Chapter 241: The Battle of Husband and Wife (3)
"Long Que?" This name sounded somewhat familiar to Ling Jie. He thought for a while, then said in surprise, "Long Que, isn't that the heavy sword recorded in the clan's genealogy? Could it be..."
"The records concerning Long Que date back a thousand years, when Tian Jian Villa had just been established not long ago and still had a heavy sword lineage." Ling Yuefeng slowly explained. "But that lineage declined after just two generations. By the third generation, fewer than ten people still practiced the heavy sword. To seek a breakthrough and revive the heavy sword lineage, the then heavy sword lineage elder took the Long Que Sword and went to the Death Wasteland... According to the records, the Long Que Sword was forged by the ancestors from ten-thousand-year-old Gray Flame Rock, and the soul of a Heavenly Xuan young dragon was sealed within the sword, hence the name Long Que. However, ever since its birth, the Long Que Sword had never once displayed its true Heavenly Xuan might. After the heavy sword lineage elder entered the Death Wasteland with the Long Que Sword, he never came out again, and the Long Que Sword vanished without a trace."
"According to the information we've obtained, Yun Che once ventured deep into the Death Wasteland. This Heavenly Xuan heavy sword in his hand is also exactly the same as the Long Que recorded in the texts... It must be Long Que without a doubt." Ling Yuefeng said with a frown. He deeply understood what it meant to "venture deep into the Death Wasteland."
"Ah... Father, are you thinking... of asking for the Long Que Sword back after the ranking battle?" Ling Jie asked tentatively, carefully watching Ling Yuefeng's reaction.
"No." Ling Yuefeng shook his head. "Back then, Tian Jian Villa searched for the Long Que Sword for many years but found nothing, and eventually gave up. Him obtaining Long Que is a matter of his ability and opportunity; our Tian Jian Villa has no right to demand it back... However, this can also be considered a bond between him and our Tian Jian Villa. After all, it is a heavy sword personally forged by our ancestors."
"This is the final battle of this ranking tournament. The victor will become the new overlord of the young generation of the Cang Feng Empire and will receive the 'Dragon Scale Armor' bestowed by the sacred land Tian Wei Sword Domain..."
When he mentioned the "Dragon Scale Armor", Ling Wugou's face clearly showed a pained expression. Heavenly Xuan protective gear was already far rarer and more precious than Heavenly Xuan weapons, and this Dragon Scale Armor was the best of the best. It had originally belonged to their Tian Jian Villa, but after a "feint", it ended up being "given away". No wonder he felt such pain.
"Yun Che of the Cangfeng Imperial Clan versus Xia Qingyue of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace... Begin!"
Boom!!
Yun Che pulled Long Que out from under his feet, sending small fragments of gravel flying. His awe-inspiring aura was released without reservation. He gripped Long Que with both hands, and in an instant, his aura merged completely with Long Que's. He looked at Xia Qingyue and said in a low voice, "Do you still remember what I told you that night? If we ever become opponents, I hope you will use all your strength without holding anything back!"
"Heart Incineration... Open!"
In an instant, the profound force aura on his body surged at an astonishing amplitude. The level aura remained at True Xuan Realm Level 10, but the intensity of this aura was many times beyond the limit of the True Xuan Realm. It was even rapidly closing the gap with Xia Qingyue's aura strength.
"Aaaaah!!" Ling Jie leaned forward, his mouth wide open, letting out a nearly frightened cry. Originally, although he had lost the previous day's battle, he had thought that Yun Che's victory over him was not easy. But when Yun Che brought out Long Que, his self-confidence was greatly shaken. And now, Yun Che's profound force intensity suddenly surged, completely incomparable to the previous day. This was like a heavy hammer striking Ling Jie's heart.
So it turned out that in the previous day's battle, Yun Che had not only gone easy on the weapon, but had also not used his full strength in profound force.
If Yun Che had used such profound force and Long Que as his weapon the previous day, defeating him would have been effortless.
However, things were naturally not as simple as Ling Jie thought. Yun Che's profound force level was too low, but by relying on the Great Dao Pagoda Art, which had broken through to the second realm, he could barely maintain the Heart Incineration state. But it was only "barely", and if maintained for too long, it might leave some aftereffects.
And the maximum time he could maintain the "Heart Incineration" state was about five minutes.
And this five-minute "Heart Incineration" state was his only reliance in fighting Xia Qingyue! In other words, he had to defeat Xia Qingyue within this less than half a ke time. Otherwise, once "Heart Incineration" could no longer be maintained, he would have not a shred of hope.
Yun Che's sudden surge in profound force shocked everyone, including Ling Yuefeng and Qin Wushang. From the start of the ranking battle until now, one exaggerated and unbelievable fact after another had been displayed by Yun Che. His strength had never truly been revealed. As the ranking battle progressed and his opponents grew stronger, his strength was only gradually being truly unleashed... And at this moment, all of his strength was finally fully released, without reservation.
Yun Che held Long Que horizontally in front of him, let out a loud shout, and suddenly smashed it toward Xia Qingyue. In his previous life, countless enemies far surpassed him in strength. He knew very clearly that in a situation where escape was not suitable, if one wanted to defeat an enemy far stronger than oneself, the most foolish approach was to stall and contain. The most likely approach was to concentrate all one's strength into a focused burst!
Therefore, Yun Che used all his strength from the very beginning, without any reservation! On the over-eight-thousand-jin Long Que, a violent aura like that of a demon god surged.
Boom!!
The domineering nature of this sword strike caused Xia Qingyue to choose not to block, but instead float far away. With a resounding boom, the poor Sword Discussion Platform once again suffered tremendous damage. Having struck empty, Yun Che did not pause at all. He suddenly leaped up and once again smashed his sword directly at Xia Qingyue's chest, the heavy sword carrying a howling sound like that of a wailing evil ghost.
The Ice Phoenix Qionghua Ribbon also wound around Xia Qingyue's body at that moment. Facing Yun Che's domineering sword strike, the Ice Phoenix Qionghua Ribbon touched and withdrew, causing Yun Che's sword to fall directly into empty space. Then it suddenly shot upward, tightly winding around Long Que...
The Ice Phoenix Qionghua Ribbon had once swept away Ling Yun's Tian Yuan Sword, but Yun Che had a perfect fit with Long Que, as if it were his own arm. Even with the Ice Phoenix Qionghua Ribbon, it was absolutely impossible to sweep it away.
Just as the Ice Phoenix Qionghua Ribbon's pulling force was activated, Long Que suddenly emitted a soul-shaking dragon roar. A powerful force suddenly burst forth, actually repelling the Ice Phoenix Qionghua Ribbon. Yun Che's gaze was like a sword as he smashed Long Que down. During the descent of Long Que, he simultaneously activated Star God Remnant Shadow, instantly creating three identical figures. The third figure appeared diagonally above Xia Qingyue and struck downward with a sword...
"Overlord's Wrath!"
When Star God Remnant Shadow was activated, it was soundless and formless. The shattered phantom and the real figure were completely identical. The most terrifying aspect was that there was no profound force fluctuation at all when activated. One could only determine the position by the profound force aura after the real figure had shifted, but by then, it was often too late.
Xia Qingyue's Ice Phoenix Qionghua Ribbon rolled forward, just about to meet Yun Che's domineering strike. But a dangerous aura suddenly and eerily came from behind. Surprise flashed in her eyes, but the Ice Phoenix Qionghua Ribbon was already too late to defend the rear. She could only quickly use the Ice Cloud Art to erect thick ice crystal barriers behind her.
Boom!!
Ping!!
Three consecutive layers of ice crystal barriers shattered in an instant. The immense impact force and explosive power sent Xia Qingyue flying like a storm. Before Xia Qingyue could even balance her body, Yun Che roared loudly and followed closely with Long Que, charging straight at her...
"What!?" Chu Yueli stood up, her brows deeply furrowed. She had never expected that as soon as their exchange began, Yun Che would be the one taking the initiative. The intensity of the profound force fluctuation from that strike just now was enough to cause Xia Qingyue internal injuries.
However, this could not be said to mean Yun Che's strength completely surpassed Xia Qingyue. Rather, he had launched a frenzied assault like a fierce beast from the start, forcing Xia Qingyue into a passive position.
One strike of Overlord's Wrath landed like a heavy hammer on her shoulder, numbing Xia Qingyue's entire left arm. Her internal organs also suffered slight injuries from the profound force impact. But she did not panic; instead, her eyes calmed down. The advice from Chu Yuechan the previous night was still in her ears, and Yun Che's words urging her to use all her strength also rang out. Her gaze sharpened, and in an instant became as cold and pure as ice and snow. She performed a light spin to stabilize her body, and the Ice Phoenix Qionghua Ribbon suddenly shot toward Yun Che like a white lightning bolt.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!
Every sword strike from Yun Che brought a deafening roar. When facing a heavy sword, direct confrontation was the most unwise choice. But when facing Xia Qingyue, Yun Che's heavy sword met its nemesis...
The Ice Phoenix Qionghua Ribbon was as soft as water and as agile as a snake. When it clashed with Long Que, the powerful Ice Cloud force did not collide head-on with the heavy sword. Instead, it used the nature of the Ice Phoenix Qionghua Ribbon to transform into a strong pulling force, repeatedly diverting the heavy sword's strikes into empty space. At the same time, an increasingly cold aura silently enveloped Yun Che, and then with a "crack", a thick layer of ice condensed on his shoulders.
The icy cold aura was a piercing pain, like countless knives stabbing into his body. Yun Che's gaze sharpened, and with a low roar, a cluster of crimson flame suddenly burst into blaze on his body, and in an instant shot up to a height of nearly one zhang. Under the crimson fire, the icy cold aura was quickly dispelled, and the ice layer on his body rapidly melted.
At the same time, Long Que was also completely wrapped in crimson Phoenix Flame, transforming into a huge fire sword that smashed forward with flying sparks.
"He can actually ignite such intense flames! It seems his fire-type profound art is by no means as simple as the beginner level he showed before."
"But it's just the lowest grade crimson fire..." A young disciple who said this suddenly widened his eyes and exclaimed in shock, "This... this... how is this possible!!"
In front of Xia Qingyue, countless ice crystals flew in from all around and gathered together, forming a dreamlike pale blue ice lotus. The ice lotus slowly rotated, then suddenly scattered. Each petal transformed into seven ice crystals flying toward Yun Che. Each ice crystal was as thin as a cicada's wing, crystal clear, yet bitingly cold!
"Burning Star Demon Lotus!"
Centered on Yun Che's body, a flame lotus at least ten times larger than Xia Qingyue's ice lotus bloomed in a soaring heatwave, like the open maw of a flame beast, swallowing all the incoming ice crystals. Not a single ice crystal could approach Yun Che before disappearing entirely.
The surrounding people were all stunned... Xia Qingyue's ice lotus could even shatter Ling Yun's sword light, so how could it be easily melted by mere crimson flames!?
"This is..."
"Phoenix Flame!" Fen Moli exclaimed in shock.
Ling Yuefeng's gaze also suddenly turned toward the seating area of the Cangfeng Imperial Clan... Could it be that Yun Che's sect was actually the Fenghuang God Sect!
...