Li Yun’s expression went completely cold.
"Destruction Sword Intent."
His sword left its sheath with unimaginable speed. Most of the spectators never even saw him draw, because all they caught was the result.
Swoosh!
A peerlessly sharp Sword Qi flashed across the arena like a sudden bolt of light splitting eternal darkness, and for one brief instant every person watching felt their heart tremble.
The strike was astonishing, since nobody could clearly follow its path, and yet everyone could somehow feel it there, as though it had passed straight through their awareness and set even their souls shaking.
The arena fell silent.
Yin Cangxiao had stopped moving entirely. Cold sweat covered his face, his complexion had gone pale, and his whole body trembled beyond his control.
A thin bloody line had appeared across his throat, because the Sword Qi had stopped at exactly the right moment. Had it traveled even slightly farther, his head would already have parted from his body.
One move. Yin Cangxiao had truly been defeated in a single move, with no desperate struggle and no drawn-out exchange, because the difference between them had been absolute.
"This..."
The spectators stared blankly, and almost none of them could believe what they had just seen. Before the fight, when Li Yun said he would win in one move, most of them had assumed a few victories had gone to his head.
Now reality stood in front of them, and it was clear he had not exaggerated at all. If anything, he had shown restraint, since a slightly deeper cut would have left Yin Cangxiao dead.
"His strength has to be at the 3rd level of Spirit Manifestation Realm."
"And he probably isn’t weak even among cultivators at that level."
"How can someone at the Heavenly Core Realm have this kind of combat power?"
Yin Cangxiao trembled, and genuine fear appeared in his eyes for the first time as he stared at the calm white-robed young man before him and felt the cold spread through his whole body.
"Yin Cangxiao."
Li Yun’s expression stayed cold.
"Since you enjoy forcing people to their knees so much, you can find out how it feels."
He struck out with his palm, aiming directly at Yin Cangxiao’s knee.
"Stop right there!"
A thunderous voice exploded across the arena, carrying such terrifying power that many of the weaker spectators felt their hearts shudder from the pressure alone.
Bang!
Li Yun did not stop. His palm landed on Yin Cangxiao’s knee, a crisp cracking sound rang out, and Yin Cangxiao collapsed onto both knees.
"How dare you!"
The thunderous voice came again, furious this time. The crowd parted quickly as a tall young man in purple robes strode forward, his long dark-purple hair flowing behind him while powerful lightning flickered around his body.
It was Lei Xuankong, and everywhere he passed, cultivators hurried out of his way.
Within moments he stood in front of Li Yun, his expression ice cold and lightning swirling endlessly inside his eyes.
"I told you to stop." Lei Xuankong looked down at him. "Did you not hear me?"
Boom!
Terrifying pressure erupted from his body and rolled toward Li Yun like a violent tidal wave.
"Lei Xuankong."
"So he finally showed up."
"That makes sense. Yin Cangxiao is his sworn brother, so how could he stand by and watch him forced to kneel?"
"But Lei Xuankong is a top-fifty expert. If he personally attacks someone still in the Heavenly Core Realm, even winning won’t bring him any glory."
His arrival set off another wave of discussion. Lei Xuankong was an elite member ranked in the top fifty of the Genius Training Camp, and his cultivation had reached the perfection stage of the 3rd level of Spirit Manifestation Realm, which put him far above Yin Cangxiao.
Until now, everything involving Yin Cangxiao had still counted as a quarrel among cultivators below the 3rd level, but with Lei Xuankong stepping in personally, the whole nature of the situation changed.
"Li Yun." Lei Xuankong stared at him coldly. "My cultivation is at the perfection stage of the 3rd level of Spirit Manifestation Realm."
His aura kept pressing down. "I ordered you to stop, and you acted anyway. Do you have no respect for me at all?"
Li Yun met his gaze without backing away.
"And why should I?"
Lei Xuankong’s eyes narrowed.
"When Huang Tianlin was about to be forced to kneel, where were you?" Li Yun continued calmly. "When Yin Cangxiao came at me meaning to humiliate me the same way, why didn’t you tell him to stop? Now that he’s lost, you suddenly appear and demand that I hold back. Don’t you find that ridiculous?"
"Presumptuous." Lei Xuankong’s expression turned colder still. "Yin Cangxiao may have been in the wrong, but he is still my sworn brother, and it isn’t your place to punish him."
His aura surged higher. "Considering the circumstances, I’ll give you one chance. Withstand a single move from me and I’ll consider this matter closed. If you can’t, then since you forced Yin Cangxiao to kneel, I’ll make you kneel before him in return."
Lightning erupted from his body.
"Heavenly Thunder Judgment Sword."
He attacked at once. Lightning poured from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, and countless arcs coiled around his body like living serpents.
Lei Xuankong spread his hands apart, the lightning between them condensed rapidly, and in an instant a long sword made entirely of thunder took shape.
"Take this."
He released his left hand, gripped the lightning sword with his right, and slashed down.
Boom!
Thunder filled the sky as countless explosive sounds merged into one and the lightning sword descended toward Li Yun.
"He’s using Heavenly Thunder Judgment Sword."
"Lei Xuankong is serious about this."
"That technique is one of his famous killing moves, and he normally saves it for powerful opponents."
"Bringing perfection-stage 3rd level cultivation against a Heavenly Core Realm cultivator is already excessive, and now he’s using something like that."
"Is he actually trying to kill Li Yun?"
The spectators were shocked, since Lei Xuankong had clearly let anger overwhelm his judgment. If Li Yun died here, the consequences would be enormous, because the Profound Origin Immortal Sect would never overlook the death of a genius like him, and more importantly, Elder Qing himself had shown obvious interest in the young man.

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