The second round was over fairly quickly.
The last match of the second round was Leng Qiuyue versus Long Buhai, a core protégé of the Yellow Hills Martial Hall. Long Buhai was a senior protégé to Ouyang Xue and the master of the Yellow Hills Martial Hall was Grand Elder Immortal Celestial Yun Xing.
It took Leng Qiuyue more than fifty strokes to defeat Long Buhai who was a middle tier third realm expert.
"Not bad. Leng Qiuyue's swordplay isn't as exciting as Nangong Yu but she certainly has great agility…"
"Like Cheng Wuzi, Long Buhai also excels in body strengthening martial feats. It seems that the Red Heaven Sword Hall is going to be the final winner of this tournament…"
"The Red Heaven Sword Hall is going to have two candidates going to the third round now…"
"Senior Sister Qiuyue is so beautiful…"
"Senior Sister is peaked third realm expert. Why is she taking such a long time to defeat a middle tier third realm expert?"
"That is because Long Buhai is strong!"
"I think it is because any man will be several notches stronger when they are fighting Leng Qiuyue as they do not want to lose their face in front of such a great beauty…haha…"
"Don't let her hear you or you'll be in trouble…"
Elder Ouyang announced, "We have five strong fighters for the third round. Now we are going to pick a defeated candidate from the second round with the comeback ballot."
"I hope it will be Senior Brother Cheng Wuzi. He doesn't deserve to be dropped off so early…"
"Maybe it will be Zhang Gang again…"
"I hope it is not him. He has already been lucky twice over."
"If he gets pick again, I think the ballot is rigged…"
"Surely not! All the elders and grand elders are watching at the ballots…"
"Wait a minute!" It was Qin Keqin as she flashed next to Elder Ouyang.
"It is sect leader?"
"She is like a goddess…"
Qin Keqin laughed softly, "Let me examine the ballots first. This is to ensure that there is fairness and that no one cheats."
When the common protégés heard her, they were praising her to the heavens;
"Sect leader is so righteous…"
"It is a good thing that sect leader is checking on the ballots…"
"Yes, I think that Zhang Gang is a cheater. He keeps getting the comeback ballot…"
"If I were the sect leader, I would be suspicious as well."
As Qin Keqin checked the ballots, she whispered to Elder Ouyang. "This time round, it will still be Zhang Gang. However, I want Nangong Yu and to Leng Qiuyue to fight against each other…"
Elder Ouyang was smiling bitterly. He was already feeling so awkward from picking Zhang Gang again and again. Now he had to pick Zhang Gang once more.
With a soft sigh, he nodded.
Qin Keqin smiled and said aloud, "The ballots are in good order."
Then she said to Elder Ouyang, "I'm just checking to make sure the ballots are proper. Please do not mind my actions."
Elder Ouyang smiled weakly, "Not at all, not at all."
The reason why Qin Keqin had descended down the stands was to arrange a match between Nangong Yu and Leng Qiuyue. She did not want the Red Heaven Sword Hall to grab all the glory.
She silently thought with a faint smile, "I will get you off stage, Leng Qiuyue. I can't stand you flirting with your eyes on my Yun'Er…"
When Qin Keqin had returned to her stand, Elder Ouyang picked the ballot from the cauldron and announced loudly. "The comeback candidate for the third round is…Zhang Gang…"
All the common protégés were startled with disbelief.
"How is it possible? It is Zhang Gang again?!"
"His luck is really too good…"
"I am beginning to think that he was selected as a core protégé due to his insane luck…"
"His fate is really hard. Maybe he may even end up as the ultimate winner of the core protégé martial competition…"
"Why is it not Cheng Wuzi…"
Elder Ouyang said as he threw Zhang Gang ballot into the cauldron, "We shall proceed to the third round now with the six remaining candidates."
"The first match will be…Zhang Gang…versus…Senior Brother Lu Qingyun…" Elder Ouyang declared quite awkwardly.
"I cannot believe this…this is Zhang Gang and Senior Brother Lu Qingyun…"
"Is their match rigged? How is it possible for them to keep matching against each other three times in a row…"
"This Zhang Gang's luck is really too freakish and bordering on the devil's luck…"
Qin Keqin was laughing softly while all the grand elders were secretly looking at her as they shared a common thought, "Sect leader, this is too fake. Can you make it a little more real?"
"Did you all hear that? My Yun'Er is going to fight Zhang Gang again. He will be the winner for sure…" Qin Keqin was clapping delightfully and her enticing eyes were shining with delight.
Below the stage, Zhang Gang was overjoyed. "This is really my lucky day six times over. This time I'm going to defeat Senior Brother Lu and enter the fourth round. There is no reason for me to lose at all…"
Lu Qingyun was stunned. He was going to fight Zhang Gang again?
For this martial competition, he had been training really hard and was eager to show off his skills. But against Zhang Gang, there was no way that he was able to show off in front of Qin Keqin…
As soon as Lu Qingyun had finished exchanging the duel formalities with Zhang Gang, he raised his sword and he had immediately sent Zhang Gang flying off again with a single stroke.
This time round, Zhang Gang was thrown off the stage and it was considered to be an automatic defeat if one were to fall out of the stage.
Zhang Gang was completely stunned. How could Senior Brother Lu Qingyun's profound strength increase so much in such a short span of time?
Lu Qingyun had used more of his profound strength because he was getting impatient with fighting Zhang Gang over and over again. Therefore he had wanted the duel to be done over as quickly as possible.
"Senior Brother Lu Qingyun has won this match." Elder Ouyang announced aloud.
"Why is the result not surprising at all?"
"Zhang Gang has lost again…"
"Is he going to make a comeback on the fourth round…"
Elder Ouyang announced on the next match, "Nangong Yu…versus…Leng Qiuyue…"
Lu Qingyun was startled as he thought, "Maiden Leng is going to fight her senior. She may lose…"
"Senior Sister Qiuyue is going to lose…"
"That is because Nangong Yu is too strong and he is going to be the champion of this martial competition."
Nangong Yu smiled coldly as he eyed Leng Qiuyue, "Junior sister, it is so unexpected that we will be fighting against each other."
Leng Qiuyue replied nonchalantly, "Please do not hold back against me because I won't do the same to you."
Nangong Yu was smiling, "You know that we have a huge disparity in strength? I'm sure that you have already known how strong I am."
Leng Qiuyue flashed her beautiful eyes as she lifted up her sword. In that instant, she was enveloped by a wavering strong profound aura and her sword was also charged by her martial power!
She was dividing her profound strength into her aura and sword at the same time!
As a matter of fact, her profound aura was even more impressive than Cheng Wuzi who had awe everyone earlier!
Cheng Wuzi who was watching the duel muttered was staring at Leng Qiuyue, "I don't believe…"
Even Shi Guanyin was startled as she thought, "When did Qiuyue becomes this strong? Judging from her profound strength display, she may well be a fourth realm expert as well…"
The common protégés were all startled as well;
"Leng Qiuyue's profound aura seems to be even stronger than Cheng Wuzi…"
"But still, her opponent is her own senior brother and they are from the Red Heaven Sword Hall. Therefore she won't stand a stand…"
"The core protégés from the Red Heaven Sword Hall are really strong except for Li Chen…"
Even Lu Qingyun was startled as he thought, "She is not serious in her earlier rounds?"
But he was secretly impressed by Leng Qiuyue. It was because he knew how difficult it was to divide her profound strength into two while maintaining her martial power.
He thought, "Since she is able to do that, learning the Flaming Crimson Sword isn't an issue to her at all…"
Indeed, Leng Qiuyue was not putting on her best earlier and had purposely dragged her duel. It was because she did not want the others to know that she was a fourth realm expert yet.
But now she was facing her Senior Brother Nangong Yu and she did not want him to underestimate her. At the same time, she was telling him that there was no need to go easy on her.
Nangong Yu narrowed his eyes and muttered, "You are a fourth realm expert now?"
Leng Qiuyue nodded nonchalantly, "Yes, I am a fourth realm expert now."
The common protégés who had heard her were all startled that Leng Qiuyue was also a fourth realm expert now. There was a huge disparity between the strength of a third and a fourth realm expert. At the same time, fourth realm experts were ageless cultivators that could live extremely long life and it was the dream of every common protégé to one day reaches this impassable peak.
And Leng Qiuyue had overcome this impassable barrier and she was now a true celestial now.
There were many old elders in the clan, including Elder Ouyang who were struck in the third realm enlighten celestial level and unable to advance for years. When one becomes older, they will also lose their early potentials.
It can even be said that Leng Qiuyue had a good potential to even become a fifth realm golden celestial in the future as her potential was still quite young.
Leng Qiuyue was muttering silently to herself, "Thank you Senior Brother…" This senior brother in her whisper was referring to Lu Qingyun who had given her the Triple Divine Essence Pill when she was seriously injured. Without the aid of this divine pill, she would never have the chance to successfully breakthrough to the sacred realm of the fourth cultivation level.
One must know that even grand elders like Mu Han, Yun Xing and Wang Ming were also just fourth realm cultivators. The number of fourth realm cultivators in the Heavens Ridge Villa could be counted with the ten fingers while the number of third realm cultivators was in their dozens.
Nangong Yu smiled, "Let me extend my heartfelt congrats to you first. However, nothing can deter me obtaining the Divine Profound Pill."
Leng Qiuyue replied, "I am not giving way either just because you are my senior brother. Please give me your instructions."
Nangong Yu nodded as he swung his sword with a startling speed.
Almost immediately he had released a wave of sword energy that was three times as powerful as when he had first used on Cheng Wuzi!
But Leng Qiuyue simply swung her sword and knocked his attacking sword energy aside, "You got to try harder than that!"
Nangong Yu laughed, "Junior sister, don't be hasty. I'm coming…" And he had really come with several powerful strokes of his sword.
Dozens of explosive strokes that were imbued with their martial power were exchanged instantly!
The two of them were extremely familiar with each other swordplay as they expertly slash, hack, parry, block and counter-attack within a few blinks of an eye, spellbinding all the onlookers with their sword techniques and beautiful sword arts.
Thirty strokes…
Forty strokes…
Sixty strokes later…
All of a sudden Nangong Yu was sweating as his profound energies got expended very quickly in the exchange as he tried to maintain his powerful sword stances.
When profound energies were lost, it was the same as losing stamina and even more exerting than mere physical exertion. It was a combination of physical and mental exhaustion.
As for Leng Qiuyue, her profound aura was constantly replenishing her sword martial strength while absorbing the heavy blows that were from Nangong Yu. As a matter of fact, she was still as composed as before.
Nangong Yu thought, "How is that possible? Her profound strength exceeded mine? But she is only a newly fourth realm expert and she shouldn't have stabilized her fourth realm cultivation in such a short time…"
He did not know that Leng Qiuyue had consumed a miracle divine pill that had the effect of quickly solidifying and raising her cultivation strength.
Seventy strokes…
Nangong Yu had suddenly lost control of his martial strength and he was knocked back furiously by Leng Qiuyue!
This momentum loss of his strength had given Leng Qiuyue the opportunity to follow up with a quick thrust and her sword was soon aimed at his body.
Leng Qiuyue coolly said, "You have lost."
Nangong Yu was stunned. He had actually lost to his junior sister…
The common protégés were all stunned by the result and moreover many of them had bet on Nangong Yu emerging as the top duelist.
"Nangong Yu has lost?!"
"Senior Sister Qiuyue has won? And she is a fourth realm expert too…"
"I didn't bet on her…"
"This is…not possible right?"
"Do you think that Nangong Yu has purposely lost to her…"
"This must be rigged right?"
"The core protégés have ganged up to rig the fight…"
"Haven't you heard of this saying, nine out of ten gambles are ruses…"
"Maybe he will get a comeback ballot…"
"I can't believe that Senior Brother Nangong Yu has really lost…this is so unreal…"
Elder Ouyang was stunned too as he slowly announced, "Erm, Leng Qiuyue won…"
Even Shi Guanyin was blinking her eyes in disbelief, "My Nangong Yu has lost to my Leng Qiuyue?"
Only Ouyang Xue knew of the true reason as she had seen Lu Qingyun giving the Triple Divine Essence Pill to her.
Qin Keqin was startled by the outcome but she was smiling delightfully, "Nangong Yu will actually lose?"
This outcome was better than she had expected. She had wanted to let Nangong Yu and Leng Qiuyue pitted against each other. No matter who had won in the end, their profound energies would be greatly expended and this would place the winner of this duel at a disadvantage later.
"So far, my Yun'Er is still in the most tip-top condition!" She was saying to herself.