The next day, at Heavenly Sword Villa's Sword Discourse Arena.
The main stage of the Sword Discourse Arena and the thirty other small sword arenas were all circular in shape.
The main stage was three hundred meters long, and the small stages were close to sixty meters long.
The Sword Discourse Arena was the place used by Heavenly Sword Villa disciples for sparring.
It was also where the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament was held.
Currently, the seats around the main stage were already filled with people. In front of each seat was a plaque that indicated the group that was present.
"What happened to you?"
Fen Moli, the grand elder, had a weird expression on his face as he looked at the injured Fen Juecheng.
Fen Juecheng was completely fine yesterday, and now he had a swollen face with bandages around his chest; obviously, he was injured.
This put a frown on Fen Moli's face.
"Elder... I want to kill that trash Yun Che." Not exactly answering his question, Fen Juecheng's eyes burned with the flames of revenge as he added. "Also, capture that bitch Cang Yue! I will personally torture her and make a slave out of her!"
Fen Moli's eyes widened.
Not only him, but people beside him also looked at Juecheng with surprised gazes.
All of them knew how Fen Juecheng was fascinated by Cang Yue.
Now hearing venom in his tone and seeing the injuries, they knew something happened last night, which resulted in Fen Juecheng being not only wounded but also hostile towards Cang Yue and Yun Che.
"Did he hurt you?"
But it didn't make sense to Fen Moli.
Obviously, he had seen Yun Che before and couldn't feel any profound strength in him. He didn't believe that a person without any profound strength was able to injure Fen Juecheng. It must be someone else!
"This bastard dared to put his hands on the woman that I, Fen Juecheng, favored! Not only that, he dared to act so arrogant and disdainful towards me! How can I live with such humiliation?! If this were to be known to others, what face would I have to show then?"
Fen Moli remained quiet for some time before he looked towards the place where Blue Wind Profound Palace people stood.
Normally, seven people sat behind each plaque. But for Blue Wind Imperial Palace, there were only a pathetic number of four.
The moment he looked there, he saw Yun Che also look at him, giving him a smile, which made Fen Moli narrow his gaze.
"Bear it for now then," he replied. "We can deal with the brat anytime, but the same can't be said for Cang Yue. Even though she doesn't hold any power herself, she is still the princess of the Blue Wind Empire. If we made a move against her, Heavenly Sword Villa would definitely investigate the matter."
"Do you want me to live with this humiliation then?" Fen Juecheng glared at Fen Moli in anger. Right now, he wanted nothing but to tear the faces of both Yun Che and Cang Yue!
"I'm not saying that," Fen Moli replied emotionlessly. "The King doesn't have much to live for. Once he is dead, we can make our move. With how unstable the situation is within the palace, they won't put much thought into the disappearance of the irrelevant princess who vanished after the death of her father. Heavenly Sword Villa would also ignore it, since their allegiance to protect is for the King, not his whole family. At that time, we can just capture her and imprison her within the underground prison at our sect. You can do whatever you want with her then."
"As for Yun Che…" He narrowed his gaze before snorting. "Just kill him after the tournament."
"Good!" Fen Juecheng nodded with a smirk, already imagining different ways to torture Cang Yue.
"Did something happen between you and people from the Burning Heaven Clan?" Feeling the hostile gazes that the people of Burning Heaven Clan threw towards them, Qiu Wushang inquired with a frown.
"Hm? Nothing, just an irrelevant group. Ignore them." Yun Che nonchalantly replied. "Let them scheme whatever they want, not like it's going to yield any result for them."
Qiu Wushang sighed, hearing him.
He knew how mysterious Yun Che was and how he boosted Cang Yue's strength in just mere four months.
He believed in Yun Che and didn't ask any further regarding the topic.
Just then, a loud and clear sound of screeching swords was heard from midair.
Everyone lifted their heads instinctively and saw that there were suddenly a hundred swords about three hundred meters above them.
The floating swords seemed to have a mind of their own and started dancing around in the sky.
The screeching sounds of the swords broke the silence of the skies, and the sounds were extremely sharp.
After circling the stage for a few rounds, they halted in midair above the main seat and arranged themselves neatly.
Below the floating swords, a white-bearded elder walked out slowly, greeted with cupping fists, and spoke in a clear voice.
"This old one is Heavenly Sword Villa's Sword Baptizing Pavilion's Elder Ling Wugou. I am glad to meet all the heroes and outstanding youths today. I represent our Villa to thank everyone for turning up at Heavenly Sword Villa. This year's Blue Wind Ranking Tournament…"
Yun Che's eyes narrowed seeing Ling Wugou, giving off a golden shimmer.
He still hadn't forgotten how this old man had used them as bait to escape from the two flood-dragons.
Now seeing him acting all high and mighty made him snort with dissatisfaction.
"Is something wrong, Brother Yun?" Feeling Yun Che's mood lowering, Cang Yue, who was quite aware of Yun Che's emotions, looked towards him with a worried gaze and inquired.
"No." Thinking for a while, Yun Che shook his head. "I just hate that old man."
"Why?" It was Qiu Wushang who raised a surprised brow and inquired. "Ling Wugou is known for his fair and just behavior. He doesn't joke around, and even within the Heavenly Sword Villa, he is a well-respected figure. Even Ling Yuefeng, the Villa Master, shows respect towards him. Do you have a past with him?"
"Humph. This old monkey used me and one of my wives as bait to escape from the attack of two flood-dragons within the Wasteland of Death. What fair and just? Isn't it all an act to hide his true nature?"
Qiu Wushang, Cang Yue, and Yuanba all had astonished expressions. They collectively looked towards Ling Wugou and couldn't believe that a publicly known respected figure like Ling Wugou was nothing but a scam.
Cang Yue's eyes narrowed, and she looked towards Ling Wugou with a dissatisfied expression.
In her mind, she had already labeled him as someone who needed to be punished in the future.
She didn't have the power to do so right now, but once she did, she would definitely make him repay what he did to her Brother Yun.
Seemingly aware of Cang Yue's thoughts, Yun Che placed his hand over her head, causing her expression to crumble and change into a gentle and soft one.
He didn't say anything, nor did he ask her to stop whatever she was planning in her mind regarding Ling Wugou.
Though he didn't care much about the topic, since he was sure it was the Ancestral Goddess who planned all of this, that didn't mean he was going to let him go just like that.
He had planned to kill him, but now, seeing Cang Yue's expression, he decided to let her deal with him instead.
Either way, he had no goodwill towards the Heavenly Sword Villa to begin with. He knew their good nature was just a facade presented to the public.
The moment things became serious, they would be the first ones to pull out, just like how they did in the original when the Phoenix Empire attacked the Blue Wind Empire and killed Cang Wanhe.
He didn't hate cowardly people, but he definitely didn't appreciate backstabbing. It was one of the things where he drew a line.
As he was patting Cang Yue on the head, he felt stares on him, some filled with hostility and others with annoyance; the ones filled with hostility obviously were from Fen Juecheng and his group. The ones filled with annoyance, on the other hand...
Yun Che looked towards the Frozen Profound Palace plaque and found Yuechan looking towards him.
Her eyes were filled with blatant annoyance, which wasn't hidden from him in the slightest.
This caused him to smirk. He enjoyed the reactions from Yuechan, especially when their gazes met and she hurriedly turned them away from him.
"For a frozen fairy, she sure acts cute..."
Just then, Ling Wugou also reached the end of the briefing.
"This year's Blue Wind Ranking Tournament's witness comes from the Profound Sky Continent's Four Great Sacred Grounds — Mighty Heavenly Sword Region's Elder Ling Kun! With Elder Ling Kun's strength and birthplace, I believe no one would doubt Elder Ling Kun's qualifications and authority."
The place suddenly buzzed with voices, and people had their eyes open wide with astonishment and fear.
In the Blue Wind Empire, the name "Sacred Ground" was enough to put immense invisible pressure on their hearts; the same was true for the people from the Four Major Sects!
As Ling Wugou's voice fell, a green-attired middle-aged man stood up beside him and nodded slightly.
The moment he stood up, like an invisible attraction, everyone's gaze was attracted to him.
Just by him standing there, they felt their bodies becoming heavy! They couldn't even tell what his profound strength was!
Staring at him, Yun Che's eyes narrowed.
He suddenly remembered how this Ling Kun sold Qingyue's information to the young master from the Sun Moon Divine Hall, another Sacred Ground, which later led to the Thousand Years Calamity for the Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace.
Sadly, Yun Che had no plan for letting the same thing originally happen this time.
Though he could not stop him directly, that did not mean he would stay idle when the time came.
By then, Yun Che knew he could probably sweep the floor with the Four Sacred Grounds alone! And with his skills, it wouldn't even take much time to begin with!
After that, Ling Wugou proceeded to explain the rewards for the Ranking Tournament, which Yun Che ignored since he could create a better weapon than whatever reward they were going to give him.
Either way, he knew the reason why they put a Sky Profound Ranked Armor as the first prize was that they were already aware that Ling Yun would win the tournament, and it would be in his possession.
In other words, it was all a facade put together to give the Sky Profound ranked armor to Ling Yun in front of everybody.
Meanwhile, Ling Wugou continued with his announcement.
"Top ten forces in the ranking tournament, after the tournament, will be qualified to explore the 'Heaven Basin Secret Realm' in teams. The top ten forces in the ranking tournament, after the exploration of the 'Heavenly Basin Secret Realm,' will have the opportunity to see the 'Demon' Sealing Ritual carried out personally by Elder Ling Kun of the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region with their own eyes."
Ignoring people's murmurs, Ling Wugou finally announced.
"The time has come. Now, this old man declares; this session of the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament officially begins!"
Hearing this, Cang Yue smirked.
Finally, it was time for her to show the world how awesome her Brother Yun was!
...
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