54: Smoke and Clouds Force the Palace

The highly anticipated individual Ranking Battle finally kicked off.

At this moment, ten immensely huge Arenas had been erected on the summit of Beixuan Peak, allowing multiple Ranking Battles to be conducted simultaneously, which greatly improved the efficiency of the competition.

"Chener, for this individual Ranking Battle, I only have one requirement for you, and that is to ensure your own safety," Dongfang Yunbing instructed with a solemn expression.

"I will be careful, thank you for your concern, Revered Master," Yang Lingchen responded.

"The same goes for you all. If you encounter a powerful enemy you cannot defeat, you may choose to concede; do not try to force it," Dongfang Yunbing said as she turned her gaze to the others.

"Yes, Palace Revered Master," everyone replied with great respect.

Just then, the eye-catching Ranking Battle officially began.

Yang Lingchen's first opponent was a Disciple from the Lingxuan Sect who was at the first layer of the Entering Profound Realm.

This person had already witnessed Yang Lingchen's powerful strength firsthand at the banquet in the Crown Princes Residence, so after exchanging a few rounds with Yang Lingchen, he wisely chose to concede.

Yang Lingchen's luck in the first round was quite good; all five members of Heavenly Origin Palace successfully won their matches.

Especially Lin Yurou and Ling Yanyun; their opponents in the first round were not very strong, and after a difficult battle, both women ultimately won.

Soon, the second round of matches began, and this time, Yang Lingchen's opponent was actually Feng Zijun.

To his surprise, Feng Zijun chose to concede directly from off the Arena, not giving Yang Lingchen any chance to deal with him.

Soon, Yang Lingchen's third match began, and this time his opponent was Zhang Zichen from the Tiantian Sect.

This person's strength was at the Peak of the third layer of the Entering Profound Realm, on par with Nangong Xiao, but the way he looked at him was full of hostility.

"Brat, This Young Master will let you know today how serious the consequences of offending Young Miss Qimeng are," Zhang Zichen's voice was extremely cold, and his gaze was arrogant, as if he did not take Yang Lingchen seriously at all.

"You idiot, why do anything else when you could choose to be a humble simp?" Yang Lingchen said irritably.

"Stinky brat! You are courting death."

Hearing Yang Lingchen say the word "simp," Zhang Zichen's face twisted instantly.

He had indeed been pursuing Luo Qimeng for a long time, but Luo Qimeng's attitude toward him was neither rejection nor acceptance, so for these past few years, he had truly been circling around Luo Qimeng like a simp.

Zhang Zichen brandished the battle sword in his hand and slashed fiercely toward Yang Lingchen; the battle sword carried an incomparably sharp Aura, as if it were about to tear the air apart.

Yang Lingchen did not dare to be the slightest bit careless; currently, his strength could at most rival the Peak of the third layer of the Entering Profound Realm.

Unless he used a powerful trump card like the immortal demon sword or the Soul Devouring Slash, it would be difficult for him to defeat his opponent in a short time.

Yang Lingchen intended to use the immortal demon sword and the Soul Devouring Slash to deal with the Geniuses of the Northern Profound Empire, so for now, he could only try his best to stall for time against his opponent.

As the two battle swords clashed, streaks of sharp Sword Qi continuously slashed toward the other.

In the blink of an eye, the two had fought intensely for seventy or eighty rounds, with neither gaining much of an advantage.

"Simp, is this the serious consequence you were talking about?" Yang Lingchen took the opportunity to mock him.

"You ignorant thing, how dare you mock This Young Master."

Zhang Zichen clearly had a much stronger mentality than Sikong Jie; he didn't care about Yang Lingchen's mockery at all and continued to attack Yang Lingchen crazily.

As the battle continued, because Zhang Zichen's fighting style was lethal with every strike, Yang Lingchen gradually lost his patience.

Seeing that the opponent was determined to fight to the death, Yang Lingchen directly launched a Soul attack.

In an instant, an invisible Soul Devouring Slash attacked Zhang Zichen's Soul.

"Boom...!"

Instantly, Zhang Zichen fell into a brief trance.

"Swish... swish... swish...!"

Just then, Yang Lingchen slashed out with a wave of Sword Qi; the Sword Qi carried a dazzling light and instantly flashed across Zhang Zichen's neck.

"Bang...!"

Zhang Zichen's body fell heavily to the ground, completely losing its breath.

At the same time, the eyes of Tiantian Sect Leader Duanmu Ce were incomparably cold; Zhang Zichen was his most outstanding Disciple, and he never expected him to die on the Arena just like that.

If it weren't for the fact that the Great General Who Suppresses Heaven was on the scene, he would have likely charged up there and torn the person who killed his Disciple into pieces.

At this moment, the scene was silent.

No one expected that only three matches into the Ranking Battle, a death would occur.

As for Luo Qimeng off the stage, there was not much fluctuation on her face; she continued to stare coldly at Yang Lingchen.

Originally, Yang Lingchen did not want to kill anyone, but Zhang Zichen clearly had strong murderous intent toward him. Since you want to kill me, there is no need for me to spare your life.

The battle continued, and subsequently, Yang Lingchen won seven more matches in a row, successfully achieving a ten-match winning streak, ending the first day of combat early.

On the Heavenly Origin Palace side, Ling Yanyun and Lin Yurou both had three wins and seven losses, while Dongfang Jie and Sikong Jie were still in intense battles.

At this time, Yang Lingchen noticed that Ling Yanyun seemed to be slightly injured and was resting on the side.

He hurriedly walked over, took out a few healing pills, and asked with concern: "Sister Yanyun, are you alright!"

"I don't need the concern of a playboy like you."

Ling Yanyun's voice was cold and clear, with no intention of paying any attention to Yang Lingchen.

"How did I become a playboy?" Yang Lingchen's tone was obviously lacking confidence.

"This Young Lady has already sworn to be your woman, so why did you still go and flirt with Nangong Yan?" Ling Yanyun looked at Yang Lingchen with resentful eyes.

"Sister Yanyun, you really didn't need to take that oath seriously!"

Yang Lingchen felt a headache coming on; that time he was just joking, wanting to tease this girl, but in this situation, it seemed like she had taken it seriously.

"Yang Lingchen, was it you who forced This Young Lady to swear that day?" Ling Yanyun looked at Yang Lingchen with unkind eyes.

Yang Lingchen felt creeped out by her gaze, so he admitted: "Yes."

"Since it was you who forced This Young Lady to swear, what do you mean now? Do you not want me anymore?"

Ling Yanyun's eyes were slightly moist as she looked straight at Yang Lingchen.

"No... that's not it," Yang Lingchen said in a low voice. "How could I not want you?"

"Then do you like me or not?" Ling Yanyun asked, looking at Yang Lingchen with eyes full of expectation.

"I... do," Yang Lingchen said after a moment of hesitation.

As the number one beauty of Heavenly Origin Palace, Ling Yanyun possessed a beauty and temperament that made countless men infatuated with her.

To say he didn't like such a beauty would definitely be a lie.

It's just that Yang Lingchen was very troubled now; he didn't know if Dongfang Yunbing would punish him for this.

Regarding Dongfang Yunbing, Yang Lingchen felt both great affection and fear in his heart.

"Then between me and Nangong Yan, who will be the big one and who will be the small one?" Ling Yanyun said with a coy rebuke.

She was still very concerned about this point; in this world, the order of women was related to status and position.

"Sister Yanyun, let's discuss this issue later! You should take the healing pill first."

Yang Lingchen could only change the subject; he really couldn't answer this question.

"Then feed me," Ling Yanyun's voice was very tender.

"Alright."

Yang Lingchen hadn't expected that Ling Yanyun acting coquettishly would be so cute.

Not long after, the battles of Dongfang Jie and Sikong Jie also ended; both of them achieved a record of five wins and five losses.

Subsequently, led by Dongfang Yunbing, the group returned to the Heavenly Origin Palace base.

To everyone's surprise, Ling Yanyun held Yang Lingchen's arm the entire way, and she looked very sweet.

After returning to the base, Yang Lingchen went back to his room to Cultivate, because now was the critical moment of the Grand Competition, so he didn't want to waste a single moment.

After returning to his room, Yang Lingchen was just preparing to enter the haotian jade space to Cultivate when a stunningly beautiful figure suddenly appeared in the room.

"Mas... Revered Master," Yang Lingchen said nervously.

At this moment, he was a little panicked in his heart; just now on the road, Ling Yanyun had been holding him the whole time.

Now, Dongfang Yunbing's face was obviously very cold, and he didn't know if she would punish him.

"What are you nervous about?" Dongfang Yunbing's voice was cold and clear.

"No... nothing," Yang Lingchen hurriedly lowered his head.

"Get over here," Dongfang Yunbing said with a fierce gaze and a cold voice.

"Yes..." Yang Lingchen walked over tremblingly.

At this moment, Dongfang Yunbing suddenly reached out and grabbed him.

"Ah... Revered Master, spare me, I was wrong." Immediately, cold sweat broke out on Yang Lingchen's forehead.

Although Dongfang Yunbing hadn't used much force yet, the Aura on her body was very sharp, and Yang Lingchen was afraid that if she became unhappy, he would really be in big trouble.