Chapter 265

Ye Qingran nodded slowly, then, before anyone could react, she flashed forward, closing in and throwing a hook that caught Ling Qingwu's chin; Ling Qingwu had no time to react and was sent flying.

She spat out a large mouthful of blood mixed with teeth!

"Senior sister!"

The Xuan Yuan disciples were greatly shocked.

How dare Ye Qingran?

That's their sword sect's Wind and Cloud disciple!

Everyone also looked shocked, never expecting Ye Qingran to dare strike Ling Qingwu. What's more, they never expected that Ye Qingran would actually send Ling Qingwu flying with a single punch!

Is she really that strong?

"I hit her, what can you do about it?!"

Ye Qingran gave a provocative smile.

You dare not?

There's nothing she doesn't dare to do!

Before, she was so timid only because she had a child as her weak point.

Now the child is fine, what does she have to be timid about?

Ling Qingwu flew backward and fell to the ground, covering her chin, waves of pain; her face twisted with anger and pain, hideous, no longer the peerless beauty she once was.

Her eyes like knives shot toward Ye Qingran: "Ye Qingran, you're courting death!"

Ye Qingran didn't care, gave a cold smile: "Ling Qingwu, you keep calling me trash, right? Come, let's fight. If you win, I'll let you go; if you lose, you'll stay here forever."

Her voice, previously low-key, now openly showed arrogance.

That aura, flamboyant and gorgeous, unrestrained like fire!

Ling Qingwu's eyes widened, she glared fiercely at her, her chin burning with pain.

Ye Qingran, this is provoking her!

Everyone looked at Ye Qingran in disbelief. She said she would let Ling Qingwu fight her; if Ling Qingwu won, she'd be released; if she lost, she'd remain forever in Xiliang City.

Does that mean if Ling Qingwu loses, she'll be killed?

"What, you don't dare?" Ye Qingran sneered: "Oh, of course, after all, someone just lost to me on the Xuanwu Platform, and it was in her proud swordsmanship! Right after that, at Mingyue Fang, when we compared literary talent, she lost again. Tsk tsk, a defeated subordinate, not daring to compete with me—quite normal!"

The crowd erupted.

Ling Qingwu had dueled Ye Qingran in swordsmanship on the Xuanwu Platform and lost—something everyone knows. But the matter at Mingyue Fang, because Ling Qingwu deliberately concealed it, is known to few. Now, Ye Qingran has spoken of it unreservedly, embarrassing Ling Qingwu while also surprising the common folk of Xiliang City.

Feeling many complex gazes upon her, Ling Qingwu's heart burned with rage, her eyes blazing like fire.

"Ye Qingran, you're just a trash with no spiritual root—what do I have to fear? If you lose, I will take your head today!"

She stood up, her killing intent no longer concealed.

The commoners of Xiliang City inwardly resisted such extreme behavior from Ling Qingwu. They once thought the Wind and Cloud disciples of the Xuan Yuan Sword Sect were extraordinary, but after more contact they realized she was merely gilt on the outside, rotten within. Besides putting on an aloof airs, her words always showed contempt for them, and she would kill at the slightest disagreement.

In contrast, Ye Qingran is not much better!

Thus someone started shouting: "Miss Ye, go!"

Many joined in, and for a moment it turned into a towering wave, earth-shaking, resounding through the heavens!

Ling Qingwu's face turned black. She clenched her fists, secretly vowing that today, by any means, she would make Ye Qingran die without a burial place!

"Ye Qingran, today I will tread on your corpse and forge my path back to the city!"

A flash of endless dark light passed through her eyes!

Do you really think Ling Qingwu has no trump cards?

Ye Qingran and Ling Qingwu of the Xuan Yuan Sword Sect are about to engage in a life-and-death battle!

The huge commotion drew nearly all the important figures of Xiliang City.

The old lord and young lord of the Ling State mansion, the Piao Qi Jiangjun Meng Yuan and his daughter Meng Qian from the Zhen Guo Gong Fu, Ye Yu and Zhao Shi from the Prime Minister's Residence, Mu Yuanzheng and Mu Qingrou of the Mu Family, stewards of Wuji Hall, Grand Tutor Gu, the wealthiest Xiao Family, etc.

Even the imperial clan's crown prince, various princes, and dukes all came in droves!

Though it appears a thin, ordinary life-and-death duel, in reality there are hidden currents, involving many interests.

If Ye Qingran loses, it means nothing for Xiliang City or even the whole Donglin Country; but if she wins, the significance is different!

Even the reputation of Donglin Country will spread again!

For a moment, high officials and wealthy merchants, nobles and relatives of the emperor, all gathered together, paying attention to this life-and-death battle.

The atmosphere burned to its peak.

Mu Qingrou didn't know when she had come beside Ye Huanhuan, and quietly asked: "Huanhuan, last time your senior sister lost to Ye Qingran; can you win this time?"

Ye Huanhuan gave a mysterious smile: "Last time your senior sister lost to Ye Qingran because she underestimated the enemy. This time she came prepared; she certainly won't lose again! Moreover…"

Mu Qingrou's eyes lit up: "Moreover what?"

Ye Huanhuan leaned close to Mu Qingrou's ear and said a few words; Mu Qingrou's inner light grew brighter, and a smile of understanding appeared on her face.

Meng Qian stood beside her father Meng Yuan, brows furrowed, not knowing what she was thinking.

"Dad, do you think Ye Qingran can win?"

Meng Yuan shook his head, his face somewhat solemn: "Hard to say; if it were a pure match, I think Ye Qingran should be fine. But you know, Ling Qingwu has the entire Xuan Yuan Sword Sect behind her; she surely has some trump cards we can't imagine!"

Meng Qian understood.

She gazed deeply at Ye Qingran, the hand at her side tightening. She hoped Ye Qingran would win!

"Go ahead and use your strongest move." Ye Qingran, as soon as she stepped forward, made a stunning debut. Everyone could possibly stare at her in surprise, startled by her inexplicable confidence.

Ling Qingwu snorted repeatedly: "Ye Qingran, you really are blindly overconfident. If I unleash my strongest move, you probably won't even get a chance to attack!"

"More talk is useless; let's just try!"

Ye Qingran raised her eyebrows, indeed full of confident arrogance.

Ling Qingwu nodded repeatedly: "Fine, since you're bent on seeking death, I'll grant you your wish!"

As the words fell, the long sword was drawn; slender fingers smeared the blade, leaving a bloodstain. A talisman was affixed to the blade, the fresh blood vanished, and the originally cold sword blade, silver‑gleaming, suddenly blazed with light, as if wrapped in orange‑yellow flame.

"This is…"

"The Qingyun Sword Immortal's secret art!"

"The Mysterious Sword Technique!"

"……"

Fu San and Feng Yi, along with the others, instantly saw the key point.

The Qingyun Sword Immortal's famed work, the Mysterious Sword Technique, is a sword art that harms the user by seven hundred. Whose blood is smeared on the blade, the sword obeys that person's command; combined with that mysterious talisman, supreme sword qi swirls around the blade—one move's power is like splitting bamboo, capable of destroying the sturdy and rotting!

Feng Yi remained calm.

After all, he is the ancestral master.

Fu San felt a bit panicked: "Your Majesty, the Mysterious Sword Technique will not rest until it draws blood; furthermore, even a Mysterious Lord‑level person cannot block this strike, Miss Ye…" He did not dare say in Your Majesty's presence that Ye Qingran lacks a Spiritual Root, although that is the truth.