On the other side…
The group continued to chat in a merry mood, however, Yueshi did not have time for that.
No, the right words would be that he could not pay any attention to them as his entire mind was focused on the next match. The motive should be pretty obvious, right?
Xuehua was going to fight.
From the side, Yuan Yue looked at his serious countenance and sighed. Apparently, there was no way for her to compete with Xuehua… and that made her a tad jealous.
Nonetheless, she did not hate Xuehua, nor did she feel any sort of animosity.
Ignoring the two lovesick fools, each more silly than the other…
Just like when the Qing twins had gone up the stage, many whistled when Xuehua made her way there.
It was not even about her being beautiful or not, some guys were just so horny they would ogle every girl they saw. However, there was no way she would concern herself over such people.
Then, from where the Heavens Will members were sitting, a young man walked out.
Some people immediately recognized him, drawing breaths of surprise. Yueshi did not know who he was, but the way people reacted made him a bit worried.
Xuehua, though, did not pay attention to that and continued to stand there with exemplar calm.
The others had long noted that Xuehua would only express worry when it was something concerning Yueshi. At any other time, she was, without a doubt, the calmest of them all.
The two stood thirty or so meters apart, observing the other.
Li Yun was gazing at Xuehua with cold eyes.
He had nothing against her, however, Chengfei had asked him to show why people should not mess with the Heavens Will Association. They also had to repay the Soaring Dragon Association for the previous fight.
So, if he had the chance, he would be as brutal and cruel as possible.
"Are you ready?" Seeing the two nod, the judge then immediately gave the signal to start.
Li Yun immediately activated his footwork technique, his figure flashing as he moved like lightning across the arena.
He moved erratically, lightning sparks flying every time his blurry figure appeared for a second, before disappearing once more.
While he moved around unpredictably, it was clear to everyone that he was eventually getting closer, flashing nearer and nearer.
However, Xuehua remained unperturbed. Unsheathing her sword, she stood languidly, as if she was not even willing to try.
Many people had started to murmur here and there, chitchatting and wondering what was going on. Even Li Yun was surprised by it, his eyes growing colder at the thought she was deriding him.
He had been planning to not start at full power, giving her the chance to give up; however, he changed his mind.
'Fate Severing Sword!' Shouting inside of his heart, he flashed near Xuehua, his movement so fast she could not even notice him.
Then, his sword slashed toward her in a flash, covered in snakes made of black thunder and glowing with a dangerous light.
However, the next moment, he was left gawking.
Instead of the sound of flesh being ripped apart., the sound of metal striking metal resounded and tingled against his ears.
Li Yun was sent flying back without even understanding what happened and only catching a glimpse of Xuehua's eyes as she turned to face him.
Because of the intense surprise, he stood rooted on the spot for a while, his mind trying to understand what had just happened.
The audience seemed as shocked as he was, though they apparently had a better grasp of what had happened – maybe because they were looking at it from a certain distance.
However, Li Yun knew he could not stay idle for long.
Calming his heart down, he decided to strike again. If he could not understand the first time, he just had to see it again until he was able to do it.
Activating his technique again, Li Yun appeared some distance.
Seeing Xuehua still standing with the same languid posture, he opted for increasing his qi output, making his speed reach yet another level.
He was not sure of how she defended, however, he thought that, as long as his strikes were fast enough, she would still be defeated.
'Ten Thousand Tribulations!' When Li Yun appeared once more he was above Xuehua, and as his sword slash descended, tens of thunderbolts fell together with him.
The purple streaks of lightning were akin to dragons trying to devour the world, carrying such might that anyone below the third stage would be completely turned into cinders by them.
Xuehua was still looking toward another direction and yet just as the lightning bolts and sword were going to hit her, the sound of air being torn apart resonated.
What followed were continuous sounds of explosions as the thunder strikes were stopped mid-way, exploding, and the crisp sound of two swords colliding.
Once more, Li Yun was made to retreat, his eyes wide open in shock.
This time, he had clearly seen how Xuehua dealt with his attacks, but that did not bring him any comfort. Instead, it made his heart shake.
'How can this girl!' Quivering slightly, he glared right ahead.
Xuehua had once more turned to look at him with calm eyes. Just a moment before, her sword had moved like a ten meters long viper, slashing at different places from all sorts of impossible angles.
It was as if her sword had coiled around her, deflecting all attacks that threatened her well-being, without her even looking at them.
It was like an absolute defense without any blind spot!
It was as if her sword had acquired a life of its own!
To the side, the judge was also surprised.
However, his eyes did not reflect any fear or unwillingness, instead, they were bright and excited.
'Haha, are they all monsters?' The Soaring Dragon Association was truly a gathering of little geniuses, until now each of them had amazed him with their methods.
Moreover, Xuehua was even more special.
He had heard of her, too. Her talent for cultivation wasn't worse than her brother's, though she had not displayed the same amazing results in the outer disciple examination.
However, all elders were aware that this young lady had merely been playing around, though they were not aware of what her true abilities were like.
'First realm of the sword arts and it's not newly comprehended.' He could also see that her battle awareness was extremely good too, even if it was not ranked at the top.
Yet, her greatest asset was none of those, but her calmness and bearing.
"It looks like I will need to work a little bit harder." Breathing in deeply to calm himself, Li Yun masked his anxiety with such words.
With him gripping his sword firmly and taking on a serious expression, it seemed as if he had not been giving his all just yet.
And well, his words were not completely a lie.
He had many other cards under his sleeve, it was just that most of them were on the same level as the techniques he used before.
Right now, there was only a single move that he believed could break through Xuehua's defense, and it was the last move on his repertoire.
With Li Yun becoming so serious, the entire audience quieted down, delving into the tense atmosphere.
They could feel a thrill spreading through their bodies at the idea of what was coming, the excitement of seeing a great battle and attack boiling inside their hearts.
"Convergence of Ten Thousand Tribulations." Just as he finished speaking, lighting was released from his sword and even his body.
His cultivation method was of the thunder attribute, so the qi inside his body was of the same element. Then, the thunder reached out for the sky, tens of thunder dragons coalescing into a single point.
One could see the purple lightning snakes flying in circles in the sky, before fusing into an oval figure.
The sound of people gulping echoed as the thunder qi in the atmosphere started to become agitated, sparks of lightning flickering here and there as the qi seemed to come alive.
This was Li Yun's strongest move and his trump card, and he had never imagined he would use it here.
However, he was not willing to accept defeat, too.
When all his qi had been burned dry by his technique, the purple, oval mass of lightning in the sky was as big as a watermelon with a distorted shape.
Streaks of lightning surrounded it, flashing in all directions like small, hungry snakes. One could even feel a faint pressure that would instill fear and anxiety in one's heart.
However, under the intense pressure of the mass of lightning, Xuehua stood calmly as if it was nothing to worry about.
That did not mean, however, she was underestimating this attack.
"Let us see how you will withstand this." Li Yun's voice was croaky as he pointed his sword at Xuehua, clearly exhausted.
Then, as if by his command, the mass of lighting changed shapes as it struck downward.
All the thunderbolts from before descended as a single strike, making the world shake in its wake as if it was a voracious and mighty divine beast.
Xuehua, however, did not look at it. Instead, her soft voice resonated across the arena, reaching far and wide despite her low tone
"Heavenly Hands…" Not even an instant later, four giant, illusory hands formed around her, made entirely of pure qi without any element.
Then, the hands seemed to disappear, before showing once more above her head.
The four hands then covered the top of Xuehua's head like a shell - in layers - forming some sort of protective umbrella.
Not even a second later, the purple thunder that had taken the form of a dragon struck against the heavenly hands.
The explosion was deafening even to those that were far away, the sound waves so sharp that a few had their ears wounded, making them bled.
However, no one took their eyes away from the arena, despite the curtain of smoke covering their vision from the battle.
And no one was more unsettled than Yueshi, his heart beating madly in anxiety – what if something had happened to Xuehua?
Just as he was regretting not trying to convince her to not fight, the crowd burst into excitement.
Looking up, what Yueshi saw was not his worst fear; instead, it was an unharmed Xuehua standing quietly above the arena.
Three of the heavenly hands had been shattered; nonetheless, no harm had befallen her. Under everyone's observant eyes, the last hand shattered into pieces, having served its purpose and protected Xuehua from any threat.
A few meters away, Li Yun had fallen to the ground with his eyes wide open in disbelief. His strongest move was completely suppressed just like that, and he could not believe it.
The battle had not ended, however.
Despite this fight having already been settled, Xuehua had not achieved the conditions for victory – Li Yun had not given up, nor was he knocked unconscious or thrown out of the arena.
That would soon be settled, though.
"Self and sword as one. One sword slash gives birth to ten thousand waves." It was merely a whisper that most did not hear, however, Li Yun did and was immediately scared out of his hysteria.
Unfortunately, it was too late already. Xuehua slashed out with her sword in a soft, precise, and steady movement; it was not fast, nor did it look strong, but as it moved forward it gave one the feeling of boundless tenacity.
Xuehua's sword was like the endless ocean, there were no gaps on it, and no matter how much one searched there was no blind spot to be taken advantage of.
It was just like when she defended against Li Yun's earlier attacks, no matter where he hit, her sword would be able to cover it – just like the surface of the ocean.
Li Yun was sent tumbling, heavens and earth mixing in his eyes.
Xuehua's attack was like the infinite crashing waves, striking against him time and time again, and giving him no time to think about countering.
Before falling unconscious, the last thing he saw was Xuehua's image as she stood above the arena – she was not proud or happy, and just looked like a calm sea.
However, he now knew, knew that this calm and steady sea could give birth to unfathomable waves.
Meanwhile, the observing crowd had long broken into murmurs, cheers, and shouts.
Xuehua paid them no heed and only gazed at the people from Heavens' Will, waiting for their next move.
She was not that interested in fighting, and it did not suit her personality. Nonetheless, Xuehua was not someone that would flee or shy away from a battle, even more so when there were grievances between the two sides.
On a side note, her grievances could be said to be double the other members, since 'Yueshi's grievances were her grievances too', according to her.
In the Heavens Will Group, the elites were staring fiercely at her, while the weaker members were all afraid.
Li Yun had not seen it properly, but they had. Xuehua's final move seemed to make the entire qi in the atmosphere go crazy, and as her sword moved out, the qi followed along, crashing toward her opponent like a furious tidal wave.
It was nothing short of scary, and it made clear to everyone that her sword arts' comprehension was deeper than Baiyun's comprehension of the ax.
Chengfei was grinding his teeth in anger, not understanding from which hell all those talents rose from.
No, that was not it, he did not know how they had grown so much in so little time, since he had always known they were geniuses.
However, how could he understand it?
When geniuses are gathered together, they are bound to challenge each other, always aiming to be the very best.
Yueshi and the others were not merely friends, but also rivals that were always pushing each other forward.
"Do any of you feel confident in bringing her down?" After a while, he finally managed to calm down. He did not even pay attention to Li Yun who had landed not too far away from them, wounded all over.
Hearing Chengfei's rage-filled voice, no one said anything.
It was not because they thought they were weaker, or could not win. Those that had confidence did not want to go, because there would be more fights later and they would be wasting their energy before the right moment.
"Long Wan'er, you will fight her." However, Chengfei could not care less right now.
Unconsciously, however, he had started to think 'if only the main members were here, things would not be like this.' This excuse calmed him down and calmed the fear that had unknowingly formed in his heart.