"Final match: Chen Heng of the Chen Family versus Luo Yuyan of the Luo Family!"
As soon as Steward Li finished speaking, the cultivators present erupted into heated discussion. They had not expected the Chen Family to send out an illegitimate cultivator as well.
The illegitimate cultivator who had previously represented the Luo Family had made a name for himself in a single battle.
Quite a few cultivators immediately developed no small interest in Chen Heng.
Especially those who had wagered on the Chen Family winning the contest—their eyes nearly glowed green as they looked at Chen Heng.
The Chen and Luo Families were among the six great Foundation Establishment Families under the Azure Profound Sect, both possessing inheritances that stretched back hundreds, even thousands, of years.
Yet the rules the two families applied to illegitimate children with spiritual roots from collateral branches were much the same.
If an illegitimate child possessed a high-grade spiritual root, there was no question—they would be directly entered into the cultivator genealogy.
Otherwise, they had to either reach late Qi Refining or render great service to the family before they could be entered into the cultivator genealogy.
This was done to balance the distribution of cultivation resources.
It was not limited to the Chen and Luo Families. In most families, when aptitude was equal, resources were prioritized for cultivators born of the main branch.
This was considered a common understanding within the cultivation world of the Southern Profound Domain.
Moreover, cultivation families that had endured for many years would naturally not be rigid and obstinate. If an illegitimate descendant displayed talent in fields such as the hundred arts of cultivation, the family would naturally incline resources toward nurturing them.
The Chen Family was no exception.
However, Chen Heng was still young. He had cultivated for only six years and had not displayed any particular talent.
Naturally, he received no attention from the Chen Family.
At this moment.
Chen Heng carried the low-grade first-rank artifact he kept on him—the Water-Fire Cudgel—and strolled toward the open space designated for battle.
The Chen Family had not issued him a storage pouch. He could only carry his artifact with him, while talismans could only be tucked into his pockets or slipped into his sleeves.
As for the Water-Fire Cudgel, it was forged entirely from blackwood. Its head was a deep blue like mysterious water, while its tail was crimson like heated iron. There was nothing particularly remarkable about it.
Yet Chen Heng could not help tightening his grip around this ordinary Water-Fire Cudgel.
To outsiders, he might have seemed nervous and constrained.
But only he himself knew that hidden mysteries lay within the cudgel's body.
Compared to Chen Heng, who at most could be called delicate-looking, Luo Yuyan standing opposite him completely outshone him.
This young lady was only twelve years old, but cultivators generally developed faster than mortals. Her figure had already become slender and graceful.
Her budding figure perfectly embodied the image of tender lotus leaves just revealing their pointed tips.
Dressed in white and without a trace of makeup, she looked fresh and natural, like a lotus emerging from clear water. She appeared exceedingly youthful, lively, and full of vigor.
Her features were perfectly proportioned. Her large, watery eyes resembled pools of spring water, framed by long, dark lashes.
Her nose was high and delicate, while her cherry-red lips were plump and alluring.
The two dimples by her mouth were especially deep, making her truly adorable.
No one knew how many cultivators in the crowd had been drawn in by her outstanding appearance, even falling into a daze.
Of course, in Chen Heng's view, those cultivators had been deceived by her appearance.
The intelligence jade slip he had received did not contain much information.
Yet it clearly recorded how this young and beautiful woman had sliced that unfortunate Gale Demonic Wolf into fragments, one sword stroke after another.
This young lady's attacks were exceptionally sharp and ruthless.
Chen Heng knew that if he were deceived by her appearance and showed mercy, his fate would certainly not be much better than Chen Mingyun's, whose arm had been severed.
Furthermore, Luo Yuyan possessed a high-grade wind spiritual root. With their cultivation realms comparable, the spells she cast should be more powerful than his.
He had no room whatsoever to hold back.
With that thought, Chen Heng let out a long breath. Gripping the Water-Fire Cudgel, he cupped his hands toward Luo Yuyan and said calmly, "Fellow Daoist Luo, please."
Hearing him speak the same words as Chen Xingyuan, who had fought in the first match,
Luo Yuyan smiled brightly, her delicate hand tracing a flourish with her sword. She spoke words nearly identical to Luo Rufeng's. "You are too courteous. Yuyan will send you on your way at once, Daoist Brother!"
The next moment.
Azure wind swirled around her body, followed by several sword strikes so swift that most cultivators did not even see how she had drawn her blade.
In an instant, Chen Heng felt a surging gale rushing at him from all directions.
They were several streams of Sword Qi capable of effortlessly cutting gold and jade.
If he failed to evade or block them, his fate was easy to imagine.
However, Chen Heng had activated the Lu Qi [Force Piercing Thousand Jin] before stepping onto the field, while also using the Fiery Eyes Water Ape Transformation.
Ten Divine Ape Spirit Marks appeared across his upper body, greatly enhancing both his strength and agility.
He spun his cudgel into a circle, defending his entire body.
Water spiritual energy flowed with the cudgel's momentum, forming an endlessly rotating barrier of watery vapor.
It was the third form of the Water Fire Heaven-Reaching Staff Technique—Water Curtain Cloud Roll!
Not only did it block every stream of Sword Qi attacking from all directions, it also redirected several of them back toward her.
Luo Yuyan possessed a high-grade wind spiritual root, and her movement technique was naturally nimble and elegant.
Not only did she easily evade the Sword Qi Chen Heng had redirected back at her.
The next instant.
Her figure closed in on Chen Heng like a flying sparrow, and the longsword in her hand suddenly swept upward.
A flash of azure light seemed to pass through the gaps in the flowing cudgel momentum at incredible speed, stabbing toward Chen Heng's chest.
"It truly is the Luo Family's Foundation Establishment technique, the Wind Origin Sword Canon!"
Someone outside the field cried out in alarm. Luo Yuyan's sword strike was like an antelope hanging its horns—an azure flash, swift and vicious.
Moreover, she had accurately seized the flaw in Chen Heng's cudgel technique.
Her grasp of timing could not have been more perfect. Even Steward Li at the edge of the field revealed a trace of approval at that strike.
As the sword shadow shot toward him, golden light flashed over Chen Heng's body. His torso bent backward in an uncanny motion, yet he used the momentum to draw back his cudgel and chop downward, striking Luo Yuyan's sword edge dead-on.
Clang!
The ringing clash of metal instantly spread in every direction.
Crimson firelight and pure azure radiance collided fiercely, producing an unending echo of trembling vibrations.
"Interesting!"
Luo Yuyan murmured, then struck repeatedly. In an instant, more than a hundred sword shadows descended toward Chen Heng.
Not far away.
Chen Fu, the old servant who had handled Chen Heng's affairs for many days, immediately revealed an expression as though he could not bear to watch.
He turned slightly aside and looked away, not daring to watch further.
Even with his Mid Qi Refining cultivation, he did not dare claim with certainty that he could withstand such a fierce offensive.
The pressure of more than a hundred sword shadows was like being trapped within a tornado.
Every sword was like a violent gale crashing down, striking him full in the face.
Chen Heng's expression did not change, his heart as still as a tranquil lake.
He gripped the cudgel with both hands, exerted force from his waist, and retreated with the momentum. Yet the cudgel swept diagonally upward from below, like a river suddenly surging into motion.
Cudgel wind wrapped around water spiritual energy, forming a rushing wave.
It was the first form of the Water Fire Heaven-Reaching Staff Technique—Rivers First Boil!
The water wave attached to the cudgel flowed on without end, barely holding back the sword shadows filling the sky.
After several exchanges.
Chen Heng had already understood where the gap between himself and Luo Yuyan lay.
The fundamental reason was that the cultivation techniques they practiced differed in quality, resulting in a vast difference in both the quality and quantity of the true essence they condensed.
The spiritual power stirred forth by that true essence differed even more greatly.
Furthermore, wind-aspected spiritual power was more agile and more forceful.
Thus, at the same realm, Luo Yuyan's true essence was more abundant, and the spiritual power it stirred forth was of higher quality.
Its killing power was naturally greater and more profound.
At this moment.
The Wind Origin Sword Canon Luo Yuyan wielded was like a descending storm, seeking to tear Chen Heng apart completely.
However, the two had entered a stalemate of attack and defense.
Luo Yuyan's gale-like, rain-like offensive was always easily dissolved and neutralized by Chen Heng.
At times he blocked with his cudgel, at times he flung talismans in response, and at times he even endured the attacks directly with his body.
After another strike failed to achieve anything, Luo Yuyan took several steps back with the momentum. Her eyes narrowed as she carefully studied Chen Heng.
Then she said calmly, "I did not expect Daoist Brother to possess no small attainment in body-tempering techniques."
In other words, Chen Heng had relied on the combined support of spiritual power and physical strength to withstand her violent assault just now.
Standing opposite her with cudgel in hand, Chen Heng replied with easy composure, "They are merely some unpresentable tricks. I have only made Miss Luo laugh."
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