Chapter 702: Chapter 702: Li Qingyue’s Improvement
At this stage, few experts from the Heavenly King Realm remained. They had essentially taken over a stone platform each, leaving the rest to be contested by cultivators of the Physique Realm.
On the ninetieth stone platform, including Li Qingyue, only eight people were left, all of whom were at the Physique Realm. The strongest among them was only at the Seventh Layer of the Physique Realm.
However, Li Qingyue’s realm was even lower, merely at the Second Layer of the Physique Realm. Consequently, the weaker cultivators still chose to band together, prioritizing the defeat of the strongest first.
BOOM!
Li Qingyue and the others joined forces to besiege the cultivator at the Seventh Layer of the Physique Realm. After sustaining heavy injuries, he had no choice but to withdraw.
The Flying Immortal Great Emperor’s disregard for life and death made the sword conference all the more brutal. Following the deaths of the Eighth Prince and the Thirteenth Princess, many others perished.
Moreover, opportunists lurked within the crowd, specializing in sneak attacks against the heavily injured. Their rationale was simple: even if they couldn’t secure a platform, killing for loot was a handsome reward. By now, hundreds had fallen. The survivors had learned a painful lesson and would leave the pyramid battlefield immediately upon injury to avoid being ambushed and killed.
Blending into the crowd, Li Qingyue participated in two more sieges. In the end, only five people remained, with the strongest merely at the Fourth Layer of the Physique Realm. At this point, the contestants stopped ganging up on the strongest and began to fight for themselves, each vying for the platform.
SWISH!
Suddenly, a cold gleam of light burst forth, silently striking from behind and aiming to pierce her heart with a single thrust.
"Winter Snow Sword Technique!"
Li Qingyue’s Divine Sense, honed to razor sharpness by the waterfall at the Haoran Sect, perceived the sneak attack a step ahead. Without hesitation, she turned and slashed. Her Cold Moon Sword Intent erupted, the single strike as stark and cold as a flurry of winter snow.
CLANG!
Li Qingyue parried the blow and swiftly retreated, maintaining a safe distance from the others.
At that moment, Li Qingyue saw her assailant clearly. He was a young man in blue robes, a cultivator at the Third Layer of the Physique Realm and one of the five remaining contenders, adept at stealth and assassination.
"Heaven and Earth Physique!"
The other three were already engulfed in battle. Wasting no time, Li Qingyue summoned her Heaven and Earth Physique. Instantly, a cold moon appeared high above, shedding its pure light as a graceful silhouette emerged. It was like a celestial fairy descending from the moon, exuding an aura of cool detachment.
Without a word, Li Qingyue fused with her Physique, invoked her Yin Sword Body, and performed her Origin Technique.
"Origin Technique: Multilayered Sword Shadows!"
Brandishing the Ice Frost Holy Sword, Li Qingyue slashed forward. Hundreds of sword shadows instantly materialized, each one as substantial and lifelike as the last. They carried a fierce edge as they hurtled toward the blue-robed youth.
The blue-robed youth wore a grave expression, not daring to underestimate Li Qingyue. His figure flickered with incredible speed as he slashed from tricky angles, attempting to bypass the myriad sword shadows and strike her directly.
Unfortunately, the dense, impenetrable wall of shadows was like a rain of swords, sealing off all of the young man’s possible attack paths.
"Not good!"
Suddenly, the blue-robed youth sensed a deadly cold glint of light. He tried to withdraw quickly to avoid it, but an ice-cold Sword Radiance surged toward him.
The young man felt his body turn frigid as if encased in frost. Unable to struggle, he saw a speck of cold light arrive first, followed by the piercing thrust of the Ice Frost Holy Sword.
The Ice Frost Holy Sword was a Low-Grade Holy Artifact, while the sword in the young man’s hand was merely a Superior-Grade Dao Artifact—a vast discrepancy in quality.
CRASH!
The thrust shattered the Dao Artifact in the young man’s hand. Without losing momentum, the holy sword pierced his Spiritual Energy Protection and plunged into his throat.
One strike to the throat, and the blue-robed youth was dead.
Li Qingyue had been holding back before, but there was no longer any need.
"What? Sun Ming is dead?"
The death of the blue-robed youth instantly caught the attention of the other three. They stared in shocked disbelief, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
Previously, Li Qingyue had not shown much strength, but now she had killed Sun Ming with a single strike.
Instantly, a single thought flashed through their minds: she had been pretending to be weak to prey on the strong.
"Quick, let’s join forces and take her down first!"
The three of them charged toward Li Qingyue together, intending to eliminate the strongest among them before fighting for the platform themselves.
"Winter Snow Sword Technique!"
Li Qingyue’s expression was icy and emotionless. Gripping the Ice Frost Holy Sword, she seemed even colder than the blade itself.
With one strike, her sword light transformed into countless snowflakes, enveloping the three attackers.
The Winter Snow Sword Technique was inherently bone-chilling, and combined with Li Qingyue’s Cold Moon Sword Intent and the Ice Frost Holy Sword, its coldness pierced the very soul.
SLASH!
One of the men had an arm severed, and blood gushed out. He glanced at Li Qingyue in horror, then turned and fled without a shred of hesitation—he had no desire to be ambushed and killed.
With one of the three having fled, only two remained. The pressure on Li Qingyue lessened considerably.
"Origin Technique: Multilayered Sword Shadows!"
Li Qingyue used her Origin Technique again. Instantly, hundreds of sword shadows reappeared, making it impossible for the remaining two to distinguish the real from the fake. In the end, neither could escape her sword; both were defeated and forced to flee.
Thus, Li Qingyue was the only one left on the stone platform. However, this didn’t mean her position was secure. Soon, challengers from other platforms noticed the vacancy and charged over.
"Kill!"
Li Qingyue accepted all challengers. Anyone who dared to ascend the platform was cut down by her sword. This time, she held nothing back, attacking with her full power, determined to defend her prize.
By this point in the battle, the strongest cultivators had either seized a platform or been injured and forced to withdraw. This meant the challengers Li Qingyue now faced were not particularly strong, most of them only at the Third or Fourth Layer of the Physique Realm.
"This stone platform is mine!"
Finally, Li Qingyue faced her greatest challenge yet. A woman at the Sixth Layer of the Physique Realm flew in, her sword cleaving through the air. The sword light transformed into a fiery serpent that shot directly at Li Qingyue, aiming to seize the platform.
"Ice Snow Sword Qi!"
Li Qingyue’s beautiful eyes narrowed; she dared not be the slightest bit careless. This time, she didn’t use her Origin Technique but instead summoned her Lifebound Sword Qi.
This was the Myriad Swords Sect’s most powerful technique—a peerless Sword Qi nurtured with one’s own Sword Intent and lifeblood.
SWISH!
As the Ice Snow Sword Qi was released through the Ice Frost Holy Sword, the chill intensified. Combined with her Cold Moon Sword Intent and the power of her Yin Sword Body, the strike instantly froze the fiery serpent into an ice sculpture.
BOOM!
A fierce battle erupted, but ultimately, Li Qingyue was a cut above. She wounded the woman with a single strike, forcing her to retreat.
From then on, no one could pose a threat to Li Qingyue. The remaining challengers could no longer pressure her.
The ninetieth stone platform was now all but hers, an achievement she found quite satisfying.
She raised her head slightly, her beautiful eyes gazing toward the highest platform of all: the Golden Stone Platform.
Mr. Su, you must succeed!
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