# Chapter 234: Qingyue vs Ling Yun
Yun Che returned to the Cangfeng Imperial Clan's seating area. Cang Yue hurried over with a bottle of medicinal ointment, took out a silk handkerchief and gently wiped the wound on his forehead: "Junior Brother Yun, are you badly injured anywhere? Did you suffer any internal injuries?"
"Don't worry, they're all minor superficial wounds. I'll be mostly healed after a good night's sleep," Yun Che said casually.
Yun Che's complexion was ruddy, his breathing steady, without even the shortness of breath that follows an intense battle. The wounds visible through his torn clothes were mostly just red marks, with barely a trace of blood to be seen. Cang Yue relaxed, looked him over, and suddenly laughed: "Look at you now, like a wild man who just crawled out of the deep mountains."
A gust of wind blew past, and Yun Che suddenly felt a chill all over his body, as if he weren't wearing any clothes. He quickly took a loose set of clothes from the Heavenly Poison Pearl and draped them over himself. Qin Wushang's voice came to his ears, laden with meaning: "Yun Che, why did you give up on entering Tianwei Sword Domain? To reject even a place as dreamlike as that, you must have an extremely important reason, right?"
"Mn, you could say that." Yun Che nodded. "Tianwei Sword Domain is indeed extremely tempting to me, but there are things that are a thousand times more important to me than Tianwei Sword Domain." As he finished, he turned his eyes toward Cang Yue and smiled gently.
Cang Yue paused for a moment, then smiled softly as well. A thin layer of mist silently gathered in her eyes... That's enough... With those words, with that look and that smile, it's enough for a lifetime...
"That doesn't sound like something a young man your age would say." Qin Wushang's face was full of admiration, then his eyes narrowed slightly as he smiled: "So then, in tomorrow's final battle, how confident are you of victory?"
In the previous matches, Qin Wushang had repeatedly thought that Yun Che had reached his limit in the rankings and could go no further. But Yun Che had won again and again with complete victories, making Qin Wushang realize time and again that he had thoroughly underestimated this youth. Now, facing Ling Yun, who could not possibly be defeated by any conventional thinking, Qin Wushang instead no longer asserted that he had no chance of winning tomorrow. Instead, with a tone of serious anticipation, he asked how confident Yun Che was of victory.
Yun Che didn't think about it and directly shook his head: "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 that young profound practitioners can reach." Qin Wushang chuckled. "And besides, you've already stolen the show in this ranking battle. I believe that in most people's eyes, you are already the biggest winner of this battle."
As he spoke, Yun Che felt a cold sensation sweep across his back. He turned around and glanced at the position of the Fen Tian Sect, letting out a cold smile.
Yun Che's unexpected refusal to join Tianwei Sword Domain made Fen Juecheng heave a great sigh of relief, while simultaneously intensifying his desire to kill Yun Che several times over. He absolutely did not believe that Yun Che could truly resist the enormous temptation of joining Tianwei Sword Domain. If he didn't join now, he would soon take the initiative to seek out Ling Kun. After all, Ling Kun had personally given him a sound transmission jade.
Therefore, if they wanted to kill Yun Che, they had to speed things up... before he became a member of Tianwei Sword Domain!
Then, the best opportunity would be...
Fen Juecheng's gaze swept across and landed on the seating area of the Tianqiang Leihuo Fortress. He saw Mu Tianbei's face as ugly as if he had just swallowed excrement. Although they were far apart, he could vaguely catch the hatred and killing intent flickering in his eagle-like eyes from time to time.
"It seems there's a good blade to be used." Fen Juecheng rested his chin on his hand and laughed sinisterly.
After quite some time, the battered Sword Discussion Platform was finally hastily repaired to a relatively flat state. Ling Wugou walked back to the center of the platform and announced that the second match was about to begin.
"Go." Ling Yuefeng waved his hand at Ling Yun.
Ling Yun nodded. Without any visible movement of his feet or fluctuation of profound energy, his entire body soared into the air. While in midair, he made a grasping motion with his palm, and the Tianyang Sword that had been in Ling Jie's hand flew up on its own, landing in his grasp. The next instant, he had already landed at the center of the Sword Discussion Platform, standing tall and elegant. His robes fluttered, his face was like polished jade, his eyes like autumn waters—handsome and ethereal. Instantly, many young maidens gazed at him with blossoming longing and racing hearts.
"Qingyue, go. If you defeat Ling Yun, we will have already secured first place in this ranking battle." Chu Yueli spoke, her voice very confident.
A ripple of ice spirits moved, and a slight chill spread. Xia Qingyue also landed silently before Ling Yun. She was still dressed in white robes with blue spirits, her face hidden behind an ice gauze, only a pair of star-like eyes shimmering with peerless brilliance.
Looking closely at these eyes, Ling Yun's calm gaze actually faltered for a moment. Because these were the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen in his life. This beauty was indescribable, inexplicable. He could clearly feel that as he gazed at these beautiful eyes, his will and soul were being deeply attracted, making it nearly impossible for him to look away.
Such beautiful eyes... Beneath the veil, there should be a girl as beautiful as a celestial maiden...
Ling Yun thought silently, and at the same time, a desire to glimpse her true face arose within him. He swept his Tianyang Sword and gave Xia Qingyue a simple sword salute: "Ling Yun, disciple of Tian Jian Villa. I request the honor of your instruction, Fairy Xia."
Xia Qingyue did not respond, silent and still as an ice sculpture.
Seeing that both were ready, Ling Wugou no longer delayed and announced loudly: "Second match of the Four-Way Battle, Ling Yun of Tian Jian Villa versus Xia Qingyue of Bing Yun Fairy Palace. Begin!!"
With Yun Che and Ling Jie's shockingly intense duel as a backdrop, people did not have much expectation for this match. It was a match with a predetermined outcome, because one side was Ling Yun... And any battle involving Ling Yun would undoubtedly be a one-sided crushing. As Qin Wushang said, Ling Yun's strength had already surpassed the level of the younger generation. Among his peers, it was simply impossible to find anyone who could match him.
If not for Mo Li, Yun Che's opinion would have been no different from anyone else's.
But Mo Li's evaluation of Xia Qingyue made Yun Che full of unusual anticipation for this match. The focus of his attention shifted from Ling Yun to Xia Qingyue. And no matter who won this match, tomorrow would definitely be an extremely difficult hard battle... If Ling Yun won, Ling Jie at Spiritual Xuan Realm Level 6 was already that formidable. How powerful must Ling Yun, at Earth Xuan Realm Level 3, be? And if, by some chance, Xia Qingyue won... Xia Qingyue, who could even defeat Ling Yun, would undoubtedly be an even more terrifying opponent.
Was it really possible for Xia Qingyue to defeat Ling Yun, who had secured first place in the ranking battle at the age of seventeen?
Ling Yun stood with his sword, a faint sword aura stirring around him, but he remained motionless. The opponent was a girl, much younger and with much lower profound strength; of course, he would not make the first move. Xia Qingyue raised her jade hand, and as cold light flashed, a crystalline ice sword appeared in her hand. With the activation of the Ice Cloud Art, ice spirits swirled around her. She stepped lightly like a lotus flower and thrust out the opening move of the "Ice Cloud Thirteen Swords," "Silent Snow and Soundless Moon," delicately and gracefully. The movement was beautiful and elegant, seemingly harmless, merely pleasing to the eye. But only Ling Yun deeply felt a bone-piercing chill rushing toward him.
Ling Yun held his left hand behind his back, moved his feet in simple, unhurried steps without using any movement technique, raised the Tianyang Sword, and without unleashing any sword technique, calmly met the attack...
Ding ding ding ding ding...
As Ling Yun performed his seemingly effortless sword dance, the Tianyang Sword and the ice crystal sword clashed dozens of times in the blink of an eye. Around them, large patches of light blue ice crystals and scattered ice shards from shattered ice lotuses drifted. The earlier battle between Yun Che and Ling Jie had been a relentless and dangerous attack aimed at the opponent's vital points in every move, but the exchange between Ling Yun and Xia Qingyue was like an elegant dance between a handsome man and a beautiful woman, a feast for the eyes.
"Heh heh, it seems Yun'er wants to spare her some face." Ling Yuefeng said with a chuckle.
"Naturally. Yun'er has a kind heart. This is the Four-Way Battle, and the opponent is just a girl. He certainly won't crush her in an instant like he did before." Xuan Yu Feng smiled lightly.
Xia Qingyue's sword movements were like a blue butterfly dancing, while Ling Yun strolled as if on a leisurely walk. As dozens of ice lotuses blossomed and withered in succession, their swords clashed hundreds of times, presenting a harmonious scene of equal strength. But Yun Che was watching with fire in his eyes... Damn you, Ling Yun! I haven't even had the chance to sword dance with my wife Qingyue, and you're actually enjoying this! If you're my opponent tomorrow, I'll smash you into the ground with one sword strike!
Ding!!
The double swords collided, and an ice lotus burst open magnificently at the point of impact. Ling Yun flipped his body and landed five zhang away, crossing his Tianyang Sword horizontally. His gaze sharpened, and his sword momentum underwent a tremendous change. The sword intent surrounding his body and sword surged like a bursting dam...
"Fairy Xia... forgive my impertinence!!"
As his voice fell, Ling Yun flipped his palm. As his profound energy and sword intent surged, the Tianyang Sword suddenly transformed into a streak of light, flying toward Xia Qingyue. During its flight, the sword light of the Tianyang Sword rapidly divided, from one sword into over a dozen, then into dozens... hundreds... finally forming an overwhelming sword array, descending upon Xia Qingyue like a massive meteor swarm.
"Whoa!!" A large chorus of exclamations rang out from the Sword Discussion Platform.
They had just witnessed this technique with their own eyes during the earlier battle between Ling Jie and Yun Che—that very Tianwei Sword Array, "Heavenly Star Chaos." But Ling Yun's Heavenly Star Chaos was more than ten times more powerful in scale than Ling Jie's execution. Ling Jie had only scattered over a hundred sword lights, while Ling Yun dispersed a thousand sword beams. Moreover, each beam was so dazzling it was hard to look at directly. Its power was on a completely different level from Ling Jie's.
Ling Yun's terrifying strength was evident from this single technique.
"It seems the match is already over." Almost everyone thought this in their hearts. A formation like this made even some sect elders tremble in fear. Among the younger generation, it was simply impossible for anyone to withstand it. Not Ling Jie, not Yun Che, and certainly not Xia Qingyue.