Nan had already personally experienced that terror of Yun Che’s airwaves, he was still greatly frightened. A green light flashed on his body, and with a quick spin of his body, he shifted his direction of attack to Yun Che’s feet. However, like a fluidless shadow, Yun Che’s heavy sword quickly slashed down, forcing Xiao Nan to have no other choice but to retreat with full force, and barely escape the danger.
Xiao Nan was very definite that if he had been swept by the windstorm caused by his opponent’s heavy sword, getting away with heavy injuries would have been the least that could’ve happened!
From the heavy sword’s terrifying strike, Xiao Nan was able to imagine how heavy that heavy sword was. And, when wielding such a big sword, the movements of the user would be correspondingly slow, and both openings and energy consumption would be especially large. So then, the best tactic against it would naturally be using speed to pin the opponent down, and find an opening to undergo a sure-kill attack.
Xiao Nan’s profound energy attributes were that of “Wind” and “Lightning”, and among the two, he trained in “Wind” the most. “Heavenly Eagle Art” was a type of mysterious profound art capable of allowing the user to gain a large boost in his physical speed. Initially, Xiao Nan had used a speeding-increasing profound movement skill, and a light and swift sword technique to deal with Yun Che. However, he quickly realized that even when Yun Che was wielding such a heavy sword, his speed was not even the least inferior than his, even when he had activated his profound movement skill… This was still fine, but even the speed of his sword-wielding was completely above his. Even though he was incapable of producing several numbers of slashes in an instant, from idling to completely releasing his sword and from releasing to pulling his sword back, all of these happened in the shortest moment, causing people to feel that there was basically not the slightest hint of heaviness in the sword.
Xiao Nan attacked dozens of times, and all of them were forced back by one of Yun Che’s casual swings. Not only were the attacks ineffective, Xiao Nan had to tiredly retreat time and time again, so as to prevent any dangers from falling upon him.
Although the might of heavy swords was enormous, there should still be a large weakness as well, right!? Why did this person not have a single opening even when he is using such a heavy sword… Xiao Nan’s forehead was drenched with sweat. Then, he secretly smiled with gritted teeth.
“Heavenly Eagle Limitless Strike!”
Xiao Nan leapt high in the air, the silhouette of an eagle appeared behind him, and with an aerial strike, he pierced towards Yun Che’s chest… This was the strike he used earlier to scatter Yun Che’s force blast. In his heart, he knew very clearly, the reason why he managed to deal a blow to Yun Che the first time was due to the element of surprise, and the second time would hardly be effective as the first. However, the longer he faced Yun Che, the more he felt a deep sense of powerlessness in his heart. What he could rely on, was only this strike.
RIIIP~~~~~
The Wind Spirit Sword sliced apart air and sliced apart space, bringing about an ear-piercing screech as it fell. This was a strike capable of even slicing apart a blast of energy. Since he had experienced it previously, Yun Che should dodge it immediately, and counter-attack from the side. However, Yun Che still stood at his original position without any intentions of moving away. He fiercely lifted up the Overlord’s Colossal Sword, and said indifferently. “Why don’t you try slicing apart this blow of mine!!”
In this strike, Yun Che used sixty percent of his strength. If we were to call that earlier strike a fierce gale, then, this strike was an absolute hurricane. With Xiao Nan’s strength, he was capable of cutting through the fierce gale. However, when faced with a hurricane, being shredded into pieces was the only possible conclusion.
The Wind Spirit Sword’s sword energy and force were completely dissipated cleanly in an instant, and a trembling buzzing sound was produced by the sword’s blade. Xiao Nan’s expression paled. His down-swooping body suddenly spun and turned as he wildly poured out all of the profound energy in his body, but he was still unable to completely defend himself against the force brought about by Yun Che’s strike. His profound defenses weakened bit by bit, and in the end, they finally collapsed completely. The force of energy that had yet to be dissipated, blasted onto his body, and caused his entire body to violently tremble.
Xiao Nan landed onto the ground thirty meters away. His face was entirely pale, and a mouthful of blood was discharged outwards as it slowly slid down the corners of his lips.
At that moment, the entire arena was in complete silence, and all six people from the Xiao Sect stood up with horrified faces.
Yun Che did not take the opportunity to deal another blow, and simply stood at his original position… And at this moment, everyone was shocked to realize that, during this entire match, his two feet had been at the same position the entire time, and had not moved a single bit!!
Xiao Nan’s expression was frightening as he heavily panted. However, on the other side, Yun Che’s breathing was steady, and his calm expression was unbroken. He completely did not look fatigued at all. The corner of Xiao Nan’s lips moved, and in the end, his hand still drooped down onto the ground…
“You’re much stronger than I had imagined… I admit defeat.” Xiao Nan said dejectedly.
“You’re a little stronger than I had imagined as well.” Yun Che smiled slightly, glancing at the wound on his left shoulder.
Hearing Yun Che’s words, Xiao Nan actually had a faint feeling of satisfaction in his heart, and even the dejectedness from his tragic loss had lightened quite a bit. He raised his head, and gave Yun Che a smile.
“Xiao Nan surrenders. Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che wins… He will enter the elimination round’s Round of 16 tomorrow!”
When this result came out, the Sword Discourse Arena which was silent for a period of time, was once again replaced by hustle and bustle. Every single pair of eyes watched Yun Che, who was safely walking down the stage, until their eyes became vertical… That’s right! This person, who had the weakest profound strength out of all the participating disciples there, had once again easily defeated a Xiao Sect disciple, and charged into the top sixteen!
“Little brother Nan, don’t be dejected. If he had not worn a high-grade armor, you would have won with your second strike. Unfortunately, I belong to Group Two, otherwise, I might have been able to exact vengeance for you.” Xiao Kuanglei patted on Xiao Nan’s shoulders, and consoled him.
“No.” Xiao Nan shook his head. “He was not wearing any sort of armor at all. He had basically blocked that strike completely with his own body. His body, was as though it was made of steel!”
“What!?” Xiao Kuanglei frowned. He made eye contact with Xiao Kuangyu, and both of them revealed shocked expressions.
“Junior Brother Yun, are you alright? Is your injury heavy?” The moment Yun Che came down, Cang Yue went over to greet him with an expression filled with worry and anxiousness. In her hands, she was holding onto a large amount of medicine and Profound Recovery Pellets, which she had prepared long beforehand.
“I’m fine.” Yun Che laughed without a care. “It’s just a flesh wound, and it has already stopped bleeding. It doesn’t need to be treated with any medicine, it will be fully recovered before the sun sets.”
These words were definitely not Yun Che’s exaggeration. Since he had reached the second stage of the Great Way of the Buddha, a light wound like this would recover to a sufficient degree in just a few minutes.
However, Cang Yue would naturally not be relieved from her worry so easily. In the end, Yun Che was still dragged by her to a side. She carefully applied some medicine on his wound and wrapped a roll of bandage around it.
On the Sword Discourse Arena, the second match had already begun.
The two competitors were respectively, Ling Jie from the Heavenly Sword Villa and Mu Xiongyi from the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress. The former was at the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, while the latter was at the eighth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. Based on profound levels alone, the latter was the strongest disciple outside of the Four Major Sects!
Chapter 217 - Bullying to an Intolerable Extent
Outside of the Four Major Sects, if there was a need to choose a fifth sect, then the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress, whose name shook throughout the North, had the most right among the various sects. The Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress had two supreme techniques —— one was the “Heavenly Spear” and the other was the “Thunderfire”. This time, the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress had also lived up to its reputation with two disciples in the final thirty two rankings, and both disciples were also at the eighth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. Their average strength was far greater than the general level of the ranking tournament and out of all the competing sects, it was only weaker than the Four Major Sects.
His first opponent in the Round of 32 was a member of the Four Major Sects, so there was originally a tight feeling in Mu Xiongyi’s heart. However, looking at Ling Jie, who was only sixteen and only at the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, he let out a large sigh of relief and laughed in a pleased way: “Hehe, this Ling Jie is clearly here to gain experience for the next ranking tournament. This match is mine to win.”
“It’s better to be cautious. The strength of Heavenly Sword Villa’s disciples cannot be judged simply by their level of profound strength.” Mu Xiongyan, who had also entered the top thirty two ranks, said in a low voice.
“Haha! Relax big brother. If I can’t even defeat a child at the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, I may as well kill myself with a stab of the spear… I’m going now!”
Mu Xiongyi jumped up onto the Sword Discourse Arena with a loud shout. WIth a swing of his stout right arm, a bronze longspear that was nine foot long came dancing out and pointed at Ling Jie: “Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress of the North’s Mu Xiongyi. Please guide me!”
“Good speech, good speech.” Ling Jie did not display any of the nervousness one might have when facing a strong opponent, but rather replied with a face full of laughter. Then, he slowly withdrew his weapon —— Space Splitting Sword. This sword was a high grade Earth Profound Weapon that he just obtained from the Sword Management Terrace a month ago. Even though it could not compare to the incomparably rare Sky Profound Sword, among Earth Profound Weapons, it was definitely one of the best of weapons with a might that inspired awe.
“Elder Ling, we can start now.” Ling Jie said.
“Good!” Ling Wugou nodded : “Heavenly Sword Villa’s disciple Ling Jie —— versus —— Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress’ Mu Xiongyi, match start!”
Mu Xiongyi attacked first. Without any restraint in his movements, a spear shot out in a straightforward manner. With a sharp swish sound in the air, the spear point pressed towards Ling Jie’s throat like a suddenly striking snake. Ling Jie’s eyes narrowed. The Space Splitting Sword directly struck out towards the longspear in a piercing movement. The bursts of clattering and banging sounds of the profound energy collisions reverberated through the air. The shadow of the sword and the tip of the spear struck together tens of times within a few breaths as a sound like thunder jolted the ears of those present.
The sword was like a fierce tiger. The spear was like a poisonous dragon. The struggle between dragon and tiger grew ever more intense. There were a few hundred strikes in the blink of an eye, and in the deadlock, neither side could prevail over the other.
“This Ling Jie is really outstanding. To think that he can compete against an opponent whose profound strength is higher than his by two levels for so long without going into a disadvantageous position.” Cang Yue could not resist praising.
Yun Che’s gaze left the Sword Discourse Arena and said in a calm manner: “Senior Sister, it’s actually the opposite of what you said. It should be said that Mu Xiongyi is very outstanding. He can actually face so many of Ling Jie’s sword strikes. However, the critical point is that Ling Jie is being lenient. Otherwise Mu Xiongyi would have lost long ago.”
“Ah?” Cang Yue blinked her beautiful eyes, as her entire face filled with surprise.
Yun Che had fought against Ling Jie before. Even though it was only for the short extent of three sword strikes, it was enough for him to generally have a rough idea about Ling Jie’s true strength. He slowly said: “Heavenly Sword Villa’s sword is strong at “sword intent”, not simply just the sword forms activated by profound strength. Right now, Ling Jie is only relying on sword forms and can fight on par with Mu Xiongyi who is two levels higher than him in profound strength… If Ling Jie unleashes his sword intent, Mu Xiongyi will inevitably lose very quickly.”
Yun Che’s words were quickly fulfilled. After the sword clashed with the spear a few hundred times, Ling Jie appeared to have lost his patience. The gaze in his eyes changed ever so slightly, and the sword shadows he struck became more fleeting. In the end, the sword shadows could not really be seen any more, and there was only a faint glimpse of the small afterimages that were neither here nor there.
If a third party saw this change, they would only feel surprised, but Mu Xiongyi felt as if his opponent had suddenly changed into someone else. Everytime he struck his spear out with his full strength, it made a swishing sound. However, when it struck Ling Jie’s sword, it no longer made a loud reverberating sound as before; it only made a soft “ding” sound and then the force he put into his spear disappeared with no hope of it ever returning. He could not guard against the way his force had just disappeared. The empty feeling in his thrust made him very uncomfortable. Even more shocking was the fact that his eyesight could no longer grasp the whereabouts of Ling Jie’s sword shadows. Even the swish of the sword could no longer be heard, as if the sword in Ling Jie’s hands had mysteriously disappeared.
Mu Xiongyi did not panic and no longer paid any attention to Ling Jie’s sword shadows. He released all his profound strength reserves. His spear force became even fiercer. As fast as a light beam, the nine foot longspear was like an angry flood dragon, flying and wriggling at the same time.
However, against his expectations, Ling Jie was not forced to retreat by his spear force that had grown stronger by several folds. With a flick of his wrists, the Space Splitting Sword was like an agile snake that could twist and turn. It penetrated the fierce profound energy storm, piercing through several layers of spear shadows and directly pierced Mu Xiongyi.
Riiip… Riiip…
Mu Xiongyi’s profound energy defense was easily torn apart. Accompanied by an extreme pain were two more wounds across the front of his chest which were deep enough to see bone… and Mu Xiongyi was completely unable to comprehend when Ling Jie was close enough to attack his chest.
Mu Xiongyi’s heart was greatly shocked. With a loud roar, he struck a blow strong enough to annihilate a thousand soldiers and forced Ling Jie to dodge far away. He jumped forward high in the air. Strength filled his right arm, and he fiercely tossed the spear. The longspear momentarily transformed into a comet that was as fast as lightning. It shot towards Ling Jie with a shockwave that alarmed the audience.
“It… It’s the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress’ ultimate technique… Heaven Raising Spear!”
Separated by a distance of several tens of meters, the spectators could clearly feel the awesome power of this spear strike. Anyone hit by this spear strike, even if they were at the peak of the Spirit Profound Realm, would probably have to throw half their life away.
Ling Jie quickly retreated but did not fully evade. Under the gasps of countless people, he struck out against the incoming longspear with a single sword maneuver…
Ding!!
There was no loud clashing sound. When the Space Splitting Sword met the longspear, only the faintest of humming sounds could barely be heard.
“A good performance of the Redirection Arts!” Ling Yuefeng nodded in praise as a rare content expression filled his face.
“Little Jie is not only far more talented than I was, his courage is also not bad. When I was at his age, I absolutely would not have dared to do that.” Ling Yun said while grinning.
A torrential amount of sword intent flooded out, firmly sucking in the longspear that was filled with explosive profound energy. Following that, the Space Splitting Sword led the long spear in a huge semi circular arc in front of Ling Jie. This time the spear point of the Heaven Raising Spear technique reversed in direction and shot towards the dumbstruck Mu Xiongyi.
Bang ! ! !
Scattered stone chips and dust flying about the Sword Discourse Arena. The longspear was fiercely nailed below Mu Xiongyi’s feet. The entire body of the spear burrowed into the stage, causing a tear that was several feet in length.
Mu Xiongyi retreated two steps back and sat on the floor on his butt as cold sweat seeped from his forehead. If the previous spear’s direction had just been aimed a bit more forward, then his body would have an additional hole.
“I… I admit defeat.” Mu Xiongyi no longer had the will to do battle. His chest heaved up and down as he trembed with fear.
“Hehe, you let me win.” Ling Jie withdrew his sword. He was very pleased with himself.
“Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Jie wins, and will enter tomorrow’s Round of 16!
This result was out of many people’s expectations, but even more people felt that it was only natural. Yun Che stroked his chin and said to himself in a low voice: “Likewise from the Four Major Sects and also of the same level of profound strength, but yet their true strength has such a huge gap… well deserving of the Heavenly Sword Villa.”
The two people he was talking about were naturally Xiao Nan from the Xiao Sect and Ling Jie from the Heavenly Sword Villa. Both of them were at the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm and yet the gap between their true strength was unnaturally large.
The Round of 32 continued to proceed. In one morning, the matches in Group One were completed. In the afternoon, the matches Group Two began. If one does a direct comparison, the matches in Group Two was much more intense and exciting than the matches in Group One. This was because the overall strength of Group Two was much higher than the overall strength of Group One.
It was evening when the Round of 32 came to a complete close. The sixteen participants for the following day’s elimination round had all been decided. Of the Four Major Sects, other than Xiao Nan, who had been defeated by Yun Che, the other eleven disciples all entered into the top sixteen, fully occupying two thirds of the top sixteen.
The arrangements for the following day’s Round of 16 was also displayed on the profound stone in the middle of the Sword Discourse Arena after the end of today’s competition.
The opponent Yun Che would face the following day came from the same Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress in the North as the opponent Ling Jie had faced today —— Mu Xiongyan.
“From today’s competition, you could see that Mu Xiongyan’s specialty is completely different from Mu Xiongyi. Mu Xiongyi specializes in the ‘Heavenly Spear’ while Mu Xiongyan specializes in ‘Thunderfire’. Thunderfire is much harder to cultivate than the Heavenly Spear but its power also far exceeds that of the Heavenly Spear. The ranking tournament allows the usage of any weapons, including firearms! Mu Xiongyan whose body carries the Thunderfire, hides tens of different firearms and bombs on his person. His attacks come in innumerable succession, and even break apart defenses that are completely prepared… Tomorrow, you must be sure to be careful!”
In today’s match, Yun Che had once again scored a huge victory, undoubtedly causing Qin Wushang to be over the moon with happiness. However, upon seeing that the next day’s opponent was Mu Xiongyan, he could not help but be concerned… Compared to Mu Xiongyan, he would, on the contrary, prefer that the opponent was someone from the Four Major Sects, because this Mu Xiongyan’s attack methods was just too frightening. Just being slightly inattentive might lead to becoming a cripple. In the off chance that that happened, this star that shone so brightly for the Blue Wind Profound Palace would inevitably be dimmed.
“Rest assured Palace Chief Qin, I will not be injured so easily. Also,” His eyes flashed as he grinned: “Tomorrow, I will win as always. Just you watch!”
“Haha, good!” Qin Wushang laughed. Yun Che still had not finished the next match and he noticed that he had once again underestimated Yun Che. He now no longer thought that it was certain for Yun Che to stop at this step, but was instead full of hope and expectation. He wished to see how far he could go… Could he enter the top eight… Or maybe even break the Four Major Sect’s “monopoly” and obtain the shocking glory of entering the top four!
At the end of today’s competition, the four from the Blue Wind Profound Palace returned to their courtyard. There were already three people awaiting them here. More accurately, they were waiting for Yun Che alone.
Of the three, one was a middle aged man with an imposing manner. The other two were youths who had appeared in today’s competition venue. One was the Mu Xiongyi who had been defeated by Ling Jie. The other had defeated his opponent and entered the next day’s Round of 16. He was Yun Che’s match for the next day, Mu Xiongyan.
Having seen Yun Che, that middle aged man straightforwardly walked as quick as a comet in big steps and said to Yun Che: “I am Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress’ current Fort Master Mu Tianbei. At the risk of being presumptuous, I have an important matter to discuss with the honorable Young Master Yun.”
Mu Tianbei had a boorish appearance. There was a naturally deep arrogance about him. After all, in the stretches of the frozen north, the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress was indubitably the dominant power. As its Fort Master, it could be said that he could even cover the sky with one hand there, and no one could disobey him. Within the boundaries of the entire Blue Wind Empire, the reputation of the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress was basically only second to that of the Four Major Sects.
He came up and directly asked Yun Che. As for Qin Wushang who was by his side and even Princess Cang Yue, he did not even give them a single glance. He was the kind of arrogant person who believed himself to be beyond the laws and even beyond Heaven. A frown appeared on Qin Wushang’s forehead but he did not say a thing. Yun Che moved forward and asked: “So it is the reputable Fort Master Mu. What does Fort Master Mu have to discuss with this Junior?”
“It is very simple,” Mu Tianbei looked directly at Yun Che: “I have witnessed Young Master Yun’s performance in the ranking tournament for a few days and my heart sighs in admiration. Regarding Young Master Yun’s natural talent and strength, even if it was among the Four Major Sects, there are few disciples who can match up. To remain with just a trifling Blue Wind Profound Palace is simply like burying a pearl. How about joining my Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress?”
As soon as these words came out, even if Qin Wushang had an even better self restraint, he would still be agitated to a great fury. It was one thing to undermine your foundations, but this Mu Tianbei went as far as to do this in his and Princess Cang Yue’s presence. He did not even disguise his contempt for the Blue Wind Profound Palace and did not even give any regard for the Blue Wind Profound Palace or the Imperial Family. It was simply bullying to an intolerable extent.
Chapter 218 - A Quick and Decisive Battle
Even though Mu Tianbei was “inviting”, his tone of voice was filled with arrogance and coercion, with a great deal of implication that him inviting you to join the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress was because he was thinking better about you and you should gratefully accept with tears down your face. The disdain toward Blue Wind Profound Palace was more so extremely heavy. Yun Che felt the rage steaming up from Qin Wushang who was beside him, and replied with a slight smile: “I’m grateful that Fort Master Mu thinks highly of me, but I believe that Fort Master Mu already knows, that I, Yun Che, am a disciple of the Blue Wind Profound Palace. I do not have the thought of leaving for the time being, so toward Fort Master Mu’s gracious invitation, I can only refuse.”
Mu Tianbei answered without any change in expression: “Young Master Yun, it is of course a good thing for you to have such persistence. But before you make the decision, you ought to think it through; Blue Wind Profound Palace is all but a mere profound cultivating ground for the ordinary, and amongst the great profound practicing forces in the empire, it can’t even be ranked as average. If not for the Imperial Family’s prestige, they simply aren’t even worthy to be called the bottom. When it comes to heritage, resources, and arts, the difference between my Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress and them is as great as difference between heaven and earth! Not to mention that it would be impossible for a bright pearl like you to improve much within the mere Blue Wind Profound Palace, in the end, you will perhaps also be reduced to mere ordinary beings like them.”
“Mu Tianbei! Watch your words!” Qin Wushang spoke with a furious tone.
“But Palace Chief Qin, were any of my words mistaken?” Mu Tianbei finally bothered to take a glance at Qin Wushang, and spoke with a contemptuous laugh: “After all these years, had Blue Wind Profound Palace ever nurtured up a memorable top-rated disciple? As for Junior Yun, he ought to have come from elsewhere, no? Junior Yun’s performance is truly stunning, but too bad, he isn’t something that your Blue Wind Profound Palace is qualified to keep! It would instead ruin and bury this genius who has the potential to rise into prominence in the future! But it would be different if he came to my Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress. We’ll provide him with the best resources and the finest inherited arts. After three years, I, Mu Tianbei have enough confidence to make him reach top three ranks in Ranking Tournament, and make him famous in this world. Young Master Yun, a person ultimately lives his life for himself. Don’t obstruct your own prospects and future for the so-called ‘personal loyalty’. Such an insignificant Blue Wind Profound Palace, isn’t worthy of a place for you to stay in at all.
Qin Wushang’s fury wildly grew. He wished that he could just ignore his manners and break into a cussing fight with Mu Tianbei. But at the same time, the inside of his heart was also wildly thumping, afraid that Yun Che would really be poached away by them like this. Because he could not deny that the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress’ power far surpassed Blue Wind Profound Palace. To put it more bluntly, the two’s power and conditions are not in the same level at all. If Yun Che really went to the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress, it was unknown just how many times better his profound cultivating conditions would be.
However, Cang Yue did not have this kind of worry at all. She slightly smiled and said: “Even though Yun Che is a disciple of the Blue Wind Profound Palace, the original intent of the Blue Wind Profound Palace’s establishment is to provide a cultivation ground for countless young profound practitioners in the empire, and does not interfere with the disciple’s freedom to leave or stay. Fort Master Mu’s words are already clear enough; if Yun Che’s heart is to be moved by this, and he is willing to leave the Blue Wind Profound Palace to join your Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress, we definitely will not interfere.”
“Hahahaha!” Mu Tianbei laughed loudly: “Good! As expected of the legendary Blue Moon Princess. Not only are you as noble as the rumors, you are also quite bold as well! Young Master Yun, you have heard that clearly, right? It doesn’t matter if they don’t agree to it. As long as you are willing to join our Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress, I wouldn’t care what happens, even if the entire Blue Wind Profound Palace all storm in to stop it.”
“Ha, there is absolutely no need for Fort Master Mu to think of it like that.” Yun Che laughed faintly as his gaze scoured over him: “The Blue Wind Profound Palace only allows disciples to stay until the age of twenty so I’d have to leave sooner or later. But even if the Blue Wind Profound Palace expels me right now, I still would never join your Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress. It is not because I think your Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress is weak in power. But with a Fort Master that doesn’t even know what respect is and doesn’t even understand human speech leading the sect, even if its strength was even more powerful, it would still be a merely third-rate place full of hot air. It is better for me to not go.”
Once those words came out, the atmosphere instantly froze.
When Qin Wushang, who was originally filled with fury, heard that, instead of not being angry anymore and feeling carefree, he was rather frightened. Never would he have thought that Yun Che would dare to speak out in this sort of way when facing Mu Tianbei, who was renown throughout the country. As for Cang Yue, she was only slightly surprised because she understood Yun Che… who would never be afraid of offending anyone! Truthfully speaking, with how fast this satisfaction came, there was no need to silently endure this. He would never submit to humiliation.
Mu Tianbei had thought that there was a chance Yun Che would reject him, but he never would have thought that this little junior would have the impertinence to speak such insolence, and even bring along such humiliation in his words. He creased both his brows as his complexion darkened: “Young Master Yun, what did you say earlier? It seems as if I did not hear that correctly…”
“I said, with a Fort Master that doesn’t even know what respect is and doesn’t even understand human speech leading the sect, even if its strength was even more powerful, it would still be a merely third-rate place full of hot air. It is better for me to not go.” Yun Che confronted Mu Tianbei’s oppressive gaze with a face full of smiles as he took his sweet time to repeat his words once more: “I’m sure that this time, Fort Master Mu has heard me correctly?”
As if there was a lump of air in his chest that had just exploded, Mu Tianbei’s fury surged to its peak as his facial muscles convulsed. Even though Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress could not measure up to the Four Major Sects, there was still no one who would dare provoke them and most couldn’t even wait to suck up to them. But now, a little junior had actually mocked him, the grand Fort Master, in front of him without restraint nor any changes in expression! He said in a low voice with a ferocious gaze: “Good… Very good…”
“The feeling is mutual.” Yun Che was incomparably tranquil: “You look down on my Blue Wind Profound Palace, and I also hold your Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress in contempt. This just happens to make us even. If Fort Master Mu has nothing else to discuss, you may go back now. The matter of me joining Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress, you mustn’t bring it up in the future. In my eyes, Blue Wind Profound Palace is ten million times better than Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress. Don’t even mention you, the Fort Master, personally asking me, even if the entire sect kneeled in front of me, I would still never agree to your offer.”
There was no trace of politeness in Yun Che’s succinct few words as he returned the contempt and mockery Mu Tianbei had towards the Blue Wind Profound Palace back at him. When it comes to Yun Che’s feelings towards the Blue Wind Profound Palace, he actually did not really have such strong feelings for it. Even if he was expelled, he still would not think much about it. It was not because of Blue Wind Profound Palace that he had fearlessly counterattacked, but rather, Cang Yue.
If this wasn’t Heavenly Sword Villa, a place where one could not willfully attack however they want, Mu Tianbei would definitely have immediately killed Yun Che. Too angry to smile, he firmly fixed his gaze at Yun Che: “What a good little arrogant junior. You truly have opened my eyes! I had originally taken pity on you because of your talent and was thinking of asking Yan’er to go easy on you tomorrow. But it looks like you do not care about your life at all!! When tomorrow comes, I’d like to see if you still have the strength to be arrogant in front of me… Let’s go!!”
Mu Tianbei snorted loudly before flipping his sleeve to turn and leave. Mu Xiongyi and Mu Xiongyan followed right behind him. Right when they were about to leave the courtyard, Mu Xiongyan turned around to glance at Yun Che, and revealed a sinister smile.
Yun Che’s counter mockery naturally negated some of Qin Wushang’s great pleasure. He was extremely moved by Yun Che but he was even more worried than before. He sighed softly: “Yun Che, you were too impulsive earlier. You can straightforwardly refuse him, but there was absolutely no need for you to offend him. Since this happened, tomorrow’s match, sigh…”
“Rest assured Palace Chief Qin,” Yun Che indifferently laughed: “In this ranking tournament, I only have one true opponent. There is no way that I would lose before meeting this true opponent. As for tomorrow’s Mu Xiongyan, forget about him endangering me, he doesn’t even have the qualifications to make me use my true strength.”
————————————
After night had passed, a new day had begun. New matches were also imminent. It was early morning, but the entire Sword Discourse Arena was already jammed packed with people waiting for the Round of 16 to begin. As of now, this Blue Wind Ranking Tournament’s match progression still conformed with the norm. If one must speak of anything unusual that had happened, it would be Yun Che, the super dark horse.
As for the ranking tournament’s final results, that was already predestined inside everyone’s heart long ago, during the first day’s Profound Assessment Ceremony… First place would inevitably belong to Ling Yun. Second, third, and fourth place, would still be a fight between Frozen Cloud Asgard, the Xiao Sect, and Burning Heaven Clan. Any other sects simply did not have the qualifications to enter the rivalry.
The Round of 16 was destined to be much more exciting and tense than yesterday’s Round of 32.
Round of 16, first match: Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che —— versus —— Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress’ Mu Xiongyan.
Before Mu Xiongyan went up on stage, Mu Tianbei ordered him in a low voice: “Cripple him Yan’er!” One night had passed but his fury still had not dissipated. After becoming Fort Master, Yun Che was the first person who dared to insult him out loud, and that made the grudge he bore be bone-deep.
“Rest assured Father. I won’t even let him think about standing up ever again.” Mu Xiongyan grinned as he casually said that.
On the Sword Discourse Arena, Yun Che and Mu Xiongyan stood on opposing sides. Mu Xiongyan slightly narrowed his eyes and sneered with a light casual stance, as if the Yun Che in front of him was a mere prey that was already in the clutches of his hands. Yun Che however, was a field of tranquility.
Last night, Qin Wushang had spoke to him in detail that the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress was divided into the Heavenly Spear Sect and the Thunderfire Sect. The Thunderfire Sect was capable of transforming profound energy into thunderfire, while simultaneously detonating it, bringing out an extremely tremendous lethality. At the same time, the Thunderfire Sect had also always passed on various different kinds of manufactured high grade firearms and controlling capabilities. More than a dozen different types of dangerous firearms were concealed on the bodies of every Thunderfire Sect disciple, even so much that there were probably more than several tens of incomparably dangerous types that one could not completely defend against.
In regards to transforming profound energy into thunderfire, Yun Che didn’t really care about that at all. But he was incapable of estimating how powerful the firearms on Mu Xiongyan’s body really were. His countless life and death experiences told him that if anything was unable to be discerned, especially one of dangerous origins, the safest move he could make when facing Mu Xiongyan would be to completely strangle something that could become dangerous in the shortest time possible.
So to him, this match was destined to be a match in which the outcome would be decided within the blink of an eye.
“Match start!!”
As soon as Ling Wugou’s voice fell, Mu Xiongyan raised both his hands and spread open all ten fingers. Ten purplish-red colored lightning balls instantly condensed atop his fingertips. The sound of its crackling discharge would make one shudder with fright. He looked at Yun Che with a ferocious smile: “Yun Che, prepare to howl a good one under my Thunderfire!! I’ll let you remember the price of insulting my Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress for your entire lifetime!!”
Yun Che did not reply. While tightly holding onto the heavy sword, his silhouette flashed. Like a strong blast of wind, he charged straight at Mu Xiongyan.
Mu Xiongyan moved both his hands. The ten Thunderfire balls of condensed profound energy flew at Yun Che with different trajectories. Yun Che nevertheless did not dodge or flee, and directly forged onwards. This action caused Mu Xiongyan to sneer:
“Then die… Explode!!”
BOOM BOOM BOOM…
Ten Thunderfire balls simultaneously exploded, and the devastating Thunderfire’s radiance momentarily drowned out Yun Che’s silhouette. Before Mu Xiongyan had even begun to laugh, he unexpectedly discovered that in the instant the Thunderfire balls exploded, Yun Che’s silhouette had disappeared from that spot.
Afterimage!?
Right after that, he suddenly detected the flash of a shadow from the corner of his eye. Yun Che had suddenly appeared at his side, and was not even two steps away from him. If another person were to switch places with him, even if they could react quickly to guard against it, they would inevitably fumble. However, not only did Mu Xiongyan not panic, he instead, laughed grimly. He did not move at all as he suddenly instigated his profound energy. Three purplish-red colored arrows suddenly shot out from his shoulder, flying straight at Yun Che’s face.
“Ah——”
The entire Sword Discourse Arena erupted in cries of alarm. Cang Yue was even more nervous as she shrieked. It was at such a close distance, and was also a head-on collision that was completely unexpected which shot out three Thunderfire arrows. Even if one was an immortal, it was not definite as to whether or not it was possible to dodge past it.
Whoosh!!
While still in the radiance of the Thunderfire balls, three Thunderfire arrows had already launched straight at Yun Che, and completely passed through his face…
It was another afterimage!!
Mu Xiongyan immediately opened his eyes wide. Before he had yet to recover from his astonishment, an incomparably hot heatwave attacked from overhead…
“Empyrean Dance of the Phoenix Wing!!!”
Boom!!
Like a fierce hawk, Yun Che swooped down from the sky and ruthlessly attacked his back with a scorching berserk strike. A huge lump of flame exploded within the loud noise, blotting out the sky while covering the earth…
Up until now, this was the first time Yun Che had executed Star God’s Broken Shadow. The second stage’s triple shadow chaining could be said to be as unfathomable as ghosts and gods. Likewise, it was also the first time he had used a Phoenix Flame technique… They were all used to finish the battle in the shortest time possible to avoid any possible unstable factors.
Inside the blaze that soared to the sky, Mu Xiongyan’s protective profound energy was shattered as if thin ice. He spurted out a large mouthful of fresh blood and fiercely flew outwards. Then, he knocked against the profound energy barrier and rebounded back to the floor. The fire on his body did not die out. Instead, it continued to rage and burn, burning his clothes, flesh, and the various tens of hidden firearms on his body…
BANG BANG BANG BOOM BOOM BOOM…
When the firearms caught on fire, they all crazily exploded on Mu Xiongyan’s body, splitting his skin open and flesh apart, making his mutilated flesh hard to discern. His wretched scream was like the mournful shrill of a banshee. Yun Che withdrew his heavy sword and looked at him with a pitiful gaze as he secretly muttered to himself: These firearms that were supposed to be used against me, you should just go enjoy them yourself!
Chapter 219 - I’m an Expert in the Same Field
“Yan’er!!”
Mu Tianbei’s expression paled as he flew straight down towards the Sword Discourse Arena. Ling Wugou quickly stepped forward as well, extinguishing all the flames on Mu Xiongyan with his profound energy.
With the extinguishment of the flames, Mu Xiongyan’s tragic state was displayed to everyone’s eyes. His entire body was charred black, a large portion of his flesh erupted apart with blood splattering everywhere, his white bones were even revealed on his pair of shoulders and knees. A large half of his hair was burnt, and his face was even blurred from the blood and exposed flesh… ‘Tragic’ was not even a suitable word to describe his current state.
But since the firearms on Mu Xiongyan’s body self-destructed because they were ignited by flames, and not by profound energy, the power of the explosions were not really large. Although Mu Xiongyan suffered extremely serious external injuries, his internal injuries were actually quite light, at least, he would not be crippled. However, to fully recover his serious external injuries, it would probably take a very long time. And, there would be countless of ugly scars left around his entire body… including his face.
Mu Tianbei charged through the profound energy barrier, arriving in front of Mu Xiongyan’s body. After inspecting his wounds, he heaved a sigh of relief, and then, glared at Yun Che with extreme hatred. However, he did not utter a single word. Carrying Mu Xiongyan, whose entire body was dripping with fresh blood, he walked down the Sword Discourse Arena. Mu Xiongyan’s current tragic state, was basically caused by the hidden firearms on his body. Under everyone’s attentive eyes, if he were to cause Yun Che any trouble, he would simply be looked down upon by everyone on-site. And, Ling Wugou was on the stage as well, so he could not possibly do anything to Yun Che. Without a choice, his heart filled with silent rage and hatred as he went down the stage. However, the killing intent directed at Yun Che, was as cold as the freezing abyss.
“Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che wins! He shall advance to tomorrow’s Quarterfinals!”
After Mu Xiongyan was brought down the stage by Mu Tianbei, Ling Wugou loudly announced the outcome of the match.
According to the progression of the previous Blue Wind Ranking Tournaments, the further the progression of matches, the stronger the participating disciples were. Every battle would become even more intense, and the time taken for each match would naturally be longer as well. This was the first match of the Round of 16. Everyone wished to find out if this ultimate dark horse, Yun Che, could actually once again turn out victorious in this match, and dreamily enter the Quarterfinals. There were many people willing to believe that he would have the possibility of obtaining victory once again, however, they absolutely would not think that, he would actually win so quickly, and so easily.
This duel ended the moment it just began. It was so quick, they did not have the time to even react. Only after Ling Wugou announced the results, did they accept this unbelievable reality in the midst of their astonishment.
After defeating Xiao Nan, who was at the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, the previous day, Yun Che had once again defeated Mu Xiongyan, who had strength of the eighth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, in just a few seconds the following day. Although Mu Xiongyan’s tragic state was due to the explosion of the firearms on his body, people who were wise enough were able to clearly see that even without the explosion of the firearms, Mu Xiongyan had already been thoroughly defeated.
Those two strange and unpredictable afterimages, and that surprising and overwhelming fire blast attack… The strong experts on-site, in their astonishment, had once again realized that they had completely and utterly underestimated Yun Che. Back then, when Yun Che was obtaining his consecutive level-skipping victories, he had actually been hiding his true abilities, and only until this match, did he reveal a tip of the iceberg, so as to obtain a quick and decisive victory.
“There’s actually such an individual within our Blue Wind Empire, who even I can’t clearly fathom the limits of. Every single time I thought he had already reached his limits, he would always once again astonish me.” Ling Yuefeng stood up with shock revealed on his calm face. “To actually be able to unleash such power while just being at the tenth level of the True Profound Realm, forget about the Blue Wind Empire, I have never heard of someone capable of doing this in the entire Profound Sky Continent. Just what kind of monster is he!? And just which supreme individual is his master? That master of his is actually capable of bringing up such a disciple!”
Ling Yuefeng’s exclamation, naturally gave Yun Che an extremely high evaluation. Ling Yun slightly frowned, and suddenly asked. “Father, the movement skill he used earlier, just how did he accomplish it? When one uses profound energy to move his body, it will not only bring about obvious ripples of profound energy, there will be obvious differences between the afterimage and the actual body as well. However, he formed three images, yet, I did not even feel a hint of any profound energy ripple, and, these three images were completely identical, and it was basically impossible to distinguish them from the real one. I have never seen such a strange profound movement skill.”
Ling Yun’s words caused Ling Yuefeng to momentarily enter a state of silence, and then, he shook his head. “Your father was not able to clearly distinguish them as well.”
“What!?” Ling Yun’s eyes turned towards Ling Yuefeng as a hint of shock flashed past his face.
“That guy actually won again, and he’s actually capable of manipulating fire! Big bro, were you able to distinguish what kind of flames he was playing with?” With a sway of his left hand, a ball of flames burned at top of Fen Juebi’s palm. Looking at the ball of flames, he slowly asked.
“Hmph, it’s nothing but the lowest level of profound flames. To actually play with fire in front of us, the Burning Heaven Clan, he’s basically underestimating us.” Fen Juecheng’s expression sank, saying with disdain.
Fen Juebi blew at his palm, directly extinguishing the ball of flames. He then said with a beaming smile. “Big bro, there’s no need to be angry. In contrast, this is actually a very good thing.”
“A good thing?” Fen Juecheng frowned.
“Did big bro forget? After claiming his victory in this match, who do you think is his opponent tomorrow?” Fen Juebi’s voice was low, and his smile had begun to grow even more sinister.
Fen Juecheng’s eyes turned, and then, his expression slightly changed. “It’s you!”
“That’s right, hahahaha.” Fen Juebi began to laugh wildly. “I didn’t expect that. I was not able to encounter him in the small group matches, but I’m actually going to encounter him in the elimination rounds. This world is simply too marvelous, it’s basically a present bestowed by the heavens to me and big bro. Let me personally end this so-called genius. I shall forever leave my shadow in the heart of the person who dares to offend big bro.”
The Round of 16 started off with a duel that exceeded everyone’s expectations, and immediately after, the second match was also one that shocked the audience. Ling Jie easily defeated an opponent who was two levels above him with just a few strikes, similarly ending the match with lightning speed. There were merely four to five exchanges of blows during the entire process.
Third Match: Fen Juebi easily obtained victory.
Fourth Match: Ling Fengyu won.
Fifth Match: The opponent surrendered, Ling Yun instantly obtained victory.
Sixth Match: Shui Wushuang fought with Wu Xuexin of the same sect, after an exciting battle, Shui Wushuang won by a slight margin.
Seventh Match: Xia Qingyue won.
Eighth Match: Xiao Kuanglei fought with Xiao Zhen of the same sect, and won by a slight margin.
Thus, the Round of 16 concluded, and the top eight in this Ranking Tournament were determined. The Quarterfinals’ match arrangements tomorrow were also revealed on the center of the profound stone after the conclusion of the Round of 16.
First match: Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che vs Burning Heaven Clan’s Fen Juebi.
Second match: Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Jie vs Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Feiyu.
Third match: Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Yun vs Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Shui Wushuang.
Fourth match: Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Xia Qingyue vs Xiao Sect’s Xiao Kuanglei.
As the Ranking Tournament progressed, the eight people who were determined, represented the strongest powerhouses of the current young generation of the Blue Wind Empire. Among these eight, there were a total of seven disciples from the Four Major Sects. Yun Che, the only one who did not belong to the Four Major Sects, was evidently particularly dazzling.
The history of the finale of the Ranking Tournament turning into a power struggle between the Four Major Sects had once again recurred, while Yun Che had undoubtedly became the most unnatural existence in this Ranking Tournament. The moment he entered the top thirty two, his name was destined to be spread far and wide after the Ranking Tournament. And the Blue Wind Profound Palace was finally able to vent out their frustration because of him, allowing them to regain their honor, and drew more practitioners to join them.
“Entering the top eight also means that we have secured our qualifications to enter the Heaven Basin Secret Realm after the Ranking Tournament. This simply feels like a dream.” Returning to the courtyard, Qin Wushang looked towards the sky, and sighed continuously. This was indeed an outcome which he had never even dreamed of.
“Heaven Basin Secret Realm? What’s that?” Xia Yuanba asked curiously.
“It is rumored to be an independent space opened up by a mysterious expert from the Ancient Era. Countless of opportunities and treasures are hidden inside. It opens up once every three years, and people who enter the Secret Realm will always obtain great rewards.” Cang Yue said with great yearning. “Palace Chief Qin, after the Ranking Tournament concludes, you will be able to enter the Heaven Basin Secret Realm with Yun Che. That’s great.”
“That’s right.” Qin Wushang smiled. “Unfortunately, good fortune did not fall on Palace Chief Dongfang, he actually did not follow us here this time. He had always dreamed of being able to investigate the legendary Heaven Basin Secret Realm at least once. But, speaking of which, even I didn’t think that Yun Che would actually be able to get this far…”
He deeply looked at Yun Che, and said. “Challenging someone with a higher level of profound strength is not uncommon, but defeating someone with strength at the late stage Spirit Profound Realm with just the strength at the True Profound Realm, I have never heard of such a thing. I don’t know what method you used to accomplish this; it might be your talent, or it might be the opportunities you have gotten, but what I can confirm is that after this Ranking Tournament, your name will spread throughout the entire Blue Wind Empire, or even, the entire Profound Sky Continent. Are you prepared for this?”
“It can’t be that exaggerated, right?” Yun Che said casually.
“No! It will only be more exaggerated than what I described. If you obtained victory with oppressing profound strength, then that will simply be some new news to know about. However, obtaining consecutive victories with just the strength at the True Profound Realm, this has completely broken history, and has even exceeded everyone’s understanding. Currently, all of the sects, including the Four Major Sects, are already targeting you, investigating your personal history, looking for all the information regarding your life. After the tournament, there will definitely be many people inviting you to join their sects, like what Mu Tianbei did. I possess no authority to intervene in your decision to stay or leave, but, I hope that you can remember this. No matter who you’re facing, do not offend that person like how you did yesterday, because every person you offend, may bring about a danger to yourself that can explode at any time. Yesterday, you made it difficult for Mu Tianbei, and today, you even seriously injured his son, Mu Xiongyan, he will definitely not simply leave this matter at it is. Within this Heavenly Sword Villa, he does not possess the guts to act against you, but after the tournament, Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress might possess the qualifications to enter the Heaven Basin Secret Realm as well. When that time comes, I doubt they will not take the opportunity to exact vengeance.”
“I completely understand what Palace Chief Qin is trying to say. Although I have never been afraid of offending others, I have never casually offended others as well. If Mu Tianbei did not ridicule our Blue Wind Profound Palace nor mock the Blue Wind Imperial Family yesterday, I would not have made things difficult for him either. Seriously injuring Mu Xiongyan was intentional as well. But, since I have already done it, I will not regret it. If he wishes to exact vengeance, then I will take responsibility for it.” The corner of Yun Che’s lips moved, curving up to a dangerously cold smile. “Who shall suffer under whose hands has yet to be determined.”
Knowing that he was unable to persuade Yun Che, Qin Wushang simply sighed, and said. “You must definitely be cautious in tomorrow’s match. Although Fen Juebi’s level of profound strength is the same as Mu Xiongyan’s, he is someone who has inherited the profound arts of the Burning Heaven Clan, his abilities can be said to be a few levels above Mu Xiongyan’s. And, this person, Fen Juebi, is ruthless, brutal, and likes to humiliate his opponents. The reason why Fen Juechen left the Burning Heaven Clan and was so focused on exacting vengeance on Fen Juebi, was due to the huge shame he received after being defeated by him. When you’re exchanging blows with him, you must definitely, definitely, be careful.”
Fen Juecheng’s expression, which was filled with killing intent, flashed past in Yun Che’s mind. Smiling coldly, with a voice which only he could hear, he muttered to himself. “Hmm… Humiliating opponents… I’m an expert in that field too…”
Chapter 220 - Yun Che VS Fen Juebi
Today’s Sword Discourse Arena was filled with a peculiar kind of atmosphere. Especially members of the Burning Heaven Clan; their complexions were all quite unsightly.
The first match of the Quarterfinals was Yun Che versus Fen Juebi. Although Yun Che had surprised people time and time again in every one of his previous matches, to the majority of the audience, this competition was still not suspenseful at all. It wasn’t because they still held Yun Che in contempt after being shocked again and again, rather, it was because the image of the Four Major Sects prime positions had long since been deeply ingrained.
“You must win this match no matter what! Yuange was defeated by Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Xia Qingyue, and Jin’er had the misfortune of going up against Ling Yun. Out of all of us, the one remaining that entered the Quarterfinals, is only you! Looks like, in this session, the fact that we are still ranked fourth out of the Four Major Sects has essentially been decided. But, if you lose to this Yun Che brat, then we would not even be able to enter the top four and can only rank fifth! For our Burning Heaven Clan, this is an absolutely unacceptable humiliation… You understand?”
Fen Moli said with a heavy expression. In yesterday’s Round of 16, Burning Heaven Clan’s core disciple, his last grandson, Fen Jin, had the misfortune of going against Ling Yun, so he had to leave the stage prematurely. This made him suddenly feel extremely pressured. He could accept being at the bottom of the Four Major Sects’ rankings, after all, it had basically been that way for all these years. But if they placed outside of fourth place… This was a matter that had not happened for several hundreds of years! It was enough to bring shame to the entire Burning Heaven Clan, so he was absolutely positively unwilling to accept that.
And the first match of the Quarterfinals just happened to be the battle that decided that outcome! If they defeat Yun Che, Burning Heaven Clan would enter the top four, and even placing in the top three would become a possibility. But if they lose…
“Rest assured Great Elder. Coming across anyone of the six people outside of Yun Che and I, would have to make me carefully consider the match. But this Yun Che…” Fen Juebi laughed with extreme disdain: “Trash that completely relied on luck to get here doesn’t even have the qualifications to go against me. If I can’t even defeat him, then I seriously do not even have the face to continue living.”
Fen Moli nodded his head slowly. Even though the strength that Yun Che had displayed was more shocking than the next, he still had never believed that Fen Juebi could lose. However, his complexion was still as tense as before as he spoke in a low voice: “For you to have such self-confidence is naturally good. You can be confident in yourself but you must not, by any means, be too arrogant! Because that will deceive your eyes. Also, when going against Yun Che, you must not underestimate him. Yesterday, he suddenly revealed a bizarre and unpredictable movement skill that even I did not see through clearly. Not only that, he can also control fire as well, and it cannot be certain that he does not have the ability to restrain our Burning Heaven Fire. The most important thing worthy of careful attention, is that it does not seem like he has completely revealed his true strength… You must be careful!”
“Great Elder is overthinking it. His movement skill is merely a simple instantaneous displacement. How could it possibly compare to our Burning Heaven Clan’s ‘Burning Phantom Illusion’. Besides, even if his profound movement skill is a hundred times more delicately fine, it is useless within a Sword Discourse Arena entirely enveloped in the Burning Heaven Fire that has no blind spots. As for his control over fire, hahahaha… The fire he released yesterday was clearly the lowest level of profound fire, so how could it possibly compare to our Burning Heaven Fire? If you’re saying that he could possibly restrain my power, you might as well say that I could completely control his power.”
Fen Juebi’s expression was filled with complete disdain. His words made Fen Moli crease his brows as he said in a somewhat grave voice: “Juebi, there is one thing that I must remind you about. If you lose this match, then the entire Burning Heaven Clan would be humiliated. You must not become our Burning Heaven Clan’s sinner. If that happens, it is not certain if Clan Master would forgive you.”
Fen Moli’s last words finally made Fen Juebi retract his sloppy attitude and made him nod quite seriously: “Great Elder’s instructions are, that in this match, even if the opponent is many times weaker, I still should not hold back… To only win, and not lose.”
Fen Juebi closed in next to Fen Juecheng’s ear and softly said with half-narrowed eyes: “Big bro, the match is about to start soon. Do you want to cripple both his legs, burn his face off, or turn him into an eunuch?”
“Burn his face off!” Fen Juecheng’s eyebrows sunk as he answered without the slightest hesitation. Because during a match, this kind of matter could completely be regarded as an “unexpected accident”.
“I won’t let big bro down.” Fen Juebi stuck out his tongue and licked the corner of his lips. He quietly laughed sinisterly: “To me, instead of saying that this is a competition, I’d rather say that this is a… Mn, incomparably wonderful game.”
Time was approaching in the blink of an eye. Yun Che and Fen Juebi leapt to the center of the Sword Discourse Arena at almost the same time with a distance of more than thirty meters between them.
Yun Che’s expression was completely tranquil. But in the eyes of the Fen Juebi in front of him, he saw a distinct disdain and mockery, as well as a close to perverted cruelty mixed within. The corner of Yun Che’s mouth twitched, as a hint of a sneer flitted by.
In Fen Juebi’s eyes, Yun Che was a mere dish that he could flatten or make round.
But in Yun Che’s eyes, Fen Juebi was not even considered a dish. He was not even as threatening as yesterday’s Mu Xiongyan. Mu Xiongyan’s various unknown firearms had at least, scared him enough to choose to win by a surprise move in the shortest time possible. This Fen Juebi however, could be said to not even be a threat since the very beginning… Because this guy only played with fire.
“Say, do you think it’s possible for Yun Che to defeat Fen Juebi?”
“Isn’t this fundamentally impossible? While Fen Juebi’s profound strength is the same as yesterday’s Mu Xiongyan, his true strength is in a different level. He’s Fen Duanhun’s second son!”
“If Fen Juebi actually loses, Burning Heaven Clan would be kicked out of the top four and that would surely be fun to watch.”
“How could that kind of thing even happen…”
“Quick, look at what’s in Fen Juebi’s hands… That must be the legendary Sky Profound Weapon —— the Demon Flame Blade! It looks like that Fen Juebi’s not going to give Yun Che any chances whatsoever.”
“That’s only natural. To the Burning Heaven Clan, they have no other choice but to win and not lose this match. Even if the opponent is a mere grasshopper, they definitely cannot hold back.”
Even though the two on the Sword Discourse Arena had not exchanged words, the atmosphere was filled with a strangeness that was difficult to describe. Seeing that the two were already prepared, Ling Wugou did not wait any longer and waved his hand: “The first showdown of the Quarterfinals… Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che versus Burning Heaven Clan’s Fen Juebi, battle start!”
“Heh!” Fen Juebi laughed sinisterly: “If you had chosen to not get on stage and directly surrender, I seriously would not have known what to do. Luckily, you did not disappoint me and obediently came up here. It is already too late if you wish to surrender right now. Today, is going to be the most unforgettable day of your life.”
“Tch.” Yun Che curled his lips in disdain: “I never expected that not only are you ugly, you also say this much rubbish. No wonder Burning Heaven Clan could only stand at the bottom of the Four Major Sects, it’s actually made up of these piles of trash.”
With his poisonous tongue, Yun Che was indeed an expert in the same field. Fen Juebi immediately went into a violent rage once those words of his came out: “Die!!”
Scarlet flame ignited atop Fen Juebi’s body. Then, it all concentrated onto the Demon Flame Blade. The flame’s dazzling light reflected upon the surrounding profound energy barrier and revealed its shape, while bringing along an incomparably shocking high temperature. In the wake of Fen Juebi’s blade thrust, the flame on the blade’s body immediately swirled into a huge flaming tornado. Like a ferocious flame beast, it came at Yun Che with opened deadly fangs.
This power behind this strike made several tens of meters of audience cry out in alarm. Yun Che slightly lowered his brows as he instantaneously retreated backwards. The Overlord’s Colossal Sword immediately came out with a wave, and was then swung outwards, conjuring up a tyrannical profound energy tornado that collided with Fen Juebi’s flaming tornado. In a split second, Yun Che’s heavy sword energy was burnt out by Burning Heaven Fire. In turn, the Burning Heaven was extinguished by the heavy sword energy layer after layer. At the location of the two force’s collision, fire and space began to violently distort.
Boom!!
Following the loud explosion, the heavy sword energy and the flaming tornado were simultaneously exterminated. The two were pushed into the distance by the tremendous windstorm. Fen Juebi stood in place as his expression became even more dangerous: “Heh. You have truly surprised me. To have actually received a strike containing sixty percent of my strength, it looks like you did not entirely rely on luck to reach this place. Oh, but what a pity. In front of me, you are still merely trash.”
He pointed the Demon Flame Blade forward with slightly narrowed eyes and a proud posture, as if he was issuing Yun Che his life’s trial: “I was just greeting earlier. I’ll let you properly see and experience our Burning Heaven Clan’s Burning Heaven Fire next. Believe me, it is something that you will remember for a whole lifetime. Even until death, you would probably never forget its exquisite scenery. Hahahaha!!”
In the midst of his wild laughter, Fen Juebi suddenly dashed forward at a great speed as fire ignited once more on his body and the Demon Flame Blade. Bringing along a strand of fiery silhouettes, he immediately attacked Yun Che. Before he was even fifteen meters away from Yun Che, the flames on his body suddenly changed from scarlet to blue.
Orange colored flame was known as “ordinary fire”, and was the weakest level fire. Above orange fire, was scarlet colored fire. Middle-low level profound flame was also scarlet in color, and above scarlet, from the lowest level to the highest, was Blue Flame, Purple Flame, White Flame, Gold Flame, as well as the rumored Star Scorching Flame and Primordial Flame of legends.
When transforming profound energy into fire, its power could more or less be determined by the color of the flame. But as for the special flames of the Phoenix, Vermilion Bird, and Golden Crow, they were not ordinary profound fire, rather, they were the Divine Beast’s personal “Divine Fire” that possessed their own properties and color, which did not follow that sort of procedure.
Blue Flame, was profound fire that surpasses the Scarlet Flame by one level!
To everyone’s knowledge, only those who have reached the Earth Profound Realm were capable of releasing such high level profound flame!
Once this blue colored flame came out, it undoubtedly made the entire audience cry out in surprise.
“Blue… Blue Flame!!”
“It has been said that one needed to have profound strength in at least the Earth Profound Realm to have the capability of igniting blue colored profound flame… Fen Juebi’s innate talent for flames was actually this high! To actually have the capability of igniting blue colored profound flames at only the eighth level of the Spirit Profound Realm.”
“As expected of the son of Burning Heaven Clan’s Clan Master, looks like Fen Juebi’s true strength needs to be evaluated once more. With him igniting blue colored profound flames, it seems like Yun Che does not even have a little bit of hope left.”
At the Burning Heaven Clan’s seating area, Fen Moli faintly laughed as he thought out loud: “Looks like this Great Elder’s words had frightened him. To have actually revealed his trump card so early, it is simply making a big deal out of a small matter, and using a butcher knife for oxes to kill chicken.”
“Come, let me hear the sounds of you crying, begging, and struggling!”
Fen Juebi laughed wildly as he closed in on Yun Che. The blue colored flames on his body suddenly exploded, dispersing into more than a dozen different sized flaming tornados. The flaming tornados quickly combusted in the air, spreading directly towards Yun Che as well as every nook and cranny within the profound energy barrier. It was as if it wanted to completely cover the space within the profound energy barrier and change the surroundings into a sea of blue colored fire without any blind spots…
Chapter 221 - Extinguished
The difference between blue colored profound flames and scarlet colored profound flames was not merely power, but also their different levels of plane. The profound defense at the Spirit Profound Realm could mostly defend against high powered scarlet flames, but would usually be burnt down like a thin sheet of paper against low level blue flames.
Along with the quickly expanding blue flame tornado, Yun Che also continually retreated, and was forced back to the arena’s border step by step. With a loud laugh, Fen Juebi’s body suddenly became illusory and a great amount of his figures suddenly appeared within the soaring blue colored profound flames, as if an innumerable amount of his clones were born from this blue sea of fire.
Of course, these “clones” were merely illusions he produced using blue colored profound flames. But because they were extremely similar to his original body, they were hard to differentiate from his true body and was enough to confuse the opponent’s eyesight, dazzling them and rendering them unable to choose and attack. The “clones” went from a few to a dozen, then grew from a dozen into a few dozens. They all shifted around chaotically in the blue colored sea of fire, bringing up countless strings of blue colored light mirages. Under the protection and interference of these clones, the true body slashed toward Yun Che from different directions, and made it perilous for Yun Che as he retreated step by step.
“So this is the Burning Heaven Clan’s core movement profound skill ‘Burning Phantom Illusion’? It really is too frightening! Especially under the condition of a constrained area for battle, it simply makes one despair.”
“As expected of the Burning Heaven Clan. This kind of shockingly excellent profound technique is something these sects of ours could never match.”
Looking at the current situation beneath his eyes, Yun Che was basically forced into a hopeless corner and probably could not endure for a few breaths of time either, which meant that Fen Juebi’s easy and perfect victory was already a forgone conclusion. Fen Juecheng smiled faintly: “Tsk, Second Younger Brother’s Burning Phantom Illusion actually had already reached such a level, shocking even the older brother me.”
“The reason why Juebi’s profound strength had not increased in these past three months, was because he was training his profound flames and Burning Phantom Illusion. Otherwise, he would have definitely reached the ninth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. When Clan Master told me this before we left, I hadn’t even taken it to heart. However, I never thought that he had actually reached such a realm; I’m afraid that even Jin’er may not be his match. I, too, have misjudged him. Seems like I was worrying for nothing earlier.”
Fen Moli nodded with satisfaction, and the expression on his face became extremely relaxed. For Feng Juebi, who could release blue colored profound flames and could also use the Burning Phantom Illusion to such a degree, it was already simply impossible to lose this battle.
Bang!
With a slight sound, Yun Che’s back touched the transparent profound energy barrier. To have reached here, meant that he no longer had anywhere to retreat to. The blue colored profound flames were only less than three meters away from him. That terrifying high temperature even gradually melted the stage’s stone below his feet.
“Ayaya, this stage is really too small. This game of a cat toying with mice had just started for such a short time and is already about to be over, it really is somewhat boring. What’s more boring, is that you actually haven’t screamed out a single time; you really are too uncooperative.”
Within the blue colored sea of fire, several tens of flame mirages shifted and flashed, and it was unknown which one’s mouth the mocking voice was coming from: “Since you don’t want to scream out yourself, then let me give you a helping hand. Scream out of despair as much as you like, HAHAHAHA…”
“Burning Heaven Slash!!”
The blue colored flames that were already fiercely burning, instantly went berserk. As the Demon Flame Blade in Fen Juebi’s hand swung, a huge wave of fire over ten meters formed and blanketed down toward the Yun Che who had been forced into a corner.
Fen Juebi was laughing wildly, as if he had already saw the sight of Yun Che’s entire body being being swallowed by the blue colored Burning Heaven Flames in the next second. Especially that porcelain face of his that would be ‘specially cared for’ by the blue flames and be burnt into black char beyond recognition.
Everything was within his expectation and guidance; everything was so perfect. If a certain flaw had to be stated, it could be that from the start until now, he had never found a single hint of fear on Yun Che’s face. Even when he was forced into a dead end, his expression was still oddly calm; this slightly discounted his “sense of achievement”.
But just as the blue flames were about to swallow Yun Che, his expression had finally swayed away from calmness. However, the expression he revealed was not at all the shock and despair that Fen Juebi wanted to see, but instead was… a hint of a mocking sneer.
“This is indeed a game of cat toying with mice. However, it seems like you’re mistaken about who’s the real mouse!”
The voice of scorn pierced through the scorching airwave and flowed into Fen Juebi’s ears. At this same moment, Yun Che suddenly took a step forward, lifted the heavy sword, and fiercely swung outwards.
RIIIP!!
Accompanying the heavy sword’s swing, space slightly twisted as the air crazily rampaged. With a burst of sound as if cotton being torn, that dreadful profound flame was actually directly slashed into pieces by the heavy sword, and quickly dissipated like a broken illusion.
The Yun Che who had retreated step after step earlier carried a cold smile on his face, and started to move forward step by step as the heavy sword continuously danced. Following the bursts of ringing profound energy, those blue colored profound flames that clearly looked extremely terrifying was actually being blown out wave after wave like fragile soap bubbles; they didn’t even have the slightest ability to struggle and resist. Wherever Yun Che treaded, the blue flames there would be blown into pieces and dissipate.
“Wh… Wh… What!!”
The entire audience was struck dumb. Burning Heaven Clan’s six members all stood up from their seats with widened eyes and faces full of incredibility, as if they had seen a ghost.
“Th… This isn’t possible!”
Fen Juebi’s wild laugh, as well as the contemptuous arrogance on his face, simultaneously disappeared. What replaced it was a face brimming with shock and a slight fear. The blue colored profound flames that he took pride in, that he treated as his trump card, had actually been extinguished by Yun Che so easily, as if he was just walking and waving his hands. What he extinguished wasn’t only Feng Juebi’s strength, but more so his pride, dignity, as well as his self confidence that was originally bloated beyond compare.
“The reason why they were extinguished by him must be because my blue flames were only in their elementary stage, and haven’t been fully mastered yet. It must be… It must be so!”
Feng Juebi consoled himself with all his might. Then, a nasty grin emerged onto his face once again. However, the grin this time was more or less a bit stiff and difficult: “Yun Che, you think that you could beat me just because you’re able to destroy my Burning Heaven Flames? Hahahaha, these Burning Heaven Flames, are merely the lowest rank in power of the profound flames I possess…”
“If you have the guts… then try breaking through my Burning Heaven Dragon Flame!”
Fen Juebi bit his tongue. Then, he sprayed out several drops of blood essence and showered it onto the Demon Flame Blade in his hand. The blue flames on the Demon Flame Blade instantly flourished. Fen Juebi raised the Demon Flame Blade up high with both hands, and ferociously roared. Instantaneously, a blue colored pillar of fire suddenly burst out from his body. Even the surrounding blue flames that still burned were forcefully sucked back and gathered onto his body. Not only did the blue flames on his body stop rising after that, it quickly lowered back down and shrunk. However, that profound energy aura had actually changed to become much more frightening.
“He actually took the expense of losing his blood essence to activate the dragon flame! And it also seems to be activated with full power.” Fen Juecheng knitted his brows as his expression fully darkened.
“This is also a choice that he had to inevitably make. I really had not thought that Yun Che had always been acting weak earlier on purpose. Juebi’s flames has already reached the blue colored realm, yet it actually could not be even the slightest of threat to him. Just what kind of abnormality is he… However, once the Dragon Flame is unleashed, his death is basically certain. Even if he doesn’t die, he’ll definitely end up being gravely injured. Perhaps, Juebi would be kicked out of this ranking tournament because of this.” Fen Moli said with a solemn expression.
“Hmph! Being kicked out of the tournament, is at least better than losing this battle!” Fen Juecheng said as he gritted his teeth. Right now, he immensely desired for Yun Che to die this instant. Before, he only had the thought of killing Yun Che, but did not treat him as his enemy at all, because in his eyes, Yun Che was not the least bit qualified. But as Yun Che displayed greater strength time and time again, at this moment in time, he could not help but to be stricken with terror. Yun Che was already like this at the mere age of seventeen. After he fully matured into his prime, it was unknown how shocking of a height he would reach.
Fen Moli opened his mouth, but did not refute. That’s right, under this kind of situation, being kicked out of the ranking tournament from killing Yun Che, and even being punished by the Mighty Heaven Sword Region was far better than losing. Because the only one who would be punished was Fen Juebi himself, and Burning Heaven Clan would only need to make some sort of reimbursement at most. But if the battle were to be lost, then it would shame the entire Burning Heaven Clan.
“Crap!” Ling Yuefeng stood up with a “whoosh”. He understood very clearly what Fen Juebi was about to do, and was even clearer about how terrifying of a power Burning Heaven Clan’s “Dragon Flame” possessed. He grimly sound transmitted to Ling Wogou: “Be prepared to save Yun Che right away! You must not let him die beneath the dragon flame.”
On the Sword Discourse Arena, Ling Wugou’s complexion darkened heavily as he nodded his head so slightly that it was indiscernible. He activated his profound energy and his clothes fluttered as he went on standby.
“Yun Che… die!!”
Fen Juebi was clearer than anyone about what kind of outcome would possibly be triggered once this attack landed, so his conspicuous roar was particularly fierce. Following the sudden wave of both his arms, the blue flames on his entire body transformed into a purple colored fire dragon that was a foot thick and several tens of meters long. It flew out from the Demon Flame Blade, bringing along an incomparably terrifying high heatwave, and charged at Yun Che.
“Flame Dragon… It’s the ultimate forbidden skill —— Heaven Burning Dragon!”
“I heard that this move requires blood essence to activate. Every time it is mobilized, profound strength would drop by at least half a level! But it’s strong enough to kill immortals and slaughter gods!”
“Has Fen Juebi gone crazy! To actually damage his own blood essence to use this move. With the power of this one move, it is very likely that Yun Che will immediately die on that stage.”
“It is not strange at all for Fen Juebi to use this move, because Burning Heaven Clan cannot afford to lose this match… Sigh, with how gifted Yun Che is, it will truly be quite a pity if he falls here. We can only hope that Elder Ling will save Yun Che in time.”
The sounds of the surrounding commentaries turned Cang Yue’s complexion pale. Covering her lips with both hands as her beautiful eyes widened, she was unable to produce any sound within her extreme terror and worry.
The soaring Heaven Burning Flame Dragon came right at him, and rang Yun Che’s alarm… He did not fear fire at all, but the ferocious impacting power that this flame dragon carried was absolutely not something that could be looked down on. Furrowing his brows, he quickly retreated a step, gathered up his profound power, and swung out the heavy sword with all his might.
Boom!!
The windstorm of power and the flame dragon collided in midair. The flame dragon instantly appeared to be stalled for a moment, then once again rushed toward him as a wave of enormous imposing aura tightly wrapped around his entire body.
It’s unexpectedly this difficult to deal with… Yun Che’s suddenly had a thought, and the heavy sword that had been swung outwards, quickly and swiftly, swept back up as the profound strength in his entire body rushed toward Yun Che’s arms like a flood.
“Falling Moon Sinking Star!!”
Boom!!!!
With an enormous sound, flames were swept all over the sky as the stone stage in the surrounding few dozens of meters instantly turned into fragments. Even the profound energy barrier slightly trembled. Under this incomparably powerful and ferocious strike, the flame dragon was smashed, tumbling far away as the blue flames on its body also quickly dissipated. In the blink of an eye, the flame dragon that was originally a foot thick, had now already become half a foot thick… But in the next instant, the flame dragon whose power had dissipated to a large degree once again shot toward Yun Che. It was as fast as lightning, and before Yun Che even had time to retract the heavy sword, the flame dragon had already arrived before his chest.
To be able to smash away more than half of the power from the dreadfully powerful flame dragon in one strike, for everyone present and especially people of the Burning Heaven Clan, the impact of this scene was nothing less than a thunder strike during a clear day. But even so, the residue power of the flame dragon had already neared Yun Che’s chest, and it was impossible for Yun Che to resist again.
Everyone held their breaths. Ling Wugou tensed his entire body and was just about to rush into the profound energy barrier, yet he found that Yun Che’s hands had suddenly left the Overlord’s Colossal Sword and suddenly closed, grabbing toward the “neck” part of the flame dragon.
Ling Wugou immediately turned pale with fright as he roared loudly: “Let go!! Do you not want your hand anymore!!”
The terrifyingly high temperature and fire power that the blue colored dragon flame carried was simply unimaginable. It was fundamentally impossible to break through head on using only brute force; to directly touch it with the body, was really no different than seeking one’s own death.
Yun Che turned a deaf ear as both of his hands firmly grabbed onto the flame dragon’s neck. Profound energy under “Evil Soul”, the fire controlling power from the Evil God’s seed, the Phoenix’s flame power, the power of the Dragon God, the overbearing power of the physical body granted by the Great Way of the Buddha, all surged up in that instant…
There were no flames exploding, no flame dragon exploding, and no scenery of Yun Che’s hands being instantly scorched black by the flame dragon… The scenery, suddenly became static at this moment. Just like that, the soaring flame dragon was frozen there within Yun Che’s hand.
At this time, the flame dragon suddenly started to painfully twist and turn like a poisonous snake that had been choked at seven inches from its heart. But no matter how hard it struggled and turned, it couldn’t escape Yun Che hands that were tightly shut with all his strength. Amidst its struggling, the flame dragon’s power quickly dissipated, and became smaller and smaller. From a flame dragon, it quickly shrunk down to a small flame snake, and in the end into a tiny earthworm… Then, it completely dissipated within Yun Che’s hands, leaving not the slightest trace of its existence.
Yun Che’s forehead was full of sweat, but his expression was incomparably calm. He slowly opened his grip. Regardless of whether it was his palm or wrist, there wasn’t the slightest hint of a burn mark at all.
It was unknown when everyone in the Sword Discourse Arena had stood up. Every single person’s gaze was stupefied, and were silent for a long while, as if the sound of this world had already been completely sucked out.
Chapter 222 - Unforeseen Event
The forbidden skill ‘Heaven Burning Dragon’ unleashed by Fen Juebi was actually blocked by Yun Che, and he simply used his two hands to do so. Using his two palms, he extinguished that terrifying Heaven Burning Dragon completely.
“Heaven Burning Dragon” was Burning Heaven Clan’s forbidden skill, which required blood essence to activate. The frequency in which this skill appeared was extremely low, and a large number of Burning Heaven Clan disciples might not even activate it even once in their entire lives. There were obviously preceding cases of opponents blocking the “Heaven Burning Dragon”, but every time, the opponents would definitely block the forbidden skill with extreme difficulty, and blocking it in a fashion like this… had never happened before!
In Yun Che’s eyes, the “Heaven Burning Dragon” was just a young snake which had overestimated its own abilities, and had simply been killed using both his hands. During the entire process, not a hint of harm was done to Yun Che.
Along with a “plop” sound, Fen Juebi knelt on the ground. His face was as pale as paper, his two eyes were widened to an extreme degree, and looked as though his soul had left his body from the shock. The six other people from the Burning Heaven Clan, including Fen Moli who was nearing a hundred years old, basically had the same reaction as well. They simply could not believe their eyes. Seeing their strongest Heaven Burning Dragon to have actually been blocked with a method like that was even more unacceptable. And his opponent was able to block it completely and while staying completely unscathed… This was something an expert at the early stages of the Earth Profound Realm would probably not be able to achieve!
Those extremely dense blue profound flames, which were still in a berserk state, were capable of even instantly melting fine iron!
Ling Yuefeng’s expression was filled with shock as well. Ling Wugou who had initially prepared to charge into the profound energy barrier was simply standing there in a daze. He even forgot to put down the profound energy he had raised, and was looking towards Yun Che with extremely astonished eyes… As though he was looking at a monster that came from beyond the heavens.
At that short moment, the shock created by Yun Che, greatly surpassed the sum of every other astonishment he caused.
Seeing Fen Juebi, whose beliefs had collapsed due to the extreme degree of shock and disbelief, fall to the ground, Yun Che coldly smiled. Stretching out both arms, he once again grabbed onto the Overlord’s Colossal Sword, and fiercely swung it towards Fen Juebi.
Whoosh!!
The force brought about by the power of the heavy sword exploded outwards. In his current state, Fen Juebi no longer had any power to resist. With a bang, he tumbled few dozen times from the impact, and then sprawled on the ground like a dead dog. His body spasmed, and even after a long while, there was no sign of him getting up.
Ling Wugou then finally regained his senses. Retracting his profound energy, he regulated his breathing, and then, calmly shouted. “Fen Juebi did not get off the ground for more than ten breaths of time, Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che wins! He shall enter tomorrow’s Semifinals!”
Ling Wugou’s voice woke the dazed audience as well, and in an instant, noise filled the entire Sword Discourse Arena.
Ever since the beginning of the ranking tournament, Yun Che created miracle after miracle, and just when almost everyone believed it was basically impossible for Yun Che to progress any further, an even more exaggerated miracle, which brought about a gigantic impact towards their souls, was demonstrated right in front of them.
Yun Che gained victory over Fen Juebi, and it was even a complete victory!
Fen Moli sat directly back onto his seat, and the old skin on his face shivered. Fen Juebi was defeated, and he was even thoroughly defeated, which meant that, in this Ranking Tournament, Burning Heaven Clan was destined to fall from the first four placings for the first time. If Shui Wushuang and Xia Qingyue from the Frozen Cloud Asgard were to both lose in this round of matches, or Xiao Kuanglei from the Xiao Sect were to lose in this round of matches, they might have the chance to fight for the fourth place. But, no matter was it Shui Wushuang or Xiao Kuanglei, they were basically opponents who Fen Juebi could never win against, and Fen Moli knew of this point without a doubt.
Adding that Fen Juebi did not hesitate to burn his blood essence, he received a large drop in profound strength. All hope was thus lost.
This could be said to be Burning Heaven Clan’s first disgrace in these few hundred years.
But, this could not be fully blamed on Fen Juebi alone. Just by how Yun Che extinguished the Heaven Burning Dragon with his bare hands at the end, even if Fen Jin was the one who went up against him, he would not be able to defeat Yun Che.
“He… Just how did he do it?”
“I don’t know… He must have forcefully dispersed the power of the flame dragon with his profound energy.”
“But that was Burning Heaven Clan’s forbidden skill! To completely disperse an attack like that, I’m afraid even an early stage Earth Profound Realm practitioner may not be able to do it either.”
“Evidently, this Yun Che has been hiding his true abilities, and it’s not even known how much of his abilities he’s hiding… Tenth level of the True Profound Realm… Just from thinking about it, really drives me crazy.”
“Fen Juebi has been defeated and it’s been determined that the Burning Heaven Clan will place below the top four, while the Blue Wind Imperial Family actually smashed into the Semifinals! From now on, will the Burning Heaven Clan be dethroned from their position as one of the Four Major Sects, and be replaced with the Blue Wind Imperial Family?”
“This time, because of Yun Che, it’s basically impossible for the Blue Wind Imperial Family to not shake the world, and regain their former glory! I really wonder where the Blue Wind Imperial Family managed to find such a freak. Haah, why is there no such disciple like that born in our sect!”
The sounds of discussions that filled the entire arena continued without pause. Yun Che had once again became the talking point of the entire audience. In contrast, the grand and mighty Burning Heaven Clan turned out to be the loser, and what they were enduring were no longer admiration and praise, but sympathy in the midst of all the compassionate eyes directed toward them…
Under everyone’s attention, Yun Che did not immediately leave the Sword Discourse Arena. Rather, he gave a slight bow to Lin Wugou. “Elder Ling, thank you very much.”
Ling Wugou was startled for a moment, and then, he slightly nodded while praising Yun Che in his heart… Earlier, in that sort of situation, he was still able to put his focus away and feel that I was about to “save” him. Unless, when he was facing the “Heaven Burning Dragon” earlier, he was still keeping some strength in reserve?
Yun Che turned, preparing to leave the center of the Sword Discourse Arena. At this moment, Fen Juebi, who his back was currently facing, suddenly leaped up from the ground. With eyes emitting out a glow of hatred, and a hideous expression, he charged towards Yun Che like a demon that had fallen into despair. His Demon Flame Blade raged with blue flames as he thrusted it towards Yun Che’s back.
“I will kill you!!”
Fen Juebi was definitely not a person so mentally weak to not accept defeat, but the loss he suffered in this match was different. Because, he lost to an opponent who, in his eyes, was someone he could take down with a single blow before the match. And, the match he lost, was a match concerning the honor of the Burning Heaven Clan, a match he definitely could not lose. The words Fen Moli had said to him earlier, and the consequences and shame due to his loss, were like needles that furiously stabbed into his nerves and soul, causing him to lose all reason. He only had the crazed impulse to cut Yun Che down into thousand of pieces…
Fen Juebi’s actions immediately brought about scornful jeers from the entire audience. Yun Che stopped, muttered softly to himself “you’re courting death”, he furiously turned back, and threw his heavy sword down towards Fen Juebi without any mercy.
If it was a head-on clash, Fen Juebi was basically not a match for Yun Che. Furthermore, his blood essence was gravely injured and he was currently extremely weakened. The power Fen Juebi wielded was easily exterminated by the strength of Yun Che’s heavy sword, and right after, he felt as though a one hundred fifty ton sledgehammer had smashed onto his chest.
Boom!!
Fen Juebi’s vision was completely blurred, a large amount of blood splurged out from his mouth, his chest was no longer distinguishable from the exposed blood and flesh, and his entire body was like a grocery bag being blown away by a fierce wind, as he was sent flying out…
“Juebi!! Junior, you dare!”
An extremely furious roar shook the entire audience. Fen Moli rose to the sky, and he crossed a distance of a couple hundred of meters in a mere second, and instantly barged into the profound energy barrier, landing in front of Fen Juebi. After checking his injuries, he furiously turned, and looked at Yun Che with anger. “Junior! Your heart is actually this malicious! The duel has already concluded, and you still intentionally heavily injure the son of our Burning Heaven Clan Master!!”
The name of Burning Heaven Clan’s Great Elder was widely known, and the might of his name did not seem to be any lower than the Burning Heaven Clan Master Fen Duanhun. It could be said that there was no one in the audience who did not fear him, and with that roar of his, even if his target was a Sect Master of one of the great sects, that person would still tremble in fear. But Yun Che was definitely one of the exceptions. He coldly laughed. “Are you blind? Evidently, he was the one who tried to sneak an attack on me first. Rather than retaliating, do I have to simply stand here and wait for him to attack me?”
“Junior, you’re courting death!” Under Fen Moli’s explosive rage, even his beard rose. It had been a few decades since someone dared to talk to him in this way, moreover, the person speaking to him right now was just a junior. Adding that the Burning Heaven Clan’s loss and the shame that they would definitely suffer right after, all originated from the person in front of him, his anger exploded like the eruption of a volcano… He wanted to vent his hatred by killing Yun Che more than Fen Juebi.
Moving his hands away from Fen Juebi’s body, Fen Moli suddenly flew into the air. Like an eagle’s talon, his right hand stretched towards Yun Che’s head.
The entire audience exclaimed from this sudden unforeseen event. Fen Moli flying into the Sword Discourse Arena to check on Fen Juebi injuries was not unexpected, and was within reason. However, no one would have thought that he would actually suddenly act against Yun Che… And the way he was acting, was evidently a blow enough to send Yun Che to his death!!
An elder nearing his hundreds, a Great Elder in the Burning Heaven Clan, a peak-level expert with the strength half a step into the Emperor Profound Realm, actually acted against a mere seventeen year old junior. It was even within the Heavenly Sword Villa, and was also in the presence of an elder from the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. Fen Moli’s action was evidently due to the loss of reason from his explosive rage, an act tantamount to madness.
“Elder Fen, stop!” Ling Wugou’s expression paled from shock. He quickly stepped forward with the intent to stop Fen Moli. But, the difference between a late stage Sky Profound Realm and one half a step into the Emperor Profound Realm was still too great. Before he could even approach him, he was forcefully blown aside by the outburst of profound energy Fen Moli unleashed. He could only look on as Fen Moli’s hand neared Yun Che… That claw of his, was enough to directly shatter Yun Che’s entire skull.
Yun Che also would never have thought that Fen Moli would actually shamelessly act against him. Yun Che had once felt the strength of half-step into Emperor Profound Realm from Chu Yuechan, and Fen Moli had already stayed in the realm of half a step into the Emperor Profound for thirty years so his profound energy was much denser than Chu Yuechan’s. When that claw attack approached him, the terrifying pressure brought about by his profound energy caused Yun Che to clearly feel like he was being enveloped by a firmament. That tyrannically boundless suppressive pressure, forget about dodging it, he was unable to move a single finger.
Although Yun Che was shocked, he did not fluster. Taking a deep breath, he activated the power of Star God’s Broken Shadow…
RIIIP!!
That terrifying sound was as though even the space grabbed by Fen Moli was teared apart. Fen Moli’s right hand grabbed towards Yun Che’s head, but what he caught was just a dissipating afterimage.
Fen Moli’s movements stopped for a moment, and then, he was even more enraged… He, a mighty expert with strength half a step into the Emperor Profound Realm, attacked a junior in surprise… and actually still struck empty air! And he completely did not realize when Yun Che had moved away.
But he did not have the leisure to be astonished by Yun Che’s strange and unpredictable profound movement skill. Igniting flames of fury, he once again locked onto Yun Che’s position. With a growl, a large amount of purple profound flames suddenly erupted from his body. The purple profound flames transformed into dozens of purple flame dragons that hideously charged towards Yun Che. The might of each flame dragon, was several times stronger than the Heaven Burning Dragon Fen Juebi unleashed.
“Stop!”
“Stop!!!!”
Everything happened in a flash, and it was only now that everyone finally reacted. Two loud roars sounded from two different directions, one from Qin Wushang, and the other came from Ling Yuefeng. They stood up at the same time, and were about to charge towards the Sword Discourse Arena. However, at this moment, an icy blue figure that brought about a bone-piercing coldness flew towards the Sword Discourse Arena before they could…
CRA-CRA-CRA-CRA-CRACK….
The sounds of ice forming in the air rang, and in just a short moment, the purple flames that filled the sky were all frozen in ice. The terrifying high temperature was also rapidly decreasing, and speedily became ice-cold. At this moment, an absolutely beautiful, blue fairy-like figure descended from the skies. She floated in front of Yun Che, her feet just above the ground. With her descent, the surrounding crystallized ice shattered, disappearing along with the purple flames.
Ling Yuefeng, who was about to fly out, abruptly stopped in his tracks. He looked towards the beautiful figure at the Sword Discourse Arena with a dazed expression. “Why is it… her…”
“Little…” Yun Che excitedly said with pleasant surprise, but immediately, the word he uttered afterwards became really soft. “… Fairy.”
Fen Moli’s earlier attack did indeed frighten Yun Che quite a bit. It was basically impossible for him to block against the strength of one half a step into Emperor Profound Realm. The moment it touched him, he would instantly be exterminated with nothing left of him. If not for her appearance, he would be forced to use Jasmine’s strength. But, if that were to happen, he would undoubtedly expose his ultimate final trump card in front of everyone’s eyes.
Chu Yuechan, whose back was facing him, seemed to not have heard his voice, for she did not react at all. A pair ice-crystal eyes coldly looked towards Fen Moli.
Chu Yueli stood up. Her beautiful eyes were filled with astonishment. Fen Moli acting against Yun Che, was naturally shameless and despicable. She believed that many experts who could not stand to watch the scene would step in, especially those from Heavenly Sword Villa. Even she herself, had the impulse to step in. However, she originally, firmly believed that if there was ever someone who would not step in to stop him, it would definitely be her elder sister Chu Yuechan. Because her personality was extremely cold and indifferent, and she would definitely not care about the matters of anyone else.
But, what she completely did not expect was that Chu Yuechan, was actually the first person to step in!
Not only did she stop him, she was even shielding in front of Yun Che, and facing Fen Moli, the Great Elder of Burning Heaven Clan, head on!
Chapter 223 - The Power of a Throne
“Chu Yuechan, what is the meaning of this?”
Since the situation had already progressed to such a stage, Fen Moli allowed anger to take over him and practically ignored all consequences. Although he had only met Chu Yuechan once many years ago, he still recognized her at one glance. However, he could never have imagined that the legendary Fairy of Frozen Beauty would suddenly attack him.
Chu Yuechan replied coldly: “As a Great Elder of the Burning Heaven Clan, how shameless are you to attack a junior without reason.”
“Hmph!” Fen Moli remained frowning: “He severely injured a Burning Heaven Clan disciple. With just this reason, him dying ten thousand would still be insufficient! Chu Yuechan, this is a matter of our Burning Heaven Clan. It is out of place for a member of Frozen Cloud Asgard to intervene!”
“I’m going to intervene for sure!” Chu Yuechan held out her ice jade-like hand, and a flickering deep blue light appeared in her palm.
“Good~~” Fen Moli, knitted his brows tightly: “I have always heard that Fairy of the Frozen beauty has already reached half-step into the Emperor Profound Realm at a young age and even exceeded the skills of Xu Fairy, the Asgard Mistress, when she was that age. Among the ladies of Blue Wind Empire, you are without equal. Today, let me experience the skill of Frozen Cloud Seven Fairies’ number one!”
Facing Chu Yuechan, Fen Moli was fairly confident. Even though they were both half-step into the Emperor Profound Realm, Chu Yuechan had merely stepped into it for a few years while Fen Moli had already stayed in it for an entire thirty years. Even if he was unable to break into the Emperor Profound Realm, he was confident he would not lose against those who were half a step into the Emperor Profound Realm.
“Haa!!”
Fen Moli shouted loudly out as his whole body ignited with a surging purple profound flame. Raising both his hands, the purple flames in his hands forged together to form a sword that was more than thirty meters long. He suddenly slashed it towards Chu Yuechan… To their knowledge, the purple profound flame was known to all within Blue Wind Empire as the strongest flame, and generally, only people in the later stages of the Sky Profound Realm were able to use it. Rumor had it that under the purple profound flames, anyone with profound strength below the later half of the Earth Profound Realm would be burn to ashes instantly, unable to put up any resistance. If the purple flame swept past a small lake, the water in the river would be completely evaporated in a short moment. It was very frightening.
The speed of Fen Moli’s flame sword was not quick. However, Yun Che was not far behind Chu Yuechan. If she avoided the blow, the purple profound flame would hit Yun Che. Even if Yun Che had wings, he would not be able to escape. If Chu Yuechan received the blow head on, Fen Moli was confident that this attack would at least make her sustain some injuries.
Chu Yuechan did not move her feet, as she did not have any intention of avoiding the attack. Instead, her palm flipped upwards and she clutched towards the flame sword with empty hands…
Clang!!
The huge flame sword that brought along a suffocating heat wave, was suddenly knocked aside by an invisible obstacle and stopped in midair. Following it, a deep blue light appeared at the tip of the sword. Soon, with the “crack crack crack” sounds of ice forming at an average speed, it quickly enveloped the entire flame sword. This caused the originally scorching hot purple flame to turn into freezing cold blue profound ice.
When the ice attribute profound strength had reached a certain level, it could seal not only a body or object, but also various forms of profound strength!
Ping!!
Following the flipping of Chu Yuechan’s jade palm, an exploding noise rang throughout the Sword Discourse Arena. The ice sealed flame sword exploded in midair, turning into many tiny pieces of blue ice crystals, as it scattered all around…
“Wh… What!?”
Fen Moli took two steps backwards in panic, quickly dispelling the layer of ice on his hands. His face was filled with shock and disbelief. At this point, he looked at Chu Yuechan, who had her palm stretched out in front of him as a blue light flashed past him…
A half a foot long icicle suddenly appeared in front of him out of thin air… That’s right, it appeared in midair out of nowhere. Even though Fen Moli was half step to the Emperor Profound Realm, he still did not manage to see how it appeared and when it appeared. He merely just saw a seemingly normal icicle which had a frightening coldness that made his whole body shiver. Before he could take a good look at it, the deep blue icicle attacked his chest with an unimaginable speed…
Bang!!
The part of Fen Moli’s body that had been struck by the icicle instantly sunk and his back swelled out outrageously. A scream of pain with blood was spewed out from Fen Moli. He seemed like an arrow that had just shot out and flew out far away as he crashed onto the surface of the Sword Discourse Arena before being continually forced back for several tens of meters, leaving behind a deep gully on the surface of the hard discourse arena floor.
The arena was instantly a field of silence. Even the silent and expressionless Ling Kun from the Mighty Heaven Sword Region appeared to be surprised. Ling Yuefeng seemed as though he was struck by lightning and jump up and said in a quivering voice: “Space compression… This… This is… an Emperor Profound power!!”
Once the three words “Emperor Profound power” came out, they were like thunderclaps on a clear day as they sounded in everyone’s ears.
“Emperor… Emperor Profound? This, this… This can’t be possible, right?”
“How is that impossible! Villa Master Ling personally shouted it out himself! And if it’s not the true Emperor Profound Realm, how could Fen Moli be so fatigued after only taking one of her blows?”
“Oh my god, another Throne actually appeared in our Blue Wind Empire, and it’s actually such a young Throne. Even if she had just stepped into the Emperor Profound Realm this year, she has done it much earlier than Villa Master Ling… She’s the fastest person to reach the Emperor Profound Realm in these hundreds of years!”
“Then, other than the legendary Xu Fairy Mistress, another Throne has appeared in the Frozen Cloud Asgard! And it is rumored that the Grandmistress of Frozen Cloud Asgard is actually still in the Frozen Cloud Asgard, and has yet to pass away. If this rumor is also true, then doesn’t it mean that Frozen Cloud Asgard has three Thrones!? Even Burning Heaven Clan and Xiao Sect only has one Throne each!”
Everyone was astonished at the news of Chu Yuechan becoming a Throne. She was the Fairy of Frozen Beauty, who stood high up at the top and was like a descended immortal. Currently, in everyone’s eyes, she had undoubtedly stepped high above the clouds, as though she had turned into a real fairy which they could not even hope to look up to. In the Blue Wind Empire, Thrones were legendary existences, and even more so, unbeatable existences. There was a very important reason why there were only Four Major Sects in the Blue Wind Empire, and not “Five Major Sects”. Only the Four Major Sects possessed these unparalleled “Thrones”.
The expressions of everyone in Burning Heaven Clan and Xiao Sect changed. Another Throne appearing in the Frozen Cloud Asgard undoubtedly meant that they now fell behind by a large margin in terms of strength. Xiao Sect’s Sect Master Xiao Juetian slowly stood up, looked blankly at Chu Yuechan’s back figure for a moment, curled his lips, and then, slowly sat back onto his seat… Twenty years passed and she was still as entrancing. Even her back figure, was so beautiful, as though she was just a mere illusion. However, her current shine was so blinding that even he, the Sect Master of Xiao Sect, could only feel deeply ashamed.
Back then, after seeing Chu Yuechan for the first time in the Ranking Tournament, he was deeply entranced by her again, and had constantly dreamed about her. However, he was not as wild as Ling Yuefeng. Even more so, he did not embarrass himself like Ling Yuefeng wo had unhesitantly headed towards Frozen Cloud Asgard time and time again, only to return with empty hands. But, at the very least, he still felt that he was worthy enough for her…
But currently, he seemed to not even have the courage to look directly in her eyes any longer. Such a young Throne… Forget about now, even in the entire history of the Blue Wind Empire, such a person had never appeared before. It was as though the heavens were overly spoiling their beloved pet and had given her too many halos that were dazzling bright. And under these halos, he was not able to think of anyone in this Blue Wind Empire who was worthy for her…
At least, he personally admitted that he, the Sect Master of Xiao Sect himself, was not worthy.
In these several hundred years, many practitioners at half-step into the Emperor Profound Realm had appeared in the Four Major Sects, but, among the experts who had reached this level, in the end, less a tenth of them had entered the Emperor Profound Realm. Fen Moli had stopped at half-step into the Emperor Profound Realm for thirty odd years, and he could not help but accept the fact that it would be impossible for him to be called a true Throne in his entire life. Although there was only half a step difference between half-step into the Emperor Profound Realm and the Emperor Profound Realm, this half a step, was as though one had crossed into the heavens with just half a step from the earth. The difference in strength was overwhelming.
In front of a true Throne, a practitioner half-step into the Emperor Profound Realm was no different than a weak little infant; there were basically no threats to speak of. Fen Moli was simply inviting humiliation by taking the initiative to act against Chu Yuechan.
In the seats of the Burning Heaven Clan, Fen Juecheng rushed out at lightning speed. He held Fen Moli, who had fainted due to being severely injured or perhaps being angered, in his arms. He checked his injuries quickly before turning in Ling Yuefeng’s direction and bowing towards him: “Villa Master Ling, Elder Ling. Our disciple was severely injured and Elder Fen Moli was so anxious that he made such an impulsive action. Seeing that he had actually not caused much damage, and has already been taught a lesson by the Fairy of the Frozen Beauty, could you be magnanimous and forgive Elder Fen Moli. After the ranking tournament, I will personally bring him along to apologize to Villa Master Ling and Elder Ling.”
“Hmph!” Ling Yuefeng looked enraged: “As an esteemed elder of your clan, Fen Moli does not know how to act his age. He did not consider the severity of the issue and ignored the rules of the tournament. He even tried to severely injure a contestant that had just won. According to the rules of the tournament, not only Fen Moli, the entire Burning Heaven Clan has to be stripped of their participation right!”
After saying this, Ling Yuefeng appear to calm down a little: “Considering the fact that Fen Moli was anxious and had already been taught a lesson by the Fairy of Frozen Beauty, I will treat it as he has been punished. The matter will rest like this. The right to explore the ‘Heaven Basin Secret Realm’ shall also be retained. However, if such a thing happens again, not only will your right to explore the Heaven Basin Secret Realm be removed, I’m afraid that Burning Heaven Clan’s right to participate in the next ranking tournament will also be removed.”
Burning Heaven Clan was undoubtedly different from other clans. Ling Yuefeng did not want to offend them. Despite his harsh words, he had already take a big step back and gave them ample face. Fen Juecheg let out a huge sigh of relief as he bowed to Ling Yuefeng with a junior’s courtesy before bringing Fen Moli away from the Sword Discourse Arena.
All eyes fell back on Chu Yuechan. Yun Che took a step forward with a slight smile: “Fairy of the Frozen Beauty, thank you for saving…”
Before he had finished speaking, the ice spirit in front of him shook as the beauty and cool figure disappeared from the Sword Discourse Arena and returned back to her seat.
Yun Che silently laughed. As to the meaning behind his laugh, only he himself understood.
“This Chu Yuechan really isn’t simple. She is already a Throne at such a young age, it’s no wonder you were so mesmerized by her when you were young.” Xuanyuan Yufeng said without facing Ling Yuefeng.
Ling Yuefeng smiled slightly and replied: “Honey, what you said is wrong. When I was younger, I was not mesmerized by her talent, but by her looks. Little did I expect that she was not only beautiful but also this talented. This was indeed quite shocking.”
Seeing him smile so calmly, Xuanyuan Yufeng was suddenly relieved and shifted half her body onto Ling Yuefeng’s.
Second match of the Quarterfinals: Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Jie —— VS —— Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Feiyu.
Even though they both belonged to Heavenly Sword Villa, one was in the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm while the other was in the ninth. No matter how one looked at it, the result of the battle was obvious.
Ling Jie went on stage first and crossed his hands over his chest. He drew back the corners of his mouth slightly and looked completely unafraid. After quite some time, Ling Feiyu finally went onto stage and stood in front of Ling Jie. He looked somewhat conflicted.
“The two of you have been sparring so often. This time, are you both sure that you want to compete?” Ling Wugou emotionlessly asked as he stood outside the profound energy barrier. As an elder, he was very clear about the skill levels of the Villa’s young disciples.
Hearing his question, the people below the stage completely understood what it meant. The difference in strength between these two people must be very large. In their usual spars, they would always end up with one side completely suppressing the other. Even if they were to compete again, it would be impossible for a second outcome to happen, and they would merely be wasting their time.
Hearing Lin Wugou’s words, Ling Jie actually did not have that big of a reaction. However, the corner of Ling Feiyu’s lips moved, a slight struggle appeared in his eyes, and then, he finally sighed, and said. “Fine, I surrender.”
WHOAA——
The people below the stage instantly widened their eyes one after another…
The one who took the initiative to surrender was not Ling Jie who possessed merely the strength at the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm…
But, Ling Feiyu, who had easily smashed his way through into the Quarterfinals with his strength at the ninth level of the Spirit Profound Realm!!
Chapter 224 - Xia Qingyue VS Xiao Kuanglei
“The one who took the initiative to back out was not Ling Jie but actually Ling Feiyu…” Yun Che was also astonished. In his previous matches, the strength that Ling Feiyu revealed was incomparably shocking. The practitioners in Group One were far from the level of those in Group Two, and Ling Feiyu was the publicly acknowledged strongest practitioner in Group One. Regardless of whether it was the Round of 32 or the Round of 16, he always had easily defeated his opponent in five exchanges. In this match against Ling Jie, everyone believed that Ling Jie would lose, or take the initiative to surrender. No one expected that the one who took the initiative to surrender would actually be Ling Feiyu!
“Does this mean, that Junior Brother Yun’s opponent for tomorrow is Ling Jie?” This result actually caused Cang Yue to subconsciously let out a small breath of relief. After all, no matter how you think about it, the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm sounds less menacing than the ninth level of the Spirit Profound Realm.
“Could it be that since Ling Jie is the Villa Master’s son, Ling Feiyu doesn’t dare to defeat him on stage, so he surrendered first?” Xia Yuanba scratched his head as he asked in confusion.
“No! If Heavenly Sword Villa was such a pompous place, it would never be able to become Blue Wind Empire’s number one power.” Yun Che slightly lowered his brows and took new look at the Ling Jie who happily laughed down the Sword Discourse Arena: “There is only one possibility, and it is that Ling Jie’s strength surpasses Ling Feiyu’s. Not only that, it probably far surpasses his… Looks like tomorrow would be a hard battle.”
He shifted his gaze towards Heavenly Sword Villa’s seating area, discovering tranquility in both Ling Yuefeng and Ling Yun’s expressions, as if what this outcome revealed was not the slightest bit unexpected.
The speed and results of the second match was completely unexpected as it came to a close. The third match came shortly after, with Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Yun and Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Shui Wushuang on opposite ends.
This was a showdown between Heavenly Sword Villa’s core disciple and Frozen Cloud Asgard’s core disciple. This kind of duel usually appeared as the final battle in the past, but this year’s group divisions had brought about an imbalance in average strength, making what ought to be the final battle of the tournament shift to an earlier date, the Quarterfinals.
And the speed of how this confrontation ended, was even faster than the second match.
“Wushuang, you can surrender this match if you want.” Chu Yueli suddenly said as Shui Wushuang was about to leap up onto the Sword Discourse Arena.
Shui Wushuang went silent for a moment, but did not dispute it. Instead, she softly said: “Yes.”
“Three years ago, your Senior Sister Mu’s strength had far surpassed the current you, yet suffered a crushing defeat to Ling Yun. Three years had passed since then and Ling Yun’s strength has enormously leapt again. You are simply not his match. As long as you’re even a little serious about it, you will be injured all over and lose in less than five moves. Since it’s like that, it’s better off to simply back out.”
While letting what others saw as their “core disciple” abandon the match, Chu Yueli had actually said that with a particular calmness. Her peerlessly beautiful eyes did not reveal the slightest hint of unwillingness and regret. Perhaps, this was merely a simple insignificant decision.
“Yes, Junior Master, Disciple understands.” Shui Wushuang slowly nodded, and then returned to her seat.
Ling Wugou then declared: “Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Shui Wushuang forfeits the match, Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Yun wins with a no match, and will be entering tomorrow’s Semifinals!”
Even though this result lead to much discussion among the crowd, it still wasn’t that unexpected. After all, Ling Yun’s strength was truly too terrifying. Even if Shui Wushuang was Frozen Cloud Asgard’s current core disciple, she simply did not have the power to win that matchup. Immediate forfeit was the most sensible of selections. But on one hand, Frozen Cloud Asgard still had one disciple remaining, which was Xia Qingyue, who had the lowest profound strength out of the three participating disciples. Her opponent also just happened to be Xiao Sect’s core disciple whose profound strength surpassed hers —— Xiao Kuanglei. If she lost, Frozen Cloud Asgard would have no chance to enter the Semifinals, and could only settle for fourth place.
Up until now, the only match that had officially been carried out was only Yun Che’s match against Fen Juebi, yet three out of the four appearing in tomorrow’s Semifinals had already been decided. It was Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling brothers, Ling Yun and Ling Jie, as well as Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che.
Two of Heavenly Sword Villa’s members entering the top four was not outside of anyone’s expectations. But the fact that the top four had an additional disciple that did not belong to any of the Four Major Sects, who was only from the Blue Wind Imperial Family that had always placed in the middle to lower rankings, had made the entire ranking tournament become exceptionally unusual. The Blue Wind Imperial Family that had always received shame and never received glory in the ranking tournament had actually relied on a nobody, a mere seventeen year old disciple, to continuously make everyone get taken aback. His performance had allowed him to make his way into the individual top four placings. In this ranking tournament, Blue Wind Imperial Family’s power rankings was now also a guaranteed minimum of top three!!
As long as one was not blind, they could clearly see that after Yun Che had defeated Fen Juebi, the previously calm Qin Wushang laughed so hard that he had grimaced in pain. Even his incisors looked as if they were about to fall out.
“Fourth match of the Quarterfinals —— Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Xia Qingyue versus Xiao Sect’s Xiao Kuanglei! May the two contestants enter the Sword Discourse Arena within thirty breaths of time. If otherwise, it would be deemed as renouncing the match!”
Following Ling Wugou’s loud declaration, the numerous sounds of discussion in the Sword Discourse Arena stopped as it became a field of silence.
Xia Qingyue and Xiao Kuanglei were respectively Frozen Cloud Asgard and Xiao Sect’s remaining disciples. Whoever loses, would have no chance of entering the top four.
“Even though the talent of Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Xia Qingyue is shockingly enough to enter the eighth level of the Spirit Profound Realm at the age of seventeen, and is only one level short of the Ling Yun in the past, Frozen Cloud Asgard is still Frozen Cloud Asgard. It is impossible for them to nurture a true ‘Ling Yun’. She is too young. She is not old or experienced enough. For her profound strength to reach the eighth level of the Spirit Profound Realm so quickly, it is bound to be extremely unstable. As long as nothing completely unexpected happens, you will win this match very easily. But, you still must never underestimate your opponent. In all the previous ranking tournaments, it is not known how many so-called geniuses had fallen to the three words ‘underestimating the opponent’. Understand?” Xiao Juetian reminded Xiao Kuanglei.
“Third brother, good luck. Burning Heaven Clan has already suffered a crushing defeat. As long as you win this match, our overall ranking will be a guaranteed minimum of top three. Moreover, there is more than a ninety nine percent chance that we would rank second. This will be our Xiao Sect’s historical breakthrough!” Xiao Kuangyu said as he patted Xiao Kuanglei’s shoulder with a serious expression on his face.
“Don’t worry. In this match, I will only win, and never lose! Don’t forget, I still have not taken out my Earth Shocking Sword. If I reveal the Earth Shocking Sword, forget about the Xia Qingyue at only the eighth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, even if it’s someone at the peak of the tenth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, it is still impossible for me to lose.” Xiao Kuanglei said with complete confidence.
“In the case of weaponry, we may not necessarily be at an advantage.” Xiao Wuji’s brows sank: “We have the Earth Shocking Sword, but don’t forget, Frozen Cloud Asgard has the ‘Ice Phoenix Snowflower Ribbon’. Shui Wushuang had already surrendered so in this match, Frozen Cloud Asgard has an even larger reason than us to not lose. This time, Frozen Cloud Asgard will inevitably give Xia Qingyue the Sky Profound Weapon.”
“Hmph. You are completely overthinking it. One must be in at least the Earth Profound Realm to master the ‘Ice Phoenix Snowflower Ribbon’. Even if it is in Xia Qingyue’s hands, it would at most display only thirty percent of its power. Besides, so what if it could actually exhibit all of its power? With the same Sky Profound Weapon in hand, Kuanglei’s experience and profound strength would far surpass Xia Qingyue’s. Don’t tell me that even that is not enough to defeat her?” Xiao Boyun said in a happy mood.
Regarding his own grandson, Xiao Zhen’s, loss against Xiao Kuanglei, Xiao Boyun was naturally irritated about that. But what was currently happening was related to the entire Xiao Sect’s reputation and honor. He obviously did not want to see Xiao Kuanglei lose.
“Everyone, be at ease. If I lose this match, I would not have the face to return to Xiao Sect.” Xiao Kuanglei nodded once, and then suddenly jumped more than one hundred meters in the air before gently landing on the ground. He leapt over a hundred meters again and then steadily landed in the center of the Sword Discourse Arena. Before he landed, a longsword had already been taken out in the midst of the sound of its unsheathing. No matter the sword’s imposing aura or the user’s imposing aura, both were incomparably shocking and drew gasps of admiration.
“I’ve heard that Xiao Kuanglei’s innate talent is not the least inferior to his eldest brother Xiao Kuangfeng and second brother Xiao Kuangyu. I’m afraid that this match would not be the least bit suspenseful.”
“So what if his innate talent’s high. Isn’t he born from a concubine? In the future, he would at most become an elder.”
“That may not be so. Only Xiao Juetian’s youngest son, Xiao Kuangyun is born from his official wife, but everyone is aware of Xiao Kuangyun’s playboy tendencies. He is around the same age as Xiao Kuanglei and I heard Xiao Juetian had used up innumerable resources on his body, but it seems as if he could not even reach the Spirit Profound Realm. If Xiao Kuangyun inherits Xiao Sect in the future, I’d reckon that it would be thoroughly destroyed. Xiao Sect would never make such a mistake. The future successor for the sect will inevitably be one person among Xiao Kuangfeng, Xiao Kuangyu, and Xiao Kuanglei. I’m afraid that when that time comes, there will once again be another rivalry with both open and secret means. If isn’t handled properly, they might even commit fratricide…”
As Xiao Kuanglei got up on stage, the discussions’ focal point was actually not on the battle itself, but instead Xiao Kuanglei himself. This was because a great majority believed that the following match would not be suspenseful at all.
“Hold back your strength as much as possible. Don’t reveal too much, so as to avoid making tomorrow’s opponent to be on guard.” Chu Yueli only had a few words of advice.
“Yes, Master.”
Xia Qingyue respectfully saluted and turned her delicate body around. As her beautiful figure’s gracefully moved, she lightly landed in front of Xiao Kuanglei. Both her light movements and body were incomparably alluring. A completely transparent ice sword silently appeared within her hands. An ice sword, had basically become a Frozen Cloud Asgard disciple’s signature weapon. Frozen Cloud Asgard’s main weapon of choice was also the sword, but their swords were made of ice, and all emitted different degrees of cold air. Chu Yuechan’s sword was like so, and Xia Qingyue’s sword was also the same. However, the grade of Xia Qingyue’s ice sword could not compare the sword Chu Yuechan had used during her life and death battle against the pair of flood dragons in the Wasteland of Death.
“Good!” Ling Wuhou nodded, and then raised his right hand: “Last match of the Quarterfinals, Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Xia Qingyue versus Xiao Sect’s Xiao Kuanglei. Match start!”
“This humble one is Xiao Kuanglei, and is here to ask to experience Xia Fairy’s Frozen Cloud Arts!” Xiao Kuanglei split into a smile as his longsword pointed frontwards. He rapidly spun his body around, conjuring up a jade green cyclone. The image of an especially tyrannical eagle was behind his body as the imposing aura on his entire body grew stronger at this moment, shooting to a level that would make one gasp in admiration.
Frozen Cloud Asgard was a gathering of beautiful women. Even though Xia Qingyue’s face was covered by a white veil, just seeing her figure, eyes, and exposed snowy skin was enough to determine that she was a young lady who possessed a peerless beauty that could bring cities into ruin. And in front of any beautiful women, a man with even an above average strength would have the mindset of showing off. If he were to gain the other party’s good opinion or even admiration, then that would naturally satisfy his vanity by a large margin.
Xia Qingyue’s movements were much more nimbler than his. She straightforwardly thrusted her sword at him as a magnificent ice lotus blossomed atop the ice sword’s sharp tip.
Chapter 225 - Glazed Glass Heart, Exquisite Body
Before the two swords closed in, the sword wind had already collided with the ice lotus. With a “Clang” sound, the ice lotus was grinded into pieces in the violent sword wind. However, it did not falter just like this, but instead transformed into countless solid chunks of ice, and rained down toward Xiao Kuanglei against the storm. In an instant, the storm carrying the shattered ice lotus swirled around the two, as if sweeping up a tornado of ice and snow.
Clang clang clang clang….
Amidst the string of colliding and breaking sounds, the dispersed ice flakes were blown away by Xiao Kuanglei. However, the cold energy that these ice flakes contained was heavier he had imagined; after he blew away all of the ice flakes, both of his hands were already thoroughly flushed red from the cold, and only fully recovered after two breaths of time. He moved back half a step, and said with a slight smile: “I had already heard that Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Frozen Cloud Art was unparalleled under the heavens, and as expected it deserves it’s reputation. Next, I’ll be more serious. Goddess should be careful now.”
Xiao Kuanglei’s reminder out of “good will” that was full of arrogance did not gather any hint of reply from Xia Qingyue. Her clear and cold eyes was like tranquil water without any ripples, while also as beautiful as the bright moon. It made Xiao Kuanglei’s heartbeat speed up uncontrollably after he took two more glances. He immediately fiercely took in a breath as all of his profound strength surged up. The storm that swirled around him became even faster, and the image of the hawk behind him also became more and more clear, and felt like as if it had substantialized into the real thing near the end.
“Extreme Wind Sword!”
Xiao Kuanglei’s eyes flashed. The storm surged on his body as he suddenly rushed toward Xia Qingyue. His speed was really as fast as a storm; profound practitioners below the Earth Profound Realm could only see a wisp of afterimage flashing through like a bolt of lightning —— Among the Four Major Sects, Xiao Sect’s speed was second to none!
“Haha, looks like Third Younger Brother has gotten serious, to actually display his fastest speed right away. Seems like, this match will be over before long.” Xiao Kuangyu said with a leisure smile.
Xiao Juetian also slowly nodded: “Seems like Lei’er did not ignore our advice. He did not underestimate the enemy, and did not hold back either. Very good. After this battle is won, he will be facing Ling Yun. Since the battle with Ling Yun is impossible to win, let’s heartily display the true power of our Xiao Sect in this battle!
“Hmph!” Xiao Zhen, who was beside Xiao Boyun, looked at the match in the arena with cold eyes and snorted in a quiet voice.
Under the storm-like high speed movement, Xiao Kuanglei’s sword also swiftly swept out. The storm engulfed the sword’s body, and as the sword’s brilliance danced magnificently, four lines of sword gust that could smash through mountains and rocks shot toward Xia Qingyue at the same time.
Clang Clang Clang Clang!
Four ice lotus flowers bloomed in front of Xia Qingyue, and blocked all four sword gusts as they shattered. Xiao Kuanglei had also successfully closed in on Xia Qingyue at this moment, and his chain of sword combos assaulted at Xia Qingyue like a relentless storm of rain. Xia Qingyue retreated with leisure and uniform steps, and with every step retreated, a beautiful ice lotus would bloom below her feet…
“How astonishing, this Xia Qingyue is only at the eighth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, but not only did her Frozen Cloud Art already reach the fourth stage of the Ice Lotus Realm, she could also handle it with so little effort. Mu Lingxue of the previous tournament was at the tenth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, but could only glimpse at the entrance of the Ice Lotus Realm. Seems like, Xia Qingyue must be the disciple with the highest aptitude in these few tens of years, without any doubt.”
“But it seems that Xia Qingyue is clearly at a disadvantage. All of her moves are defending and warding without any spare strength to retaliate. That can’t be helped; the disadvantage in age and profound strength exists right there.”
The hawk’s image behind Xiao Kuanglei’s back spread its wings high, and his sword moves came one after another. That one longsword was swung by him into sword mirages that blotted out the sky; together with his speed, the illusory human mirage and the sword’s mirage overlapped, making one dazzled and unable to follow with their eyes. The crossing strikes of the sword, as well as the collisions of storm and ice lotus, brought up a series of explosive sounds that made one’s eardrums buzz.
The cyan colored sword gust, along and the ice lotus’s broken shards, continually shot out from the profound storm, caging them. Facing the Xiao Kuanglei’s astonishing speed, Xia Qingyue’s movements was instead as light as smoke, as if she was a goddess elegantly descending into the mortal world, yet she was not constrained by Xiao Kuanglei’s speed in the slightest. With every movement of their footsteps, many traces of sword marks as well as pit marks caused by colliding profound energy would emerge on the ground.
The entire audience was silent, and only the wave after waves of ear-piercing explosive sounds could be heard. Every single pair of eyes all firmly focused onto the two figures on the Sword Discourse Arena. They had thought that this was a match that would quickly end, and perhaps would even be over from the start; no one had expected that it would actually be this intense to such a degree. For the two who were three years apart in age and one rank apart in profound strength, their currently situation was actually without any doubt, evenly matched.
The complexions of the Xiao Sect’s people gradually became unsightly. Xiao Juetian’s brows sunk bit by bit, and said with a low voice: “Seems like, we have underestimated Xia Qingyue. Her strength, may perhaps, not be weaker than Shui Wushuang and Wu Xuexin at all.”
“No problem. Ao what if she could stalemate with Third Younger Brother? If Third Younger Brother uses the Earth Shocking Sword, the outcome of the match would be decided right away.” Xiao Kuangyu said without worry.
“Using the Earth Shocking Sword, would definitely be somewhat unethical and inelegant. The two right now looks evenly matched, but if it continues like this, the advantage still belongs to Lei’er’s side. After all, the richness of Lei’er’s profound strength, would no matter what, surpasses that of the little girl who’s only seventeen years of age.” Xiao Juetian remarked.
“Go Big Sis, go!” Xia Yuanba’s hands were gripping with sweat. His eyes stared wide as he shouted non-stop. He could not clearly distinguish the situation on the arena, and could only see that Xia Qingyue seemed to be retreating all this time. His heart also became more and more anxious.
“Don’t worry, your Big Sis won’t lose that easily.” Yun Che casually comforted him.
“Won’t lose that easily?” Within Yun Che’s mind, he heard Jasmine’s snorting sound: “This woman, simply doesn’t have any possibility of losing. If she uses her full strength, the person on the other side won’t even have the chance to last five rounds. The current situation, is merely done by her in deliberation for the purpose of hiding her true strength.”
“Oh?” A burst of surprise emerged within Yun Che’s heart: “To not have the chance to even last five rounds? That’s impossible right?”
“Hmph! Half of the reason why you can challenge other an entire realm above you is because of your aptitude and comprehensive ability, the other half is your divine profound veins, divine bloodline and divine profound arts. But in the field of aptitude, comprehensive ability as well as constitutional, I’ve finally found someone that completely surpassed you, and that is this woman. Not only does she possess the ‘Heavenly God’s Spiritual Veins’ with all fifty-four profound entrances open, she also possesses the ‘Heart of Snow Glazed Glass’ that’s even ten thousand more times rarer than the Heavenly God’s Spiritual Veins. Her constitution, even at the Realm of the G… the place I was born from, could only produce one with the ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’ once every ten thousand years… After tomorrow, whether your opponent would be Ling Yun or not, really is still unknown.”
Yun Che: “!!!!”
Whether the previous life or the current life, it was still the first time that Yun Che who was extremely familiar with the medicinal ways and constitution of the world had heard these two names of “Heart of Snow Glazed Glass” and “Nine Profound Exquisite Body”, and thus could not completely comprehend the true meaning behind these two names. However, from Jasmine’s words, he heard a hint of extremely clear tint of shock. Something that would shock even Jasmine, how could it possibly be ordinary?
And Jasmine’s last sentence, thoroughly shocked Yun Che. Because that sentence of Jasmine’s was clearly hinting… that Xia Qingyue, may even have the capability to defeat Ling Yun!!
The battle on the Sword Discourse Arena had already become white-hot. The hawk image behind Xiao Kuanglei spread its wings again. With a slight whistling sound, his body had already vaulted high into the air. Like boiling water, the profound storm that surrounded his body also started to rampage at this moment. Circles after circles of light cyan colored profound energy ripples slowly proliferated outwards, and forcefully pushed away all of the surrounding atmosphere. Immediately after, Xiao Kuanglei’s longsword pointed downwards with a slope, and all of his profound energy concentrated onto the sword’s tip. Instantly, the long sword’s tip greatly surged with a green light, and a ball of storm howled and swiftly whirled around the sword’s tip with an extremely frightening speed.
At this time, a wave of oppressive aura had also shrouded the entire Sword Discourse Arena, and made the audience at the arena’s borders feel a strong sense of suffocation just by looking at the sword tip that was currently encircled by green light.
After a long battle with no results, Xiao Kuanglei finally lost his patience, but did not take out the Earth Shocking Sword. The reason was just as Xiao Juetian had said; not only would it be inelegant to use the number one sword of Xiao Sect when facing someone that was both younger and lower in profound strength, it may also garner mockery from others. He decisively used his strongest ultimate move.
“Fleeting Strike!!”
Xiao Kuanglei cried out loudly, and his entire body plummeted downwards within the surging storm. His entire being was as if a descended sword god, and the extremely sharp sword force overwhelmingly closed in on Xia Qingyue….
“Oh! I didn’t expect that Third Younger Brother could actually cultivate the ‘Fleeting Strike’ to this degree… It ought to be around forty percent attained?” Xiao Kuangyu said with surprise.
“This is a breakthrough he had only recently acquired. Seems like the match is about to be over.” A victorious smile has already emerged onto Xiao Juetian’s face.
Along with the extremely swift downfall of Xiao Kuanglei’s sword force, a line of fissure crazily extended outwards on the ground. Yet when facing this incomparably terrifying strike from the air, Xia Qingyue appeared extremely relaxed. She lifted her white hand, and slowly pointed the ice sword above her. On top of the sword tip, a ice lotus flower bloomed in silence. But this ice lotus was no longer crystal clear, and instead carried the sky’s light-blue color.
Boom!!
Xiao Kuanglei’s Fleeting Strike and Xia Qingyue’s ice lotus collided in midair. Then, a thundering noise resounded throughout the entire arena. The cyan colored profound energy storm completely shrouded the surrounding space, and the ice lotus also completely exploded, raining down ice crystals and mist that covered the sky. All of a sudden, the two’s bodies were completely shrouded by cyan colored and light-blue colored profound energy, making one unable to see even a hint of their figure. They could only hear the two waves of exploded profound energy crazily colliding…
It was only after an entire ten breaths of time, did the cyan light and blue light finally disperse completely. The swords of the two had also finished their last collision, and they respectively retreated backwards under collision’s impact.
There was not the slightest hint of change in Xia Qingyue’s expression, and her pair of charming eyes were still as clear and silent as water. Let alone injuries, not even her white colored long dress was tainted by a single speck of dust. The ice spirits that floated around her body were also not disordered in the slightest.
It was also the same for Xiao Kuanglei who was on the opposite side. Other than his hair that appeared slightly disordered, there weren’t any wounds at all on his entire body. During that intense collision of ultimate skills earlier, miraculously, neither of the two actually received any hint of injuries.
But just by judging from the expression, Xiao Kuanglei clearly wasn’t as calm as Xia Qingyue. He totally did not expect that such a result would happen. He used his ultimate move that had just achieved an initial success, but during that collision earlier, all of his sword force and gust were blocked by the opponent one after another, and didn’t even touch a single hair on her head. This made him secretly shocked in his heart, and at the same time made him feel greatly ashamed.
In this situation, he understood that if he was to win, he would have to take out the Earth Shocking Sword.
“As expected of a goddess from Frozen Cloud Asgard, you really are unable to be underestimated by others. When I was the same age as goddess, I definitely wasn’t a match for goddess. But this match, I must win no matter what. If I have offended goddess in anyway because of this, I’ll be sure to apologize toward goddess after the match.”
As he finished speaking, Xiao Kuanglei’s sword had already been put away. His right hand pressed onto the spatial ring, and was just about to take out the Earth Shocking Sword. But just as his right hand touched his left, his expression suddenly froze, and his actions stopped right then. Right after, his complexion became whiter and whiter with an astonishing speed… Then, as if a statue carved from ice, his entire being stiffly fell down onto the ground while facing upwards.
As he fell, Xia Qingyue’s gaze did not appear to quiver in the slightest, and wasn’t surprised at all.
It was also at this time that several tens of wounds of varied sizes suddenly bursted open on Xiao Kuanglei’s body, and waves after waves of blood spurted out… These wounds all came from Xia Qingyue’s ice sword, but under the Frozen Cloud Art, which encompassed the energy of extreme cold, these wounds were instantly sealed by ice after they were stabbed open. Not only did they not bleed, not even pain would be felt. Just like this, Xiao Kuanglei intensely fought with Xia Qingyue while being unaware, and did not notice at all that under the shrouding cyan light, his body was had already been consecutively slashed more than thirty times ten breaths ago… And if any of these wounds were to be slightly offset, they would be able to damage the life veins… Which is to say, if not for Xia Qingyue showing mercy, within that ten breaths of time, he had already died over thirty times.
Chapter 226 - The Heaven Blessed Xia Qingyue
Ling Wugou was startled at first. Then, he quickly advanced forward and examined Xiao Kuanglei’s current condition. After a simple investigation, he breathed a sigh of relief. With a flip of his palm, every wound on Xiao Kuanglei’s body was completely sealed. Soon afterwards, he immediately declared: “Xiao Kuanglei has temporarily lost the ability to move, Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Xia Qingyue wins! She shall advance into tomorrow’s Semifinals!”
All six of Xiao Sect’s members had already stood up. Each and every one of them had expressions of horror. Like an angry eagle, Xiao Juetian quickly flew up towards the Sword Discourse Arena. After examining Xiao Kuanglei’s injuries with a brush of his profound energy, his expression changed again.
There were more than thirty cuts on his body, but none of them were deep. He was very clear on the reason why more than thirty cuts suddenly burst forth from Xiao Kuanglei earlier. This type of thing happening in front of a Frozen Cloud Asgard disciple could not be even more normal. What had shocked him was that from Xiao Kuanglei’s appearance earlier, it was as if he did not sense at all. To him, what was even more shocking than that, were not these cuts, but what was beneath the injuries: cold energy that had sealed off a large majority of Xiao Kuanglei’s meridians. It was also unknown as to when this cold energy had entered Xiao Kuanglei’s meridians before suddenly exploding just a moment ago. If it had been detected, under profound energy suppression, it was unlikely for Xiao Kuanglei to be in a state in which his blood spurted out like that from his injuries.
Xiao Juetian deeply looked at Xia Qingyue and said in a low voice: “I had originally thought that in this Ranking Tournament, Frozen Cloud Asgard would not have another excessively showy performance. It looks like I have erred. To have let this much cold energy into Lei’er’s body and have done so without him knowing or feeling it, your Frozen Cloud Arts must be in at least the fifth stage… Good thing that Lei’er had not taken out the Earth Shocking Sword, or else he would’ve lost even more miserably!”
Xiao Juetian’s voice was very low, and was low enough that only Xia Qingyue could hear it. After finished speaking, he carried away the completely immobilized Xiao Kuanglei and left the Sword Discourse Arena.
Today’s competition, was one unexpected match after another. The last match of the Quarterfinals was another unforeseen conclusion.
“… What the hell happened? Why did Xiao Kuanglei suddenly collapse? I was blinded by the profond energy light earlier so I didn’t see anything.”
“Xiao Kuanglei probably got hit by Xia Qingyue’s ultimate move. The impact of its force must have been too fierce. With the addition of the fact that Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Frozen Cloud Arts could instantly freeze wounds, this was probably why Xiao Kuanglei did not realize that he had received this many injuries… It should be like that?”
The audience was in much debate. They could still explain Xiao Kuanglei’s wounds suddenly opening, but him suddenly falling over in a stiff manner made them baffled. On the main seats, Ling Yuefeng slightly knitted his brows, and said: “Seems like, this seventeen year old young girl is far from as simple as she appears on the surface. Yun’er, you should be glad that she is only seventeen this year. If she were to be the same age as you, she would be a strong opponent that could go shoulder to shoulder with you.”
Ling Yun was silent.
With the conclusion of the Quarterfinals, tomorrow’s Semifinals’ arrangements quickly appeared on the center of the profound stone.
Match Number One: Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che —— versus —— Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Jie.
Match Number Two: Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Yun —— versus —— Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Xia Qingyue.
“Uwaaah! Both brother-in-law and big sis actually entered the top four! It’s t-t-t… too wonderful!” Seeing the names on the profound stone, Xia Yuanba was excitedly to the point of being somewhat incoherent. Him joyously following Yun Che to Heavenly Sword Villa this time, was only out of yearning toward the ranking tournament like the rest of profound practitioners; he absolutely did not expect that his sister and brother-in-law would actually become two of the main characters in this ranking tournament. The two people who were closest to him had reached the top four in the highest level of Blue Wind Empire’s young profound practitioners, that kind of joy, proudness, and glory, was so intense that it was indescribable.
“Ah? Brother-in-Law, why do you keep wearing a stiff face? Are you not happy?” Seeing that not only was Yun Che not excited, but instead had a silent and solemn expression, Xia Yuanba asked in confusion.
Yun Che shook his head, and said with a faint smile: “Nothing, I just didn’t expect that she, Qingyue, would actually be this strong.”
“Hehe, I didn’t expect it either.” Xia Yuanba clenched his fist, and said with sparking eyes: “If father hears that Big Sis has already become so amazing, he would definitely be incredibly happy. If mother hears of it…” As he spoke the word “mother”, Xia Yuanba’s voice lagged for a bit. His gaze uncontrollably darked a little as he muttered with a low voice: “She would definitely also be very pleased.”
Yun Che did not notice the abnormality in the last half of the sentence Xia Yuanba spoke. He settled his heart, and asked in his mind: “Jasmine, the ‘Heart of Snow Glazed Glass’ and ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’ you spoke about earlier, what exactly are they? And how could you tell?”
“….I had not noticed it originally, but when she used twenty percent of her true strength earlier, it no longer escaped my eyes. However, in a place with such low levels of strength, they shouldn’t know of the concept of ‘Heart of Snow Glazed Glass’ and ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’, including her self. She at most would know that herself is different with others in some places.”
Yun Che: “…”
“Since you wish to know, I will tell you.” Jasmine’s voice was as tender and ethereal as flowing water from a spring, but she deliberately displayed a kind of high up and elderly tone with utmost effort: “‘Heart of Snow Glazed Glass’, is a special type of mind. One with this kind of mind possesses an extremely pure and clear disposition, as if ice and snow. With growth, one would have incomparable comprehensive ability and a strength of the soul that would grow stronger and stronger. With her current age, the Heart of Snow Glazed Glass’ abilities are only revealed initially, and will exhibit extremely high comprehensive abilities as well as memory. Everything she have observed would be memorized just with a glance and be firmly engraved in her mind, no matter what level of detail, and will not be forgotten throughout her entire life. As the ability of the Heart of Snow Glazed Glass gradually reveals, she would be able to sense good and evil as well as danger, and easily see through various mysteries, and even see into the heart of all living things.”
“Someone who possesses the Heart of Snow Glazed Glass, would all normally be supreme and most sacred existences that transcends the world; even God Kings and Sovereign Gods would certainly not dare to provoke. Because the legends say that someone with Heart of Snow Glazed Glass is blessed by the heavens, and whoever harms them, would suffer punishment of the heavens way.” Jasmine described lightly.
Yun Che’s brows consecutively spasmed for several times, then weakly asked: “Um… Are you really sure that there are really this kind of… uh, thing that’s blessed by the heavens on her body?”
“Hmph! This kind of thing that surpasses your cognition, you naturally wouldn’t believe it. I’m not going to bother explaining it to you. Her Heart of Snow Glazed Glass won’t be able to really mature in this kind of plane anyway. However, the ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’ she possesses…” Jasmine’s tone suddenly became odd: “It’s best for it to not be noticed by anyone that knows the concept of ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’. Otherwise, heh… She ought to not expect a single peaceful day in her entire life.”
“Eh? Why is that?”
“The word ‘Exquisite’ in the ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’, refers to a ‘Exquisite World’. Which is to say, that in her body there exists a ‘small world’! Do you understand what kind of notion that means? This means, that she could possess an unlimited and endless power! Power that the body of flesh cannot handle, can all be stored within the ‘Exquisite World’. Like this, no matter what profound art she cultivates, none of them would be restricted by her profound strength level and the endurance of her body. For example, her sectoral profound art ‘Frozen Cloud Art’; Chu Yuechan is half step into the Emperor Realm and her cultivation of the Frozen Cloud Art is at the sixth stage, and cannot continue further. It is highly likely that it’s because the seventh stage needs at least the profound strength of the Emperor Profound Realm. But to someone who has the ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’, if she wishes, she could cultivate to the seventh stage even if she was at the Elementary Profound Realm! Together with the extremely high comprehensive ability brought by the ‘Heart of Snow Glazed Glass’, I wouldn’t even be surprised at all if her current cultivation of Frozen Cloud Art is higher than Chu Yuechan’s.”
From Jasmine, not only did Yun Che come in contact with type after type of inconceivable profound arts, he had also continually heard some concepts that were completely foreign and even seemed extremely far and illusory. The shock it brought to Yun Che this time was undoubtedly the greatest, and also the most direct… Because these concepts that completely broke common sense, precisely appeared on his wife in name.
“…Exquisite World? A human’s body, can actually have this kind of thing?” Yun Che absently muttered in a low voice. He had heard that when profound strength was great to a certain extremely high realm, one could open a small world that belonged to oneself. But he had never heard that a small world could also exist within a one’s body.
“If she really does possesses the ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’ that you speak of, then it’s a special aptitude that belongs to her and has nothing to do with anyone else. But why do you say that if it’s discovered by others, it is possible for her to never be at peace throughout her entire lifetime?” Yun Che questioned.
“Because, someone who possesses the ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’, is the greatest of the greatest of profound cultivating incubators in this world. Especially for someone who obtains her vital virginity; they will generate an Exquisite World within their dantian that belongs to himself during the intercourse of Yin and Yang…”
————————————————————
The Xia family that Xia Qingyue and Xia Yuanba belonged to were merchants for generations after generations, and their father Xia Hongyi was more so an honest businessman who valued integrity and loyalty. So why would the pair of son and daughter he birthed… Xia Yuanba have the ‘Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins’, while Xia Qingyue also had the even more mysterious “Glazed Glass Heart” and “Exquisite Body” that Jasmine spoke of….
If Jasmine’s judgement was not wrong, then this Xia Hongyi really was blessed by the heavens to an extreme. In Jasmine’s mouth, no matter Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins or Glaze Glass Heart and Exquisite Body, were all extremely rare existences.
And their mother…
Yun Che didn’t have any notion about Xia Yuanba and Xia Qingyue’s mother. It was because he had never met her, and it seemed that she had passed away since they were young.
Yun Che walked along the path in Heavenly Sword Villa and silently thought about things. The curtains of the night had already started to fall. There were not many people outside, and occasionally he would encounter a few sect’s disciples. They would all stop in their steps and look at him afar with a gaze of awe. Within these people, most had wantonly mocked him during the Profound Strength Assessment on the first day of the Ranking Tournament. But now, they looked at him with a kind of revering gaze… To reach the top four of the Ranking Tournament, this was a height that they did not even dare dream about.
Yun Che came to the front of Frozen Cloud Asgard’s courtyard. The courtyard’s gate was wide open, but it seemed as if the inside and the outside of the courtyard were two different worlds. Gentle and warm wind blew on the outside, yet a bone-chilling cold aura floated within the courtyard, and rushed at him as it followed the air current.
Yun Che did not step into the courtyard. After taking in a breath of air, he said: “Blue Wind Profound Palace’s disciple, Yun Che, requests to see the Fairy of Frozen Beauty and hopes to personally thank her kind rescue today.”
Chapter 227 - The Danger Planted in Silence
Usually, there would be quite a number of people looking around in front of Frozen Cloud Asgard’s courtyard. All of them wished to have a glimpse at the beauty of the Frozen Cloud fairies, but there was basically not a single one who dared to make conversation with them. No matter how much authority, power, fame or potential a young practitioner possessed in his territory, when the practitioner arrived before a disciple of the Frozen Cloud Asgard, he would always turn timid, and a feeling of shame would also grow uncontrollably within.
As for those who dared to directly request an audience with Chu Yuechan, there were absolutely none.
Ice particles fluttered, and very quickly, a graceful fairy-like figure appeared before him, and she was actually Xia Qingyue. Her beautiful eyes quietly stopped at Yun Che’s face, and said. “Sir Yun, if you wish to see Frozen Beauty Senior Master, it’s best that you take your leave. Frozen Beauty Senior Master has always like peace and quiet, and has never been willing to interact with people outside Frozen Cloud Asgard. Your intentions, I believe Frozen Beauty Senior Master has heard it.”
Yun Che looked at her, and said sternly. “Qingyue my wife, I give you two choices. One, call me husband, or two, call me by my name… You’re my legally married wife, where would you find a wife calling her husband ‘Sir’!?”
In regards to Yun Che’s words, Xia Qingyue was not the least bit angry, as she slightly nodded. “Alright, then, Qingyue will refer to you as Yun Che from now on.”
The left corner of Yun Che’s lips twitched for a bit. He let out a light sigh, and said helplessly. “I rather wish that you were like before. Back then, you would always look at me coldly, but when I intentionally ‘offend’ you with my words, you would still express some anger… But now, you’re always so dull, it looked as though you have turned into someone else.”
The light in Xia Qingyue’s eyes slightly turned, as she softly said. “My Asgard’s Ice Heart Art allows one’s heart to be calm and collected, and removes one from her desires. In regards to your words earlier, Qingyue shall take them as compliments.”
“Removes one from her desires… Then, would that person still be human?” Yun Che shook his head, and changed the topic. “Qingyue my wife, congratulations on entering the top four. After this Ranking Tournament, your name shall spread throughout the world.”
“Words like that, I should be the one saying them to you.” Xia Qingyue’s expression turned slightly complicated. “I completely did not expect that you would reach such a level in just a short span of two years. You have given those who have ridiculed you, underestimated you, and even chased you out of your home, the most powerful retaliation.”
“I wish to see the Fairy of Frozen Beauty. Qingyue my wife, please help me convey my request to her. She might possibly be willing to see me.” Yun Che said.
Xia Qingyue shook her head gently. “That’s impossible. Frozen Beauty Senior Master will definitely not meet you. Please return, the Ranking Tournament tomorrow…”
“Qingyue, allow him to come in my room.”
At this moment, a voice, that was as vague as mist and as cold as ice, resounded from an unknown direction, gradually falling into the ears of the two people. A deep astonishment flashed across Xia Qingyue’s beautiful eyes, as she immediately said. “Yes, Senior Master… Yun Che, follow me.”
The furnishment of the courtyard was exactly the same as Yun Che’s, and coincidentally, the position of the room Chu Yuechan chose, was exactly the same as Yun Che’s. With Xia Qingyue leading him, Yun Che reached in front of her room’s unlatched door. After a slight hesitation, he pushed the door open and entered.
A chilling atmosphere instantly enveloped him. In front of Yun Che, was the beautiful back figure of a fairy. She stood before the window, bathing herself in the bright moonlight spilling in from the window. Her white robe shone under the moonlight. Fluorescent light shimmered along the exposed snowy flesh on her neck, and was even more beautiful than moonlit snow.
Suddenly, Yun Che felt as though he was looking at a deity who had descended onto the mortal realm from the Moon Palace, and could not help but be dazed. For a moment, he forgot the things he had wanted to say. Chu Yuechan did not look back at him, and her voice coldly sounded. “Do you know why I want to meet you?”
“I know.” Yun Che regained his senses, and faintly replied. “Because you wish to see me, just like how I long to see you again after separating from you back then.”
“… Nonsense!” Deep anger could be felt within Chu Yuechan’s voice. “The reason why I’m willing to see you, is to tell you this personally. The scores between us, have already been settled the moment I left the Wasteland of Death. We no longer owe each other, and we will never have any form of connection between us again! You’d best forget everything about the interactions between us. After today, we will be complete strangers!”
However, Chu Yuechan’s words caused Yun Che to laugh. “If you’re really that determined to cut all scores between us, then why did you personally come to the Heavenly Sword Villa? Earlier today, when I was in trouble, why were you the first one to step out and help me? This is something the rumored Fairy of Frozen Beauty who has a cold personality would definitely not do.”
“The reason why I came to the Heavenly Sword Villa was to simply come in place of our Asgard Mistress. As to why I saved you, it was because I could not stand Fen Moli’s shameless actions. It had nothing to do with you.” Chu Yuechan coldly said.
“You can fool me, but can you fool yourself?” Yun Che smiled. “If your heart is really that determined, why would there be a need to explain all that to me? Ask yourself, within this period of time, do you not always have the uncontrollable urge to think about me? The urge to think about the half a year we spent together… The true reason why you came to Heavenly Sword Villa this time, is it really not to see me? As for the other reasons, they are simply excuses that you came up for yourself…”
While Yun Che was saying this, he walked towards Chu Yuechan. “I initially thought that, before I have become strong enough, I would not have the chance to see you. But when I found out that you have actually came to the Heavenly Sword Villa as well, do you know how happy I was? Because, I was absolutely confident that, you came here because of me. Because you knew that I will represent the Blue Wind Imperial Family and participate in this Ranking Tournament.”
“Shut your mouth… Don’t come over!” Yun Che’s words utterly confused Chu Yuechan’s heart, and when she felt Yun Che approach her, a hint of panic actually flashed across the face of this grand expert who had stepped into the Emperor Profound Realm. When she was about to turn her body, a pair of arms had already gently and firmly, embraced her waist, hugging her from behind.
Chu Yuechan’s mind momentarily blanked out, and her entire body instantly stiffened. Beside her ear, Yun Che’s gentle voice sounded. “I know, it’s impossible for you to abandon Frozen Cloud Asgard, and it’s even more impossible for you to accept yourself. I don’t have the rights to force you, but I just wish that, before I gain the power to bring you out and break through all that obstructs us, you will not forget that, not only are you Chu Yuechan of Frozen Cloud Asgard, you have the identity called Little Fairy… You’re the Little Fairy who only belongs to me… Even if you wish to forget your identity as Little Fairy, then… then… then… you were the one who took my virginity! You can’t be thinking of not taking responsibility for it and prepare to completely forget about it after finishing your meal, right…”
Chu Yuechan’s recent actions were honestly bizarre. Meeting a disciple that did not belong to her sect in the night, if it was in the past, it was something that basically would not happen. Xia Qingyue, who had brought Yun Che to Che Yuechan’s room, looked at the swaying candlelight in the room with a heart was filled with suspicion.
At this moment, the unlatched door suddenly opened… to be exact, it was forced open. Yun Che’s body was sent flying out upside down by a cold pressure. Although he barely managed to stabilize his footing after landing, he still looked rather fatigued, and the door that was forced opened shut tight with a “bang” sound the moment he landed.
“You angered Senior Master?” Xia Qingyue’s beautiful eyes turned, looking amusingly at his fatigued expression.
“How can that be possible? Even if I were to possess ten thousand times more guts, I would not dare to anger her.” Yun Che said seriously. “The Fairy of Frozen Beauty simply sent me off kindly after accepting my thanks… Mn, that’s how it was.”
“Is that so…” Xia Qingyue’s eyes momentarily stopped at his face. Evidently, she did not believe his words. She then said gently. “You have achieved your objective. If you have nothing else to do here, please return. In tomorrow’s Ranking Tournament, you will be facing Ling Jie. Master has told me that, although Ling Jie is young, does not look to be the least bit shrewd, and expresses his feelings freely, he’s actually an absolute genius whose talent even surpasses Ling Yun. In tomorrow’s duel, you have to be careful.”
“Alright, thank you for the reminder. In contrast, your opponent tomorrow is more troublesome than mine.” Yun Che’s voice paused, and then, he suddenly continued. “Qingyue my wife, have you ever heard of the ‘Heart of Snow Glazed Glass’ and ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’?”
“‘Heart of Snow Glazed Glass’, ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’?” Xia Qingyue’s brows slightly curled out of suspicion, and then, she shook her head. “Qingyue has never heard of it.”
Seeing Xia Qingyue’s reaction, it was evident that she was clueless about the Heart of Snow Glazed Glass and Nine Profound Exquisite Body. Yun Che immediately said. “Oh, it’s nothing much. I will take my leave then.”
Just when he turned and was preparing to leave, Yun Che’s steps suddenly stopped again. He turned back, and said. “In your duel tomorrow with Ling Yun, I hope that, the one who turns out victorious is not Ling Yun, but you. In that case, in the final match, your opponent… will be me!”
Even though he left just those few words, they were filled with arrogance and doubtless confidence, as though, in his eyes, the outcome of his duel with Ling Jie tomorrow had already been determined. Looking at Yun Che’s leaving figure, Xia Qingyue sank into a moment of silence, and then, she softly muttered to herself. “In a span of less than two years, just what in the world did he experience…”
At the same time, at another place in the Heavenly Sword Villa.
Ling Kun, as one of the executives of the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, his status could only be considered as the low-middle class in the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. However, in the Blue Wind Empire, his status, and his strength, was enough to frighten and be revered by all the large sects. None of them would dare to offend or disobey him in the slightest.
In the eyes of the Four Great Sacred Lands, these small empires, were simply nothing but third-rate places that they would not even bother to step into.
The courtyard Heavenly Sword Villa had prepared for Ling Kun was also extremely extravagant. Just by the number of servants attending to him alone were more than a dozen, and currently, all of these people who attended to him were sent away by him. In the room lighted up by the pale candle-light, he took out a treasure jade that was entirely bluish purple in color. This was a piece of an extremely rare and unique sound transmission jade.
With the insertion of profound energy, the bluish purple sound transmission jade emitted out a pale glow, and the sound transmission formation hidden within began to quickly spin.
“Young Hall Master, how have you been? Do you still remember this trivial old man?” Ling Kun narrowed his eyelids, and softly spoke to the sound transmission jade.
“Senior Ling? Ling Kun of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region? Now this sure is rare. It seems like, you should have something interesting to discuss with this young master?”
“That’s right.” Ling Kun slowly said. “This old man wish to make a trade with Young Hall Master. I believe Young Hall Master will definitely be interested in this trade.”
“Oh? Go on.”
“Hoho, I heard that Young Hall Master have been looking for a girl who possesses the ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’ in these recent years. And a mystical girl like that, this old man has actually encountered one. I wonder if Young Hall Master is interested?”
“What?” The voice which was initially calm instantly became hurried, and then, his voice once again sank. “This young master naturally will not suspect Senior Ling’s eyes. But since it’s the ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’ that would rarely appear in ten thousand years, why isn’t Senior Ling using for himself, or presenting it to your Holy Master of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region?”
“This old man knows of his own status, I really do not have the sufficient guts to enjoy this Nine Profound Exquisite Body. If I were to offer it to the Holy Master, I will only be able to exchange it for the so-called ‘merits’, but if I were to offer it to Young Hall Master… Heh, I believe, with Young Hall Master’s boldness and wit, this old man will definitely receive even more benefits.”
“Hahahaha! Senior Ling sure is a smart man. This young master likes to talk with smart people. Looks like back then, when this young master left the sound transmission jade to Senior Ling, it was really the most wise decision on my part. Whatever benefits Senior Ling wish to have, please feel free to express them. If it’s the real Nine Profound Exquisite Body, no matter what Senior Ling wishes to have, it would never be too much.”
“As I thought, Young Hall Master is straightforward.” Ling Kun laughed. “This old man only wants one thing… A thousand five hundred grams of Purple Veined Divine Crystals.”
“… A thousand five hundred grams. This request of Senior Ling’s, sure is big.”
“Hahahaha, to others, forget about a thousand five hundred grams of Purple Veined Divine Crystals, it would be difficult for them to even obtain a thousand five hundred grams of Purple Veined Heaven Crystals. But, to Young Hall Master, I believe obtaining a thousand five hundred grams of Purple Veined Divine Crystals isn’t really a hard task. And, when comparing the Nine Profound Exquisite Body to a thousand five hundred grams of Purple Veined Divine Crystals, it basically isn’t worth mentioning.”
“Fine! Within two years, this young master will personally prepare a thousand five hundred grams of Purple Veined Divine Crystals. I hope when that time comes, Senior Ling will definitely not disappoint me.”
“Young Hall Master, please be at ease. Unless this old man is tired of living, otherwise, I definitely would not dare to fool Young Hall Master in the slightest. Then, this old man will shall quietly wait for Young Hall Master’s good news…”
The light in the sound transmission jade disappeared. Ling Kun raised his head, quietly smiled, and muttered softly to himself. “The characteristic of that girl’s profound aura, is exactly the same as the records of the Nine Profound Exquisite Body in the Secret Tome… Heh, I did not expect that such a divine body would be born in this trivial land. Heaven is basically on my side!”
Chapter 228 - Celestial Yang Sword
Today, was the tenth day of the ranking tournament.
It was early morning and the sky had not yet completely brightened. The fifth to eighth place ranking matches were already underway on the Sword Discourse Arena. Although the ones participating in those matches were the losers of yesterday’s Quarterfinals: Ling Feiyu, Shui Wushuang, Xiao Kuanglei, and Fen Juebi, entering the Quarterfinals had already made them completely worthy of being the younger generation’s peak talents.
Even though Xiao Kuanglei had been cut thirty three times by Xia Qingyue, they were all shallow injuries. At that time, his meridians had merely been frozen over, so he was completely fine today. As for Fen Juebi, because of his self-destruction blood essence and the heavy injuries he suffered after mounting a sneak attack on Yun Che, he did not participate in today’s fight over fifth to eighth place. Also, even if he were to be unscathed, he was basically not the other three’s match. Whether or not he participated did not have the slightest influence towards the end result but it did at least, preserve the last traces of face he possessed.
Due to Fen Juebi’s absence, the original four matches became three. In the first match, Shui Wushuang defeated Xiao Kuanglei. In the second match, Shui Wushuang defeated Ling Feiyu with difficulty. In the third match, Ling Feiyu defeated Xiao Kuanglei.
And thus, Shui Wushuang’s individual ranking was fifth place, Ling Feiyu’s individual ranking was sixth, Xiao Kuanglei’s individual ranking was seventh and Fen Juebi’s individual ranking was eighth. It was the first time that Xiao Sect and the Burning Heaven Clan’s power rankings had been decided this early… Xiao Sect placed fourth and Burning Heaven Clan placed fifth, making it the first time they fell out of the top four in several hundred years.
The primary cause was Yun Che, the ultimate dark horse’s birth into the world.
The white clouds in the sky lightly floated. The matches deciding fifth to eighth place had finally come to a close, and it was only nine in the morning. The morning sunlight was somewhat lacking in power but the mood of the audience around the Sword Discourse Arena was at an even greater high because the ranking tournament’s Semifinals, was finally getting closer.
Before the ranking tournament had gone underway, there were already many who had long predicted the final placings. The name Ling Yun had long since shook the country and it was universally accepted that first place was his. There were numerous different versions of guesses taking place, but they all still simply fastened around a few individuals… Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Shui Wushuang and Wu Xuexin, Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Feiyu, Burning Heaven Clan’s Fen Jin, Xiao Sect’s Xiao Kuanglei…
But out of the four who had entered the top four, aside from Ling Yun, the other three had not been anticipated nor were any of them core disciples of sects that they had heard of, so much that there weren’t even a few who knew their names. Even Ling Jie, only had the title of Heavenly Sword Villa Master’s son. No one expected that he possessed enough strength to make Ling Feiyu surrender and not fight… After all, he was way too young. Everyone thought that the reason why he came to participate was merely to gain experience.
What was even more shocking was that, excluding Ling Yun, the oldest of the other three was only seventeen years old.
In all of ranking tournament history, this was the unprecedented of firsts!
In the second match of the Semifinals, the conclusion of the match between Ling Yun and Xia Qingyue had already been decided in everyone’s eyes. Even if Xia Qingyue was even more talented of a genius, it was still impossible for her to bring about a second conclusion. As a result, what the crowd paid close attention to was the first match of exchanges between Yun Che and Ling Jie.
One had shot into the top four with profound strength at the True Profound Realm and the other was a sixteen year old who had shot into the top four. No matter which one became the victory, any one of them would bring about an incomparably shocking precedent. It was not exaggerated in the least if one were to say that the two, were super geniuses that were rarely seen even once in several hundred years.
After seeing Yun Che’s battle with Fen Juebi yesterday, no one dared to easily decide that he would lose to Ling Jie. In his match with Fen Juebi, even though it was the first time he had revealed his terrifying true strength, it appeared as if it was still not his full strength. As for Ling Jie, to have made Ling Feiyu immediately surrender, was proof that he had never even exhibited his true strength at all.
This historical showdown was undoubtedly going to be a match brimming with suspense —— a duel between the lowest profound strength in all of ranking tournament history and the youngest participant of all time!
Yun Che had long since stood on top of the Sword Discourse Arena. Soon after, Ling Jie slowly made his way up as well. Standing sixty meters away from Yun Che, he greeted him with a cheeky smile: “Hehe. Boss, good morning.”
Ling Jie’s voice was not at all loud, but it was loud enough to be heard by Ling Wugou. Just as he was about to announce the names of the two parties and their affiliation, he suddenly heard the way Ling Jie addressed Yun Che. Both his legs went limp and he nearly kneeled on the floor.
“Oh! You actually knew that you ought to call me boss. I thought that you wouldn’t acknowledge your debt.” Yun Che put both his hands on his chest as he smiled with glee.
Ling Jie stuck his nose up and said with great enthusiasm: “I, Ling Jie, am a true man. Every word I say carries an enormous amount of weight so there’s no way I would go back on a deal. Only cowards would go back on their word.”
“Really?” Yun Che looked at him with great contempt: “I’ve lived in the Villa for more than ten days but you, the little brother, actually had never come to visit me once. You’re not really good at being a little brother, are you?”
“Err…” Ling Jie opened his eyes wide as his voice also became lower. He whispered in a low voice: “I… I actually wanted to go, but Big Bro said that it wouldn’t look good. It’s really not my fault.”
Knowing that he was in the wrong, he quickly changed topics as he lifted his head: “But Boss, you indeed did not disappoint me. When those people were all jeering at you before, I knew that you would definitely make them regret it. Hehe, as expected, it was not outside of my expectations. How could someone who would make me have no choice but to surrender and become a little brother be any ordinary person? But I never expected that Boss would actually storm into the Semifinals and even be up against me… Hohohoho, this is a super great opportunity!
“Eh? Opportunity?”
“Yeah, yeah!” Ling Jie drew back the corners of his mouth as he laughed: “Even though I wouldn’t renege on a debt and call you Boss, I am still a little unsatisfied. After all, you only received three of my strikes that time and didn’t even defeat me. To be boss, you ought to be stronger than the little brother, right?”
“And so?” Yun Che fingered his chin and began to faintly smile.
Ling Jie held out his hand and swiped his spatial ring, bringing out a sword case sculpted entirely in white jade… That’s right, it was a white jade sword case, and was the Earth Profound Weapon he had always been using in every one of his previous matches. As his hand stroked the bright and clean sword case, Ling Jie’s smiling expression began to have a difficult to look at sharp edge: “Even if I enter tomorrow’s match, there’s absolutely no way that I would beat big bro, so I’ll use all my power this match! And let everyone in the world remember my, Ling Jie’s charm! To make me, Ling Jie, perfectly willing to be your little brother, you must completely defeat me while I’m using my full strength on this Sword Discourse Arena! If you defeat me, you’ll be my boss. If you lose… Mn, I’ll consider letting you be my little brother!”
“Okay!” Yun Che immediately nodded. His expression also became focused and serious: “If I can’t even defeat you, I obviously do not have the qualifications to be your boss. Since that is the case, bring out your sword. I’ll let you see true strength!”
Ling Jie’s hands softly stroked once and the white jade sword case opened. Along with a flickering orange colored radiance, an entirely golden orange thin sword that was approximately five foot and five inches flew into Ling Jie’s hands.
Dooongh…
Once the orange sword met the ground, it suddenly released a lingering sword cry and its sword force also quietly filled the air. The sword force was not fierce, nor was it aggressive, but it brought along an incomparably piercing strength. It completely covered the entire Sword Discourse Arena with in two breaths of time. Even those who sat on the very edges of the Sword Discourse Arena all sensed a calm sword force quietly envelop them. It mysteriously drew the attentions of their hearts and gazes and they could not help but centralize their focus onto the body of the orange colored sword. If one were to carefully examine the sword, they would discover that a small width of space around the orange sword was slowly distorting.
“What kind of sword force is this! I’ve never heard of this before… Wait! Orange colored sword, could it be…”
“Celestial Yang Sword!!”
“Right! It really is indeed the Celestial Yang Sword, one of Heavenly Sword Villa’s Sky Profound Divine Swords! It’s been said that Ling Yun subdued the Celestial Yuan Sword at the age of seventeen. He is only sixteen, yet had actually subdued the Celestial Yang Sword!”
“Heavenly Sword Villa does indeed produce geniuses after geniuses. Ling Yun is already an absolutely stunning genius but I didn’t expect that Ling Jie was an even better one! For Ling Yuefeng to have two sons like that, is enough for him to live a comfortable life.”
“In this battle, it looks like it is simply impossible for Yun Che to be victorious against Ling Jie, who has mastered the Celestial Yang Sword.”
Yun Che had never heard of the Celestial Yang Sword. However, once the Celestial Yang Sword was revealed, Yun Che sensed its abnormal shocking sword force. The surroundings that filled with the sounds of numerous discussions which contained deep surprise also allowed him to clearly understand that this sword was by no means ordinary. This sword was undoubtedly a world shaking Sky Profound Sword!
For the first time in this year’s ranking tournament, a Sky Profound Weapon had finally appeared!
With the Celestial Yang Sword in hand, the atmosphere around Ling Jie’s entire person had suddenly changed. His entire person had become a sword as a dignified sword aura moved along his entire body. His eyes were no longer filled with any speck of laughter and carelessness. Instead, it emitted a sharp sword’s piercing cold light.
Yun Che took half a step back. As he waved his hand, a thick Overlord’s Colossal Sword without a sharp tip suddenly fell from the sky. It landed in front of him with a boom as half of its body deeply submerged into the ground. Yun Che grabbed the sword hilt with both hands. With a slight force, the Overlord’s Colossal Sword whistled amidst the crushed stone that swirled in the air as its sword force directly lunged at Ling Jie with a mountain’s massively overbearing momentum.
However, the Overlord’s Colossal Sword was still merely an Earth Profound Weapon and was an entire realm’s level inferior to that of the Celestial Yang Sword. Its absolutely overbearing aura did not really stifle much of the Celestial Yang Sword’s grandeur; instead, it was split apart by the Celestial Yang Sword’s calm sword energy.
The difference between a Sky Profound Weapon and an Earth Profound Weapon was like the difference between fine steel and straw. In terms of weapons, Yun Che was at an absolute disadvantage. However, his imposing manner did not weaken in the slightest. With a wave of his heavy sword, the wind screeched with a deafening howl: “Come.”
“First match of the Semifinals: Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che versus Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Jie… Match start!”
“Not only did Jie’er immediately reveal the Celestial Yang Sword, his aura also does not have the least bit of complacence. It looks like he really values this battle with Yun Che.” Ling Yuefeng slowly said as he looked at the two people on the Sword Discourse Arena.
“Mn,” Ling Yun nodded: “After all, Yun Che is the only person Little Jie truly submitted to in this world aside from me. Half a year ago, Yun Che had forcibly blocked three of Little Jie’s strikes with a profound strength at the third level of the True Profound Realm. He impressed him so much that he continuously talked about it for a long time. At that time, Yun Che’s overall strength was several miles away from Little Jie. In this half a year, Little Jie’s strength had increased by leaps and bounds so if he were to be defeated by Yun Che this time, he probably would sincerely and completely submit to him… Perhaps to an even greater extent than his submissiveness towards me.”
Ling Yun’s words caused Ling Yuefeng’s brows to twitch. After he pondered in silence for a while, he suddenly said: “If it’s like that, then we definitely cannot let Yun Che win. Yun’er, if Jie’er is by any chance at a disadvantage, help him with the Celestial Yuan Sword!”
Ling Yuefeng’s words startled Ling Yun for a bit. Then, as if he understood something, he nodded his head lightly: “I understand.”
Chapter 229 - Yuan Yang Combination
“RIIIPP~~~”
Space was split apart by the incomparably deafening sound. As the sword energy of the Celestial Yang Sword in Ling Jie’s hands swept across the air, it cleaved the air, and even the hard surface of the Sword Discourse Arena was directly cut open like tofu. Three hundred meters away, a sharp imposing force came at the entire audience, infiltrated to the bottom of their hearts, and sent a chill down almost everyone’s back. It was as if that extremely cold orange sword light and sword intent was pressed against their backs.
Once Ling Jie took action, it was indeed with full strength. Facing the sword energy that was sweeping towards him, Yun Che used both hands to sweep his sword. When he activated the fundamental stage of Prison God Sirius’ Tome, the profound energy in his entire body exploded. Along with a low and deep exploding sound, Overlord’s Colossal Sword welcomed the Celestial Yang Sword’s sword energy with a strike of its own.
“Boom!!”
The sharp and tyrannical forces loudly came together with a loud bang. A frightening windstorm of profound energy disclosed without restraint. The profound energy barrier suddenly trembled. Like spiderwebs, cracks instantly rushed out on the arena’s stone floor below feet of the two opposing members.
The faint orange colored sword energy was unceasingly destroying, creating cracks, as the heavy sword’s powerful windstorm also quickly tore the ground. Throughout the frenzied intermingling of the forces, the two people’s gazes struck the other… One was as peerlessly sharp as the edge of a sword while the other had a mountain’s majesty and tranquility.
Once their strikes collided, both their hearts were simultaneously shocked. The audience at edges of the Sword Discourse Arena were even more inexplicably horrified as they widened their eyes one after the other.
“So… So strong! Even from this far away, I could feel that terrifying sword energy!” A sect disciple who placed in the top hundred exclaimed with a trembling voice.
“I also felt it! Ling Jie’s actually this strong. In the previous matches, he basically had never gone all out. No! He didn’t even use half his strength. If this strike was aimed at me, I simply would not be capable of resisting in the slightest. Is… Is he really only at the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm?”
“As expected, people from Heavenly Sword Villa are all monsters! But… But this kind of strike, Yun Che actually received it!!”
With the sword force and sword intent released by Ling Jie with all his strength as well as the Celestial Yang Sword’s Sky Profound might, the magnificence of this one strike, transcended everything that happened in yesterday’s Quarterfinals! Not only was it those young profound practitioners, even the elders watching this scene were dramatically moved.
“Not only has he subdued the Celestial Yang Sword, he even released at least sixty percent of the Celestial Yang Sword’s power.” A deep tremor was visibly heard in Xiao Juetian’s voice: “This one’s future accomplishments, would definitely far surpass Ling Yun’s.”
Xiao Juetian’s gaze spun towards Yun Che. Ling Jie’s strike completely stunned him. And the Yun Che, who had completely received Ling Jie’s strike made by the Celestial Yang Sword with only an Earth Profound Sword, left him at a complete loss. He did not know what words he could possibly use to evaluate him.
Bang!!
The two forces simultaneously exploded, and the two people were also sent backwards from the impact. Ling Jie stepped off the ground with his back foot. As fast as a flitting phantom, his entire person suddenly dashed forward, and the Celestial Yang Sword in his hands had lost its presence… as if it had vanished into thin air.
“So fast!” Yun Che was slightly shocked. Whether it was Ling Jie’s movement speed or sword speed, they both far exceeded his expectations, to such an extent that even his eyes could not catch up.
Yun Che did not attempt to catch Ling Jie’s sword mirage anymore. With a surge of profound strength, the Overlord’s Colossal Sword was wildly swung outwards. Following the heavy sword’s swinging arc, lines and lines of sword rays exploded and broke in succession. The heavy sword swept towards Ling Jie’s figure, yet it could only touch a faded afterimage… At the same time, an ice-cold chill was felt from the nape of his neck.
RIIIP!!
The orange-yellow sword energy pierced down like lightning, drawing a black scar through the air as it also sliced the remains of Yun Che’s afterimage into two. Yun Che’s real body reappeared ten meters away, and he came smashing back with a counterattack. The heavy sword’s berserk windstorm and Ling Jie’s sword energy tightly concentrated and crashed.
There were many disadvantages in choosing the heavy sword as one’s main weapon of choice; the most notable disadvantage was the difficulty level in mastering it, as well as the fact that the heavy sword’s excessive weight would implicate one’s movement speed by a substantial amount. But Prison God Sirius’ Tome allowed Yun Che’s mastery of the heavy sword to a close to perfect level. Even if for Dragon Fault, a Sky Profound heavy sword, Yun Che only used a few days to completely master it. As for the heavy sword’s burden on one’s movement speed, the unpredictable profound movement skill, “Star God’s Broken Shadow”, made up for that deficiency.
The existence of both Prison God Sirius’ Tome and Star God’s Broken Shadow perfectly offsetted the two major flaws of the heavy sword, and also made Yun Che the person most suitable to use the heavy sword. In comparison, the powerful arm strength bestowed by the Great Way of the Buddha was actually secondary… because as long as one’s profound strength level was high enough, no matter how heavy it was, they could still pick up a heavy sword. However, the heavy sword mastery’s difficulty level, as well as the burden of the weight itself, was not something that profound strength could interfere with by any means.
And since these two major flaws were no longer there, then the power that the heavy sword released was one in which other weapons would never be able to reach. Its power was violent enough to make both ghosts and gods shiver.
The heavy sword did not have a sharp tip. With its great swings and body, each strike shattered a few, or even a dozen different lines of frenzied yet dazzling sword light. The profound energy barrier shook violently. The windstorm conjured by the heavy sword brought about an unceasingly long tornado in the center of the Sword Discourse Arena. The gullies and cracks beneath their feet grew aplenty. The smashed pieces of the broken arena were lifted up by the windstorm, shooting out in all directions like arrows and darts.
It was not known how many times the heavy sword had been swung, and it was also not know how many orange yellow sword lights had been smashed apart, but under Ling Jie’s shocking speed, not a single corner of his clothes had been touched.
It appeared as if the two were in deadlock. Even though Ling Jie appeared to be on the offense, he was actually constantly complaining in his head. In his eyes, the speed at which Yun Che swung his heavy sword was not that quick. The time he took to swing once, was enough for him to swing a dozen or so times. But even these dozen strikes, could be completely thwarted by one strike from Yun Che. The power from Yun Che’s one offensive strike could only be cancelled by a dozen of his… which he could only do after rapidly retreating back a certain distance. If he had not moved away from his original spot during his counterattack, he wasn’t completely certain that he could block it… even when he was wielding the Celestial Yang Sword.
Every time he thought that he had at last seized an opening, what pierced was always Yun Che’s afterimage, and Yun Che’s subsequent counterattack would always make him feel that he was surrounded by danger.
He definitely did not dare to directly attack Yun Che. If it was a head-on collision, even though he was confident that he would poke a hole through Yun Che, if he was touched by Yun Che’s strike, losing half his life would be considered as getting off lightly.
In the past, whenever he could get close to an opponent, Ling Jie’s sword was usually able to easily force his opponent into checkmate. But right now, Yun Che was like a demon god that could not be neared. It made Ling Jie’s attacks appear uninhibited and dazzling on the surface, but the truth was that he felt extremely bound up and was startled with every single attack he made.
This never before felt feeling, made Ling Jie extremely uncomfortable. Because before Yun Che, he had never met an opponent who used the heavy sword.
Clang!
In the brief moment the Celestial Yang Sword and the Overlord’s Colossal Sword touched, following the Overlord’s Colossal Sword’s impact, Ling Jie leapt very far away. When he landed, the Celestial Yang Sword pointed upwards in the air as a loud shout came out from Ling Jie’s mouth: “Heaven’s Might Sword Formation —— Heavenly Star Frenzy!”
The Celestial Yang Sword flew up. During its flight, it glowed even more radiantly. Then, as if an illusion, its light quickly dispersed, scattering to make more than a dozen Celestial Yang Swords that looked exactly the same. Soon after, it became several tens of copies until it became more than a hundred copies. The hundred or more Celestial Yang Swords were like chaotic meteorites with different trajectories as they flew at Yun Che from every direction. These Celestial Yang Swords were no mere illusions; because each and every sword carried an incomparably sharp sword aura.
This kind of outrageously bizarre sword formation made many young profound practitioners pale on the spot. Yun Che’s brows slightly creased yet he did not show any signs of fear. His heavy sword swept upwards as the profound energy in his entire body wildly erupted above
“Falling Moon Sinking Star!”
The pitch-black heavy sword conjured a giant black moon. Just like a bottomless black hole, the frenzied meteor engulfed everything in its path.
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG…
Under the violent storm’s force, the lines and lines of sword silhouette containing a Sky Profound sword’s power were like fragile icicles as they easily shattered one after the other. After their diffusion, they were smashed once again by the storm’s force, and then turned into powdery particles. But in the blink of an eye, before the mighty and terrifying frenzied sword formation had even touched a single hair on Yun Che’s head, they had all been torn to shreds. In less than two breaths of time, every sword silhouette had completely disappeared, only leaving the Celestial Yang Sword that blasted off back into Ling Jie’s hands.
“Wh… at!!” Ling Yun’s brow suddenly sank as his face filled with surprise: “Heavenly Star Frenzy had actually been broken that easily!?”
“Because that is a heavy sword!”
Ling Kun, who had practically never spoken during these past ten or so days suddenly started to talk. His hawk like eyes silently fixated at Yun Che as he indifferently said: “He has completely brought out the heavy sword’s might. As for the heavy sword’s disadvantages, on his body, they have been suppressed to their limits. This one’s master, is definitely an incomparably extraordinary being.”
“Heaven’s Might Sword Formation possesses a power that can smite the heavens and there is no man who does not fear it. In this world, the only thing that can restrain Heaven’s Might Sword Formation to such an extent is the heavy sword!”
The surrounding audience had already become stupefied, after seeing such a frightening sword formation… get completely broken like that!?
Atop the Sword Discourse Arena, Ling Jie had already leapt high in the air, and caught the falling Celestial Yang Sword. In midair, he turned around as his sword flickered with light. His entire body seemed as if it had completely merged with the sword light as he flashed in front of Yun Che.
Heavenly Sword Villa’s ultimate instantaneous sword technique —— Sword Brilliance of Extreme Lightning!
The Heavenly Star Frenzy that was executed just a moment ago was only half a pretense. This was Ling Jie’s genuine finishing move that he had been accumulating power for!
Ling Jie’s instantaneous movement exceeded the scope of Yun Che’s reaction time. Sword light flashed and the Celestial Yang Sword had already arrived in front of Yun Che in its thrust, making him completely incapable of swinging his sword in time to block it, and also did not give him enough time to activate Star God’s Broken Shadow.
In a split second, Yun Che immediately threw away all thoughts of retreat and defense. The heavy sword in his hands did not have the slightest retracting intent that it should have. Instead, it struck forward without hesitation.
RIIIP!!
Along with a light echo, the Celestial Yang Sword easily split apart Yun Che’s protective profound energy defense and pierced his left shoulder as a bloody arrow spurted outwards. Ling Jie’s finishing blow was a success so he ought to been happy, yet his complexion suddenly changed right at this moment, because his Celestial Yang Sword pierced through the protective profound energy defense, passed through flesh, penetrated into the bone… then stabbed onto an incomparable hard ten thousand year old profound iron, and then was incapable of even advancing an inch forward.
Forget about stabbing a hole through Yun Che’s body… he could not even pierce through a tiny half an inch.
This was not a strike that any average Joe could randomly execute. Instead, it came from Ling Jie, after completely pouring in his surging sword intent, and was a strike dealt by the Celestial Yang Sword, a Sky Profound Weapon! Even if it was a monolith or profound metal, they could both be pierced through as easily as tofu!
The shock that Ling Jie was in was no small matter. At this time, Yun Che’s heavy sword also swung towards him. Wherever the heavy sword went, a berserk air current blasted open. Ling Jie quickly used all his strength to receive the sword explosions while retreating. At the same time, he continually swung out numerous waves of sword energy in resistance. But even though he did that, he was still swept by the heavy sword’s wind force. The wild force suffocated his heart as his inner organs violently quaked.
Ling Jie staggered backwards as he landed and had to take several steps back before barely managing to stabilize his balance. A line of blood slowly trickled down the corner of his mouth. At the Heavenly Sword Villa’s seating area, Ling Yun creased his eyebrows greatly. Then, he suddenly stood up and shouted: “Little Jie, take this!!”
In the midst of Ling Yun’s roar, a thin sword completely suffused with a bizarre cyan light flew out from his hands. Like a shooting star, it crossed a distance of over three hundred meters in a flash. Without even being slightly obstructed when it passed through the profound energy barrier, it was then caught in the hands of a somewhat stupefied Ling Jie.
Once the cyan sword was in hand, as if they had suddenly developed intelligence, the two swords simultaneously emitted an excited sword cry. As the orange and cyan colored glows added to each other’s beauty and radiance, they became more and more intense. What intensified along with it, were two waves of sword energy that stirred and surged out, while also merging into one amidst the stirring.
“This is… Big brother’s Celestial Yuan Sword!” Ling Jie clenched the cyan sword with one hand, and the orange sword with the other. The two swords at this time seemed to have let go of all their proud air, and even gave him a feeling that they were connected through blood.
As he wielded both swords in his hands, Ling Jie slowly lifted his head. There wasn’t the slightest hint of childness that belonged to a sixteen year old in his eyes. There was not any color of excitement, and even the sharpness from earlier had all died down.
“Hm?” Yun Che’s brows slightly knitted as vigilance suddenly birthed in his heart. Because the Ling Jie in front of his eyes, had suddenly went through a great transformation in his aura. This kind of transformation did not come from himself, but instead came from… the two swords in his hands!
“It looks like you must have had various strange encounters that allowed to you to greatly reform your body. This is due to your good luck.” Chu Yueli slightly nodded: “From now on, I believe that Qingyue will be more relieved. But…” Her gaze grew cold: “I hope you won’t forget about the status of Frozen Cloud Asgard disciples and moreover, won’t forget why Frozen Cloud Asgard permitted her marriage to you. I don’t want you to harbor any intentions that you should not have just because you no longer have crippled profound veins.”
Yun Che smiled indifferently and said: “Senior should be at ease. With respect to Qingyue, Junior only has unlimited admiration and gratitude. Junior would definitely not do anything that would ever inconvenience her.”
Even though those words were meant to deal with Chu Yueli, but behind her back, they actually had a second meaning… To never inconvenience her, as for whether or not she would be inconvenienced, hmm…
Chu Yueli took a glance at Chu Yuechan. She knew that Chu Yuechan had an aloof nature and did not like to socialize with others. She immediately said: “Let’s go.”
“Yuanba, take good care of yourself and father.” Xia Qingyue told Xia Yuanba in a gentle voice. A pair of beautiful eyes swept across Yun Che’s face and then turned to leave with Chu Yuechan and Chu Yueli.
“Awhh… Big sis, I still have so many things to tell you ! “
Yun Che held back Xia Yuanba who was trying to chase after his sister and shook his head : “That’s enough Yuanba, do not go over there. The day that she became a Frozen Cloud Asgard disciple, she could no longer be considered a member of the Xia family. Even after disciples of the Frozen Cloud Asgard Palace die, their bodies eternally remain within Asgard.”
“Oh.” Xia Yuanba nodded his head. No one could tell whether he really understood. His lips curled up in a laugh: “No matter, at least brother-in-law is still here. When big sis went there for two years, you already became so powerful. She will definitely be very happy.”
“…” Yun Che was suddenly left speechless for a long time by Xia Yuanba’s big heart.
“I heard that the ones leading the Frozen Cloud Asgard team this time, are the Fairy of Frozen Glass, Chu Yueli, and the Fairy of Frozen Beauty, Chu Yuechan, who has not made a public appearance in a long time. The one by Chu Yueli’s side should be the Chu Yuechan who pulled the souls and plagued the dreams of uncountable handsome and outstanding youths in the past.” Cang Yue walked over and said : “Too bad she’s wearing a veil. I would really like to see how beautiful “Blue Wind’s Number One Beauty”, whom my father has been harping about for half his life, is.”
“This Fairy of Frozen Beauty is as cold and aloof as rumored. Simply looking at her for a while makes me feel like my soul is getting frozen, giving me no confidence to go up and speak to her.” Cang Yue gently petted her chest. Chu Yuechan’s incomparably cold attitude left her an immeasurably deep impression. She carefully said: “However it’s strange. It’s rumored that she usually stays at the Frozen Cloud Asgard, and has never left for a few years or even a few decades now. It’s harder for someone to meet her than to ascend to heaven. Why did she choose to come to this particular ranking tournament?”
“…Perhaps the Frozen Cloud Asgard was too dull for too long so she came out to get a breath of fresh air.” Yun Che randomly said, before sighing faintly in his heart. A while ago, he had been looking at Chu Yuechan continuously, hoping to catch her gaze. Even if his target was cold and unfeeling, any apathetic glance would do… but Chu Yuechan concentrated on her tasks from beginning to end and was as cold as an ice statue. The face behind the veil was serene and completely ignored his existence.
The way she was ignoring him was worse than if she simply had no feelings.
“But I still get the feeling that Chu Yuechan seems to be stealing glances at you.” Cang Yue suddenly said.
“Stealing glances… at me?” Yun Che’s mouth grew wide open: “She was clearly just standing there without even moving, how do you know that she’s stealing glances at me?”
Cang Yue’s small head was shocked. After thinking it through for a while, with an entirely serious face, she replied: “A woman’s intuition.”
Yun Che: “Pfft…..”
——————————————
“In this boundless universe, there just aren’t any impossible miracles. Even a person who originally had completely crippled profound veins managed to show a shocking performance at this ranking tournament in not even two years. Looks like I had been staring at the sky from the bottom of the well when I stayed in Frozen Cloud Asgard for these past years..”
Chu Yueli sighed as she lamented. Clearly, Yun Che’s dramatic transformation had given her a big shock.
“Elder sister, do you know of any method in this world that would let a person whose profound veins which had been destroyed since they were young, be completely restored?” Chu Yueli faced Chu Yuechan and asked. However, even after waiting for quite a while, she did not get a reply. Chu Yuechan looked straight ahead, the light in her eyes like the reflection of a clear pool of still water, completely without ripples. It seemed like she did not not even hear what she had said at all.
“Elder sister?”
Chu Yuechan still did not respond.
Chu Yueli no longer said anything… Ever since Chu Yuechan suddenly left the palace half a year ago and came back, she suddenly seemed to have become a different person. Even as her younger sister who understood her the most, she could not guess what she was thinking at all.
Behind her, Shui Wushuang and Wu Xuexin gathered around Xia Qingyue on her left and right, having a private conversation.
“Junior Sister Xia, is that really your brother? The difference between you siblings is really great. You have such a soft and weak body but your brother is like a small giant.”
“That Yun Che is the person that you married? It’s such a surprise to have met him here. However, he’s actually quite good looking… Junior Sister Xia, the reason you persisted in marrying him, was it because you actually like him just a little bit?”
Xia Qingyue gently shook her head: “The only reason I married him was to fulfill the promise my father made in the past and because of my gratitude about his father’s rescue that saved my life. Since I have already become a disciple of Frozen Cloud Asgard, how could I have developed feelings for him?”
Having said to here, her mind flashed to a scene of when she saw Yun Che for the first time. He was walking together with a maid who had an elegant air and a pretty face, and they were obviously quite close. Her heart suddenly felt just a tad uncomfortable… but this uncomfortable feeling was very slight, and it disappeared in a flash.
————————————
On the second and third day, the first round of the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament continued.
In this first round of group stages, Yun Che was indeed quite lucky. In the group of fifty people that he was in, not only were there no disciples from the Four Major Sects, the strongest practitioner was only at the fifth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. But of the six disciples that were at the fifth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, he did not even meet a single one. Within three days, he fought twelve battles and the strongest expert he met was only at the fourth level of the Spirit Profound Realm… With his undefeated streak of twelve wins, he entered the top 300 ranking, entering into the second round of group stage matches.
This result was enough to make anyone drop their spectacles.
“Damn! Even though I admit that this person of the True Profound Realm is much stronger than expected, to even be able to fight with others of a higher realm, but to actually enter into the second round of the group stage with an undefeated streak… This is just too exaggerated.”
“This guy’s luck is just too good. The strongest opponent he met was just at the fourth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. My luck is not as good. Everyone I met was abnormally strong. If I was in his shoes, I would have an undefeated streak too.”
“Forget it. It’s easy talking about it, but getting it done is another matter. Why don’t you try fighting with someone at the third or fourth level of the Spirit Realm while you’re only at the tenth level of the True Profound Realm!?”
“…”
Without any suspense, Xia Qingyue and Ling Yun were also able to clear the first round of group stages with undefeated streaks. Of their twelve rounds, about half their opponents surrendered without a fight. The efficiency simply could not be any higher.
After the first round of group stages ended, Xia Yuanba pumped his fist and cheered. Cang Yue was beaming, and Qin Wushang could not contain his smiles any longer. Even though he was confidence that Yun Che could make it into the second round of group stages, when it finally happened, he was still unable to control his emotions… Because this was the first time ever that the disciples representing the Blue Wind Imperial Family made into the second round of group stages! The first time a disciple entered into the top three hundred rankings!
“I will immediately send news to the Emperor. He will be very happy upon receiving this news. Perhaps if his mood improves greatly then his health might make a turn towards improving.” Qin Wushang said in an incomparably emotional way. Without waiting any further, he found a corner to send news to the Emperor.
“This is too wonderful Junior Brother Yun. You have established a new ranking record for disciples representing the Imperial Family. After Father receives news of this, he will certainly be very happy. If you could reach the top hundred ranks, then even if Father had to return to heaven, he could do so without any regrets… Junior Brother Yun, I sincerely thank you.” A red flush filled Cang Yue’s face. She gently held Yun Che’s hand, as her brows curved into two beautiful crescent moons.
Yun Che was about to say something when he suddenly felt a faintly discernable killing intent drift across his face. With the smile not leaving his face, he gripped Cang Yue’s hands and gently said: “Then… Senior Sister, how do you intend to reward me?”
“Ah? What kind of reward do you want?” Cang Yue blinked her beautiful eyes.
“I want Senior Sister… to kiss me.” Yun Che slightly turned his face and grinned.
“Ah? Right here?” Cang Yue looked around in all four directions and a shade of pink spread across her absolutely beautiful face. Her lips puckered slightly. She suddenly moved forward, left a quick kiss on Yun Che’s face, and then immediately lowered her head with her heart pounding fiercely.
Not far away, Fen Juecheng was looking at Yun Che and Cang Yue. From his hands came a “bang” sound. The second armrest of his chair had been broken in his fury.
“Big bro, what’s the matter?” Upon hearing this sound, Fen Juebi turned his head to ask.
The flesh on Fen Juecheng’s face spasmed. His face, which was originally handsome, now had a sinister air spread throughout. His eyes were filled with a shocking venom : “I’m going to chop this little bastard… in… to… thousands of pieces!!”
————————————
On the fourth day of the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament, the second round of group stages officially started. At the same time, the one thousand and two hundred disciples that were eliminated in the first round went to the secondary venue in the rear hills to compete for the rankings below the top three hundred. It was only that the ranking tournament at the secondary venue had a far smaller audience. Both the quality and atmosphere of the secondary venue could not compare to that of the main venue.
The second round of group stages was likewise held on the thirty little sword arenas. Even though the number of participating disciples were condensed to only three hundred, every person had to fight a full fifteen matches! At the same time, even though this round of group stages was still by “group matches”, the competitors were no longer divided into groups. Everyone’s opponent was no longer restricted to a small range and could be drawn from the entire set of disciples who had entered into the second round. This allowed the highest chance of making sure that everything was fair.
However, there was no such thing as absolute fairness. Even though the second round was not divided into groups, the opponent that was selected for every match was still something to watch out for. If someone originally had the ability to rank within the top hundred but was so unlucky as to encounter opponents from the Four Major Sects for all fifteen of his battles, then he could only cradle his head and cry in pain. There was no way to logically debate against that. And someone else, whose strength was only average but only met opponents who were below average, could manage to win all his battles.
Of course, the chances of either of these two extremes happening were very low. Everyone’s fifteen matches were on the whole bound to be fair and equal.
“Sword Discourse Arena Number Seven, first match. Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che —— versus —— Thunderbolt Lightning Pavilion’s Lei Zhentian!”
The battles at the thirty Sword Discourse Arenas proceeded at the same time. Yun Che’s first opponent was already standing in front of him. With an incomparably stout body, he was only twenty years old but looked like a buff forty year old man. The weapons in his hands were two large round hammers.
The Yun Che who had exploded into the second round of group stages with an undefeated record naturally drew more attention. Looking at his next opponent, everybody’s heart had exactly the same idea: This time, this Yun Che would lose for certain.
He could defeat opponents at the third level of the Spirit Profound Realm and opponents at the fourth level of the Spirit Profound Realm… but no matter how overpowered he was, there must be a limit, and this Lei Zhentian was the Young Pavilion Master of the Thunderbolt Lightning Pavilion from the Northwestern Reaches of the Mighty Jolt Region! His profound strength was at the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm! The Twin Thunderbolt Hammers he held in his hands were sufficient to smash a large boulder into small pieces. If smashed onto a person’s head it would directly turn them into pulp.
“Junior Brother Yun, do your best…” Cang Yue gripped the hem of her skirts with both hands and nervously mumbled.
Chapter 212 - Consecutive Victories!
Seeing that his opponent was Yun Che, Lei Zhentian was evidently startled for a moment, and then began to laugh out loud. “I didn’t expect that my first opponent today was actually you, brat. Looks like this great dark horse, is about to become a dead horse soon. Reveal your weapon!”
“Then that will depend on whether you have the capability.” Yun Che said indifferently.
If the opponent who said that was several levels higher than him, he would have been alright with it. However, the person who said this was someone who was only at the True Profound Realm; undoubtedly, he instantly went into a rage. Without saying anything more, he swung his twin hammers, creating two fierce and abnormal waves of wind which struck directly towards Yun Che’s chest.
Lei Zhentian’s Twin Thunderbolt Hammers weighed four hundred kilos each, but in his hands, they were incomparably light and nimble, and the roaring of the wind brought by the swings were especially deep and heavy.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Six incomparably fierce hammer strikes were entirely blocked by the back of Yun Che’s hands. Those concentrated banging sounds were completely unlike the sound of impact between a heavy hammer and a human body and were more like the sound of a heavy hammer smashing onto a rock. When these six blows landed, shocked surfaced from Lei Zhentian’s expression. With the Twin Thunderbolt Hammers that weighed a total of eight hundred kilos together, and adding his innate profound strength, they were actually blocked continuously by his opponent’s bare hands!
And after blocking them, forget about injuries, there were not even reddened marks on his hands.
Is his body actually made of iron!?
I simply won’t believe that you’ll be able to continue blocking all of them!!
Lei Zhentian’s gaze darkened. The profound energy in his entire body began to flow wildly and just like a blazing wheel of fire, his body began to spin at high speed. Like a fierce hurricane, he smashed his Twin Thunderbolt Hammers towards Yun Che, with each strike fiercer than the previous one.
Bang bang bang bang…
In a few breaths of time, dozens of crazy hammer strikes had landed, yet, still none of them had stained Yun Che’s clothes; all of them were blocked by the back of his hands and wrists. The more Lei Zhentian struck, the more shocked he became. Finally, with a great roar, his sect’s profound art exploded out instantly.
“Rumbling Thunderbolt!!”
The Twin Thunderbolt Hammers suddenly smashed down at the same time with a pressure that was much stronger than earlier by several times. Yun Che frowned. He did not take the hit directly, instead, he retreated a distance of three body lengths. When the two hammers struck empty air, they suddenly smashed against each other. A bolt of lightning which contained a strong concentration of lightning energy was suddenly released, charging straight towards Yun Che’s side.
Crack!
With a deafening screech, the bolt of lightning exploded as it made contact with the floor, causing a big portion of the floor to turn crisp black. As for Yun Che, he had already leaped far behind. When he landed, with a swing of his arms, he held onto the Overlord’s Colossal Sword in front of him with his two hands.
For the first time in the Ranking Tournament, he finally revealed his heavy sword.
“The hell! What a big sword! So that’s his weapon?”
“Is that the legendary heavy sword? He’s actually using a heavy sword as his weapon? Can he actually swing it?”
The moment Yun Che brought out his heavy sword, it brought about a huge wave of astonishment and whispering voices. On the Sword Discourse Arena, Lei Zhentian’s expression shook, because he realized that the moment Yun Che wielded his heavy sword, he had changed into a completely different person.
Heavy swords were excessively large; no matter the weight, or size, they were extremely difficult to wield. However, when Yun Che was wielding such a huge sword in his hands, it actually looked very fitting, and there was not even a hint of incoordination, as though the sword was birthed just for him, forming a single entity with Yun Che. It was not grabbed onto by his hands, rather, it grew from his hands, and was a part of his body in the first place.
The atmosphere around Yun Che had undergone an earthshaking change as well. Earlier, he saw that under Yun Che’s calmness, there was a hint of mysteriousness but he had not possessed any sharp edges. However, the moment he brought out his heavy sword, it was as though he was looking at a towering mountain with a indiscernible peak in front of him. A thought of “basically no possible way of winning” quickly sprouted in his heart, causing him to grip onto his two hammers even more tightly. However, even after a long while, he did not dare to take a step forward.
Just what kind of freak is this… I had once tried a heavy sword-type weapon, but I was completely incapable of wielding it, hence, I could only give up on it. But this person, not only can he wield a heavy sword, his compatibility with the heavy sword could actually reach such an extent… With the heavy sword’s characteristics, even if it’s a genius, he would at least require hundred, or even hundreds of years to reach a realm as high as this…
As he thought of this, Lei Zhentian’s back was drenched with even more sweat.
“Receive my blow!”
Yun Che wielded his heavy sword horizontally and with a flash of his body, he instantly closed the distance by fifteen meters. Lei Zhentian quickly regained his senses. With a loud roar, he poured all of his strength into his two arms, taking the blow head on… The heavy sword in his hands moved so quickly that it might be possible that his heavy sword was simply large in size while its actual weight was not that heavier than a light sword.
Only when the Twin Thunderbolt Hammers clashed against the Overlord’s Colossal Sword, did Lei Zhentian realize that the thought he had in his mind was nothing but laughable imagination. A majestically large force that exceeded far beyond his expectations came from right in front of him, causing the hands he was wielding his two hammers with to momentarily numb. As though it had been blown away by a hurricane, his body was sent flying high in the air…
Bang!!!
Lei Zhentian struck heavily onto the profound energy barrier in the rear, tumbled down onto the ground, and he was completely in a daze. When he finally managed to stand himself up, his Twin Thunderbolt Hammers had long flown away from his hands.
“Do you still want to fight?” Yun Che lightly tapped his heavy sword on the ground. With the tip of the sword as the starting point, a fissure appeared on the incomparably hard floor of the Sword Discourse Arena. If he had not pulled out his heavy sword, Lei Zhentian could still stand up against him, however, the moment he wielded his heavy sword, Lei Zhentian simply turned into fodder.
It could be said that, when compared to his unarmed state, Yun Che’s combat strength wielding his heavy sword was in a completely different realm.
Recalling the catastrophic strength he demonstrated earlier, although Lei Zhentian did not receive any substantive injuries, he no longer had the courage to continue the battle. With a bow, he softly said. “I admit defeat… Since you’re able to wield a heavy sword which I am not capable of even after working so hard to do so, I’m well convinced about my lost!”
“Lei Zhentian admits defeat, Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che wins!!”
The people who paid attention to this match, who waited for Yun Che to lose terribly, were once again completely dumbfounded.
Even Lei Zhentian, had actually lost in the hands of a disciple from Blue Wind Imperial Family who only possessed the strength at the tenth level of the True Profound Realm!!
A result like this, could only be described ‘incredible’.
In Yun Che’s second match, his opponent was a spear-using practitioner with strength at the fifth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. This time, Yun Che wielded his heavy sword the moment the match started, and after three exchanges of blows, his opponent’s spear was sent flying, and his opponent was sent flying as well after the fourth exchange…
“…Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che wins!”
Third match…
“…Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che wins!”
Fourth match…
“…Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che wins!”
Fifth match…
Sixth match…
Seventh match…
Eighth match…
………
Yun Che’s matches began to receive even more attention with each subsequent match, to the point when, the moment he stepped onto the Sword Discourse Arena, even if disciples from the Four Major Sects were competing on another Sword Discourse Arena, a large number of eyes would still immediately shift onto his Sword Discourse Arena. And then, they saw him obtain victory… victory… victory… another victory… and still another victory… Their expressions toward him would change over and over as well, startlement… astonishment… shock… horror… and at the end, they were basically numbed.
Every one of them still recalled the first day of the Ranking Tournament; that burst of laughter that resounded through the entire audience when Yun Che came up on stage for the Profound Strength Assessment. But now, he used one match after another, with each match capable of being crowned as ‘impossible’ and ‘miraculous’ victories, to respectfully give every one of those, who laughed at him, a resounding slap on the face in turn.
Whenever each match began, everyone would think that he would definitely lose that match, but he still turned out victorious… Everyone then began to feel like watching a match he would lose in, but they were still left disappointed. In the first round of group stages, Yun Che obtained complete victories in all twelve matches. Even during the second round of group stages, as each match went by, he still obtained victory in every one of them, not giving them the chance to see a single loss.
If he was at the peak of the Spirit Profound Realm, or a practitioner at the sixth or seventh level, then everyone would be shocked when he obtained successive victories, but they would not feel that it was unacceptable. But this Yun Che… His strength was merely at the True Profound Realm! A profound realm in which they thought was simply unworthy of participating in the Ranking Tournament.
Yet he swept through one Spirit Profound Realm absolute genius after another!
And he swept through their understanding as well.
As Yun Che accumulated victories, Qin Wushang’s expression became more and more agitated as well. When Yun Che won his tenth match, he was so agitated that he stood up from his seat and momentarily teared up… Because with these ten victories, even if he were to lose all of the five remaining matches, it would still be enough to for him to place in the top hundred of the individual ranking! Blue Wind Imperial Family’s group ranking, might even directly enter the top fifty as well!!
Not only did it break Blue Wind Imperial Family’s history of never being in the top hundred of the Ranking Tournament, it was even a huge breakthrough!
Covering her lips with her two hands, Cang Yue’s cheeks were also stained in tears. She looked at Yun Che who was walking down the Sword Discourse Arena. Her vision was become more and more blurry, and in her heart, she was screaming this over and over: ‘Father, are you seeing this? Junior Brother Yun has carried us to the top hundred rankings… Father, your dream has truly been fulfilled. With this one vent of frustration, our Blue Wind Imperial Family will no longer be ridiculed by others… Father, are you seeing this…? Are you seeing this…’
Where there were happy people, there would naturally be angry ones as well. At the Burning Heaven Clan’s seating area, Fen Juecheng’s expression was sullen and his lungs were about to explode from anger. He was currently really regretting coming to the Heavenly Sword Villa personally. Otherwise, he would not be so angry to the extreme, because he was unable to personally take action, and had to suppress his rage so much that he felt like dying. He wanted to see Yun Che being ridiculed. He wanted to see him tortured by his opponents. Yet, what he saw was Yun Che taking the spotlight time and time again, while grabbing everyone’s eyes time and time again; he even suppressed the spotlight of all the Four Major Sects’ disciples.
These two rounds of small group matches, were basically his own personal performance matches!!
“Big bro, it’s completely unnecessary for you to be so angry over such a small figure.” Fen Juebi said slowly. “For him to be capable of winning up till now, I can only say that his luck is simply too great. In the first set of small group matches, he was basically alloted into the group with the weakest average strength… and in this second set of group matches, hehe, did you see all those trashy opponents he encountered? Until now, his strongest opponent was only at the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. If he had encountered any single disciple from the top ten sects, he would have been thrashed so hard his own mother would’ve been incapable of recognizing him.”
“Hmph!” Fen Juecheng gave him a glare. “When you’re at the tenth level of the True Profound Realm, were you able to defeat an opponent at the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm!?”
Fen Juebi was momentarily at a loss of words, and then, he simply pouted his lips. “If you put it that way, then he’s indeed a freak. But currently, I really wish to see him continue winning, until… he enters the top thirty-two.”
Fen Juecheng’s eyes flashed. “Are you saying?”
“Hehe! If he were to really reach the top thirty-two, enter the elimination matches, and unfortunately be matched up with me, tsktsk…” Fen Juebi licked his lips, his expression revealing a smile like that of a poisonous snake. “I have a way to turn this freak into trash. The exhilaration from personally destroying a freak-level genius, big brother, you know of it as well, it’s a wonderful sensation that cannot be described.”
Chapter 213 - Qingyue Under the Moon
The wind was blowing loudly in the pitch black night. The moonlight was dull and the stars were sparse; it was prime time to secretly sneak around… Ah no, to secretly night crawl.
Tomorrow was the last day for the second round of the group stage. Yun Che, who won ten out of ten matches, had already secured his rank in the top hundred. Yun Che didn’t even think of it as anything special himself, yet Qin Wushang was unbearably full of joy, and that laughing mouth of his had not closed from afternoon all the way till evening. Of course, Cang Yue was also terribly delighted, and when a beauty was delighted, it was naturally much easier to take action.
Perhaps, she would fall to him tonight.
As he thought to here, Yun Che instantly started to laugh lewdly. Just as he jumped off the bed and was about to head out for Cang Yue’s room, the door to his room was suddenly knocked, and Xia Yuanba’s voice came from the outside: “Brother-in-law, are you asleep yet?”
The time wasn’t very late yet, but it was already very quiet outside. In order to not disturb him, Qin Wushang and Xia Yuanba would never visit him at night, unless there was some urgent matter.
Yun Che walked over to open the door: “Yuanba, what is it?”
“Oh, it’s that big sis just came earlier, and wanted me to give this thing to you.” Xia Yuanba took out a small spatial ring, and gave it to Yun Che.
“Your sister? Qingyue came over earlier?” Yun Che took the ring, and said in a surprised tone.
“Mhm.” Xia Yuanba nodded: “Big sis said that you actually don’t need these things anymore, but they are also useless to be carried around on her, and wants me to pass this on to you anyway.”
Something that Qingyue my wife would give to me? What would it be?
Yun Che lifted the ring, and opened his inner vision… In the spacious spatial ring, there only existed three things.
A profound core. Its aura was thick and rich; it was clearly an Earth Profound Beast’s profound core! A chunk of fist sized crystal that looked like purple-colored ice crystals… it was shockingly a Purple Veined Heavenly Crystal! And planted within a transparent jade bottle, was an eccentric grass with a twisted stem, seven sharp and long leaves, as well as a seven-colored brilliance flowing through its entire body…
Seven Profound Gem Grass!!
The inside of Yun Che’s heart violently shook.
Seven Profound Gem Grass, Purple Veined Heavenly Crystal, Earth Profound Beast’s profound core… These were clearly the three things that he had mentioned to Xia Qingyue back then, that could be used to heal his crippled profound veins at time.
Yun Che lifted his head up, and asked urgently: “How long has it been since Qingyue left?”
“Ehm, she just left a little while ago. Brother-in-law, you want…”
Before Xia Yuanba finished talking, Yun Che had already rushed out like a gust of wind, and instantly vanished before Xia Yuanba’s eyes.
Xia Yuanba stood in front of the room’s door, scratched his head with a innocent face, and muttered in a small voice: “Should I have told Brother-in-law right when Big Sis came…”
After exiting the courtyard, Yun Che stopped for an instant, and perceived the remaining threads of ice-cold aura with his incomparably sharp sense. Following the direction that the ice-cold aura had lead to, Yun Che went full throttle, and madly chased. Not long after, under the pitch-black curtain of night, a graceful figure in fluttering snow-colored attire appeared in his vision. He slowed down his footsteps, and quickly shouted: “Qingyue!”
The voice that came from behind made Xia Qingyue stop her feet. She quietly turned around, and her eyes met with Yun Che, who had chased here. In regards to Yun Che’s pursuit, she did not seem to be very surprised. Her charming eyes did not waver, and her voice was soft and calm: “What matter does Sir Yun seek from this Qingyue?”
The form of address “Sir Yun” made the corner of Yun Che’s mouth slightly cramp. He opened his mouth and asked: “Qingyue my wife, I want to ask you a question… Our marriage certificate that I passed over to you that day… is it still there?”
Xia Qingyue lifted her snow-white hand, and lightly stroked her ring. A sheet of flat and undamaged marriage certificate that was meticulously protected within a colorless crystal was taken out by her. With a lifting motion of her hand, the marriage certificate flew toward Yun Che, and landed in his hands… And this sheet of paper, was precisely the marriage certificate between him and Qingyue that was perfectly flawless and undamaged!
A kind of wordless moved emotion birthed in Yun Che’s heart. The existence of this marriage certificate, perhaps could not prove that Xia Qingyue truly held some feelings toward him, but it proved that after the day he left, she protected his last bit of dignity with all her might.
At least, when her husband was in a perilous situation, she, as the wife, did not take the opportunity to forsake him, but had actually went through with the most sacred part of a wife’s duty.
The existence of this marriage certificate, was also proclaiming that they had always been husband and wife, including now.
“That time, you didn’t have the power to protect this marriage certificate, so you passed it on to me. Now, I believe you already have the strength to protect it, so it should be returned to you anyway.” Xia Qingyue said in a light voice.
“Then, do you remember what I said, when I gave the marriage certificate to you?” Yun Che asked in a very quiet voice as he carefully put away the marriage certificate.
Xia Qingyue: “…”
“I said at that time: ‘If you still want to continue being my wife, then protect it; if you want to obtain complete freedom, then destroy it’….” As he spoke to here, Yun Che made a self-mocking laugh: “Actually, when I left that day, I had always thought that your choice would be to destroy the marriage certificate. Because, no matter if it’s for your father’s promise, or repaying the debt of gratitude toward Uncle Xiao Ying, the person you ought to marry was Xiao Ying’s son. However, you had already known that I wasn’t even Xiao Ying’s son at all, and was only a ‘bastard that was picked up’ in their mouths. You totally could have destroyed the marriage certificate, as well as our name as husband and wife in a right and proper way, and then cleanly enter Frozen Cloud Asgard. Why did you choose to instead, protect this marriage certificate?”
Xia Qingyue’s charming eyes looked straight at Yun Che’s, and did not have even a tiny bit of the intention of avoiding anything. The expression in her gaze was completely tranquil. After these one and half years in Frozen Cloud Asgard, Yun Che clearly felt that Xia Qingyue’s entire disposition had changed so much that it was as if heaven and earth had flipped. In those few days that they lived together after marriage, her gaze was indifferent, cold, and even a little bit loftiness and immaturity was hidden within. But now, the coldness in her eyes was completely replaced by apathy, and was as unfeeling as tranquil water, without the slightest of perturbation. The aura of her energy, however, had become bone-chilling cold.
Other than Frozen Cloud Arts, the Frozen Cloud Asgard’s core profound arts also included Frozen Heart Arts. The latter, could make one calm the heart, and empty the mind. To the extremes, one could achieve a state of truly having no desires, and look disinterestedly upon all life and death, victory and defeat, ambitions, as well as any good and evil in the world…
However, could a human without desire and pursuit, still be considered “human”?
“Qingyue cannot answer this question.”
“Why can’t you answer?”
Xia Qingyue said quietly: “Because what Qingyue thought that time, is already now forgotten. Perhaps, it is because the fate of us as husband and wife had yet to be finished.”
As she said the words “Fate as husband and wife”, these few words that were supposed to carry a sense of sentiment, were spoken with indifference, and without any hint of drifting emotions. And this kind of indifference, gave Yun Che an uncomfortable feeling of suffocation. The Xia Qingyue of the old days was like an aloft ice lotus situated on a snow mountain. Even though the him that time was disabled and insignificant, he still had the incessant intention to probe and tease, and the desire to conquer and pluck her. If not for the unforeseen event that happened after, if given enough time, he firmly believed that he would succeed if they were under the same roof day and night.
But the Xia Qingyue now, gave him a feeling comparable to the bright moon that hung atop the blue sky; still impeccable as always, but was already extremely far away from him, to the point that it was impossible to reach.
Ahhh!! This Frozen Cloud Asgard place, is really harmful!!
As he thought about how Chu Yuechan, who had lived together with him for five months, still left resolutely even after XXOOing, along with the changes in Xia Qingyue… Yun Che’s heart instantly boiled with an impulse to destroy Frozen Cloud Asgard.
Taking in so many peerlessly beauties, yet turning them into otherworldly beings unstained by the desires of the world… It was virtually a place that all men, no matter human or god, would be angry towards in their hearts!
Yun Che’s chest rose up and back down. After calming his state of mind, he said with a peaceful tone: “Thank you for finding me the Seven Profound Gem Grass, Earth Profound Beast’s profound core, and Purple Veined Heavenly Crystal. I know that even if it’s Frozen Cloud Asgard, to find all three of these within one and half years would not be that easy. Moreover, you were only a newly entered disciple.”
“No need for thanks,” Xia Qingyue’s voice was light yet graceful: “Compared to your favor of opening all of my profound entrances, these, can’t be considered much.”
“Me opening your profound entrances, was only expending a few drops of sweat. But you finding all these things for me, was not as simple as just expending a few drops of sweat. However, I indeed should not say thank you, since we are husband and wife.” Yun Che slightly smiled.
Xia Qingyue: “….”
“May I ask you three questions?”
“Please ask.” Xia Qingyue did not refuse.
It had gone deeper and deeper into the night. Even though there were only a few sparse stars in the sky, the round moon was extraordinarily brilliant, and generously poured down its bright moonlight. But as it shone on Xia Qingyue’s body, these flawless and beautiful moonbeams, could only be reduced into the unnoticeable background. Emanating a kind of indescribable and suffocating beauty, the Xia Qingyue under the moonlight was as if a goddess had descended from the heavens. Seeing this figure that was beautiful to the point of almost illusory, to say that Yun Che’s heartbeat did not increase in pace was impossible. He slowly took a breath in, and asked: “In Frozen Cloud Asgard, did you live well?”
“Very well. The Asgard Mistress, Master, Senior Masters, Junior Masters, as well as all the Junior and Senior Sisters all treated me very well.” Xia Qingyue answered in a very succinct manner.
“Mn, then that’s great.” Yun Che nodded: “Second question. I had wanted to know this answer a long time ago. However, at that time, you did not tell me… I want to know, when we married, exactly what realm was your profound strength already at?”
The Yun Che at that time was absolutely sure, that Xia Qingyue’s profound strength was definitely not the tenth level of the Elementary Profound Realm that was shown on the surface. However, the rank of her profound strength at the tenth level of the Elementary Profound Realm was known throughout the entire city, and no one had ever questioned it. Even those of the senior generation, who had strength far surpassing Elementary Profound Realm, thought her as only in the tenth level of the Elementary Profound Realm. It was as if her true strength was hidden with some kind of special method. As for the reason to hide it, Yun Che understood that very well. In a little place like Floating Cloud City, a 16 year old at the pinnacle of the Elementary Profound Realm was already a number one genius recognized by the masses. If the profound strength she exhibited was of the Nascent Profound Realm, or even the peak of the Nascent Profound Realm, it would definitely instigate an unpredictable uproar.
This time, Xia Qingyue did not refuse, and directly answered: “When I was twelve, I met Master. At the age of thirteen, I broke through the Elementary Profound Realm, and stepped into the Nascent Profound Realm. Fourteen, I broke through Nascent Profound, and entered the True Profound Realm. After my marriage with you at the age of sixteen, I was at the pinnacle of True Profound Realm, just like you right now.”
Yun Che: “…!!!”
Chapter 214 - The True Beginning
Yun Che was silent for a long time with only shock in his heart.
At that time, even though he was absolutely certain that Xia Qingyue’s profound strength was not just at the tenth level of the Elementary Profound Realm, he only surmised that her true profound strength was at the Nascent Profound Realm, and at most, the peak of the Nascent Profound Realm. Never would he have expected that the Xia Qingyue then, was actually the same as the current him, at the tenth level of the True Profound Realm! And was only at a distance of a step away from the Spirit Profound Realm.
It was something the him at that time would never imagine. Because to a little Floating Cloud City, reaching the pinnacle of the True Profound Realm at the age of sixteen, was even more mythical than myth.
If she had immediately announced her sixteen year old self’s profound strength to be at tenth level of the True Profound Realm at that time, that kind of sensation, would not merely be in just a Floating Cloud City, but also deeply startle the surrounding cities, including the Blue Wind Imperial Family. If that happened, it would be fundamentally impossible for Xia Qingyue to even think about comfortably staying within Floating Cloud City.
It was also no wonder that Frozen Cloud Asgard would choose Xia Qingyue. Her innate talent, was actually at this shocking level!
“So that’s how it is. I suppose your Master was afraid that your profound strength was just too universally shocking, so she used some kind of method to help you cover it up and let your profound strength aura be only at the tenth level of the Elementary Profound Realm. Right?”
Xia Qingyue nodded slightly.
“Third question.” Yun Che looked straight at Xia Qingyue with a bit of an assertiveness in his gaze: “I want to know, in this period of time you’ve been at Frozen Cloud Asgard, have you ever, once in awhile, thought about me?”
“…” Xia Qingyue became silent. After a short while, she turned around and softly said: “It is already getting late. There are still matches tomorrow, it’s best to rest early. Qingyue should also return now.”
When she finished speaking, without waiting for Yun Che’s response, she was already shifting away with light steps. After her snowy clothes started to float lightly, her figure was already moving further and further away at a fast pace… without the slightest hesitation.
Yun Che did not chase after her. He sucked air in and softly yelled out in a voice loud enough for her to hear: “After tomorrow, I will definitely enter the last thirty two ranking battles! If we meet during the Round of Thirty Two, I hope that you will not go easy on me!!”
His voice slowly swept outwards and Xia Qingyue’s silhouette, had already disappeared from his line of sight.
——————————————
Sixth day of the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament, which was also the last day of the second round of group stages.
The focus of most of the gazes, was still upon Yun Che’s matches. Everyone wanted to see how far this person with the lowest profound strength amongst numerous disciples, who was a freak level super dark horse, could possibly go in this ranking tournament.
Since yesterday’s ten consecutive wins in the second round of group stages, Yun Che’s victories within the group stage had not stopped, rather, it continued on after every match within each and every shocked shout.
Eleventh match:
“…Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che wins!”
Qin Wushang tightly gripped both hands in excitement, itching to wave his hands in the air and shout loudly without the slightest of elegance.
Twelfth match:
“…Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che wins!”
Qin Wushang stood up in excitement with trembling lips. As both his hands shook, it was as if he did not know where to put them.
Thirteenth match:
“…Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che wins!”
Even Qin Wushang’s black beard started to shake as he continued to repeat himself: “Top fifty… Top fifty… Top fifty…”
Top fifty in the individual ranking was a position that he did not even dare to even wish for! His long time wish was the same as Cang Wanhe’s, and he only wished for their power ranking to be in the top hundred. And now, Yun Che alone, had already let the entire Imperial Family obtain a rank so high it was not known how many times higher it was from their original goal… He could imagine how excited this would make Cang Wanhe feel when he received news of this.
…………
Fifteenth match, which was also the last match:
“…Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che wins!”
“Blue Wind Imperial Family’s competing disciple Yun Che, second round of group stages, complete victory in all fifteen matches, directly advances to tomorrow’s elimination rounds!”
The referee declared these achievements with a type of incomparable amazement when looking at Yun Che… Fifteen consecutive victories. In the previous ranking tournaments, even though there were very few disciples outside of those belonging to that of the Four Major Sects who had accomplished this, it wasn’t like there weren’t any who had not done it before. But, obtaining fifteen consecutive victories with a profound strength at the tenth level of the True Profound Realm…
A single phrase wildly surged inside the referee’s heart… What kind of cosmic joke was this! Have I gone crazy or did the entire continent already go mad!
Aside from Yun Che, Xia Qingyue, Ling Yun, Fen Jin, Xiao Kuanglei, and other disciples within the Four Major Sects also finished with complete victories in the second round of group stages, which meant that they too, did not need to be ranked and could directly advance into tomorrow’s elimination rounds.
“Complete victory… top thirty two… Even if he were to place last in tomorrow’s elimination rounds, his individual ranking would still be at thirty second place…” It had been a while since Qin Wushang’s bottom had touched his seat. He was so excited that he was essentially incapable of sitting down as he continued to rave deliriously, with each of his words carrying a deep vibrato. At this moment, he deeply felt that he was currently dreaming, and was also deeply afraid that this was merely a dream…
In contrast, Cang Yue was much more tranquil. After all, unlike Qin Wushang, she did not carry the burden of always seeing the previous ranking tournament’s dismal performance results that brought along such humiliation, resentment, and unwillingness. She also had never constantly dreamed, and wished for a day of one day being this proud with elation. Seeing Yun Che knock down every opponent that came his way, while reaching an even greater height that evoked a higher cry of surprise from the entire audience, she was inwardly joyous, proud, and completely filled with a sense of satisfaction. As she thought back to the time when she had first gotten acquainted with him in New Moon City and all the little details that came after that, she unwittingly, began to smile.
He is a person who has always brought hope, nice surprises, and miracles…
Meeting him, is my lifetime’s most fortunate of miraculous encounters.
“What a truly unforeseen outcome. I originally thought that I was already overestimating him, but I didn’t expect that I was still greatly underestimating him. He actually entered the top thirty two with a sweeping victorious performance. For a True Profound Realm to obtain such an accomplishment is the first of all historical precedents, and is also something that is fundamentally impossible to happen again in the future.” Ling Yuefeng lamented with sincerity as he watched Yun Che walk down the Sword Discourse Arena after fifteen consecutive victories.
“Mn.” Ling Yun nodded slowly.
“However, for him to obtain such a result, we also have to say that a large portion of that is due to good luck. After all, in the second round of group stages, he had never come across anyone from any large sects; especially, disciples from our Four Major Sects. Otherwise, it is fundamentally impossible for him to continuously keep up his consecutive victories. But if we put this aside, for him to have reached this point with strength only in the True Profound Realm… this younger generation will surpass us in time.”
“Father, for one to defeat an opponent of a higher level, there are only three possible reasons why. One of them, is when one’s innate talent of using of profound energy is so high that they are able to bring out a power that’s double their own profound strength. The second, is when one’s profound arts and techniques are so strong that they are able to completely crush their opponent. The third, is when one’s innate talent is astonishingly superior with a special nature, like an innate divine strength, a hardened body, a sharp perception, and so on. The majority that appear amongst all these are those who have crushingly strong profound arts and profound techniques… Father, can you tell what kind of profound art he is using?” Ling Yun cautiously asked.
Ling Yuefeng actually shook his head: “I am completely incapable of seeing through his profound art. No matter his freestyle martial arts or his use of the heavy sword, the profound energy that he releases is incomparably fierce. It directly releases and retracts; the feeling it gave me was instead more like pure profound energy, without the existence of any profound arts. However, the strength of this pure profound energy far surpassed the limit of the True Profound Realm… To be able to triumph over opponents across such a big gap, is also the first I’ve seen in my life. Seems like, after the match, it’ll be necessary for me to find him for a little chat.”
Ling Yun glanced at his father with a slight surprise. From his birth until now, it was actually the first time he had see his father show such curiosity towards a youth. However, Yun Che did indeed have such qualifications.
After the second round of group stages, the sect’s disciples were directly ranked out using the number of wins. Among them, the top thirty two disciples in the rankings would proceed to the last elimination round on the main Sword Discourse Arena tomorrow. Disciples below the one hundredth rank, as well as rank thirty three to one hundred, would respectively be transferred to different secondary arenas, and progress to the ranking battles between their ranks.
The elimination round, was the last stage of the Ranking Tournament, as well as the core existence of the entire Ranking Tournament. Because, among over one thousand and five hundred participating disciples, these were the decided strongest thirty-two people! Who represented the pinnacle of the Blue Wind Empire’s younger generation’s strength! Even though the elimination round only had thirty two people, it would last for an entire five days, longer than any round of group stage matches. The arena would also no longer be the small Sword Discourse Arenas, and would instead be the enormous central Main Sword Discourse Arena.
————————————
The next morning, as the sky was just barely lighting up, the Sword Discourse Arena in the Heavenly Sword Villa was already clamoring.
The final event of Blue Wind Ranking Tournament, the Round of Thirty Two, had finally begun!
An enormous profound stone was temporarily erected in the center of the Main Sword Discourse Arena, and the names of the thirty two people who had entered the Round of Thirty Two, as well as the sect they belonged two were displayed on top. Amongst these thirty two names, the twelve disciples from the Four Major Sects were all present without any exceptions.
But in the history of this Ranking Tournament, this was a sight that was most common. If even one were to be missing from there, it would instead be abnormal. The great disparity between the Four Major Sects and the other sects, could be glimpsed at from this. And so, there was another name for this last Round of Thirty Two, called the “Four Major Sect’s Showdown Battle”, which by name, wasn’t exaggerated in the least.
“I had never thought even in my dreams, that there would be a day our Blue Wind Imperial Family’s name would actually appear on it.” Looking at that enormous profound stone in the arena, Qin Wushang’s complexion actually carried a deep devoutness within. He was excited to the point of being unable to sleep at all last night, and to also come here so early in the morning. His feeling of excitement could not be suppressed no matter what.
Every single name on the profound stone was more breathtaking than the last, and the name of the sects was also more astonishing than the last. Qin Wushang believed, that Yun Che’s steps in this Ranking Tournament would be stopped here, because none of the last thirty one could be compared to the opponents he had encountered before. But even if he were to lose on the first round, the gains from this Ranking Tournament would already far surpass the original expectations; there was already nothing he was unsatisfied about.
“Participating disciples of the Round of Thirty Two, please come to the stage and draw the lot for battle order!”
There was only one judge during the entire Round of Thirty Two, and that would be Ling Wugou. Following Ling Wugou’s loud cry, thirty two people came up one by one and drew their own battle number.
“Junior Brother Yun, what number… Ah? It’s actually… Number one!”
Cang Yue took the plate in Yun Che’s hand. The number on there, was shockingly, a large “One”.
Which is to say, that in today’s match, Yun Che would the first to take the stage!
“If I’m first, then I’m first. Saves me from impatiently waiting anyway.” Yun Che said nonchalantly.
“Yun Che, it is already very very impressive of you to be able to enter the Round of Thirty Two.” Qin Wushang said: “However, in the Round of Thirty Two, every single opponent would be extraordinary. Especially the Four Major Sect’s disciples; you have never met them before, and simply do not know their dreadfulness at all. So, in today’s matches, if you feel that you cannot win, it is not shameful at all to surrender early. You have already created a miracle that has shocked the entire audience, so you definitely should not try to flaunt yourself. Otherwise, it would be bad if you, by any chance, receive malicious injuries from the opponent. It is already enough for you to reach here in this year’s ranking tournament. The next ranking tournament, would be your true stage.”
Yun Che nodded: “Palace Chief Qin, be at ease. I will definitely advance when I need to, and when I ought to retreat, I won’t brainlessly overexert myself either.”
“That’s good then.” Qin Wushang nodded while smiling.
Gripping his own number plate while looking toward the gigantic central Sword Discourse Arena in front of him under rows after rows of gazes with variant intentions, Yun Che truly felt that this current round in the ranking tournament, was not at all the finish line that Qin Wushang had expressed…
Instead, it was the true beginning!!
————————————
Author note: 【That’s right, the Ranking Tournament has just begun. The earlier group stages was all for(filling)-mali(up)-ty(words), the true match only starts now. Speaking of which, in the last last book from this Mars, Pig Feet and Hua Qimeng fought for an entire ten-odd chapters on the final match… I was thinking, if I did ten-odd chapters for every single match ahead here, Mn… I believe that all of you definitely would not beat me to death!! 】
Chapter 215 - Fighting Xiao Nan
After all thirty two remaining people selected their numbers, their battle order appeared on the Profound Stone.
Once the order was released, it instantly caused a large debate amongst the audience.
The thirty two contestants were split into two groups of sixteen. Every match, one contestant would be eliminated. The two victors of the groups would eventually face off in the finals to decide who will be the champion.
However, the two groups that the participating disciples had been separated into were far too different in terms of their strength!
The finale of the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament would usually turn into a ranking tournament for the Four Major Sects. It was always the case for the past hundred years, and would undoubtedly be the same this time as well. When comparing the strength of the group, simply comparing the quantity and quality of disciples from the Four Major Sects would be sufficient.
In the second group, there were seven disciples from the Four Major Sects. They were: Heavenly Sword Villa’s Young Villa Master, the one who everyone was certain would be victorious, Ling Yun. Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Shui Wushuang, Wu Xuexin, Xia Qingyue were all in the same group. The last three were Xiao Sect’s Xiao Kuanglei, Xiao Zhen and Burning Heaven Clan’s Fen Jin!!
The main disciples in the Four Major Sects, were all gathered in the second group!
Needless to mention Ling Yun, who was in the third level of the Earth Profound Realm and looked down upon the whole crowd. Shui Wushuang, Wu Xuexin, Fen Jin, Xiao Kuanglei, and Xiao Zhen were all at the ninth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. All their profound strengths lost to Ling Yun and they all had a chance to obtain second. The lowest, Xia Qingyue, was also in the eighth level of the Spirit Profound Realm.
Looking at the first group, there were five contestants from the four main sects. However, all of them were either not their main force and were all their second or third tier. The contestants were Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Feiyu and Ling Jie, Xiao Sect’s Xiao Nan, and Burning Heaven Clan’s Fen Juebi and Fen Yuange.
Among them, only Ling Feiyu was in the ninth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, the others: Fen Juebi was in the eighth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. Ling Jie being the youngest, was only in the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. Xiao Nan and Fen Yuange were also young and had only came for experience; respectively, they were only in the sixth and seventh level of the Spirit Profound Realm.
The difference in the two groups was really overwhelmingly huge!
“The difference in strength between the two groups can’t be this huge? This is the first time a Ranking Tournament has such an overwhelming difference in strength between the two groups, right?”
“Such an overwhelming difference has never happened before. However, this was all based on the number randomly ‘selected’ by each contestant. We can’t do anything even if such a situation happens. We can only say that those who were split into the first group were very lucky. Any disciple from one of the main sects in the second group could trash the entire the first group.”
“No matter what happens, the victor would no doubt be Ling Yun.”
“That’s great, the group Junior Brother Yun is in has very little top class opponents.” Cang Yue said happily as she saw the battle order.
Qin Wushang also smiled and nodded: “Not very little, there are practically none. It looks like Lady Luck has been shining down on us all this time. If our good luck continues, Yun Che’s progress might not stop at the top thirty two. He might even progress to the top sixteen! If that really happens, it would really be a miracle amongst miracles.”
“The first match is brother-in-law’s, his opponent… Ahhh, it’s Xiao Sect’s Xiao Nan! Wahh, it’s the Xiao Sect… Ugh, however, he is only in the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. Brother-in-law has already been numerous opponents at that level. He can definitely win this match for sure!” Xia Yuanba said full of anticipation.
“No,” Qin Wushang was not as optimistic: “Although at the same level, a disciple of the Four Major Sect’s strength far exceeds one of another sect. Despite being only the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, it wouldn’t be weird if he could beat an eighth level Spirit Profound Practitioner from another sect. That is also why he was able to enter the top thirty two with this kind of profound strength… Yun Che, don’t be careless. If it becomes too tough, remember what I said before.”
“Yes.” Yun Che replied.
On the Sword Discourse Arena, the profound stone that has displayed the battle order was kept by Ling Wugou and said loudly: “The battle order of the thirty two contestants has been decided and the first match shall begin soon. The contestants are: Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che and Xiao Sect’s Xiao Nan. Please prepare yourself and come onto the arena within sixty breaths of time!”
Yun Che did not hesitate at all. He stood up and walked towards the Sword Discourse Arena immediately. Behind him came the nervous cheers of Cang Yue and Xia Yuanba… After all, who he was going to face was a disciple of the Four Major Sects!
“Nan’er, go, this opponent should be an easy victory for you. However, it is only ‘should be’ and not ‘for sure’. Remember what Grandfather always says, no matter who the opponent is, never underestimate him.” Xiao Wuji reminded Xiao Nan.
“Yes, Grandfather.” Looking at Yun Che who was already on stage, Xiao Nan also stood up, breathed in slightly and lifted himself high, jumping across several tens of meters before landing gently on the Sword Discourse Arena, standing face to face with Yun Che.
“Yun Che… This name, why do I have the feeling that I have heard it before.” Seeing the two on stage, Xiao Wuji knitted his brows and spoke to himself.
“Xiao Nan’s first opponent is actually a dark horse that only climbed so far due to good luck. Heh, what luck. If he loses this, it would put shame upon the family.” Xiao Kuanglei muttered under his breath at the side.
On stage, Xiao Nan had already taken out his weapon. it was a jade sword that gave off a cool glow. The jade sword was called Wind Spirit Sword and it was a Earth Profound Weapon. With sword in hand, he signalled towards Yun Che: “Xiao Sect Sword Sect’s disciple Xiao Nan, please guide me!”
Because of Xiao Kuangyun, Yun Che already had a very bad impression of Xiao Sect. However, Xiao Nan was obviously completely different from Xiao Kuangyun. He looked determined and was very courteous. Even though he faced an “extremely weak” opponent, he still viewed him with caution and did not appear to underestimate him by any means. Yun Che nodded and took out his Overlord’s Colossal Sword: “Blue Wind Profound Palace’s disciple Yun Che… Please guide me… Elder Ling, no need to wait sixty breaths, we can start immediately.”
“Good!” Ling Wugou nodded: “Round of 32, 1st Match —— Begin!”
Once Ling Wugou finished speaking, the originally noisy arena suddenly became silent as everyone focused on the Sword Discourse Arena. However, they were not looking at Xiao Sect’s Xiao Nan but instead, at Yun Che. The difference in profound strength between the two parties in this matchup were rather exceptional but no one jeered, nor did anyone look down upon Yun Che. No one could say for certain that he would definitely lose. Every time someone said that during one of Yun Che’s matches, Yun Che would leave them embarrassed until their ears were red and amazed at the end.
Now, even more people wanted to know whether Yun Che, who was able to breakthrough to the top thirty two with only a profound strength at the True Profound Realm, was able to create another miracle and beat this disciple from the Xiao Sect.
Hoping to see a dramatic finale, in certain aspects, was a part of human nature.
On the Sword Discourse Arena, after Ling Wugou finished speaking, a fierce storm was released from Xiao Nan and the Wind Spirit Sword’s bodies. The storm surrounded his body and revolved around him. Although the storm was not strong, it was extremely sharp. It was as though there were numerous swords dancing around him. Even those seated far away from the center of the Sword Discourse Arena could feel an unexplainable form of scary sharpness in the air.
Despite the audience’s reactions, Yun Che however, was unfazed when he looked at Xiao Nan. Neither he nor his sword moved and it did not seem as if he had any intention to attack first.
“Receive my attack… Extreme Wind Slash!!”
The sword in Xiao Nan’s hands pointed forward, and instantly, all the storm that had been surrounding him turned into the silhouette of several swords, causing wind, so sharp that it even frightened the audience, to blow towards Yun Che. Wherever the wind went, it tore apart the sturdy Sword Discourse Arena into pieces.
The might of the sword caused everyone in the arena to be cry out in surprise.
“Uwaahh… Such, such scary swordsmanship!” Xia Yuanba said in surprise, his face full of fear. Even an Elementary Profound Realm practitioner like him could clearly see the might of that sword.
“One of the advantages of the Four Major Sects is that their profound arts and techniques are very powerful! With one slash, an opponent of the same level who does not belong to one of the Four Major Sects would not be able to receive the attack!” Qin Wushang said in a dignified manner.
“Quick, dodge!” Cang Yue shouted in a nervous manner.
The storm and the sword silhouettes attacked simultaneously but Yun Che still remained still as though he had already been scared silly. Only when the storm and the sword silhouettes approached, blew up his hair and shirt violently, did he finally move… One second ago, he seemed as immovable as a mountain. One second later, he suddenly seemed like a volcano that had just exploded.
All fifty four profound entrances opened and his berserk profound strength loudly exploded in an instant. The Overlord’s Colossal Sword in his hand welcomed the storm of sword silhouettes with a sweep. Bringing along a huge maelstrom of power, it heavily clashed onto the storm of sword silhouettes.
BANGBANGBANGBANG…
The violent clash was so loud that it made one wish to be deaf. One swing from the heavy sword seemed like it had released a malevolent dragon. With its incomparably strong body and claws, it attacked the storm of sword silhouettes. As it collided, the storm of sword silhouettes released by Xiao Nan were shattered layer by layer, and eventually disappeared completely… However, the heavy sword’s power did not disperse continued onwards, bringing along raging winds which struck Xiao Nan’s body, causing him to almost fall back due to the suffocating attack.
Wh… WHAT!?
Xiao Nan’s two hands and soul trembled at the same time as his face revealed a strong sense of disbelief.
When facing Yun Che, he had not underestimated him. Although the strike just now was not his finishing move, it was already one of his strongest sword skills. When he executed the skill, he did not believe that Yun Che could face it head on. He thought that he could only avoid with all his might. With that belief, he clutched his sword’s hilt firmly and stared at Yun Che, waiting to chase after him, lightning quick, once he tried to avoid the strike. After catching him unprepared, he would then attack him relentlessly in order to gain an advantage and finish him off quickly.
Never did he expect that Yun Che did not avoid the strike, but take it head on… And with only a single swing, he completely took down his attack!
“He actually… received it!”
“Is this Yun Che really only in the True Profound Realm? This swing of Xiao Nan, even if it was me, I cannot take it head on!”
The surrounding people were all nearly numb with shock. Yun Che seemed like a monster to them. Time and time again, he displayed the impossible in front of their eyes. Especially the members of the Xiao Sect who knew that strike. Their faces all turned pale.
Yun Che stepped forward, called upon all the profound strength within him, and swept the heavy sword forward. After a split second, an extremely frightening storm brew atop the Sword Discourse Arena. Within the storm, Xiao Nan could neither breathe, nor could he even open his eyes. The sword that he had originally swept out was quickly withdrawn… Because all of his instincts told him that Yun Che’s strike possessed the ability to crush mountains and crack the earth. If he were to take the attack head on, he might be severely injured or worse, lose his life.
Before he could comprehend how a True Profound Realm profound practitioner was able to execute such a scary attack, he gathered his profound strength onto his feet and jumped several tens of meters into the air to avoid the storm. He stopped at the highest point in midair, and suddenly, rounds and rounds of ripple-like water surrounded him. Behind him, a giant green colored eagle silhouette appeared and proudly spread its wings to fly.
Xiao Nan flew down. As he was flying, his whole body merged with the silhouette of the giant green eagle, and he seemed like descending mighty eagle. He pointed his sword forward. While bringing along an incomparably sharp aura, he thrusted towards Yun Che’s chest. The sword was extremely sharp, and the air seemed to have been split apart like waves.
The sword that came from above was extremely sharp, and from several tens of meters away, Yun Che felt the scary sensation of his chest had been pierced. However, the him who wielded a heavy sword, definitely would not back down against a normal sword. He remained unfazed and swung both his arms towards the sword above him.
The might of the heavy sword could move mountains and turn oceans. Wherever the heavy sword pointed, slight distortions appeared within the empty air. Yun Che’s first strike was instantly avoided by Xiao Nan. But this time, he was in midair. Even if he wanted to avoid it, it was not possible. But when facing Yun Che’s berserk strike head on, he did not look the least bit nervous as a cold determined radiance flashed past his eyes.
The giant eagle silhouette at his rear suddenly spread its wings as a light green glow emitted from the Wind Spirit Sword.
RIIIIIIP!!
The storm brought about by Yun Che was cut apart by Xiao Nan under a distinct ripping sound. It seemed as if a stream had been directly split into two and scattered to both sides.
The Wind Spirit Sword that had cut the storm brought along a sharp aura that continued onwards, piercing straight towards Yun Che’s left shoulder.
“Ah!!!” Cang Yue cried out in alarm, and her complexion instantly paled.
“What? What… What kind of sword technique is that? He… He cut apart his profound energy!” Qin Wushang’s expression paled as well.
“Although there were some scares, it still went according to plan. Victory has already been decided.” Looking at the sword that pierced Yun Che, Xiao Sect’s Xiao Kuangyu faintly laughed.
Chapter 216 - Complete Victory
With a slash of his sword, he sliced apart Yun Che’s force blast. Then, as he stabbed towards Yun Che’s shoulder, the corner of Xiao Nan’s lips curved slightly upwards… The sharpness of this sword was enough to penetrate through fine steel. He was ten thousand percent sure that the moment this blow landed, Yun Che’s shoulder would be easily skewered.
He felt his Wind Spirit Sword slice apart the force produced by Yun Che, slice apart the profound energy protecting his body and his clothes, and then, he stabbed onto his body. The curve of his lips slowly grew larger, but in an instant later, his expression stiffened completely.
As his Wind Spirit Sword stabbed into his flesh, blood scattered from Yun Che’s left shoulder. However, the Wind Spirit Sword was also fixed in that position, and was no longer able to pierce half an inch deeper, as though that half-a-finger width of flesh, was basically an indestructible ten thousand year old profound iron!
Wha… What!? Xiao Nan was utterly shocked, as if he was unable to believe his own perception.
And Yun Che’s explosive counter-attack also came at this moment. As his heavy sword moved, the surrounding air within the space of thirty meters was stirred by the strong horizontal swing. The violent airflow caused the hairs on Xiao Nan’s entire body to stand on end. Without even thinking, he pulled his sword out with his quickest speed, and leapt back with all his strength, retreating a distance of about thirty meters. Then, he heavily panted, as he looked at Yun Che’s shoulder with an expression filled with shock.
On Yun Che’s left shoulder, a small stain of blood was slowly spreading on his clothes, but this spread had stopped just a few seconds later. From the bloodstain, his injury did not look serious, and the wound had already stopped bleeding completely… The corner of Xiao Nan’s eyes constantly twitched. He had almost put in his all in that one attack, and an Earth Profound Weapon had even been used to coordinate with that strike. The incomparably sharp Wind Spirit Sword, when used to pierce head-on, even a giant rock, or steel, would be easily penetrated like a piece of tofu. However, this same sword did not penetrate through his body, and even his bone was left untouched… His attack had only caused a simple flesh wound.
It was not just him; even the entire audience, including the Ling Wugou who had seen the entire exchange the most clearly, had an expression filled with disbelief. All of them had personally witnessed Xiao Nan’s full-powered strike piercing onto Yun Che’s body. As for the sharpness of the sword, even if the target were to protect himself with a profound energy defense at the peak of the Spirit Profound Realm, there was still a possibility of being penetrated through. But, Yun Che, who simply had only had the strength at the True Profound Realm, had evidently received a mere flesh wound.
“What’s going on?” The smile on Xiao Kuangyun’s face fell, and asked with a frown.
“… It’s definitely because Yun Che’s wearing some sort of armor! That’s the only explanation possible!” Xiao Kuanglei said.
Naturally, Yun Che was not wearing any sort of armor on his body, and had only a single thin layer of clothes. Although his protective profound energy defense was only at the True Profound Realm, his body had the protection of the second stage of the Great Way of the Buddha, and earlier, he had even refined the Dragon God’s blood within his body —— That was not just blood from any ordinary dragon, but the blood of an actual Dragon God! Currently, Yun Che possessed a part of a dragon’s bloodline power and physical body strength, and was already completely not inferior to an actual True Dragon… And, could an Earth Profound sword wielded with the profound energy at the Spirit Profound Realm, be able to penetrate through the body of a True Dragon?
Of course not!
Forget about Yun Che using his True Profound Realm’s profound energy to protect his body, even if he did not have that layer of profound energy, and was simply standing defenseless while allowing Xiao Nan to attack him, Xiao Nan should throw away the thought of using his Wind Spirit Sword to penetrate Yun Che’s body.
“Not a bad sword.” Yun Che glanced at the wound on his left shoulder with a calm expression, and said with a praising tone. This strike, had given him a sound warning as well. One main reasons why the Four Major Sects were large and strong, was because of the strong profound arts in their sects. Although this Xiao Nan before him was considered to be at the bottom in terms of strength among the participating disciples from the Four Major Sects, he should definitely not be careless. If not for the tyrannical defenses his body had, if it was someone else, that person would have already suffered really terribly from that strike.
With nothing more to say, Yun Che stepped forward, and slashed his sword.
Following the trails of the slashing heavy sword, as though the airwaves produced were given actual forms, the space slightly distorted as the airwaves charged towards Xiao Nan. Xiao Nan quickly regained his senses from the shock earlier, stared head-on at the approaching waves, and slashed out his Wind Spirit Sword consecutively, producing a heavy storm of sword silhouettes to quickly scatter the incoming blasts of air… But, Xiao Nan had to slash a total of more than twenty times to completely disperse the force created by one of Yun Che’s simple slashes. This truth, once again tightened Xiao Nan’s heart.
In the earlier two rounds of small group matches, he had once paid attention to Yun Che’s matches, and had simply given a snort of contempt to each and every one of those sect disciples who was easily defeated by Yun Che.
And now, only after personally exchanging blows with him, did he clearly understand why those people would always be defeated so quickly… Because he had now understood that a terrifying might was hidden in every single one of Yun Che’s simple sword strikes.
He had only exchanged a few blows with Yun Che, but the consecutive shocks he had received was already causing the mental barrier in his mind to soon collapse. He once again looked at Yun Che and the gigantic pitch-black sword in his hands as a terrifying seed of “victory was basically impossible” sort of thinking quickly grew in his heart.
“Hawk of the Storm!!”
Xiao Nan took a deep breath, and sword energy began to surge towards the top of the Wind Spirit Sword; every single thread of that energy like a sharp steel needle capable of piercing deep into one’s bones. He gave a long howl, leapt high in the air, and thrusted towards Yun Che’s head with his sword. Yun Che, however, did not even attempt to dodge or avoid the attack, and simply took the incoming Wind Spirit Sword head-on with a swing of his sword…
Boom!
The airwave brought about the heavy sword actually brought along a dull explosive sound. Even though Xiao Nan had already personally experienced that terror of Yun Che’s airwaves, he was still greatly frightened. A green light flashed on his body, and with a quick spin of his body, he shifted his direction of attack to Yun Che’s feet. However, like a fluidless shadow, Yun Che’s heavy sword quickly slashed down, forcing Xiao Nan to have no other choice but to retreat with full force, and barely escape the danger.
Xiao Nan was very definite that if he had been swept by the windstorm caused by his opponent’s heavy sword, getting away with heavy injuries would have been the least that could’ve happened!
From the heavy sword’s terrifying strike, Xiao Nan was able to imagine how heavy that heavy sword was. And, when wielding such a big sword, the movements of the user would be correspondingly slow, and both openings and energy consumption would be especially large. So then, the best tactic against it would naturally be using speed to pin the opponent down, and find an opening to undergo a sure-kill attack.
Xiao Nan’s profound energy attributes were that of “Wind” and “Lightning”, and among the two, he trained in “Wind” the most. “Heavenly Eagle Art” was a type of mysterious profound art capable of allowing the user to gain a large boost in his physical speed. Initially, Xiao Nan had used a speeding-increasing profound movement skill, and a light and swift sword technique to deal with Yun Che. However, he quickly realized that even when Yun Che was wielding such a heavy sword, his speed was not even the least inferior than his, even when he had activated his profound movement skill… This was still fine, but even the speed of his sword-wielding was completely above his. Even though he was incapable of producing several numbers of slashes in an instant, from idling to completely releasing his sword and from releasing to pulling his sword back, all of these happened in the shortest moment, causing people to feel that there was basically not the slightest hint of heaviness in the sword.
Xiao Nan attacked dozens of times, and all of them were forced back by one of Yun Che’s casual swings. Not only were the attacks ineffective, Xiao Nan had to tiredly retreat time and time again, so as to prevent any dangers from falling upon him.
Although the might of heavy swords was enormous, there should still be a large weakness as well, right!? Why did this person not have a single opening even when he is using such a heavy sword… Xiao Nan’s forehead was drenched with sweat. Then, he secretly smiled with gritted teeth.
“Heavenly Eagle Limitless Strike!”
Xiao Nan leapt high in the air, the silhouette of an eagle appeared behind him, and with an aerial strike, he pierced towards Yun Che’s chest… This was the strike he used earlier to scatter Yun Che’s force blast. In his heart, he knew very clearly, the reason why he managed to deal a blow to Yun Che the first time was due to the element of surprise, and the second time would hardly be effective as the first. However, the longer he faced Yun Che, the more he felt a deep sense of powerlessness in his heart. What he could rely on, was only this strike.
RIIIP~~~~~
The Wind Spirit Sword sliced apart air and sliced apart space, bringing about an ear-piercing screech as it fell. This was a strike capable of even slicing apart a blast of energy. Since he had experienced it previously, Yun Che should dodge it immediately, and counter-attack from the side. However, Yun Che still stood at his original position without any intentions of moving away. He fiercely lifted up the Overlord’s Colossal Sword, and said indifferently. “Why don’t you try slicing apart this blow of mine!!”
In this strike, Yun Che used sixty percent of his strength. If we were to call that earlier strike a fierce gale, then, this strike was an absolute hurricane. With Xiao Nan’s strength, he was capable of cutting through the fierce gale. However, when faced with a hurricane, being shredded into pieces was the only possible conclusion.
The Wind Spirit Sword’s sword energy and force were completely dissipated cleanly in an instant, and a trembling buzzing sound was produced by the sword’s blade. Xiao Nan’s expression paled. His down-swooping body suddenly spun and turned as he wildly poured out all of the profound energy in his body, but he was still unable to completely defend himself against the force brought about by Yun Che’s strike. His profound defenses weakened bit by bit, and in the end, they finally collapsed completely. The force of energy that had yet to be dissipated, blasted onto his body, and caused his entire body to violently tremble.
Xiao Nan landed onto the ground thirty meters away. His face was entirely pale, and a mouthful of blood was discharged outwards as it slowly slid down the corners of his lips.
At that moment, the entire arena was in complete silence, and all six people from the Xiao Sect stood up with horrified faces.
Yun Che did not take the opportunity to deal another blow, and simply stood at his original position… And at this moment, everyone was shocked to realize that, during this entire match, his two feet had been at the same position the entire time, and had not moved a single bit!!
Xiao Nan’s expression was frightening as he heavily panted. However, on the other side, Yun Che’s breathing was steady, and his calm expression was unbroken. He completely did not look fatigued at all. The corner of Xiao Nan’s lips moved, and in the end, his hand still drooped down onto the ground…
“You’re much stronger than I had imagined… I admit defeat.” Xiao Nan said dejectedly.
“You’re a little stronger than I had imagined as well.” Yun Che smiled slightly, glancing at the wound on his left shoulder.
Hearing Yun Che’s words, Xiao Nan actually had a faint feeling of satisfaction in his heart, and even the dejectedness from his tragic loss had lightened quite a bit. He raised his head, and gave Yun Che a smile.
“Xiao Nan surrenders. Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che wins… He will enter the elimination round’s Round of 16 tomorrow!”
When this result came out, the Sword Discourse Arena which was silent for a period of time, was once again replaced by hustle and bustle. Every single pair of eyes watched Yun Che, who was safely walking down the stage, until their eyes became vertical… That’s right! This person, who had the weakest profound strength out of all the participating disciples there, had once again easily defeated a Xiao Sect disciple, and charged into the top sixteen!
“Little brother Nan, don’t be dejected. If he had not worn a high-grade armor, you would have won with your second strike. Unfortunately, I belong to Group Two, otherwise, I might have been able to exact vengeance for you.” Xiao Kuanglei patted on Xiao Nan’s shoulders, and consoled him.
“No.” Xiao Nan shook his head. “He was not wearing any sort of armor at all. He had basically blocked that strike completely with his own body. His body, was as though it was made of steel!”
“What!?” Xiao Kuanglei frowned. He made eye contact with Xiao Kuangyu, and both of them revealed shocked expressions.
“Junior Brother Yun, are you alright? Is your injury heavy?” The moment Yun Che came down, Cang Yue went over to greet him with an expression filled with worry and anxiousness. In her hands, she was holding onto a large amount of medicine and Profound Recovery Pellets, which she had prepared long beforehand.
“I’m fine.” Yun Che laughed without a care. “It’s just a flesh wound, and it has already stopped bleeding. It doesn’t need to be treated with any medicine, it will be fully recovered before the sun sets.”
These words were definitely not Yun Che’s exaggeration. Since he had reached the second stage of the Great Way of the Buddha, a light wound like this would recover to a sufficient degree in just a few minutes.
However, Cang Yue would naturally not be relieved from her worry so easily. In the end, Yun Che was still dragged by her to a side. She carefully applied some medicine on his wound and wrapped a roll of bandage around it.
On the Sword Discourse Arena, the second match had already begun.
The two competitors were respectively, Ling Jie from the Heavenly Sword Villa and Mu Xiongyi from the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress. The former was at the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, while the latter was at the eighth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. Based on profound levels alone, the latter was the strongest disciple outside of the Four Major Sects!
Chapter 217 - Bullying to an Intolerable Extent
Outside of the Four Major Sects, if there was a need to choose a fifth sect, then the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress, whose name shook throughout the North, had the most right among the various sects. The Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress had two supreme techniques —— one was the “Heavenly Spear” and the other was the “Thunderfire”. This time, the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress had also lived up to its reputation with two disciples in the final thirty two rankings, and both disciples were also at the eighth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. Their average strength was far greater than the general level of the ranking tournament and out of all the competing sects, it was only weaker than the Four Major Sects.
His first opponent in the Round of 32 was a member of the Four Major Sects, so there was originally a tight feeling in Mu Xiongyi’s heart. However, looking at Ling Jie, who was only sixteen and only at the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, he let out a large sigh of relief and laughed in a pleased way: “Hehe, this Ling Jie is clearly here to gain experience for the next ranking tournament. This match is mine to win.”
“It’s better to be cautious. The strength of Heavenly Sword Villa’s disciples cannot be judged simply by their level of profound strength.” Mu Xiongyan, who had also entered the top thirty two ranks, said in a low voice.
“Haha! Relax big brother. If I can’t even defeat a child at the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, I may as well kill myself with a stab of the spear… I’m going now!”
Mu Xiongyi jumped up onto the Sword Discourse Arena with a loud shout. WIth a swing of his stout right arm, a bronze longspear that was nine foot long came dancing out and pointed at Ling Jie: “Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress of the North’s Mu Xiongyi. Please guide me!”
“Good speech, good speech.” Ling Jie did not display any of the nervousness one might have when facing a strong opponent, but rather replied with a face full of laughter. Then, he slowly withdrew his weapon —— Space Splitting Sword. This sword was a high grade Earth Profound Weapon that he just obtained from the Sword Management Terrace a month ago. Even though it could not compare to the incomparably rare Sky Profound Sword, among Earth Profound Weapons, it was definitely one of the best of weapons with a might that inspired awe.
“Elder Ling, we can start now.” Ling Jie said.
“Good!” Ling Wugou nodded : “Heavenly Sword Villa’s disciple Ling Jie —— versus —— Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress’ Mu Xiongyi, match start!”
Mu Xiongyi attacked first. Without any restraint in his movements, a spear shot out in a straightforward manner. With a sharp swish sound in the air, the spear point pressed towards Ling Jie’s throat like a suddenly striking snake. Ling Jie’s eyes narrowed. The Space Splitting Sword directly struck out towards the longspear in a piercing movement. The bursts of clattering and banging sounds of the profound energy collisions reverberated through the air. The shadow of the sword and the tip of the spear struck together tens of times within a few breaths as a sound like thunder jolted the ears of those present.
The sword was like a fierce tiger. The spear was like a poisonous dragon. The struggle between dragon and tiger grew ever more intense. There were a few hundred strikes in the blink of an eye, and in the deadlock, neither side could prevail over the other.
“This Ling Jie is really outstanding. To think that he can compete against an opponent whose profound strength is higher than his by two levels for so long without going into a disadvantageous position.” Cang Yue could not resist praising.
Yun Che’s gaze left the Sword Discourse Arena and said in a calm manner: “Senior Sister, it’s actually the opposite of what you said. It should be said that Mu Xiongyi is very outstanding. He can actually face so many of Ling Jie’s sword strikes. However, the critical point is that Ling Jie is being lenient. Otherwise Mu Xiongyi would have lost long ago.”
“Ah?” Cang Yue blinked her beautiful eyes, as her entire face filled with surprise.
Yun Che had fought against Ling Jie before. Even though it was only for the short extent of three sword strikes, it was enough for him to generally have a rough idea about Ling Jie’s true strength. He slowly said: “Heavenly Sword Villa’s sword is strong at “sword intent”, not simply just the sword forms activated by profound strength. Right now, Ling Jie is only relying on sword forms and can fight on par with Mu Xiongyi who is two levels higher than him in profound strength… If Ling Jie unleashes his sword intent, Mu Xiongyi will inevitably lose very quickly.”
Yun Che’s words were quickly fulfilled. After the sword clashed with the spear a few hundred times, Ling Jie appeared to have lost his patience. The gaze in his eyes changed ever so slightly, and the sword shadows he struck became more fleeting. In the end, the sword shadows could not really be seen any more, and there was only a faint glimpse of the small afterimages that were neither here nor there.
If a third party saw this change, they would only feel surprised, but Mu Xiongyi felt as if his opponent had suddenly changed into someone else. Everytime he struck his spear out with his full strength, it made a swishing sound. However, when it struck Ling Jie’s sword, it no longer made a loud reverberating sound as before; it only made a soft “ding” sound and then the force he put into his spear disappeared with no hope of it ever returning. He could not guard against the way his force had just disappeared. The empty feeling in his thrust made him very uncomfortable. Even more shocking was the fact that his eyesight could no longer grasp the whereabouts of Ling Jie’s sword shadows. Even the swish of the sword could no longer be heard, as if the sword in Ling Jie’s hands had mysteriously disappeared.
Mu Xiongyi did not panic and no longer paid any attention to Ling Jie’s sword shadows. He released all his profound strength reserves. His spear force became even fiercer. As fast as a light beam, the nine foot longspear was like an angry flood dragon, flying and wriggling at the same time.
However, against his expectations, Ling Jie was not forced to retreat by his spear force that had grown stronger by several folds. With a flick of his wrists, the Space Splitting Sword was like an agile snake that could twist and turn. It penetrated the fierce profound energy storm, piercing through several layers of spear shadows and directly pierced Mu Xiongyi.
Riiip… Riiip…
Mu Xiongyi’s profound energy defense was easily torn apart. Accompanied by an extreme pain were two more wounds across the front of his chest which were deep enough to see bone… and Mu Xiongyi was completely unable to comprehend when Ling Jie was close enough to attack his chest.
Mu Xiongyi’s heart was greatly shocked. With a loud roar, he struck a blow strong enough to annihilate a thousand soldiers and forced Ling Jie to dodge far away. He jumped forward high in the air. Strength filled his right arm, and he fiercely tossed the spear. The longspear momentarily transformed into a comet that was as fast as lightning. It shot towards Ling Jie with a shockwave that alarmed the audience.
“It… It’s the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress’ ultimate technique… Heaven Raising Spear!”
Separated by a distance of several tens of meters, the spectators could clearly feel the awesome power of this spear strike. Anyone hit by this spear strike, even if they were at the peak of the Spirit Profound Realm, would probably have to throw half their life away.
Ling Jie quickly retreated but did not fully evade. Under the gasps of countless people, he struck out against the incoming longspear with a single sword maneuver…
Ding!!
There was no loud clashing sound. When the Space Splitting Sword met the longspear, only the faintest of humming sounds could barely be heard.
“A good performance of the Redirection Arts!” Ling Yuefeng nodded in praise as a rare content expression filled his face.
“Little Jie is not only far more talented than I was, his courage is also not bad. When I was at his age, I absolutely would not have dared to do that.” Ling Yun said while grinning.
A torrential amount of sword intent flooded out, firmly sucking in the longspear that was filled with explosive profound energy. Following that, the Space Splitting Sword led the long spear in a huge semi circular arc in front of Ling Jie. This time the spear point of the Heaven Raising Spear technique reversed in direction and shot towards the dumbstruck Mu Xiongyi.
Bang ! ! !
Scattered stone chips and dust flying about the Sword Discourse Arena. The longspear was fiercely nailed below Mu Xiongyi’s feet. The entire body of the spear burrowed into the stage, causing a tear that was several feet in length.
Mu Xiongyi retreated two steps back and sat on the floor on his butt as cold sweat seeped from his forehead. If the previous spear’s direction had just been aimed a bit more forward, then his body would have an additional hole.
“I… I admit defeat.” Mu Xiongyi no longer had the will to do battle. His chest heaved up and down as he trembed with fear.
“Hehe, you let me win.” Ling Jie withdrew his sword. He was very pleased with himself.
“Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Jie wins, and will enter tomorrow’s Round of 16!
This result was out of many people’s expectations, but even more people felt that it was only natural. Yun Che stroked his chin and said to himself in a low voice: “Likewise from the Four Major Sects and also of the same level of profound strength, but yet their true strength has such a huge gap… well deserving of the Heavenly Sword Villa.”
The two people he was talking about were naturally Xiao Nan from the Xiao Sect and Ling Jie from the Heavenly Sword Villa. Both of them were at the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm and yet the gap between their true strength was unnaturally large.
The Round of 32 continued to proceed. In one morning, the matches in Group One were completed. In the afternoon, the matches Group Two began. If one does a direct comparison, the matches in Group Two was much more intense and exciting than the matches in Group One. This was because the overall strength of Group Two was much higher than the overall strength of Group One.
It was evening when the Round of 32 came to a complete close. The sixteen participants for the following day’s elimination round had all been decided. Of the Four Major Sects, other than Xiao Nan, who had been defeated by Yun Che, the other eleven disciples all entered into the top sixteen, fully occupying two thirds of the top sixteen.
The arrangements for the following day’s Round of 16 was also displayed on the profound stone in the middle of the Sword Discourse Arena after the end of today’s competition.
The opponent Yun Che would face the following day came from the same Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress in the North as the opponent Ling Jie had faced today —— Mu Xiongyan.
“From today’s competition, you could see that Mu Xiongyan’s specialty is completely different from Mu Xiongyi. Mu Xiongyi specializes in the ‘Heavenly Spear’ while Mu Xiongyan specializes in ‘Thunderfire’. Thunderfire is much harder to cultivate than the Heavenly Spear but its power also far exceeds that of the Heavenly Spear. The ranking tournament allows the usage of any weapons, including firearms! Mu Xiongyan whose body carries the Thunderfire, hides tens of different firearms and bombs on his person. His attacks come in innumerable succession, and even break apart defenses that are completely prepared… Tomorrow, you must be sure to be careful!”
In today’s match, Yun Che had once again scored a huge victory, undoubtedly causing Qin Wushang to be over the moon with happiness. However, upon seeing that the next day’s opponent was Mu Xiongyan, he could not help but be concerned… Compared to Mu Xiongyan, he would, on the contrary, prefer that the opponent was someone from the Four Major Sects, because this Mu Xiongyan’s attack methods was just too frightening. Just being slightly inattentive might lead to becoming a cripple. In the off chance that that happened, this star that shone so brightly for the Blue Wind Profound Palace would inevitably be dimmed.
“Rest assured Palace Chief Qin, I will not be injured so easily. Also,” His eyes flashed as he grinned: “Tomorrow, I will win as always. Just you watch!”
“Haha, good!” Qin Wushang laughed. Yun Che still had not finished the next match and he noticed that he had once again underestimated Yun Che. He now no longer thought that it was certain for Yun Che to stop at this step, but was instead full of hope and expectation. He wished to see how far he could go… Could he enter the top eight… Or maybe even break the Four Major Sect’s “monopoly” and obtain the shocking glory of entering the top four!
At the end of today’s competition, the four from the Blue Wind Profound Palace returned to their courtyard. There were already three people awaiting them here. More accurately, they were waiting for Yun Che alone.
Of the three, one was a middle aged man with an imposing manner. The other two were youths who had appeared in today’s competition venue. One was the Mu Xiongyi who had been defeated by Ling Jie. The other had defeated his opponent and entered the next day’s Round of 16. He was Yun Che’s match for the next day, Mu Xiongyan.
Having seen Yun Che, that middle aged man straightforwardly walked as quick as a comet in big steps and said to Yun Che: “I am Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress’ current Fort Master Mu Tianbei. At the risk of being presumptuous, I have an important matter to discuss with the honorable Young Master Yun.”
Mu Tianbei had a boorish appearance. There was a naturally deep arrogance about him. After all, in the stretches of the frozen north, the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress was indubitably the dominant power. As its Fort Master, it could be said that he could even cover the sky with one hand there, and no one could disobey him. Within the boundaries of the entire Blue Wind Empire, the reputation of the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress was basically only second to that of the Four Major Sects.
He came up and directly asked Yun Che. As for Qin Wushang who was by his side and even Princess Cang Yue, he did not even give them a single glance. He was the kind of arrogant person who believed himself to be beyond the laws and even beyond Heaven. A frown appeared on Qin Wushang’s forehead but he did not say a thing. Yun Che moved forward and asked: “So it is the reputable Fort Master Mu. What does Fort Master Mu have to discuss with this Junior?”
“It is very simple,” Mu Tianbei looked directly at Yun Che: “I have witnessed Young Master Yun’s performance in the ranking tournament for a few days and my heart sighs in admiration. Regarding Young Master Yun’s natural talent and strength, even if it was among the Four Major Sects, there are few disciples who can match up. To remain with just a trifling Blue Wind Profound Palace is simply like burying a pearl. How about joining my Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress?”
As soon as these words came out, even if Qin Wushang had an even better self restraint, he would still be agitated to a great fury. It was one thing to undermine your foundations, but this Mu Tianbei went as far as to do this in his and Princess Cang Yue’s presence. He did not even disguise his contempt for the Blue Wind Profound Palace and did not even give any regard for the Blue Wind Profound Palace or the Imperial Family. It was simply bullying to an intolerable extent.
Chapter 218 - A Quick and Decisive Battle
Even though Mu Tianbei was “inviting”, his tone of voice was filled with arrogance and coercion, with a great deal of implication that him inviting you to join the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress was because he was thinking better about you and you should gratefully accept with tears down your face. The disdain toward Blue Wind Profound Palace was more so extremely heavy. Yun Che felt the rage steaming up from Qin Wushang who was beside him, and replied with a slight smile: “I’m grateful that Fort Master Mu thinks highly of me, but I believe that Fort Master Mu already knows, that I, Yun Che, am a disciple of the Blue Wind Profound Palace. I do not have the thought of leaving for the time being, so toward Fort Master Mu’s gracious invitation, I can only refuse.”
Mu Tianbei answered without any change in expression: “Young Master Yun, it is of course a good thing for you to have such persistence. But before you make the decision, you ought to think it through; Blue Wind Profound Palace is all but a mere profound cultivating ground for the ordinary, and amongst the great profound practicing forces in the empire, it can’t even be ranked as average. If not for the Imperial Family’s prestige, they simply aren’t even worthy to be called the bottom. When it comes to heritage, resources, and arts, the difference between my Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress and them is as great as difference between heaven and earth! Not to mention that it would be impossible for a bright pearl like you to improve much within the mere Blue Wind Profound Palace, in the end, you will perhaps also be reduced to mere ordinary beings like them.”
“Mu Tianbei! Watch your words!” Qin Wushang spoke with a furious tone.
“But Palace Chief Qin, were any of my words mistaken?” Mu Tianbei finally bothered to take a glance at Qin Wushang, and spoke with a contemptuous laugh: “After all these years, had Blue Wind Profound Palace ever nurtured up a memorable top-rated disciple? As for Junior Yun, he ought to have come from elsewhere, no? Junior Yun’s performance is truly stunning, but too bad, he isn’t something that your Blue Wind Profound Palace is qualified to keep! It would instead ruin and bury this genius who has the potential to rise into prominence in the future! But it would be different if he came to my Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress. We’ll provide him with the best resources and the finest inherited arts. After three years, I, Mu Tianbei have enough confidence to make him reach top three ranks in Ranking Tournament, and make him famous in this world. Young Master Yun, a person ultimately lives his life for himself. Don’t obstruct your own prospects and future for the so-called ‘personal loyalty’. Such an insignificant Blue Wind Profound Palace, isn’t worthy of a place for you to stay in at all.
Qin Wushang’s fury wildly grew. He wished that he could just ignore his manners and break into a cussing fight with Mu Tianbei. But at the same time, the inside of his heart was also wildly thumping, afraid that Yun Che would really be poached away by them like this. Because he could not deny that the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress’ power far surpassed Blue Wind Profound Palace. To put it more bluntly, the two’s power and conditions are not in the same level at all. If Yun Che really went to the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress, it was unknown just how many times better his profound cultivating conditions would be.
However, Cang Yue did not have this kind of worry at all. She slightly smiled and said: “Even though Yun Che is a disciple of the Blue Wind Profound Palace, the original intent of the Blue Wind Profound Palace’s establishment is to provide a cultivation ground for countless young profound practitioners in the empire, and does not interfere with the disciple’s freedom to leave or stay. Fort Master Mu’s words are already clear enough; if Yun Che’s heart is to be moved by this, and he is willing to leave the Blue Wind Profound Palace to join your Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress, we definitely will not interfere.”
“Hahahaha!” Mu Tianbei laughed loudly: “Good! As expected of the legendary Blue Moon Princess. Not only are you as noble as the rumors, you are also quite bold as well! Young Master Yun, you have heard that clearly, right? It doesn’t matter if they don’t agree to it. As long as you are willing to join our Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress, I wouldn’t care what happens, even if the entire Blue Wind Profound Palace all storm in to stop it.”
“Ha, there is absolutely no need for Fort Master Mu to think of it like that.” Yun Che laughed faintly as his gaze scoured over him: “The Blue Wind Profound Palace only allows disciples to stay until the age of twenty so I’d have to leave sooner or later. But even if the Blue Wind Profound Palace expels me right now, I still would never join your Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress. It is not because I think your Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress is weak in power. But with a Fort Master that doesn’t even know what respect is and doesn’t even understand human speech leading the sect, even if its strength was even more powerful, it would still be a merely third-rate place full of hot air. It is better for me to not go.”
Once those words came out, the atmosphere instantly froze.
When Qin Wushang, who was originally filled with fury, heard that, instead of not being angry anymore and feeling carefree, he was rather frightened. Never would he have thought that Yun Che would dare to speak out in this sort of way when facing Mu Tianbei, who was renown throughout the country. As for Cang Yue, she was only slightly surprised because she understood Yun Che… who would never be afraid of offending anyone! Truthfully speaking, with how fast this satisfaction came, there was no need to silently endure this. He would never submit to humiliation.
Mu Tianbei had thought that there was a chance Yun Che would reject him, but he never would have thought that this little junior would have the impertinence to speak such insolence, and even bring along such humiliation in his words. He creased both his brows as his complexion darkened: “Young Master Yun, what did you say earlier? It seems as if I did not hear that correctly…”
“I said, with a Fort Master that doesn’t even know what respect is and doesn’t even understand human speech leading the sect, even if its strength was even more powerful, it would still be a merely third-rate place full of hot air. It is better for me to not go.” Yun Che confronted Mu Tianbei’s oppressive gaze with a face full of smiles as he took his sweet time to repeat his words once more: “I’m sure that this time, Fort Master Mu has heard me correctly?”
As if there was a lump of air in his chest that had just exploded, Mu Tianbei’s fury surged to its peak as his facial muscles convulsed. Even though Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress could not measure up to the Four Major Sects, there was still no one who would dare provoke them and most couldn’t even wait to suck up to them. But now, a little junior had actually mocked him, the grand Fort Master, in front of him without restraint nor any changes in expression! He said in a low voice with a ferocious gaze: “Good… Very good…”
“The feeling is mutual.” Yun Che was incomparably tranquil: “You look down on my Blue Wind Profound Palace, and I also hold your Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress in contempt. This just happens to make us even. If Fort Master Mu has nothing else to discuss, you may go back now. The matter of me joining Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress, you mustn’t bring it up in the future. In my eyes, Blue Wind Profound Palace is ten million times better than Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress. Don’t even mention you, the Fort Master, personally asking me, even if the entire sect kneeled in front of me, I would still never agree to your offer.”
There was no trace of politeness in Yun Che’s succinct few words as he returned the contempt and mockery Mu Tianbei had towards the Blue Wind Profound Palace back at him. When it comes to Yun Che’s feelings towards the Blue Wind Profound Palace, he actually did not really have such strong feelings for it. Even if he was expelled, he still would not think much about it. It was not because of Blue Wind Profound Palace that he had fearlessly counterattacked, but rather, Cang Yue.
If this wasn’t Heavenly Sword Villa, a place where one could not willfully attack however they want, Mu Tianbei would definitely have immediately killed Yun Che. Too angry to smile, he firmly fixed his gaze at Yun Che: “What a good little arrogant junior. You truly have opened my eyes! I had originally taken pity on you because of your talent and was thinking of asking Yan’er to go easy on you tomorrow. But it looks like you do not care about your life at all!! When tomorrow comes, I’d like to see if you still have the strength to be arrogant in front of me… Let’s go!!”
Mu Tianbei snorted loudly before flipping his sleeve to turn and leave. Mu Xiongyi and Mu Xiongyan followed right behind him. Right when they were about to leave the courtyard, Mu Xiongyan turned around to glance at Yun Che, and revealed a sinister smile.
Yun Che’s counter mockery naturally negated some of Qin Wushang’s great pleasure. He was extremely moved by Yun Che but he was even more worried than before. He sighed softly: “Yun Che, you were too impulsive earlier. You can straightforwardly refuse him, but there was absolutely no need for you to offend him. Since this happened, tomorrow’s match, sigh…”
“Rest assured Palace Chief Qin,” Yun Che indifferently laughed: “In this ranking tournament, I only have one true opponent. There is no way that I would lose before meeting this true opponent. As for tomorrow’s Mu Xiongyan, forget about him endangering me, he doesn’t even have the qualifications to make me use my true strength.”
————————————
After night had passed, a new day had begun. New matches were also imminent. It was early morning, but the entire Sword Discourse Arena was already jammed packed with people waiting for the Round of 16 to begin. As of now, this Blue Wind Ranking Tournament’s match progression still conformed with the norm. If one must speak of anything unusual that had happened, it would be Yun Che, the super dark horse.
As for the ranking tournament’s final results, that was already predestined inside everyone’s heart long ago, during the first day’s Profound Assessment Ceremony… First place would inevitably belong to Ling Yun. Second, third, and fourth place, would still be a fight between Frozen Cloud Asgard, the Xiao Sect, and Burning Heaven Clan. Any other sects simply did not have the qualifications to enter the rivalry.
The Round of 16 was destined to be much more exciting and tense than yesterday’s Round of 32.
Round of 16, first match: Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che —— versus —— Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress’ Mu Xiongyan.
Before Mu Xiongyan went up on stage, Mu Tianbei ordered him in a low voice: “Cripple him Yan’er!” One night had passed but his fury still had not dissipated. After becoming Fort Master, Yun Che was the first person who dared to insult him out loud, and that made the grudge he bore be bone-deep.
“Rest assured Father. I won’t even let him think about standing up ever again.” Mu Xiongyan grinned as he casually said that.
On the Sword Discourse Arena, Yun Che and Mu Xiongyan stood on opposing sides. Mu Xiongyan slightly narrowed his eyes and sneered with a light casual stance, as if the Yun Che in front of him was a mere prey that was already in the clutches of his hands. Yun Che however, was a field of tranquility.
Last night, Qin Wushang had spoke to him in detail that the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress was divided into the Heavenly Spear Sect and the Thunderfire Sect. The Thunderfire Sect was capable of transforming profound energy into thunderfire, while simultaneously detonating it, bringing out an extremely tremendous lethality. At the same time, the Thunderfire Sect had also always passed on various different kinds of manufactured high grade firearms and controlling capabilities. More than a dozen different types of dangerous firearms were concealed on the bodies of every Thunderfire Sect disciple, even so much that there were probably more than several tens of incomparably dangerous types that one could not completely defend against.
In regards to transforming profound energy into thunderfire, Yun Che didn’t really care about that at all. But he was incapable of estimating how powerful the firearms on Mu Xiongyan’s body really were. His countless life and death experiences told him that if anything was unable to be discerned, especially one of dangerous origins, the safest move he could make when facing Mu Xiongyan would be to completely strangle something that could become dangerous in the shortest time possible.
So to him, this match was destined to be a match in which the outcome would be decided within the blink of an eye.
“Match start!!”
As soon as Ling Wugou’s voice fell, Mu Xiongyan raised both his hands and spread open all ten fingers. Ten purplish-red colored lightning balls instantly condensed atop his fingertips. The sound of its crackling discharge would make one shudder with fright. He looked at Yun Che with a ferocious smile: “Yun Che, prepare to howl a good one under my Thunderfire!! I’ll let you remember the price of insulting my Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress for your entire lifetime!!”
Yun Che did not reply. While tightly holding onto the heavy sword, his silhouette flashed. Like a strong blast of wind, he charged straight at Mu Xiongyan.
Mu Xiongyan moved both his hands. The ten Thunderfire balls of condensed profound energy flew at Yun Che with different trajectories. Yun Che nevertheless did not dodge or flee, and directly forged onwards. This action caused Mu Xiongyan to sneer:
“Then die… Explode!!”
BOOM BOOM BOOM…
Ten Thunderfire balls simultaneously exploded, and the devastating Thunderfire’s radiance momentarily drowned out Yun Che’s silhouette. Before Mu Xiongyan had even begun to laugh, he unexpectedly discovered that in the instant the Thunderfire balls exploded, Yun Che’s silhouette had disappeared from that spot.
Afterimage!?
Right after that, he suddenly detected the flash of a shadow from the corner of his eye. Yun Che had suddenly appeared at his side, and was not even two steps away from him. If another person were to switch places with him, even if they could react quickly to guard against it, they would inevitably fumble. However, not only did Mu Xiongyan not panic, he instead, laughed grimly. He did not move at all as he suddenly instigated his profound energy. Three purplish-red colored arrows suddenly shot out from his shoulder, flying straight at Yun Che’s face.
“Ah——”
The entire Sword Discourse Arena erupted in cries of alarm. Cang Yue was even more nervous as she shrieked. It was at such a close distance, and was also a head-on collision that was completely unexpected which shot out three Thunderfire arrows. Even if one was an immortal, it was not definite as to whether or not it was possible to dodge past it.
Whoosh!!
While still in the radiance of the Thunderfire balls, three Thunderfire arrows had already launched straight at Yun Che, and completely passed through his face…
It was another afterimage!!
Mu Xiongyan immediately opened his eyes wide. Before he had yet to recover from his astonishment, an incomparably hot heatwave attacked from overhead…
“Empyrean Dance of the Phoenix Wing!!!”
Boom!!
Like a fierce hawk, Yun Che swooped down from the sky and ruthlessly attacked his back with a scorching berserk strike. A huge lump of flame exploded within the loud noise, blotting out the sky while covering the earth…
Up until now, this was the first time Yun Che had executed Star God’s Broken Shadow. The second stage’s triple shadow chaining could be said to be as unfathomable as ghosts and gods. Likewise, it was also the first time he had used a Phoenix Flame technique… They were all used to finish the battle in the shortest time possible to avoid any possible unstable factors.
Inside the blaze that soared to the sky, Mu Xiongyan’s protective profound energy was shattered as if thin ice. He spurted out a large mouthful of fresh blood and fiercely flew outwards. Then, he knocked against the profound energy barrier and rebounded back to the floor. The fire on his body did not die out. Instead, it continued to rage and burn, burning his clothes, flesh, and the various tens of hidden firearms on his body…
BANG BANG BANG BOOM BOOM BOOM…
When the firearms caught on fire, they all crazily exploded on Mu Xiongyan’s body, splitting his skin open and flesh apart, making his mutilated flesh hard to discern. His wretched scream was like the mournful shrill of a banshee. Yun Che withdrew his heavy sword and looked at him with a pitiful gaze as he secretly muttered to himself: These firearms that were supposed to be used against me, you should just go enjoy them yourself!
Chapter 219 - I’m an Expert in the Same Field
“Yan’er!!”
Mu Tianbei’s expression paled as he flew straight down towards the Sword Discourse Arena. Ling Wugou quickly stepped forward as well, extinguishing all the flames on Mu Xiongyan with his profound energy.
With the extinguishment of the flames, Mu Xiongyan’s tragic state was displayed to everyone’s eyes. His entire body was charred black, a large portion of his flesh erupted apart with blood splattering everywhere, his white bones were even revealed on his pair of shoulders and knees. A large half of his hair was burnt, and his face was even blurred from the blood and exposed flesh… ‘Tragic’ was not even a suitable word to describe his current state.
But since the firearms on Mu Xiongyan’s body self-destructed because they were ignited by flames, and not by profound energy, the power of the explosions were not really large. Although Mu Xiongyan suffered extremely serious external injuries, his internal injuries were actually quite light, at least, he would not be crippled. However, to fully recover his serious external injuries, it would probably take a very long time. And, there would be countless of ugly scars left around his entire body… including his face.
Mu Tianbei charged through the profound energy barrier, arriving in front of Mu Xiongyan’s body. After inspecting his wounds, he heaved a sigh of relief, and then, glared at Yun Che with extreme hatred. However, he did not utter a single word. Carrying Mu Xiongyan, whose entire body was dripping with fresh blood, he walked down the Sword Discourse Arena. Mu Xiongyan’s current tragic state, was basically caused by the hidden firearms on his body. Under everyone’s attentive eyes, if he were to cause Yun Che any trouble, he would simply be looked down upon by everyone on-site. And, Ling Wugou was on the stage as well, so he could not possibly do anything to Yun Che. Without a choice, his heart filled with silent rage and hatred as he went down the stage. However, the killing intent directed at Yun Che, was as cold as the freezing abyss.
“Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che wins! He shall advance to tomorrow’s Quarterfinals!”
After Mu Xiongyan was brought down the stage by Mu Tianbei, Ling Wugou loudly announced the outcome of the match.
According to the progression of the previous Blue Wind Ranking Tournaments, the further the progression of matches, the stronger the participating disciples were. Every battle would become even more intense, and the time taken for each match would naturally be longer as well. This was the first match of the Round of 16. Everyone wished to find out if this ultimate dark horse, Yun Che, could actually once again turn out victorious in this match, and dreamily enter the Quarterfinals. There were many people willing to believe that he would have the possibility of obtaining victory once again, however, they absolutely would not think that, he would actually win so quickly, and so easily.
This duel ended the moment it just began. It was so quick, they did not have the time to even react. Only after Ling Wugou announced the results, did they accept this unbelievable reality in the midst of their astonishment.
After defeating Xiao Nan, who was at the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, the previous day, Yun Che had once again defeated Mu Xiongyan, who had strength of the eighth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, in just a few seconds the following day. Although Mu Xiongyan’s tragic state was due to the explosion of the firearms on his body, people who were wise enough were able to clearly see that even without the explosion of the firearms, Mu Xiongyan had already been thoroughly defeated.
Those two strange and unpredictable afterimages, and that surprising and overwhelming fire blast attack… The strong experts on-site, in their astonishment, had once again realized that they had completely and utterly underestimated Yun Che. Back then, when Yun Che was obtaining his consecutive level-skipping victories, he had actually been hiding his true abilities, and only until this match, did he reveal a tip of the iceberg, so as to obtain a quick and decisive victory.
“There’s actually such an individual within our Blue Wind Empire, who even I can’t clearly fathom the limits of. Every single time I thought he had already reached his limits, he would always once again astonish me.” Ling Yuefeng stood up with shock revealed on his calm face. “To actually be able to unleash such power while just being at the tenth level of the True Profound Realm, forget about the Blue Wind Empire, I have never heard of someone capable of doing this in the entire Profound Sky Continent. Just what kind of monster is he!? And just which supreme individual is his master? That master of his is actually capable of bringing up such a disciple!”
Ling Yuefeng’s exclamation, naturally gave Yun Che an extremely high evaluation. Ling Yun slightly frowned, and suddenly asked. “Father, the movement skill he used earlier, just how did he accomplish it? When one uses profound energy to move his body, it will not only bring about obvious ripples of profound energy, there will be obvious differences between the afterimage and the actual body as well. However, he formed three images, yet, I did not even feel a hint of any profound energy ripple, and, these three images were completely identical, and it was basically impossible to distinguish them from the real one. I have never seen such a strange profound movement skill.”
Ling Yun’s words caused Ling Yuefeng to momentarily enter a state of silence, and then, he shook his head. “Your father was not able to clearly distinguish them as well.”
“What!?” Ling Yun’s eyes turned towards Ling Yuefeng as a hint of shock flashed past his face.
“That guy actually won again, and he’s actually capable of manipulating fire! Big bro, were you able to distinguish what kind of flames he was playing with?” With a sway of his left hand, a ball of flames burned at top of Fen Juebi’s palm. Looking at the ball of flames, he slowly asked.
“Hmph, it’s nothing but the lowest level of profound flames. To actually play with fire in front of us, the Burning Heaven Clan, he’s basically underestimating us.” Fen Juecheng’s expression sank, saying with disdain.
Fen Juebi blew at his palm, directly extinguishing the ball of flames. He then said with a beaming smile. “Big bro, there’s no need to be angry. In contrast, this is actually a very good thing.”
“A good thing?” Fen Juecheng frowned.
“Did big bro forget? After claiming his victory in this match, who do you think is his opponent tomorrow?” Fen Juebi’s voice was low, and his smile had begun to grow even more sinister.
Fen Juecheng’s eyes turned, and then, his expression slightly changed. “It’s you!”
“That’s right, hahahaha.” Fen Juebi began to laugh wildly. “I didn’t expect that. I was not able to encounter him in the small group matches, but I’m actually going to encounter him in the elimination rounds. This world is simply too marvelous, it’s basically a present bestowed by the heavens to me and big bro. Let me personally end this so-called genius. I shall forever leave my shadow in the heart of the person who dares to offend big bro.”
The Round of 16 started off with a duel that exceeded everyone’s expectations, and immediately after, the second match was also one that shocked the audience. Ling Jie easily defeated an opponent who was two levels above him with just a few strikes, similarly ending the match with lightning speed. There were merely four to five exchanges of blows during the entire process.
Third Match: Fen Juebi easily obtained victory.
Fourth Match: Ling Fengyu won.
Fifth Match: The opponent surrendered, Ling Yun instantly obtained victory.
Sixth Match: Shui Wushuang fought with Wu Xuexin of the same sect, after an exciting battle, Shui Wushuang won by a slight margin.
Seventh Match: Xia Qingyue won.
Eighth Match: Xiao Kuanglei fought with Xiao Zhen of the same sect, and won by a slight margin.
Thus, the Round of 16 concluded, and the top eight in this Ranking Tournament were determined. The Quarterfinals’ match arrangements tomorrow were also revealed on the center of the profound stone after the conclusion of the Round of 16.
First match: Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che vs Burning Heaven Clan’s Fen Juebi.
Second match: Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Jie vs Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Feiyu.
Third match: Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Yun vs Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Shui Wushuang.
Fourth match: Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Xia Qingyue vs Xiao Sect’s Xiao Kuanglei.
As the Ranking Tournament progressed, the eight people who were determined, represented the strongest powerhouses of the current young generation of the Blue Wind Empire. Among these eight, there were a total of seven disciples from the Four Major Sects. Yun Che, the only one who did not belong to the Four Major Sects, was evidently particularly dazzling.
The history of the finale of the Ranking Tournament turning into a power struggle between the Four Major Sects had once again recurred, while Yun Che had undoubtedly became the most unnatural existence in this Ranking Tournament. The moment he entered the top thirty two, his name was destined to be spread far and wide after the Ranking Tournament. And the Blue Wind Profound Palace was finally able to vent out their frustration because of him, allowing them to regain their honor, and drew more practitioners to join them.
“Entering the top eight also means that we have secured our qualifications to enter the Heaven Basin Secret Realm after the Ranking Tournament. This simply feels like a dream.” Returning to the courtyard, Qin Wushang looked towards the sky, and sighed continuously. This was indeed an outcome which he had never even dreamed of.
“Heaven Basin Secret Realm? What’s that?” Xia Yuanba asked curiously.
“It is rumored to be an independent space opened up by a mysterious expert from the Ancient Era. Countless of opportunities and treasures are hidden inside. It opens up once every three years, and people who enter the Secret Realm will always obtain great rewards.” Cang Yue said with great yearning. “Palace Chief Qin, after the Ranking Tournament concludes, you will be able to enter the Heaven Basin Secret Realm with Yun Che. That’s great.”
“That’s right.” Qin Wushang smiled. “Unfortunately, good fortune did not fall on Palace Chief Dongfang, he actually did not follow us here this time. He had always dreamed of being able to investigate the legendary Heaven Basin Secret Realm at least once. But, speaking of which, even I didn’t think that Yun Che would actually be able to get this far…”
He deeply looked at Yun Che, and said. “Challenging someone with a higher level of profound strength is not uncommon, but defeating someone with strength at the late stage Spirit Profound Realm with just the strength at the True Profound Realm, I have never heard of such a thing. I don’t know what method you used to accomplish this; it might be your talent, or it might be the opportunities you have gotten, but what I can confirm is that after this Ranking Tournament, your name will spread throughout the entire Blue Wind Empire, or even, the entire Profound Sky Continent. Are you prepared for this?”
“It can’t be that exaggerated, right?” Yun Che said casually.
“No! It will only be more exaggerated than what I described. If you obtained victory with oppressing profound strength, then that will simply be some new news to know about. However, obtaining consecutive victories with just the strength at the True Profound Realm, this has completely broken history, and has even exceeded everyone’s understanding. Currently, all of the sects, including the Four Major Sects, are already targeting you, investigating your personal history, looking for all the information regarding your life. After the tournament, there will definitely be many people inviting you to join their sects, like what Mu Tianbei did. I possess no authority to intervene in your decision to stay or leave, but, I hope that you can remember this. No matter who you’re facing, do not offend that person like how you did yesterday, because every person you offend, may bring about a danger to yourself that can explode at any time. Yesterday, you made it difficult for Mu Tianbei, and today, you even seriously injured his son, Mu Xiongyan, he will definitely not simply leave this matter at it is. Within this Heavenly Sword Villa, he does not possess the guts to act against you, but after the tournament, Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress might possess the qualifications to enter the Heaven Basin Secret Realm as well. When that time comes, I doubt they will not take the opportunity to exact vengeance.”
“I completely understand what Palace Chief Qin is trying to say. Although I have never been afraid of offending others, I have never casually offended others as well. If Mu Tianbei did not ridicule our Blue Wind Profound Palace nor mock the Blue Wind Imperial Family yesterday, I would not have made things difficult for him either. Seriously injuring Mu Xiongyan was intentional as well. But, since I have already done it, I will not regret it. If he wishes to exact vengeance, then I will take responsibility for it.” The corner of Yun Che’s lips moved, curving up to a dangerously cold smile. “Who shall suffer under whose hands has yet to be determined.”
Knowing that he was unable to persuade Yun Che, Qin Wushang simply sighed, and said. “You must definitely be cautious in tomorrow’s match. Although Fen Juebi’s level of profound strength is the same as Mu Xiongyan’s, he is someone who has inherited the profound arts of the Burning Heaven Clan, his abilities can be said to be a few levels above Mu Xiongyan’s. And, this person, Fen Juebi, is ruthless, brutal, and likes to humiliate his opponents. The reason why Fen Juechen left the Burning Heaven Clan and was so focused on exacting vengeance on Fen Juebi, was due to the huge shame he received after being defeated by him. When you’re exchanging blows with him, you must definitely, definitely, be careful.”
Fen Juecheng’s expression, which was filled with killing intent, flashed past in Yun Che’s mind. Smiling coldly, with a voice which only he could hear, he muttered to himself. “Hmm… Humiliating opponents… I’m an expert in that field too…”
Chapter 220 - Yun Che VS Fen Juebi
Today’s Sword Discourse Arena was filled with a peculiar kind of atmosphere. Especially members of the Burning Heaven Clan; their complexions were all quite unsightly.
The first match of the Quarterfinals was Yun Che versus Fen Juebi. Although Yun Che had surprised people time and time again in every one of his previous matches, to the majority of the audience, this competition was still not suspenseful at all. It wasn’t because they still held Yun Che in contempt after being shocked again and again, rather, it was because the image of the Four Major Sects prime positions had long since been deeply ingrained.
“You must win this match no matter what! Yuange was defeated by Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Xia Qingyue, and Jin’er had the misfortune of going up against Ling Yun. Out of all of us, the one remaining that entered the Quarterfinals, is only you! Looks like, in this session, the fact that we are still ranked fourth out of the Four Major Sects has essentially been decided. But, if you lose to this Yun Che brat, then we would not even be able to enter the top four and can only rank fifth! For our Burning Heaven Clan, this is an absolutely unacceptable humiliation… You understand?”
Fen Moli said with a heavy expression. In yesterday’s Round of 16, Burning Heaven Clan’s core disciple, his last grandson, Fen Jin, had the misfortune of going against Ling Yun, so he had to leave the stage prematurely. This made him suddenly feel extremely pressured. He could accept being at the bottom of the Four Major Sects’ rankings, after all, it had basically been that way for all these years. But if they placed outside of fourth place… This was a matter that had not happened for several hundreds of years! It was enough to bring shame to the entire Burning Heaven Clan, so he was absolutely positively unwilling to accept that.
And the first match of the Quarterfinals just happened to be the battle that decided that outcome! If they defeat Yun Che, Burning Heaven Clan would enter the top four, and even placing in the top three would become a possibility. But if they lose…
“Rest assured Great Elder. Coming across anyone of the six people outside of Yun Che and I, would have to make me carefully consider the match. But this Yun Che…” Fen Juebi laughed with extreme disdain: “Trash that completely relied on luck to get here doesn’t even have the qualifications to go against me. If I can’t even defeat him, then I seriously do not even have the face to continue living.”
Fen Moli nodded his head slowly. Even though the strength that Yun Che had displayed was more shocking than the next, he still had never believed that Fen Juebi could lose. However, his complexion was still as tense as before as he spoke in a low voice: “For you to have such self-confidence is naturally good. You can be confident in yourself but you must not, by any means, be too arrogant! Because that will deceive your eyes. Also, when going against Yun Che, you must not underestimate him. Yesterday, he suddenly revealed a bizarre and unpredictable movement skill that even I did not see through clearly. Not only that, he can also control fire as well, and it cannot be certain that he does not have the ability to restrain our Burning Heaven Fire. The most important thing worthy of careful attention, is that it does not seem like he has completely revealed his true strength… You must be careful!”
“Great Elder is overthinking it. His movement skill is merely a simple instantaneous displacement. How could it possibly compare to our Burning Heaven Clan’s ‘Burning Phantom Illusion’. Besides, even if his profound movement skill is a hundred times more delicately fine, it is useless within a Sword Discourse Arena entirely enveloped in the Burning Heaven Fire that has no blind spots. As for his control over fire, hahahaha… The fire he released yesterday was clearly the lowest level of profound fire, so how could it possibly compare to our Burning Heaven Fire? If you’re saying that he could possibly restrain my power, you might as well say that I could completely control his power.”
Fen Juebi’s expression was filled with complete disdain. His words made Fen Moli crease his brows as he said in a somewhat grave voice: “Juebi, there is one thing that I must remind you about. If you lose this match, then the entire Burning Heaven Clan would be humiliated. You must not become our Burning Heaven Clan’s sinner. If that happens, it is not certain if Clan Master would forgive you.”
Fen Moli’s last words finally made Fen Juebi retract his sloppy attitude and made him nod quite seriously: “Great Elder’s instructions are, that in this match, even if the opponent is many times weaker, I still should not hold back… To only win, and not lose.”
Fen Juebi closed in next to Fen Juecheng’s ear and softly said with half-narrowed eyes: “Big bro, the match is about to start soon. Do you want to cripple both his legs, burn his face off, or turn him into an eunuch?”
“Burn his face off!” Fen Juecheng’s eyebrows sunk as he answered without the slightest hesitation. Because during a match, this kind of matter could completely be regarded as an “unexpected accident”.
“I won’t let big bro down.” Fen Juebi stuck out his tongue and licked the corner of his lips. He quietly laughed sinisterly: “To me, instead of saying that this is a competition, I’d rather say that this is a… Mn, incomparably wonderful game.”
Time was approaching in the blink of an eye. Yun Che and Fen Juebi leapt to the center of the Sword Discourse Arena at almost the same time with a distance of more than thirty meters between them.
Yun Che’s expression was completely tranquil. But in the eyes of the Fen Juebi in front of him, he saw a distinct disdain and mockery, as well as a close to perverted cruelty mixed within. The corner of Yun Che’s mouth twitched, as a hint of a sneer flitted by.
In Fen Juebi’s eyes, Yun Che was a mere dish that he could flatten or make round.
But in Yun Che’s eyes, Fen Juebi was not even considered a dish. He was not even as threatening as yesterday’s Mu Xiongyan. Mu Xiongyan’s various unknown firearms had at least, scared him enough to choose to win by a surprise move in the shortest time possible. This Fen Juebi however, could be said to not even be a threat since the very beginning… Because this guy only played with fire.
“Say, do you think it’s possible for Yun Che to defeat Fen Juebi?”
“Isn’t this fundamentally impossible? While Fen Juebi’s profound strength is the same as yesterday’s Mu Xiongyan, his true strength is in a different level. He’s Fen Duanhun’s second son!”
“If Fen Juebi actually loses, Burning Heaven Clan would be kicked out of the top four and that would surely be fun to watch.”
“How could that kind of thing even happen…”
“Quick, look at what’s in Fen Juebi’s hands… That must be the legendary Sky Profound Weapon —— the Demon Flame Blade! It looks like that Fen Juebi’s not going to give Yun Che any chances whatsoever.”
“That’s only natural. To the Burning Heaven Clan, they have no other choice but to win and not lose this match. Even if the opponent is a mere grasshopper, they definitely cannot hold back.”
Even though the two on the Sword Discourse Arena had not exchanged words, the atmosphere was filled with a strangeness that was difficult to describe. Seeing that the two were already prepared, Ling Wugou did not wait any longer and waved his hand: “The first showdown of the Quarterfinals… Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che versus Burning Heaven Clan’s Fen Juebi, battle start!”
“Heh!” Fen Juebi laughed sinisterly: “If you had chosen to not get on stage and directly surrender, I seriously would not have known what to do. Luckily, you did not disappoint me and obediently came up here. It is already too late if you wish to surrender right now. Today, is going to be the most unforgettable day of your life.”
“Tch.” Yun Che curled his lips in disdain: “I never expected that not only are you ugly, you also say this much rubbish. No wonder Burning Heaven Clan could only stand at the bottom of the Four Major Sects, it’s actually made up of these piles of trash.”
With his poisonous tongue, Yun Che was indeed an expert in the same field. Fen Juebi immediately went into a violent rage once those words of his came out: “Die!!”
Scarlet flame ignited atop Fen Juebi’s body. Then, it all concentrated onto the Demon Flame Blade. The flame’s dazzling light reflected upon the surrounding profound energy barrier and revealed its shape, while bringing along an incomparably shocking high temperature. In the wake of Fen Juebi’s blade thrust, the flame on the blade’s body immediately swirled into a huge flaming tornado. Like a ferocious flame beast, it came at Yun Che with opened deadly fangs.
This power behind this strike made several tens of meters of audience cry out in alarm. Yun Che slightly lowered his brows as he instantaneously retreated backwards. The Overlord’s Colossal Sword immediately came out with a wave, and was then swung outwards, conjuring up a tyrannical profound energy tornado that collided with Fen Juebi’s flaming tornado. In a split second, Yun Che’s heavy sword energy was burnt out by Burning Heaven Fire. In turn, the Burning Heaven was extinguished by the heavy sword energy layer after layer. At the location of the two force’s collision, fire and space began to violently distort.
Boom!!
Following the loud explosion, the heavy sword energy and the flaming tornado were simultaneously exterminated. The two were pushed into the distance by the tremendous windstorm. Fen Juebi stood in place as his expression became even more dangerous: “Heh. You have truly surprised me. To have actually received a strike containing sixty percent of my strength, it looks like you did not entirely rely on luck to reach this place. Oh, but what a pity. In front of me, you are still merely trash.”
He pointed the Demon Flame Blade forward with slightly narrowed eyes and a proud posture, as if he was issuing Yun Che his life’s trial: “I was just greeting earlier. I’ll let you properly see and experience our Burning Heaven Clan’s Burning Heaven Fire next. Believe me, it is something that you will remember for a whole lifetime. Even until death, you would probably never forget its exquisite scenery. Hahahaha!!”
In the midst of his wild laughter, Fen Juebi suddenly dashed forward at a great speed as fire ignited once more on his body and the Demon Flame Blade. Bringing along a strand of fiery silhouettes, he immediately attacked Yun Che. Before he was even fifteen meters away from Yun Che, the flames on his body suddenly changed from scarlet to blue.
Orange colored flame was known as “ordinary fire”, and was the weakest level fire. Above orange fire, was scarlet colored fire. Middle-low level profound flame was also scarlet in color, and above scarlet, from the lowest level to the highest, was Blue Flame, Purple Flame, White Flame, Gold Flame, as well as the rumored Star Scorching Flame and Primordial Flame of legends.
When transforming profound energy into fire, its power could more or less be determined by the color of the flame. But as for the special flames of the Phoenix, Vermilion Bird, and Golden Crow, they were not ordinary profound fire, rather, they were the Divine Beast’s personal “Divine Fire” that possessed their own properties and color, which did not follow that sort of procedure.
Blue Flame, was profound fire that surpasses the Scarlet Flame by one level!
To everyone’s knowledge, only those who have reached the Earth Profound Realm were capable of releasing such high level profound flame!
Once this blue colored flame came out, it undoubtedly made the entire audience cry out in surprise.
“Blue… Blue Flame!!”
“It has been said that one needed to have profound strength in at least the Earth Profound Realm to have the capability of igniting blue colored profound flame… Fen Juebi’s innate talent for flames was actually this high! To actually have the capability of igniting blue colored profound flames at only the eighth level of the Spirit Profound Realm.”
“As expected of the son of Burning Heaven Clan’s Clan Master, looks like Fen Juebi’s true strength needs to be evaluated once more. With him igniting blue colored profound flames, it seems like Yun Che does not even have a little bit of hope left.”
At the Burning Heaven Clan’s seating area, Fen Moli faintly laughed as he thought out loud: “Looks like this Great Elder’s words had frightened him. To have actually revealed his trump card so early, it is simply making a big deal out of a small matter, and using a butcher knife for oxes to kill chicken.”
“Come, let me hear the sounds of you crying, begging, and struggling!”
Fen Juebi laughed wildly as he closed in on Yun Che. The blue colored flames on his body suddenly exploded, dispersing into more than a dozen different sized flaming tornados. The flaming tornados quickly combusted in the air, spreading directly towards Yun Che as well as every nook and cranny within the profound energy barrier. It was as if it wanted to completely cover the space within the profound energy barrier and change the surroundings into a sea of blue colored fire without any blind spots…
Chapter 221 - Extinguished
The difference between blue colored profound flames and scarlet colored profound flames was not merely power, but also their different levels of plane. The profound defense at the Spirit Profound Realm could mostly defend against high powered scarlet flames, but would usually be burnt down like a thin sheet of paper against low level blue flames.
Along with the quickly expanding blue flame tornado, Yun Che also continually retreated, and was forced back to the arena’s border step by step. With a loud laugh, Fen Juebi’s body suddenly became illusory and a great amount of his figures suddenly appeared within the soaring blue colored profound flames, as if an innumerable amount of his clones were born from this blue sea of fire.
Of course, these “clones” were merely illusions he produced using blue colored profound flames. But because they were extremely similar to his original body, they were hard to differentiate from his true body and was enough to confuse the opponent’s eyesight, dazzling them and rendering them unable to choose and attack. The “clones” went from a few to a dozen, then grew from a dozen into a few dozens. They all shifted around chaotically in the blue colored sea of fire, bringing up countless strings of blue colored light mirages. Under the protection and interference of these clones, the true body slashed toward Yun Che from different directions, and made it perilous for Yun Che as he retreated step by step.
“So this is the Burning Heaven Clan’s core movement profound skill ‘Burning Phantom Illusion’? It really is too frightening! Especially under the condition of a constrained area for battle, it simply makes one despair.”
“As expected of the Burning Heaven Clan. This kind of shockingly excellent profound technique is something these sects of ours could never match.”
Looking at the current situation beneath his eyes, Yun Che was basically forced into a hopeless corner and probably could not endure for a few breaths of time either, which meant that Fen Juebi’s easy and perfect victory was already a forgone conclusion. Fen Juecheng smiled faintly: “Tsk, Second Younger Brother’s Burning Phantom Illusion actually had already reached such a level, shocking even the older brother me.”
“The reason why Juebi’s profound strength had not increased in these past three months, was because he was training his profound flames and Burning Phantom Illusion. Otherwise, he would have definitely reached the ninth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. When Clan Master told me this before we left, I hadn’t even taken it to heart. However, I never thought that he had actually reached such a realm; I’m afraid that even Jin’er may not be his match. I, too, have misjudged him. Seems like I was worrying for nothing earlier.”
Fen Moli nodded with satisfaction, and the expression on his face became extremely relaxed. For Feng Juebi, who could release blue colored profound flames and could also use the Burning Phantom Illusion to such a degree, it was already simply impossible to lose this battle.
Bang!
With a slight sound, Yun Che’s back touched the transparent profound energy barrier. To have reached here, meant that he no longer had anywhere to retreat to. The blue colored profound flames were only less than three meters away from him. That terrifying high temperature even gradually melted the stage’s stone below his feet.
“Ayaya, this stage is really too small. This game of a cat toying with mice had just started for such a short time and is already about to be over, it really is somewhat boring. What’s more boring, is that you actually haven’t screamed out a single time; you really are too uncooperative.”
Within the blue colored sea of fire, several tens of flame mirages shifted and flashed, and it was unknown which one’s mouth the mocking voice was coming from: “Since you don’t want to scream out yourself, then let me give you a helping hand. Scream out of despair as much as you like, HAHAHAHA…”
“Burning Heaven Slash!!”
The blue colored flames that were already fiercely burning, instantly went berserk. As the Demon Flame Blade in Fen Juebi’s hand swung, a huge wave of fire over ten meters formed and blanketed down toward the Yun Che who had been forced into a corner.
Fen Juebi was laughing wildly, as if he had already saw the sight of Yun Che’s entire body being being swallowed by the blue colored Burning Heaven Flames in the next second. Especially that porcelain face of his that would be ‘specially cared for’ by the blue flames and be burnt into black char beyond recognition.
Everything was within his expectation and guidance; everything was so perfect. If a certain flaw had to be stated, it could be that from the start until now, he had never found a single hint of fear on Yun Che’s face. Even when he was forced into a dead end, his expression was still oddly calm; this slightly discounted his “sense of achievement”.
But just as the blue flames were about to swallow Yun Che, his expression had finally swayed away from calmness. However, the expression he revealed was not at all the shock and despair that Fen Juebi wanted to see, but instead was… a hint of a mocking sneer.
“This is indeed a game of cat toying with mice. However, it seems like you’re mistaken about who’s the real mouse!”
The voice of scorn pierced through the scorching airwave and flowed into Fen Juebi’s ears. At this same moment, Yun Che suddenly took a step forward, lifted the heavy sword, and fiercely swung outwards.
RIIIP!!
Accompanying the heavy sword’s swing, space slightly twisted as the air crazily rampaged. With a burst of sound as if cotton being torn, that dreadful profound flame was actually directly slashed into pieces by the heavy sword, and quickly dissipated like a broken illusion.
The Yun Che who had retreated step after step earlier carried a cold smile on his face, and started to move forward step by step as the heavy sword continuously danced. Following the bursts of ringing profound energy, those blue colored profound flames that clearly looked extremely terrifying was actually being blown out wave after wave like fragile soap bubbles; they didn’t even have the slightest ability to struggle and resist. Wherever Yun Che treaded, the blue flames there would be blown into pieces and dissipate.
“Wh… Wh… What!!”
The entire audience was struck dumb. Burning Heaven Clan’s six members all stood up from their seats with widened eyes and faces full of incredibility, as if they had seen a ghost.
“Th… This isn’t possible!”
Fen Juebi’s wild laugh, as well as the contemptuous arrogance on his face, simultaneously disappeared. What replaced it was a face brimming with shock and a slight fear. The blue colored profound flames that he took pride in, that he treated as his trump card, had actually been extinguished by Yun Che so easily, as if he was just walking and waving his hands. What he extinguished wasn’t only Feng Juebi’s strength, but more so his pride, dignity, as well as his self confidence that was originally bloated beyond compare.
“The reason why they were extinguished by him must be because my blue flames were only in their elementary stage, and haven’t been fully mastered yet. It must be… It must be so!”
Feng Juebi consoled himself with all his might. Then, a nasty grin emerged onto his face once again. However, the grin this time was more or less a bit stiff and difficult: “Yun Che, you think that you could beat me just because you’re able to destroy my Burning Heaven Flames? Hahahaha, these Burning Heaven Flames, are merely the lowest rank in power of the profound flames I possess…”
“If you have the guts… then try breaking through my Burning Heaven Dragon Flame!”
Fen Juebi bit his tongue. Then, he sprayed out several drops of blood essence and showered it onto the Demon Flame Blade in his hand. The blue flames on the Demon Flame Blade instantly flourished. Fen Juebi raised the Demon Flame Blade up high with both hands, and ferociously roared. Instantaneously, a blue colored pillar of fire suddenly burst out from his body. Even the surrounding blue flames that still burned were forcefully sucked back and gathered onto his body. Not only did the blue flames on his body stop rising after that, it quickly lowered back down and shrunk. However, that profound energy aura had actually changed to become much more frightening.
“He actually took the expense of losing his blood essence to activate the dragon flame! And it also seems to be activated with full power.” Fen Juecheng knitted his brows as his expression fully darkened.
“This is also a choice that he had to inevitably make. I really had not thought that Yun Che had always been acting weak earlier on purpose. Juebi’s flames has already reached the blue colored realm, yet it actually could not be even the slightest of threat to him. Just what kind of abnormality is he… However, once the Dragon Flame is unleashed, his death is basically certain. Even if he doesn’t die, he’ll definitely end up being gravely injured. Perhaps, Juebi would be kicked out of this ranking tournament because of this.” Fen Moli said with a solemn expression.
“Hmph! Being kicked out of the tournament, is at least better than losing this battle!” Fen Juecheng said as he gritted his teeth. Right now, he immensely desired for Yun Che to die this instant. Before, he only had the thought of killing Yun Che, but did not treat him as his enemy at all, because in his eyes, Yun Che was not the least bit qualified. But as Yun Che displayed greater strength time and time again, at this moment in time, he could not help but to be stricken with terror. Yun Che was already like this at the mere age of seventeen. After he fully matured into his prime, it was unknown how shocking of a height he would reach.
Fen Moli opened his mouth, but did not refute. That’s right, under this kind of situation, being kicked out of the ranking tournament from killing Yun Che, and even being punished by the Mighty Heaven Sword Region was far better than losing. Because the only one who would be punished was Fen Juebi himself, and Burning Heaven Clan would only need to make some sort of reimbursement at most. But if the battle were to be lost, then it would shame the entire Burning Heaven Clan.
“Crap!” Ling Yuefeng stood up with a “whoosh”. He understood very clearly what Fen Juebi was about to do, and was even clearer about how terrifying of a power Burning Heaven Clan’s “Dragon Flame” possessed. He grimly sound transmitted to Ling Wogou: “Be prepared to save Yun Che right away! You must not let him die beneath the dragon flame.”
On the Sword Discourse Arena, Ling Wugou’s complexion darkened heavily as he nodded his head so slightly that it was indiscernible. He activated his profound energy and his clothes fluttered as he went on standby.
“Yun Che… die!!”
Fen Juebi was clearer than anyone about what kind of outcome would possibly be triggered once this attack landed, so his conspicuous roar was particularly fierce. Following the sudden wave of both his arms, the blue flames on his entire body transformed into a purple colored fire dragon that was a foot thick and several tens of meters long. It flew out from the Demon Flame Blade, bringing along an incomparably terrifying high heatwave, and charged at Yun Che.
“Flame Dragon… It’s the ultimate forbidden skill —— Heaven Burning Dragon!”
“I heard that this move requires blood essence to activate. Every time it is mobilized, profound strength would drop by at least half a level! But it’s strong enough to kill immortals and slaughter gods!”
“Has Fen Juebi gone crazy! To actually damage his own blood essence to use this move. With the power of this one move, it is very likely that Yun Che will immediately die on that stage.”
“It is not strange at all for Fen Juebi to use this move, because Burning Heaven Clan cannot afford to lose this match… Sigh, with how gifted Yun Che is, it will truly be quite a pity if he falls here. We can only hope that Elder Ling will save Yun Che in time.”
The sounds of the surrounding commentaries turned Cang Yue’s complexion pale. Covering her lips with both hands as her beautiful eyes widened, she was unable to produce any sound within her extreme terror and worry.
The soaring Heaven Burning Flame Dragon came right at him, and rang Yun Che’s alarm… He did not fear fire at all, but the ferocious impacting power that this flame dragon carried was absolutely not something that could be looked down on. Furrowing his brows, he quickly retreated a step, gathered up his profound power, and swung out the heavy sword with all his might.
Boom!!
The windstorm of power and the flame dragon collided in midair. The flame dragon instantly appeared to be stalled for a moment, then once again rushed toward him as a wave of enormous imposing aura tightly wrapped around his entire body.
It’s unexpectedly this difficult to deal with… Yun Che’s suddenly had a thought, and the heavy sword that had been swung outwards, quickly and swiftly, swept back up as the profound strength in his entire body rushed toward Yun Che’s arms like a flood.
“Falling Moon Sinking Star!!”
Boom!!!!
With an enormous sound, flames were swept all over the sky as the stone stage in the surrounding few dozens of meters instantly turned into fragments. Even the profound energy barrier slightly trembled. Under this incomparably powerful and ferocious strike, the flame dragon was smashed, tumbling far away as the blue flames on its body also quickly dissipated. In the blink of an eye, the flame dragon that was originally a foot thick, had now already become half a foot thick… But in the next instant, the flame dragon whose power had dissipated to a large degree once again shot toward Yun Che. It was as fast as lightning, and before Yun Che even had time to retract the heavy sword, the flame dragon had already arrived before his chest.
To be able to smash away more than half of the power from the dreadfully powerful flame dragon in one strike, for everyone present and especially people of the Burning Heaven Clan, the impact of this scene was nothing less than a thunder strike during a clear day. But even so, the residue power of the flame dragon had already neared Yun Che’s chest, and it was impossible for Yun Che to resist again.
Everyone held their breaths. Ling Wugou tensed his entire body and was just about to rush into the profound energy barrier, yet he found that Yun Che’s hands had suddenly left the Overlord’s Colossal Sword and suddenly closed, grabbing toward the “neck” part of the flame dragon.
Ling Wugou immediately turned pale with fright as he roared loudly: “Let go!! Do you not want your hand anymore!!”
The terrifyingly high temperature and fire power that the blue colored dragon flame carried was simply unimaginable. It was fundamentally impossible to break through head on using only brute force; to directly touch it with the body, was really no different than seeking one’s own death.
Yun Che turned a deaf ear as both of his hands firmly grabbed onto the flame dragon’s neck. Profound energy under “Evil Soul”, the fire controlling power from the Evil God’s seed, the Phoenix’s flame power, the power of the Dragon God, the overbearing power of the physical body granted by the Great Way of the Buddha, all surged up in that instant…
There were no flames exploding, no flame dragon exploding, and no scenery of Yun Che’s hands being instantly scorched black by the flame dragon… The scenery, suddenly became static at this moment. Just like that, the soaring flame dragon was frozen there within Yun Che’s hand.
At this time, the flame dragon suddenly started to painfully twist and turn like a poisonous snake that had been choked at seven inches from its heart. But no matter how hard it struggled and turned, it couldn’t escape Yun Che hands that were tightly shut with all his strength. Amidst its struggling, the flame dragon’s power quickly dissipated, and became smaller and smaller. From a flame dragon, it quickly shrunk down to a small flame snake, and in the end into a tiny earthworm… Then, it completely dissipated within Yun Che’s hands, leaving not the slightest trace of its existence.
Yun Che’s forehead was full of sweat, but his expression was incomparably calm. He slowly opened his grip. Regardless of whether it was his palm or wrist, there wasn’t the slightest hint of a burn mark at all.
It was unknown when everyone in the Sword Discourse Arena had stood up. Every single person’s gaze was stupefied, and were silent for a long while, as if the sound of this world had already been completely sucked out.
Chapter 222 - Unforeseen Event
The forbidden skill ‘Heaven Burning Dragon’ unleashed by Fen Juebi was actually blocked by Yun Che, and he simply used his two hands to do so. Using his two palms, he extinguished that terrifying Heaven Burning Dragon completely.
“Heaven Burning Dragon” was Burning Heaven Clan’s forbidden skill, which required blood essence to activate. The frequency in which this skill appeared was extremely low, and a large number of Burning Heaven Clan disciples might not even activate it even once in their entire lives. There were obviously preceding cases of opponents blocking the “Heaven Burning Dragon”, but every time, the opponents would definitely block the forbidden skill with extreme difficulty, and blocking it in a fashion like this… had never happened before!
In Yun Che’s eyes, the “Heaven Burning Dragon” was just a young snake which had overestimated its own abilities, and had simply been killed using both his hands. During the entire process, not a hint of harm was done to Yun Che.
Along with a “plop” sound, Fen Juebi knelt on the ground. His face was as pale as paper, his two eyes were widened to an extreme degree, and looked as though his soul had left his body from the shock. The six other people from the Burning Heaven Clan, including Fen Moli who was nearing a hundred years old, basically had the same reaction as well. They simply could not believe their eyes. Seeing their strongest Heaven Burning Dragon to have actually been blocked with a method like that was even more unacceptable. And his opponent was able to block it completely and while staying completely unscathed… This was something an expert at the early stages of the Earth Profound Realm would probably not be able to achieve!
Those extremely dense blue profound flames, which were still in a berserk state, were capable of even instantly melting fine iron!
Ling Yuefeng’s expression was filled with shock as well. Ling Wugou who had initially prepared to charge into the profound energy barrier was simply standing there in a daze. He even forgot to put down the profound energy he had raised, and was looking towards Yun Che with extremely astonished eyes… As though he was looking at a monster that came from beyond the heavens.
At that short moment, the shock created by Yun Che, greatly surpassed the sum of every other astonishment he caused.
Seeing Fen Juebi, whose beliefs had collapsed due to the extreme degree of shock and disbelief, fall to the ground, Yun Che coldly smiled. Stretching out both arms, he once again grabbed onto the Overlord’s Colossal Sword, and fiercely swung it towards Fen Juebi.
Whoosh!!
The force brought about by the power of the heavy sword exploded outwards. In his current state, Fen Juebi no longer had any power to resist. With a bang, he tumbled few dozen times from the impact, and then sprawled on the ground like a dead dog. His body spasmed, and even after a long while, there was no sign of him getting up.
Ling Wugou then finally regained his senses. Retracting his profound energy, he regulated his breathing, and then, calmly shouted. “Fen Juebi did not get off the ground for more than ten breaths of time, Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che wins! He shall enter tomorrow’s Semifinals!”
Ling Wugou’s voice woke the dazed audience as well, and in an instant, noise filled the entire Sword Discourse Arena.
Ever since the beginning of the ranking tournament, Yun Che created miracle after miracle, and just when almost everyone believed it was basically impossible for Yun Che to progress any further, an even more exaggerated miracle, which brought about a gigantic impact towards their souls, was demonstrated right in front of them.
Yun Che gained victory over Fen Juebi, and it was even a complete victory!
Fen Moli sat directly back onto his seat, and the old skin on his face shivered. Fen Juebi was defeated, and he was even thoroughly defeated, which meant that, in this Ranking Tournament, Burning Heaven Clan was destined to fall from the first four placings for the first time. If Shui Wushuang and Xia Qingyue from the Frozen Cloud Asgard were to both lose in this round of matches, or Xiao Kuanglei from the Xiao Sect were to lose in this round of matches, they might have the chance to fight for the fourth place. But, no matter was it Shui Wushuang or Xiao Kuanglei, they were basically opponents who Fen Juebi could never win against, and Fen Moli knew of this point without a doubt.
Adding that Fen Juebi did not hesitate to burn his blood essence, he received a large drop in profound strength. All hope was thus lost.
This could be said to be Burning Heaven Clan’s first disgrace in these few hundred years.
But, this could not be fully blamed on Fen Juebi alone. Just by how Yun Che extinguished the Heaven Burning Dragon with his bare hands at the end, even if Fen Jin was the one who went up against him, he would not be able to defeat Yun Che.
“He… Just how did he do it?”
“I don’t know… He must have forcefully dispersed the power of the flame dragon with his profound energy.”
“But that was Burning Heaven Clan’s forbidden skill! To completely disperse an attack like that, I’m afraid even an early stage Earth Profound Realm practitioner may not be able to do it either.”
“Evidently, this Yun Che has been hiding his true abilities, and it’s not even known how much of his abilities he’s hiding… Tenth level of the True Profound Realm… Just from thinking about it, really drives me crazy.”
“Fen Juebi has been defeated and it’s been determined that the Burning Heaven Clan will place below the top four, while the Blue Wind Imperial Family actually smashed into the Semifinals! From now on, will the Burning Heaven Clan be dethroned from their position as one of the Four Major Sects, and be replaced with the Blue Wind Imperial Family?”
“This time, because of Yun Che, it’s basically impossible for the Blue Wind Imperial Family to not shake the world, and regain their former glory! I really wonder where the Blue Wind Imperial Family managed to find such a freak. Haah, why is there no such disciple like that born in our sect!”
The sounds of discussions that filled the entire arena continued without pause. Yun Che had once again became the talking point of the entire audience. In contrast, the grand and mighty Burning Heaven Clan turned out to be the loser, and what they were enduring were no longer admiration and praise, but sympathy in the midst of all the compassionate eyes directed toward them…
Under everyone’s attention, Yun Che did not immediately leave the Sword Discourse Arena. Rather, he gave a slight bow to Lin Wugou. “Elder Ling, thank you very much.”
Ling Wugou was startled for a moment, and then, he slightly nodded while praising Yun Che in his heart… Earlier, in that sort of situation, he was still able to put his focus away and feel that I was about to “save” him. Unless, when he was facing the “Heaven Burning Dragon” earlier, he was still keeping some strength in reserve?
Yun Che turned, preparing to leave the center of the Sword Discourse Arena. At this moment, Fen Juebi, who his back was currently facing, suddenly leaped up from the ground. With eyes emitting out a glow of hatred, and a hideous expression, he charged towards Yun Che like a demon that had fallen into despair. His Demon Flame Blade raged with blue flames as he thrusted it towards Yun Che’s back.
“I will kill you!!”
Fen Juebi was definitely not a person so mentally weak to not accept defeat, but the loss he suffered in this match was different. Because, he lost to an opponent who, in his eyes, was someone he could take down with a single blow before the match. And, the match he lost, was a match concerning the honor of the Burning Heaven Clan, a match he definitely could not lose. The words Fen Moli had said to him earlier, and the consequences and shame due to his loss, were like needles that furiously stabbed into his nerves and soul, causing him to lose all reason. He only had the crazed impulse to cut Yun Che down into thousand of pieces…
Fen Juebi’s actions immediately brought about scornful jeers from the entire audience. Yun Che stopped, muttered softly to himself “you’re courting death”, he furiously turned back, and threw his heavy sword down towards Fen Juebi without any mercy.
If it was a head-on clash, Fen Juebi was basically not a match for Yun Che. Furthermore, his blood essence was gravely injured and he was currently extremely weakened. The power Fen Juebi wielded was easily exterminated by the strength of Yun Che’s heavy sword, and right after, he felt as though a one hundred fifty ton sledgehammer had smashed onto his chest.
Boom!!
Fen Juebi’s vision was completely blurred, a large amount of blood splurged out from his mouth, his chest was no longer distinguishable from the exposed blood and flesh, and his entire body was like a grocery bag being blown away by a fierce wind, as he was sent flying out…
“Juebi!! Junior, you dare!”
An extremely furious roar shook the entire audience. Fen Moli rose to the sky, and he crossed a distance of a couple hundred of meters in a mere second, and instantly barged into the profound energy barrier, landing in front of Fen Juebi. After checking his injuries, he furiously turned, and looked at Yun Che with anger. “Junior! Your heart is actually this malicious! The duel has already concluded, and you still intentionally heavily injure the son of our Burning Heaven Clan Master!!”
The name of Burning Heaven Clan’s Great Elder was widely known, and the might of his name did not seem to be any lower than the Burning Heaven Clan Master Fen Duanhun. It could be said that there was no one in the audience who did not fear him, and with that roar of his, even if his target was a Sect Master of one of the great sects, that person would still tremble in fear. But Yun Che was definitely one of the exceptions. He coldly laughed. “Are you blind? Evidently, he was the one who tried to sneak an attack on me first. Rather than retaliating, do I have to simply stand here and wait for him to attack me?”
“Junior, you’re courting death!” Under Fen Moli’s explosive rage, even his beard rose. It had been a few decades since someone dared to talk to him in this way, moreover, the person speaking to him right now was just a junior. Adding that the Burning Heaven Clan’s loss and the shame that they would definitely suffer right after, all originated from the person in front of him, his anger exploded like the eruption of a volcano… He wanted to vent his hatred by killing Yun Che more than Fen Juebi.
Moving his hands away from Fen Juebi’s body, Fen Moli suddenly flew into the air. Like an eagle’s talon, his right hand stretched towards Yun Che’s head.
The entire audience exclaimed from this sudden unforeseen event. Fen Moli flying into the Sword Discourse Arena to check on Fen Juebi injuries was not unexpected, and was within reason. However, no one would have thought that he would actually suddenly act against Yun Che… And the way he was acting, was evidently a blow enough to send Yun Che to his death!!
An elder nearing his hundreds, a Great Elder in the Burning Heaven Clan, a peak-level expert with the strength half a step into the Emperor Profound Realm, actually acted against a mere seventeen year old junior. It was even within the Heavenly Sword Villa, and was also in the presence of an elder from the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. Fen Moli’s action was evidently due to the loss of reason from his explosive rage, an act tantamount to madness.
“Elder Fen, stop!” Ling Wugou’s expression paled from shock. He quickly stepped forward with the intent to stop Fen Moli. But, the difference between a late stage Sky Profound Realm and one half a step into the Emperor Profound Realm was still too great. Before he could even approach him, he was forcefully blown aside by the outburst of profound energy Fen Moli unleashed. He could only look on as Fen Moli’s hand neared Yun Che… That claw of his, was enough to directly shatter Yun Che’s entire skull.
Yun Che also would never have thought that Fen Moli would actually shamelessly act against him. Yun Che had once felt the strength of half-step into Emperor Profound Realm from Chu Yuechan, and Fen Moli had already stayed in the realm of half a step into the Emperor Profound for thirty years so his profound energy was much denser than Chu Yuechan’s. When that claw attack approached him, the terrifying pressure brought about by his profound energy caused Yun Che to clearly feel like he was being enveloped by a firmament. That tyrannically boundless suppressive pressure, forget about dodging it, he was unable to move a single finger.
Although Yun Che was shocked, he did not fluster. Taking a deep breath, he activated the power of Star God’s Broken Shadow…
RIIIP!!
That terrifying sound was as though even the space grabbed by Fen Moli was teared apart. Fen Moli’s right hand grabbed towards Yun Che’s head, but what he caught was just a dissipating afterimage.
Fen Moli’s movements stopped for a moment, and then, he was even more enraged… He, a mighty expert with strength half a step into the Emperor Profound Realm, attacked a junior in surprise… and actually still struck empty air! And he completely did not realize when Yun Che had moved away.
But he did not have the leisure to be astonished by Yun Che’s strange and unpredictable profound movement skill. Igniting flames of fury, he once again locked onto Yun Che’s position. With a growl, a large amount of purple profound flames suddenly erupted from his body. The purple profound flames transformed into dozens of purple flame dragons that hideously charged towards Yun Che. The might of each flame dragon, was several times stronger than the Heaven Burning Dragon Fen Juebi unleashed.
“Stop!”
“Stop!!!!”
Everything happened in a flash, and it was only now that everyone finally reacted. Two loud roars sounded from two different directions, one from Qin Wushang, and the other came from Ling Yuefeng. They stood up at the same time, and were about to charge towards the Sword Discourse Arena. However, at this moment, an icy blue figure that brought about a bone-piercing coldness flew towards the Sword Discourse Arena before they could…
CRA-CRA-CRA-CRA-CRACK….
The sounds of ice forming in the air rang, and in just a short moment, the purple flames that filled the sky were all frozen in ice. The terrifying high temperature was also rapidly decreasing, and speedily became ice-cold. At this moment, an absolutely beautiful, blue fairy-like figure descended from the skies. She floated in front of Yun Che, her feet just above the ground. With her descent, the surrounding crystallized ice shattered, disappearing along with the purple flames.
Ling Yuefeng, who was about to fly out, abruptly stopped in his tracks. He looked towards the beautiful figure at the Sword Discourse Arena with a dazed expression. “Why is it… her…”
“Little…” Yun Che excitedly said with pleasant surprise, but immediately, the word he uttered afterwards became really soft. “… Fairy.”
Fen Moli’s earlier attack did indeed frighten Yun Che quite a bit. It was basically impossible for him to block against the strength of one half a step into Emperor Profound Realm. The moment it touched him, he would instantly be exterminated with nothing left of him. If not for her appearance, he would be forced to use Jasmine’s strength. But, if that were to happen, he would undoubtedly expose his ultimate final trump card in front of everyone’s eyes.
Chu Yuechan, whose back was facing him, seemed to not have heard his voice, for she did not react at all. A pair ice-crystal eyes coldly looked towards Fen Moli.
Chu Yueli stood up. Her beautiful eyes were filled with astonishment. Fen Moli acting against Yun Che, was naturally shameless and despicable. She believed that many experts who could not stand to watch the scene would step in, especially those from Heavenly Sword Villa. Even she herself, had the impulse to step in. However, she originally, firmly believed that if there was ever someone who would not step in to stop him, it would definitely be her elder sister Chu Yuechan. Because her personality was extremely cold and indifferent, and she would definitely not care about the matters of anyone else.
But, what she completely did not expect was that Chu Yuechan, was actually the first person to step in!
Not only did she stop him, she was even shielding in front of Yun Che, and facing Fen Moli, the Great Elder of Burning Heaven Clan, head on!
Chapter 223 - The Power of a Throne
“Chu Yuechan, what is the meaning of this?”
Since the situation had already progressed to such a stage, Fen Moli allowed anger to take over him and practically ignored all consequences. Although he had only met Chu Yuechan once many years ago, he still recognized her at one glance. However, he could never have imagined that the legendary Fairy of Frozen Beauty would suddenly attack him.
Chu Yuechan replied coldly: “As a Great Elder of the Burning Heaven Clan, how shameless are you to attack a junior without reason.”
“Hmph!” Fen Moli remained frowning: “He severely injured a Burning Heaven Clan disciple. With just this reason, him dying ten thousand would still be insufficient! Chu Yuechan, this is a matter of our Burning Heaven Clan. It is out of place for a member of Frozen Cloud Asgard to intervene!”
“I’m going to intervene for sure!” Chu Yuechan held out her ice jade-like hand, and a flickering deep blue light appeared in her palm.
“Good~~” Fen Moli, knitted his brows tightly: “I have always heard that Fairy of the Frozen beauty has already reached half-step into the Emperor Profound Realm at a young age and even exceeded the skills of Xu Fairy, the Asgard Mistress, when she was that age. Among the ladies of Blue Wind Empire, you are without equal. Today, let me experience the skill of Frozen Cloud Seven Fairies’ number one!”
Facing Chu Yuechan, Fen Moli was fairly confident. Even though they were both half-step into the Emperor Profound Realm, Chu Yuechan had merely stepped into it for a few years while Fen Moli had already stayed in it for an entire thirty years. Even if he was unable to break into the Emperor Profound Realm, he was confident he would not lose against those who were half a step into the Emperor Profound Realm.
“Haa!!”
Fen Moli shouted loudly out as his whole body ignited with a surging purple profound flame. Raising both his hands, the purple flames in his hands forged together to form a sword that was more than thirty meters long. He suddenly slashed it towards Chu Yuechan… To their knowledge, the purple profound flame was known to all within Blue Wind Empire as the strongest flame, and generally, only people in the later stages of the Sky Profound Realm were able to use it. Rumor had it that under the purple profound flames, anyone with profound strength below the later half of the Earth Profound Realm would be burn to ashes instantly, unable to put up any resistance. If the purple flame swept past a small lake, the water in the river would be completely evaporated in a short moment. It was very frightening.
The speed of Fen Moli’s flame sword was not quick. However, Yun Che was not far behind Chu Yuechan. If she avoided the blow, the purple profound flame would hit Yun Che. Even if Yun Che had wings, he would not be able to escape. If Chu Yuechan received the blow head on, Fen Moli was confident that this attack would at least make her sustain some injuries.
Chu Yuechan did not move her feet, as she did not have any intention of avoiding the attack. Instead, her palm flipped upwards and she clutched towards the flame sword with empty hands…
Clang!!
The huge flame sword that brought along a suffocating heat wave, was suddenly knocked aside by an invisible obstacle and stopped in midair. Following it, a deep blue light appeared at the tip of the sword. Soon, with the “crack crack crack” sounds of ice forming at an average speed, it quickly enveloped the entire flame sword. This caused the originally scorching hot purple flame to turn into freezing cold blue profound ice.
When the ice attribute profound strength had reached a certain level, it could seal not only a body or object, but also various forms of profound strength!
Ping!!
Following the flipping of Chu Yuechan’s jade palm, an exploding noise rang throughout the Sword Discourse Arena. The ice sealed flame sword exploded in midair, turning into many tiny pieces of blue ice crystals, as it scattered all around…
“Wh… What!?”
Fen Moli took two steps backwards in panic, quickly dispelling the layer of ice on his hands. His face was filled with shock and disbelief. At this point, he looked at Chu Yuechan, who had her palm stretched out in front of him as a blue light flashed past him…
A half a foot long icicle suddenly appeared in front of him out of thin air… That’s right, it appeared in midair out of nowhere. Even though Fen Moli was half step to the Emperor Profound Realm, he still did not manage to see how it appeared and when it appeared. He merely just saw a seemingly normal icicle which had a frightening coldness that made his whole body shiver. Before he could take a good look at it, the deep blue icicle attacked his chest with an unimaginable speed…
Bang!!
The part of Fen Moli’s body that had been struck by the icicle instantly sunk and his back swelled out outrageously. A scream of pain with blood was spewed out from Fen Moli. He seemed like an arrow that had just shot out and flew out far away as he crashed onto the surface of the Sword Discourse Arena before being continually forced back for several tens of meters, leaving behind a deep gully on the surface of the hard discourse arena floor.
The arena was instantly a field of silence. Even the silent and expressionless Ling Kun from the Mighty Heaven Sword Region appeared to be surprised. Ling Yuefeng seemed as though he was struck by lightning and jump up and said in a quivering voice: “Space compression… This… This is… an Emperor Profound power!!”
Once the three words “Emperor Profound power” came out, they were like thunderclaps on a clear day as they sounded in everyone’s ears.
“Emperor… Emperor Profound? This, this… This can’t be possible, right?”
“How is that impossible! Villa Master Ling personally shouted it out himself! And if it’s not the true Emperor Profound Realm, how could Fen Moli be so fatigued after only taking one of her blows?”
“Oh my god, another Throne actually appeared in our Blue Wind Empire, and it’s actually such a young Throne. Even if she had just stepped into the Emperor Profound Realm this year, she has done it much earlier than Villa Master Ling… She’s the fastest person to reach the Emperor Profound Realm in these hundreds of years!”
“Then, other than the legendary Xu Fairy Mistress, another Throne has appeared in the Frozen Cloud Asgard! And it is rumored that the Grandmistress of Frozen Cloud Asgard is actually still in the Frozen Cloud Asgard, and has yet to pass away. If this rumor is also true, then doesn’t it mean that Frozen Cloud Asgard has three Thrones!? Even Burning Heaven Clan and Xiao Sect only has one Throne each!”
Everyone was astonished at the news of Chu Yuechan becoming a Throne. She was the Fairy of Frozen Beauty, who stood high up at the top and was like a descended immortal. Currently, in everyone’s eyes, she had undoubtedly stepped high above the clouds, as though she had turned into a real fairy which they could not even hope to look up to. In the Blue Wind Empire, Thrones were legendary existences, and even more so, unbeatable existences. There was a very important reason why there were only Four Major Sects in the Blue Wind Empire, and not “Five Major Sects”. Only the Four Major Sects possessed these unparalleled “Thrones”.
The expressions of everyone in Burning Heaven Clan and Xiao Sect changed. Another Throne appearing in the Frozen Cloud Asgard undoubtedly meant that they now fell behind by a large margin in terms of strength. Xiao Sect’s Sect Master Xiao Juetian slowly stood up, looked blankly at Chu Yuechan’s back figure for a moment, curled his lips, and then, slowly sat back onto his seat… Twenty years passed and she was still as entrancing. Even her back figure, was so beautiful, as though she was just a mere illusion. However, her current shine was so blinding that even he, the Sect Master of Xiao Sect, could only feel deeply ashamed.
Back then, after seeing Chu Yuechan for the first time in the Ranking Tournament, he was deeply entranced by her again, and had constantly dreamed about her. However, he was not as wild as Ling Yuefeng. Even more so, he did not embarrass himself like Ling Yuefeng wo had unhesitantly headed towards Frozen Cloud Asgard time and time again, only to return with empty hands. But, at the very least, he still felt that he was worthy enough for her…
But currently, he seemed to not even have the courage to look directly in her eyes any longer. Such a young Throne… Forget about now, even in the entire history of the Blue Wind Empire, such a person had never appeared before. It was as though the heavens were overly spoiling their beloved pet and had given her too many halos that were dazzling bright. And under these halos, he was not able to think of anyone in this Blue Wind Empire who was worthy for her…
At least, he personally admitted that he, the Sect Master of Xiao Sect himself, was not worthy.
In these several hundred years, many practitioners at half-step into the Emperor Profound Realm had appeared in the Four Major Sects, but, among the experts who had reached this level, in the end, less a tenth of them had entered the Emperor Profound Realm. Fen Moli had stopped at half-step into the Emperor Profound Realm for thirty odd years, and he could not help but accept the fact that it would be impossible for him to be called a true Throne in his entire life. Although there was only half a step difference between half-step into the Emperor Profound Realm and the Emperor Profound Realm, this half a step, was as though one had crossed into the heavens with just half a step from the earth. The difference in strength was overwhelming.
In front of a true Throne, a practitioner half-step into the Emperor Profound Realm was no different than a weak little infant; there were basically no threats to speak of. Fen Moli was simply inviting humiliation by taking the initiative to act against Chu Yuechan.
In the seats of the Burning Heaven Clan, Fen Juecheng rushed out at lightning speed. He held Fen Moli, who had fainted due to being severely injured or perhaps being angered, in his arms. He checked his injuries quickly before turning in Ling Yuefeng’s direction and bowing towards him: “Villa Master Ling, Elder Ling. Our disciple was severely injured and Elder Fen Moli was so anxious that he made such an impulsive action. Seeing that he had actually not caused much damage, and has already been taught a lesson by the Fairy of the Frozen Beauty, could you be magnanimous and forgive Elder Fen Moli. After the ranking tournament, I will personally bring him along to apologize to Villa Master Ling and Elder Ling.”
“Hmph!” Ling Yuefeng looked enraged: “As an esteemed elder of your clan, Fen Moli does not know how to act his age. He did not consider the severity of the issue and ignored the rules of the tournament. He even tried to severely injure a contestant that had just won. According to the rules of the tournament, not only Fen Moli, the entire Burning Heaven Clan has to be stripped of their participation right!”
After saying this, Ling Yuefeng appear to calm down a little: “Considering the fact that Fen Moli was anxious and had already been taught a lesson by the Fairy of Frozen Beauty, I will treat it as he has been punished. The matter will rest like this. The right to explore the ‘Heaven Basin Secret Realm’ shall also be retained. However, if such a thing happens again, not only will your right to explore the Heaven Basin Secret Realm be removed, I’m afraid that Burning Heaven Clan’s right to participate in the next ranking tournament will also be removed.”
Burning Heaven Clan was undoubtedly different from other clans. Ling Yuefeng did not want to offend them. Despite his harsh words, he had already take a big step back and gave them ample face. Fen Juecheg let out a huge sigh of relief as he bowed to Ling Yuefeng with a junior’s courtesy before bringing Fen Moli away from the Sword Discourse Arena.
All eyes fell back on Chu Yuechan. Yun Che took a step forward with a slight smile: “Fairy of the Frozen Beauty, thank you for saving…”
Before he had finished speaking, the ice spirit in front of him shook as the beauty and cool figure disappeared from the Sword Discourse Arena and returned back to her seat.
Yun Che silently laughed. As to the meaning behind his laugh, only he himself understood.
“This Chu Yuechan really isn’t simple. She is already a Throne at such a young age, it’s no wonder you were so mesmerized by her when you were young.” Xuanyuan Yufeng said without facing Ling Yuefeng.
Ling Yuefeng smiled slightly and replied: “Honey, what you said is wrong. When I was younger, I was not mesmerized by her talent, but by her looks. Little did I expect that she was not only beautiful but also this talented. This was indeed quite shocking.”
Seeing him smile so calmly, Xuanyuan Yufeng was suddenly relieved and shifted half her body onto Ling Yuefeng’s.
Second match of the Quarterfinals: Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Jie —— VS —— Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Feiyu.
Even though they both belonged to Heavenly Sword Villa, one was in the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm while the other was in the ninth. No matter how one looked at it, the result of the battle was obvious.
Ling Jie went on stage first and crossed his hands over his chest. He drew back the corners of his mouth slightly and looked completely unafraid. After quite some time, Ling Feiyu finally went onto stage and stood in front of Ling Jie. He looked somewhat conflicted.
“The two of you have been sparring so often. This time, are you both sure that you want to compete?” Ling Wugou emotionlessly asked as he stood outside the profound energy barrier. As an elder, he was very clear about the skill levels of the Villa’s young disciples.
Hearing his question, the people below the stage completely understood what it meant. The difference in strength between these two people must be very large. In their usual spars, they would always end up with one side completely suppressing the other. Even if they were to compete again, it would be impossible for a second outcome to happen, and they would merely be wasting their time.
Hearing Lin Wugou’s words, Ling Jie actually did not have that big of a reaction. However, the corner of Ling Feiyu’s lips moved, a slight struggle appeared in his eyes, and then, he finally sighed, and said. “Fine, I surrender.”
WHOAA——
The people below the stage instantly widened their eyes one after another…
The one who took the initiative to surrender was not Ling Jie who possessed merely the strength at the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm…
But, Ling Feiyu, who had easily smashed his way through into the Quarterfinals with his strength at the ninth level of the Spirit Profound Realm!!
Chapter 224 - Xia Qingyue VS Xiao Kuanglei
“The one who took the initiative to back out was not Ling Jie but actually Ling Feiyu…” Yun Che was also astonished. In his previous matches, the strength that Ling Feiyu revealed was incomparably shocking. The practitioners in Group One were far from the level of those in Group Two, and Ling Feiyu was the publicly acknowledged strongest practitioner in Group One. Regardless of whether it was the Round of 32 or the Round of 16, he always had easily defeated his opponent in five exchanges. In this match against Ling Jie, everyone believed that Ling Jie would lose, or take the initiative to surrender. No one expected that the one who took the initiative to surrender would actually be Ling Feiyu!
“Does this mean, that Junior Brother Yun’s opponent for tomorrow is Ling Jie?” This result actually caused Cang Yue to subconsciously let out a small breath of relief. After all, no matter how you think about it, the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm sounds less menacing than the ninth level of the Spirit Profound Realm.
“Could it be that since Ling Jie is the Villa Master’s son, Ling Feiyu doesn’t dare to defeat him on stage, so he surrendered first?” Xia Yuanba scratched his head as he asked in confusion.
“No! If Heavenly Sword Villa was such a pompous place, it would never be able to become Blue Wind Empire’s number one power.” Yun Che slightly lowered his brows and took new look at the Ling Jie who happily laughed down the Sword Discourse Arena: “There is only one possibility, and it is that Ling Jie’s strength surpasses Ling Feiyu’s. Not only that, it probably far surpasses his… Looks like tomorrow would be a hard battle.”
He shifted his gaze towards Heavenly Sword Villa’s seating area, discovering tranquility in both Ling Yuefeng and Ling Yun’s expressions, as if what this outcome revealed was not the slightest bit unexpected.
The speed and results of the second match was completely unexpected as it came to a close. The third match came shortly after, with Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Yun and Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Shui Wushuang on opposite ends.
This was a showdown between Heavenly Sword Villa’s core disciple and Frozen Cloud Asgard’s core disciple. This kind of duel usually appeared as the final battle in the past, but this year’s group divisions had brought about an imbalance in average strength, making what ought to be the final battle of the tournament shift to an earlier date, the Quarterfinals.
And the speed of how this confrontation ended, was even faster than the second match.
“Wushuang, you can surrender this match if you want.” Chu Yueli suddenly said as Shui Wushuang was about to leap up onto the Sword Discourse Arena.
Shui Wushuang went silent for a moment, but did not dispute it. Instead, she softly said: “Yes.”
“Three years ago, your Senior Sister Mu’s strength had far surpassed the current you, yet suffered a crushing defeat to Ling Yun. Three years had passed since then and Ling Yun’s strength has enormously leapt again. You are simply not his match. As long as you’re even a little serious about it, you will be injured all over and lose in less than five moves. Since it’s like that, it’s better off to simply back out.”
While letting what others saw as their “core disciple” abandon the match, Chu Yueli had actually said that with a particular calmness. Her peerlessly beautiful eyes did not reveal the slightest hint of unwillingness and regret. Perhaps, this was merely a simple insignificant decision.
“Yes, Junior Master, Disciple understands.” Shui Wushuang slowly nodded, and then returned to her seat.
Ling Wugou then declared: “Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Shui Wushuang forfeits the match, Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Yun wins with a no match, and will be entering tomorrow’s Semifinals!”
Even though this result lead to much discussion among the crowd, it still wasn’t that unexpected. After all, Ling Yun’s strength was truly too terrifying. Even if Shui Wushuang was Frozen Cloud Asgard’s current core disciple, she simply did not have the power to win that matchup. Immediate forfeit was the most sensible of selections. But on one hand, Frozen Cloud Asgard still had one disciple remaining, which was Xia Qingyue, who had the lowest profound strength out of the three participating disciples. Her opponent also just happened to be Xiao Sect’s core disciple whose profound strength surpassed hers —— Xiao Kuanglei. If she lost, Frozen Cloud Asgard would have no chance to enter the Semifinals, and could only settle for fourth place.
Up until now, the only match that had officially been carried out was only Yun Che’s match against Fen Juebi, yet three out of the four appearing in tomorrow’s Semifinals had already been decided. It was Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling brothers, Ling Yun and Ling Jie, as well as Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che.
Two of Heavenly Sword Villa’s members entering the top four was not outside of anyone’s expectations. But the fact that the top four had an additional disciple that did not belong to any of the Four Major Sects, who was only from the Blue Wind Imperial Family that had always placed in the middle to lower rankings, had made the entire ranking tournament become exceptionally unusual. The Blue Wind Imperial Family that had always received shame and never received glory in the ranking tournament had actually relied on a nobody, a mere seventeen year old disciple, to continuously make everyone get taken aback. His performance had allowed him to make his way into the individual top four placings. In this ranking tournament, Blue Wind Imperial Family’s power rankings was now also a guaranteed minimum of top three!!
As long as one was not blind, they could clearly see that after Yun Che had defeated Fen Juebi, the previously calm Qin Wushang laughed so hard that he had grimaced in pain. Even his incisors looked as if they were about to fall out.
“Fourth match of the Quarterfinals —— Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Xia Qingyue versus Xiao Sect’s Xiao Kuanglei! May the two contestants enter the Sword Discourse Arena within thirty breaths of time. If otherwise, it would be deemed as renouncing the match!”
Following Ling Wugou’s loud declaration, the numerous sounds of discussion in the Sword Discourse Arena stopped as it became a field of silence.
Xia Qingyue and Xiao Kuanglei were respectively Frozen Cloud Asgard and Xiao Sect’s remaining disciples. Whoever loses, would have no chance of entering the top four.
“Even though the talent of Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Xia Qingyue is shockingly enough to enter the eighth level of the Spirit Profound Realm at the age of seventeen, and is only one level short of the Ling Yun in the past, Frozen Cloud Asgard is still Frozen Cloud Asgard. It is impossible for them to nurture a true ‘Ling Yun’. She is too young. She is not old or experienced enough. For her profound strength to reach the eighth level of the Spirit Profound Realm so quickly, it is bound to be extremely unstable. As long as nothing completely unexpected happens, you will win this match very easily. But, you still must never underestimate your opponent. In all the previous ranking tournaments, it is not known how many so-called geniuses had fallen to the three words ‘underestimating the opponent’. Understand?” Xiao Juetian reminded Xiao Kuanglei.
“Third brother, good luck. Burning Heaven Clan has already suffered a crushing defeat. As long as you win this match, our overall ranking will be a guaranteed minimum of top three. Moreover, there is more than a ninety nine percent chance that we would rank second. This will be our Xiao Sect’s historical breakthrough!” Xiao Kuangyu said as he patted Xiao Kuanglei’s shoulder with a serious expression on his face.
“Don’t worry. In this match, I will only win, and never lose! Don’t forget, I still have not taken out my Earth Shocking Sword. If I reveal the Earth Shocking Sword, forget about the Xia Qingyue at only the eighth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, even if it’s someone at the peak of the tenth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, it is still impossible for me to lose.” Xiao Kuanglei said with complete confidence.
“In the case of weaponry, we may not necessarily be at an advantage.” Xiao Wuji’s brows sank: “We have the Earth Shocking Sword, but don’t forget, Frozen Cloud Asgard has the ‘Ice Phoenix Snowflower Ribbon’. Shui Wushuang had already surrendered so in this match, Frozen Cloud Asgard has an even larger reason than us to not lose. This time, Frozen Cloud Asgard will inevitably give Xia Qingyue the Sky Profound Weapon.”
“Hmph. You are completely overthinking it. One must be in at least the Earth Profound Realm to master the ‘Ice Phoenix Snowflower Ribbon’. Even if it is in Xia Qingyue’s hands, it would at most display only thirty percent of its power. Besides, so what if it could actually exhibit all of its power? With the same Sky Profound Weapon in hand, Kuanglei’s experience and profound strength would far surpass Xia Qingyue’s. Don’t tell me that even that is not enough to defeat her?” Xiao Boyun said in a happy mood.
Regarding his own grandson, Xiao Zhen’s, loss against Xiao Kuanglei, Xiao Boyun was naturally irritated about that. But what was currently happening was related to the entire Xiao Sect’s reputation and honor. He obviously did not want to see Xiao Kuanglei lose.
“Everyone, be at ease. If I lose this match, I would not have the face to return to Xiao Sect.” Xiao Kuanglei nodded once, and then suddenly jumped more than one hundred meters in the air before gently landing on the ground. He leapt over a hundred meters again and then steadily landed in the center of the Sword Discourse Arena. Before he landed, a longsword had already been taken out in the midst of the sound of its unsheathing. No matter the sword’s imposing aura or the user’s imposing aura, both were incomparably shocking and drew gasps of admiration.
“I’ve heard that Xiao Kuanglei’s innate talent is not the least inferior to his eldest brother Xiao Kuangfeng and second brother Xiao Kuangyu. I’m afraid that this match would not be the least bit suspenseful.”
“So what if his innate talent’s high. Isn’t he born from a concubine? In the future, he would at most become an elder.”
“That may not be so. Only Xiao Juetian’s youngest son, Xiao Kuangyun is born from his official wife, but everyone is aware of Xiao Kuangyun’s playboy tendencies. He is around the same age as Xiao Kuanglei and I heard Xiao Juetian had used up innumerable resources on his body, but it seems as if he could not even reach the Spirit Profound Realm. If Xiao Kuangyun inherits Xiao Sect in the future, I’d reckon that it would be thoroughly destroyed. Xiao Sect would never make such a mistake. The future successor for the sect will inevitably be one person among Xiao Kuangfeng, Xiao Kuangyu, and Xiao Kuanglei. I’m afraid that when that time comes, there will once again be another rivalry with both open and secret means. If isn’t handled properly, they might even commit fratricide…”
As Xiao Kuanglei got up on stage, the discussions’ focal point was actually not on the battle itself, but instead Xiao Kuanglei himself. This was because a great majority believed that the following match would not be suspenseful at all.
“Hold back your strength as much as possible. Don’t reveal too much, so as to avoid making tomorrow’s opponent to be on guard.” Chu Yueli only had a few words of advice.
“Yes, Master.”
Xia Qingyue respectfully saluted and turned her delicate body around. As her beautiful figure’s gracefully moved, she lightly landed in front of Xiao Kuanglei. Both her light movements and body were incomparably alluring. A completely transparent ice sword silently appeared within her hands. An ice sword, had basically become a Frozen Cloud Asgard disciple’s signature weapon. Frozen Cloud Asgard’s main weapon of choice was also the sword, but their swords were made of ice, and all emitted different degrees of cold air. Chu Yuechan’s sword was like so, and Xia Qingyue’s sword was also the same. However, the grade of Xia Qingyue’s ice sword could not compare the sword Chu Yuechan had used during her life and death battle against the pair of flood dragons in the Wasteland of Death.
“Good!” Ling Wuhou nodded, and then raised his right hand: “Last match of the Quarterfinals, Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Xia Qingyue versus Xiao Sect’s Xiao Kuanglei. Match start!”
“This humble one is Xiao Kuanglei, and is here to ask to experience Xia Fairy’s Frozen Cloud Arts!” Xiao Kuanglei split into a smile as his longsword pointed frontwards. He rapidly spun his body around, conjuring up a jade green cyclone. The image of an especially tyrannical eagle was behind his body as the imposing aura on his entire body grew stronger at this moment, shooting to a level that would make one gasp in admiration.
Frozen Cloud Asgard was a gathering of beautiful women. Even though Xia Qingyue’s face was covered by a white veil, just seeing her figure, eyes, and exposed snowy skin was enough to determine that she was a young lady who possessed a peerless beauty that could bring cities into ruin. And in front of any beautiful women, a man with even an above average strength would have the mindset of showing off. If he were to gain the other party’s good opinion or even admiration, then that would naturally satisfy his vanity by a large margin.
Xia Qingyue’s movements were much more nimbler than his. She straightforwardly thrusted her sword at him as a magnificent ice lotus blossomed atop the ice sword’s sharp tip.
Chapter 225 - Glazed Glass Heart, Exquisite Body
Before the two swords closed in, the sword wind had already collided with the ice lotus. With a “Clang” sound, the ice lotus was grinded into pieces in the violent sword wind. However, it did not falter just like this, but instead transformed into countless solid chunks of ice, and rained down toward Xiao Kuanglei against the storm. In an instant, the storm carrying the shattered ice lotus swirled around the two, as if sweeping up a tornado of ice and snow.
Clang clang clang clang….
Amidst the string of colliding and breaking sounds, the dispersed ice flakes were blown away by Xiao Kuanglei. However, the cold energy that these ice flakes contained was heavier he had imagined; after he blew away all of the ice flakes, both of his hands were already thoroughly flushed red from the cold, and only fully recovered after two breaths of time. He moved back half a step, and said with a slight smile: “I had already heard that Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Frozen Cloud Art was unparalleled under the heavens, and as expected it deserves it’s reputation. Next, I’ll be more serious. Goddess should be careful now.”
Xiao Kuanglei’s reminder out of “good will” that was full of arrogance did not gather any hint of reply from Xia Qingyue. Her clear and cold eyes was like tranquil water without any ripples, while also as beautiful as the bright moon. It made Xiao Kuanglei’s heartbeat speed up uncontrollably after he took two more glances. He immediately fiercely took in a breath as all of his profound strength surged up. The storm that swirled around him became even faster, and the image of the hawk behind him also became more and more clear, and felt like as if it had substantialized into the real thing near the end.
“Extreme Wind Sword!”
Xiao Kuanglei’s eyes flashed. The storm surged on his body as he suddenly rushed toward Xia Qingyue. His speed was really as fast as a storm; profound practitioners below the Earth Profound Realm could only see a wisp of afterimage flashing through like a bolt of lightning —— Among the Four Major Sects, Xiao Sect’s speed was second to none!
“Haha, looks like Third Younger Brother has gotten serious, to actually display his fastest speed right away. Seems like, this match will be over before long.” Xiao Kuangyu said with a leisure smile.
Xiao Juetian also slowly nodded: “Seems like Lei’er did not ignore our advice. He did not underestimate the enemy, and did not hold back either. Very good. After this battle is won, he will be facing Ling Yun. Since the battle with Ling Yun is impossible to win, let’s heartily display the true power of our Xiao Sect in this battle!
“Hmph!” Xiao Zhen, who was beside Xiao Boyun, looked at the match in the arena with cold eyes and snorted in a quiet voice.
Under the storm-like high speed movement, Xiao Kuanglei’s sword also swiftly swept out. The storm engulfed the sword’s body, and as the sword’s brilliance danced magnificently, four lines of sword gust that could smash through mountains and rocks shot toward Xia Qingyue at the same time.
Clang Clang Clang Clang!
Four ice lotus flowers bloomed in front of Xia Qingyue, and blocked all four sword gusts as they shattered. Xiao Kuanglei had also successfully closed in on Xia Qingyue at this moment, and his chain of sword combos assaulted at Xia Qingyue like a relentless storm of rain. Xia Qingyue retreated with leisure and uniform steps, and with every step retreated, a beautiful ice lotus would bloom below her feet…
“How astonishing, this Xia Qingyue is only at the eighth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, but not only did her Frozen Cloud Art already reach the fourth stage of the Ice Lotus Realm, she could also handle it with so little effort. Mu Lingxue of the previous tournament was at the tenth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, but could only glimpse at the entrance of the Ice Lotus Realm. Seems like, Xia Qingyue must be the disciple with the highest aptitude in these few tens of years, without any doubt.”
“But it seems that Xia Qingyue is clearly at a disadvantage. All of her moves are defending and warding without any spare strength to retaliate. That can’t be helped; the disadvantage in age and profound strength exists right there.”
The hawk’s image behind Xiao Kuanglei’s back spread its wings high, and his sword moves came one after another. That one longsword was swung by him into sword mirages that blotted out the sky; together with his speed, the illusory human mirage and the sword’s mirage overlapped, making one dazzled and unable to follow with their eyes. The crossing strikes of the sword, as well as the collisions of storm and ice lotus, brought up a series of explosive sounds that made one’s eardrums buzz.
The cyan colored sword gust, along and the ice lotus’s broken shards, continually shot out from the profound storm, caging them. Facing the Xiao Kuanglei’s astonishing speed, Xia Qingyue’s movements was instead as light as smoke, as if she was a goddess elegantly descending into the mortal world, yet she was not constrained by Xiao Kuanglei’s speed in the slightest. With every movement of their footsteps, many traces of sword marks as well as pit marks caused by colliding profound energy would emerge on the ground.
The entire audience was silent, and only the wave after waves of ear-piercing explosive sounds could be heard. Every single pair of eyes all firmly focused onto the two figures on the Sword Discourse Arena. They had thought that this was a match that would quickly end, and perhaps would even be over from the start; no one had expected that it would actually be this intense to such a degree. For the two who were three years apart in age and one rank apart in profound strength, their currently situation was actually without any doubt, evenly matched.
The complexions of the Xiao Sect’s people gradually became unsightly. Xiao Juetian’s brows sunk bit by bit, and said with a low voice: “Seems like, we have underestimated Xia Qingyue. Her strength, may perhaps, not be weaker than Shui Wushuang and Wu Xuexin at all.”
“No problem. Ao what if she could stalemate with Third Younger Brother? If Third Younger Brother uses the Earth Shocking Sword, the outcome of the match would be decided right away.” Xiao Kuangyu said without worry.
“Using the Earth Shocking Sword, would definitely be somewhat unethical and inelegant. The two right now looks evenly matched, but if it continues like this, the advantage still belongs to Lei’er’s side. After all, the richness of Lei’er’s profound strength, would no matter what, surpasses that of the little girl who’s only seventeen years of age.” Xiao Juetian remarked.
“Go Big Sis, go!” Xia Yuanba’s hands were gripping with sweat. His eyes stared wide as he shouted non-stop. He could not clearly distinguish the situation on the arena, and could only see that Xia Qingyue seemed to be retreating all this time. His heart also became more and more anxious.
“Don’t worry, your Big Sis won’t lose that easily.” Yun Che casually comforted him.
“Won’t lose that easily?” Within Yun Che’s mind, he heard Jasmine’s snorting sound: “This woman, simply doesn’t have any possibility of losing. If she uses her full strength, the person on the other side won’t even have the chance to last five rounds. The current situation, is merely done by her in deliberation for the purpose of hiding her true strength.”
“Oh?” A burst of surprise emerged within Yun Che’s heart: “To not have the chance to even last five rounds? That’s impossible right?”
“Hmph! Half of the reason why you can challenge other an entire realm above you is because of your aptitude and comprehensive ability, the other half is your divine profound veins, divine bloodline and divine profound arts. But in the field of aptitude, comprehensive ability as well as constitutional, I’ve finally found someone that completely surpassed you, and that is this woman. Not only does she possess the ‘Heavenly God’s Spiritual Veins’ with all fifty-four profound entrances open, she also possesses the ‘Heart of Snow Glazed Glass’ that’s even ten thousand more times rarer than the Heavenly God’s Spiritual Veins. Her constitution, even at the Realm of the G… the place I was born from, could only produce one with the ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’ once every ten thousand years… After tomorrow, whether your opponent would be Ling Yun or not, really is still unknown.”
Yun Che: “!!!!”
Whether the previous life or the current life, it was still the first time that Yun Che who was extremely familiar with the medicinal ways and constitution of the world had heard these two names of “Heart of Snow Glazed Glass” and “Nine Profound Exquisite Body”, and thus could not completely comprehend the true meaning behind these two names. However, from Jasmine’s words, he heard a hint of extremely clear tint of shock. Something that would shock even Jasmine, how could it possibly be ordinary?
And Jasmine’s last sentence, thoroughly shocked Yun Che. Because that sentence of Jasmine’s was clearly hinting… that Xia Qingyue, may even have the capability to defeat Ling Yun!!
The battle on the Sword Discourse Arena had already become white-hot. The hawk image behind Xiao Kuanglei spread its wings again. With a slight whistling sound, his body had already vaulted high into the air. Like boiling water, the profound storm that surrounded his body also started to rampage at this moment. Circles after circles of light cyan colored profound energy ripples slowly proliferated outwards, and forcefully pushed away all of the surrounding atmosphere. Immediately after, Xiao Kuanglei’s longsword pointed downwards with a slope, and all of his profound energy concentrated onto the sword’s tip. Instantly, the long sword’s tip greatly surged with a green light, and a ball of storm howled and swiftly whirled around the sword’s tip with an extremely frightening speed.
At this time, a wave of oppressive aura had also shrouded the entire Sword Discourse Arena, and made the audience at the arena’s borders feel a strong sense of suffocation just by looking at the sword tip that was currently encircled by green light.
After a long battle with no results, Xiao Kuanglei finally lost his patience, but did not take out the Earth Shocking Sword. The reason was just as Xiao Juetian had said; not only would it be inelegant to use the number one sword of Xiao Sect when facing someone that was both younger and lower in profound strength, it may also garner mockery from others. He decisively used his strongest ultimate move.
“Fleeting Strike!!”
Xiao Kuanglei cried out loudly, and his entire body plummeted downwards within the surging storm. His entire being was as if a descended sword god, and the extremely sharp sword force overwhelmingly closed in on Xia Qingyue….
“Oh! I didn’t expect that Third Younger Brother could actually cultivate the ‘Fleeting Strike’ to this degree… It ought to be around forty percent attained?” Xiao Kuangyu said with surprise.
“This is a breakthrough he had only recently acquired. Seems like the match is about to be over.” A victorious smile has already emerged onto Xiao Juetian’s face.
Along with the extremely swift downfall of Xiao Kuanglei’s sword force, a line of fissure crazily extended outwards on the ground. Yet when facing this incomparably terrifying strike from the air, Xia Qingyue appeared extremely relaxed. She lifted her white hand, and slowly pointed the ice sword above her. On top of the sword tip, a ice lotus flower bloomed in silence. But this ice lotus was no longer crystal clear, and instead carried the sky’s light-blue color.
Boom!!
Xiao Kuanglei’s Fleeting Strike and Xia Qingyue’s ice lotus collided in midair. Then, a thundering noise resounded throughout the entire arena. The cyan colored profound energy storm completely shrouded the surrounding space, and the ice lotus also completely exploded, raining down ice crystals and mist that covered the sky. All of a sudden, the two’s bodies were completely shrouded by cyan colored and light-blue colored profound energy, making one unable to see even a hint of their figure. They could only hear the two waves of exploded profound energy crazily colliding…
It was only after an entire ten breaths of time, did the cyan light and blue light finally disperse completely. The swords of the two had also finished their last collision, and they respectively retreated backwards under collision’s impact.
There was not the slightest hint of change in Xia Qingyue’s expression, and her pair of charming eyes were still as clear and silent as water. Let alone injuries, not even her white colored long dress was tainted by a single speck of dust. The ice spirits that floated around her body were also not disordered in the slightest.
It was also the same for Xiao Kuanglei who was on the opposite side. Other than his hair that appeared slightly disordered, there weren’t any wounds at all on his entire body. During that intense collision of ultimate skills earlier, miraculously, neither of the two actually received any hint of injuries.
But just by judging from the expression, Xiao Kuanglei clearly wasn’t as calm as Xia Qingyue. He totally did not expect that such a result would happen. He used his ultimate move that had just achieved an initial success, but during that collision earlier, all of his sword force and gust were blocked by the opponent one after another, and didn’t even touch a single hair on her head. This made him secretly shocked in his heart, and at the same time made him feel greatly ashamed.
In this situation, he understood that if he was to win, he would have to take out the Earth Shocking Sword.
“As expected of a goddess from Frozen Cloud Asgard, you really are unable to be underestimated by others. When I was the same age as goddess, I definitely wasn’t a match for goddess. But this match, I must win no matter what. If I have offended goddess in anyway because of this, I’ll be sure to apologize toward goddess after the match.”
As he finished speaking, Xiao Kuanglei’s sword had already been put away. His right hand pressed onto the spatial ring, and was just about to take out the Earth Shocking Sword. But just as his right hand touched his left, his expression suddenly froze, and his actions stopped right then. Right after, his complexion became whiter and whiter with an astonishing speed… Then, as if a statue carved from ice, his entire being stiffly fell down onto the ground while facing upwards.
As he fell, Xia Qingyue’s gaze did not appear to quiver in the slightest, and wasn’t surprised at all.
It was also at this time that several tens of wounds of varied sizes suddenly bursted open on Xiao Kuanglei’s body, and waves after waves of blood spurted out… These wounds all came from Xia Qingyue’s ice sword, but under the Frozen Cloud Art, which encompassed the energy of extreme cold, these wounds were instantly sealed by ice after they were stabbed open. Not only did they not bleed, not even pain would be felt. Just like this, Xiao Kuanglei intensely fought with Xia Qingyue while being unaware, and did not notice at all that under the shrouding cyan light, his body was had already been consecutively slashed more than thirty times ten breaths ago… And if any of these wounds were to be slightly offset, they would be able to damage the life veins… Which is to say, if not for Xia Qingyue showing mercy, within that ten breaths of time, he had already died over thirty times.
Chapter 226 - The Heaven Blessed Xia Qingyue
Ling Wugou was startled at first. Then, he quickly advanced forward and examined Xiao Kuanglei’s current condition. After a simple investigation, he breathed a sigh of relief. With a flip of his palm, every wound on Xiao Kuanglei’s body was completely sealed. Soon afterwards, he immediately declared: “Xiao Kuanglei has temporarily lost the ability to move, Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Xia Qingyue wins! She shall advance into tomorrow’s Semifinals!”
All six of Xiao Sect’s members had already stood up. Each and every one of them had expressions of horror. Like an angry eagle, Xiao Juetian quickly flew up towards the Sword Discourse Arena. After examining Xiao Kuanglei’s injuries with a brush of his profound energy, his expression changed again.
There were more than thirty cuts on his body, but none of them were deep. He was very clear on the reason why more than thirty cuts suddenly burst forth from Xiao Kuanglei earlier. This type of thing happening in front of a Frozen Cloud Asgard disciple could not be even more normal. What had shocked him was that from Xiao Kuanglei’s appearance earlier, it was as if he did not sense at all. To him, what was even more shocking than that, were not these cuts, but what was beneath the injuries: cold energy that had sealed off a large majority of Xiao Kuanglei’s meridians. It was also unknown as to when this cold energy had entered Xiao Kuanglei’s meridians before suddenly exploding just a moment ago. If it had been detected, under profound energy suppression, it was unlikely for Xiao Kuanglei to be in a state in which his blood spurted out like that from his injuries.
Xiao Juetian deeply looked at Xia Qingyue and said in a low voice: “I had originally thought that in this Ranking Tournament, Frozen Cloud Asgard would not have another excessively showy performance. It looks like I have erred. To have let this much cold energy into Lei’er’s body and have done so without him knowing or feeling it, your Frozen Cloud Arts must be in at least the fifth stage… Good thing that Lei’er had not taken out the Earth Shocking Sword, or else he would’ve lost even more miserably!”
Xiao Juetian’s voice was very low, and was low enough that only Xia Qingyue could hear it. After finished speaking, he carried away the completely immobilized Xiao Kuanglei and left the Sword Discourse Arena.
Today’s competition, was one unexpected match after another. The last match of the Quarterfinals was another unforeseen conclusion.
“… What the hell happened? Why did Xiao Kuanglei suddenly collapse? I was blinded by the profond energy light earlier so I didn’t see anything.”
“Xiao Kuanglei probably got hit by Xia Qingyue’s ultimate move. The impact of its force must have been too fierce. With the addition of the fact that Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Frozen Cloud Arts could instantly freeze wounds, this was probably why Xiao Kuanglei did not realize that he had received this many injuries… It should be like that?”
The audience was in much debate. They could still explain Xiao Kuanglei’s wounds suddenly opening, but him suddenly falling over in a stiff manner made them baffled. On the main seats, Ling Yuefeng slightly knitted his brows, and said: “Seems like, this seventeen year old young girl is far from as simple as she appears on the surface. Yun’er, you should be glad that she is only seventeen this year. If she were to be the same age as you, she would be a strong opponent that could go shoulder to shoulder with you.”
Ling Yun was silent.
With the conclusion of the Quarterfinals, tomorrow’s Semifinals’ arrangements quickly appeared on the center of the profound stone.
Match Number One: Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che —— versus —— Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Jie.
Match Number Two: Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Yun —— versus —— Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Xia Qingyue.
“Uwaaah! Both brother-in-law and big sis actually entered the top four! It’s t-t-t… too wonderful!” Seeing the names on the profound stone, Xia Yuanba was excitedly to the point of being somewhat incoherent. Him joyously following Yun Che to Heavenly Sword Villa this time, was only out of yearning toward the ranking tournament like the rest of profound practitioners; he absolutely did not expect that his sister and brother-in-law would actually become two of the main characters in this ranking tournament. The two people who were closest to him had reached the top four in the highest level of Blue Wind Empire’s young profound practitioners, that kind of joy, proudness, and glory, was so intense that it was indescribable.
“Ah? Brother-in-Law, why do you keep wearing a stiff face? Are you not happy?” Seeing that not only was Yun Che not excited, but instead had a silent and solemn expression, Xia Yuanba asked in confusion.
Yun Che shook his head, and said with a faint smile: “Nothing, I just didn’t expect that she, Qingyue, would actually be this strong.”
“Hehe, I didn’t expect it either.” Xia Yuanba clenched his fist, and said with sparking eyes: “If father hears that Big Sis has already become so amazing, he would definitely be incredibly happy. If mother hears of it…” As he spoke the word “mother”, Xia Yuanba’s voice lagged for a bit. His gaze uncontrollably darked a little as he muttered with a low voice: “She would definitely also be very pleased.”
Yun Che did not notice the abnormality in the last half of the sentence Xia Yuanba spoke. He settled his heart, and asked in his mind: “Jasmine, the ‘Heart of Snow Glazed Glass’ and ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’ you spoke about earlier, what exactly are they? And how could you tell?”
“….I had not noticed it originally, but when she used twenty percent of her true strength earlier, it no longer escaped my eyes. However, in a place with such low levels of strength, they shouldn’t know of the concept of ‘Heart of Snow Glazed Glass’ and ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’, including her self. She at most would know that herself is different with others in some places.”
Yun Che: “…”
“Since you wish to know, I will tell you.” Jasmine’s voice was as tender and ethereal as flowing water from a spring, but she deliberately displayed a kind of high up and elderly tone with utmost effort: “‘Heart of Snow Glazed Glass’, is a special type of mind. One with this kind of mind possesses an extremely pure and clear disposition, as if ice and snow. With growth, one would have incomparable comprehensive ability and a strength of the soul that would grow stronger and stronger. With her current age, the Heart of Snow Glazed Glass’ abilities are only revealed initially, and will exhibit extremely high comprehensive abilities as well as memory. Everything she have observed would be memorized just with a glance and be firmly engraved in her mind, no matter what level of detail, and will not be forgotten throughout her entire life. As the ability of the Heart of Snow Glazed Glass gradually reveals, she would be able to sense good and evil as well as danger, and easily see through various mysteries, and even see into the heart of all living things.”
“Someone who possesses the Heart of Snow Glazed Glass, would all normally be supreme and most sacred existences that transcends the world; even God Kings and Sovereign Gods would certainly not dare to provoke. Because the legends say that someone with Heart of Snow Glazed Glass is blessed by the heavens, and whoever harms them, would suffer punishment of the heavens way.” Jasmine described lightly.
Yun Che’s brows consecutively spasmed for several times, then weakly asked: “Um… Are you really sure that there are really this kind of… uh, thing that’s blessed by the heavens on her body?”
“Hmph! This kind of thing that surpasses your cognition, you naturally wouldn’t believe it. I’m not going to bother explaining it to you. Her Heart of Snow Glazed Glass won’t be able to really mature in this kind of plane anyway. However, the ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’ she possesses…” Jasmine’s tone suddenly became odd: “It’s best for it to not be noticed by anyone that knows the concept of ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’. Otherwise, heh… She ought to not expect a single peaceful day in her entire life.”
“Eh? Why is that?”
“The word ‘Exquisite’ in the ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’, refers to a ‘Exquisite World’. Which is to say, that in her body there exists a ‘small world’! Do you understand what kind of notion that means? This means, that she could possess an unlimited and endless power! Power that the body of flesh cannot handle, can all be stored within the ‘Exquisite World’. Like this, no matter what profound art she cultivates, none of them would be restricted by her profound strength level and the endurance of her body. For example, her sectoral profound art ‘Frozen Cloud Art’; Chu Yuechan is half step into the Emperor Realm and her cultivation of the Frozen Cloud Art is at the sixth stage, and cannot continue further. It is highly likely that it’s because the seventh stage needs at least the profound strength of the Emperor Profound Realm. But to someone who has the ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’, if she wishes, she could cultivate to the seventh stage even if she was at the Elementary Profound Realm! Together with the extremely high comprehensive ability brought by the ‘Heart of Snow Glazed Glass’, I wouldn’t even be surprised at all if her current cultivation of Frozen Cloud Art is higher than Chu Yuechan’s.”
From Jasmine, not only did Yun Che come in contact with type after type of inconceivable profound arts, he had also continually heard some concepts that were completely foreign and even seemed extremely far and illusory. The shock it brought to Yun Che this time was undoubtedly the greatest, and also the most direct… Because these concepts that completely broke common sense, precisely appeared on his wife in name.
“…Exquisite World? A human’s body, can actually have this kind of thing?” Yun Che absently muttered in a low voice. He had heard that when profound strength was great to a certain extremely high realm, one could open a small world that belonged to oneself. But he had never heard that a small world could also exist within a one’s body.
“If she really does possesses the ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’ that you speak of, then it’s a special aptitude that belongs to her and has nothing to do with anyone else. But why do you say that if it’s discovered by others, it is possible for her to never be at peace throughout her entire lifetime?” Yun Che questioned.
“Because, someone who possesses the ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’, is the greatest of the greatest of profound cultivating incubators in this world. Especially for someone who obtains her vital virginity; they will generate an Exquisite World within their dantian that belongs to himself during the intercourse of Yin and Yang…”
————————————————————
The Xia family that Xia Qingyue and Xia Yuanba belonged to were merchants for generations after generations, and their father Xia Hongyi was more so an honest businessman who valued integrity and loyalty. So why would the pair of son and daughter he birthed… Xia Yuanba have the ‘Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins’, while Xia Qingyue also had the even more mysterious “Glazed Glass Heart” and “Exquisite Body” that Jasmine spoke of….
If Jasmine’s judgement was not wrong, then this Xia Hongyi really was blessed by the heavens to an extreme. In Jasmine’s mouth, no matter Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins or Glaze Glass Heart and Exquisite Body, were all extremely rare existences.
And their mother…
Yun Che didn’t have any notion about Xia Yuanba and Xia Qingyue’s mother. It was because he had never met her, and it seemed that she had passed away since they were young.
Yun Che walked along the path in Heavenly Sword Villa and silently thought about things. The curtains of the night had already started to fall. There were not many people outside, and occasionally he would encounter a few sect’s disciples. They would all stop in their steps and look at him afar with a gaze of awe. Within these people, most had wantonly mocked him during the Profound Strength Assessment on the first day of the Ranking Tournament. But now, they looked at him with a kind of revering gaze… To reach the top four of the Ranking Tournament, this was a height that they did not even dare dream about.
Yun Che came to the front of Frozen Cloud Asgard’s courtyard. The courtyard’s gate was wide open, but it seemed as if the inside and the outside of the courtyard were two different worlds. Gentle and warm wind blew on the outside, yet a bone-chilling cold aura floated within the courtyard, and rushed at him as it followed the air current.
Yun Che did not step into the courtyard. After taking in a breath of air, he said: “Blue Wind Profound Palace’s disciple, Yun Che, requests to see the Fairy of Frozen Beauty and hopes to personally thank her kind rescue today.”
Chapter 227 - The Danger Planted in Silence
Usually, there would be quite a number of people looking around in front of Frozen Cloud Asgard’s courtyard. All of them wished to have a glimpse at the beauty of the Frozen Cloud fairies, but there was basically not a single one who dared to make conversation with them. No matter how much authority, power, fame or potential a young practitioner possessed in his territory, when the practitioner arrived before a disciple of the Frozen Cloud Asgard, he would always turn timid, and a feeling of shame would also grow uncontrollably within.
As for those who dared to directly request an audience with Chu Yuechan, there were absolutely none.
Ice particles fluttered, and very quickly, a graceful fairy-like figure appeared before him, and she was actually Xia Qingyue. Her beautiful eyes quietly stopped at Yun Che’s face, and said. “Sir Yun, if you wish to see Frozen Beauty Senior Master, it’s best that you take your leave. Frozen Beauty Senior Master has always like peace and quiet, and has never been willing to interact with people outside Frozen Cloud Asgard. Your intentions, I believe Frozen Beauty Senior Master has heard it.”
Yun Che looked at her, and said sternly. “Qingyue my wife, I give you two choices. One, call me husband, or two, call me by my name… You’re my legally married wife, where would you find a wife calling her husband ‘Sir’!?”
In regards to Yun Che’s words, Xia Qingyue was not the least bit angry, as she slightly nodded. “Alright, then, Qingyue will refer to you as Yun Che from now on.”
The left corner of Yun Che’s lips twitched for a bit. He let out a light sigh, and said helplessly. “I rather wish that you were like before. Back then, you would always look at me coldly, but when I intentionally ‘offend’ you with my words, you would still express some anger… But now, you’re always so dull, it looked as though you have turned into someone else.”
The light in Xia Qingyue’s eyes slightly turned, as she softly said. “My Asgard’s Ice Heart Art allows one’s heart to be calm and collected, and removes one from her desires. In regards to your words earlier, Qingyue shall take them as compliments.”
“Removes one from her desires… Then, would that person still be human?” Yun Che shook his head, and changed the topic. “Qingyue my wife, congratulations on entering the top four. After this Ranking Tournament, your name shall spread throughout the world.”
“Words like that, I should be the one saying them to you.” Xia Qingyue’s expression turned slightly complicated. “I completely did not expect that you would reach such a level in just a short span of two years. You have given those who have ridiculed you, underestimated you, and even chased you out of your home, the most powerful retaliation.”
“I wish to see the Fairy of Frozen Beauty. Qingyue my wife, please help me convey my request to her. She might possibly be willing to see me.” Yun Che said.
Xia Qingyue shook her head gently. “That’s impossible. Frozen Beauty Senior Master will definitely not meet you. Please return, the Ranking Tournament tomorrow…”
“Qingyue, allow him to come in my room.”
At this moment, a voice, that was as vague as mist and as cold as ice, resounded from an unknown direction, gradually falling into the ears of the two people. A deep astonishment flashed across Xia Qingyue’s beautiful eyes, as she immediately said. “Yes, Senior Master… Yun Che, follow me.”
The furnishment of the courtyard was exactly the same as Yun Che’s, and coincidentally, the position of the room Chu Yuechan chose, was exactly the same as Yun Che’s. With Xia Qingyue leading him, Yun Che reached in front of her room’s unlatched door. After a slight hesitation, he pushed the door open and entered.
A chilling atmosphere instantly enveloped him. In front of Yun Che, was the beautiful back figure of a fairy. She stood before the window, bathing herself in the bright moonlight spilling in from the window. Her white robe shone under the moonlight. Fluorescent light shimmered along the exposed snowy flesh on her neck, and was even more beautiful than moonlit snow.
Suddenly, Yun Che felt as though he was looking at a deity who had descended onto the mortal realm from the Moon Palace, and could not help but be dazed. For a moment, he forgot the things he had wanted to say. Chu Yuechan did not look back at him, and her voice coldly sounded. “Do you know why I want to meet you?”
“I know.” Yun Che regained his senses, and faintly replied. “Because you wish to see me, just like how I long to see you again after separating from you back then.”
“… Nonsense!” Deep anger could be felt within Chu Yuechan’s voice. “The reason why I’m willing to see you, is to tell you this personally. The scores between us, have already been settled the moment I left the Wasteland of Death. We no longer owe each other, and we will never have any form of connection between us again! You’d best forget everything about the interactions between us. After today, we will be complete strangers!”
However, Chu Yuechan’s words caused Yun Che to laugh. “If you’re really that determined to cut all scores between us, then why did you personally come to the Heavenly Sword Villa? Earlier today, when I was in trouble, why were you the first one to step out and help me? This is something the rumored Fairy of Frozen Beauty who has a cold personality would definitely not do.”
“The reason why I came to the Heavenly Sword Villa was to simply come in place of our Asgard Mistress. As to why I saved you, it was because I could not stand Fen Moli’s shameless actions. It had nothing to do with you.” Chu Yuechan coldly said.
“You can fool me, but can you fool yourself?” Yun Che smiled. “If your heart is really that determined, why would there be a need to explain all that to me? Ask yourself, within this period of time, do you not always have the uncontrollable urge to think about me? The urge to think about the half a year we spent together… The true reason why you came to Heavenly Sword Villa this time, is it really not to see me? As for the other reasons, they are simply excuses that you came up for yourself…”
While Yun Che was saying this, he walked towards Chu Yuechan. “I initially thought that, before I have become strong enough, I would not have the chance to see you. But when I found out that you have actually came to the Heavenly Sword Villa as well, do you know how happy I was? Because, I was absolutely confident that, you came here because of me. Because you knew that I will represent the Blue Wind Imperial Family and participate in this Ranking Tournament.”
“Shut your mouth… Don’t come over!” Yun Che’s words utterly confused Chu Yuechan’s heart, and when she felt Yun Che approach her, a hint of panic actually flashed across the face of this grand expert who had stepped into the Emperor Profound Realm. When she was about to turn her body, a pair of arms had already gently and firmly, embraced her waist, hugging her from behind.
Chu Yuechan’s mind momentarily blanked out, and her entire body instantly stiffened. Beside her ear, Yun Che’s gentle voice sounded. “I know, it’s impossible for you to abandon Frozen Cloud Asgard, and it’s even more impossible for you to accept yourself. I don’t have the rights to force you, but I just wish that, before I gain the power to bring you out and break through all that obstructs us, you will not forget that, not only are you Chu Yuechan of Frozen Cloud Asgard, you have the identity called Little Fairy… You’re the Little Fairy who only belongs to me… Even if you wish to forget your identity as Little Fairy, then… then… then… you were the one who took my virginity! You can’t be thinking of not taking responsibility for it and prepare to completely forget about it after finishing your meal, right…”
Chu Yuechan’s recent actions were honestly bizarre. Meeting a disciple that did not belong to her sect in the night, if it was in the past, it was something that basically would not happen. Xia Qingyue, who had brought Yun Che to Che Yuechan’s room, looked at the swaying candlelight in the room with a heart was filled with suspicion.
At this moment, the unlatched door suddenly opened… to be exact, it was forced open. Yun Che’s body was sent flying out upside down by a cold pressure. Although he barely managed to stabilize his footing after landing, he still looked rather fatigued, and the door that was forced opened shut tight with a “bang” sound the moment he landed.
“You angered Senior Master?” Xia Qingyue’s beautiful eyes turned, looking amusingly at his fatigued expression.
“How can that be possible? Even if I were to possess ten thousand times more guts, I would not dare to anger her.” Yun Che said seriously. “The Fairy of Frozen Beauty simply sent me off kindly after accepting my thanks… Mn, that’s how it was.”
“Is that so…” Xia Qingyue’s eyes momentarily stopped at his face. Evidently, she did not believe his words. She then said gently. “You have achieved your objective. If you have nothing else to do here, please return. In tomorrow’s Ranking Tournament, you will be facing Ling Jie. Master has told me that, although Ling Jie is young, does not look to be the least bit shrewd, and expresses his feelings freely, he’s actually an absolute genius whose talent even surpasses Ling Yun. In tomorrow’s duel, you have to be careful.”
“Alright, thank you for the reminder. In contrast, your opponent tomorrow is more troublesome than mine.” Yun Che’s voice paused, and then, he suddenly continued. “Qingyue my wife, have you ever heard of the ‘Heart of Snow Glazed Glass’ and ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’?”
“‘Heart of Snow Glazed Glass’, ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’?” Xia Qingyue’s brows slightly curled out of suspicion, and then, she shook her head. “Qingyue has never heard of it.”
Seeing Xia Qingyue’s reaction, it was evident that she was clueless about the Heart of Snow Glazed Glass and Nine Profound Exquisite Body. Yun Che immediately said. “Oh, it’s nothing much. I will take my leave then.”
Just when he turned and was preparing to leave, Yun Che’s steps suddenly stopped again. He turned back, and said. “In your duel tomorrow with Ling Yun, I hope that, the one who turns out victorious is not Ling Yun, but you. In that case, in the final match, your opponent… will be me!”
Even though he left just those few words, they were filled with arrogance and doubtless confidence, as though, in his eyes, the outcome of his duel with Ling Jie tomorrow had already been determined. Looking at Yun Che’s leaving figure, Xia Qingyue sank into a moment of silence, and then, she softly muttered to herself. “In a span of less than two years, just what in the world did he experience…”
At the same time, at another place in the Heavenly Sword Villa.
Ling Kun, as one of the executives of the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, his status could only be considered as the low-middle class in the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. However, in the Blue Wind Empire, his status, and his strength, was enough to frighten and be revered by all the large sects. None of them would dare to offend or disobey him in the slightest.
In the eyes of the Four Great Sacred Lands, these small empires, were simply nothing but third-rate places that they would not even bother to step into.
The courtyard Heavenly Sword Villa had prepared for Ling Kun was also extremely extravagant. Just by the number of servants attending to him alone were more than a dozen, and currently, all of these people who attended to him were sent away by him. In the room lighted up by the pale candle-light, he took out a treasure jade that was entirely bluish purple in color. This was a piece of an extremely rare and unique sound transmission jade.
With the insertion of profound energy, the bluish purple sound transmission jade emitted out a pale glow, and the sound transmission formation hidden within began to quickly spin.
“Young Hall Master, how have you been? Do you still remember this trivial old man?” Ling Kun narrowed his eyelids, and softly spoke to the sound transmission jade.
“Senior Ling? Ling Kun of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region? Now this sure is rare. It seems like, you should have something interesting to discuss with this young master?”
“That’s right.” Ling Kun slowly said. “This old man wish to make a trade with Young Hall Master. I believe Young Hall Master will definitely be interested in this trade.”
“Oh? Go on.”
“Hoho, I heard that Young Hall Master have been looking for a girl who possesses the ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’ in these recent years. And a mystical girl like that, this old man has actually encountered one. I wonder if Young Hall Master is interested?”
“What?” The voice which was initially calm instantly became hurried, and then, his voice once again sank. “This young master naturally will not suspect Senior Ling’s eyes. But since it’s the ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’ that would rarely appear in ten thousand years, why isn’t Senior Ling using for himself, or presenting it to your Holy Master of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region?”
“This old man knows of his own status, I really do not have the sufficient guts to enjoy this Nine Profound Exquisite Body. If I were to offer it to the Holy Master, I will only be able to exchange it for the so-called ‘merits’, but if I were to offer it to Young Hall Master… Heh, I believe, with Young Hall Master’s boldness and wit, this old man will definitely receive even more benefits.”
“Hahahaha! Senior Ling sure is a smart man. This young master likes to talk with smart people. Looks like back then, when this young master left the sound transmission jade to Senior Ling, it was really the most wise decision on my part. Whatever benefits Senior Ling wish to have, please feel free to express them. If it’s the real Nine Profound Exquisite Body, no matter what Senior Ling wishes to have, it would never be too much.”
“As I thought, Young Hall Master is straightforward.” Ling Kun laughed. “This old man only wants one thing… A thousand five hundred grams of Purple Veined Divine Crystals.”
“… A thousand five hundred grams. This request of Senior Ling’s, sure is big.”
“Hahahaha, to others, forget about a thousand five hundred grams of Purple Veined Divine Crystals, it would be difficult for them to even obtain a thousand five hundred grams of Purple Veined Heaven Crystals. But, to Young Hall Master, I believe obtaining a thousand five hundred grams of Purple Veined Divine Crystals isn’t really a hard task. And, when comparing the Nine Profound Exquisite Body to a thousand five hundred grams of Purple Veined Divine Crystals, it basically isn’t worth mentioning.”
“Fine! Within two years, this young master will personally prepare a thousand five hundred grams of Purple Veined Divine Crystals. I hope when that time comes, Senior Ling will definitely not disappoint me.”
“Young Hall Master, please be at ease. Unless this old man is tired of living, otherwise, I definitely would not dare to fool Young Hall Master in the slightest. Then, this old man will shall quietly wait for Young Hall Master’s good news…”
The light in the sound transmission jade disappeared. Ling Kun raised his head, quietly smiled, and muttered softly to himself. “The characteristic of that girl’s profound aura, is exactly the same as the records of the Nine Profound Exquisite Body in the Secret Tome… Heh, I did not expect that such a divine body would be born in this trivial land. Heaven is basically on my side!”
Chapter 228 - Celestial Yang Sword
Today, was the tenth day of the ranking tournament.
It was early morning and the sky had not yet completely brightened. The fifth to eighth place ranking matches were already underway on the Sword Discourse Arena. Although the ones participating in those matches were the losers of yesterday’s Quarterfinals: Ling Feiyu, Shui Wushuang, Xiao Kuanglei, and Fen Juebi, entering the Quarterfinals had already made them completely worthy of being the younger generation’s peak talents.
Even though Xiao Kuanglei had been cut thirty three times by Xia Qingyue, they were all shallow injuries. At that time, his meridians had merely been frozen over, so he was completely fine today. As for Fen Juebi, because of his self-destruction blood essence and the heavy injuries he suffered after mounting a sneak attack on Yun Che, he did not participate in today’s fight over fifth to eighth place. Also, even if he were to be unscathed, he was basically not the other three’s match. Whether or not he participated did not have the slightest influence towards the end result but it did at least, preserve the last traces of face he possessed.
Due to Fen Juebi’s absence, the original four matches became three. In the first match, Shui Wushuang defeated Xiao Kuanglei. In the second match, Shui Wushuang defeated Ling Feiyu with difficulty. In the third match, Ling Feiyu defeated Xiao Kuanglei.
And thus, Shui Wushuang’s individual ranking was fifth place, Ling Feiyu’s individual ranking was sixth, Xiao Kuanglei’s individual ranking was seventh and Fen Juebi’s individual ranking was eighth. It was the first time that Xiao Sect and the Burning Heaven Clan’s power rankings had been decided this early… Xiao Sect placed fourth and Burning Heaven Clan placed fifth, making it the first time they fell out of the top four in several hundred years.
The primary cause was Yun Che, the ultimate dark horse’s birth into the world.
The white clouds in the sky lightly floated. The matches deciding fifth to eighth place had finally come to a close, and it was only nine in the morning. The morning sunlight was somewhat lacking in power but the mood of the audience around the Sword Discourse Arena was at an even greater high because the ranking tournament’s Semifinals, was finally getting closer.
Before the ranking tournament had gone underway, there were already many who had long predicted the final placings. The name Ling Yun had long since shook the country and it was universally accepted that first place was his. There were numerous different versions of guesses taking place, but they all still simply fastened around a few individuals… Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Shui Wushuang and Wu Xuexin, Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Feiyu, Burning Heaven Clan’s Fen Jin, Xiao Sect’s Xiao Kuanglei…
But out of the four who had entered the top four, aside from Ling Yun, the other three had not been anticipated nor were any of them core disciples of sects that they had heard of, so much that there weren’t even a few who knew their names. Even Ling Jie, only had the title of Heavenly Sword Villa Master’s son. No one expected that he possessed enough strength to make Ling Feiyu surrender and not fight… After all, he was way too young. Everyone thought that the reason why he came to participate was merely to gain experience.
What was even more shocking was that, excluding Ling Yun, the oldest of the other three was only seventeen years old.
In all of ranking tournament history, this was the unprecedented of firsts!
In the second match of the Semifinals, the conclusion of the match between Ling Yun and Xia Qingyue had already been decided in everyone’s eyes. Even if Xia Qingyue was even more talented of a genius, it was still impossible for her to bring about a second conclusion. As a result, what the crowd paid close attention to was the first match of exchanges between Yun Che and Ling Jie.
One had shot into the top four with profound strength at the True Profound Realm and the other was a sixteen year old who had shot into the top four. No matter which one became the victory, any one of them would bring about an incomparably shocking precedent. It was not exaggerated in the least if one were to say that the two, were super geniuses that were rarely seen even once in several hundred years.
After seeing Yun Che’s battle with Fen Juebi yesterday, no one dared to easily decide that he would lose to Ling Jie. In his match with Fen Juebi, even though it was the first time he had revealed his terrifying true strength, it appeared as if it was still not his full strength. As for Ling Jie, to have made Ling Feiyu immediately surrender, was proof that he had never even exhibited his true strength at all.
This historical showdown was undoubtedly going to be a match brimming with suspense —— a duel between the lowest profound strength in all of ranking tournament history and the youngest participant of all time!
Yun Che had long since stood on top of the Sword Discourse Arena. Soon after, Ling Jie slowly made his way up as well. Standing sixty meters away from Yun Che, he greeted him with a cheeky smile: “Hehe. Boss, good morning.”
Ling Jie’s voice was not at all loud, but it was loud enough to be heard by Ling Wugou. Just as he was about to announce the names of the two parties and their affiliation, he suddenly heard the way Ling Jie addressed Yun Che. Both his legs went limp and he nearly kneeled on the floor.
“Oh! You actually knew that you ought to call me boss. I thought that you wouldn’t acknowledge your debt.” Yun Che put both his hands on his chest as he smiled with glee.
Ling Jie stuck his nose up and said with great enthusiasm: “I, Ling Jie, am a true man. Every word I say carries an enormous amount of weight so there’s no way I would go back on a deal. Only cowards would go back on their word.”
“Really?” Yun Che looked at him with great contempt: “I’ve lived in the Villa for more than ten days but you, the little brother, actually had never come to visit me once. You’re not really good at being a little brother, are you?”
“Err…” Ling Jie opened his eyes wide as his voice also became lower. He whispered in a low voice: “I… I actually wanted to go, but Big Bro said that it wouldn’t look good. It’s really not my fault.”
Knowing that he was in the wrong, he quickly changed topics as he lifted his head: “But Boss, you indeed did not disappoint me. When those people were all jeering at you before, I knew that you would definitely make them regret it. Hehe, as expected, it was not outside of my expectations. How could someone who would make me have no choice but to surrender and become a little brother be any ordinary person? But I never expected that Boss would actually storm into the Semifinals and even be up against me… Hohohoho, this is a super great opportunity!
“Eh? Opportunity?”
“Yeah, yeah!” Ling Jie drew back the corners of his mouth as he laughed: “Even though I wouldn’t renege on a debt and call you Boss, I am still a little unsatisfied. After all, you only received three of my strikes that time and didn’t even defeat me. To be boss, you ought to be stronger than the little brother, right?”
“And so?” Yun Che fingered his chin and began to faintly smile.
Ling Jie held out his hand and swiped his spatial ring, bringing out a sword case sculpted entirely in white jade… That’s right, it was a white jade sword case, and was the Earth Profound Weapon he had always been using in every one of his previous matches. As his hand stroked the bright and clean sword case, Ling Jie’s smiling expression began to have a difficult to look at sharp edge: “Even if I enter tomorrow’s match, there’s absolutely no way that I would beat big bro, so I’ll use all my power this match! And let everyone in the world remember my, Ling Jie’s charm! To make me, Ling Jie, perfectly willing to be your little brother, you must completely defeat me while I’m using my full strength on this Sword Discourse Arena! If you defeat me, you’ll be my boss. If you lose… Mn, I’ll consider letting you be my little brother!”
“Okay!” Yun Che immediately nodded. His expression also became focused and serious: “If I can’t even defeat you, I obviously do not have the qualifications to be your boss. Since that is the case, bring out your sword. I’ll let you see true strength!”
Ling Jie’s hands softly stroked once and the white jade sword case opened. Along with a flickering orange colored radiance, an entirely golden orange thin sword that was approximately five foot and five inches flew into Ling Jie’s hands.
Dooongh…
Once the orange sword met the ground, it suddenly released a lingering sword cry and its sword force also quietly filled the air. The sword force was not fierce, nor was it aggressive, but it brought along an incomparably piercing strength. It completely covered the entire Sword Discourse Arena with in two breaths of time. Even those who sat on the very edges of the Sword Discourse Arena all sensed a calm sword force quietly envelop them. It mysteriously drew the attentions of their hearts and gazes and they could not help but centralize their focus onto the body of the orange colored sword. If one were to carefully examine the sword, they would discover that a small width of space around the orange sword was slowly distorting.
“What kind of sword force is this! I’ve never heard of this before… Wait! Orange colored sword, could it be…”
“Celestial Yang Sword!!”
“Right! It really is indeed the Celestial Yang Sword, one of Heavenly Sword Villa’s Sky Profound Divine Swords! It’s been said that Ling Yun subdued the Celestial Yuan Sword at the age of seventeen. He is only sixteen, yet had actually subdued the Celestial Yang Sword!”
“Heavenly Sword Villa does indeed produce geniuses after geniuses. Ling Yun is already an absolutely stunning genius but I didn’t expect that Ling Jie was an even better one! For Ling Yuefeng to have two sons like that, is enough for him to live a comfortable life.”
“In this battle, it looks like it is simply impossible for Yun Che to be victorious against Ling Jie, who has mastered the Celestial Yang Sword.”
Yun Che had never heard of the Celestial Yang Sword. However, once the Celestial Yang Sword was revealed, Yun Che sensed its abnormal shocking sword force. The surroundings that filled with the sounds of numerous discussions which contained deep surprise also allowed him to clearly understand that this sword was by no means ordinary. This sword was undoubtedly a world shaking Sky Profound Sword!
For the first time in this year’s ranking tournament, a Sky Profound Weapon had finally appeared!
With the Celestial Yang Sword in hand, the atmosphere around Ling Jie’s entire person had suddenly changed. His entire person had become a sword as a dignified sword aura moved along his entire body. His eyes were no longer filled with any speck of laughter and carelessness. Instead, it emitted a sharp sword’s piercing cold light.
Yun Che took half a step back. As he waved his hand, a thick Overlord’s Colossal Sword without a sharp tip suddenly fell from the sky. It landed in front of him with a boom as half of its body deeply submerged into the ground. Yun Che grabbed the sword hilt with both hands. With a slight force, the Overlord’s Colossal Sword whistled amidst the crushed stone that swirled in the air as its sword force directly lunged at Ling Jie with a mountain’s massively overbearing momentum.
However, the Overlord’s Colossal Sword was still merely an Earth Profound Weapon and was an entire realm’s level inferior to that of the Celestial Yang Sword. Its absolutely overbearing aura did not really stifle much of the Celestial Yang Sword’s grandeur; instead, it was split apart by the Celestial Yang Sword’s calm sword energy.
The difference between a Sky Profound Weapon and an Earth Profound Weapon was like the difference between fine steel and straw. In terms of weapons, Yun Che was at an absolute disadvantage. However, his imposing manner did not weaken in the slightest. With a wave of his heavy sword, the wind screeched with a deafening howl: “Come.”
“First match of the Semifinals: Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che versus Heavenly Sword Villa’s Ling Jie… Match start!”
“Not only did Jie’er immediately reveal the Celestial Yang Sword, his aura also does not have the least bit of complacence. It looks like he really values this battle with Yun Che.” Ling Yuefeng slowly said as he looked at the two people on the Sword Discourse Arena.
“Mn,” Ling Yun nodded: “After all, Yun Che is the only person Little Jie truly submitted to in this world aside from me. Half a year ago, Yun Che had forcibly blocked three of Little Jie’s strikes with a profound strength at the third level of the True Profound Realm. He impressed him so much that he continuously talked about it for a long time. At that time, Yun Che’s overall strength was several miles away from Little Jie. In this half a year, Little Jie’s strength had increased by leaps and bounds so if he were to be defeated by Yun Che this time, he probably would sincerely and completely submit to him… Perhaps to an even greater extent than his submissiveness towards me.”
Ling Yun’s words caused Ling Yuefeng’s brows to twitch. After he pondered in silence for a while, he suddenly said: “If it’s like that, then we definitely cannot let Yun Che win. Yun’er, if Jie’er is by any chance at a disadvantage, help him with the Celestial Yuan Sword!”
Ling Yuefeng’s words startled Ling Yun for a bit. Then, as if he understood something, he nodded his head lightly: “I understand.”
Chapter 229 - Yuan Yang Combination
“RIIIPP~~~”
Space was split apart by the incomparably deafening sound. As the sword energy of the Celestial Yang Sword in Ling Jie’s hands swept across the air, it cleaved the air, and even the hard surface of the Sword Discourse Arena was directly cut open like tofu. Three hundred meters away, a sharp imposing force came at the entire audience, infiltrated to the bottom of their hearts, and sent a chill down almost everyone’s back. It was as if that extremely cold orange sword light and sword intent was pressed against their backs.
Once Ling Jie took action, it was indeed with full strength. Facing the sword energy that was sweeping towards him, Yun Che used both hands to sweep his sword. When he activated the fundamental stage of Prison God Sirius’ Tome, the profound energy in his entire body exploded. Along with a low and deep exploding sound, Overlord’s Colossal Sword welcomed the Celestial Yang Sword’s sword energy with a strike of its own.
“Boom!!”
The sharp and tyrannical forces loudly came together with a loud bang. A frightening windstorm of profound energy disclosed without restraint. The profound energy barrier suddenly trembled. Like spiderwebs, cracks instantly rushed out on the arena’s stone floor below feet of the two opposing members.
The faint orange colored sword energy was unceasingly destroying, creating cracks, as the heavy sword’s powerful windstorm also quickly tore the ground. Throughout the frenzied intermingling of the forces, the two people’s gazes struck the other… One was as peerlessly sharp as the edge of a sword while the other had a mountain’s majesty and tranquility.
Once their strikes collided, both their hearts were simultaneously shocked. The audience at edges of the Sword Discourse Arena were even more inexplicably horrified as they widened their eyes one after the other.
“So… So strong! Even from this far away, I could feel that terrifying sword energy!” A sect disciple who placed in the top hundred exclaimed with a trembling voice.
“I also felt it! Ling Jie’s actually this strong. In the previous matches, he basically had never gone all out. No! He didn’t even use half his strength. If this strike was aimed at me, I simply would not be capable of resisting in the slightest. Is… Is he really only at the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm?”
“As expected, people from Heavenly Sword Villa are all monsters! But… But this kind of strike, Yun Che actually received it!!”
With the sword force and sword intent released by Ling Jie with all his strength as well as the Celestial Yang Sword’s Sky Profound might, the magnificence of this one strike, transcended everything that happened in yesterday’s Quarterfinals! Not only was it those young profound practitioners, even the elders watching this scene were dramatically moved.
“Not only has he subdued the Celestial Yang Sword, he even released at least sixty percent of the Celestial Yang Sword’s power.” A deep tremor was visibly heard in Xiao Juetian’s voice: “This one’s future accomplishments, would definitely far surpass Ling Yun’s.”
Xiao Juetian’s gaze spun towards Yun Che. Ling Jie’s strike completely stunned him. And the Yun Che, who had completely received Ling Jie’s strike made by the Celestial Yang Sword with only an Earth Profound Sword, left him at a complete loss. He did not know what words he could possibly use to evaluate him.
Bang!!
The two forces simultaneously exploded, and the two people were also sent backwards from the impact. Ling Jie stepped off the ground with his back foot. As fast as a flitting phantom, his entire person suddenly dashed forward, and the Celestial Yang Sword in his hands had lost its presence… as if it had vanished into thin air.
“So fast!” Yun Che was slightly shocked. Whether it was Ling Jie’s movement speed or sword speed, they both far exceeded his expectations, to such an extent that even his eyes could not catch up.
Yun Che did not attempt to catch Ling Jie’s sword mirage anymore. With a surge of profound strength, the Overlord’s Colossal Sword was wildly swung outwards. Following the heavy sword’s swinging arc, lines and lines of sword rays exploded and broke in succession. The heavy sword swept towards Ling Jie’s figure, yet it could only touch a faded afterimage… At the same time, an ice-cold chill was felt from the nape of his neck.
RIIIP!!
The orange-yellow sword energy pierced down like lightning, drawing a black scar through the air as it also sliced the remains of Yun Che’s afterimage into two. Yun Che’s real body reappeared ten meters away, and he came smashing back with a counterattack. The heavy sword’s berserk windstorm and Ling Jie’s sword energy tightly concentrated and crashed.
There were many disadvantages in choosing the heavy sword as one’s main weapon of choice; the most notable disadvantage was the difficulty level in mastering it, as well as the fact that the heavy sword’s excessive weight would implicate one’s movement speed by a substantial amount. But Prison God Sirius’ Tome allowed Yun Che’s mastery of the heavy sword to a close to perfect level. Even if for Dragon Fault, a Sky Profound heavy sword, Yun Che only used a few days to completely master it. As for the heavy sword’s burden on one’s movement speed, the unpredictable profound movement skill, “Star God’s Broken Shadow”, made up for that deficiency.
The existence of both Prison God Sirius’ Tome and Star God’s Broken Shadow perfectly offsetted the two major flaws of the heavy sword, and also made Yun Che the person most suitable to use the heavy sword. In comparison, the powerful arm strength bestowed by the Great Way of the Buddha was actually secondary… because as long as one’s profound strength level was high enough, no matter how heavy it was, they could still pick up a heavy sword. However, the heavy sword mastery’s difficulty level, as well as the burden of the weight itself, was not something that profound strength could interfere with by any means.
And since these two major flaws were no longer there, then the power that the heavy sword released was one in which other weapons would never be able to reach. Its power was violent enough to make both ghosts and gods shiver.
The heavy sword did not have a sharp tip. With its great swings and body, each strike shattered a few, or even a dozen different lines of frenzied yet dazzling sword light. The profound energy barrier shook violently. The windstorm conjured by the heavy sword brought about an unceasingly long tornado in the center of the Sword Discourse Arena. The gullies and cracks beneath their feet grew aplenty. The smashed pieces of the broken arena were lifted up by the windstorm, shooting out in all directions like arrows and darts.
It was not known how many times the heavy sword had been swung, and it was also not know how many orange yellow sword lights had been smashed apart, but under Ling Jie’s shocking speed, not a single corner of his clothes had been touched.
It appeared as if the two were in deadlock. Even though Ling Jie appeared to be on the offense, he was actually constantly complaining in his head. In his eyes, the speed at which Yun Che swung his heavy sword was not that quick. The time he took to swing once, was enough for him to swing a dozen or so times. But even these dozen strikes, could be completely thwarted by one strike from Yun Che. The power from Yun Che’s one offensive strike could only be cancelled by a dozen of his… which he could only do after rapidly retreating back a certain distance. If he had not moved away from his original spot during his counterattack, he wasn’t completely certain that he could block it… even when he was wielding the Celestial Yang Sword.
Every time he thought that he had at last seized an opening, what pierced was always Yun Che’s afterimage, and Yun Che’s subsequent counterattack would always make him feel that he was surrounded by danger.
He definitely did not dare to directly attack Yun Che. If it was a head-on collision, even though he was confident that he would poke a hole through Yun Che, if he was touched by Yun Che’s strike, losing half his life would be considered as getting off lightly.
In the past, whenever he could get close to an opponent, Ling Jie’s sword was usually able to easily force his opponent into checkmate. But right now, Yun Che was like a demon god that could not be neared. It made Ling Jie’s attacks appear uninhibited and dazzling on the surface, but the truth was that he felt extremely bound up and was startled with every single attack he made.
This never before felt feeling, made Ling Jie extremely uncomfortable. Because before Yun Che, he had never met an opponent who used the heavy sword.
Clang!
In the brief moment the Celestial Yang Sword and the Overlord’s Colossal Sword touched, following the Overlord’s Colossal Sword’s impact, Ling Jie leapt very far away. When he landed, the Celestial Yang Sword pointed upwards in the air as a loud shout came out from Ling Jie’s mouth: “Heaven’s Might Sword Formation —— Heavenly Star Frenzy!”
The Celestial Yang Sword flew up. During its flight, it glowed even more radiantly. Then, as if an illusion, its light quickly dispersed, scattering to make more than a dozen Celestial Yang Swords that looked exactly the same. Soon after, it became several tens of copies until it became more than a hundred copies. The hundred or more Celestial Yang Swords were like chaotic meteorites with different trajectories as they flew at Yun Che from every direction. These Celestial Yang Swords were no mere illusions; because each and every sword carried an incomparably sharp sword aura.
This kind of outrageously bizarre sword formation made many young profound practitioners pale on the spot. Yun Che’s brows slightly creased yet he did not show any signs of fear. His heavy sword swept upwards as the profound energy in his entire body wildly erupted above
“Falling Moon Sinking Star!”
The pitch-black heavy sword conjured a giant black moon. Just like a bottomless black hole, the frenzied meteor engulfed everything in its path.
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG…
Under the violent storm’s force, the lines and lines of sword silhouette containing a Sky Profound sword’s power were like fragile icicles as they easily shattered one after the other. After their diffusion, they were smashed once again by the storm’s force, and then turned into powdery particles. But in the blink of an eye, before the mighty and terrifying frenzied sword formation had even touched a single hair on Yun Che’s head, they had all been torn to shreds. In less than two breaths of time, every sword silhouette had completely disappeared, only leaving the Celestial Yang Sword that blasted off back into Ling Jie’s hands.
“Wh… at!!” Ling Yun’s brow suddenly sank as his face filled with surprise: “Heavenly Star Frenzy had actually been broken that easily!?”
“Because that is a heavy sword!”
Ling Kun, who had practically never spoken during these past ten or so days suddenly started to talk. His hawk like eyes silently fixated at Yun Che as he indifferently said: “He has completely brought out the heavy sword’s might. As for the heavy sword’s disadvantages, on his body, they have been suppressed to their limits. This one’s master, is definitely an incomparably extraordinary being.”
“Heaven’s Might Sword Formation possesses a power that can smite the heavens and there is no man who does not fear it. In this world, the only thing that can restrain Heaven’s Might Sword Formation to such an extent is the heavy sword!”
The surrounding audience had already become stupefied, after seeing such a frightening sword formation… get completely broken like that!?
Atop the Sword Discourse Arena, Ling Jie had already leapt high in the air, and caught the falling Celestial Yang Sword. In midair, he turned around as his sword flickered with light. His entire body seemed as if it had completely merged with the sword light as he flashed in front of Yun Che.
Heavenly Sword Villa’s ultimate instantaneous sword technique —— Sword Brilliance of Extreme Lightning!
The Heavenly Star Frenzy that was executed just a moment ago was only half a pretense. This was Ling Jie’s genuine finishing move that he had been accumulating power for!
Ling Jie’s instantaneous movement exceeded the scope of Yun Che’s reaction time. Sword light flashed and the Celestial Yang Sword had already arrived in front of Yun Che in its thrust, making him completely incapable of swinging his sword in time to block it, and also did not give him enough time to activate Star God’s Broken Shadow.
In a split second, Yun Che immediately threw away all thoughts of retreat and defense. The heavy sword in his hands did not have the slightest retracting intent that it should have. Instead, it struck forward without hesitation.
RIIIP!!
Along with a light echo, the Celestial Yang Sword easily split apart Yun Che’s protective profound energy defense and pierced his left shoulder as a bloody arrow spurted outwards. Ling Jie’s finishing blow was a success so he ought to been happy, yet his complexion suddenly changed right at this moment, because his Celestial Yang Sword pierced through the protective profound energy defense, passed through flesh, penetrated into the bone… then stabbed onto an incomparable hard ten thousand year old profound iron, and then was incapable of even advancing an inch forward.
Forget about stabbing a hole through Yun Che’s body… he could not even pierce through a tiny half an inch.
This was not a strike that any average Joe could randomly execute. Instead, it came from Ling Jie, after completely pouring in his surging sword intent, and was a strike dealt by the Celestial Yang Sword, a Sky Profound Weapon! Even if it was a monolith or profound metal, they could both be pierced through as easily as tofu!
The shock that Ling Jie was in was no small matter. At this time, Yun Che’s heavy sword also swung towards him. Wherever the heavy sword went, a berserk air current blasted open. Ling Jie quickly used all his strength to receive the sword explosions while retreating. At the same time, he continually swung out numerous waves of sword energy in resistance. But even though he did that, he was still swept by the heavy sword’s wind force. The wild force suffocated his heart as his inner organs violently quaked.
Ling Jie staggered backwards as he landed and had to take several steps back before barely managing to stabilize his balance. A line of blood slowly trickled down the corner of his mouth. At the Heavenly Sword Villa’s seating area, Ling Yun creased his eyebrows greatly. Then, he suddenly stood up and shouted: “Little Jie, take this!!”
In the midst of Ling Yun’s roar, a thin sword completely suffused with a bizarre cyan light flew out from his hands. Like a shooting star, it crossed a distance of over three hundred meters in a flash. Without even being slightly obstructed when it passed through the profound energy barrier, it was then caught in the hands of a somewhat stupefied Ling Jie.
Once the cyan sword was in hand, as if they had suddenly developed intelligence, the two swords simultaneously emitted an excited sword cry. As the orange and cyan colored glows added to each other’s beauty and radiance, they became more and more intense. What intensified along with it, were two waves of sword energy that stirred and surged out, while also merging into one amidst the stirring.
“This is… Big brother’s Celestial Yuan Sword!” Ling Jie clenched the cyan sword with one hand, and the orange sword with the other. The two swords at this time seemed to have let go of all their proud air, and even gave him a feeling that they were connected through blood.
As he wielded both swords in his hands, Ling Jie slowly lifted his head. There wasn’t the slightest hint of childness that belonged to a sixteen year old in his eyes. There was not any color of excitement, and even the sharpness from earlier had all died down.
“Hm?” Yun Che’s brows slightly knitted as vigilance suddenly birthed in his heart. Because the Ling Jie in front of his eyes, had suddenly went through a great transformation in his aura. This kind of transformation did not come from himself, but instead came from… the two swords in his hands!
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