Chapter 134: That’s really impressive

Ling Zhou was not influenced by the surrounding environment; he completely banished all those chaotic voices from his mind.

In his head, Ling Zhou kept replaying everything he had just seen.

He couldn’t figure out the moves in Li Yunxian’s sword technique.

Was it because he’d spent too long dueling with fellow spell cultivators, and hadn’t fought enough martial cultivators?

At this moment, Ling Zhou understood the true significance of the frequent student exchanges between the Four Great Academies.

But there was no point dwelling on these things.

Ling Zhou shifted his focus to Gu Qingmei.

He couldn’t decipher Li Yunxian’s sword techniques, but he could still see what was effective in Gu Qingmei’s responses.

As he analyzed in his mind why the shield worked but other spells did not, Ling Zhou walked slowly onto the arena.

Only after standing at his position on the arena did Ling Zhou pull himself out of his thoughts. He drew his weapon, held it in his hand, and calmly introduced himself to Li Yunxian.

“Grandmaster of Ji Fa, Ling Zhou.”

Li Yunxian’s gaze fell on Ling Zhou’s weapon.

It was a long whip again.

However, Ling Zhou’s long whip was clearly a different style from those of the Du Family.

The long whip he wielded carried no trace of bloodthirstiness; instead, it exuded a sense of spiritual energy.

Without a doubt, this weapon was most comparable to Shen Bofeng’s fan.

It was merely an auxiliary tool for a spellcaster.

“Tiantong, Li Yunxian.” This time, Li Yunxian didn’t mention her ranking.

Given the current situation, to report her ranking again would have been far too provocative.

It would make it seem as though Tiantong deliberately placed a strong competitor at rank 91, just to say their number one was only fit to fight Tiantong’s ninety-first.

That wouldn’t be a friendly spark of exchange—it would be forming an actual enmity.

Some among the Ji Fa audience picked up on the meaning in Li Yunxian’s words, and their expressions relaxed a little.

But only a little.

Their attention was all focused on Ling Zhou, and the atmosphere was heavy.

It was the first time they had seen Ling Zhou so serious.

It seemed… Ling Zhou wasn’t confident in victory.

This thought suddenly occurred to a Ji Fa student in the audience, and it startled them.

Ling Zhou—two years since entering Ji Fa, champion of the last Ivy Selection.

Since his enrollment, his cultivation had soared rapidly, reaching the peak of Qi Refinement, just like Shen Bofeng.

And after only a month at the peak, he immediately claimed the top spot on the arena, which has never been shaken since.

He was nothing short of a legend in Ji Fa.

Could he lose?

Everyone’s mind flashed back to Lan Weiyu and Gu Qingmei’s rapid and unexpected defeats, and their hearts tightened.

The Tiantong students on the other side had originally intended to keep cheering for Li Yunxian, but upon seeing the strange mood on the opposing side, they too fell silent.

Yet, the commotion below had no effect on the match above.

After their brief introductions, both parties entered battle stance, and the referee announced the start of the match.

Li Yunxian once again summoned the Xiayun Sword.

In theory, she shouldn’t use the same move three times in a row, especially when the opponent had already seen her technique.

This time-wielding sword technique was something Li Yunxian had only just comprehended. She was curious to see how others would try to counter it.

Then Li Yunxian saw it.

Ling Zhou flicked his whip behind him; the long whip struck the arena floor and didn’t bounce up, but seemed to stick to it, pulling Ling Zhou along.

The Xiayun Sword slashed through empty air.

He saw through it.

He saw that the Xiayun Sword’s temporal effect only extended a few meters around the blade.

Right after emerging from the Wenwu Pagoda, Li Yunxian’s grasp of time was at its peak.

She could even, with Qi Refinement level cultivation, slice a rift into the void.

But that was due to the lingering resonance of the Wenwu Pagoda.

Now, relying solely on her own mastery of time… her reach was indeed just this much.

And Li Yunxian also saw how Ling Zhou made his rapid escape.

As the long whip lashed out, tiny seeds scattered across the floor, and where the whip landed, plants grasped it and yanked Ling Zhou over.

A wood-element spell cultivator?

Skillful.

Li Yunxian couldn’t help but admire how Ling Zhou combined weapon and spell, much more proficiently than Shen Bofeng.

But admiration aside, Li Yunxian’s control over the Xiayun Sword didn’t pause for a moment.

Even though it missed, the sword’s momentum didn’t diminish; it traced a crescent arc in the air, chasing Ling Zhou’s position.

But there was distance between the spiritual sword and its target, whereas Ling Zhou had none with himself.

A crisp sound like shattering glass rang out.

The Xiayun Sword did not strike Ling Zhou, but instead hit an ice mirror.

Ling Zhou’s image flickered on the mirror. As the ice melted and vanished, Ling Zhou’s real body seemed to fade into mist and disappear as well.

Water and wood dual spiritual roots.

Li Yunxian made her judgment, taking a quick step back.

At that instant, countless branches and leaves sprang forth, all simultaneously lashing at where Li Yunxian’s face had been.

With a wave of her hand, the Xiayun Sword flew back in a flash.

With a light leap, Li Yunxian dodged the branches erupting beneath her feet, landing on a nearby trunk.

***

The next moment, she felt something brewing within the tree beneath her.

A wooden spike shot out at high speed towards her location.

Li Yunxian switched positions first, leaping up and glancing back at the arena.

The arena was already covered in all sorts of plants and vines, which were rapidly growing upward.

All these plants had been seeds hidden in Ling Zhou’s whip, and after a few swings, they now covered the entire arena.

The spell cultivator had finished setting up the terrain most advantageous to himself.

This was certainly dangerous.

At least, in the eyes of the Ji Fa audience, it was enough to make them all breathe a sigh of relief.

At this moment, there was no doubt Ling Zhou held the upper hand.

Someone couldn’t help but look smugly at the Tiantong students next to them, only to be surprised to see that those students didn’t look nervous at all.

After a few seconds of confusion, they suddenly understood.

Ling Zhou might be Ji Fa’s number one, but Li Yunxian wasn’t Tiantong’s.

For Tiantong, if Li Yunxian lost, it was no loss; if she won, it was a huge gain!

The person who figured this out was filled with frustration.

But in reality…

That photo of Li Yunxian slicing the arena neatly in two with one sword was still circulating among Tiantong’s students as a classic memory.

This was nothing!

Tiantong’s students had seen Li Yunxian’s antics many times. So, at this stage, the thought of Li Yunxian being at a disadvantage never even crossed their minds.

They all felt Li Yunxian was about to unleash something big.

But at the moment, Li Yunxian wasn’t planning any big moves.

She was purely focused on sensing Ling Zhou’s presence.

Her spiritual sense had been retracted the moment the referee declared the match’s start.

Now, she was simply a Qi Refinement cultivator.

Darting quickly among the vines, Li Yunxian suddenly heard a strange rustling sound.

She immediately looked toward the source of the sound.

What she saw was Ling Zhou’s long whip.

The whip truly resembled a spirit snake, weaving swiftly through the vines, darting straight toward Li Yunxian.

At the very apex of the whip’s reach, the whip exploded like a bouquet.

Every seed hidden inside the whip sprouted at once.

These new branches grew even faster than the plants on the arena, instantly closing in on Li Yunxian from all directions.

In the blink of an eye, before anyone could react, they stabbed straight at Li Yunxian.

Li Yunxian twisted her wrist, and the Xiayun Sword instantly slashed in all directions.

A series of crisp sounds.

The newly sprouted branches, cut from their roots, lost all momentum and fell weakly from the air.

The crisis averted, Li Yunxian’s expression grew even more grave.

The crisis averted, Li Yunxian’s expression grew even more grave.

She could feel the air around her growing heavy with moisture.

Thin, lingering, it clung to her skin, warm and damp, trying to seep into her flesh.

Li Yunxian immediately realized that all the surrounding plants were just a cover for the real danger.

This was the true killing move.

Who would have thought the ever-present moisture in the air could become a threat?

If she’d received even the slightest wound from the branches’ attack earlier, the water vapor would have instantly infiltrated her bloodstream.

And then, the blood would be drawn out by the moisture, gushing forth as if her artery had burst.

This was the number one spell cultivator in all of Shenzhou during Qi Refinement.

Li Yunxian looked in Ling Zhou’s direction and smiled slightly.

Truly impressive.

However,

The battle could end here.

For a sword cultivator, there was no need for such flashy tricks.

She only needed to know the opponent’s position, then cut down!

That long whip had completely given away Ling Zhou’s location, and there was limited space beneath the plants.

This was Ling Zhou’s advantage, but also his weakness.

He couldn’t change positions now!

The Xiayun Sword rose.

Countless sword qi followed the sword as it fell.

Every branch and vine was cut into pieces by the sword qi, raining down like a storm.

Ling Zhou reacted instantly, forming a spell seal.

Trees surged up around him, using their hardest trunks to shield him.

With spiritual power reinforcing them, even a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s full-strength attack would struggle to break through this defense.

But this was the Xiayun Sword.

This was Li Yunxian.

Ling Zhou was shocked to feel his spiritual power, densely packed along the branches, being sliced apart by something.

The dull gray color of the bark vanished from before his eyes, replaced by a burst of light.

A burst of sunset glow.

Ling Zhou stared, stunned, at the Xiayun Sword poised at his brow.

“Tiantong, Li Yunxian wins.” The referee on stage announced.

He had lost.

The once lush plants on the arena withered away, inch by inch, and broke apart.