Chapter 513: The Storm is Coming
The battle on the stage was also reaching its end. Amidst a harsh tearing sound, the orange profound energy was shattered, followed by a scream, and a figure flew down from the Sacred Cloud Platform, heavily crashing onto the ground.
On the stage, Yun Xiao, holding the Thunderbolt Sword, slowly walked to the edge of the Sacred Cloud Platform. Although he was somewhat out of breath, his expression was still calm, with a hint of momentum between his brows: "Brother Yun Han, thank you for yielding."
The defeated Yun Clan disciple gritted his teeth unwillingly, stood up from the ground, and silently walked away.
Now, below the stage were not only some young disciples but also the Elder Council and members of the three other clans. These young disciples were holding matches before the Clan Competition officially began, naturally intending to showcase themselves in front of their elders. But unexpectedly, the first to steal the limelight was actually Yun Xiao.
Even more unexpected was that Yun Xiao, who usually dared not fight back when bullied, had actually concealed such formidable strength.
"Hmph! This kid..." Below the stage, looking at Yun Xiao who was stealing the show despite being constantly mocked by him, Yun Hao was extremely displeased. He swept his gaze over the seats where the elders were sitting, let out a cold laugh, stomped his feet on the ground, leaped up, and landed on the Sacred Cloud Platform. With his arms crossed, he said leisurely, "Yun Xiao, you're performing quite well today. Come on, let's spar with each other."
Yun Xiao's brows tightened, and his expression became cautious.
Both Yun Hao and Yun Xiao's strength was at the Half-step Overlord level, and Yun Hao had been stuck at the Half-step Overlord realm for four years, while Yun Xiao had only been there for one year. Furthermore, with Yun Hao possessing Profound Firmament, and Yun Xiao having fought two consecutive matches previously, his profound energy was greatly depleted. If the two were to fight, it would be a one-sided situation... Yun Xiao simply had no chance of winning.
"Heh heh, isn't this third son of yours clearly bullying others?" On the elder seats, a rear-row elder said to the person beside him.
Yun Hao's father was one of the thirty-six core elders of the Yun Clan, ranked near the bottom. Yun Hao was also a genuine elder's son. Hearing this, Yun Hao's father snorted indifferently and said, "They are all young people sparring with each other. There is only strength and weakness, not bullying. If one is not strong enough, being bullied is nobody's fault. Besides..." he lowered his voice and said, "Today is the day Yun Qinghong steps down, and that bastard son of his should step down early as well."
Yun Xiao had never fought against Yun Hao before, and his heart was exceptionally unsettled. At this moment, a gentle voice suddenly reached his ear: "This kid Yun Hao is frivolous and seeks glory. To show off, he will definitely want to defeat you in the shortest time possible, so he will start with one of the three strongest killing moves of the Purple Cloud Art. Use the Entwining Thunder Art that I've been making you practice hard... Whether you can achieve a surprise victory depends on your mastery of the Entwining Thunder Art!"
Yun Xiao's gaze shifted and looked at Yun Qinghong. Yun Qinghong's expression was calm, with a slight smile. Throughout the whole process, no one noticed that this patriarch, who had supposedly been crippled for decades, had used an extremely profound sound transmission of profound energy.
The uneasiness in Yun Xiao's expression disappeared, replaced by a cold and resolute look. His arm moved slowly, holding the Thunderbolt Sword slanted across his body.
Yun Hao took out his weapon and said with a smirk, "Yun Xiao, you've already fought two matches. I wouldn't want to take advantage of you. If I can't defeat you within five moves, I'll count it as my loss... If you can't even withstand my five moves, then heh heh, don't blame me."
The contempt in Yun Hao's words was clear even to a fool... and this was said even with Yun Qinghong present. The surroundings of the Sacred Cloud Platform immediately erupted in quiet laughter, with various playful and pitying glances directed at Yun Xiao.
In contrast, Yun Xiao was extremely calm, his eyes fixed straight on the sword in Yun Hao's hand, as if he hadn't paid any attention to what he had just said.
Not achieving the desired effect, Yun Hao was quite displeased inside. He gritted his teeth slightly and sneered inwardly: This good-for-nothing, he's really putting on an act. Watch me knock you down in one move!
Yun Hao's arm moved, and his body suddenly lunged forward, reaching Yun Xiao's front in an instant. A mass of lightning profound energy that he had secretly gathered beforehand exploded violently at the tip of his sword, blasting out five terrifying and ferocious lightning giant pythons.
"Wow! He's starting with the Purple Calamity Thunder right away!"
"It seems Yun Hao wants to blast that kid off the stage in one move."
"If Yun Xiao dodges, he will surely be blasted off the stage. If he forcefully blocks it... Hey, he might even lose half his life."
Facing Yun Hao's sudden release of the Purple Calamity Thunder, Yun Xiao neither dodged nor evaded. Instead, his eyes suddenly widened, the explosive lightning profound energy clearly reflected in his pupils. He lifted his Thunderbolt Sword, bringing forth a dazzling purple sword shadow... The five strands of lightning profound energy containing terrifying power did not explode upon contact with his sword shadow, but were skillfully diverted by a stream of soft, water-like profound energy, scattering backward past Yun Xiao's body. Even Yun Hao's sword was heavily pulled by an inexplicable force, and the profound energy about to be released a second time from the sword tip dissipated as well.
Yun Hao, who had intended to blast Yun Xiao off in one move, was greatly startled. But before he could fully react, Yun Xiao's sword light had already arrived fiercely, hitting him right in the chest.
"Thunderclap Sword!"
Yun Hao had used one of the strongest killing moves of the Purple Cloud Art right from the start, at the moment of his weakest profound energy defense. Under this Thunderclap Sword move, his protective profound energy was directly torn open. Yun Hao let out a muffled grunt, flew backward, landed headfirst, and crashed face down off the stage, accompanied by a "crack" as a wooden chair was shattered to pieces.
Yun Hao lay on the ground like a dead dog, unable to get up for a long time... Under the watchful eyes of the Elder Council and the members of the three other Guardian Clans, this was an extremely disgraceful scene.
The surroundings immediately fell into silence. All the Yun Clan disciples were completely dumbfounded. Yun Hao's profound energy was stronger than Yun Xiao's, and he also possessed Profound Firmament. Yun Xiao, on the other hand, was in a state of depleted profound energy. They had expected Yun Xiao to be easily defeated by Yun Hao in one move. Unexpectedly, it was Yun Hao who was defeated in one move!
After their initial surprise, the seated elders all showed strange expressions. They could see that what Yun Xiao had just used was precisely the Thunder Entwining Art, the most difficult move to practice in the Purple Cloud Art. Its comprehension and cultivation were extremely challenging, and even if one achieved some success, it was difficult to control in actual combat. Therefore, many Yun Clan disciples directly gave up cultivating the Thunder Entwining Art, and some elders even advised their descendants against practicing it. However, they had seen this move executed by Yun Xiao, and it was executed beautifully, catching Yun Hao completely off guard and achieving a surprise victory.
Yun Qinghong nodded at Yun Xiao, a faint smile appearing on his face.
Yun Hao finally got up from the ground, his lips twitching, his face turning the color of pig liver. Feeling the gazes of various strange looks around him, he clenched his hands and suddenly let out a roar: "Yun Xiao, I was just testing just now... Let's have a rematch!"
As the roar faded, he was about to charge back onto the Sacred Cloud Platform when his father let out a cold snort: "Step back! You have already lost, and lost badly!"
Hearing his own father's reprimand, Yun Xiao's body froze, his face turning bright red. He gritted his teeth and said, "Father, I was just careless just now. I didn't even use half of my strength. Yun Xiao doesn't even have a Profound Firmament. How could he be my match? He..."
"Shut up!" Yun Hao's father was furious, pulling a long face and sinking his voice. "You yourself know that Yun Xiao doesn't have a Profound Firmament. He is younger than you and has fought two matches before, yet you were blasted down in one move! Isn't your loss shameful enough? Get the hell down here!"
Yun Hao shuddered. He turned his eyes, glared hatefully at Yun Xiao, and then retreated while gritting his teeth... However, he clearly sensed a change in Yun Xiao. When he had glared at Yun Xiao just now, he found that Yun Xiao was still as calm as ever, his gaze even carrying a hint of authority, not at all like his usual retreating self.
It was as if... he had suddenly become unconstrained.
"What a beautiful Thunder Entwining Art." A praise came, and the speaker was none other than Tianxia Wudi. He nodded slowly and said, "I've heard that the Yun Clan's Thunder Entwining Art is difficult to cultivate and master. I didn't expect a junior of the Yun Clan to be able to execute it so skillfully. He truly lives up to the name of the Yun Clan's young master."
"That's right! Look who his uncle is. How could he be bad?" Mu Yubai unceremoniously interjected.
"Heh..." Helian Peng squinted his triangular eyes and said with a fake smile, "The strength of the younger disciples of the Yun Clan in this generation is at this level. Heh heh, not bad at all. But unfortunately, compared to our Helian Clan, it still seems a bit inferior."
Hearing this, the seated elders all showed expressions of slight anger. For ten thousand years, the Yun Clan had been the leader among the Twelve Guardian Clans, with the Helian Clan in second place. The Helian Clan had been suppressed by the Yun Clan for ten thousand years and had finally turned the tables, naturally being extremely proud. In recent years, they had not been sparing in their taunts and arrogance towards the Yun Clan. Yun Waitian smiled faintly and said, "Brother Helian is mistaken. Although Yun Xiao's strength is passable, it is far from sufficient to represent the strength of our Yun Clan's younger disciples. Even if he could possess the power of a Profound Firmament, it would still not be enough!"
"Xinyue, let our distinguished guests see what the true strength of the Yun Clan's younger generation is."
"Yes, Father."
Yun Xinyue stood up from her seat, then soared into the air. However, instead of landing on the Sacred Cloud Platform, she hovered in mid-air and said in a gentle tone, "Young Master, you have already fought several matches. A direct confrontation would be unfair. I will spar with you using my Profound Firmament."
Yun Xinyue pushed her left arm forward, and her cyan Profound Firmament shot out like a meteor. As it approached Yun Xiao, it transformed into a ring three feet in diameter. At the same time, a dazzling purple light of lightning also flashed up, completely swallowing the original cyan color.
Tianxia Wudi, Helian Peng, and the others all focused their attention on Yun Xinyue's cyan Profound Firmament... Cyan was the innate Profound Firmament that only the top geniuses of the Yun Clan possessed. The Demon Emperor Yun Canghai of that year, and Yun Qinghong, who had shaken the Yao Huang City, had also possessed only cyan Profound Firmament.
Yun Xiao had always held Yun Xinyue in high regard, and he was well aware of the huge gap in strength between them. Facing Yun Xinyue's Profound Firmament attack, he did not dare to be the slightest bit careless and leaped forward with his sword.
The Profound Firmament, transformed into a purple lightning ring, spun rapidly, releasing circles of ferocious and rampant electric arcs. Wherever it passed, thunder roared loudly, space twisted, and even space itself was nearly torn apart by the densely packed and terrifying lightning profound energy. Under the terrifying profound energy, before Yun Xiao could even get close, he was already repelled by the vast and powerful aura. Even his Thunderbolt Sword trembled violently, almost impossible to hold.
After a brief spin, the Profound Firmament suddenly flew towards Yun Xiao, releasing over a dozen electric arcs... With a "clang," the Thunderbolt Sword in Yun Xiao's hand was easily knocked away. Yun Xiao's arm was completely numbed by the shock and electric shock, and his body was also sent flying backward by the impact, staggering to the edge of the Sacred Cloud Platform.
Yun Xinyue waved her arm, and the Profound Firmament immediately flew back.
Without making a move himself, and merely using his Profound Firmament, he had easily defeated Yun Xiao. Yet Yun Xinyue showed no trace of pride. Instead, he nodded towards Yun Xiao: "Young Master, I apologize for the offense."
Yun Xiao quickly waved his hand and said sincerely, "As expected of Brother Xinyue. You are truly formidable."
The Yun Clan disciples immediately erupted in cheers. The name "Yun Xinyue" instantly resounded throughout half of the Yun Clan's sky. The limelight that Yun Xiao had earned from three consecutive battles was completely overshadowed by Yun Xinyue's brilliance. The thirty-six core elders of the Yun Clan also nodded one after another, their faces showing expressions of approval and hope. Faced with these cheers and praises, Yun Xinyue remained completely calm, without the slightest arrogance or pride, and returned to his seat very peacefully.
His talent, strength, and temperament were truly perfect! No wonder he was hailed as the hope for the Yun Clan's revival.
Yun Che squinted his eyes, waiting until Yun Xinyue returned to his seat before shifting his gaze away from him. Then, he thoughtfully looked at Yun Qinghong, meeting his gaze. From each other's eyes, they seemed to vaguely see something. After a brief eye contact, they simultaneously looked away... Without any verbal exchange, they had clearly understood the meaning in each other's eyes.
Perhaps this was also a kind of tacit understanding between father and son.
[Well... the Queen Mother was hospitalized, delayed for many days. Actually, she was discharged yesterday, but I couldn't find my rhythm the whole day.]