Chapter 61: Chapter 61: Liu Yanyue Vs Yue Lan

Li Feng who sat next to her noticed Fen Ziyan’s lingering gaze and bitter expression, then leaned closer and whispered softly,

“Senior Sister Fen… don’t worry. I’ll make sure your bottleneck problem is solved soon, so you can advance toward the 9th realm of Qi Refinement quickly…”

Hearing his comforting word, Fen Ziyan’s lips curved into a small, happy smile.

“I believe in you…” she murmured.

Li Feng eye lingered a bit on her ample breast then smile and turned his attention back to the arena, where Senior Sister Yue had already unsheathed the sword he gifted her.

Meanwhile, Liu Yanyue stood calmly with her sword still sheathed in her hand, her intentions unreadable beneath the black blindfold covering her eyes.

Li Feng, for some reason, could tell this was going to be a tough match. It was an instinct born from his strengthened body, a quiet warning of some sort that the clash ahead would be dangerous. He leaned toward Lin Yu and asked in a low voice,

“Senior Brother Lin… have there ever been accidental deaths or serious wounds in the tournament before?”

Lin Yu chuckled at the question, a relaxed smile on his face.

“Haha, of course not, so don’t worry. Under the elders’ watchful eyes, no one ever die or suffer a serious injury. Our elders are very powerful, you see.”

Hearing Lin Yu’s confident words, Li Feng felt a bit more at ease. He looked toward the elder in charge, the old man standing there calmly observing everything with sharp eyes.

The elder saw that both sides were ready. With a firm nod, he shouted, “Begin!”

Almost immediately after the elder’s words were spoken, a sword shot straight toward Liu Yanyue’s face at astonishing speed, coming only a breath away from hitting her.

Everyone in the spectators’ seats gasped in surprise; even Li Feng was shocked by the sudden ferocity of the opening strike.

Swoosh!

Yet, the person in question, Liu Yanyue, calmly tilted her head slightly to the left, causing the sword to miss as it flew past her ear, only cutting a strand of her hair.

Then, Yue Lan moved at such a fast speed that many couldn’t keep track, appearing silently behind Liu Yanyue and grasping the flying sword by its hilt. She then slashed toward Liu Yanyue with powerful qi.

Swing!

’So fierce…’ Li Feng swallowed hard at this unfamiliar side of Yue Lan…and that terrifying speed.

“What a great mastery of movement skills…but…” Li Feng heard Lin Yu mutter beside him.

Before Li Feng could hear him finish his sentence, something unexpected happened.

Clank!

He saw Yue Lan’s sword, filled with her qi, suddenly stop before it could land a hit on Liu Yanyue’s neck. This was because Liu Yanyue calmly raised her still-sheathed sword to block Yue Lan’s sword strike with her sword…hilt.

Yue Lan did not seem surprised by this. She then twisted her body 180 degrees and struck at Liu Yanyue unguarded right side.

Swing!

Swoosh

Her strike cut through nothing but empty air.

Because Liu Yanyue gracefully bent her head and upper body forward, and slowly unsheathing her sword.

Swing-

With a flash faster than Yue Lan’s eyes could follow, Liu Yanyue turned and countered.

The arc of her sword carried the image of a crescent moon.

Clank!

Yue Lan managed to block with her sword, but Li Feng noticed her right foot sliding back half a step under the force.

Then, Liu Yanyue seemed to vanish from her position as if she had teleported.

Yue Lan, upon seeing this, immediately reacted by stabbing her sword into the ground and using her technique.

Crack!Crack!Swing!

Immediately, many thick ice spears burst forth from the ground around Yue Lan, followed by a swinging sound before all of the ice spears were slashed in half.

But it managed to buy Yue Lan enough time for her to dodge. Then she jumped away from her area. Just a hair’s breadth after she left, a deep slash landed there, and Liu Yanyue appeared there.

Yue Lan, who had created distance again, squinted her eyes and frowned.

’Her speed… What kind of movement technique is that?’

Yue Lan wanted to try to end it with a surprise attack. Because against someone like a sword genius like Liu Yanyue, a head-on and prolonged fight meant trouble, as her offensive skills were extremely lethal.

The longer it went on, the easier it would be for Yue Lan to become overwhelmed by her sword. So she needed to end it fast.

As if deciding something, Yue Lan tightened her grip, cold qi spreading out from her body. The arena floor under her feet started to frost over bit by bit as it spread out, thin ice forming around her with each breath she took.

Across from her, Liu Yanyue stood still. The black blindfold covering her eyes fluttered from the cold wind, but her posture remained calm, her grip on the sword staying steady.

The crowd grew quiet, sensing the tense atmosphere. No one dared to even blink, lest they miss something.

Then—

Boom!

Yue Lan burst forward, her figure turning into a streak of cold light as her sword stabbed straight toward Liu Yanyue’s chest, sharp and fast.

However, Liu Yanyue calmly blocked and even countered back.

Clang! Clang!Clang!

Swords clashed again and again. Sparks flew, and qi trembled in the air. Both fighters moved too quickly for most spectator to follow.

Li Feng narrowed his eyes. “So fast… it’s like watching two small storms collide.”

For a moment, Yue Lan forced Liu Yanyue back, her ice qi leaving frost on Liu Yanyue’s robes. However, Liu Yanyue didn’t panic. She simply shifted her body slightly to dodge, … her lips start curving faintly into a smile.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

Then suddenly, Liu Yanyue’s sword moved in a strange pattern. Crescent-shaped slashes appeared one after another.

Sword qi filled the air, while a storm of crescent-shaped slashes descending from every direction.

The crowd gasped at this sudden burst of sword qi that seemed to fill the entire arena.

“The Crescent Moon Sword Technique!” someone shouted.

Yue Lan’s pupils shrank as she realized she had no space or time to dodge this area attack.

In a swift motion, she stomped her foot and poured her qi into the ground.

Bang!

A dome of ice spears and walls rose around her, attempting to block the incoming flurry of slashes.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

Each crescent moon strike smashed against the icy walls and spear, shaking the ground until cracks spread across it.

Bang!

Finally, under the relentless storm of slashes, the dome shattered, spraying ice shards into the air.

Yue Lan jumped out, her chest heaving from the immense spiritual energy expended on that defensive move. Despite this, determination blazed in her eyes, showing no sign of surrender. She watched as Liu Yanyue calmly emerged from the frost-covered ground, a smile playing on her lips.

So far, they hadn’t exchanged a single word, yet Yue Lan seemed to grasp the unspoken message behind that smile.

’You are strong.’

Yue Lan, seeing her confident posture and stance, doesn’t feel discouraged. She closes her eyes slightly and calms her breath.

Without Liu Yanyue noticing, the entire arena seemed to be covered with an icy mist already.

Soon, a cold breath escaped her lips like a cloud, and Liu Yanyue became aware of the strange sensation in her surroundings. Her body felt as if it was being frozen, slowing her down.

High above the arena, the elder also noticed the phenomenon.

Elder Yu Lianru, who had taken her eye off Li Feng, who seemed to have changed somewhat, muttered as she looked toward Yue Lan.

“Sister Lan’s Frost Domain…? No, it’s barely a replica…” she remarked as she noticed Yue Lan’s technique.

Elder Xi, beside her, stroked his curly beard and said, “It seems to be Elder Lan’s Frost Lotus Sword Art… she must have imparted it to this young lady. But at Qi Refinement, she has already reached such depth? Truly remarkable.”

Yet his tone was filled with surprise because he didn’t think someone as young as Yue Lan had already achieved such a high mastery of that technique.

A domain is something only a Golden Core cultivator can use. However, some powerful techniques, if understood and mastered to a high level, can enable cultivators below the Golden Core stage to create a replica of the domain, albeit just a barely functional replica which is still very weak compared to the real deal.

But even though it may appear much weaker than the real deal, using it in the Qi Refinement realm is a completely different matter, and of course, there is a significant flaw in using it as it will consumes a substantial amount of the user’s spiritual qi, leaving their body extremely weak afterward.

Elder Xi stroked his curly beard and remarked, “This young lady must be aiming to conclude the battle in the next attack.”

Onstage, Yue Lan trembled and gritted her teeth as she tried to maintain the replica domain, which greedily devoured her qi at an insane rate. With no other choice, she raised her blade high, pouring every last shred of strength into it, hoping to end the fight quickly.

Her sword glowed with icy light, the qi gathering at a single point as she raised it high above her.

Liu Yanyue, whose body seemed to be slowly covered in frost, breathed out a cold white cloud while a snow mist started forming around her. She calmly stood there, sensing the powerful surging qi in front of her without losing her faint smile.

A giant lotus, composed of many intricate layers of frost, formed above Yue Lan as she finished gathering all of her remaining qi.

With a suppress shout, she slashed down, releasing her final attack.

“Frost Lotus Bloom..!”

The giant frost lotus formed above Yue Lan then came crashing down toward Liu Yanyue.

The arena shook as a colossal frost lotus unfurled in the sky, descending with it crushing weight.

Then for the first time, Liu Yanyue slowly lifted her sword with both hands.

Behind her, a phantom of a moon rose, bathing her in pale silver light.

Her voice was no louder than a whisper, but it carried to everyone ear:

“Moon Severing Slash”

Shing!

Her blade cut downward in one clean motion.

One clean arc.

The phantom moon behind her also split in two, unleashing a powerful crescent slash that roared toward the falling lotus.

BOOOOM!!!

The stage shook as ice shattered, the crescent moon slash ripping through the lotus.

Ice shards and cold mist filled the arena.

Silence then descended.

No one could see.

Li Feng leaned forward, his heart racing.

“Who won?”

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