Chapter 211 – Second Round of Group Stages
“It looks like you must have had various strange encounters that allowed to you to greatly reform your body. This is due to your good luck.” Chu Yueli slightly nodded: “From now on, I believe that Qingyue will be more relieved. But…” Her gaze grew cold: “I hope you won’t forget about the status of Frozen Cloud Asgard disciples and moreover, won’t forget why Frozen Cloud Asgard permitted her marriage to you. I don’t want you to harbor any intentions that you should not have just because you no longer have crippled profound veins.”
Yun Che smiled indifferently and said: “Senior should be at ease. With respect to Qingyue, Junior only has unlimited admiration and gratitude. Junior would definitely not do anything that would ever inconvenience her.”
Even though those words were meant to deal with Chu Yueli, but behind her back, they actually had a second meaning… To never inconvenience her, as for whether or not she would be inconvenienced, hmm…
Chu Yueli took a glance at Chu Yuechan. She knew that Chu Yuechan had an aloof nature and did not like to socialize with others. She immediately said: “Let’s go.”
“Yuanba, take good care of yourself and father.” Xia Qingyue told Xia Yuanba in a gentle voice. A pair of beautiful eyes swept across Yun Che’s face and then turned to leave with Chu Yuechan and Chu Yueli.
“Awhh… Big sis, I still have so many things to tell you ! “
Yun Che held back Xia Yuanba who was trying to chase after his sister and shook his head : “That’s enough Yuanba, do not go over there. The day that she became a Frozen Cloud Asgard disciple, she could no longer be considered a member of the Xia family. Even after disciples of the Frozen Cloud Asgard Palace die, their bodies eternally remain within Asgard.”
“Oh.” Xia Yuanba nodded his head. No one could tell whether he really understood. His lips curled up in a laugh: “No matter, at least brother-in-law is still here. When big sis went there for two years, you already became so powerful. She will definitely be very happy.”
“…” Yun Che was suddenly left speechless for a long time by Xia Yuanba’s big heart.
“I heard that the ones leading the Frozen Cloud Asgard team this time, are the Fairy of Frozen Glass, Chu Yueli, and the Fairy of Frozen Beauty, Chu Yuechan, who has not made a public appearance in a long time. The one by Chu Yueli’s side should be the Chu Yuechan who pulled the souls and plagued the dreams of uncountable handsome and outstanding youths in the past.” Cang Yue walked over and said : “Too bad she’s wearing a veil. I would really like to see how beautiful “Blue Wind’s Number One Beauty”, whom my father has been harping about for half his life, is.”
“This Fairy of Frozen Beauty is as cold and aloof as rumored. Simply looking at her for a while makes me feel like my soul is getting frozen, giving me no confidence to go up and speak to her.” Cang Yue gently petted her chest. Chu Yuechan’s incomparably cold attitude left her an immeasurably deep impression. She carefully said: “However it’s strange. It’s rumored that she usually stays at the Frozen Cloud Asgard, and has never left for a few years or even a few decades now. It’s harder for someone to meet her than to ascend to heaven. Why did she choose to come to this particular ranking tournament?”
“…Perhaps the Frozen Cloud Asgard was too dull for too long so she came out to get a breath of fresh air.” Yun Che randomly said, before sighing faintly in his heart. A while ago, he had been looking at Chu Yuechan continuously, hoping to catch her gaze. Even if his target was cold and unfeeling, any apathetic glance would do… but Chu Yuechan concentrated on her tasks from beginning to end and was as cold as an ice statue. The face behind the veil was serene and completely ignored his existence.
The way she was ignoring him was worse than if she simply had no feelings.
“But I still get the feeling that Chu Yuechan seems to be stealing glances at you.” Cang Yue suddenly said.
“Stealing glances… at me?” Yun Che’s mouth grew wide open: “She was clearly just standing there without even moving, how do you know that she’s stealing glances at me?”
Cang Yue’s small head was shocked. After thinking it through for a while, with an entirely serious face, she replied: “A woman’s intuition.”
Yun Che: “Pfft…..”
——————————————
“In this boundless universe, there just aren’t any impossible miracles. Even a person who originally had completely crippled profound veins managed to show a shocking performance at this ranking tournament in not even two years. Looks like I had been staring at the sky from the bottom of the well when I stayed in Frozen Cloud Asgard for these past years..”
Chu Yueli sighed as she lamented. Clearly, Yun Che’s dramatic transformation had given her a big shock.
“Elder sister, do you know of any method in this world that would let a person whose profound veins which had been destroyed since they were young, be completely restored?” Chu Yueli faced Chu Yuechan and asked. However, even after waiting for quite a while, she did not get a reply. Chu Yuechan looked straight ahead, the light in her eyes like the reflection of a clear pool of still water, completely without ripples. It seemed like she did not not even hear what she had said at all.
“Elder sister?”
Chu Yuechan still did not respond.
Chu Yueli no longer said anything… Ever since Chu Yuechan suddenly left the palace half a year ago and came back, she suddenly seemed to have become a different person. Even as her younger sister who understood her the most, she could not guess what she was thinking at all.
Behind her, Shui Wushuang and Wu Xuexin gathered around Xia Qingyue on her left and right, having a private conversation.
“Junior Sister Xia, is that really your brother? The difference between you siblings is really great. You have such a soft and weak body but your brother is like a small giant.”
“That Yun Che is the person that you married? It’s such a surprise to have met him here. However, he’s actually quite good looking… Junior Sister Xia, the reason you persisted in marrying him, was it because you actually like him just a little bit?”
Xia Qingyue gently shook her head: “The only reason I married him was to fulfill the promise my father made in the past and because of my gratitude about his father’s rescue that saved my life. Since I have already become a disciple of Frozen Cloud Asgard, how could I have developed feelings for him?”
Having said to here, her mind flashed to a scene of when she saw Yun Che for the first time. He was walking together with a maid who had an elegant air and a pretty face, and they were obviously quite close. Her heart suddenly felt just a tad uncomfortable… but this uncomfortable feeling was very slight, and it disappeared in a flash.
————————————
On the second and third day, the first round of the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament continued.
In this first round of group stages, Yun Che was indeed quite lucky. In the group of fifty people that he was in, not only were there no disciples from the Four Major Sects, the strongest practitioner was only at the fifth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. But of the six disciples that were at the fifth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, he did not even meet a single one. Within three days, he fought twelve battles and the strongest expert he met was only at the fourth level of the Spirit Profound Realm… With his undefeated streak of twelve wins, he entered the top 300 ranking, entering into the second round of group stage matches.
This result was enough to make anyone drop their spectacles.
“Damn! Even though I admit that this person of the True Profound Realm is much stronger than expected, to even be able to fight with others of a higher realm, but to actually enter into the second round of the group stage with an undefeated streak… This is just too exaggerated.”
“This guy’s luck is just too good. The strongest opponent he met was just at the fourth level of the Spirit Profound Realm. My luck is not as good. Everyone I met was abnormally strong. If I was in his shoes, I would have an undefeated streak too.”
“Forget it. It’s easy talking about it, but getting it done is another matter. Why don’t you try fighting with someone at the third or fourth level of the Spirit Realm while you’re only at the tenth level of the True Profound Realm!?”
“…”
Without any suspense, Xia Qingyue and Ling Yun were also able to clear the first round of group stages with undefeated streaks. Of their twelve rounds, about half their opponents surrendered without a fight. The efficiency simply could not be any higher.
After the first round of group stages ended, Xia Yuanba pumped his fist and cheered. Cang Yue was beaming, and Qin Wushang could not contain his smiles any longer. Even though he was confidence that Yun Che could make it into the second round of group stages, when it finally happened, he was still unable to control his emotions… Because this was the first time ever that the disciples representing the Blue Wind Imperial Family made into the second round of group stages! The first time a disciple entered into the top three hundred rankings!
“I will immediately send news to the Emperor. He will be very happy upon receiving this news. Perhaps if his mood improves greatly then his health might make a turn towards improving.” Qin Wushang said in an incomparably emotional way. Without waiting any further, he found a corner to send news to the Emperor.
“This is too wonderful Junior Brother Yun. You have established a new ranking record for disciples representing the Imperial Family. After Father receives news of this, he will certainly be very happy. If you could reach the top hundred ranks, then even if Father had to return to heaven, he could do so without any regrets… Junior Brother Yun, I sincerely thank you.” A red flush filled Cang Yue’s face. She gently held Yun Che’s hand, as her brows curved into two beautiful crescent moons.
Yun Che was about to say something when he suddenly felt a faintly discernable killing intent drift across his face. With the smile not leaving his face, he gripped Cang Yue’s hands and gently said: “Then… Senior Sister, how do you intend to reward me?”
“Ah? What kind of reward do you want?” Cang Yue blinked her beautiful eyes.
“I want Senior Sister… to kiss me.” Yun Che slightly turned his face and grinned.
“Ah? Right here?” Cang Yue looked around in all four directions and a shade of pink spread across her absolutely beautiful face. Her lips puckered slightly. She suddenly moved forward, left a quick kiss on Yun Che’s face, and then immediately lowered her head with her heart pounding fiercely.
Not far away, Fen Juecheng was looking at Yun Che and Cang Yue. From his hands came a “bang” sound. The second armrest of his chair had been broken in his fury.
“Big bro, what’s the matter?” Upon hearing this sound, Fen Juebi turned his head to ask.
The flesh on Fen Juecheng’s face spasmed. His face, which was originally handsome, now had a sinister air spread throughout. His eyes were filled with a shocking venom : “I’m going to chop this little bastard… in… to… thousands of pieces!!”
————————————
On the fourth day of the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament, the second round of group stages officially started. At the same time, the one thousand and two hundred disciples that were eliminated in the first round went to the secondary venue in the rear hills to compete for the rankings below the top three hundred. It was only that the ranking tournament at the secondary venue had a far smaller audience. Both the quality and atmosphere of the secondary venue could not compare to that of the main venue.
The second round of group stages was likewise held on the thirty little sword arenas. Even though the number of participating disciples were condensed to only three hundred, every person had to fight a full fifteen matches! At the same time, even though this round of group stages was still by “group matches”, the competitors were no longer divided into groups. Everyone’s opponent was no longer restricted to a small range and could be drawn from the entire set of disciples who had entered into the second round. This allowed the highest chance of making sure that everything was fair.
However, there was no such thing as absolute fairness. Even though the second round was not divided into groups, the opponent that was selected for every match was still something to watch out for. If someone originally had the ability to rank within the top hundred but was so unlucky as to encounter opponents from the Four Major Sects for all fifteen of his battles, then he could only cradle his head and cry in pain. There was no way to logically debate against that. And someone else, whose strength was only average but only met opponents who were below average, could manage to win all his battles.
Of course, the chances of either of these two extremes happening were very low. Everyone’s fifteen matches were on the whole bound to be fair and equal.
“Sword Discourse Arena Number Seven, first match. Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che —— versus —— Thunderbolt Lightning Pavilion’s Lei Zhentian!”
The battles at the thirty Sword Discourse Arenas proceeded at the same time. Yun Che’s first opponent was already standing in front of him. With an incomparably stout body, he was only twenty years old but looked like a buff forty year old man. The weapons in his hands were two large round hammers.
The Yun Che who had exploded into the second round of group stages with an undefeated record naturally drew more attention. Looking at his next opponent, everybody’s heart had exactly the same idea: This time, this Yun Che would lose for certain.
He could defeat opponents at the third level of the Spirit Profound Realm and opponents at the fourth level of the Spirit Profound Realm… but no matter how overpowered he was, there must be a limit, and this Lei Zhentian was the Young Pavilion Master of the Thunderbolt Lightning Pavilion from the Northwestern Reaches of the Mighty Jolt Region! His profound strength was at the sixth level of the Spirit Profound Realm! The Twin Thunderbolt Hammers he held in his hands were sufficient to smash a large boulder into small pieces. If smashed onto a person’s head it would directly turn them into pulp.
“Junior Brother Yun, do your best…” Cang Yue gripped the hem of her skirts with both hands and nervously mumbled.