162 The Third Trial 3

The color of the fourth trial portal was a dark blue. It emitted almost no light and was concealed in the middle of four streets.

A veiled maiden was quietly waiting in front of the portal. Next to her were the bodies of seven of the fallen cultivators that had tried to reach for the portal to the next trial.

Her right wrist was glowing with multiple faint blue rings, an indication of the number of contribution points that she had obtained.

She was Yue Lingxi and she was waiting for Lu Qingyun.

Just as Lu Qingyun could sense her with the help of Yan'Er, she could sense the approach of Lu Qingyun.

She was indeed right.

The next cultivator that had arrived at the scene was Lu Qingyun and his small group.

Or rather, there were dozens of eyes that were quietly looking at them from all sides of the four streets. These cultivators were all waiting for the very last minute to dash into the portal. After all, it was impossible for Yue Lingling to stop all of them at the same time from reaching the portal.

But none of them had wanted to be the first to take the initiative. It was because none of them wanted to be like the seven cultivators that had fallen around the portal. Along the way, they had witnessed how Yue Lingling and her group had slaughtered the rest of the cultivators so they were a little afraid of her.

Lu Qingyun inhaled deeply when he had seen Yue Lingxi.

Leng Qiuyue said softly to his ears, "Senior brother, there are four of us here. Surely we can handle her with ease?"

Qian Jingjing smiled with a determined look, "I have faith in my sword art."

Ling Xiu had also brandished her long sword, "Brother Qingyun, I am with you here."

But the three maidens were immediately startled when they had noticed the number of blue rings around Yue Lingling's wrist.

Qian Jingjing got a further shock when she had recognized two of the cultivators that were on the ground, "Du Deng and Du Jia!"

When she had mentioned their names, even Ling Xiu and Leng Qiuyue were startled. It was because Du Deng and Du Jia were both upper fourth realm cultivators. Moreover they were renowned for their twin swordplay the Equivocal Blades. There were few cultivators of the same realm that were able to fight them if they team up.

Even Qian Jingjing had no confidence of fighting against the two of them at the same time.

But now they were now lying on the ground.

The maidens were all gasping softly. Lu Qingyun really did not bluff them about the skill level of this Yue Lingling.

Lu Qingyun said quietly as he stared at Yue Lingling, "You are waiting for me?"

Yue Lingling replied casually, "Did you forget that we still have an unfinished business back at the Heavens Ridge Villa, my brother."

Leng Qiuyue started to look at Lu Qingyun as she muttered, "Back at the Heavens Ridge Villa? Why is she calling you her brother? I had heard that there was one time your sister had come to visit you. It is her?"

Even Ling Xiu and Qian Jingjing were looking at him with a weird expression.

Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly before he said, "Erm…this is a long story. I tell you later."

He quickly stepped forward to say courageously, "Are you going to give way to us or not? Or do you want to fight all four of us at the same time?"

Yue Lingling seemed to smile behind her veil, "You sound a little forced. Why don't I give you an option to enter the portal?"

Lu Qingyun immediately answered, "What is it?" Any option given was better than fighting this monster of a desolate cultivator.

"I can give you two extra options." Yue Lingling was smiling.

"The first option is for the maidens in your group to remove their robes. If they are willing to do so, I will allow your group to enter the portal."

"This is outrageous! You may as well strip them naked." Lu Qingyun said angrily. "What is the second option?"

The three maidens behind Lu Qingyun were all flustered when they had heard what the first option was.

"As for the second option, if you can make me move from my spot with a single stroke then I will let the four of you pass through this portal." Yue Lingling smiled coldly.

Lu Qingyun was startled, "It is this simple? You won't backtrack or anything?"

Yue Lingling hummed coldly, "Do you think you have a choice now?"

She laughed before adding, "I believe that you have only 15 minutes left to consider."

Lu Qingyun inhaled deeply before he said, "Alright. So be it. I hope that you will keep your part of the bargain then."

Immediately he had flashed his sword in front of him in an attack stance.

Qian Jingjing whispered to him, "Brother Qingyun, why don't you let me take over you? I don't believe that my Rippling Five Heavens Spirit Sword won't be able to force her to move."

Yue Lingling interrupted coldly, "Young maiden, you are not qualified to spar with me."

Lu Qingyun smiled at Qian Jingjing, "Let me try, alright?"

With a soft sigh, Qian Jingjing had stepped back.

Lu Qingyun was thinking hard now.

He was now a fourth realm cultivator now and had attained the energy level cultivation. His greatest strength now was his profound animus aura that could empower him further. More so because he had the aid of Yan'Er who was a spirit entity.

However he felt that this was not enough. Even his strongest sword art the Alpha and Beta Soaring Heavens as One may not be enough to move Yue Lingling.

All of a sudden he had a thought. In the practice chamber, he had once experimented with an incomplete sword art which he called the Dark Blazing Phoenix. This was supposed to be the fifth stage of the Flaming Phoenix Sword, the result of his depressing defeat from the Three-Destinies Old Man.

He had theorized that his profound aura may have given away too much of his profound strength away and hence it was easier for the Three-Destinies Old Man to block his sword art. Therefore he needed a sword art that could compress all his profound strength into his sword.

There was a problem though. This was still at a theory stage and he had not worked it out yet.

He was sighing, "If only I have another month or so, I may have completed this sword art. Alas, I am so stupid and slow…"

If the others would hear him, they may flip over and spurt blood. It was because not everyone was genius enough to create a new sword art. Those who were able to create a new sword art usually invested years of their experiences from many sources of sword arts to create a superior sword art.

Moreover the sword art that Lu Qingyun was theorizing had nothing to do with his experiences or previous sword arts. It was something totally new and it was something that his mind had thought that it was possible.

Now this was even more difficult to create. Even a seventh realm expert may not be able to create such a profound sword art from nothing.

Lu Qingyun sighed, "I have no other choice now but to use this new untested sword art now."

"Yan'Er, I need you to temper my sword with your golden roc flame and…. Annihilating Fire." He said to her from within his inner cultivation sea as he raised his sword.

"Alright Master!" Yan'Er chuckled with delight, eager to show off her strength.

Yue Lingling noted with interest and anticipation when she saw that Lu Qingyun's sword was charged with sword energies. "Sword energies eh?" She thought.

Lu Qingyun flipped his sword and as he prepared himself for a charge at Yue Lingling.

All of a sudden Yue Lingling's raised her thin eyebrows and narrowed her eyes. It was because the sword that was in Lu Qingyun's hand had suddenly turned black like a black hole!

Yue Lingling was startled as she gasped, "This is the really the annihilating force!"

At this moment Lu Qingyun was still focusing all his profound energies into his sword and had long reached the energy limit of what his sword was capable of withstanding. But still he continued to focus all his profound energies into his sword.

Yan'Er asked, "Master, is that enough?"

Lu Qingyun said to her, "Yan'Er, continue to pour your energies into the sword to compress all the energies."

"Yan'Er will do as Master says." She began to chuckle delightfully and poured her energies to merge with Lu Qingyun.

Lu Qingyun could see that he was turning the sword blacker and blacker but at the same time he could feel a sense of overwhelming power in his sword. He thought, "Indeed with Yan'Er aid, my profound strength is much stronger."

What Lu Qingyun was doing had also caught the attention of the speculators that were all watching him and Yue Lingling. But all they could see was that his sword had turned a pitch black. It was something that they had never seen before.

Qin Keqin muttered, "What are they saying? And why is my Yun'Er sword turning into a dark sword?"

The Three-Destinies Old Man rose up and he had a startled look. "This is the no doubt his annihilating force!"

Xuan Danfeng was startled when he had suddenly rose up and she looked curiously at him, "What is wrong?"

The Three-Destinies Old Man inhaled deeply, "Nothing…"

"Really nothing at all?" Xuan Danfeng asked before she looked at the imagery scene below. "What so special about turning a sword black? I don't even see any sign of any sword energies around the sword."

The Three-Destinies Old Man smiled weakly, "He is condensing all his profound power into his sword. You can't see any energy emanations because it is absorbing all the energies in his surroundings. All you see will just be an ordinary black sword. But in actuality, it is super-charged with an insane amount of sword energies."

Xuan Danfeng chuckled, "Liar. You sure know how to tell a story. Listen, I won't be fool by you. Have you forgotten that I am a seventh realm cultivator?"

The Three-Destinies Old Man murmured, "Whether you believe me or not is up to you…"

All of a sudden he saw that Lu Qingyun had started to swing his sword so he said hastily to Xuan Danfeng, "We talk in a while time…"

Lu Qingyun had indeed readied his sword and had swung with all his profound strength at Yue Lingling.

Yue Lingling smiled as she lifted her sword to parry his attack.

There was a thunderous implosion as both swords met and the two of them were moved to take seven steps backward!

Yue Lingling had moved seven steps backward and not just one step!

Lu Qingyun was immediately caught by Leng Qiuyue, Ling Xiu and Qian Jingjing at the same time as they panicky asked him. "Brother Qingyun…Senior brother…are you alright?"

As Yue Lingling gasping breathlessly to herself, "This amount of profound strength…he is indeed a major annihilating force practitioner and is the perfect vessel for me to use to unravel the secrets of the Horizon of the Heavens!"

Her objective had been met and she knew his true strength now.

With a wry smile, she had stepped into the portal and had quit the scene.

Lu Qingyun coughed weakly but he was delighted. "Quick, let's enter the portal quickly!"

All around them, dozens of cultivators were all secretly overjoyed to see that Yue Lingling was no longer around and they were all rushing forward to the portal.

Leng Qiuyue said gently, "Senior brother, let me help you to get into the portal. You don't look so good."

Ling Xiu had also grabbed his other arm, "Brother Qingyun, let me help you too."

Qian Jingjing pushed her way between the two maidens and hastily said, "Can't you tell that Brother Qingyun has been hurt during the confrontation. Can't the two of you handle him with more care?" It was a lame excuse that invited cold stares from both Ling Xiu and Leng Qiuyue as they questioned her at the same time, "In what way are we not showing him with more care?"

"You…the two of you…are handling him too roughly and is not gentle at all!" Qian Jingjing stammered out.

Lu Qingyun heaved a soft sigh as he said to them, "We should hurry and stepped into the portal first. After that we can chat at our leisure pace."

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On the stage above, the celestials who had been watching the short spar between Lu Qingyun and Yue Lingling could not make a sense out of it.

They could only see the two of them had been knocked back seven steps and that Yue Lingling had suddenly turned around to enter the portal.

And she was quickly followed by Lu Qingyun and his group into the portal

As the displayed imagery below had no sound, none of the celestials were able to hear anything saved for their actions.

"What is going on down there?"

"How is it possible for Lu Qingyun to have beaten off Yue Lingling?"

"His sword has turned black and he is able to push her back?"

"Is Lu Qingyun trying to cheat his way through?"

"I've heard that he is a cheater…"

"I have heard of that too."

"I've heard that he has a divine sword. Maybe the power of his divine sword isn't restricted in the celestial array and that is why he is able to use his divine sword?"

"His divine sword is a black divine sword?"

"Probably yes…"

"He is actually using a divine sword? That is cheating!"

Even Shen Yufeng was turning to Qin Keqin, "What is that black sword? Is he cheating?"

Qin Keqin naturally knew that Lu Qingyun's desolate strength had awakened. Although she had no idea why Lu Qingyun's sword had turned black but she was able to guess roughly what was going on. Her conclusion was, Lu Qingyun must have somewhat beaten off Yue Lingling with his desolate force and she was somewhat frightened into entering the portal.

After all, there were few cultivators that could withstand the strength of a desolate cultivator.

But while everyone was wondering how Lu Qingyun was able to beat off Yue Lingling, Qin Keqin was secretly cursing Leng Qiuyue, Qian Jingjing and Ling Xiu. "They are so shameless! Why are they holding my Yun'Er in such an intimate manner? They are like ravenous wolves that are devouring my Yun'Er, leaving behind no bones. I must do something about this once this tournament is over or they will think that this Devil Goddess is someone that they can trample upon…"