20demayo Chapter 452 Abstention?
Chapter 452 Abstention?
He attacked in anger, his left hand forming a sword shape with his fingers together, unleashing a sharp and unparalleled jade-colored sword aura that tore through the air and pierced straight for Yun Chen's throat.
This attack was ruthless and swift, clearly intended to inflict serious damage.
"Junior Brother, be careful!" Liu Yanran exclaimed.
Zhao Xiruo also nervously clenched her sleeves.
However, when Yun Chen faced Yuwen Tingxuan's furious attack, there was no fear in his eyes, only a cold killing intent.
He didn't even dodge. His right hand shot out with lightning speed, his index and middle fingers joined together, and a wisp of extremely refined purple lightning suddenly flashed at the tip of his finger. It struck the side of the jade-colored sword energy with perfect precision, even though it was a counterattack.
"laugh--!"
There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a soft sound, like a hot knife cutting butter.
The seemingly sharp jade-colored sword energy melted and disintegrated as quickly as ice and snow meeting the spring sun the moment it came into contact with the purple lightning, without even causing a ripple.
"what?"
Yuwen Tingxuan's pupils shrank sharply, his face filled with horror.
Although he didn't unleash his full power in this angry attack, it was still something that an ordinary Golden Core cultivator could not withstand, let alone resolve so easily.
Before he could change his move, Yun Chen's finger, which had shattered the sword energy, continued its momentum like a purple thunderbolt, striking Yuwen Tingxuan's chest acupoint.
Before the fingertips even arrived, the destructive aura contained within already made Yuwen Tingxuan feel a tightness in his chest and his blood churn.
In the critical moment, Yuwen Tingxuan could only forcefully twist his body to avoid a fatal blow, but Yun Chen's fingertips still grazed his ribs.
"Stab!"
His robes were torn, and a charred mark appeared under his ribs. His skin was torn open, and a burning pain came from the wound. A tingling numbness spread along the wound, making half of his body stiff.
On the high platform, Master Yu Shu's expression changed, and he suddenly stood up.
"stop!"
A deep shout, imbued with majesty and spiritual power, resounded like thunder across the square.
At the same time, a gentle yet powerful force descended from the sky, precisely inserting itself between the two, forming an invisible barrier that separated Yun Chen and Yuwen Tingxuan.
"The qualifying rounds haven't even started yet, and this private fighting is a violation! Do you two want to be disqualified?"
"Master, it's him..."
Yuwen Tingxuan was furious, but before he could speak, he was interrupted by Master Yu Shu.
"Shut up! Get out of here!"
The voice carried an unquestionable command.
Yuwen Tingxuan clutched the charred wound under his ribs, his face alternating between pale and flushed.
Although I was not injured, I felt extremely humiliated.
He stared intently at Yun Chen, his eyes practically spitting fire.
He never expected that his initiative would not only fail to teach his opponent a lesson, but would also result in a great loss in a single exchange, and in full view of everyone.
"Yun Chen, you just wait. I, Yuwen Tingxuan, will remember the humiliation you just suffered. I hope you'll be so lucky on the arena later."
After saying that, he didn't linger. With a livid face, he staggered back to his own area amidst the complicated gazes of the Jade Void Palace disciples.
Lu Beiyou watched this scene from afar, burning with intense jealousy, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked.
"Yun Chen, are you okay?"
Liu Yanran and Zhao Xiruo immediately surrounded them and asked with concern.
Yun Chen slowly withdrew his finger, the faint arc of lightning remaining at his fingertip quietly disappearing. He shook his head, his tone calm: "It's nothing, just a clown."
His gaze, however, bypassed the crowd and landed on Lu Beiyou in the crowd not far away.
Just now, when Yuwen Tingxuan provoked him, he keenly sensed a gaze full of jealousy and resentment, which now collided with Lu Beiyou's sinister gaze that he had not yet had time to completely conceal.
Lu Beiyou was startled when Yun Chen suddenly looked over. He quickly lowered his head to hide his emotions, but his tightly clenched fists, with knuckles white, betrayed his inner turmoil.
Yun Chen sneered inwardly, not taking Lu Beiyou seriously at all.
He's just a clown. With his current strength... Lu Beiyou doesn't even have the courage to face him directly.
"Yun Chen, I don't know why, but I have a bit of an uneasy feeling... Do you think there won't be any problems with the ranked matches?"
Zhao Xiruo said with a solemn expression and concern.
With so many disciples inexplicably missing from Taixu Palace, and Lin Wan'er not showing up, coupled with what happened last night, she felt that today's ranking competition would not be peaceful.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of everything."
Yun Chen smiled, took her hand, and offered a word of comfort before turning to Liu Yanran beside him: "Senior Sister Liu, is Senior Sister Bai alright?"
Bai Qingluo is still unconscious in Zixiao Garden. They are all participating in the ranking competition now, and he is a little worried.
"Don't worry, Elder Lei has arranged for disciples to keep watch. Someone will report any situation." Liu Yanran said.
After the second round ended yesterday, many disciples have lost their qualification for the ranking competition.
Today, we're only here to watch the battle; we don't need to go on stage. So Elder Lei temporarily assigned some people to protect Bai Qingluo.
Although none of them are particularly strong, there are still about a hundred of them. Even if they can't protect everyone, they can still send messages in critical moments.
Yun Chen nodded upon hearing this and breathed a sigh of relief.
"quiet!"
At this moment, the voice of the elder in charge suddenly rang out from the high platform, containing spiritual power that spread throughout the entire area, completely suppressing the commotion caused by the conflict just now.
Everyone immediately looked towards the high platform.
"After yesterday's competition, the top 32 have been determined."
"However, due to the sudden relapse of Lin Wan'er's old illness, she needed to recuperate and therefore chose to withdraw from the competition. Thus, there were actually 31 participants."
Wow!
As soon as he finished speaking, the entire room was shaken, and discussions arose.
Abstain?
In the history of the qualifying tournament, there has never been a team that forfeited after reaching the top 32.
Has Taixu Palace gone mad? Why would they abstain at this time?
As for the reason of a relapse of an old illness, nobody believed it at all.
After all, they are cultivators, not ordinary people, so what old ailments could they possibly have?
Even if they did, with the resources and elixirs of the Taixu Palace, what disease couldn't be cured?
Upon hearing this, Yun Chen and the others exchanged glances, a hint of surprise flashing across their faces.
"She was perfectly fine yesterday, how could her old illness suddenly relapse?" Liu Yanran looked at Yun Chen with some doubt.
After all, Yun Chen had met Lin Wan'er last night.
“I don’t know, but… it is indeed strange. When I saw her last night, I didn’t notice anything unusual.” Yun Chen shook his head, his expression grave.
Even if he's stupid, he's now aware that something's not right.
Then, just as they were discussing this, the elder on the platform spoke up again.
"Today's qualifying matches will still be decided by drawing lots to determine opponents, and rankings will be based on points."
"The scoring system remains the same as before: three points for a win, one point for a tie, and zero points for a loser. At the end of each round, the player with zero points is eliminated..."
"Now... please come up to the stage to draw lots!"
As the elder's voice faded, the thirty-one contestants stood up and walked towards the arena.