Chapter 206 – The Unsurpassable Ling Yun
“Yes.” Yun Che did not ignore Cang Yue’s murmur. He went straight to the point, and replied. “She is Yuanba’s sister, and is also my wife, who married me eighteen months ago. She’s seventeen this year… and her birthdate, is only nine days later than mine.”
But, he was using “Xiao Che’s” birthdate as a reference, and not Yun Che’s birthdate. He was basically unsure of when his birthdate was.
Cang Yue’s lips slightly moved, and then, she softly asked. “Does she… Do you… really not have any feelings for each other?”
This question caused Yun Che to go silent for a long while. Then, he faintly said. “During the few days after our marriage, I once tried to use various methods to nurture her feelings towards me. But, before I could see any results, an incident suddenly happened, which caused me to have no choice but to leave the Xiao Clan. She does not have any feelings towards me. At the very least, she does not possess the type of feelings between a man and woman, but she doesn’t treat me badly. As for me… I don’t dare to say that I don’t have any feelings between a man and woman towards her, at the very least, I can’t help but be attracted by her beauty, the atmosphere around her, and her personality. I even believe that, no matter which man were to get along with her, they will no doubt be attracted to her.”
“But, compared to love, I have more ‘respect’ for her. When she was twelve, she was selected by Frozen Cloud Asgard. She became a disciple of the Frozen Cloud Asgard then, and even their Sect Master valued her greatly. But she still stayed in Floating Cloud City until she was sixteen, and did not head for Frozen Cloud Asgard. Even though she was a girl, she was obsessed with cultivating, her talent was also at the extremely high, but in the key four years of foundation, she forced herself to remain in Floating Cloud City, all for the sake of completing the marriage between us…”
“This action of hers was to fulfil her father’s promise, so as to prevent her father from being known as a man who goes against his words. However, even more so, she did it to protect me, and to protect my grandfather’s reputation… After all, back then, I was still a cripple, yet she was a Frozen Cloud Asgard disciple that all people looked up to. There was a difference of a heaven and earth between us. If anyone from the Frozen Cloud Asgard were to appear, and announce her as a disciple of Frozen Cloud Asgard, she would have been brought away much earlier, and no one would think it to be too much if the marriage promise was broken just like that. No one would have criticized her father for going against his words. Rather, everyone would think it as a logical course of action. After all, compared to placing a fresh flower onto a piece of cow dung, it would be the most normal, most correct, and most definite choice as a person who have received the tender care from the Frozen Cloud Asgard.”
“But she did not do that… the rumors circulating around said that the Xia Family was unwilling to bear the name of a family that goes against their word but I understand that she was grateful towards my father, Xiao Ying, for saving her life, hence, she used four years of her precious time, and accepted our marriage, so as to protect my grandfather’s and my reputation. After the marriage, she still took my dignity into account at all times. When the two of us were alone, she did not allow me to touch a single hair of hers, but when there was someone else present, and I forcefully grabbed onto her hand, she simply endured. She was not willing to harm my dignity in front of others. And she clearly told me that I could take in any concubines, and she would not interfere. If I were to think of having someone else as my legal wife, I could divorce her at any time as well… So, no matter what, I am unable to feel any animosity towards her.”
Cang Yue quietly listened. Her feeling of awkwardness towards Xia Qingyue silently disappeared, and what took over it, was a feeling of admiration from the depth of her heart.
“It’s just that, my ‘relationship’ with her, is probably nothing more than this. And, currently, I have no idea if our names as husband and wife still exist.” Yun Che looked at Xia Qingyue’s back, and sighed.
“Why?” Cang Yue was curious.
“… On the day I left the Xiao Clan, everyone criticized me as trash picked up from somewhere else, that my marriage with Xia Qingyue, was a form of shameless deceit. They forced me to hand over the marriage certificate and tear it off to remove our relationship as husband and wife. I left the Xiao Clan soon afterwards, but before I left, I handed the marriage certificate to Xia Qingyue. As to whether she tore the marriage certificate after that… I do not know.” Yun Che smiled. His smile was stiff, which proved that he did not know of the outcome, but it did not mean that he did not care about it. He had never asked Xia Yuanba about it, because, subconsciously, he did not want to hear the answer that he was not willing to hear.
When Yun Che spoke to there, the sense of discomfort that welled up in Cang Yue’s heart because of Xia Qingyue, had already been completely extinguished. Rather, she hoped that Xia Qingyue did not tear that marriage apart. Because, only that way, would she, under everyone’s eyes, sacrifice herself to protect the very last of Yun Che’s dignity back then. After all, what she genuinely cared about, was not the relationship between Yun Che and Xia Qingyue, but only Yun Che.
The results of the profound strength of the three disciples from Frozen Cloud Asgard were quickly announced:
Shui Wushuang —— 20 years old —— Spirit Profound Realm level nine.
Wu Xuexin —— 20 years old —— Spirit Profound Realm level nine.
The former two Frozen Cloud Asgard disciples’ level of profound strength were not weaker than anyone from the Xiao Sect and Burning Heaven Clan. And from these results, after being startled for a moment, the people from Xiao Sect and Burning Heaven Clan heaved sighs of relief.
“In the previous tournament, Frozen Cloud Asgard came out with a devilish disciple, Mu Lingxue. Her level of profound strength was the highest in the tournament, reaching the peak tenth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, and it was her who defeated Juecheng. Although, in the end, she lost against Ling Yun, back then, Ling Yun had the profound strength at the ninth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. When discussing profound strength alone, no one in the tournament was able to compare to her. But, in this tournament, Frozen Cloud Asgard’s disciple with the highest level of profound strength, is equal to Jin’er, and also equal to Xiao Sect’s Xiao Kuanglei and Xiao Zhen… Hehe, looks like Frozen Cloud Asgard might not be able to protect their position as the runner-up in this tournament.”
The people of Xiao Sect also had the same thought, and Xiao Juetian said with a smile. “In the previous tournament, the disciple from Frozen Cloud Asgard had a high level of profound strength, which obviously pressured us to a certain degree, but this time, it’s actually a tie. Lei’er, looks like, this time, we have overestimated our opponent. The runner-up position, we will definitely obtain it!”
Everyone’s eyes landed on the third Frozen Cloud Asgard disciple, the young girl whose face was covered by a shawl.
Xia Qingyue —— 17 years old —— Spirit Profound Realm level eight.
In that instant, the audience was silent for an entire three seconds, and then, suddenly, a large wave of exclamations was set off. The audience, both old and young, even Ling Yuefeng from the Heavenly Sword Villa, instantly stood up from their seats, and looked at the notification revealed by the Profound Assessing Stone with astonished expressions.
Eighth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. Even though it was an extremely high level, in the four great sects, it was not really exaggerated. What shocked the people was her age… She was only seventeen!
A seventeen year old at the eighth level of the Spirit Profound Realm!
The number one expert in the younger generation, Ling Yun, when he was seventeen, he was also at the ninth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. And this girl’s talent, was actually encroaching upon Ling Yun’s!
“Who is this girl? Xia Qingyue? Why have I never heard of a disciple with this name in the Frozen Cloud Asgard?” Xia Juetian was no longer able to keep his calm, and said with a tight frown. He could not help but admit that, even though his Xiao Sect was powerful and prosperous, he was sure that his sect was unable to bring up a disciple to the eighth level of the Spirit Profound Realm at the mere age of seventeen.
“This old man has never heard of her before either. This girl is only seventeen, she must be a new disciple Frozen Cloud Asgard had accepted in the recent years.” Xiao Wuji said as his brows sank. “With her age, she will definitely be able to participate in the next ranking tournament as well… This old man had thought that the threat posed by Frozen Cloud Asgard has greatly decreased, but I did not expect that they would still possess such an astounding disciple. We must definitely put everything we have in this Ranking Tournament, otherwise, if she were to appear again in the next Ranking Tournament, although this old man is not trying to sell ourselves short, I’m afraid that our Xiao Sect, will not have any disciple capable of going against her.”
Xiao Juetian tightly frowned. He was not able to deny Xiao Wuji’s words at all.
“Eighth level of the Spirit Profound Realm…” Yun Che’s chest rose, as he took in a deep breath. Even he was deeply shocked by Xia Qingyue’s profound strength today.
“Uwaaaah… Big sister is actually… already… so amazing!” Xia Yuanba’s eyes widened roundly, as he let out an exaggerated yell.
“In the younger generation, among the male practitioners, no one is stronger than Ling Yun. This girl called Xia Qingyue, if she were to maintain her talent, before long, she will become number one among the female practitioners.” Qin Wushang sighed. He looked at Xia Yuanba’s figure, and once again sighed in his heart: Xia Qingyue and this guy, are they really siblings? One of them is at the Eighth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, while the other is only at the Elementary Profound Realm, this… this… this…
Not long after Frozen Cloud Asgard, Ling Wugou finally shouted out Heavenly Sword Villa’s name.
“Heavenly Sword Villa —— Ling Yun, Ling Feiyu, Ling Jie.”
At that moment, the Sword Discourse Arena once again quietened down. After all, this was the appearance of Blue Wind Empire’s true number one powerhouse. With Ling Yun taking the lead, he placed his hand on the Profound Assessing Stone.
Ling Yun —— 20 years old —— Earth Profound Realm level three.
Ling Yun slowly removed his hand from the Profound Assessing Stone and slowly left. Without a care about the noise that sounded like the roaring tidal waves surrounding him, his footsteps, his atmosphere, and his expression was as calm as the cool breeze, as though he was a pure and speckless white cloud.
The first Earth Profound Realm practitioner appeared in the Profound Strength Assessment, and at the same time, he was the only one in the entire history of the Profound Strength Assessment. This one and only one, was also not at the beginning level of the Earth Profound Realm, but had also reached the third level.
This level, was like a grenade, exploding in front of the eyes and hearts of the countless participating disciples, causing them to be completely dumbfounded. They could not believe what they saw, and did not regain their senses for a long while. Because, to them, it was basically an incomprehensible reality. A twenty year old at the Earth Profound Realm was so unreal, it was close to being a mythic tale.
In Blue Wind Empire, there were countless of Spirit Profound Realm practitioners. But, the number of Earth Profound Realm practitioners did not even make up a hundredth of that number. Because, when one entered the Earth Profound Realm, not just among the younger generation, but to the entire Blue Wind Empire, it was an actual step into the realm of experts. Even Qin Wuyou, who was also at the Earth Profound Realm, had the qualifications to become an instructor at the Blue Wind Profound Palace. If one were to regard going from Elementary Profound Realm to Nascent Profound Realm, from Nascent Profound Realm to True Profound Realm, from True Profound Realm to Spirit Profound Realm, as crossing over a large Realm, then, from Spirit Profound Realm to the Earth Profound Realm, was basically crossing over a different dimension. Not only did the difficulty of breaking through increase exponentially, even the difficulty of raising one’s profound energy, was several times much harder.
And Ling Yun was only twenty years old. Not only did he step into the Earth Profound Realm, he even reached the third level of the Earth Profound Realm! It was a realm which even a young practitioner who belonged to the upper levels did not dare to think of.
Just by the revelation of his profound energy alone, forget about obtaining victory over any of the disciples from Xiao Sect and Burning Heaven Calan, even if all six of their participating disciples were to go against him together, Ling Yun would probably treat it as child’s play.
In contrast, the astonishment of the people from Xiao Sect and Burning Heaven Clan only lasted for a few moments, before they completely calmed down. The current Ling Yun possessing the power of the Earth Profound Realm, was not something completely unacceptable. There was no other reason, it’s just because he was Ling Yun!
“In the previous tournament, Ling Yun, who was merely seventeen years old, took the top spot with ease. In this tournament, there’s basically no one capable of competing against Ling Yun for it. In the future, he will definitely become another Ling Yuefeng.” Qin Wushang sighed.
“Third level… of the Earth Profound Realm.” The corner of Yun Che’s lips twitched for a couple of times. “This guy, calling him abnormal is simply too courteous.”
After Ling Yun, was Ling Feiyu and Ling Jie.
Ling Feiyu —— 19 years old —— Spirit Profound Realm level nine.
Ling Jie —— 16 years old —— Spirit Profound Realm level six.
The entire audience also shook from the results of the other two beside Ling Yun. Heavenly Sword Villa, was after all, Heavenly Sword Villa.
And Ling Jie, was also the only sixteen year old participating disciple in this Ranking Tournament. Unlike Ling Yun’s calmness like the cloud, he was high-spirited, and his eyes were brimmed with excitement. His look of eagerness looked as though he wished to be able to immediately fight a couple of rounds with someone.
“As expected of Ling Yun’s little brother. This Ling Jie’s progress in this eight months, is not that simple.” Yun Che muttered to himself in his heart.
Right after Heavenly Sword Villa, the name “Blue Wind Imperial Family” finally sounded.
“Blue Wind Imperial Family…” After shouting the name, Ling Wugou suddenly paused. After fixating his eyes on the namelist for a moment, he continued to shout with a weird tone of voice. “Yun Che.”