The first round of the duel began with Ye Ling facing off against Ye Fei.
Every eye in the arena was fixed on the stage.
On the eastern side, Ye Ling stood with his sword. Tall and straight in his snow-white robes, a long sword hung at his waist, his handsome face carrying a hint of cold arrogance.
He majored in two Yellow-grade mid-tier martial arts, the Mountain-Splitting Sword Technique and the Wind-Treading Steps, both of which had reached Mastery. His sword force was heavy and profound, and his movement technique was light and agile.
Opposite him, Ye Fei held a green whip. She was tall and slender, her black hair bound with a jade hairpin, wearing a light green martial outfit with a silver soft whip wrapped around her waist.
Her Yellow-grade mid-tier Soft Snake Whip Technique had reached Mastery, and her complementary movement technique, the Spirit Snake Swim, had also reached the Mastery realm.
The crowd only assumed she was at the Houtian Eighth Layer, believing she could only use her whip and movement techniques to deal with Ye Ling. Most had not favored her before the match.
“Let the match begin!”
As soon as the Fifth Elder's voice fell, Ye Fei took the initiative.
Executing her Spirit Snake Swim movement technique, her body swayed from side to side in an unpredictable path, her entire being like a green shadow sweeping around him.
With a flick of her wrist, she lashed out with the Soft Snake Whip. Green light flashed as the whip shadows danced like a frenzy of chaotic serpents.
One moment it wrapped around Ye Ling's sword, the next it lashed at his vital points. Move after move, she completely sealed off Ye Ling's offensive.
Under his feet, Ye Ling executed the Wind-Treading Steps, his figure darting back and forth. Every time the whip lashed toward him, he would slide to the side, advancing and retreating with ease.
Slashing out with his Mountain-Splitting Sword, the sword light was heavy, each strike carrying a powerful gale. When the blade collided with the whip, it shook the whip and forced it to rebound.
Although Ye Fei's offensive was fierce, her Houtian Eighth Layer cultivation compared to Ye Ling's Ninth Layer still showed a clear gap.
After a few exchanges, Ye Ling's flow grew smoother, and his sword force became increasingly heavy, pressing Ye Fei to dodge left and right while her whip was shaken into increasingly loose patterns.
Below the stage, the clan members shook their heads one after another.
“In the end, she's still a layer behind in cultivation. She can't win.”
“Ye Ling's cultivation is too solid. It's already very impressive that Ye Fei has lasted this long.”
Ye Ling himself felt it was about time. He swung his sword, forcing Ye Fei back two steps, thinking it was time to wrap things up.
Right at that moment, the spiritual energy within Ye Fei's body surged abruptly, and an aura far more profound than before burst forth.
The Houtian Ninth Layer.
Ye Ling's eyes lit up. He halted his advancing steps and curled his lips slightly.
“That's more like it,” he thought to himself. “As expected of the opponent I acknowledged.”
The crowd below instantly erupted. No one had expected Ye Fei to have been suppressing her realm, only revealing it at this very moment.
On the high platform, the elders also looked over in surprise. The Great Elder smiled and explained to everyone.
“Fei'er only broke through not long ago. Since she didn't expect Ye Ling to have also made a breakthrough, she hid it to use as a trump card.”
With her trump card revealed, her Ninth Layer cultivation, combined with her Mastery of the Soft Snake Whip and the Spirit Snake Swim, surged in power.
The whip sometimes wrapped around softly and sometimes thrust straight forward. Paired with her elusive footwork, her offensive instantly became much more violent.
The net of whips tightened further and further, leaving Ye Ling with less and less space to dodge. Forced to retreat repeatedly, he gradually fell into a disadvantage.
“Great!” some clan members cheered loudly from below.
Ye Ling fought as he retreated, the space left for him to stand on the stage shrinking.
He glanced at the ground, a plan forming in his mind.
He had already trained the Wind-Treading Steps to great perfection, so hovering briefly in the air was no issue.
With nowhere left to dodge on the ground, Ye Ling channeled a portion of his spiritual energy into his legs.
Unleashing the Wind-Treading Steps to its limits, his body suddenly shot upward, hovering steadily several feet above the ground.
Another wave of gasps erupted below the stage.
“Hovering with the Wind-Treading Steps? Isn't that only possible at great perfection?”
“Has Ye Ling's movement technique already reached great perfection?”
Ye Fei looked up at Ye Ling in mid-air, her heart also trembling.
She knew Ye Ling practiced the Wind-Treading Steps, but she had never expected him to have reached great perfection.
Hovering briefly was the hallmark of the great perfection of the Wind-Treading Steps. Among the entire younger generation of the Ye family, there was no one else who could train a movement technique to this level.
“Impressive, great perfection in the Wind-Treading Steps,” Ye Fei murmured softly, tightening her grip on her whip.
Suspended in the air, Ye Ling seized this opportunity to pour all his remaining spiritual energy into his sword.
Using the momentum of his descent, the ultimate move of the Mountain-Splitting Sword slashed down from above, its heavy sword light breaking through the sky full of whip shadows.
With a thunderous boom, a shockwave rippled outward, sending gravel flying across the stage.
Ye Fei hurriedly swung her whip to block, but the force shook her back three steps. Her arms went numb, and the spiritual energy inside her body surged in chaos.
Ye Ling landed and stood firm, only taking a small half-step back.
The victor was decided in a single move.
“Ye Ling wins!” the Fifth Elder announced loudly.
Ye Fei retrieved her whip and nodded silently, thoroughly convinced of her defeat.
Ye Ling's victory relied on the hovering ability brought by his great perfection in the Wind-Treading Steps, allowing him to escape the predicament and execute a counter-kill.
Ye Ling sheathed his sword and looked at Ye Fei, his gaze carrying a hint of mutual respect.
“I almost lost to you,” he said.
Ye Fei smiled faintly. “Next time, I will be better prepared.”
On the high platform, the elders were also discussing the match.
“Ye Ling's Wind-Treading Steps have reached great perfection. This child's martial talent is indeed high.”
“Indeed, reaching great perfection in a movement technique is no simple feat. He is the very first among the younger generation of the Ye family.”
“His battle with Ye Fei was truly spectacular.”
The two of them retired to the sidelines to rest. This duel became the most exciting match of the family tournament so far.
The next match was Ye Ling against the branch family genius, Ye Yin.
The two walked onto the stage and stood at opposite ends.
Ye Yin was delicate-looking and slender, dressed in plain robes, holding a narrow-bladed long saber in her hand.
She looked at Ye Ling with a slight smile, feeling quite a bit of admiration for her in her heart.
Ye Ling's daily bitter training was known to the entire clan.
Ye Yin herself was a hard-working cultivator, yet she knew her own perseverance was far inferior to that of the young girl before her.
Ye Ling's expression remained indifferent as she gave a slight nod.
The Fifth Elder called out, “Begin!”
Ye Yin moved instantly. Executing her Lost Track Steps, her figure rushed forward unpredictably. Holding her long saber, she slashed straight at Ye Ling, the blade whistling with a sharp wind.
Ye Ling was in no hurry to strike, merely executing the Flowing Cloud Movement Technique to dodge.
The patterns of the Flowing Cloud Movement Technique were highly distinct, and many below the stage recognized it at a glance, sparking a flurry of discussion.
On the high platform, the Second Elder, who guarded the Martial Arts Pavilion, sighed with emotion.
“Half a year ago, when Ye Ling broke through to the Houtian Sixth Layer and came to select a martial art, she insisted on choosing this Flowing Cloud Movement Technique, which is extremely difficult to cultivate.”
“I even advised her to change to an easier one back then. I didn't expect that in just a few short months, she would actually train it to Mastery. This talent and disposition are truly extraordinary.”
Some young disciples below the stage were unconvinced and shouted, “What kind of skill is just dodging? Fight head-on if you have the ability!”
Ye Ling turned a deaf ear. After dodging back and forth a few times, she had already figured out Ye Yin's depth.
With a Houtian Eighth Layer cultivation, her saber techniques and movement techniques had both reached Mastery, making her outstanding among those of the same rank.
She was even slightly stronger than those Houtian Ninth Layer rogue cultivators they had encountered in the Baiyun Mountain Range before.
She swept a glance below the stage.
It was time to end this.
With a flash of sword light, her long sword left its sheath.
With a single, precise strike, her sword pierced right through the flaw in Ye Yin's saber technique. Her strike was still incredibly light, and any fluctuation of spiritual energy was virtually undetectable.
Ye Yin's spiritual energy fell into disarray, her wrist went numb, and she could no longer hold her long saber steady. Stumbling backward, she was unable to continue the fight.
The Fifth Elder immediately announced, “Ye Ling wins!”
The crowd below instantly erupted into a frenzy. The disciple who had just shouted was left dumbfounded.
No one in the entire arena had expected that Ye Yin, who was at the Houtian Eighth Layer with two martial arts at Mastery, would be defeated so easily without even forcing a decent offensive out of Ye Ling.
On the high platform, the elders leaned forward in unison, their brows furrowing slightly as they discussed in hushed tones.
The Clan Leader sighed with emotion. “That sword strike just now was identical to her previous ones. She strikes and retracts with absolute control, and the spiritual energy she uses is almost impossible to perceive.”
“To break a Mastery saber technique purely through the precision of her sword moves... we cannot tell what her true cultivation level is at all.”
Several elders nodded in agreement. Looking at it this way, Ye Ling might not be a match for her either; it only remained to be seen how much of her strength he could force out.
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