“Ji Wuye? I remember him. His reputation was on the same level as Ghost Blade Yan Kong during the previous Draconic Banquet. They were known as the Twin Fiends. However he was an ant before an elite on the inner ranking. Defeating trash like him is nothing,” said Jin Yan as he casually glanced at Lin Yun while sipping his tea.
“That person has a grudge against me. His junior brother was defeated by me at the Draconic Banquet back then and he still holds a grudge against me. It looks like I’ve implicated you. However, Jin Yan is powerful. I even heard that he had an opportunity in the past year and became a lesser Yin-Yang stage expert. He’s a lot stronger than Ji Wuye, so you can’t underestimate him,” said Yang Fan as he transmitted his voice over to Lin Yun.
Lin Yun understood what was going on. No wonder he could feel a faint enmity coming from Jin Yan. However, it didn’t matter as he wouldn’t bother Jin Yan as long as the latter didn’t cross his bottom line. The reason why he was here was to see how strong a genius on the inner ranking was.
The host of this gathering was Xiang Tianhe, a genius on the inner ranking. Lin Yun could feel a powerful yet innate aura coming from him. This person was the strongest amongst the younger generation that Lin Yun had seen so far. However, he was confident that he wouldn’t lose easily if they fought.
For some reason, Lin Yun could feel that Xiang Tianhe was somewhat lacking. Perhaps this was the reason why he was ranked in the forties and wasn’t incredibly strong. Then again, he still needed to see Xiang Tianhe fight to be certain. Right now, he could only base things off of his initial judgement.
“Sorry for being late.” Just when Lin Yun was in deep thoughts, a cold voice sounded out as a purple-clothed woman walked in. She looked to be in her twenties and had an outstanding figure. When she walked over, there was a faint fragrance.
Lin Yun narrowed his eyes as he could sense the power coming from her. Her temperament was like a radiating moon. Not only was she beautiful, but she was also powerful. Although she was also in the pinnacle lesser Yin-Yang stage, she was a lot stronger than Xiang Tianhe. As for Jin Yan, who was only in the lesser Yin-Yang stage, there was no way he could compare to her.
Even Yang Fan and Guo Xu were briefly distracted. But a short moment later, Yang Fan reacted and whispered, “Qing Ruoyou, the secluded disciple of a Supreme Elder. She was ranked thirty-one on the previous Dragoncloud Ranking. I heard that in the past four years, she has cultivated the Indigomoon Sutra to an extremely high degree with the strength that reaches to the top twenties.”
“The Indigomoon Sutra?” Lin Yun’s heart jolted as he examined the woman even more carefully. He had previously experienced the Indigomoon Sutra’s power. Although it was extraordinary in the hands of Chief Leng, it was still clearly lacking. Lin Yun couldn’t say that he really experienced the true power of the Indigomoon Sutra.
Guo Xu also whispered, “Xiang Tianhe isn’t simple. The Thunder Prefectural City isn’t far from the Skymound City, and Qing Ruoyou is one of the four beauties of the Thunder Prefecture. She has a lot of admirers and I heard that she even has admirers among the three kings and seven elites. She has been known as the Indigomoon Elysium’s princess.”
There was no exaggeration in his words. Xiang Tianhe might be a genius in the inner ranking, but he was only ranked in the forties. There was still a huge gap between him and Qing Ruoyou, so it was weird that he could invite someone like Qing Ruoyou.
Qing Ruoyou’s appearance made the atmosphere somewhat tense as many people pretended to put on good manners.
Xiang Tianhe had already stood up to welcome her with his eyes blazing. He smiled, “It’s my honor that you can come. Come, let me offer you a toast.”
Instantly, the guests wore a respectful gaze as they raised their cups. Qing Ruoyou’s eyes flashed with a wisp of icy arrogance before nodding her head and heading to the main seat on the stage. When she swept her glance out, she was surprised to see the mark on Lin Yun’s forehead. But she soon concealed her shock as she averted her gaze.
Now that everyone was here, Xiang Tianhe smiled, “Aside from the seven greatest geniuses in the Skymound City, all of you can be considered the strongest among the younger generation.”
Aside from Lin Yun, Yang Fan, and Guo Xu, everyone was a local genius. So what Xiang Tianhe said wasn’t an exaggeration.
Xiang Tianhe paused briefly before he continued, “The Draconic Banquet was half a year ago and it’s rare for us to have a gathering. Today’s gathering is only meant for everyone to have an exchange. There’s no other motive. Fortunately, Ruoyou is also here, so if you guys can catch her attention, you might be able to enter the Indigomoon Elysium.”
Qing Ruoyou wore a playful gaze when she heard that, but she didn’t refute Xiang Tianhe’s words. She didn’t show much expression from the start. This was clearly a gathering, but there was an invisible wall between her and everyone present.”
“Brother Xiang is right. Hard work is needed in the martial path, but we can’t just go into seclusion all the time. Otherwise, we will just be frogs in a well.”
“That’s right. Interaction creates improvement, so it’s pointless to solely focus on cultivating.” Everyone here knew each other as they were from the various clans in Skymound City. So the atmosphere suddenly became lively. As they spoke and exchanged their comprehension, the atmosphere gradually became heated.
Lin Yun raised his cup and took a sip while feeling disappointed. Aside from Xiang Tianhe and Qing Ruoyou, not many people could attract his attention here. Furthermore, it was boring to listen to their conversations.
It looked like Xiang Tianhe’s prestige wasn’t high in Skymound City. At the very least, the seven greatest geniuses weren’t here. If it was somewhere else, the prestige of an inner ranking’s genius could naturally attract many people’s attention. But it didn’t seem like much in this Skymound City.
It didn’t take long for everyone to arrange their fights. Looking at this scene, Xiang Tianhe smiled as he seemed prepared, “Since you guys want to spar, then you should know when to stop. Don’t get too into it.”
“Don’t worry about it. We know the rules,” responded a pair who wanted to fight. They looked like they were itching to spar.
Those two were geniuses in the same generation, so they were naturally arrogant and wouldn’t admit defeat. It was natural for sparks to fly between them as they exchanged their comprehension.
Very quickly, they began to fight. They only used their fists to fight and they were both in the pinnacle Yang stage.
“Earth grade fist technique!” Lin Yun’s eyes lit up as he identified the grades of their fist techniques. It looks like Skymound City had a strong foundation. After all, these were two casual people who had grasped earth grade fist techniques. That was unimaginable in the Heavenly Province Academy.
The Seven Slaughtering Fist was known as a forbidden fist technique, but it was only a high earth grade fist technique. For Lin Yun, it was fortunate that he had the Overlord Sword. Even among earth grade techniques, it belonged to the highest tier.
But very quickly, Lin Yun’s interest died down as the two showed quite a bit of flaws in their fist techniques. Their moves might seem domineering, but they hadn’t grasped the true intent of their fist techniques. They weren’t even in greater mastery, not to mention lesser mastery.
If he fought them, they definitely wouldn’t be able to withstand his Seven Slaughtering Fist. Very quickly, several rounds of sparring ended without any interesting fights. Lin Yun was only slightly interested when Jin Yan went up on the stage, but he soon shook his head.
“Get down!” Jin Yan threw a punch out after five moves and sent his opponent flying. His power was strong, so he nearly sent his opponent out of the hall.
“Sorry about that. My Skyflame Fist has just reached greater mastery. I only used 50% of my strength, but I didn’t expect to still injure you,” chuckled Jin Yan as he apologized. Jin Yan’s ‘sincere’ apology made his opponent’s face turn ugly before he squeezed out a smile and returned to his seat.
Jin Yan’s arrogant attitude made many people unhappy, but no one dared to say anything because of his strength in the lesser Yin-Yang stage. He peeked a glance at Qing Ruoyou and was disappointed to see that she showed no interest in his fight. But when he looked at Lin Yun, his eyes quickly lit up and smiled, “Hey, brat with the surname Lin. Since you’ve defeated Ji Wuye, you must be pretty strong. Why don’t we exchange some moves?”
The moment he said those words, many people smiled. After all, Jin Yan was a local genius in the Skymound City and everyone was more than happy to see him teach an outsider a lesson.
“It seems like he’s looking down on Brother Jin Yan.”
“He must be afraid.”
“Haha, no need to be afraid. Jin Yan wants to have a spar with you, so he definitely won’t use his full strength.”
“His reputation must be fake. Look at how cowardly he is.”
The Thunder Prefecture was the strongest prefecture in the Ancient Southern Domain. Therefore, many cultivators in the Thunder Prefecture naturally felt that they were better than others. This was the reason why they started mocking Lin Yun when he saw that Lin Yun wasn’t responding.
“Afraid?” Lin Yun retracted his gaze and continued, “Indeed, I’m afraid…”
Jin Yan couldn’t help sneering when he heard that. But just when he was about to mock Lin Yun, Lin Yun continued, “—afraid that I might implicate everyone here because the stage is so small.”
Lin Yun’s words instantly caused a commotion. Even Xiang Tianhe, who was on the stage, was surprised before he spoke, “There’s a spiritual array on the stage that can absorb 50% of the origin energy. It can even withstand lesser Yin-Yang stage experts fighting.”
“Brat, you’re rather arrogant despite how quiet you are.”
“Haha, wasn't Ji Wuye the same back then? He acted arrogant just because he’s on the Dragoncloud Ranking’s outer ranking. Wasn’t he taught a lesson in the Thunder Prefecture? We’ve already given these guys face by inviting them to join the gathering as outsiders.”
“Hehe, let’s just watch. Jin Yan is known for his fiery temper. This brat dares to be arrogant before Jin Yan, so he’ll definitely be taught a lesson later.”
“It’s good if he isn’t beaten to the point of begging for forgiveness later.” Everyone was unhappy at Lin Yun’s words. They would have nothing to say if they were defeated by Jin Yan, but there was no place for an outsider to boast before them.
After all, this was the Skymound City, a city of the Thunder Prefecture!