Chapter 88: Aiming for the First Place, Newcomers Become Famous
In the side hall of the ancient tomb, the atmosphere was tense. The overwhelming pressure of Gao Sheng, a late-stage Spiritual Palace Realm cultivator, surged toward Ye Li like a tide. Behind him, the two disciples of Zhan Kuang Peak blocked his retreat with a sly grin, their weapons flashing coldly. In their view, Ye Li had just endured a tough battle, depleted a significant amount of spiritual energy, and was now trapped.
"Gao Sheng, you're in league with that evil heretic!" Ye Li's eyes were icy, the Mysterious Ice Sword held before her. Although at a disadvantage, her aura remained undiminished. She didn't rush to attack, but instead secretly adjusted her aura while channeling a trace of her spiritual awareness into the Small Zhoutian Star Array.
"You're about to die, yet you still dare to slander me!" Goldman's eyes flashed with murderous intent. "If I kill you, who will know what happened here? If you want to blame someone, blame me for knowing things you shouldn't know and blocking the way you shouldn't have!"
He stopped talking nonsense and suddenly rose up. A flaming sword with a sharp scream that tore through the air came straight at Ye Li's face! It was Zhan Kuangfeng's unique skill, "Burning Heaven Slash"! Before the sword even arrived, the scorching air wave had already caused the temperature in the hall to rise sharply.
The other two disciples also attacked at the same time, one with a sword and the other with a knife, blocking the space for Ye Li to dodge left and right.
Facing the combined attack of three people, Ye Li's eyes flashed with coldness, and instead of retreating, he advanced! "Universe Traceless Step" - Star Flash!
Her figure instantly became blurred. Instead of retreating in a straight line, she appeared behind the sword-wielding disciple on the left at an incredible angle, as if teleporting! Her speed was extremely fast!
The disciple felt a flash before his eyes, and a bone-chilling chill on his back. He was terrified and wanted to turn around, but it was too late!
"Ice Mark!"
Ye Li's fingers were like swords, and he was the first to arrive. The "Ice Soul Sealing Heaven Finger" was accurately placed on the acupoint behind him! The extremely cold finger force instantly penetrated and froze his heart meridian!
Flash sale!
Goldman and another disciple's attacks immediately missed, and they were shocked and angry!
"Little bitch, die!" Gao Sheng roared, his sword swung, the flames raging even more violently. Another disciple also attacked furiously, his eyes red.
Ye Li succeeded in her attack and without hesitation, her figure flashed again, avoiding the main force of Gao Sheng. The Mysterious Ice Sword transformed into streaks of cold light, and she engaged the knife-wielding disciple. She knew that she couldn't fight Gao Sheng head-on, and she had to eliminate the small fry first!
That disciple was only at the peak of the Condensed Veins Realm, so how could he be a match for Ye Li? After just three or five rounds, Ye Li found his weakness and cut his wrist with a single blow, sending him screaming and falling to the ground.
In the blink of an eye, one of the two helpers was dead and the other injured! Gao Sheng was shocked and angry. He didn't expect that Ye Li still had such terrifying explosive power and combat awareness despite the huge consumption!
"I'm going to tear you into pieces!" Gao Sheng went completely mad, unleashing the spiritual power of the late Spiritual Palace Realm without reservation. He swung his sword, transforming it into a sea of fire that enveloped the entire side hall! He was determined to crush Ye Li with his absolute strength!
Ye Li's pressure increased dramatically. Her spiritual energy was indeed severely depleted, and she was no match for her opponent in a head-on fight. While she used her strange body skills to shuttle through the sea of fire, she quietly activated the Small Zhoutian Star Array!
Buzz!
An invisible star force field spread out from her! Although it couldn't completely offset Goldman's flame field, it greatly weakened its power and generated a slight interference and restraining force!
Gao Sheng felt his entire body sink, and the circulation of his spiritual energy stagnated. His expression changed involuntarily: "Formation? You actually have such a method!"
Taking this opportunity, Ye Li took a deep breath and poured the remaining spiritual power and a trace of star core power into the Xuanbing Sword! The sword body burst into an unprecedented bright star-blue light!
"Star Silence—Galaxy Falls!"
She gave a clear shout, and followed the sword, transforming into an icy galaxy that spanned the hall, carrying the artistic conception of annihilating stars, and faced Goldman Sachs' Burning Sky Sea of Swords!
This is the strongest attack she can currently unleash!
Boom——!!!
The two forces of extreme cold and extreme heat collided violently! The entire side hall shook violently, and dust fell from the walls! At the center of the explosion, turbulent energy raged!
A figure stumbled backward from the center of the explosion, slamming heavily into the wall. It was Gao Sheng! His clothes were tattered, blood was oozing from the corner of his mouth, his knife-wielding arm trembled slightly, and his eyes were filled with disbelief and horror! He was in the late Spiritual Mansion Realm, and yet he was forced to this point by a late-stage Condensing Veins Realm!
Ye Li, using the recoil force, drifted back, her face pale as paper. She leaned on her sword, panting, clearly at the end of her strength. But her eyes remained sharp as she stared coldly at Gao Sheng.
Gao Sheng looked at Ye Li's cold eyes, then felt the churning blood and damaged meridians within him. For the first time, a sliver of fear rose in his heart. This woman was too evil, with endless hidden tricks. If he continued fighting, even if he could win, he would surely pay a heavy price. Furthermore, the commotion here might have already attracted the attention of others...
"Ye Li! You are so cruel! I, Gao Sheng, will remember today's grudge! Let's see what happens!" Gao Sheng gritted his teeth and uttered these harsh words. He grabbed the injured disciple, rushed out of the side hall in a panic, and disappeared into the depths of the passage.
Watching Gao Sheng retreat, Ye Li's tense nerves relaxed slightly, and she suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. She had been seriously injured in that fight. She quickly swallowed a few healing pills, not daring to linger, and immediately left this dangerous place.
Although she had successfully forced Gao Sheng to retreat and saved the Soul-Fixing Orb after this battle, she also felt the immense pressure of facing a late-stage Spiritual Residence Realm cultivator head-on. The gap in strength remained stark.
…
A few days later, the demons within the ancient tomb were largely eliminated, and the disciples from various sects gradually withdrew. The tomb was investigated and confirmed to be an abandoned outpost of the Bingpo Xuan Palace. The core area had long since collapsed, making it of limited value. The true treasures and secrets seemed to lie elsewhere. The clues in the Zhao family massacre also led to several mysterious evil cultivators who had long since fled, leaving the case unsolved for now.
The Blackwater City incident had come to a temporary end, but its impact was far-reaching. All factions had stepped up their border security and tightened scrutiny of internal personnel.
Ye Li returned to Xuanyun Sect with the sect's team. She gave the Soul-Fixing Orb to Xia Zhihe to use in treating Lin Feng. Lin Feng's injuries were severe, and even with the Soul-Fixing Orb's care, it would take at least six months for him to recover, during which time he would be unable to engage in combat. This loss made Ye Li realize that Youge's strength was far from sufficient, and that the safety of its core members could not be fully guaranteed.
However, with good fortune comes misfortune. News of Ye Li's astonishing performance outside the Blackwater City ancient tomb—fighting a mid-stage Spiritual Residence Realm monster alone and forcing back Gao Sheng, a late-stage Spiritual Residence Realm cultivator—spread like a whirlwind throughout the Xuanyun Sect, even beginning to spread outside the sect.
In the past, when people talked about Ye Li, they mostly focused on her heritage and her luck. But this time, she demonstrated her terrifying combat prowess with a truly daring performance, battling opponents of higher rank! The name "Ice Charm" is no longer just a code name, but a symbol of a powerhouse who is invincible, even capable of challenging opponents of higher rank!
Her reputation has reached its peak among the younger generation of disciples, and she is even being called the number one person in the Condensation Vein Realm of Xuanyun Sect!
However, fame doesn't just bring awe, it also brings challenges.
On this day, Ye Li was recuperating from her injuries at Yundan Peak, consolidating her cultivation to the peak of the Condensation Vein Realm (after a series of battles, her bottleneck had been loosened). A disciple on duty came to report: Outside the mountain gate, there was a young cultivator who claimed to be from the "Tian Dao Sect" and wanted to challenge Ye Li by name!
The Tiandao Sect is a major sect in the Northern Territory that is on par with the Xuanyun Sect and is known for its fierce and domineering swordsmanship.
Ye Li frowned slightly as she arrived at the mountain gate. She saw a young man standing proudly in a black outfit, carrying an ancient long sword. His face was stern, his eyes sharp as a knife, and his aura remarkably reached the early stages of the Spiritual Residence Realm! Furthermore, his spiritual power was condensed, and his sword intent was compelling; it was clear that he wasn't just an ordinary Spiritual Residence Realm breakthrough.
"Are you Ye Li?" The young man in black cast his gaze upon Ye Li, a look of scrutiny and a hint of fighting intent. "I am Li Juetian, a true disciple of the Heavenly Blade Sect. I've heard you're known as invincible in the Condensed Veins Realm, so I've come to learn from you! Do you dare to fight me?"
Li Juetian! Ye Li had heard of this name before. He was one of the most dazzling talents in the Heavenly Blade Sect in recent years. It was said that he had once defeated an evil cultivator in the middle stage of the Spiritual Mansion Realm with his peak Condensation Vein Realm cultivation. His combat power was extremely terrifying. Now that he had broken through the Spiritual Mansion Realm, his strength was even more unfathomable.
His challenge instantly attracted the attention of countless disciples from the sect.
"It's Li Juetian! He's here!"
"He is the treasure of the Heavenly Blade Sect. It is said that his sword power has reached the realm of 'momentum'!"
"Senior Sister Ye just went through a battle and is still injured. This..."
Everyone was talking about it, most of them worried about Ye Li. Li Juetian clearly had bad intentions and wanted to ride on Ye Li's now-robust reputation to gain power!
Ye Li looked at Li Juetian with a calm expression. She could sense that he wasn't being instructed by anyone, but rather was motivated purely by a warrior's competitive spirit, a desire to prove his swordsmanship. This kind of challenge was commonplace in the world of cultivation.
Under normal circumstances, she might have gladly accepted the challenge and put her knowledge to the test. But at this moment, her injuries hadn't healed, Lin Feng was seriously injured, and Youge needed to stabilize, so it was really not appropriate to cause any trouble.
She was about to politely refuse when a cold voice sounded first:
"Brother Li is a guest from afar, and you wish to spar with me. Why rush? Junior Sister Ye's injuries haven't healed yet, so a fight now would be unfair. Why not wait until Junior Sister Ye recovers and reaches a higher level of cultivation before sparring? Wouldn't that be more enjoyable?"
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw that Qin Yixuan had arrived at the mountain gate at some point. He was wearing fluttering white clothes and his tone was calm, but it carried an unquestionable strength.
Li Juetian looked at Qin Yixuan, his brows slightly raised: "Fairy Qin wants to intervene too?"
Qin Yixuan said calmly, "I'm not interfering, I'm just stating the facts. Besides, Senior Brother Li, with his Spiritual Mansion Realm cultivation, is challenging a Condensed Veins Realm cultivator. Even if he wins, what glory would that bring? If you truly want to verify your sword path, why not wait until we explore our sect's ruins? By then, Junior Sister Ye will likely have achieved a breakthrough, and we can have a fair fight. How about that?"
Qin Yixuan's words were well-reasoned and not only protected Ye Li, but also gave Li Juetian a way out.
Li Juetian pondered for a moment. Although he was a martial arts fanatic, he wasn't unreasonable. He glanced at Ye Li and said in a deep voice, "Alright! In that case, I'll wait for you to recover and achieve a breakthrough! I hope you won't let me down when the time comes!" Without stopping, he turned and transformed into a flash of sword light, tearing through the air. He arrived suddenly and left just as abruptly.
A storm was resolved by Qin Yixiuan with just a few words.
Ye Li looked at Qin Yixuan and nodded slightly: "Thank you, Senior Sister Qin, for helping me out."
Qin Yixuan smiled faintly: "It's a piece of cake. However, Li Juetian is extremely talented in the way of the sword. Now that he has set his sights on you, a battle is inevitable. You need to prepare early."
Ye Li nodded, a hint of fighting spirit in her eyes. Avoiding battle wasn't her style. Once her injuries healed and her cultivation solidified, she needed a strong opponent to hone her "Star Silence" sword moves and the threshold of the Spiritual Realm she had just touched!
Li Juetian's appearance was like a wake-up call, reminding her that the world of cultivation is never short of geniuses. Her rise would inevitably bring more and stronger challenges. Only by constantly becoming stronger could she stand firm! The upcoming exploration of the Bingpo Xuan Palace ruins would be a crucial step towards becoming even stronger.
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