The powerful onlookers were all left baffled by Chu Jiang's move.
"So arrogant—was he trying to challenge my cousin's dignity as first on the Human Ranking?" Gongsun Sheng's gaze turned cold.
"The way he looked... it was like he really didn't take Gu Jian seriously at all..."
Gongsun Li murmured.
Although Gu Jian was from the younger generation, he had a record of killing Vajra Realm experts.
Even those who had entered the Vajra Realm did not dare underestimate him.
The world had turned upside down.
That should have been the attitude Gu Jian showed toward Chu Jiang.
"Chu Jiang, others may look down on you, but I won't. My sword is trembling. You are very strong. Father didn't lie to me—you truly are no weaker than I am!" Gu Jian said excitedly.
"Come, fight me!"
"Hand over the stakes first!" Chu Jiang said lazily, his gaze calm.
Gu Jian frowned slightly. "We haven't decided victory or defeat yet. Why should I give you the stakes first?"
Was this man really looking down on him so much, already certain that he would lose?
"I'll hold them for you first. If you win, I'll naturally return them."
Chu Jiang said.
He did not know what Gu Jian's character was like, but he could glean a thing or two about his father's character from Blood Saber's final letter.
If Gu Jian lost later and refused to give him the stakes, that would not be strange at all.
"Give it to him!"
Gu Hongchen said deeply. At this moment, he did not want any unnecessary complications. Once Jian'er won the match, if Chu Jiang wanted to pocket it for himself, Gu Hongchen would make him wish he were dead.
Chu Jiang opened the box, confirmed that everything was correct, and then put it away.
"Let's begin. I'm in a hurry!"
Chu Jiang shed his lazy demeanor, his gaze calm. His entire aura changed in an instant, as though an unparalleled ferocious beast were awakening.
"Sword, come!"
Gu Jian's Sky-Splitting Sword instantly flew from its sheath. The moment it emerged, even the air trembled, as if cheering for this peerless treasure sword.
"Not bad."
Chu Jiang's body moved like lightning, as if he had transformed into a flying cheetah. Layers of air walls were torn apart, releasing piercing shrieks.
Gu Jian was displeased by Chu Jiang's actions. "Chu Jiang, as Blood Saber's successor, you aren't using a saber. Do you intend to fight me barehanded?"
This was simply an insult to him.
"When you have the qualifications to force me to draw my saber, it won't be too late!" Chu Jiang declared domineeringly.
"Since you want to use your flesh-and-blood body to block my sword, then I'll grant your wish!"
"Phantom Light Sword!"
Gu Jian shouted. The Sky-Splitting Sword in his hand slashed through the sky and transformed into dozens of sword lights, sealing off every path Chu Jiang could take.
"Chu Jiang is too conceited. If he used a saber, he might be able to exchange one or two moves with Gu Jian. Trying to withstand it with his body—isn't that courting death?"
Gu Jian's sword could kill Vajra Realm experts.
Clang!
The Sky-Splitting Sword struck Chu Jiang's body, instantly producing a deafening boom like a great bell. The violent tremor of metal colliding reverberated in all directions, making everyone's hearts tighten.
Bang!
Like a humanoid bolt of lightning, Chu Jiang punched the Sky-Splitting Sword.
Gu Jian's body instantly felt an immense impact. Like a cannonball blasted away, he crashed over a hundred meters away.
A mouthful of vital blood had just surged up when he forcibly suppressed it.
The Sky-Splitting Sword in his hand shook violently, threads of lightning serpents coiling around it as if it had endured an unimaginable blow.
Gu Jian's face turned slightly pale, shock appearing on it. He had actually been sent flying by a single punch.
Chu Jiang had been struck several times by his Sky-Splitting Sword, yet he remained completely unscathed.
"What kind of body is that? Why does it feel even harder than a Vajra Realm body?"
Crimson Fire Hermit was stunned. He had just talked a Vajra Realm expert into betting with him that Chu Jiang would lose and would not last ten moves.
And now he was being told that Gu Jian had nearly been knocked flat by Chu Jiang's punch.
The other onlookers reacted the same way.
"Fortunately, I forced Jian'er to fight him now. If we waited a while longer, victory or defeat truly would be hard to predict." Gu Hongchen focused completely on the battlefield. Gu Jian being sent flying by one punch did not shake his confidence.
Gu Jian's true strength had yet to be revealed. Mere physical power would not be enough to secure victory.
Gu Jian secretly circulated the Longevity Tendon-Changing Art, and the violent surging of his blood and qi immediately calmed as before.
"This martial art has some depth to it!"
Chu Jiang narrowed his eyes and muttered inwardly.
Gu Jian stared intently at Chu Jiang. "You are the one person who has made me use my full strength!"
Such a powerful opponent sent his martial will soaring, and his combat power ascended to its utmost limit.
"Vast Righteous Sword Song, Profound Gold Qi Breaker!"
Whoosh!
A frigid gleam burst from Gu Jian's eyes. The Sky-Splitting Sword thrust out, its sword shadow like mysterious golden light.
In an instant, the sword light tore through the air to kill, as though it could shatter all things.
Profound Gold Qi Breaker could break through the body's qi gates and drastically weaken its defenses. Even Vajra Realm martial artists found it difficult to withstand.
Yet even facing such a fierce attack, Chu Jiang's body could not be left with the slightest wound.
His body seemed protected by an invisible force, indestructible.
Relying on the strength of his own body, he clashed head-on with Gu Jian's Sky-Splitting Sword.
The sound of metal colliding rang without end.
Chu Jiang stepped forward again. His terrifying palm instantly appeared behind Gu Jian, and with a thud, Gu Jian's body was smashed into the ground, his white robes stained with blood.
"Vast Righteous Sword Song, Long Song Suppresses Nine Nether!"
Gu Jian leaped up with all his strength and let out a roar. Rolling black sword radiance surged like raging waves, sweeping countless shattered stones into it and turning them into fragments that filled the sky.
Chu Jiang was wrapped within the black sword radiance and the rain of shattered stones, yet they could not break his defenses at all.
Chu Jiang slightly activated his Wind-Thunder Vajra Body, and the black sword radiance and stone fragments surrounding him were instantly shredded to nothing by thunderfire.
"Didn't you eat today? I couldn't feel any force at all. Is this all the first of the Human Ranking has?"
Chu Jiang deliberately laughed, his words like a sharp sword stabbing straight into Gu Jian's heart.
"You... cough, cough... What body-tempering art are you cultivating?"
Gu Jian coughed several times, nearly vomiting blood. Using such an overwhelmingly powerful sword move consumed him greatly.
He could not believe it.
Someone at the Xiantian Realm could so easily dissolve the two great killing moves of his Vast Righteous Sword Song.
Chu Jiang's body was simply astonishing. It was nothing like a body that someone in the Xiantian Realm could possess. It defied the heavens, practically a humanoid weapon.
"Next, this move is a sword technique I have newly comprehended!"
"If you can still take it, I'll admit defeat!"
Gu Jian's voice gradually turned icy as the Sky-Splitting Sword emitted an extreme tremor.
His entire aura rose steadily, step by step.
Chu Jiang grinned. "If you can make me take even one step back, I'll count it as your victory."
Gu Jian said gravely, "I cannot even control this move myself. If you admit defeat now, you can still save your life!"
He had only just comprehended this move and could not yet wield it freely. Its power was immense; even Vajra Realm Middle Stage experts would not dare take it head-on.
"Is this Chu Jiang really Blood Saber's successor? Why does he seem even more terrifying than Blood Saber himself? The power of his body is far too frightening."
An expert who had seen Blood Saber in person more than ten years ago voiced his doubts.
"That's right. The power of his body is simply too terrifying. Is he even human?"
"Even those demons famed for their physical strength probably can't compare to him, can they?"
"This is truly terrifying..."
Blood Saber was powerful because of the Blood Saber Manual. Once the Blood Saber emerged, even Vajra Realm experts could not withstand it.
Yet Chu Jiang now had not only failed to draw his saber, he had relied solely on the power of his body to beat Gu Jian until he was dizzy and disoriented, able only to defend passively.
When they came here to watch this battle, none of them had expected something like this to happen.
Everyone had originally believed Gu Jian would easily defeat Chu Jiang, but the truth was precisely the opposite. Gu Jian had instead been forced to struggle desperately, preparing to unleash his final trump card.
The entire process felt like a cat playing with a mouse. Chu Jiang seemed not to have displayed his true strength at all.
But Chu Jiang's claim that Gu Jian could not make him retreat even one step was a little too arrogant.
Gu Jian was, after all, first on the Human Ranking. He surely had some great killing move he had not yet used.
Even if he could not defeat Chu Jiang, seriously injuring him was still possible.
"Hey, Cousin, beat him! Aren't you usually pretty fierce..." Gongsun Sheng said angrily, unable to accept this reality.
Gu Jian was actually the one being utterly crushed. What in the world was going on?
Before you continue