Lin Yun, carrying his sword, continued, “Senior Lu Sheng, will you concede defeat yourself, or shall we continue fighting? Perhaps you still have some trump cards. If you wish to fight on, I’ll certainly oblige.”
“I… I… I concede.”
Lu Sheng’s voice trembled. Despite his reluctance, he could only bow his head in defeat.
He did indeed have some trump cards left, but the cost of using them was significant.
Moreover, in their recent clash, Lin Yun’s strength completely overwhelmed him. Even if he paid the price to play his trump cards, victory was far from certain.
Most importantly, he could sense that Lin Yun definitely had trump cards of his own!
With Lu Sheng’s concession, the outcome of this ranking match was decided.
“Yay, Father won!”
Lin Kexin, in the audience, immediately cheered with joy.
“Haha, brilliant!” White Shark shouted excitedly.
“Lin Yun has become so strong now.”
Yu Ying, Palace Master Yun Shang, and others beamed with delighted smiles, their eyes seemingly sparkling.
“Brother Yun only recently stepped into eternity, didn’t he? Absolutely incredible!” Lone Wolf exclaimed.
They all knew Lin Yun had only recently entered eternity.
“Haha, Lin Yun certainly didn’t disappoint us,” Prime Minister Dongguo Wuji also smiled.
Though Dongguo Wuji had past conflicts with Lin Yun, they had reconciled. Besides, when facing outsiders, they were on the same side. Lu Sheng had previously defeated and mocked him, so Lin Yun’s victory over Lu Sheng naturally felt satisfying.
“He’s already at the Third Order Mahayana Realm. We can only look up to him,” Eternal Ice Wing sighed.
“This guy is truly a prodigy,” the Mu Clan patriarch also remarked.
Back when competing for a spot in the ruins, the Mu Clan patriarch had fought Lin Yun. Now, seeing him again, he noticed Lin Yun’s strength had grown even further.
Fire Cloud Emperor, however, showed little change in expression, as he knew this was merely Lin Yun’s warm-up. Lin Yun was capable of far more!
His expectation for Lin Yun was to break into the top twenty of the Heavenly God List.
The eternals at the scene were filled with awe and sighs.
“This… it was a complete domination!”
“He won so effortlessly, reaching thirty-eighth on the Heavenly God List. This guy is absolutely the fastest to climb the Heavenly God List in the history of the Heavenly God Palace!”
“This guy is incredible! His growth rate is simply unreal!”
Amid the discussions, there was no shortage of praise.
Lin Yun’s performance and growth rate were truly worthy of admiration.
At Empress Kunlan’s location.
“He actually won,” Empress Kunlan’s expression was complex.
Per the original bet, Lin Yun reaching the thirty-to-forty range meant he won. She knew if Lin Yun hadn’t altered the bet, she would have already lost.
“Your Majesty, even if he defeated Lu Sheng, he’s only at thirty-eighth on the Heavenly God List. He’s still far from the top twenty. He absolutely can’t reach it,” an eternal behind Empress Kunlan said.
Empress Kunlan nodded, saying nothing more.
At Emperor Xingwu’s location.
“How is this guy’s growth so fast!” Emperor Xingwu’s face looked grim.
After all, the faster Lin Yun grew, the more uneasy he felt, for obvious reasons.
“Your Majesty, this guy doesn’t actually have the ability to challenge the top twenty, does he?” an eternal beside Emperor Xingwu asked.
“Absolutely! Not! Possible!” Emperor Xingwu’s face darkened, spitting out the words decisively.
On the Heavenly God List, the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth ranks were all at the peak of the Third Order Mahayana Realm.
But these four had been stuck at this level for tens of thousands of years. Though their realm couldn’t advance, over that long time, they had honed every other aspect to a terrifying degree.
Thus, these individuals could crush ordinary Third Order Mahayana Realm eternals. Their strength couldn’t be judged solely by their realm.
So, Emperor Xingwu was certain that even if Lin Yun had reached the Third Order Mahayana Realm, he couldn’t compare to these old monsters.
Firstly, Lin Yun was a newly advanced Third Order Mahayana Realm eternal. Secondly, his time spent cultivating other aspects was too short to match these old monsters.
At this moment, the victorious Lin Yun was preparing to leave the stage.
In his battle against Lu Sheng, Lin Yun hadn’t used many techniques.
Divine sense, the power of his origin body, and Heavenly Origin Swordsmanship.
With both at the same realm, Lin Yun’s use of these techniques was enough to easily defeat him.
“Lin Yun, if your goal is to challenge the top twenty of the Heavenly God List, what’s the point of challenging the thirty-eighth rank?”
As Lin Yun was about to step down, a loud and sharp voice rang out.
Lin Yun paused, turned, and saw it was Emperor Xingwu speaking.
His words drew the attention of all the eternals present, who sensed Emperor Xingwu was deliberately stirring trouble.
“Haha, Xingwu is picking a fight with Lin Yun again. Now things are getting interesting,” the master of Xiaoyao Tower said with a laugh.
Fire Cloud Emperor scoffed, “A dignified ruler realm picking on a junior. Only Xingwu would do such a thing.”
The crowd buzzed with discussion. Emperor Xingwu’s sudden remark made everyone feel the situation was escalating.
On the stage.
“Emperor Xingwu, what do you suggest I do?” Lin Yun looked at Emperor Xingwu with a faint smile.
“Lin Yun, if your goal is the top twenty, why challenge the thirty-eighth-ranked Lu Sheng instead of going straight for the top twenty?” Emperor Xingwu leaned back in his chair.
“Your Majesty, can’t I warm up first? Surely Your Majesty doesn’t control that too?” Lin Yun maintained his smile.
“Warming up is fine, but you’ve warmed up now, haven’t you? So, shouldn’t you challenge the top twenty next? Yet you’re walking off the stage. Could it be you never intended to challenge the top twenty?” Emperor Xingwu pressed aggressively.
He continued with a smile, “Right, how could you possibly reach the top twenty? It’s just bravado. I bet you never planned to challenge the top twenty, did you?”
“I didn’t want to take up too much of everyone’s time. I planned to let others compete first and challenge later,” Lin Yun said.
His tone shifted, “But since Emperor Xingwu is so eager to see me fight, fine, I’ll grant Your Majesty’s wish and fight now!”
As he finished, a sly, conspiratorial smile curled on Lin Yun’s lips…
