4: The dashing son of the sect leader (Part 3)

The preliminary rounds of the Divine Martial Grand Competition kicked off simultaneously across dozens of massive Martial Arenas in the Imperial Capital.

The crowds were like mountains and seas, and the roar of the voices was heaven-shaking.

Li Yun stood beneath Arena No. 73, a relatively remote spot, looking completely inconspicuous.

The name of the Qingyun Sect here was like a drop of water merging into a great river; it couldn't even cause a ripple.

"Next match, Arena No. 73: Li Yun of the Qingyun Sect."

"Versus Murong Zhaoxue of Ling Tian Academy."

The voice transmitted from the Amplification Formation caused a momentary silence in the originally noisy area.

Immediately after, there was an even greater uproar.

"Murong Zhaoxue? Did I hear that right? One of the top three favorites for the Grand Competition?"

"Who's the unlucky bastard facing Goddess Murong? Li Yun? Qingyun Sect? What on earth is that? Never even heard of it."

"This guy's luck is too rotten. Meeting the female Devil Head in the first round? A one-round trip is guaranteed."

"Poor fellow, he probably won't even last a single move."

On the stands, Mu Yan's face turned pale instantly as he gripped the railing tightly.

"It's over, it's over. How could he draw her!"

Jiang Yiyi was also tense, her fists clenched and her eyes filled with worry.

Amidst looks of sympathy and schadenfreude, Li Yun remained calm and stepped onto the arena.

At the other end, a figure in white drifted onto the stage.

She carried a long sword on her back and had a cold expression; standing there alone, she seemed completely out of place with the surrounding clamor.

She was Murong Zhaoxue.

Her gaze didn't even linger on Li Yun, possessing an air of supreme arrogance.

The referee announced loudly.

"Match start!"

Before the voice had even faded.

Murong Zhaoxue moved.

There was no testing, nor any superfluous movements.

Her sword left its sheath.

A blinding sword light tore through the air, aimed directly at Li Yun's throat.

Fast.

Extremely fast.

Ninety-nine percent of the Disciples below the stage couldn't even see how she had drawn her sword.

Everyone thought the match was already over.

However, Li Yun's body twisted at an angle incomprehensible to an ordinary person.

The sword's edge grazed the skin of his neck, drawing a string of tiny blood droplets.

He had dodged it.

For the first time, a flicker of surprise flashed in Murong Zhaoxue's eyes.

This strike of hers contained the prototype of her Sword Intent; among those of the same level, no one should have been able to dodge it.

This unknown nobody had actually dodged it.

Li Yun gave her no time to think.

The moment he dodged, he closed in on her.

He had no weapon.

His fists were his strongest weapons.

A punch, like a dragon piercing through.

Murong Zhaoxue held her sword horizontally to parry.

"Clang!"

The sound of clashing metal was so loud it made people's eardrums ache.

A massive force traveled through the blade, and Murong Zhaoxue couldn't help but retreat half a step.

Her surprise deepened.

The battle instantly reached a fever pitch.

Sword light.

Fist shadows.

On the arena, the two figures moved so fast that afterimages appeared.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

The one-sided slaughter they had anticipated did not happen.

That Li Yun from an unknown Sect was actually fighting Murong Zhaoxue to a standstill.

No.

Looking closely, he even seemed to have a slight upper hand.

Murong Zhaoxue's sword techniques were exquisite and her spiritual power was vast.

But Li Yun's combat style exceeded everyone's understanding.

Every one of his movements seemed like instinct.

Anticipation.

Parrying.

Counter-attacking.

There wasn't a single wasted motion; every strike landed exactly where Murong Zhaoxue was most uncomfortable.

He was like a battle-hardened veteran of the sands, instructing a green recruit.

"How... how is this possible?"

The leading Elder of Ling Tian Academy suddenly stood up from his seat.

He could see clearly.

Murong Zhaoxue was being suppressed.

It wasn't a suppression of cultivation level.

It was a total suppression of experience, technique, and combat awareness!

"Bang!"

Li Yun seized a flaw and printed a palm strike onto Murong Zhaoxue's shoulder.

Murong Zhaoxue let out a muffled groan and flew backward, her long sword slipping from her hand.

Li Yun's figure followed her like a shadow.

Before she landed, he appeared behind her and tapped a finger against the center of her back.

The match was decided.

Li Yun withdrew his finger and took two steps back.

The entire venue was silent.

One could hear a pin drop.

Everyone's eyes were wide, unable to believe the scene they had just witnessed.

He won?

Li Yun, at the ninth level of the Spirit Nurturing Realm, had defeated Murong Zhaoxue, who was at the Half-step Spirit Transformation Realm?

Murong Zhaoxue stood in place, her body stiff.

She lowered her head, making it impossible to see her expression.

"I lost..."

Her voice carried a hint of trembling.

"I actually lost to a Disciple from an unknown Sect..."

"And his cultivation is even lower than mine..."

"Sob..."

In the next second.

Amidst the dead silence and under the gaze of thousands of eyes.

This favored daughter of Ling Tian Academy, the dream lover of countless youths in the Empire.

Cried.

Li Yun was stunned.

The referee was stunned.

The entire audience was stunned.

What was the situation?

While crying, Murong Zhaoxue picked up her sword and ran off the arena without looking back.

Leaving everyone flabbergasted.

After that day, the entire Empire went crazy.

All sorts of ridiculous rumors began to fly everywhere.

《Shocking! Imperial Goddess Murong Zhaoxue Publicly Made to Cry by an Unknown Nobody!》

《Fall of a Genius? No, It's the Love-Hate Entanglement Between an Overbearing Sect Son and the Ice Goddess!》

《Insiders Reveal: Li Yun Abandoned Murong Zhaoxue; the Latter Couldn't Bear the Humiliation and Shed Tears on the Field!》

Li Yun's name spread throughout the Empire.

Accompanying it were a series of bizarre titles like "The Tough Guy Who Made the Goddess Cry" and "The Heartbreaker."

Outside the inn where he stayed, people blocked the door every day.

"Li Yun! Come out! What did you do to our goddess!"

"Li Yun! The grudge of stealing my wife is irreconcilable!"

Li Yun was very troubled.

He had just won a single match.

However, with his outstanding performance in subsequent matches, he eventually secured a spot in the top ten of the Grand Competition, winning a huge reward for the Qingyun Sect and himself.

Two years later.

The resources had long been exhausted.

Li Yun's cultivation had reached the Spirit Transformation Realm, Second Level.

Progress was extremely slow.

That invisible ceiling had appeared again.

Among the geniuses who entered the top ten with him back then, even the worst was now at the Spirit Transformation Realm, Third Level.

Li Yun didn't really care.

Married life was very peaceful.

He and Jiang Yiyi had already wed.

On this day, an uninvited guest arrived at the Li residence.

Li Yun looked at the person before him, somewhat surprised.

White clothes, a long sword, and a cold face.

It was Murong Zhaoxue.

After two years, her aura was even more powerful.

Spirit Transformation Realm, Fifth Level.

This was a true favored daughter of heaven.

"I've come to find you for another fight."

Murong Zhaoxue's tone was bone-chillingly cold.

Over the past two years, the outside rumors had driven her nearly mad.

Today, she wanted to wipe away her previous humiliation.

Li Yun sighed.

"You're already at the Spirit Transformation Realm, Fifth Level, while I'm only at the Second Level. How can we fight?"

"I don't care!"

Murong Zhaoxue drew her sword.

"Today, you must fight me!"

Li Yun was helpless.

He felt that if he didn't agree, this woman might tear his house down.

The two of them went to an open space outside the city.

No referee, no audience.

The battle was on the verge of breaking out.

The result was without suspense.

In the face of absolute Realm suppression, no amount of combat experience seemed anything but pale.

Li Yun used every trick in his book.

He brought the killing techniques accumulated over two lifetimes to their absolute limit.

He was like a small boat in the middle of raging waves.

Liable to capsize at any moment.

Yet, he always managed to stabilize himself at the most dangerous of junctures, narrowly escaping peril.

Three hundred moves.

He stubbornly held on for three hundred moves against Murong Zhaoxue.

Finally, he was swatted away by a sword strike, his spiritual power exhausted, unable to stand again.

"I lost."

Li Yun lay on the ground, panting heavily.

Murong Zhaoxue stood before him, looking down at him from above.

She had won.

She had finally proven herself.

She should be happy.

But for some reason, her eyes turned red again.

Li Yun looked at her, his head full of question marks.

"Wait, you won, what are you crying for?"

This question was like lighting a powder keg.

Murong Zhaoxue's tears kept falling.

She was crying again.

More heartbrokenly than the last time.

Li Yun was completely dumbfounded.

He totally couldn't understand this woman's logic.

Only Murong Zhaoxue herself understood.

It was too humiliating!

Two years ago, when the difference in their Realms wasn't large, losing could be blamed on the opponent's cunning.

But now, she was three whole sub-Realms higher than Li Yun!

A Spirit Transformation Realm, Fifth Level, fighting a Second Level!

And she actually let the opponent last three hundred moves before winning!

If this got out, how could she show her face!

This was more embarrassing than losing outright!

Murong Zhaoxue ran away crying.

Ran away again.

Li Yun lay on the ground, watching her back, feeling his heart grow weary.

The next day.

New rumors swept through the Empire once more.

《Old Flames Rekindled? Li Yun and Goddess Murong's Private Tryst in the Wilderness!》

《Goddess Sheds Tears Again! Is it the Joy of Reconciliation, or the Sorrow of Being Abandoned?》

《Exclusive Reveal: Li Yun Two-Timing; the Empire's Twin Beauties Turn Against Each Other for Him!》

Another debt was added to Li Yun's account.

Back at home, Jiang Yiyi looked at him and said faintly.

"Husband, if you truly like that Miss Murong, it's not impossible for me to let her be your concubine."

Li Yun shuddered.

That night, Li Yun desperately explained and worked hard to prove himself.

Only then did he barely manage to dispel Jiang Yiyi's resentment.

But Li Yun was indeed as tired as a dead dog and had to recover for several days.

Another year of married life passed.

Li Yun successfully stepped into the Spirit Transformation Realm, Third Level.

On this day, he opened his eyes from cultivation.

A sharp light flashed and vanished.

He stood up, walked to the window, and looked in the direction of Qingyang City.

It was time.