Chapter 235: 倾月VS凌云

Yun Che returned to the seat of the Azure Wind Imperial Family. Cang Yue hurried over, holding bottles and jars filled with medicine. She gently wiped the wound on his forehead with a gauze cloth. "Junior Brother Yun, are you seriously injured anywhere? Do you have any internal injuries?"

"Don't worry," Yun Che said casually. "They're just minor scratches. A good night's sleep and I'll be almost completely recovered."

Yun Che's face was rosy, and his breathing was steady, showing no signs of exertion even after an intense battle. The wounds beneath his torn clothes were mostly red marks, with hardly any visible traces of blood. Cang Yue felt relieved. She looked at him, then suddenly chuckled. "Look at you now; you look like a wild man who just climbed out of the deep mountains."

A gust of wind blew, and Yun Che suddenly felt a chill all over, as if he were naked. He quickly took out a set of relatively loose clothes from the Sky Poison Pearl and put them on. Qin Wushang's meaningful voice reached his ears: "Yun Che, why did you give up entering the Heavenly Sword Villa? To refuse such a dreamlike place, there must be a very important reason, right?"

"Hmm, you could say that," Yun Che nodded. "The Heavenly Sword Villa is indeed an extremely huge temptation for me, but for me, many things are a thousand times more important than the Heavenly Sword Villa." After speaking, he turned his gaze to Cang Yue and smiled faintly.

Cang Yue was slightly startled, then she also smiled gently, a hint of mist quietly gathering in her eyes. "This is enough… With his words, his gaze, and his smile, this lifetime is more than enough…"

"Those don't sound like words from a young man your age," Qin Wushang said, his face filled with admiration. Then he narrowed his eyes and smiled. "So, for tomorrow's final battle, how confident are you of winning?"

In the previous matches, Qin Wushang had repeatedly thought that Yun Che had reached his limit in the ranking tournament and could not advance further. However, Yun Che, with one decisive victory after another, repeatedly showed him how thoroughly he had underestimated the young man. Now, facing Ling Yun, who seemed impossible to defeat, Qin Wushang no longer asserted that Yun Che had no chance of winning tomorrow. Instead, he asked with a very serious and expectant tone how confident he was of victory.

Yun Che didn't hesitate, shaking his head directly. "I have no confidence at all. Tomorrow's opponent is simply too strong."

"Even if you lose, it doesn't matter. After all, Ling Yun has already surpassed the level attainable by young profound practitioners," Qin Wushang chuckled. "Moreover, you have already stolen the show in this ranking tournament. I believe that in the eyes of most people, you are already the biggest winner of this tournament."

As he spoke, Yun Che felt a chill sweep across his back. He turned, glancing at the Burning Heaven Clan's section, and gave a cold smile.

Yun Che's unexpected refusal to join the Heavenly Sword Villa made Fen Juecheng sigh with relief, while simultaneously intensifying his murderous intent towards Yun Che severalfold. He absolutely did not believe that Yun Che could truly resist the enormous temptation of joining the Heavenly Sword Villa. If he didn't join now, it wouldn't be long before he proactively sought out Ling Kun. After all, Fen Juecheng still held the sound transmission jade given to him personally by Ling Kun.

Therefore, to kill Yun Che, he had to speed things up… it had to be before Yun Che became a member of the Heavenly Sword Villa!

The best opportunity would be…

Fen Juecheng's gaze swept around, then landed on the seating area of the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress. He saw that Mu Tianbei's face was as ugly as if he had just swallowed excrement. Although it was a long distance away, he could vaguely discern the hatred and murderous intent flickering in Mu Tianbei's hawk-like eyes.

"It seems there's a good knife to use," Fen Juecheng muttered, resting his chin on his hand, and smiled grimly.

After a considerable amount of time, the ravaged Sword Discourse Arena was finally emergency-repaired to a somewhat smooth state. Ling Wugou returned to the center of the arena and announced that the second match was about to begin.

"Go!" Ling Yuefeng waved a hand at Ling Yun.

Ling Yun nodded. Without any visible movement from his feet or fluctuation of profound energy, he soared into the air. While airborne, he made a grasping motion in the void, and the Heaven's Scissor Sword, originally in Ling Jie's hand, spontaneously flew up and into his grasp. The next instant, he landed gracefully in the center of the Sword Discourse Arena, standing tall and distinguished, his robes fluttering. With a face as refined as jade and eyes like autumn water, he exuded an ethereal handsomeness. Instantly, many young girls' eyes brightened, and their hearts fluttered.

"Qingyue, go," Chu Yueli said with certainty. "If you defeat Ling Yun, we will have secured first place in this ranking tournament ahead of time."

With a flurry of ice spirits and a gentle ripple of cold air, Xia Qingyue silently landed before Ling Yun. She was still dressed in white with blue spiritual energy, her face covered by an icy veil, with only her star-like eyes shining with breathtaking brilliance.

Looking closely at her eyes, Ling Yun's calm gaze faltered for a moment. They were the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen in his life, a beauty impossible to describe or explain. He clearly felt his will and soul being deeply drawn in as he gazed at those lovely eyes, making it almost impossible for him to look away.

"Such beautiful eyes… Beneath the veil, she must be a girl as beautiful as a fairy…" Ling Yun thought to himself, a desire to glimpse her true face budding within him. He swept his Heaven's Scissor Sword and performed a simple sword salute to Xia Qingyue. "Ling Yun, disciple of Heavenly Sword Villa, requests guidance from Fairy Xia."

Xia Qingyue gave no response, remaining silent and still, like an ice sculpture.

Seeing that both were ready, Ling Wugou wasted no more time and announced loudly, "The second match of the Four Major Battles: Ling Yun of Heavenly Sword Villa versus Xia Qingyue of Ice Cloud Immortal Palace! Let the battle begin!"

With Yun Che and Ling Jie's thrilling and shocking duel as a precursor, people didn't have much expectation for this match. It was a battle with a predetermined outcome, as one side was Ling Yun… and any battle involving Ling Yun would undoubtedly be a one-sided domination. As Qin Wushang had said, Ling Yun's strength had already surpassed the level of the younger generation; it was simply impossible to find anyone among his peers who could rival him.

If it weren't for Jasmine, Yun Che's thoughts would have been no different from anyone else's.

However, Jasmine's evaluation of Xia Qingyue filled Yun Che with unusual anticipation for this match. His focus shifted from Ling Yun to Xia Qingyue. Regardless of who won this battle, tomorrow was destined to be an extremely difficult and arduous fight… If Ling Yun won, given how formidable a Level Six Spirit Profound Realm Ling Jie was, one could only imagine the power of a Level Three Earth Profound Realm Ling Yun. But if, by some chance… Xia Qingyue won, then a Xia Qingyue capable of defeating even Ling Yun would undoubtedly be an even more terrifying opponent.

Could Xia Qingyue really defeat Ling Yun, who had claimed first place in the ranking tournament at just seventeen years old?

Ling Yun stood with his sword, subtle sword qi wavering around him, yet he remained motionless. His opponent was a girl, much younger and with lower profound energy than him, so he naturally wouldn't make the first move. Xia Qingyue raised her jade-like hand, and with a flash of cold light, a translucent ice crystal longsword appeared in her grasp. As she circulated the Ice Cloud Art, ice spirits drifted around her, and she took a lotus step. The opening stance of the "Ice Cloud Thirteen Swords," "Silent Snow Moon," was gently and ethereal thrust forward. Her movements were delicate and graceful, appearing harmless, simply pleasing to the eye. Yet, only Ling Yun deeply felt a bone-chilling coldness approaching him.

Ling Yun placed his left hand behind his back and simply shifted his feet, not employing any movement profound skill. His Heaven's Scissor Sword rose, and he didn't unleash any specific sword skill, calmly meeting the attack…

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang…

As Ling Yun lightly swept his sword, the Heaven's Scissor Sword and the ice crystal sword collided dozens of times in the blink of an eye. Large swaths of pale blue ice blossoms and ice shards, scattered from shattering ice lotuses, drifted around them. While Yun Che and Ling Jie's previous battle had been aggressive, with every move designed to strike down the opponent, fierce and perilous, the exchange between Ling Yun and Xia Qingyue resembled an elegant dance performed by a handsome man and a beautiful woman, utterly breathtaking.

"Heh heh, it seems Yun'er intends to give his opponent some face," Ling Yuefeng said with a chuckle.

"Of course. Yun'er is kind-hearted. This is one of the Four Major Battles, and his opponent is just a girl. He would certainly not defeat her with a single casual move as he did before," Xuanyuan Yufeng said with a faint smile.

Xia Qingyue's sword stance was like a blue butterfly dancing, while Ling Yun moved with unhurried grace. As dozens of ice lotuses bloomed and withered in succession, their swords clashed hundreds of times, presenting a harmonious scene of seemingly matched strength. However, Yun Che watched with fire in his eyes… "Damn you, Ling Yun! I haven't even danced a sword with my Qingyue wife, and you're actually enjoying it! If you're my opponent tomorrow, I'll smash you into the ground with one strike!"

Clang!!

The two swords collided, and an ice lotus beautifully burst open at the point of impact. Ling Yun flipped his body, landing five zhang away. He held his Heaven's Scissor Sword horizontally, his gaze sharpening, and his sword momentum underwent a massive transformation. The sword intent surrounding him and his sword suddenly erupted like a breaking dam…

"Fairy Xia… forgive my offense!!"

As his voice fell, Ling Yun flipped his palm. As profound energy and sword intent surged, the Heaven's Scissor Sword suddenly transformed into a streak of light, flying towards Xia Qingyue. During its flight, the sword's light rapidly dispersed, multiplying from one into a dozen, then dozens… then hundreds… finally forming an overwhelming sword array that enveloped Xia Qingyue like a vast meteor shower.

"Wow!" A widespread gasp of astonishment echoed from the Sword Discourse Arena.

They had just witnessed this move in the previous battle between Ling Jie and Yun Che: the Heavenly Sword Array—Heavenly Star Profusion. However, Ling Yun's Heavenly Star Profusion was more than ten times stronger in its formation than what Ling Jie had demonstrated. Ling Jie had only dispersed a hundred sword lights, whereas Ling Yun had unleashed a thousand sword rays, each so dazzling that it was impossible to look directly at them. In terms of power, it was simply incomparable to Ling Jie's.

Ling Yun's terrifying strength was evident from this single move.

"It seems the match is over," almost everyone thought to themselves. Such a formation sent shivers down the spines of even some sect elders. Among the younger generation, it was simply impossible for anyone to withstand it. Ling Jie couldn't, Yun Che couldn't, and Xia Qingyue certainly couldn't.