Jiang Hao's calm voice rang through the silent Training Room.
Holding the Alloy Spear, he walked slowly to the center of the floor.
On the other side,
Lin Qiu's face was covered in a cold, vicious grin.
"On the brink of death, and you still dare to run your mouth!"
He gripped his saber with both hands, its tip angled toward the ground.
A powerful surge of blood energy exploded from him!
9.0!
A genuine Blood Qi Intensity of 9.0!
The wave of force even left the students watching in the front row struggling to breathe.
"Brother Qiu is awesome!"
"Blood Qi of 9.0! How is anyone supposed to fight that?"
"Jiang Hao is done for!"
Lin Qiu basked in the attention his imposing presence drew. He looked at Jiang Hao as if he were already a corpse.
Yet
the response he got
was Jiang Hao unleashing his own blood energy!
Buzz—!
A surge of blood energy swept out from Jiang Hao, no weaker than Lin Qiu's—in fact, even more concentrated and purer!
"What?!"
The smug look on Lin Qiu's face froze instantly!
The students' jeers died away, too!
"That blood energy... it seems... it seems just as strong as Lin Qiu's!"
"Could it... could he be at 9.0 too?"
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! He was only at 8.1 half a month ago!"
"This has to be an illusion!"
The onlookers sucked in a breath, then shook their heads frantically, unwilling to believe the possibility.
Only Lu Ming clenched his fists, his heart racing as he shouted encouragement in his mind.
"Jiang Hao... you can do it! I know you can!"
"Quit your tricks!"
Shocked by the aura of Jiang Hao's Blood Qi Intensity, Lin Qiu still refused to believe it. He roared angrily!
He stopped wasting words, pushed off the ground, and shot forward like a cannonball!
His Alloy Battle Blade, wrapped in the formidable blood energy of 9.0, came crashing down in a basic saber move—"Mountain Cleaving Strike"!
The saber wind was so fierce it let out a faint whistle!
Jiang Hao remained calm. His perfected Spearmanship had already taken in every detail.
He lowered his wrist, then swept the Alloy Spear upward in a precise thrust!
"Clang!"
A shrill clash of metal rang out!
Sparks flew!
The floor beneath them trembled slightly!
Thud! Thud!
Both of them actually stepped back twice!
They were evenly matched!
"What?!"
"He blocked it! He actually blocked it?!"
"Jiang Hao didn't lose ground in a head-on clash?"
"Th-this... does he really have Blood Qi of 9.0?"
The onlookers were completely stunned!
Lin Qiu's eyes contracted, and a tempest surged through his heart!
He hadn't used a Martial Skill in that strike, but it had still been powered by the full force of his 9.0 Blood Energy!
And Jiang Hao had deflected it with such ease?
"I don't believe it!"
Burning with rage, Lin Qiu launched into another saber technique!
"Sweeping Thousand Armies!"
His Battle Saber became a streak of silver light, slashing toward Jiang Hao's waist!
Jiang Hao didn't dodge. He drew back the spear and drove its butt into the ground. The shaft bent, then sprang forward like a Viper Emerging from Cave!
"Clang!"
The spearhead once again struck the blade with pinpoint accuracy!
"Again!"
Lin Qiu went completely berserk, each strike faster than the last!
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
Inside the Training Room,
the clash of metal rang out without pause!
The two figures darted past each other, moving so fast they seemed to leave afterimages!
Yet no matter how fierce Lin Qiu's saber techniques became, the spear in Jiang Hao's hands always found the most unbelievable angles and the most economical movements to neutralize every attack!
Everyone watched, dumbfounded!
Another heavy clash sent them apart!
Lin Qiu held his saber and panted, staring hard at Jiang Hao, his face a mix of shock and viciousness.
Now he was certain!
"Your Blood Qi Intensity..."
"You're at 9.0 too!"
Jiang Hao remained calm, his expression as still as an ancient well.
He didn't say a word. He only gave the spear a shake, pointed its tip toward Lin Qiu, and once again took up an attack stance!
That disregard!
That composure!
That stance completely set Lin Qiu's reason ablaze!
"So what if you're at 9.0!"
Lin Qiu roared. He no longer held anything back!
"A martial arts duel isn't just about blood energy!"
"You Dust Grade trash, your Spear Arts are only at Minor Accomplishment!"
"Today I'll show you what a difference Martial Skills can make!"
"Shadowless Blade!"
Lin Qiu opened with his most powerful killing move!
He stamped hard against the floor, pouring his 9.0 Blood Energy into his blade!
The Alloy Battle Blade let out a hum!
In an instant, the blade's light flared!
Three intersecting silver blade-shadows filled the air!
Each shadow carried a sharp whistle as it tore through the air!
The three blade-shadows formed a triangle, sealing off every escape route before crashing down on Jiang Hao!
"It's a Martial Skill! Brother Qiu used a Martial Skill!"
"That strike is so much faster than when he fought Lu Ming last time!"
"Powered by Blood Qi of 9.0, Shadowless Blade is terrifying!"
The crowd cried out in alarm.
Lu Ming's heart was in his throat!
After all, he'd lost to that very move last time!
And
compared to before, Lin Qiu's execution of the move was even more terrifying!
Yet facing this sure-kill strike,
Jiang Hao's expression didn't change in the slightest.
He simply stood there quietly.
In Jiang Hao's calm eyes, those three blade-shadows, swift as ghosts, seemed to move in slow motion.
Jiang Hao moved.
He didn't retreat.
Nor did he use any flashy move.
He simply raised the spear in his hands.
A basic Spear Technique—
"Thrust!"
There was no Spear Light, no sound of the spear cutting through the air.
Plain and unadorned, returning to the essence.
Yet the thrust was unbelievably fast!
More terrifying still were its timing and angle!
"Ding—!"
A clear yet piercing clash of metal rang through the entire room!
Time seemed to stand still.
Everyone's eyes went wide.
They witnessed something unbelievable!
Jiang Hao's utterly ordinary thrust ignored the two illusory blade-shadows. The Alloy Spear's tip struck with pinpoint accuracy at the blade itself, where Lin Qiu's three blade-shadows converged!
That was the core of Shadowless Blade's power!
Its strongest point!
And its most vulnerable!
One strike from perfected Spearmanship shattered the illusion!
"What!"
Unprecedented shock flared in Lin Qiu's eyes!
He felt an indescribably terrifying force travel from the spear tip into his blade!
It wasn't brute force.
It was a deft force, unified and seamless, flowing in an endless circle as it stripped away all his strength!
The 9.0 Blood Energy he'd poured into his blade seemed to sink into a river of mud. In an instant, it was crushed and dismantled!
Then!
Jiang Hao gave his wrist the slightest twist!
"Clang!"
The force of that perfected technique traveled through Lin Qiu's Alloy Battle Blade until it could take no more—and the blade snapped in two!
Half the blade shot into the air!
"Pfft!"
With his saber technique broken, Lin Qiu's blood energy surged backward. He opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood!
Jiang Hao didn't pause for even an instant.
The moment the spearhead snapped the blade, it continued forward!
"Thud!"
The Alloy Spear shaft moved faster than Lin Qiu could react, slamming squarely into his chest!
"Crack!"
A bone-chilling snap rang out!
Lin Qiu flew backward as if struck by a speeding train!
He sailed more than ten meters!
He crashed hard onto the Training Room's unforgiving floor and rolled several times before finally coming to a miserable stop.
The martial arts uniform across his chest was completely torn, and his chest had visibly caved in.
The broken saber in his hand clattered to the ground nearby.
Lin Qiu struggled to get up, but the moment he moved, he spat out another mouthful of blood.
He lifted his head, disbelief and a trace of fear in his eyes.
"Per... perfected..."
"You..."
Before he could finish, his head lolled to one side and he passed out completely.
"..."
"..."
The entire Training Room fell into Deathly Stillness.
You could hear a pin drop.
Every student stood frozen in place.
Their brains had completely stopped working.
What had they just seen?
Lin Qiu, with 9.0 qi and blood!
Lin Qiu, using the Martial Skill Shadowless Blade!
Had he... had he been taken out by Jiang Hao in a single move?
One spear thrust!
Just one!
Broken blade!
Severely wounded!
Unconscious!
How... how was this possible?
"Gulp."
Someone struggled to swallow.
And then—
The uproar swept through the Training Room!
Nearby, Song Jun's sharp eyes shone brighter than ever, and he couldn't stop praising Jiang Hao in his heart.
"Good! Good! Good!"
"Perfected Spearmanship!"
"He used Basic Spear Technique to break a Ranked Martial Skill—even if it was the lowest rank!"
"So this is Moon-level Talent!"
Meanwhile, in the crowd,
Lu Ming was completely dumbfounded. He stood there blankly, mouth hanging wide open, his gaze vacant.
"He won?"
"He really won!"
"This..."
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