Lin Zhiyue's opponent for the second match was Lin Tangxi.
When this name appeared on the matchup bracket, a brief silence fell over the spectator stands.
Lin Tangxi of the Biluo Immortal Sect was a long-renowned leader among the younger generation. She had created her own sword style during the Foundation Establishment Stage, and by the age of eighteen, she was already the most highly anticipated direct disciple of the Biluo Immortal Sect.
In contrast, Lin Zhiyue had only been famous for a year or two. Although she had made her name known to everyone over the past few months, the gap in age and experience remained striking as she stood opposite Lin Tangxi.
By the time Lin Zhiyue stepped onto the arena, Lin Tangxi was already waiting there.
Her white robes fluttered gently in the morning breeze. Her gaze rested steadily on Lin Zhiyue, as if she were looking at an opponent worthy of serious attention rather than a formidable newcomer.
After the two exchanged bows, they drew their swords simultaneously.
Lin Tangxi's sword moved incredibly fast, the blade cutting through the air with clean, sharp whistles. Every strike was precisely aimed to cut off Lin Zhiyue's potential paths of retreat.
Basing her moves on the Tiance Sword Art, Lin Zhiyue alternated between the first and second forms of the Thousand Mountains Cold Prism Sword Art, letting frost traces crisscross and cover the area above the arena.
Lin Tangxi's sword momentum was steady and heavy. The two clashed on the arena for nearly an hour, their figures weaving past each other. Sword light flashed back and forth as they closed in and pulled apart, the sudden transitions in their moves occasionally causing the audience to hold their breath.
"Though Lin Zhiyue is young, her composure is truly a case of the disciple surpassing the master," someone in the stands murmured.
"She is hardly inferior to Venerable Yanchen in his youth," the person next to them agreed.
Another spectator watched for a long while before offering a calculated judgment: "Given time, her future will indeed be limitless."
As Lin Zhiyue retreated once more to adjust her center of gravity, she spotted an extremely minute gap in Lin Tangxi's sword momentum.
Without hesitation, she rapidly condensed spiritual energy in her dantian, channeling it through her meridians to the tip of her sword. A majestic wave of sword intent poured from the edge of the Azure Scale Sword, spreading outward in orderly, irreversible ripples.
Lin Tangxi's sword momentum took the brunt of the sword intent. She tilted her body to step aside by half a pace, the hem of her robe swept by the aftershocks of spiritual energy.
Lin Zhiyue gave her no time to regain her footing.
At that exact moment, she transitioned into the fourth form of the Thousand Mountains Cold Prism Sword Art—Cold Mist Thousand Blades. This time, however, she did not directly activate her Ice Spiritual Root as she usually did. Instead, she first channeled her wind spiritual root, rapidly whipping up a powerful gale around the arena.
The air on the stage was already several degrees colder than elsewhere due to the preparation from the previous forms of the Thousand Mountains Cold Prism Sword Art. Cold air surged slowly along the ground, meeting the rising thermal currents from the spectator stands in midair.
The violent collision of hot and cold air caused the atmosphere on the arena to instantly turn thick and humid.
Immediately after, Lin Zhiyue turned her sword, and the freezing chill exploded along the path of the wind. This was her self-created technique—Frigid Loop.
In an instant, a vast, freezing mist filled the air, and countless ice prisms condensed out of nothingness within the fog, hovering densely above and around Lin Tangxi.
The chatter in the stands ceased abruptly, replaced by a collective intake of breath.
"Is this... a wide-range spell?" someone gasped in disbelief, their eyes wide. "Condensing ice prisms on this scale must consume half of her spiritual energy..."
"No, look at the flow of her spiritual energy," another sharp-eyed elder suddenly stood up, his voice filled with shock and admiration. "She is using her wind spiritual root to create a temperature differential, using the natural environment to form ice! This 'Frigid Loop' not only saves a massive amount of her own spiritual energy, but also exploits the surroundings to the absolute limit. This girl... her mind is so exquisite, and her comprehension so exceptional, it is simply mind-boggling!"
Lin Tangxi looked up at the thousands of hovering, yet-to-fall ice prisms, a trace of astonishment finally flashing across her cool eyes.
Her pride-and-joy sword speed felt somewhat powerless in the face of this overwhelming environmental suppression.
Lin Zhiyue did not give her time to think.
With a sweep of her sword finger, the thousands of ice prisms poured down like a torrential rain.
Lin Tangxi swung her sword to parry. While her sweeping sword qi shattered countless ice prisms, new ones rapidly condensed in the freezing mist.
Under the dense onslaught, her sword momentum finally drifted by an imperceptible margin.
After half an incense stick's worth of wild bombardment, Lin Tangxi's movements visibly slowed.
The barrier held up time and again, its light growing thinner each time. When a final crack spread from the edge to the center, she ultimately did not raise her hand to restore it.
"I concede."
Though those three words were not spoken loudly, they fell clearly into the ears of everyone near the arena.
Lin Zhiyue withdrew her sword momentum almost at the same instant, the residual cold on the blade dispersing into the air.
Lin Tangxi looked up at her and sheathed her sword. Her movements were not fast, but she did not hesitate in the slightest.
She nodded slightly to Lin Zhiyue, her lips twitching as if giving a brief acknowledgment: "You won."
Lin Zhiyue nodded in return, her voice quiet. "Thank you for the match, Senior Sister Lin."
As Lin Tangxi turned and walked down the arena, the hem of her white robes lightly swept across the platform. Her pace was slightly faster than when she had entered.
The chatter in the stands died down briefly before rising again, slightly louder than before.
Lin Zhiyue stood on the arena, returned the Azure Scale Sword to its scabbard, and also turned to walk down.
As she passed through the crowd at the edge of the arena, some people stepped aside to let her through, while others turned their heads slightly to watch, but no one called out to her.
After both matches concluded, the rankings on the main stage were clearly displayed. With two wins and zero losses, Lin Zhiyue directly secured her spot in the finals.
Song Mu had similarly won both of his matches, advancing to the finals alongside her.
The others, each with one win and one loss, could only compete for third place and lower positions in the subsequent placement matches.
The finalists were thus decided—Lin Zhiyue versus Song Mu.
When the news spread, quiet discussions broke out among the crowd, though the voices were quickly hushed.
Tiance Palace's rising dark horse, Lin Zhiyue, was famous for her endless trump cards and her cunning, agile mind, always able to precisely capture her opponents' flaws and counter them. Meanwhile, her opponent was the absolute hegemon of the Qingling Sect, who had consecutively won several previous Grand Sect Tournaments.
This peak showdown, merely by having their names listed side by side on the finals bracket, had already sent the entire Wanxian City into a frenzy, drawing the gaze of tens of thousands.
The finals were scheduled for three days later.
During these three days, Lin Zhiyue remained exceptionally quiet.
She virtually isolated herself in her quarters, turning away all visitors and shutting out the noise of the outside world.
Aside from the necessary recovery of spiritual energy, she poured all of her remaining time into practicing her swordplay.
The sound of her sword cutting through the air echoed day after day in her quiet room. She was well aware that against a multi-time champion like him, even the slightest underestimation or negligence could turn into a fatal weakness.
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