And Heavenly Sword Villa, which had always taken the leading role of this decisive battle in the past, had been reduced to mere spectators this time. Ling Yuefeng had arrived very early, but he just sat silently the entire time, and didn’t say a word. Ling Yun, who had lost the fight yesterday, also appeared next to Ling Yuefeng. He was similarly silent, but his expression was very tranquil; at least on the surface, it seemed like he hadn’t taken much of a blow from yesterday’s loss.
Of course, it wasn’t that he was too weak, but that his opponent was so powerful she completely exceeded everyone’s expectations.
Today, there were originally two battles scheduled in the Sword Discourse Arena. The first battle was the fight for the third and fourth places, but this fight had directly concluded when Ling Jie conceded the match in advance. Ling Yun, who had originally been expected to take first place, thus ranked third. Before the Ranking Tournament, everyone had made a great deal of predictions as to which competitors would become the top three, and the only unanimous prediction was that Ling Yun would take first place. If he hadn’t gone through the fight with Xia Qingyue yesterday, no would ever think about or even believe this kind of conclusion.
“… The final battle of the ranking tournament: Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che, versus Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Xia Qingyue. May both contestants ascend the Sword Discourse Arena!”
Ling Wugou declared loudly at the center of the Sword Discourse Arena.
“Junior Brother Yun, good luck!”
“Brother-in-law, good luck!”
Yun Che stood up, and suddenly asked to his side: “Yuanba, do you hope that I’ll win, or hope that your sister will win?”
“Eh…” Xia Yuanba was stumped. He scratched his head, and said: “If Brother-in-law wins, I’ll certainly be happy, and if Big Sis wins, I’ll definitely be happy as well.” Having spoken to this point, Xia Yuanba’s eyes suddenly began to sparkle: “Waaah! Before, the Ranking Tournament could only appear in my dreams, but now Big Sis and Brother-in-law are competing for first place; it’s as if I’m still inside a dream. However, if I had to compare the two of you… I still hope Brother-in-law will win.”
“Oh? Why?” Yun Che asked with a faint smile.
“This, this… because Big Sis is still a girl y’know, and is also Brother-in-law’s wife. Being defeated by Brother-in-law seems a bit more reasonable.” Xia Yuanba answered in a somewhat confused manner.
“Hahahaha.” Yun Che began to laugh. He reached out and patted Xia Yuanba’s shoulder: “Yuanba, well spoken. As a man, it’s not much if I lose to other people, but I definitely can’t lose to my own wife!! So what if she’s a tigress or a phoenix, I must firmly… Mn, ride her!!”
Xia Yuanba stared wide and nodded blankly. Even though he hadn’t completely digested Yun Che’s words, he felt that they made a lot of sense.
This crooked reasoning by Yun Che made Cang Yue smile wryly, but she did not rebuke him. These words that were filled with arrogance and machismo ought to have sounded repulsive from a girl’s perspective; but coming from Yun Che’s mouth, it didn’t make her feel odd and repulsed. Instead, she had a fitting feeling that this belonged to a part of his disposition.
Under the gazes of several thousands of people, Yun Che walked to the center of the Sword Discourse Arena, and stood opposing Xia Qingyue.
The current Xia Qingyue had an ice veil covering her face, making him unable to see her features even though he was very close. However, that single fleeting glance yesterday, was already enough for him to carve it deep into his heart. The two silently faced each other… Other than the limited few, no one present would have thought that these two people who seemed to be completely unrelated, were actually a genuine husband and wife pair.
Recalling the bridal greeting, wedding, and sleeping together back then… At that time, she was the publically acknowledged beloved daughter of the heavens, and what’s more, she had been accepted as a disciple of the Frozen Cloud Asgard even earlier. Yet, he was only a wastrel with crippled profound veins and no future who was looked down in contempt by everyone; the two’s difference could be said to be as far as heaven and earth. But just with a short few days of interacting, Yun Che had already cracked a tiny little fissure in Xia Qingyue’s cold and indifferent heart. However, the unforeseen event that came right after, made them go on their separate ways earlier than expectations… When they met again, the trajectory and height of the two’s lives, both had already turned upside down.
The her before was a beloved daughter of the heavens, and the dotings of thousands upon thousands of people concentrated on that one body. The her right now, was even more blessed countless times by the heavens, and stood on an unreachable plane that made peers of the same age exclaim in shock.
And in Xia Qingyue’s eyes, as if a miracle, that youth who was frail and weak yet had a resolute and profound gaze, and was even somewhat bold and audacious in front of her, actually grew into a enormous tree that reached the heavens in less than two short years. The him that time could only be oppressed by others and was driven out of his family in the end; yet the him now, could stand on this profound strength stage of the highest level in the Blue Wind Empire with pride, and declare his name at all of Blue Wind Empire’s peak experts.
It was like an inexplicable setup by fate; this pair of husband and wife that should by no means have crossed each other again, had nevertheless, simultaneously stood on this stage that represented the pinnacle. The other party, was their last opponent.
“Qingyue, do you know why I participated in the Ranking Tournament this time?” Yun Che opened his mouth first while looking into Xia Qingyue’s eyes, and asked while smiling faintly.
Without waiting for Xia Qingyue to inquire, Yun Che followed up: “The first reason is to complete Senior Sister Xueruo’s dream. I have already accomplished this. As for the second reason…”
Yun Che extended his right hand forward as a gray light flashed, and grasped onto the hilt of Dragon Fault. The tip of the sword, in which a fierce dragon was embedded, naturally drooped down, piercing the ground beneath him with a loud explosion. A gust of thick and domineering imposing force also surged and spread like waves in all directions.
“I’ll tell you after I defeat you!”
The instant Dragon Fault was taken out, not in the least unexpected, the might of the Sky Profound sword awed the entire arena. In the Blue Wind Empire, it was well known that only seven Sky Profound weapons existed; this heavy sword, was actually a Sky Profound Weapon that had never before been seen!
“This imposing force… is a Sky Profound Weapon! And a high-grade Sky Profound Weapon at that!
“Such a Sky Profound Weapon actually exists in Blue Wind Empire, why haven’t I ever heard of it? Could it be that the Blue Wind Imperial Family has been concealing it this entire time?”
“It looks as if it’s still a heavy sword… A Sky Profound heavy sword, I’m afraid even an expert at the Sky Profound Realm would find it difficult to control. Can he control it?”
“Sky… Sky Profound heavy sword?” Ling Jie cried out in surprise, then clenched his teeth silently: “No wonder he didn’t want me to pay him for breaking that Earth Profound heavy sword. It turns out he actually has a Sky Profound heavy sword… In other words, he was still holding back in our fight yesterday, and didn’t use all his strength… Mn? Father, what happened? Ah? Big Bro, your expression has also become really strange.”
“Father, doesn’t it look like that sword?” Ling Yun suddenly asked.
Ling Yuefeng didn’t respond, and rapidly withdrew an ancient book of historical records from his spatial ring. He flipped through the first several pages of the historical records, and after his gaze halted for a moment, he raised his hand, looked at the enormous sword in Yun Che’s hands, and said in a low voice: “Based on the information we’ve received about Yun Che in the last few days, for some time before this, did he go to the Wasteland of Death, and spend an entire five months of time there before coming out?”
“That did indeed happen.” Ling Yun nodded.
“Looks like it can’t be wrong.” Ling Yuefeng closed the historical records and withdrew it into his spatial ring: “Without a doubt, that sword is indeed Dragon Fault.”