Semifinals

On the light screen, the semifinal matchups finally settled under the gaze of countless spectators:

[First Bracket: Lin Feng (Jiangnan City) vs. Zhao Feng (Jiangnan City)]

[Second Bracket: Qin Wushuang (Beichen Affiliated Middle School) vs. Lie Fentian (Lieyang Martial High)]

The moment they saw the results, the atmosphere throughout Starfall Arena exploded!

The first bracket in particular seized nearly everyone's attention!

Jiangnan City's civil war!

Two geniuses from Jiangnan City, both astonishingly gifted, both aiming for the championship, had actually met ahead of time in the semifinals!

"Lin Feng! Zhao Feng! My god, the two of them are fighting each other!"

"This is the true clash of dragons and tigers! It's even more anticipated than the finals!"

"Who do you think will win? Lin Feng's wind and thunder power is unfathomable, while Zhao Feng's Sword Intent can pierce anything!"

"I'm backing Zhao Feng! His sword is simply too pure!"

"I think Lin Feng has better odds. His methods come one after another without end!"

The roaring noise nearly lifted the dome off its hinges.

Whether they supported Lin Feng or Zhao Feng, the spectators were all thrilled, eagerly awaiting this peak showdown destined to be recorded in the history of Jiangnan Province's martial examinations.

In the resting area, Lin Feng and Zhao Feng rose to their feet almost at the same time.

Their gazes met in midair. There were no words, only pure fighting intent burning and colliding.

From Jiangnan City's mock examinations to the Myriad Phenomena Battlefield of the provincial test, they had been rivals, yet there was also a faint sense of mutual admiration between kindred spirits.

And now, all those emotions would become the strongest power in their hands as they decided the true victor upon this highest stage!

The two walked side by side toward the first arena, their steps steady and their auras restrained. Yet they were like two divine weapons about to leave their sheaths, their sharpness held back but already enough to make the surrounding air freeze.

They stepped onto the arena and faced one another.

Zhao Feng slowly drew the ancient sword from his back. Its blade was like a pool of autumn water, clear and cold, reflecting his equally icy eyes.

His aura seemed to merge with the sword in his hand, turning his entire body into a sharp blade that sought to pierce the heavens.

"Lin Feng, I have awaited this battle for a long time." Zhao Feng's voice carried a metallic edge.

"Fight with all your strength. Do not hold back."

Lin Feng nodded slightly. Purple-black Wind and Thunder True Qi began to flow quietly around him, lightning flickering in his left eye and starlight spinning in his right. His aura was as deep as an abyss. "As you wish."

"Match—begin!" As the referee's voice fell, he swiftly retreated to the edge of the arena, leaving the stage entirely to the two of them.

Almost the instant the match began, Zhao Feng moved!

He did not probe at all. From his very first move, he went all out!

Man followed sword, and his entire body became an incomparably dazzling streak of straight sword light, as though it could cleave light from darkness. In an instant, it crossed the distance between them and stabbed straight at Lin Feng's brow!

"Sky-Splitting Sword Intent!"

This sword was fast!

Fierce!

Precise!

It condensed his lifelong comprehension of the Sword Dao, gathering all his power, will, and spirit onto a single point at the sword tip!

Before the sword even arrived, that terrifying Sword Intent capable of tearing apart everything and annihilating all things had already descended. Lin Feng's brow throbbed with pain, as though even his soul would be split open by this strike!

Facing this earth-shattering sword, Lin Feng's expression turned grave, and he did not dare slacken in the slightest.

He knew that any defense could be pierced through instantly before such an ultimate attack!

"Wind and Thunder Flash!"

Purple-black lightning exploded beneath his feet. Rather than retreating in a straight line, he drifted backward and to the side along an exceedingly strange and unpredictable arc, like willow fluff blown by a gale, like leaping lightning, barely evading the sword's lock-on!

However, Zhao Feng's sword followed like a shadow. With a turn of the blade, it clung like a disease in the bones, locking onto Lin Feng once more as it swept across!

Where the sword light passed, it plowed a deep furrow through even the arena's specially made alloy floor with its razor-sharp Sword Qi!

Lin Feng drove the movement technique of "Wind and Thunder Flash" to its limit, leaving countless afterimages on the arena, real and false indistinguishable, as he continuously dodged the sword light raining down like a violent storm.

He tried several times to interfere from afar with "Electric Light Finger," but before the finger winds could even approach, they were shredded to pieces by that fierce Sword Intent!

Zhao Feng's sword was too fast, too sharp!

He displayed the essence of the Sword Dao—only speed could not be broken, only attack and no defense—to the fullest, completely suppressing Lin Feng and leaving him unable to find an opportunity to strike back!

"Lin Feng is being suppressed!"

"Zhao Feng's sword is terrifying! There's no way to block it!"

"Looks like it still comes down to the ultimate attack of a Sword Cultivator!"

The spectators' blood surged as they watched, their nerves stretched taut.

Long defense would surely lead to loss!

A streak of sword light swept past, slicing open Lin Feng's robe across his chest and leaving a shallow white mark on his skin. Had his physical body not been so powerful, he would already have been injured!

"I can't keep dodging!" A fierce glint flashed through Lin Feng's eyes. He knew he had to break this passive situation.

Just as Zhao Feng thrust out another sword, at the instant his old force had slightly waned and his new force was about to rise—

Lin Feng suddenly halted his retreat. His feet planted firmly on the ground as if rooted there, while the Wind and Thunder True Qi around him gathered into his fists at an unprecedented speed!

He did not choose defense. Instead, he chose the most ferocious, most direct clash of attacks!

"Wind-Thunder Strike: Twin Dragons!"

He threw both fists out at once, striking left and right!

Two energy dragons formed entirely from purple-black wind and thunder power condensed to physical substance let out earthshaking roars. Carrying an aura that could destroy everything, they crashed fiercely at the brilliant Sky-Splitting sword light from both sides!

"Rumble—!!!"

The sword light and twin dragons collided head-on!

An energy storm more terrifying than any previous collision erupted!

The blinding radiance instantly robbed countless people of sight. The violent shockwave smashed fiercely against the energy barrier around the arena, making it ripple violently and emit a strained hum!

A stalemate! A terrifying stalemate!

The sword light was razor-sharp, seeking to tear the twin dragons apart!

The twin dragons were violent, seeking to devour the sword light!

Two ultimate powers clashed and annihilated each other wildly at the center of the arena!

Zhao Feng's face flushed red. Veins bulged on the arm gripping his sword as he drove his Sword Intent to its limit. Sweat also beaded across Lin Feng's forehead as Wind and Thunder True Qi surged madly from within him.

"Break... for me!"

Zhao Feng released a long howl. The sword light suddenly surged another thirty percent in brilliance, forcibly splitting the wind and thunder dragon on the left in two!

However, at the instant he cleaved apart the left dragon, the wind and thunder dragon on the right seized that fleeting chance. It coiled around the sword light and slammed its massive dragon head viciously into its side!

"Clang—!"

A deafening boom rang out like the tolling of a great bell!

Zhao Feng's entire body shook violently. He felt an unstoppable, surging force travel up through the blade. The web between his thumb and forefinger split open, blood streaming down, and the ancient sword nearly flew from his hand!

The force sent him staggering backward. Every step he took left a deep footprint in the arena floor, and a thread of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

Lin Feng, meanwhile, was also thrown back by the exploding Sword Intent. His blood and Qi churned as he staggered back several steps before steadying himself, his face slightly pale.

In their first head-on clash, the two had actually fought each other to mutual injury!

The entire arena fell silent. Everyone was so shocked by this astonishing battle that they could not speak.

Zhao Feng wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, looked at the ancient sword humming ceaselessly in his hand, then looked at Lin Feng across from him, whose aura remained powerful. There was no frustration in his eyes. Instead, even fiercer fighting intent blazed within them.

"Very good! Lin Feng, you are worthy of my final sword!"

Zhao Feng's voice carried resolute determination. He slowly raised the ancient sword upright before his brow, and his entire aura became incomparably ethereal, as though he had fused with the sword in his hand and with heaven and earth itself.

A Sword Intent far more terrifying and pure than before began to gather around him!

It was the ultimate sword that left nothing in the world but the sword itself!

Lin Feng's eyes grew incomparably grave. He could feel the terror of this sword.

He drew a deep breath. The lightning in his left eye and the starlight in his right began to spin and draw closer at an unprecedented speed, as though they were about to merge into one!

The Wind and Thunder True Qi around him no longer spread outward. Instead, it compressed inward frantically, gathering upon his right fist. That fist seemed to become a black hole that swallowed all light, with only an aura of destruction spreading from it!

The final confrontation was on the verge of eruption!