Chapter 975: Still One Move

"What's more?" Zhao Yuande saw Ye Liuyun draw his knife, and the smile at the corner of his mouth grew wider.

He felt Ye Liuyun had fallen into a trap. Even though both were divine artifacts, Ye Liuyun was certainly no match for him.

"Besides, swords have no eyes; if I accidentally injure Senior Brother, I hope Senior Brother will forgive me!" Ye Liuyun also laughed.

"Of course! If I injure Junior Brother, I hope Junior Brother will forgive me!"

Ye Liuyun's words hit Zhao Yuande's sweet spot.

If he could severely injure or kill Ye Liuyun, he would not only eliminate a potential opponent but also enter the inner sect with the rank of first in the outer sect. By then, his treatment and status in the inner sect would naturally be completely different.

At that moment, Ye Liuyun suddenly sensed Zhao Yuande's killing intent. He felt that after entering the Zao Hua Realm, his perception of danger and others' intentions had become much sharper.

He merely smiled faintly and agreed more readily.

He added, "Since Senior Brother is so confident he can beat me, why not raise the stakes? The winner can take the opponent's weapon as a trophy, how about that?"

Zhao Yuande didn't expect Ye Liuyun to also want to bet on something.

In comparing sword intent, he had never lost. He glanced at his own hand holding the Divine Sword and still confidently agreed.

He also lacked confidence in being able to kill Ye Liuyun. So if he could obtain Ye Liuyun's divine artifact, his gains would be greater.

He would certainly not let a freebie handed to him go to waste.

Thus, the two schemed against each other, just to see who would be one move ahead in the match.

As the match began, Zhao Yuande quickly realized he had been tricked.

Ye Liuyun's blade intent surged much faster than his, and soon it suppressed his sword intent.

"Damn! His blade intent is actually this strong!"

As Ye Liuyun's blade intent peaked, Zhao Yuande found it difficult even to raise his sword.

He finally exerted all his strength, barely managing to lift his sword, but could not thrust it forward at all.

That was because Ye Liuyun wasn't in a hurry to attack him; he had been waiting for him to raise his sword.

And at the very moment Zhao Yuande raised his sword, Ye Liuyun also swung his blade.

"Let you brat think you can kill me!"

Ye Liuyun muttered to himself, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

This blade of his tore through the void, arriving instantly, giving Zhao Yuande no time to react. Moreover, the blade was imbued with the rich aura of Golden Crow Holy Fire.

"Sizzle!"

Ye Liuyun's blade cleanly cut off Zhao Yuande's right hand that gripped the sword.

Immediately, flames of gold-red ignited on Zhao Yuande's right shoulder and the severed arm.

Zhao Yuande's right shoulder was fine; his True Essence inside immediately suppressed the fire. Conversely, the burning stopped his bleeding.

Then that severed arm, lacking True Essence to support it, was directly burned to ash.

"Ah!"

Only then did Zhao Yuande cry out, still horrified that his sword-wielding right hand had actually been cut off by Ye Liuyun. He seemed unable to accept the reality for a moment.

Ye Liuyun waved his hand, and Zhao Yuande's Divine Sword was sucked over, which he took in hand to examine.

"Not bad, a fine sword! Thanks, Senior Brother Zhao!"

Ye Liuyun laughed and directly put away that divine artifact.

"Ye Liuyun, you dare ruin my prospects!" After being mocked by Ye Liuyun, Zhao Yuande finally reacted. Ignoring the pain of his wound, he rushed over to fight Ye Liuyun to the death.

"Want to kill me? You don't even measure your own weight. If you want to die, feel free to come try!"

Ye Liuyun had no fear of his threats and also released his own killing intent.

A sword cultivator without a sword and arm—how much strength could remain?

If he truly dared to rush forward heedless of death, Ye Liuyun wouldn't mind sending him on his way.

"Sigh!"

At this moment, even the Elder in charge of the challenge shook his head helplessly.

Even before Zhao Yuande released his killing intent, he had sensed it.

But he didn't expect Ye Liuyun to also be able to sense it. Normally only a Venerable-rank expert's Divine Sense could keenly catch such a fleeting killing intent.

He felt helpless, not because Ye Liuyun's strike was too ruthless, but because he thought Zhao Yuande lacked steadiness, and the opponent had actually detected his killing intent in advance. m.

Moreover, this is just a match—why resort to killing intent?

In that light, Ye Liuyun didn't directly aim for his life; his strike was still on the lighter side.

Conversely, Ye Liuyun, after securing victory, released his killing intent, which completely subdued Zhao Yuande.

He suddenly came to his senses—Ye Liuyun truly didn't care about killing him.

Whether it was his strength or his background, none could compare to Ye Liuyun's.

"You..." Zhao Yuande held back his anger, unable to speak for a long time.

Afterwards, he regretted deeply, and after a while began to wail loudly.

The onlooking disciples again began to make sarcastic remarks.

"One move settled it—this Ye Liuyun is just too strong!"

"See? This is what happens when you play petty tricks to harm others."

"In the face of absolute strength, any trick is useless!"

"What a pity! The former number one, a Martial Cultivator who had cultivated a sword intent seed, should have had limitless prospects, yet now he has ruined his own future!"

The crowd had some mocking, some regretting, and some praising Ye Liuyun's strength—it was quite noisy.

Zhao Yuande staggered down the platform amidst the crowd's chatter, lost and dispirited!

His sword intent seed, along with the collapse of his martial heart, actually began to wither, decay, and eventually disappear.

The Elder in charge of the challenge ultimately announced Ye Liuyun's victory.

Ye Liuyun, with the top rank in the Outer Courtyard, entered the inner gate.

Zhao Yuande was completely erased from the ranking list; the former second place became first, and Tao Lin, who had been beaten by Ye Liuyun to the point of spitting blood, became second.

The onlookers of Ye Liuyun now all cheered for him.

Especially the female disciples, who shrieked and cried that they would only marry Ye Liuyun.

Demon Race Holy Son Zuo Mu looked at Ye Liuyun's figure, but fell into contemplation.

"This kid's strength not only qualifies him as my opponent, but may even be stronger than me!"

Although Ye Liuyun did not display all his powers, just the Qiankun Palm and blade intent were already enough for Zuo Mu to take Ye Liuyun seriously.

Moreover, Ye Liuyun's Divine Soul Power far exceeds his; in comparison, his own advantage is indeed not obvious.

He immediately, without a word, turned and went back to cultivate.

With his current strength, without any treasure, he truly cannot defeat Ye Liuyun.

In his mind, winning by relying on treasure is not a true victory, and between him and Ye Liuyun there is no need to risk everything for treasure.