Ying Qian grinned and, supporting himself with his spear, stood up.
He looked ahead, but before he could utter any harsh words, a sword qi shot straight at his face in an instant.
All the words he wanted to say turned into a single curse.
Ying Qian raised his spear and angrily struck at the descending sword qi.
A thunderous sound rang out, but contrary to Ying Qian’s expectation, the sword qi wasn’t shattered by his strike.
Underestimating it, Ying Qian was forced to retreat a step, barely dissipating the sword qi’s momentum.
Looking at the footprints left behind from his retreat, Ying Qian’s expression darkened. “This isn’t Qu Yingzi’s sword.”
As soon as he said this, the sword technique everyone in the Capital Prefecture was familiar with appeared before them.
Qu Yingzi’s long sword struck directly at Shen Bofeng’s heart. She laughed loudly, “Ying Qian, don’t think of me like that. Today, there are plenty of people here to deal with you.”
“You—!” Rage flashed in Ying Qian’s eyes, but suddenly his hair stood on end.
He immediately swept his spear horizontally but was still a bit slow.
A silver sword light flashed before his eyes.
Pain stung Ying Qian’s cheek.
A long sword scar appeared across his face.
Had he been any slower, the blade would have sliced through his neck.
Ying Qian’s heart tightened as he fixed his gaze on Li Yunxian, who had appeared by his side.
In all his previous battles against Qu Yingzi, he had never felt such a crisis.
Ying Qian dared not say another word. His spear hand emitted a faint roar.
An inch longer, an inch stronger!
Li Yunxian sidestepped the spear’s tip, crossing her long sword horizontally to block the spear’s sweeping shaft, instantly pressing forward toward Ying Qian.
Ying Qian retreated half a step and formed a hand seal with one hand.
A mass of thorny vines erupted, blocking Li Yunxian’s advance but also obscuring Ying Qian’s vision!
When Ying Qian heard the faint sound of crushed foliage behind him and reacted to dodge, he was again a step too slow.
With a soft *psh* sound, the long sword pierced through the right shoulder blade of Ying Qian.
Ying Qian gritted his teeth, refusing to slow down from the injury.
He spun his spear back in a swift counterattack, thrusting straight toward Li Yunxian’s chest.
Li Yunxian leapt upward, drawing her long sword in motion.
As her toes touched down, she lightly stepped on the spear shaft, using its momentum to spring forward.
Ying Qian was stunned, failing to understand the meaning behind Li Yunxian’s move.
Suddenly, a clear voice called out in his ear: “Yingzi!”
Accompanying that call was a sharp long sword whistling down from above Ying Qian’s head.
Ying Qian abruptly turned toward Qu Yingzi’s location.
Before him, wind blades shot like shuttles, but Qu Yingzi ignored the danger completely, bending her body without any attempt to block.
Before the wind blades could reach Qu Yingzi, Li Yunxian’s long sword arrived first.
The sword’s rainbow-like qi instantly crushed them, leaving no room for hesitation, directly shattering the core of the formation’s control.
The myriad wind blades dissipated, and Shen Bofeng’s face appeared before everyone, standing right in front of the long sword.
The people from the Capital Prefecture froze.
They had never seen anyone break through Shen Bofeng’s Wind Array before.
Ying Qian hesitated for a moment before reacting, swinging his spear upward immediately.
He wanted to break Li Yunxian’s sword formula!
“Sorry, your opponent is me!” Qu Yingzi’s long sword arrived, breaking Ying Qian’s spear.
At first, she and Li Yunxian had exchanged opponents only to conceal Li Yunxian’s strength, aiming to catch Shen Bofeng off guard.
Since the battle had started, stopping at merely blocking Shen Bofeng was not an option!
Everyone engaged in combat, but all eyes were drawn to Shen Bofeng.
Li Yunxian’s sword had reached Shen Bofeng’s front!
Shen Bofeng’s expression turned grave as he snapped open his folding fan with a *clap*.
The fan’s surface blocked the sword tip.
Sword intent radiated from the blade, its overwhelming force tearing at the fan’s surface.
Li Yunxian twisted her wrist, pushing the sword forward a fraction more.
Shen Bofeng heard the faint sound of the fan’s surface cracking.
At this moment, Shen Bofeng suddenly realized that what he held was only a mundane magical artifact provided by the platform for the selection trial—not his Wumian Gold Fan.
He saw a gap appear on the fan’s surface, the sword tip piercing through.
His expression grew cold as the long sword broke through the surface.
He swiftly closed the folding fan, clamping the sword’s blade between the fan’s ribs and pressing downward.
His Lingli collided with the sword qi, and ultimately, as a Qi Refining Seventh Layer cultivator, he held the upper hand.
After a tense stalemate lasting several seconds, Shen Bofeng waved his fan, and Li Yunxian’s long sword lost momentum and fell to the ground.
“Is that all?” Shen Bofeng sneered coldly, his voice filled with anger anyone could hear.
The meticulously planned full-force attack hadn’t yielded the desired results.
Li Yunxian, however, didn’t feel discouraged.
She smiled lightly at Shen Bofeng’s trembling hand holding the folding fan.
She already knew his limits.
He was worth fighting!
Li Yunxian made her judgment.
With a slight finger movement, her fallen long sword swiftly returned to her hand.
She looked at Shen Bofeng. “Then you better open your fan before saying that.”
Shen Bofeng’s face darkened further.
The fan’s surface had already been thoroughly destroyed by Li Yunxian’s sword intent.
“Are you Li Yunxian?” Shen Bofeng suddenly asked.
Li Yunxian lifted her head slightly. “Yes.”
“Good. Your first round ends here!” Shen Bofeng raised his hand, and a fierce wind swept across the plains.
The allied team on Li Yunxian’s side was immediately battered by the raging wind.
Meanwhile, the Capital Prefecture’s side, immune due to platform mechanics, remained unaffected by Shen Bofeng’s technique.
For a moment, the situation was grim for the allied team.
Feeling the gathering wind blades around her, Li Yunxian calmly stared at Shen Bofeng.
There was no way to replenish Lingli within the selection trial platform.
The previous strike had already consumed most of her Lingli.
She only had one last chance to attack.
FALL……
Ignoring the desperate cries from her teammates, Li Yunxian waited for the final moment of the wind blades forming.
That moment when all spellcasters, regardless of school, were the most focused—and the most vulnerable!
Li Yunxian swung her long sword horizontally, dispersing the twisting wind in front of her.
In an instant, she pierced through the crowd and closed in near Shen Bofeng.
Shen Bofeng smiled.
Li Yunxian’s timing was indeed excellent, and her speed impressive.
Normally, a magic cultivator would be slain before their spell fully formed.
But… he had Immortal Bone!
The wind blades solidified!
At this moment, Li Yunxian was still three steps away.
Between them stood a giant blade nearly three meters long.
No matter how fast a person was, they could never outmatch the wind!
At such close range, Li Yunxian had no chance to dodge.
“Yunxian!!” People from Qingdao noticed and immediately cast spells to shield Li Yunxian from the blow.
But it was already too late.
Shen Bofeng’s eyes were cold as he watched Li Yunxian’s final moment before leaving the stage.
Yet, what he saw was Li Yunxian’s upward-curved lips.
Li Yunxian didn’t dodge.
Or rather, she never intended to fully dodge.
Immortal Bone?
She had seen it before!
After nearly ten thousand years of cultivation, she had seen everything.
To her, there was no such thing as a miscalculation—only deliberate choices!
Lingli rose at her toes as she landed, slightly turning her body to avoid all vital points.
The wind blade slashed across her shoulder blades, her right shoulder flying back along with her sword hand as blood sprayed out.
But Shen Bofeng saw Li Yunxian laughing.
Laughing wildly and recklessly.
Her bright eyes fixed on him, her gaze spelling out three words: “I won.”
The next moment, reflected in Shen Bofeng’s eyes, was Li Yunxian extending her only remaining left hand.
That hand grasped her severed right hand.
She wasn’t limited to wielding the sword with just her right hand!
Sword intent poured out without reserve, shattering the fan ribs in front of Shen Bofeng, piercing straight through his forehead.
***
The plain’s fierce wind died down as the Qingteng Ranking tallied Li Yunxian’s score.
The crowd from the Capital Prefecture stared blankly at Shen Bofeng’s fallen body, their eyes filled with disbelief as if seeing an illusion.
The next moment, Qu Yingzi’s sword pierced Ying Qian’s chest.
Their skills had been about equal, but when they swapped opponents, Li Yunxian’s blade had pierced Ying Qian’s shoulder blade.
Although the Mutated Blood Bone healed rapidly, as Ying Qian’s longtime rival, Qu Yingzi gave him no chance to recover.
Thus, the advantage tipped toward Qu Yingzi.
Losing two top fighters in a row, Shu Chengyi—the third-ranked in the Capital Prefecture—immediately realized the situation and shouted angrily, “Retreat!!”
They say one shouldn’t chase a cornered enemy, but that didn’t apply on the selection trial battlefield.
The allied team howled as they pursued.
But Qu Yingzi didn’t retreat.
Having taken many injuries holding off Shen Bofeng initially, she didn’t want to join the chaotic melee of hundreds.
Her gaze settled on Li Yunxian with concern as she staggered over to her lying form.
“How are you?” Qu Yingzi knelt down, attempting to help Li Yunxian up.
She hadn’t expected Li Yunxian to fight so fiercely.
Ruthless to enemies, ruthless to herself.
“Not great,” Li Yunxian replied calmly.
Before leaving, Lin Xiufeng had thoughtfully sealed her wounds with ice.
But it was a temporary fix.
Li Yunxian didn’t care about long-term healing.
Her Lingli was depleted, and the long sword given by the system had broken into two pieces after killing Shen Bofeng.
Severely injured, staying on the platform was meaningless.
It was over.
Li Yunxian made her decision and smiled faintly at Qu Yingzi.
“I’m leaving first. Next, let’s see if you can beat my score.”
Qu Yingzi stared blankly as Li Yunxian chose to end the test.
On screen, Li Yunxian’s figure vanished from Qu Yingzi’s arms.
Off-screen, Li Yunxian opened her eyes in the Cultivation Hall.
She removed the examination interface device and immediately felt countless burning gazes fixed on her.
Suddenly, a figure flashed to her side on stage, speaking warmly, “Student Li Yunxian, would you be interested in joining our Jifa Academy? We have the best cultivation environment and all kinds of resources.”
“If you choose us, I guarantee the best medical care to resolve all your problems—free of charge!”
The Jifa teacher’s premature pitch sparked outrage.
“Bastard! The selection trial isn’t over yet; how can you harass students now?!” the teachers from the other three academies shouted angrily.
The Jifa teacher chuckled, “This student finished early and submitted their paper. There’s no rule against talking now.”
The other three academy teachers shot daggers at the Jifa teacher, then turned their gaze warmly toward Li Yunxian.
“We at Wenwu can provide everything Jifa promises, and Wenwu is closest to Yuehai—convenient for returning home…”
“Don’t listen to them, their promises are empty. Tian Tong has the most complete martial cultivation system. If you cultivate swordsmanship, you should come to Tian Tong…”
“The sword is forged with blood. Pingnan Academy lies at the forefront of Shenzhou’s conflict with the Other Race. Only at Pingnan can you get the best training…”
Completely unprepared for this scene, all eyes met, and Li Yunxian forced a dry smile.
She suddenly thought that maybe, just maybe, staying in the selection trial platform with only a slightly sore shoulder wasn’t so bad after all.
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So proud of bby Yunxian🤭