Chapter 235: A Celestial Beauty that Captivates the World
Xia Qingyue was completely enveloped within the sword formation. In front, behind, left, right, and above, there were only sharp and fierce sword lights. If it were anyone else facing this terrifying formation, which should not have come from a young man's hands, their legs would likely turn weak from fear. But in her crystal-like eyes, there was not a single ripple. Her graceful body rose like a light cloud, and as her Ice Crystal Sword danced, more than a dozen ice lotuses bloomed simultaneously around her. Each one was several times larger than before, and the cold air they released was so intense that even the space seemed to freeze, the temperature of the surrounding air dropping at a terrifying speed.
"Hmm?" Ling Yuefeng's usually calm expression changed instantly. More than a dozen giant ice lotuses exploding at the same time—this was absolutely not something a Spirit Xuan Realm Level 8 cultivator could achieve! Ling Yun had not exerted his full strength earlier, and it was clear that Xia Qingyue had been holding back as well!
Clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang...
Countless sword rays struck the ice lotuses densely. Some shattered on impact, while others were directly frozen between the ice lotus petals, unable to advance even a single inch further. Earlier, Ling Yun could shatter an ice lotus with a casual sword strike, but under the assault of over a thousand sword rays, not a single one of these giant ice lotuses withered. In the blink of an eye, each ice lotus was covered with frozen sword rays. Even the sword rays that did not touch the lotuses halted in midair as they approached Xia Qingyue's body.
To be able to freeze even the sword rays transformed from Ling Yun's profound force and sword intent—the terrifying cold energy contained within these ice lotuses was evident.
This was a scene no one had expected, and Ling Yun's mind was greatly shaken. Earlier, he had exchanged hundreds of sword strikes with Xia Qingyue, only because he did not want her to lose too quickly and be embarrassed. But this strike, though not his full strength, he had been absolutely confident would end the match immediately. He never imagined that she would completely block it, not a single sword ray touching her body.
Ling Yun reacted extremely quickly. Looking at the frozen sword rays, a sword light flashed in his eyes. His body suddenly shot out like lightning. He grasped at the air, and the Tian Yuan Sword returned to his hand. In that instant, as a cyan light flashed from the Tian Yuan Sword, his entire figure vanished from everyone's sight...
A cyan streak of light, like a brilliant shooting star falling from the sky, flashed across the Sword Discussion Platform... This meteor streaked straight through all the ice lotuses and also passed through Xia Qingyue's body...
Crack crack crack crack crack crack...
More than a dozen ice lotuses and the frozen sword rays shattered simultaneously, turning into a sky full of ice crystals. The center of the Sword Discussion Platform was suddenly hit by a storm of ice crystals. Ling Yun's true form appeared about ten zhang behind Xia Qingyue... When people's gazes finally relocated him, everyone's hearts were filled with shock. Except for a few older experts, no one had clearly seen how he had moved there. Their eyes had only caught a sudden flash of cyan light.
The brilliance of that sword strike could not be described in any words.
"S-so... fast." Yun Che said, stunned. He could feel that this light-like speed was not from some movement technique, but from the Tian Yuan Sword! Ordinary practitioners control the sword with their bodies. But Ling Yun's strike just now was driven by his powerful sword intent, with the sword leading the person, not the person leading the sword!
Ling Yun slowly lowered the arm he had held horizontally in front of him and said in a low voice, "Admit defeat. Although you are much stronger than I expected, you still cannot be my opponent. I do not wish to accidentally injure a fairy maiden..."
As he spoke, he slowly turned around. But the moment his body fully turned and his gaze fell back on Xia Qingyue, his voice caught in his throat, unable to utter another word. His eyes, usually calm without a ripple, instantly became dull. Even his mind went blank, leaving only a heavenly countenance in his sight and thoughts, as if from a dream world...
The sleeve on Xia Qingyue's right arm had fallen, split by a long cut in the middle, revealing half of a snow-white jade-like arm. And Ling Yun's sword strike had cut not just her sleeve.
As a breeze mixed with cold air passed by, the white veil on Xia Qingyue's face slowly fluttered down. Her true face, always tightly concealed, was now completely exposed to everyone.
The entire Sword Discussion Platform fell into absolute silence. Everyone held their breath.
Xia Qingyue's skin was very, very white. But it was by no means the kind of pale that made one uncomfortable. It was a pure, snowy white, like the most flawless wool fat jade, like the purest ice and snow. The sunlight shining down from the sky was not strong, but her snowy face was so dazzlingly white that it made one dizzy, like frost and snow sparkling under the sun. The jade-like arm revealed by the fallen sleeve shimmered with a lustrous glow like porcelain, breathtakingly beautiful.
Setting aside everything else, just this skin, whiter than snow and surpassing frost, was enough to make all the men in the world lose their souls!
Upon the snowy skin were adorned curved eyebrows as slender as crescent moons and deep, clear eyes like pools of autumn water. Her fragrant cheeks were whiter than snow, her beautiful face was like a poem and a painting. Two delicate lips were like a stroke of pink rouge drawn by Heaven with all its heart and skill, breathtakingly beautiful.
And when all of this was concentrated on one woman, it displayed a peerless beauty that caused both heaven and earth, sun and moon, and stars to pale in comparison.
The moment Xia Qingyue revealed her face, her incomparable radiance instantly eclipsed all other colors. Their breathing stopped, their hearts nearly ceased, and in their hearts stirred a very similar thought...
Is this a celestial fairy descended from heaven... How could such a peerless immortal beauty exist in the mortal world...
The ones most shocked were undoubtedly the young profound practitioners. Their gazes were completely fixed, their souls flying beyond the heavens without their knowledge. Even the sect heirs who were never lacking in beautiful women by their sides were stunned, their gazes and minds filled entirely with Xia Qingyue's heavenly grace, unable to feel their own existence. Even the middle-aged men, and even the elders with white hair and beards, were dazed and mesmerized.
From the Xiao Sect, Xiao Kuangyu, Xiao Kuanglei, Xiao Zhen, and Xiao Nan had exactly the same expression—staring blankly as if their souls had left them. From the Fen Tian Gate, Fen Juecheng unconsciously stood up from his seat, his eyes showing unprecedented infatuation... If even their reactions were like this, one could imagine how others felt.
And the calmest person in the entire venue was actually Xia Yuanba, who had the lowest profound power.
"Oh, big sister has indeed become even more beautiful." Xia Yuanba said very softly. The suddenly strange atmosphere made him look left and right. Finally, he glanced at Yun Che and muttered in confusion, "Everyone looks so strange... Even brother-in-law is the same."
On the day of his grand wedding with Xia Qingyue, Yun Che had been greatly astonished by her beauty. And now, he was once again deeply stunned by her. Eighteen months could bring considerable changes to a young girl. At sixteen, Xia Qingyue was already beautiful beyond what a mortal girl should be. Now, at seventeen and a half, and nourished by the ice and snow of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace, she could only be described as incomparably beautiful. Even he was dumbfounded.
This was the only reason she wore a veil.
Not to mention men, even Cang Yue, a woman herself, was deeply shaken. She too had a peerlessly beautiful face and an extremely noble status, but before this fairy who seemed not to belong to the mortal world, she felt for the first time in her life an inferiority and shame for being unworthy. She knew she shouldn't feel this way, but as she looked at Xia Qingyue's elegance, this feeling grew uncontrollably. Turning her gaze to Yun Che's dazed eyes, she reached out and tightly grabbed his sleeve...
Some elders who had participated in the ranking battle thirty years ago would recall that this scene was strikingly similar to the moment Chu Yuechan's veil fell back then... That scene, thirty years later, was reenacted on the same stage, once again originating from a female disciple of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace.
Watching the reactions of the entire audience in silence, recalling that unforgettable past, Ling Yuefeng's eyes became slightly moist. In his distraction, he did not notice that Xuanyuan Yufeng beside him had been watching him all along. His reaction made Xuanyuan Yufeng slowly furrow her brows. Then, she turned her gaze to her son, Ling Yun... He was the closest to Xia Qingyue, and his eyes revealed a kind of hazy, never-before-seen light. Even when he had conquered the Tian Yuan Sword at the age of seventeen, he had not shown such an expression.
Xuanyuan Yufeng's chest heaved violently, and she murmured in a low voice, "Bing Yun Fairy Palace... once ruined my husband... and now... will it harm my son... making him follow in his father's footsteps..."
This murmur was very soft, audible only to herself. It carried something akin to resentment, but more than that, jealousy! Jealousy between women does not only occur among peers. Appearance is always the talent women care about most. Xuanyuan Yufeng was fifty-one years old, but as a late-stage Heavenly Xuan profound practitioner, she looked like a young woman less than thirty. If she dressed more youthful, standing next to Ling Yun, some might even think she was his younger sister. Her face was also of a high standard. But it depended on the comparison... Compared to most women, she was a true beauty, but compared to Xia Qingyue...
To put it bluntly, it was like the difference between mud and colored clouds.
Ling Yun's sword strike was astonishing. The veil falling was something Xia Qingyue had not anticipated either. Watching the reactions of the crowd, she let out a soft sigh, raised her snow-white hand, and covered her face with a new ice veil, once again hiding the world-obscuring, sun-and-moon-eclipsing heavenly beauty.
The most beautiful radiance in the world was ruthlessly concealed, and countless infatuated souls finally awakened.
"She... she... is she a fairy?" a sect disciple muttered, dazed.
"A woman... can be beautiful to this extent? I felt like my soul didn't know where it flew off to... Even the legendary Snow Princess is probably no more than this..."
"Snow Princess? Who is Snow Princess?"
"What? You don't even know the number one beauty of the Tian Xuan Continent, the Snow Princess? She is the only imperial princess of the Shenhuang Empire. At the age of thirteen, she was already recognized as the number one beauty of the Tian Xuan Continent. The people of the Shenhuang Empire call her 'Heaven's Favorite Daughter', 'The Pearl of the Shenhuang Empire', 'The Treasure Bestowed Upon the Shenhuang Empire by Heaven'. In the Shenhuang Empire, she is a being akin to a belief."
"It is said that countless top painters wanted to paint the Snow Princess's likeness, but not a single one could succeed. When the number one painter of the Shenhuang Empire saw the Snow Princess, he directly threw down his brush, saying that even if all the painters in the world gathered, they could never capture a trace of the Snow Princess's divine charm..."
"Wow! At just thirteen years old, she was already called the number one beauty of the Tian Xuan Continent? Isn't that a bit exaggerated? Could she be even more beautiful than Fairy Xia?"
"...I don't know... But it should be impossible, right? Fairy Xia has already reached a level of beauty I could never even dream of. I simply cannot believe that there is anyone more beautiful than her in this world..."