Chapter 743: Lingxiao Palm

　　Jiang Yucheng felt torn on the inside as if there were two of him arguing back and forth with each other in his mind. If all of this is truly Shangguan Wan’s doing, then she definitely won’t spare Chu Liuyue’s life. Not even Qin Yi and the others will be able to save Chu Liuyue. But on the other hand, Chu Liuyue has probably found out something. If she makes it out of this place alive, then she will indubitably become Shangguan Wan’s greatest threat. I might even be implicated as I’m in the same boat as Shangguan Wan.

　　If Chu Liuyue reveals Shangguan Wan’s dirty deeds, our marriage will surely be called off too. Not only Shangguan Wan’s, but my status will also plummet to rock bottom. Given how many enemies I have within Xi Ling City, it’s clear what will be awaiting me if I fall from grace! Jiang Yucheng’s face gradually became cold and dark as these thoughts ran through his head.

　　…

　　Over on this side, neither Chu Liuyue nor Shangguan Wan was aware of what was happening on the other end.

　　When Shangguan Wan threw out a clean punch packed with brute and aggressive force, a dark-green, fist-shaped shadow flew out. It silently tore through the air in a perfect arc as it headed straight toward Chu Liuyue’s face.

　　Under this powerful force, the air in front of Chu Liuyue compressed, making her feel excruciating pain as if something heavy was pressing on her entire body. Even moving became an exceedingly difficult chore to her because of her stiffened body.

　　This was the full force of a stage-eight warrior—not even she could meet that punch head-on.

　　Chu Liuyue’s eyes gleamed coldly as she watched the fist-shaped shadow approach her at high speed.

　　Whir!

　　The water droplet in her dantian began spinning all of a sudden. Rich force instantly rushed out from it and flowed into her limbs, reducing the pressure she was facing.

　　With a side-step, she vanished from her original spot, resulting in the punch hitting the air.

　　“You do have some skills!” Shangguan Wan narrowed her eyes slightly before bursting into a peal of laughter. The aura she exudes now is much stronger than before. She must have some tricks up her sleeve, or else there’s no way she could avoid that punch so easily. It’s no wonder that she managed to take first place in those competitions…

　　“You’re too naive if you think you can escape from me with such petty tricks!” Shangguan Wan scoffed. They’re nothing in front of real and absolute power!

　　With just a thought, the fist-shaped shadow changed its course and continued charging toward Chu Liuyue.

　　Something silvery flew out of Chu Liuyue’s hand right at that moment.

　　Shangguan Wan squinted her eyes to take a closer look, only to realize that it was the dagger Chu Liuyue had used before. Her lips curled up into a sneer. “You dream of stopping my attack with that mere dagger? How ludicrous!”

　　As the saying goes: the longer and bigger one’s weapon is, the more powerful one will be. A good weapon tends to increase a cultivator’s combat power, but Chu Liuyue seems to be using this dagger all the time. No matter how sharp and handy it is, it can’t be compared to spears and swords. It’ll easily become a disadvantage. From what I see, she’s just asking for trouble. However, Shangguan Wan’s smug smile stiffened the next second because Chu Liuyue’s dagger had sliced her fist-shaped shadow into two.

　　Everything happened in just an instant, and the fist-shaped shadow tore apart just like that as if the full force it packed was useless against the dagger. The force within dissipated as well.

　　By now, Chu Liuyue had already retreated to the back and cast a barrier around her to ward off the exploding force that resulted from her actions.

　　Shangguan Wan was aghast and infuriated. There’s something wrong with that dagger. It… might be a rare treasure! So that’s why she’s using it all the time!

　　If Shangguan Wan wasn’t in this situation, she would probably develop some interest in the dagger. But at this moment, all she could think about was ending Chu Liuyue’s life as quickly as possible. Her failed attempt didn’t stop her from striking once more. This time, she took things a lot more seriously.

　　She appeared right in front of Chu Liuyue in a flash.

　　Even though Chu Liuyue moved fast, she was no match for Shangguan Wan—who was currently moving at full speed. But that didn’t mean that she planned to keep hiding from the other woman.

　　When Shangguan Wan put her hands in front of her, dark-green force poured out and formed a palm print—it was about the size of her hand, and it emitted a luminous glow. The surrounding force then began gathering toward the palm print.

　　Chu Liuyue narrowed her eyes, for she was all too familiar with this technique Shangguan Wan had executed. It was a skill that only the Tianling Dynasty’s royalty could learn—Lingxiao Palm. Most importantly, although it was just an Earth-grade warrior technique, the power it could truly unleash was comparable to that of a Heaven-grade warrior technique.

　　Shangguan Wan paused for a moment before shifting her hand positions slightly.

　　The surrounding force began flowing toward the palm at an even faster speed, which made Chu Liuyue scoff.

　　There were three stages to the Lingxiao Palm. While all members of the royal family were able to cultivate the first stage, only those who had become stage-seven warriors could proceed to the second stage. This requirement might be considered a little tough for the average person, but it wasn’t difficult for the royalty considering the amount of grooming they received. That said, not everyone could successfully reach the second stage as the skill was really difficult to understand.

　　As for the third stage, only those who had become stage-eight warriors could continue cultivating this skill.

　　Although Shangguan Wan had reached the eighth stage in cultivation, her damaged Yuan meridian made it impossible for her to continue onto the third stage. Thus, she could only execute the skill at the second stage. Regardless, she reckoned that it was more than enough to deal with Chu Liuyue. “You should be honored that I’m killing you with the second stage of the Lingxiao Palm!”

　　A mocking smile played on Chu Liuyue’s lips.

　　Speaking of which, Shangguan Wan had only managed to pick up the second stage through Shangguan Yue’s patient guidance. She had secretly begged the latter for help as she was unable to master the skill no matter how hard she tried.

　　Afterward, in her delight at mastering the skill, she even dropped hints to Shangguan Yue that she wanted to give their father a surprise.

　　Shangguan Yue naturally knew what she meant, but she didn’t mind it at all. She even took the initiative to promise Shangguan Wan that she would keep this matter a secret and reveal to the public that the latter had mastered the skill all on her own.

　　When the news spread, many people praised Shangguan Wan for her intelligence. Even the Emperor’s attitude toward her became a lot gentler as he reckoned that she was becoming smarter as she grew.

　　Chu Liuyue squeezed her fists under her sleeves. It’s time for you to pay back what I taught you back then!