Chapter 244: Victory and Defeat

Those who watched the match between Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran were at a loss for words on how to describe it.

The arena, that could hold thousands of people, had become so silent that one could hear a pin drop.

Although they were also elites, when they compared themselves with Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran, they felt that there was a huge gap between them and this duo. In front of this duo, they did not dare to refer to themselves as elites. They felt more like they were ordinary people.

“Chu Xiaoran is frightening. It is a surprise that she hid so much of her power. Not only does she have extraordinary perceptivity, she has even formed Aspect Before Yuan. Even her battle tactics were well-planned. She almost managed to corner Yi Yun!”

“That Yi Yun is also ridiculously strong. After receiving such a combo attack, he was still able to handle Chu Xiaoran’s final attack, though he did receive injuries…”

Yi Yun was now in the middle of the stage, his body covered with plenty of bloody wounds. One could see that Yi Yun’s blood was in chaos, it was most likely due to Chu Xiaoran’s Frost Qi entering his body!

In contrast, besides some messy hair and a bit of damage to her clothes, Chu Xiaoran was not injured at all. Yi Yun’s final attack, Killing At Its Core, had been suppressed by Chu Xiaoran’s “Azure Blue Frost Sea, Ephemeral Beauty”!

Chu Xiaoran held the absolute upper hand in the final blow!

The Saber Truth’s 32 Words were profound, allowing Yi Yun to touch the genius of the saber truths, but… Yi Yun did not have enough time to gain further insights into the saber truths.

No matter how heaven-defying the Saber Truth’s 32 Words were, Yi Yun had gained far too little insight in them until now. His saber attack was not as powerful as Chu Xiaoran’s final sword attack.

“Will Yi Yun… lose to Chu Xiaoran?”

Seeing this situation, Chu Xiaoran clearly had the advantage. Yi Yun was already injured and he was still standing inside Chu Xiaoran’s ice array!

People looked forward to seeing either Chu Xiaoran’s unstoppable stance, where she would use her advantage to defeat Yi Yun or Yi Yun reversing the situation and obtaining victory with a counterattack.

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As for what people were hoping for, no one expected what was to happen next. Chu Xiaoran suddenly turned to the referee and sighed, “I admit defeat!”

What!?

When Chu Xiaoran said this, the entire audience became stupefied.

Chu Xiaoran admitted defeat!?

She clearly had the upper hand. She had completely overwhelmed Yi Yun with her final blow. Why did she admit defeat?!

Chu Xiaoran did not bother to explain and merely began walking off the stage. Just as she was about to step off the stage, she turned around and looked at Yi Yun.

“My loss to you today was due to my unrefined skills. In the future… when I have consolidated my Aspect Totem, and when I am able to fully control the ice forest array, I will battle you once more!” After having said that, Chu Xiaoran walked straight to the arena’s exit.

She was leaving just like that!

People were shocked. What was going on? In what aspect did Chu Xiaoran lose? Why did she admit defeat?

Was there something in the last move that they did not understand? For example, did Yi Yun have the opportunity to take Chu Xiaoran’s life, but because of the no killing rule, or because he had tender feelings for women, he deliberately stayed his blade?

People began speculating.

Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran’s strengths were stronger than a vast majority of them. It was normal for them not to understand certain aspects of the battle.

But amongst these speculations, someone disagreed.

The person who disagreed was a veteran cultivator, who was ranked in the top 1000 of the Earth roll.

“It is none of those…” The person shook his head, “It’s stamina! Chu Xiaoran had injected all of her Yuan Qi into her final attack. It was her killing blow and her only attack. By not defeating her opponent, she lost! The attack’s power may have been very strong, and it had great understanding of the laws contained within it, but… as a Purple Blood realm warrior, she had used the Aspect Totem that Yuan foundation realm warriors use. This had already caused a great strain on her Yuan Qi consumption. Not only that, she also formed the ice forest array, which further increased her strength, but it also used more of her Yuan Qi.”

“After using those techniques, it was already a miracle that Chu Xiaoran could attack twice. But that was her limit. Chu Xiaoran must have learned this move recently, so there would be many limitations to using it…” Hearing the person’s explanation, people were dumbfounded.

Stamina! So that was it!

It made sense. That type of terrifying attack was definitely not one that someone could use again and again.

“But… Yi Yun should also have been greatly drained! Chu Xiaoran spent so much of her stamina, so there’s no reason why Yi Yun should have that much more left…”

“Actually, there is a reason.” The person looked at Yi Yun and, after some thought, he explained, “From the beginning of the match, Yi Yun had been dodging most of the time. Thus, his energy consumption was far less than Chu Xiaoran’s. Furthermore, Yi Yun did not use any moves that greatly increased his battle power, so he would have more Yuan Qi than Chu Xiaoran. Chu Xiaoran must have seen through this and felt that she could no longer win if it dragged on, so she admitted defeat…”

Hearing this person’s explanation, everyone felt enlightened.

It was stamina that allowed Yi Yun to win!

He may have lost the final clash, but he had won in terms of stamina!

After all, stamina was a part of one’s strength. But compared to the understanding of laws and concepts, as well as the cultivation techniques one learned, stamina was secondary.

This was because, as a warrior’s cultivation level became higher, their Yuan Qi would grow thicker, which would naturally increase their stamina.

As for cultivation levels, those were just a matter of time for the elites present.

But the understanding of laws and concepts, as well as the cultivation techniques one learned, they were all different. This was a person’s foundation. They determined a person’s martial arts attainment in the future.

The degree of a person’s talent was comprehensively determined by these factors!

The talent Chu Xiaoran had with laws and totems, was the reason why many found her terrifying.

“Chu Xiaoran, having just learned this move, was at a disadvantage for not having it well-honed. In the future, when Chu Xiaoran ranks up, solidifying her foundations and improving her understanding of the laws, the result will be completely different when she then battles Yi Yun again…” Someone said.

“It is possible. But Yi Yun is also not bad himself. Although he does not have much in the understandings of laws, and cannot form an Aspect Before Yuan, his saber is still really terrifying! Just with that saber, he could slash through anything!”

In this rookie ranking competition, Yi Yun had only slashed his saber a few times. But each slash he produced shocked the hearts of many!

When the saber beam flared, even at tens of meters away, they would feel as if the beam was close by!

Everyone agreed to what was said. But someone still shook his head, “Saber truths are just killing moves. It may be strong, and it could kill someone mercilessly, but just killing moves aren’t much compared to a person’s cultivation techniques and concepts! It is not the foundation of a warrior!”

“If Yi Yun is not impressive in other aspects, many cultivators will slowly catch up with him! Just his saber moves alone will not allow him to last long in the Tai Ah Divine City. ”

“Amongst the veteran cultivators, Qin Haotian, who is excellent in the way of the sword, doesn’t fully rely on his sword alone.” The person who said this was a veteran cultivator. In the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, people had always weighed cultivation techniques over attack moves.

This was because a person’s cultivation technique could allow one to go far. Attack moves however, just allowed one to shine amongst people of the same level. If one could not raise one’s level in the future and then not become a sage, then no matter how strong their attack moves were, their lifespan would be shorter than others. So what was the point to it then?

This was something that most people present understood.

Yi Yun’s saber moves were strong, while Chu Xiaoran was good at laws and aspects. But, relatively speaking, people were more optimistic about Chu Xiaoran’s future.

Perhaps, in four years time, the number one person on the Heaven and Earth rolls would be Chu Xiaoran.

Even in her last battle against Yi Yun, many people felt that Chu Xiaoran did not deserve to lose. After all, in the final attack, Chu Xiaoran held the absolute advantage. Also, Chu Xiaoran’s combo attack and the ice forest array were stunning. She had only lost due to her lack of stamina.

…

The second last day of the rookie ranking competition had ended. Many people were prepared to leave, but seeing the two Elders present, they felt that it would be more polite to let the Elders leave first.

But on the seats of honor, Jian Ge and Cang Yan had no intentions of leaving.

Jian Ge had his head slightly bowed as if deep in thought, while Cang Yan was stroking his beard. His eyes were moving around, with no way of guessing what he was thinking about.

Although the last move Yi Yun made had been suppressed by Chu Xiaoran’s sword, it still shocked them greatly.

The rookies and veteran cultivators in the arena did not know the significance of this attack. Even some of the law-enforcers only had a vague understanding.

But the two old men, Jian Ge and Cang Yan, knew it well. In no exaggerating terms, that one move had opened up the path of Yi Yun’s martial arts!

The law-enforcers beside Cang Yan and Jian Ge did not move and stood still as they saw that the Elders had no intentions of leaving.

Many cultivators glanced at the seats of honor. They did not know why the two Elders were still sitting there. Would they review the battle?

But even after waiting for a long while, the two Elders still did nothing. They could only decide whether they should leave or not.

“It is unexpected that the rookie ranking competition would end prematurely. This year’s rookie ranking competition sure was exciting!”

“It may have ended, but there is still tomorrow. Do you plan on watching?”

“I don’t think so. Chu Xiaoran and Yi Yun have already fought, and there is no more suspense left in the rankings. But… Chu Xiaoran and Yi Yun might carry on challenging the higher ranking veteran cultivators?”

According to the rules of the rookie ranking competition, once the rookies competed against one another, as long as one beat the other, the winner would be ranked ahead of the loser. Even if Chu Xiaoran were to exceed Yi Yun’s ranking on the Earth roll tomorrow, Yi Yun would still be ranked first amongst the rookies.

There was no more suspense.

“Challenging veteran cultivators? It should also be an exciting match, but… I can probably guess. As Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran have similar strengths, they should both rank somewhere around the top 2000!”

“2000? Probably. They might even enter 1900. I plan on watching tomorrow’s matches. I want to see if they can enter the top 2000!”

People began discussing, they were secretly horrified. It was terrifying to think that people could enter the top 2000 from the rookie ranking competition alone!

After all, the people ranked there were already trying to form their Yuan foundation.

People began to stand up as they planned to leave the arena. Yi Yun had sheathed his Thousand Army Saber and he was also prepared to leave. He had a lot to digest after today’s battle.

Chu Xiaoran may have lost to him, but she had still given him a lesson.

Chu Xiaoran taught Yi Yun that a battle could be fought in such a way. The path of martial arts could be trained in this manner!

As Yi Yun was preparing to leave, he suddenly heard a familiar, but wretched, Yuan Qi voice transmission, “Rotten rascal, aren’t you going to say hello before you leave? Don’t you know courtesy, or how to show your elders respect!?”