The Challenge from a Martial Practitioner of Tian Province

Jiang Liu followed the crowd to the arena on the main street in the center of Azure Dragon City. It seemed that ever since they entered Qian Province, every city had an arena set up on the main street in the center.

On the arena, a sturdy young man sat cross-legged, dressed in martial arts attire, with a large sword slung across his back. He appeared to be no more than thirty years old and was waiting patiently.

Two banners hung on either side of the arena. "Nine ranks of Qian Province, a life-or-death struggle."

Jiang Liu asked a martial artist next to him and learned that the martial artist on the stage was from Tian Province and was there to challenge the Rank 9 Martial Practitioner from Qian Province. Once you stepped onto the stage, it didn't matter whether you lived or died, but once you stepped off the stage, you were considered to have lost.

Pu Tianyuan has already challenged eight times in a row here. If no one can defeat him in the ninth round, he can reach the top of the Nine-Nine Supreme. Of course, the Nine-Nine Supreme is only a term used among Ranked Martial Practitioner.

However, to succeed in the challenge, both strength and courage are indispensable, which is why it is called the Supreme Nine-Nine.

However, if the Tian Province warriors succeed in their challenge, it will be a significant blow to the Qian Province warriors. Therefore, they are now carefully considering who should go up.

After waiting for about half an hour, a young martial artist finally stepped onto the arena.

"Wow! I didn't expect even he would make a move."

"Yes! This time, finally a master has come. Otherwise, if the martial artist from Tian Province wins to the ninth match, it would be a disgrace to Qian Province."

"That's right. We're always the ones challenging others. It's never like today, where others are challenging us."

"That's right, Li Anyun should have made his move a long time ago, otherwise how could he have won nine games?"

The two on the stage were already exchanging names when the young martial artist who came up to the stage bowed and said, "I am Li Anyun from Qian Province. Please give me your guidance."

The martial artist who was sitting cross-legged on the arena stood up, cupped his hands and said, "I am Pu Tianyuan from Tian Province. Please enlighten me."

After exchanging names, the two stared at each other and silently gathered their strength. Li Anyun took out the iron flute he always carried, while Pu Tianyuan drew the large sword from his back.

Before long, Pu Tianyuan launched the first attack, slashing directly at Li Anyun with his sword.

Li Anyun dodged to the side, then flicked his iron flute towards Pu Tianyuan's ribs.

Pu Tianyuan spun his broadsword halfway around, and with a "clang!" the sword and flute collided and bounced away.

This probing attack was evenly matched.

Pu Tianyuan slashed upwards with his broadsword, and a gust of energy shot out from the blade, heading straight for Li Anyun's chest.

Li Anyun leaped into the air to dodge the powerful gust of energy, then put the iron flute to his lips and began to play.

Suddenly, a melodious flute sound rang out on the arena.

The spectators below the stage all covered their ears, and some of the weaker fighters had already moved away from the ring.

Those familiar with Li Anyun knew that Li Anyun specialty was attacking with the sound of his flute; one could easily fall victim to it if caught off guard.

Pu Tianyuan was stunned when he first heard the sound of the flute. He then used two energy barriers to block his ears, which made him feel a little better.

Then, Pu Tianyuan raised his broadsword and chased after Li Anyun kept dodging while continuously playing his iron flute.

But as the music played, the increasingly loud sound of the flute filled the air, carrying a chilling atmosphere, and the crowd around the arena dwindled.

Because the sound of the xiao (a type of vertical bamboo flute) can now cause the vital energy within the body to feel like it's about to surge wildly.

The more Jiang Liu listened to the flute music, the more he felt that the principle was very similar to his Ice Blade. However, the flute music was used to draw out vital energy through the rhythm, while his Ice Blade directly entered the meridians to draw out vital energy.

The difference between these is significant, and during combat, the enemy won't give you time to play slowly. You only have a chance if you encounter an unfamiliar enemy who is unprepared, or if you launch a long-range attack.

For example, just like Pu Tianyuan on the arena, he is now caught up in Li Anyun's flute music. Judging from his face and the surge of his vital energy, he should be unable to hold on much longer.

Sure enough, not long after, Pu Tianyun roared and forcefully raised his broadsword with both hands, slashing down at Li Anyun's head.

Li Anyun gracefully turned to avoid it, continuing to play the iron flute in his hand.

As Li Anyun dodged Pu Tianyuan's broadsword, Pu Tianyuan suddenly released his grip on the broadsword, clenched his fist, and threw a punch at Li Anyun.

Caught off guard, Li Anyun was punched, causing him to cough up blood and interrupt the sound of his flute.

Pu Tianyun pressed his advantage, continuing to throw punches in turn. Soon, Li Anyun was beaten until he coughed up blood and collapsed on the stage. Pu Tianyun then kicked him off the stage.

Immediately, the audience erupted in uproar. Everyone looked at Pu Tianyuan on the stage with disbelief. Just moments ago, Pu Tianyuan seemed on the verge of defeat, but unexpectedly, he knocked Li Anyun off the stage in the blink of an eye.

Jiang Liu shook his head. Li Anyun was a bit careless, thinking that he was safe once he dodged, but little did he know that this was courting death. Moreover, Li Anyun's attack methods were rather limited.

Looking at Li Anyun, Jiang Liu couldn't help but think of himself. It seemed that his attack methods were still insufficient! Perhaps he should combine all the martial arts techniques he knew so that others could not predict his moves.

Jiang Liu looked at the bustling crowd, left the arena area, and continued to stroll around the street.

Seeing that Azure Dragon City was indeed much more prosperous than the other cities in Qian Province, Jiang Liu looked at the prosperity for a while and found it boring, so he returned to his small courtyard.

Jiang Liu sat cross-legged in the small square of the courtyard, silently pondering the martial arts techniques he had learned.

At first, Jiang Liu thought Li Anyun would win the contest in the square, since Li Anyun's sonic attacks were indeed a troublesome attack method.

However, in the end, Pu Tianyuan won, which means that the changes in martial arts must be done at will, and there is only one purpose: to defeat the opponent as quickly as possible, with the greatest strength and in the most effective way.

Jiang Liu is now thinking about what he has learned, how to simplify his moves as much as possible, and hit the vital point with one move. In terms of killing enemies, the Ice Blade is a very good method, but it has a big drawback, which is the problem of breaking through the guard.

Annihilation by Thought is also a good move for killing enemies, but it can only be used against martial artists with low mental strength. Once you encounter someone with high mental strength, it will be difficult to deal with them, especially now that you have entered the Grandmaster Realm, you will encounter opponents with considerable mental strength.

It should be noted that those at the Grandmaster Realm primarily cultivate a combination of spiritual power and vital energy, so it is best to combine the Eight Steps of Trampling, Extreme Fist, Control Heaven and Earth in a coordinated manner.

The biggest problem now is that when using the Eight Steps of Trampling, one uses all their energy and spirit to attack. If the opponent is weaker than oneself, one will definitely kill them in one hit.

However, if the opponent's strength is equal to or greater than one's own, then the Eight Steps of Trampling will be ineffective.

Moreover, when performing the Eight Steps of Trampling, if one uses other martial arts techniques, the momentum of the Eight Steps of Trampling will disappear, thus making it impossible to continue suppressing the enemy.

So now I urgently need to solve the problem of my simple combat techniques. As for finding a Heaven-level manual, that's just wishful thinking. It's not that easy to find one. As for whether the Three Sects have one, that depends on whether I can get a spot in the Martial Arts Tournament.

As for the Saintly Sky Art, Jiang Liu had a headache because he couldn't use it at all without mastering it. For now, he could only use it as a cultivation method.