Even so, Lin Yu was not particularly anxious. He had a few guesses of his own about the situation.
Either Chen Xiaoxian's bloodline was too rare for this world, and Lin Yu's clearance was insufficient to display it, or another powerhouse had intervened to conceal Chen Xiaoxian's presence, preventing Lin Yu from divining anything.
I'm in no hurry anyway. I'll take it slowly! With that thought, Lin Yu turned his attention to the other battlefields.
Thanks to the earlier accumulation, along with that latest maneuver, the Primordial Hall's Fame Points had increased considerably again. It was already a tenth of the way toward the next stage, "Making a name."
Once word of today's events in Cloud Firmament City spread, the Primordial Hall's Fame Points would surely grow considerably again.
Of course, these were merely appetizers. The real main course was still the Primordial Arena Tournament that Ye Yan planned to hold on the Primordial Platform!
After the Primordial Arena Tournament, the Primordial Hall's Fame Points would surely reach new heights. Perhaps it could even advance straight to the "Making a name" stage.
Lin Yu's gaze finally settled on a black-robed man.
Although there were quite a few people on the ocher arena, Lin Yu could divine information about all of them. Most belonged to a sect called the Supreme Sword Sect. As fellow disciples, they naturally stopped short of hurting one another, leaving little worth watching.
The match involving this black-robed man, however, looked somewhat interesting.
And the black-robed man's opponent was none other than the Supreme Sword Sect's rather lively junior sister-Xuan Ziyi!
Xuan Ziyi ranked thirty-sixth on the Eastern Wasteland Heaven's Chosen Ranking, with cultivation at the peak of the middle Spirit Light Realm.
The black-robed man ranked fifty-sixth on the Eastern Wasteland Heaven's Chosen Ranking. His name was Leng Lingli, and his cultivation was at the early Spirit Light Realm.
Leng Lingli also seemed to be someone with a very distinctive character. While most others used swords, he held a saber that was black from end to end and carried an icy chill.
"Hey! Hey! Can't you hear me?" Xuan Ziyi darted and leaped about under Leng Lingli's pursuit, looking somewhat bedraggled.
When they had first been paired up, Xuan Ziyi had tried to exchange a few words with Leng Lingli. Unfortunately, he ignored her completely, drawing his saber and slashing at once, leaving her rather baffled.
His eyes, in particular, were not only icy but threaded with frightening streaks of blood, as though Xuan Ziyi, whom he had just met, was not a beauty but his father's murderer!
Xuan Ziyi stamped her feet in anger, but there was nothing she could do. Back in the Supreme Sword Sect, everyone treated her as their little junior sister. When had she ever suffered such indignity?
Watching Xuan Ziyi dodge so awkwardly, Lin Yu silently marveled. It seemed the rankings divined by the Hongmeng System were not absolute.
The Eastern Wasteland Heaven's Chosen Ranking ranked people only by their overall strength, but overlooked certain unexpected developments in battle, as well as each person's temperament.
Thus, when a lower-ranked cultivator challenged a higher-ranked one, victory was not completely impossible. The chances were merely very slim.
Take Xuan Ziyi before him, for instance. In terms of overall statistics, she completely overwhelmed Leng Lingli.
According to the ideal outcome divined by the system, Xuan Ziyi could gain the upper hand within twenty exchanges and kill her opponent within a hundred.
Yet in reality, Xuan Ziyi and Leng Lingli had already fought for over a hundred exchanges, and Xuan Ziyi was still taking a one-sided beating.
The Eastern Wasteland Heaven's Chosen Ranking placed greater weight on each cultivator's potential, even taking some future development into account when determining their rankings.
Chen Xiaoxian, who ranked fifty-third, and his unawakened talent were the best illustration of this.
"Y-you'd better not refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit! Don't think I'm easy to bully! I'll fight you with everything I've got today!" Xuan Ziyi finally could not take it anymore and shouted.
Her voice was sweet and girlish, making those words sound almost coquettish.
Yet the imposing presence that erupted from her made one thing clear-Xuan Ziyi was serious this time.
The spiritual power surrounding Xuan Ziyi, who had just been getting thoroughly thrashed by Leng Lingli, first compressed, then actually condensed into a giant sword. It contained terrifying sword intent that swept forward like a blade splitting bamboo!
"Supreme Sword Intent, shatter!"
An indescribable solemnity appeared on Xuan Ziyi's youthful face as her small hands actually seized the phantom image of that giant sword.
The giant sword swung down with the terrifying momentum of Mount Tai bearing down!
"This sword technique... is a saint-grade sword technique." Lin Yu rubbed his chin as he performed his divinations.
As expected of the Supreme Sword Sect's favored daughter of heaven, she could wield even a saint-grade sword technique.
But the strained look on Xuan Ziyi's face made it clear that executing this sword technique was by no means easy for her.
Faced with such overwhelming might, Leng Lingli's expression remained completely unchanged. His bloodshot eyes fixed on Xuan Ziyi like a venomous snake watching its prey.
"Humm..."
Leng Lingli's entire body shuddered. A layer of red light spread out around him, flowing toward the long saber in his hand.
At the same time, Leng Lingli's black hair actually began to turn white, and his face visibly aged considerably.
"He forcibly raises his cultivation realm and power by consuming his own blood and Qi. It seems this is also a saint-grade sword technique, though an incomplete one." Lin Yu divined what was happening on Leng Lingli's side.
However, this saber technique clearly suited Leng Lingli's circumstances better. After he used it, his presence surged rapidly, even faintly suppressing Xuan Ziyi, who was likewise using a saint-grade sword technique.
"Clang!"
Saber and sword collided with a crisp ring.
For a moment, heaven and earth fell silent.
After that instant of silence, a tremendous humming erupted from Xuan Ziyi's sword and Leng Lingli's saber!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Three successive explosions were followed by a torrent of spiritual power. An enormous shock wave spread in every direction, almost solid in substance.
Even the ocher arena, a Half-Step Saint Artifact, was shaken by that tremendous force, tilting slightly in midair.
Sword intent and saber techniques poured forth, leaving the cultivators below, who had been constantly watching the arena overhead, dumbstruck.
It was hard to believe that such world-destroying power had been unleashed by the younger generation of cultivators. Not a single one of them was even over forty!
"That's the Supreme Sword Sect's sword intent!"
"Supreme Sword Intent! Those people were wearing matching outfits earlier, too. You could tell at a glance they were disciples of the same sect!"
"The Supreme Sword Sect has secluded itself from the world for years. I never thought they would appear before us today."
"Exactly. Legend has it that two thousand years ago, the Supreme Sword Sect was an overlord of the Eastern Wasteland. They only began secluding themselves because of certain events."
"That girl with the purple hair ornament should be Xuan Ziyi of the Supreme Sword Sect, ranked thirty-sixth!"