Chapter 214: The True Beginning
Yun Che remained silent for a long time, his heart filled only with shock.
At that time, although he was certain that Xia Qingyue's profound strength was definitely not just at the tenth level of the Initial Xuan Realm, his guess for her true profound strength had only been at the Xuan Entry Realm, at most at the peak of the Xuan Entry Realm. But he never expected that back then, Xia Qingyue was actually at the tenth level of the True Xuan Realm, the same as himself now! She was only one step away from the Spirit Xuan Realm.
At that time, he simply couldn't have imagined it. Because for a small town like Liu Yun City, a sixteen-year-old peak True Xuan Realm was more illusory than a myth.
If she had directly revealed her profound strength, which had already reached the tenth level of the True Xuan Realm at sixteen, then the commotion would not have been limited to just Liu Yun City. All the surrounding cities, including the Cangfeng Imperial Clan, would have been deeply shaken. At that time, Xia Qingyue wouldn't have been able to stay peacefully in Liu Yun City.
No wonder the Bing Yun Fairy Palace had taken a liking to Xia Qingyue. Her talent was astonishing to such a degree!
"I see. It should be that your master feared your profound strength was too shocking to the world, so she used some method to help you conceal it, making your profound strength aura only appear as tenth level of the Initial Xuan Realm, right?"
Xia Qingyue nodded slightly.
"Third question." Yun Che's gaze fixed on Xia Qingyue, calm but carrying a hint of aggression. "I want to know, during your time at the Bing Yun Fairy Palace, have you ever occasionally thought of me?"
"..." Xia Qingyue was silent. After a moment, she turned around and said softly, "It's getting late. There are still matches tomorrow. Rest early. I should be going now."
Without waiting for Yun Che's response, she had already moved lightly. With her snow-white robes gently fluttering, her figure quickly distanced itself... She left without hesitation.
Yun Che did not chase after her. He slightly gathered his breath and called out softly, loud enough for her to hear: "After tomorrow, I will definitely make it into the final thirty-two! If we meet in the thirty-two-man battle, I hope you will absolutely not go easy on me!"
His voice slowly faded away, and Xia Qingyue's figure had already disappeared from his sight.
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The sixth day of the Cang Feng Ranking Battle. It was also the last day of the second round of group matches.
The focus of attention was still on Yun Che's matches. Everyone wanted to see how far this freak, this super dark horse—whose profound strength was the lowest among all participating disciples—could go in this ranking battle.
After his ten consecutive wins in the second round of group matches yesterday, Yun Che's winning streak did not stop in today's group matches. Amid wave after wave of exclamations from the crowd, he continued match after match.
Eleventh match:
"...The Cangfeng Imperial Clan's Yun Che wins!"
Qin Wushang clenched his fists excitedly, wishing he could throw decorum to the wind and raise his arms in cheer.
Twelfth match:
"...The Cangfeng Imperial Clan's Yun Che wins!"
Qin Wushang stood up excitedly, his lips trembling, his hands shaking so much he didn't know where to put them.
Thirteenth match:
"...The Cangfeng Imperial Clan's Yun Che wins!"
Qin Wushang's black beard began to tremble. He muttered over and over, "Top fifty... top fifty... top fifty..."
Entering the top fifty in the individual ranking—this was a ranking he had never dared to dream of! His dream, like Cang Wanhe's, had always been merely hoping that their faction's ranking could enter the top hundred. And now, Yun Che alone had brought the entire imperial clan to a ranking many times higher than their dreamed goal... He could imagine how excited Cang Wanhe would be when he received this news.
...
Fifteenth match, also the last:
"...The Cangfeng Imperial Clan's Yun Che wins!"
"Cangfeng Imperial Clan participating disciple Yun Che, second round group matches fifteen wins, zero losses. Directly advances to tomorrow's elimination round!"
When the referee announced this result, he looked at Yun Che with an incredibly amazed expression... Fifteen consecutive wins—achieved by a disciple from outside the Four Great Sects in previous ranking battles was extremely rare, but not unheard of. But achieving fifteen consecutive wins with the profound strength of the tenth level of the True Xuan Realm...
A sentence crazily churned in the referee's heart: What kind of international joke is this!? Have I gone mad, or has the entire continent gone mad!
Besides Yun Che, Xia Qingyue, Ling Yun, Fen Jin, Xiao Kuanglei, and other disciples from the Four Great Sects also ended the second round of group matches with perfect records. None of them needed to be seeded; they all directly advanced to tomorrow's elimination round.
"Perfect record... top thirty-two... Even if he gets last place in tomorrow's elimination round, his individual ranking is guaranteed to be at least thirty-second..." Qin Wushang's bottom had not touched his seat for a long time. He was too excited to sit down. He muttered as if in a dream, every word carrying a deep tremor. At this moment, he deeply felt that he must be dreaming, and he was deeply afraid that this was just a dream...
In comparison, Cang Yue was much calmer. After all, she hadn't endured the shame, indignation, and unwillingness that came from the bleak results of many previous ranking battles like Qin Wushang had, nor did she have his years-long desire for pride and satisfaction. Watching Yun Che knock down opponent after opponent, climbing higher and higher, eliciting louder and louder cheers from the entire audience, her heart was filled with joy, pride, and contentment. Thinking back to when she first met him in New Moon City and all the moments that followed, she couldn't help but smile.
He was a person who always brought hope, surprises, and miracles...
Meeting him was the luckiest, most miraculous encounter of my life.
"What an unexpected result. I thought I had already overestimated him, but it turns out I still greatly underestimated him. He actually made it into the top thirty-two with a perfect record. For someone in the True Xuan Realm to achieve such a feat is unprecedented, and it will basically never happen again." Watching Yun Che walk off the sword discussion platform after fifteen consecutive wins, Ling Yunfeng sighed sincerely.
"Mm." Ling Yun slowly nodded.
"However, it must be said that luck played a big part in his achievement. After all, he didn't encounter any disciples from the major sects, especially the Four Great Sects, in either round of group matches. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to keep winning. But setting that aside, for him to reach this point with True Xuan Realm strength... formidable indeed."
"Father, anyone who can cross levels to defeat opponents can be attributed to three possibilities. One is extremely high talent in profound force application, allowing them to exert two times or even more the power of their profound force. The second is that the level of their profound arts is extremely high, enough to overwhelm the opponent. The third is that they have special attributes like innate divine power, a strong body, or sword intent. The most common is the overwhelming level of profound arts... Father, can you tell what type of profound art he uses?" Ling Yun asked seriously.
Ling Yuefeng shook his head. "I can't discern his profound art at all. Whether he uses fists, feet, or a heavy sword, his profound force release is overwhelmingly fierce, straightforward in release and retraction. It gives me the feeling that it's only pure profound force without any profound art at all. But this pure profound force far exceeds the limits of the True Xuan Realm in intensity... I have never in my life seen anyone cross such a large gap to defeat opponents. It seems that after the battle, I need to find a chance to talk with him."
Ling Yun glanced at his father with slight surprise. Since he was born, this was the first time he had seen his father so curious about a young man. But Yun Che indeed had such qualification.
After the second round of group matches, based on win counts, the top hundred disciples were directly determined. Among them, the top thirty-two disciples would have their final elimination matches on the main sword platform tomorrow. Those after the hundredth place, as well as those ranked from thirty-third to one hundredth, were transferred to different secondary arenas to compete for their respective ranking brackets.
The elimination round—the final stage of the ranking battle—was also the core of the entire ranking battle. This was because it selected the strongest thirty-two out of more than fifteen hundred participating disciples! It represented the absolute pinnacle of power among the current younger generation of the Cang Feng Empire! Although the elimination round only involved thirty-two people, it lasted a full five days—longer than any round of group matches. The arena was no longer a small sword platform, but the vast central main discussion sword platform.
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The next morning, as the sky was just beginning to lighten, the sword discussion platform of Tian Jian Villa was already bustling.
The final thirty-two-man battle of the Cang Feng Ranking Battle had finally begun!
In the center of the main discussion platform, a large profound stone was temporarily erected. It displayed the names of the thirty-two people who had entered the thirty-two-man battle, along with their respective sects. Among these thirty-two names, all twelve disciples from the Four Great Sects were present—not one missing.
In the history of this ranking battle, this was a completely normal phenomenon. If even one were missing, it would be abnormal. The vast gap between the Four Great Sects and other sects was evident from this. Therefore, this final thirty-two-man battle had another name: the "Four Great Sects Domination Battle"—not an exaggeration.
"I never dreamed that the name of our Cangfeng Imperial Clan would appear on that stone one day." Qin Wushang looked at the large profound stone on the field, his expression carrying deep reverence. He had been so excited last night that he hadn't slept a wink, and had come here early this morning. His excitement was simply impossible to suppress.
The names on the profound stone were more shocking than the last, and the names of the sects were more astounding than the next. Qin Wushang believed that Yun Che's journey in this ranking battle would end here. Because every single one of the other thirty-one people was nothing like the opponents he had faced before. But even if he lost his very first match, the gains from this ranking battle had already far exceeded expectations. He had nothing to be dissatisfied with.
"Please, the participating disciples of the thirty-two-man battle, step onto the platform to draw your match order!"
The entire thirty-two-man battle would have only one referee: Ling Wugou. At his loud shout, thirty-two people stepped onto the platform one by one and drew their match numbers.
"Junior Brother Yun, what number... Ah? It's... number one!"
Cang Yue took the slip from Yun Che's hand. The number on it was clearly a large "one."
That meant in today's matches, Yun Che would be the first to take the stage!
"First is fine. It saves me the trouble of waiting until I get impatient." Yun Che said indifferently.
"Yun Che, making it into the thirty-two-man battle is already an incredibly impressive feat." Qin Wushang began. "But in the thirty-two-man battle, every opponent is formidable, especially the disciples from the Four Great Sects. You haven't encountered them before, so you don't know how terrifying they are. So in today's match, if you feel you can't win, it's not shameful at all to concede early. You've already created a miracle that has shocked everyone. Don't be too stubborn. Otherwise, if you're maliciously injured by an opponent, it won't be good. For this ranking battle, you've come far enough. The next ranking battle will be your true stage."
Yun Che nodded. "Lord Qin, rest assured. I'll advance when I should advance, and I won't blindly insist when I should retreat."
"That's good." Qin Wushang nodded with a smile.
Holding his number slip, looking at the huge central discussion platform ahead, bearing the weight of countless gazes filled with various meanings, Yun Che felt deeply that this ranking battle, for him, was not at all the endpoint that Qin Wushang described...
It was the true beginning!!
[That's right, the ranking battle has only just begun. The group matches before were just going through the motions (padding word count). The real matches start now. Speaking of which, in Mars's previous book [a reference to the author's other novel], the final duel between the protagonist and Hua Qimeng on the discussion platform lasted for more than ten chapters... I'm wondering, if every match from now on gets more than ten chapters each... Well, I'm sure you all won't beat me to death!!]