Chapter 94: 29: Crumble Moon, Duan Shan

The next day at the grand competition, Ling Yunpo’s expression was wooden as he stepped onto the sword competition grounds.

He was numb, no desire to speak.

To have my Senior Sister An bullied to this extent, all I want now is to exterminate the entire Shushan Sect.

Starting with my opponent in the Shushan grand competition.

As soon as he entered the arena, without a word, he drew out his Green Duckweed Sword and with Unity of Body and Sword, he directly unleashed a powerful move at his opponent!

This Green Duckweed Sword, in the previous relics of deep pools, could withstand various sinister formations of an ancient mighty power, and roll back the container of the Hundred Poison Golden Silkworm Gu, and moreover, its blade was still perfectly intact, which shows its sword casting material must be extraordinary.

Could it be that the flying swords of these fellow Shushan disciples are more formidable than the formations of the ancient power?

As expected, the Sword Cultivator ranked slightly beyond the twentieth place on the Immortal Sword Ranking, who had never seen such an opener with a full-powered move, hastily spurred the Daoist Magic on his Life-bound Sword Artifact.

Yellow brilliance shimmered atop the sword, which then attempted to intercept the Green Duckweed Sword, only to be split in two by the Unity of Body and Sword of Ling Yunpo directly.

The black Sword Light continued unabated, piercing through the unsuspecting opponent’s chest and sending him straight out of the arena.

This sight caused another uproar among the surrounding crowd.

As the reputation of “Duan Shan Fenhai, Sui Yue Po Yun” spread, Ling Yunpo’s swordfighting gradually gained fame.

The audience drawn to watch were half there to see him fail, while the other half sincerely wanted to study his swordsmanship, or gather intelligence on him in preparation for their upcoming matches.

Now seeing him delivering a one-hit-kill with his massive move, even severing the Life-bound Sword Artifact, everyone truly struggled to maintain their composure.

The man who had just been defeated was Xu Ziyan, ranked twenty-third, a powerhouse on the Immortal Sword Ranking.

In the preceding rounds of the competition, he had also won all his matches, and most of his opponents had their Life-bound Sword Artifacts broken by him.

The reason was Xu Ziyan’s Life-bound Sword Artifact was the Tenth Grade Earth System Flying Sword “Chenzhou,” with Sword Dao Techniques that could significantly increase the flying sword’s weight, greatly enhancing the sword’s strength, hardness, and True Yuan adherence, thereby massively boosting the innate power of the Immortal Sword.

Flying swords of slightly lower Grade Rank would crack upon a single strike from it. Without conceding promptly, the second strike would almost certainly result in a broken weapon.

Yet now, the tables have turned, with Ling Yunpo using Unity of Body and Sword to directly sever the Life-bound Sword Artifact…

Considering Unity of Body and Sword doesn’t require extensive swordsmanship attainment, one can only conclude that the inherent strength of Ling Yunpo + Green Duckweed Sword has far surpassed the defensive threshold of Xu Ziyan + Chenzhou Sword.

Is this Po Yun Sword Immortal truly as formidable as this?

Ling Yunpo walked down from the sword competition platform, his arms crossed, silent, and started heading toward Senior Sister An’s competition arena.

Yet he saw six or seven Shushan disciples, blocking his path together.

The one leading them was a female Sword Cultivator, tall and slender, almost 1.8 meters tall, with sharp and defined facial features, somewhat reminiscent of Guan Zhan.

“Are you An Zhisu’s junior brother, Ling Poyun?” the other party asked directly.

“It’s Ling Yunpo, not Poyun,” Ling Yunpo said with a frown.

“Ling Yunpo, that name isn’t as nice-sounding as Ling Poyun,” the female Sword Cultivator said with a light smile, “I am Guan Shanyue from Green Bamboo Peak.”

She sized up Ling Yunpo with her gaze for a moment, then showed a satisfied look and said:

“You’re quite good, but it’s a pity that in this grand competition of Shushan, it seems there won’t be a chance to compete against you.”

“After the competition is over, feel free to visit the Bright Moon Pavilion.”

After speaking, Guan Shanyue smiled radiantly and left with the Shushan disciples.

Ling Yunpo: ……

Under normal circumstances, he would probably curse someone as a lunatic and then cast this matter out of his mind.

But now, Ling Yunpo had come to understand that defeating these people was not difficult. What was difficult was how to break through the current predicament where “everywhere he looked he faced enemies.”

As long as he played his trump card, not to mention winning in the sword competition, even splitting Guan Shanyue’s life-bound sword artifact would not be difficult; but would that make Green Bamboo Peak concede willingly?

Defeating Guan Shanyue wouldn’t mean he could defeat the peak master of Green Bamboo Peak, Bi Yun True Person, who could bring more unsolvable troubles for Qingluo Peak simply by saying a few words among the higher-ups of Shushan or by remaining silent when other forces kicked them while they were down.

Senior Sister An’s way of thinking was not wrong. At first, their master was forced into seclusion, surrounded by malice that surged time and again, indeed necessitating a swift and heavy-handed approach to establish authority.

However, after establishing authority and stabilizing the surrounding situation, it was necessary to change the strategy to one of appeasement and alliance building.

But no one had taught Senior Sister An these things; she still habitually wielded a heavy hand, which, on the contrary, prevented her from breaking through the predicament Qingluo Peak faced—only thinking that it was because she was not strong enough and that once she became a Golden Core True Person, all problems would be swiftly resolved…

This is the thinking of a problem-solver!

Ling Yunpo silently made up his mind. After today’s sword fight, he would go to keep his appointment and make alliances.

Then he went to the competition arena where Senior Sister An was.

He saw that on the field, a great flurry of wind and snow suddenly arose, pure white as goose feathers, sharp as the edge of a knife, causing the sword cultivator opposite to be covered in blood, wounds all over, before dispersing as a streak of light.

This was Senior Sister An’s Frostfall Sword Dao Techniques, known for their wide range and high attack. It was said that every snowflake was transformed from a piece of Sword Qi and could be controlled by her divine sense, swirling and flying about at will on the field.

However, Ling Yunpo had previously seen Su Jian’s overwhelming Sword Qi attacks in the Pavilion Secret Realm, so he didn’t feel much about Senior Sister An’s Daoist Magic.

After Senior Sister An finished the match, Ling Yunpo went over to meet her and reported his recent achievements with a smile.

The two chatted and rested for a while, and then the results of the next round of draws came out.

Ling Yunpo bid farewell to his senior sister and found the corresponding competition field, where he saw Lin Duanshan standing on the stage with his hands behind his back.

“Senior Brother Lin,” Ling Yunpo said with a salute, “I have benefited from your advice many times, and I keep your kindness in my heart. However, this grand competition is related to Senior Sister’s future, and I cannot afford to yield.”

Lin Duanshan nodded at his words and then revealed a gratified smile, saying,

“That’s only natural. You need not have any reservations; let us reveal our true abilities in our hands.”

“Good,” Ling Yunpo said as he drew the Green Duckweed Sword and then released the Thunder Punishment Sword from the sword box, declaring loudly, “I’ll take the initiative.”

According to ancient sword-fighting etiquette, juniors should make the first move, but nowadays, everyone is desperate to win in sword fights, and hardly anyone observes this kind of etiquette.

However, Lin Duanshan was always strict and upright. Seeing Ling Yunpo still adhering to the sword-fighting etiquette, his favorable impression of him increased greatly, so he too drew out his Kaiyue and Long Weapons swords, indicating for him to attack first.

The spectators outside the field were all showing oddly strange expressions.

What was this display of brotherly love from a teacher and humble courtesy from a disciple? Wasn’t Ling Poyun a disciple of the Weed-Cutting Sword Immortal? How could he still talk about etiquette?

Since it was Lin Duanshan’s sword-fighting segment, there were also many disciples from Mount Jin’gang there to watch.

Seeing Ling Yunpo’s courteous behavior toward Lin Duanshan on the field, they all proudly declared to their fellow disciples around them that it was because of the grandeur and grace of our Mount Jin’gang’s Senior Brother Lin that people were won over.

Look, even the Po Yun Sword Immortal, who treats other sword immortals like a grandfather treating a grandchild, is still polite to our Senior Brother Lin, isn’t he?

The next moment, on the field, Ling Yunpo controlled the swords with both hands, sending the Green Duckweed Sword and the Thunder Punishment Sword shooting out, attacking from the left and right to create a pincer; he then unleashed “Fresh Rain on an Empty Mountain,” with countless Water System Sword Qi swiftly circling to the back for a sneak attack and stab.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

He was making an aggressive move from the start, aiming to suppress Lin Duanshan fiercely from three directions!