Chapter 246 – Victor
Yun Che had fainted and had yet to get up for a long while. This also signified that the battle between him and Xia Qingyue had finally ended. The final battle of the Ranking Tournament had finally closed its curtains.
The tournament had ended, but nobody was able to suppress the amount of shock they had for quite a while. None of the two finalists had been from Heavenly Sword Villa. The crown of victory had fallen in Frozen Cloud Asgard’s hands in the end… But none of this was important at the moment. This match had been an eyeopener and had allowed every spectator to walk through the Fire and Ice of the Nine Heavens. Every scene had all ruthlessly rammed at their vision and spirit.
Both of the finalists were only seventeen years old, but they had fought a battle that was several classes above their own Profound Realms and had shattered any understanding anyone had in regards to battles. Yun Che in particular, even though he had ultimately been defeated by Xia Qingyue, his profound strength was indeed only at the True Profound Realm, yet had allowed him to bring about a shock that was even more shocking than Xia Qingyue. In front of the glory of both of these youngsters, any glory Heavenly Sword Villa had was covered up. Even the publically recognized ‘strongest of the young generation’, Ling Yun had apparently been defeated without room for debate.
“Fairy of Frozen Glass, congratulations on obtaining first place.” The Sect Master sitting on the right of Frozen Cloud Asgard’s seats, said hurriedly. However, even as a Sect Master, he did not have the courage to dare to speak to Chu Yuechan.
The Sect Master sitting on the left immediately flattered: “The great Asgard being able to train such an outstanding talent is well deserving of first place. I imagine Frozen Cloud Asgard’s fame will spread throughout the world…”
Chu Yueli slightly tightened her eyebrows and did not reply. The final outcome had let her breathe a huge sigh of relief. This was her ideal ending. This would be the first time Frozen Cloud Asgard had broke tradition and the first time they had seized first place. Henceforth, the results of today’s Ranking Tournament would spread and the recognition and fame Frozen Cloud Asgard would obtain, would also far surpass its former glory. However, the road to obtaining this perfect ending had been more difficult than she had expected. The biggest obstacle she had expected was actually not Ling Yun, but was instead, someone who she had nearly forgotten… a boy who crippled profound veins eighteen months ago, who did not even have one good point about him, and had even been expelled from his clan!
Yun Che had lost consciousness, but Xia Qingyue looked completely fine. Chu Yuechan should have felt relieved. However, as Xia Qingyue’s master, she had complete understanding of Xia Qingyue’s abilities and knew that the earthshaking force released just now was definitely not released by Xia Qingyue. Although it had looked like Yun Che had fallen and Xia Qingyue was unharmed, she was unable to calm down.
“Yun Che has fallen and has not gotten up within ten breaths’ time. The winner of the Ranking Tournament is Frozen Cloud Asgard’s…”
“Wait!”
Before Ling Wugou could utter “Xia Qingyue”, a cold voice interrupted him.
The one who said that, was shockingly, Xia Qingyue. As she spoke, she moved towards Yun Che and stopped by his side. She waved both her hands forward and a light blue ice spirit slowly descended upon Yun Che’s body, enveloping him. After she silently looked at the ice spirit gradually freeze his wounds, she turned around and softly said: “The winner is not me. It’s him. For this match… I admit defeat.”
WHOAA~~~~
The Sword Discourse Arena went into an uproar. Everyone had looked at one another in amazement. Yun Che had passed out while Xia Qingyue was perfectly fine. It was obvious as to who was the victor and who had lost. Yet, Xia Qingyue one sentence had actually deliberately given the victory to another. Nobody was able to discern the reason as to why she would do this.
Chu Yueli stood up, astonished, and yelled: “Qingyue, what are you saying? Immediately retract what you’ve just said!”
Chu Yuechan suddenly coldly said: “Look up.”
Chu Yueli subconsciously raised her head and then froze. Her expression, too, had froze in place. She was speechless.
At this time, a long white ribbon slowly fell from the sky. It coincidentally landed on Xia Qingyue’s shoulder and she grabbed onto it. Ling Wugou was about to ask something, but as he watched the falling Ice Phoenix Snowflower Ribbon, the words that were about to leave his mouth was swallowed down his throat.
Although Yun Che was unconscious, Dragon Fault had always been firmly gripped within his hands.
Even though Xia Qingyue appeared to be unharmed, nobody had realized she had lost her Ice Phoenix Snowflower Ribbon.
It had taken until now for the Ice Phoenix Snowflower Ribbon to fall from the sky. One could only imagine how high it had been knocked up…
“He had unleashed his last strike upon my Ice Phoenix Snowflower Ribbon… If he had chosen to do so on me, I would have probably died. He has rightfully won this. I’ve lost.”
Chu Yueli was startled for a while before letting off a long sigh. She closed eyes, and did not speak for a long while.
Even though the outcome had been flipped over due to Xia Qingyue’s admittance of defeat,, the results of the match may have been unchanged even with that. After all, everyone present had witnessed Yun Che passing out. Even Ling Wugou, as the referee, may not accept the obvious victor’s admittance of defeat.
However, from the descending Ice Phoenix Snowflower Ribbon and what Xia Qingyue had said, everyone had understood who the true victor was.
Ling Wugou nodded, and did not try to question Xia Qingyue again. He raised his hands once again and loudly proclaimed: “Xia Qingyue has admitted defeat, the champion of the Ranking Tournament is…”
“Blue Wind Imperial Family’s Yun Che!!”
As he declared the conclusion of the finals, the ranking tournament was finally over. Shortly after, the atmosphere around Sword Discourse Arena became rowdy. Before the Ranking Tournament, nobody had even expected it to end like this. It was impossible for them to expect this outcome. If someone had proclaimed that the overall winner would be from Blue Wind Imperial Family, everyone would regard that person as a crazy retard.
Blue Wind Imperial Family. Originally, this name should have carried majestic might, but it had been ridiculed and insulted in the profound cultivating world. Today, for the first time in history, it had been announced as the overall champion!
“…Even though we didn’t manage to obtain first place, at least we beat Ling Yun and suppressed Heavenly Sword Villa. At the very least, we’ve done what we had set out to do.” After a brief period of disappointment, Chu Yueli said while slightly smiling. Her expression had resumed its former tranquil state: “Unexpectedly, the biggest surprise this Ranking Tournament has brought me was Qingyue’s husband. Fate, is truly the most mysterious thing in this world.”
Chu Yuechan did not speak. With eyes like ice crystals, nobody could understand what she was thinking of.
“Too awesome, too great… as expected of my Boss! To be able to be the Boss of me, Ling Jie, you have to at least be able to do something like this!” Ling Jie clasped both his hands tightly while shouting. To Ling Jie, who had already bragged to others that he was Yun Che’s younger brother, he had felt considerably honored. He had long forgotten that Heavenly Sword Villa had met with defeat yesterday.
On the side of the Blue Wind Imperial Family, there were no shouts of joy. After Ling Wugou had announced the results, Cang Yue had loudly shouted “Junior Brother Yun”, disregarded everything else, and rushed towards at the Sword Discourse Arena in the quickest speed possible. Xia Yuanba was closely behind her with a face full of terror. While Qin Wushang had been somewhat slower to react, his speed was naturally quicker than both of them. He reached Yun Che’s side in a flash and quickly began examining his wounds.
“H… How is Junior Brother Yun?” Cang Yue stretched out both of her hands but she did not dare to touch Yun Che. Tears were already flowing on her face.
As Qin Wushang’s hands left Yun Che, his face revealed a relieved expression and said: “Rest assured, Princess. Although his wounds look terrible, they are all external wounds. If he recuperates for at most a month, he will be able to fully recover. He has only suffered light internal injuries and the only cause of concern would be that he had overly stressed his profound veins. While that will take time to heal, that is not impossible to make a full recovery from. Only, sigh… I’m afraid he won’t be able to explore the Heaven Basin Secret Realm in his current condition.”
Hearing this, Cang Yue could finally calm down a little. She tightly gripped Yun Che’s hand and refused to let go.
Cang Yue’s care, tears and the way she had spoke of Yun Che… were all seen by Xia Qingyue. She slowed down her steps and did not approach. She quietly kept the bottle of Snow-colored Pellets she had gotten from her teacher.
“Palace Chief Qin, ten thousand congratulations.” Ling Wugou said. Even though Heavenly Sword Villa had been defeated and lost the first position that has always belonged to them, Ling Wugou remained very calm and took the initiative to congratulate Qin Wushang. Without waiting for him to reply, he added: “Palace Chief Qin need not reply. I’ll lead you to the Heaven Returning Pavilion.”
Qin Wushang nodded and carried Yun Che: “I’ll count on Elder Ling to lead the way.”
As the Ranking Tournament’s final victor, Yun Che was actually unable to receive the cheers and attention of the audience. He had been carried away shortly after the match ended. Although he, the main character, had already left, the Sword Discourse Arena remained rowdy for a very long time. The younger practitioners were completely shaken by the match. They had lost all of the arrogance that they once had. Before, they had all proudly proclaimed that they were talented individuals, but today, they had seen that before a truly talented individual, they were not worth anything.
This had been the most special Ranking Tournament yet. It had defied over thirty years of history. Its process and conclusion were filled with excitement and surprises. This ranking tournament was expected to spread throughout the Blue Wind Empire like a giant wave and be discussed for a very long time.
Of course, there were also people who were upset about the conclusion.
A good example would be the Burning Heaven Clan. They had been badly beaten and even their Great Elder had lost control and had been shamed by Yun Che.
Another example would be the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress who had been rude towards Yun Che. Although, compared to the the Burning Heaven Sect, the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress were restless. Mu Tianbei had not expected that Yun Che’s true power would be this terrifying. Even more so, he had not expected him to be the ranking tournament’s champion.
A talent like this would definitely grow up to become one of the Blue Wind Empire’s Thrones! In the hundreds of years of history of the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress, they had yet to produce a Throne, nor did they dare to invite a Throne.
Thinking of this, Mu Tianbei was unable to calm down. Cold sweat flowed down onto his back while his face was green with regret.
……………………………………
Blue Wind Imperial Family, the Emperor’s Chambers.
Even as the current Emperor of the Blue Wind Empire, Cang Wanhe’s face was flushed red and the light in his eyes was faint, as if he was dreaming.
Even Cang Wanhe himself had thought he was dreaming.
He had received Qin Wushang’s sound transmission: Blue Wind Imperial Family had obtained first place in the Ranking Tournament…
Immediately, he also received a sound transmission from his daughter: Blue Wind Imperial Family had obtained first place in the Ranking Tournament…
While holding the Sound Transmission Jade, Cang Wanhe had been left in a muddled state. Even after half a day, he hadn’t regained his wits. He trusted Qin Wushang, he trusted Cang Yue even more, but he didn’t dare to believe what they had told him, even though it had been the same thing. Because that would be too fantastical, too unreal… as if these were the voices within his dreams about a fantasy.
Rapid footsteps resounded from outside. Very quickly, his personal eunuch had rushed into the chamber and kneeled before him, loudly shouting in a hoarse voice: “Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations! The Ranking Tournament has finally ended today, and our Imperial Family… Imperial Family… has actually gotten first place! First place!”
Cang Wanhe’s mouth twitched, trembling while asking: “This news, are you sure this is true?”
“That is the news that Heavenly Sword Villa has released, it’s definitely true! Right now, the same message is being spread all over the Empire. Not a word is false!” The eunuch continued in extreme excitement: “Yun Che, who represented the Blue Wind Imperial Family had won all of his matches in the first group stage, had won all of his matches in the second group stage as well, had fought against the Xiao Sect, Burning Heaven Clan, Heavenly Sword Villa, and Frozen Cloud Asgard in the elimination stage, and completely beat all of them to obtain first place!! If even half of this is false, may the heavens strike this servant with lightning!”
Cang Wanhe’s face became even redder as excitement rushed throughout the entirety of his body: “Good… Good… Good!! Haha… hahahaha… hahahahahahaha…”
Cang Wanhe started to heartily laugh with an incomparable jubilance. He had been in power for over ten years and this was the first time he had ever been this carefree. It was as if all the pent up frustration and worries over the years had been released through this unreserved laugh: “This is the glory my Blue Wind Imperial Family deserves! This is what is truly means to look down upon the world from above! Send an imperial order to all related parties. Say… Say… From today onwards, for the next three years, the resources given to each Profound Palace will increase! Blue Wind Profound Palace’s reward will be proclaimed another day! From today onwards, we will prepare the greatest banquet in the Blue Wind Palace’s main hall, We want to personally receive Yun Che when they return… As for Yun Che’s reward, I will proclaim it at a later date!”
“This servant has received the order…”
“Wait! Serve me some good wine immediately. I want to properly enjoy a drink, hahaha!”
Cang Wanhe usually had bad appetite, but because he was in a good mood today, his appetite was good. At the moment, he was extremely satisfied, and deeply felt that he wouldn’t even regret anything even if he died now.