Chapter 104: Ziyan Takes the Stage

“Hehehe, Brother Xu, your young master’s aptitude is impressive! With his Fourth Layer of Qi Refining Stage strength, he could actually trade blows evenly with my daughter at the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining!” On the high platform, Yang Rui laughed without a trace of sincerity in his smile.

“Hehehe, Lin’er is merely fierce and brave. In terms of inner energy depth, he’s still far from matching your daughter!” Xu Haoran’s smile did not reach his eyes either.

From behind the crowd, Xu Ziyan watched the figures of Xu Lin and Yang Linglong on the dueling platform, her brow slightly furrowed. She could now see that the True Essence in Xu Lin’s body was being depleted very severely. This was shown by how the flames on his body were no longer as dazzling as they were at the start.

Should she take action? Should she let Yang Linglong show off before the Xu Clan just like that, defeating all the younger generation? But if she acted in this crowd and used talismans, even if she defeated Yang Linglong, it would seem like she won by a cheap method. However, if she didn’t use talismans, she would have to reveal her actual cultivation level. What should she do?

As Xu Ziyan stared at Xu Lin’s back, her brows suddenly lifted. She noticed a faint Qilin phantom gradually appearing behind Xu Lin. It was very faint at first, but slowly a hazy Qilin shadow formed behind Xu Lin.

“Roar~~”

Xu Lin suddenly spread his arms wide, thrust his chest forward, and his eyes turned blood red.

“Roar~~”

The Qilin phantom behind him also lifted its head and let out a long roar. For a moment, the roar echoed over the Central Plaza. A Heavenly Might-like Aura Pressure spread outwards in all directions. Yang Linglong, hovering in the air, suddenly froze. The golden light surrounding her flickered intermittently, sometimes bright, sometimes dim. Xu Lin’s outstretched arms suddenly retracted, and he charged towards Yang Linglong in the air. With his hands moving in a flurry, a huge wind-fire wheel appeared in front of Xu Lin. Xu Lin flipped his hands and shouted,

“Go!”

The wind-fire wheel whistled as it spiraled towards Yang Linglong, aiming to strike her.

“Manifest!”

A golden sheen suddenly appeared on Yang Linglong’s face. She raised both hands sharply, and three huge golden spear phantoms materialized suspended above her head.

“Go!”

With a sharp cry, the three golden spears flew towards the incoming wind-fire wheel in a triangular formation.

The three long spears met the spinning wind-fire wheel. The sound of explosions was continuous, accompanied by a teeth-grating screech that made everyone’s skin crawl. With a deafening blast, amidst a shower of golden light and sparks, Xu Lin’s body shot through the middle. A fist wreathed in flames punched straight at Yang Linglong’s face.

Yang Linglong pushed off with her feet on the flying sword. Her small fist, gleaming with golden light like a spear, met Xu Lin’s punch head-on.

“BOOM~~”

An explosion louder than the previous one erupted between the two. Yang Linglong, standing on her flying sword, was sent spinning backward. Xu Lin, however, lost his footing on his flying sword. His body tumbled through the air before landing heavily on the dueling platform.

Yang Linglong finally steadied her flying sword and stopped in mid-air, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of her mouth. As for Xu Lin, the moment he landed, his body executed a hawk flip and landed on the ground. He staggered backward over a dozen steps before finally stomping his right foot down hard to stabilize himself.

“Clang~~”

Xu Lin’s flying sword fell from the sky and embedded itself in the ground in front of him, vibrating with a continuous “buzzing” sound. Xu Lin straightened his body, raised his head to look at Yang Linglong in the air, and stood perfectly straight. He was like a domineering blade overflowing with killing intent, radiating a sharp light.

“Again…”

Xu Lin had just uttered two words when a mouthful of blood spurted out. The Qilin phantom behind him shattered with a roar. His body swayed and was about to fall. He reached out a hand and grabbed the sword stuck in the ground in front of him, steadying his tottering body. Slowly, he straightened up again, raised his head to look at Yang Linglong who was now flying towards him on her sword, and said with difficulty,

“Again!”

Yang Linglong flew toward Xu Lin on her sword. She was also quite seriously injured internally at this point. But when she experienced Xu Lin’s potential firsthand, she understood why her father wanted her to kill Xu Lin. This person’s potential was too great. With a Fourth Level of Qi Refining Stage cultivation level, he could actually injure her, who was at the Fifth Level of Qi Refining. And what was that phantom behind him? A Qilin? Why did he have a Qilin phantom behind him? If given time to grow, wouldn’t he become a threat? More importantly, Xu Lin’s unyielding fighting spirit made Yang Linglong feel a trace of fear deep inside. Therefore, Yang Linglong now felt killing intent rising in her heart. A flash of ruthlessness crossed her eyes as she endured the pain in her body and flew swiftly toward Xu Lin.

The Xu Clan elders had all sensed Yang Linglong’s killing intent. But if elders interfered in a fight between juniors, especially when Xu Lin hadn’t conceded defeat, it would violate the rules of the cultivation world. Probably, the Yang Family wouldn’t just stand by and watch either. This was something the Xu Clan currently did not want to see. They could only stare with livid faces, glaring angrily at Yang Linglong as she flew toward Xu Lin.

Xu Ziyan, standing behind the crowd, sensed Yang Linglong’s killing intent. She was all too familiar with Yang Linglong’s murderous aura. Back outside Zhongdu City, on that snowy night, she had faced Yang Linglong’s relentless killing intent. So the moment Yang Linglong released that intent, Xu Ziyan inwardly shouted “Not good!” and her figure shot forward. Secretly utilizing her Qi Refining Eighth Layer cultivation, she flew on her sword and reached Xu Lin’s side in an instant.

“So fast! Who is that?”

Everyone on the high platform and below had the same thought flash through their minds. But when Xu Ziyan floated on her sword above the dueling platform, they all felt dizzy simultaneously, experiencing an illusion:

“Was that her just now? Such incredible speed… how could she only be at the First Level of Qi Refining Stage?”

Only Han Yue, who had come with the Han Family Head, felt no surprise. He had witnessed Xu Ziyan’s speed on that snowy night. However, he didn’t know that Xu Ziyan could only achieve that speed, that unity of man and nature, through the Snow Force when it was snowing. Meanwhile, Han Kui, the Han Family Head who had heard Han Yue’s report, raised an eyebrow as he watched, thinking to himself:

“Han Yue indeed did not exaggerate. This girl’s speed is truly astonishing!”

In the air above the dueling platform, Yang Linglong was startled to see a figure suddenly appear in front of Xu Lin. She quickly halted her advance and focused her gaze, finally recognizing Xu Ziyan. A surge of shame and anger welled up inside her. She let out a cold, mocking laugh,

“Xu Ziyan, you’ve finally shown yourself! Today, you and I will settle things right here…”

Before she could finish her sentence, Yang Rui’s voice rang out loudly from the high platform, “Linglong, you’ve already fought one match, and you won. It’s just a friendly exchange between the younger generation of the Four Great Families. Do you really intend, with your Fifth Layer of Qi Refining cultivation, to challenge a junior sister at the First Level of Qi Refining Stage? Step down now!”

All the Xu Clan members’ faces, which were already livid, turned completely dark upon hearing Yang Rui’s words. The Xu Clan higher-ups, especially those who knew Xu Ziyan’s true strength, were so angry their teeth itched. They thought,

“Yang Rui, you old fox! You must have heard from your daughter about Yan’er’s power. Now that Yang Linglong is injured, you don’t dare let her fight Yan’er, afraid she’ll be killed on this dueling platform.”

Among them, Xu Haoliang was probably the one who best understood Xu Ziyan’s strength. So when Xu Haoliang heard Yang Rui’s words, he felt the most uncomfortable. He couldn’t help but blurt out,

“Disciples of our Xu Clan don’t mind challenging those above their level, as long as your Yang Family has the guts to accept!”

On the high platform, Yang Rui remained perfectly calm, showing no reaction to Xu Haoliang’s words. He just used his authoritative gaze to order Yang Linglong to retreat. In contrast, Yang Linglong’s expression changed. After all, she was young and the Northern Region’s Top Talented Maiden. How could her proud heart tolerate such a provocation? However, Yang Linglong, who dominated the Northern Region, was not unintelligent. Naturally, she wouldn’t fight Xu Ziyan who used talismans. After all, even her Uncle Yang Leng, a cultivator at the Twelfth Layer of Qi Refining, had been trapped by Xu Ziyan’s Talisman Array. Therefore, Yang Linglong neither obeyed her father’s command to leave the platform nor immediately engaged Xu Ziyan. Instead, she stared coldly at Xu Ziyan and said,

“Xu Ziyan, do you dare to fight me fairly?”

As soon as these words left her mouth, everyone present was stunned. Yang Linglong was asking for a fair fight with Xu Ziyan? What was going on? A Fifth Layer of Qi Refining cultivator asking for fairness against a First Layer of Qi Refining? Had the world gone mad?

On the high platform, a flicker of amusement passed through Yang Rui’s eyes. He nodded slowly, tacitly approving his daughter’s action. By now, the Xu Clan leaders were furious to the extreme. Of course, they knew what kind of ‘fairness’ Yang Linglong wanted! This was simply shameless to the core! However, the Xu Clan leaders did not speak. They believed that with Xu Ziyan’s intelligence, she would never agree.

On the high platform, Xu Ziyan gave a slight smile. Although her gaze remained fixed on Yang Linglong, she ignored her opponent and instead said softly,

“Brother Lin, how are you?”

There was no sound from Xu Lin behind her. At this moment, Xu Lin’s eyes were wide open, staring straight ahead, but they were lifeless. His body was still ramrod straight, but it seemed stiff. It turned out Xu Lin had already lost consciousness. It was just his unyielding heart that kept him standing upright on the dueling platform.

Hearing no sound from behind, a trace of worry flashed in Xu Ziyan’s eyes. But she still didn’t turn her head. Instead, she watched Yang Linglong’s every move warily, then called out loudly,

“Senior Brother Xu Qi, please come up and carry Brother Lin down!”

A figure shot up from below the platform and landed instantly behind Xu Lin. Seeing Xu Lin’s condition, Xu Qi’s heart ached, his brave eyes filling with tears. He turned his head and glared fiercely at Yang Linglong, then said in a low voice to Xu Ziyan,

“Little Sister Ziyan, be careful. Don’t push yourself too hard!”