Chapter 81: Chapter 16: Having Many Trump Cards Means You Can Do As You Please
The forbidden technique activated, and water system sword qi appeared out of nowhere—slender and sharp like a slanting wind-driven drizzle, finding an extremely tricky angle to shoot rapidly towards Duan Fenhai.

Just as it was about to reach his back, Duan Fenhai seemed to notice something and then another sword qi soared to the sky; it was his signature Immortal Sword “Heavenly Wind Weighs a Thousand Pounds” unsheathed, spinning rapidly behind him like the full moon, blocking all incoming sword qi.

Ling Yunpo’s finger techniques changed continuously, and the water system sword qi now dodged left and right with unpredictable movements.

Duan Fenhai let out a cold laugh, merely using the Heavenly Wind Sword to guard his whole body, adopting a passive defensive stance to take the hits.

This old bastard! Ling Yunpo cursed inwardly.

Now that he was completely suppressed head-on, he had to rely on stealth attacks from the side to disrupt the offense.

With Duan Fenhai taking up such a position, it was clear that he saw through this tactic and intended to focus on stability, giving him no chance at all.

As he anxiously pondered, he heard Duan Fenhai snort coldly and say,

“Hmph, I never thought you’d force me to use my Heavenly Wind Weighs a Thousand Pounds Sword; I truly underestimated you.”

“That water system life-bound sword artifact of yours, and the metal system flying sword you used at the beginning, must also be tenth rank Immortal Swords, right?”

Ling Yunpo didn’t answer, but heard Duan Fenhai continue,

“What a pity!”

“It’s just a shame that Su Jian, after being in seclusion all these years, has let the gem amongst his disciples gather dust.”

Just as Ling Yunpo was about to speak, he heard Duan Fenhai speak again:

“Don’t misunderstand. The gem amongst the disciples isn’t you but your Senior Sister An Zhisu.”

“With her aptitude, if it weren’t for the lack of guidance from her master, preventing her cultivation from advancing, why would she need to pour so much effort into you?”

“Although you have talent in swordsmanship, you are not even one percent as good as she is.”

“It’s ridiculous how some people compare you to her, calling you the ‘Big and Small Star Killers of Qingluo Peak.’ Do you even deserve it?”

The bastard kept spouting contempt, blabbing on and on without end.

Ling Yunpo felt his head swell from listening and, out of spite, could only shout, “Shut up!” and hurled the Green Duckweed Sword and the Thunder Punishment Sword outwards.

Duan Fenhai sneered, “Bring it on!”

He immediately shot out two swords to counter the Green Duckweed Sword and the Thunder Punishment Sword’s attack.

Ling Yunpo’s thoughts sank as he realized that the opponent’s Starry Sky Iron Sword and Heavenly Wind Weighs a Thousand Pounds Sword were both tenth rank Immortal Swords, with a quality not inferior to that of his Green Duckweed and Thunderbane.

However, the opponent was at the Refining Mansion rank, and the True Yuan attached to his sword was more than a hundred times purer than his own True Qi. Engaging the enemy head-on would be extremely disadvantageous for him.

If he didn’t play his ace, he really had no chance of winning!

Having thought it through, Ling Yunpo quietly formed a hand seal, bending his middle finger and silently chanting:

“Vast and lightless, Beiming Yin Thunder!”

This belonged to the Five Thunder True Law’s North Pole Thunder, a Daoist magic belonging to his split persona, Qiu Changtian, and was not something he preferred to use lightly.

But now, pressed by urgency, for the sake of the rankings contest, for his mentor, he couldn’t care less.

Ling Yunpo opened his hands and held the black thunder light in his palms, using the Dense Fog Forbidden Law to conceal any trace.

Battling the Cangtie Sword at the forefront, the Thunder Punishment Sword was slashed into a sorry state due to the disparity in the quality of the True Qi on the swords, and it began to cry out in Ling Yunpo’s mind:

“Master Sword Master, boo hoo! How can there be any chance of victory for a Marrow Cleansing rank against a Refining Mansion rank? They have pure True Yuan, and I only have True Qi; this is just bullying the weak…”

“Do not panic!” Ling Yunpo reprimanded in the Sea of Consciousness, “Watch as my Thunder Method defeats the enemy!”

On the opposite side, Duan Fenhai used the Cangtie Sword to repel the Thunder Punishment Sword, and after a brief pause in mid-air, he shot fiercely towards Ling Yunpo’s direction.

The Heavenly Wind Sword tightly entangled the Green Duckweed Sword on the outside, preventing it from breaking free to help.

Ling Yunpo let out a cold laugh, raised his hands, and unleashed the North Pole Thunder.

“`

These two clumps of North Pole Thunder are lightning from the Beiming Abyss. Although their appearance is dark and unremarkable, the power contained within is extremely terrifying.

Under the cover of the thick fog, Duan Fenhai had no idea and simply maneuvered the Starry Sky Iron Sword, stabbing towards the location of Ling Yunpo he remembered.

The result was that the flying sword directly collided with the two clusters of thunder light, with the first one immediately halting the swift-flying Stellar Dark Iron Sword, scattering its surrounding brilliance;

The second strike hit again, instantly blasting the Cangtie Sword away like a cannonball leaving the muzzle, piercing through the restrictions of the arena, with no clue where it ended up flying off to.

There stood Duan Fenhai, still appearing haughty, but the next second his complexion drastically changed, and he vomited a large mouthful of blood, clearly indicating that his life-bound sword artifact had been severely damaged, and his root bone and spirit had suffered substantial injuries.

“You!” he bellowed, eyes wide with a mix of panic and disbelief, “What kind of Immortal Sword Forbidden Technique is that? It’s so overbearing…”

“No comment,” Ling Yunpo replied with a faint smile, pointing with his sword.

Duan Fenhai wanted to resist, trying to use the Daoist magic of the Heavenly Wind Sword to buy time, but with his life-bound sword artifact severely damaged and injuries upon him, he couldn’t hold on and was immediately pierced through the chest by the Thunder Punishment Sword, sent out of the arena by the restrictions.

At last, victory was his.

With a sigh of relief… Ling Yunpo also took a long breath, dispelling the “Dense Fog Conceals Green Phoenix”, causing the dense fog to dissipate.

This battle was indeed tough; he had been discovered at the very beginning when trying a sneak attack, and he faced peril at every turn. Had he not taken a risk to use Qiu Changtian’s decisive technique, he would surely have been defeated.

The Kunlun Taiqing Sect emphasizes Qi Refinement, while the Shushan Shangqing Faction specializes in sword techniques. Although both are from the ancient Clarify Cult lineage, the True Qi cultivated from their respective methods differ.

The Qi Refining Technique of the Shushan Shangqing Faction is the “Supreme Primordial True Record”. The Hunyuan True Qi refined through breathing exercises is tough and durable, very suitable for driving flying swords.

If used to employ Thunder Method, however, its purity is not as good as the “Nine Heavens Clear Entrance True Mantra”, and its power is significantly diminished.

Were it not for the concerns of leaving traces of foreign True Qi at the scene, Ling Yunpo would have simply used the pure immortal qi to unleash the thunder; there would have been no need for a second strike, likely breaking the Stellar Dark Iron Sword in one go.

Even so, the spectators around the arena at this moment looked at him as if they were looking at a demon or a monster.

After all, they were looking at the one who defeated the second-ranked Cangtie Sword Immortal on the Immortal Sword Ranking, Duan Fenhai!

At the peak of the Refining Mansion Rank, approaching the threshold of Golden Core, a super powerhouse!

And he was defeated by this young man who hadn’t even made it into the top fifty of the Immortal Sword Ranking?

Considering that this fellow’s Senior Sister is the infamously ruthless Weed-Cutting Sword Immortal of Qingluo Peak, it was not difficult for everyone to draw the conclusion:

It must have been that Weed-Cutting Sword Immortal who gave her Junior Brother some kind of trump card that enabled him to instantaneously defeat Duan Fenhai on the stage; otherwise, there would be no explanation!

With that thought, a hush fell both inside and outside the arena.

No matter who was dissatisfied or skeptical about the result of the bout, they could only keep their doubts to themselves. Otherwise, if word got back to the Weed-Cutting Sword Immortal, what then?

It would likely end badly for all their fellow disciples.

Above the arena, the overseeing Golden Core True Person was rather frustrated.

He was well aware that Duan Fenhai’s appearance was no coincidence but deliberately arranged by certain “anti-Qingluo Peak” forces.

The aim was to use the hand of the second-ranked on the Immortal Sword Ranking to cut down that youngster named Ling Yunpo— at least to break his life-bound sword artifact and make him unable to participate in the upcoming sword competitions.

To think that in this nefarious scheme of using one to kill another, not only did the intended target not die, but the ‘weapon’ itself broke. It was truly a case of lifting a rock only to drop it on one’s own foot.

There were powerful forces behind Duan Fenhai as well, his teacher being Luo Beihe, the Peak Master of the Yellow Dragon Peak lineage.

With his Direct Disciple’s life-bound sword artifact heavily damaged, how could this Peak Master stand idly by? He would certainly come to settle accounts at the first opportunity!

This is not good at all; I hope they won’t come to me when the trouble starts, blaming me for failing to intervene as an overseer!

With a furrowed brow, the Golden Core True Person hurriedly announced the competition results and quickly fled the scene atop a streak of Sword Light.

Below the arena, the now-defeated Duan Fenhai’s complexion was deathly pale, his face ashen. After standing still for a moment, he stomped over to Ling Yunpo, infuriated.

“What technique was that?” he barked straightaway, “Was it a Forbidden Technique of the Water System Immortal Sword? Or of the Metal System Immortal Sword? Could it be a Thunder Method you’ve cultivated in addition?”

“No comment,” Ling Yunpo waved dismissively, annoyed, “How could I possibly reveal my tactics now when I still have swords to compete with?”

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