What Gives You Confidence? Pathetically Weak!

Below, on the Great Immortal Terrace, the group of Elders were first stunned when they saw this scene, then frowned:

"That youngster was actually hiding his true abilities. We all misjudged him!"

Hearing the worried voices of the Elders, Wu Shan remained calm as he said:

"Although that youngster is rather good at hiding his abilities, he is still far from being able to defeat Ling'er."

"Ling'er is the Young Sect Master. She received personal instruction from me and a group of Xiantian Elders, and she also learned the sect's Divine Skill, the Wind Sword Scripture."

"She even mastered the sect's ultimate art, the Misty Sect Swordplay."

"This is only a test for now. Once Ling'er uses those techniques, she will naturally be able to defeat Xiao Huohuo with ease."

After Wu Shan said this, the group of Elders finally relaxed.

So many faction leaders had been invited to watch this battle. It represented the dignity of the Misty Sect, and they absolutely could not afford to lose!

Wu Shan, however, paid no attention to this. In his heart, Xu Ling'er could not possibly lose.

He merely looked toward Xiao Huohuo, his gaze filled with thought. Then it shifted to the young man watching from the side of the Training Ground as he said softly:

"Master?"

"That young man?"

His gaze swept back and forth over Chu Feng, and he could not help frowning.

The young man in his line of sight looked completely ordinary. There was not the slightest trace of inner force about him, and even his body had never undergone tempering.

He looked exactly like someone who had never practiced martial arts.

This was not a possibility he had never considered.

He had simply looked down too much on Xiao Huohuo and paid him no attention at all, so he had failed to notice anything strange about him.

Yet even after examining him carefully, there were only two possible explanations for why he still could not see his strength.

Either his strength surpassed Wu Shan's, or he really was an ordinary person.

Wu Shan smiled faintly, immediately rejecting the absurd thought in his mind:

"His strength surpasses mine?"

"How could that be..."

He had already reached the Xiantian Peak. To surpass him would mean being a Grandmaster-like existence.

And what sort of existence was a Grandmaster?

There were fewer than five of them in all of Cangzhou.

Moreover, he had dealt with all those Grandmaster Elders before and knew every one of them.

How could an unfamiliar Grandmaster suddenly appear, especially one whose bones and features were so young?

After thinking this through, Wu Shan quickly arrived at a reasonable answer:

"Xiao Huohuo must have been hiding his strength since childhood, right?"

"Otherwise, he could never have risen from the third-rate realm to Houtian in just one year."

"Even those prodigies who are Grandmasters today could never have done that!"

Having figured everything out, Wu Shan once again calmed his mind and focused on the exchange between the two people on the Training Ground.

Boom!!

Their fist and palm collided. Xu Ling'er seemed to be at a slight disadvantage. She was forced back several steps before gradually steadying herself.

She stared at Xiao Huohuo with a complicated expression. After exchanging several moves, she had already completely grasped Xiao Huohuo's true strength.

They were both Houtian, yet his cultivation was even a little higher than hers.

Xu Ling'er's gaze turned solemn:

"I never expected you to have hidden yourself so deeply."

"I misjudged you."

Hearing this, Xiao Huohuo sneered disdainfully:

"So this is the strength and talent you're so proud of?"

"It doesn't seem like much."

Xu Ling'er grew furious. She reprimanded him coldly:

"What happened back then was indeed handled poorly on my part, causing the Xiao Household and you to suffer needless humiliation."

"So from the beginning until now, I have been holding back and yielding to you at every turn."

"I did it so that you could retain some dignity this time."

"But now that you're pressing me so aggressively, for the sake of preserving the Misty Sect's reputation, I have no choice but to fight with all my strength."

"When the time comes, if you get hurt, don't blame me!"

As her voice fell, the young girl stamped the ground. The long sword hanging at her waist flew from its sheath, whirled through the air, and landed in her palm.

The clear, cold sword gleamed with a chilling radiance beneath the sunlight.

Just looking at it was enough to feel a stinging pain, as though one's skin were being cut.

Above, the Sect Masters on the Small Immortal Terrace exclaimed in surprise:

"This is the treasured sword forged by Xu Mingjian, the legendary Sword-Forging Grandmaster of Cangzhou!"

"Even across all of Cangzhou, there are only five such divine swords."

"The Sect Master of the Misty Sect really is willing to spend on his beloved disciple."

Below, the group of Elders all breathed sighs of relief. The First Elder, who had a long beard and a bald crown, said:

"She finally drew her sword. That Xiao Household brat's run is over."

Several Elders burst into laughter together.

On the Training Ground, Xu Ling'er held her sword as inner force flowed into its blade. Her entire aura became razor-sharp.

She pushed off with her toes and charged forward with her sword, shouting:

"Wind Sword Scripture."

"Wind Sword, Meteor!"

The girl's soft chant fell. Her figure suddenly became incredibly nimble, as though it carried gentle gusts of wind, and she moved even faster than before.

More than three times faster!

For a moment, it seemed as though three figures appeared before Xiao Huohuo at once, swords in hand as they charged to kill him.

Xiao Huohuo's eyes widened as he sensed the fluctuations of spiritual energy in the air.

Two of the illusory figures were immediately erased.

A cold glint stabbed forward. The Wind Sword descended, and Xiao Huohuo coated his palm in spiritual energy before smacking it against the long sword.

A buzzing sound rang out.

The long sword trembled violently, and Xu Ling'er's figure landed in the distance.

Xiao Huohuo sneered:

"Even with a sword and a technique, you're still no match for me."

The young girl ignored him. Gritting her silver teeth, she charged forward once more.

Several times she was defeated, yet each time she came at him again.

Every one of Xu Ling'er's attacks was shattered by Xiao Huohuo. The disciples above watched with tightly furrowed brows.

The group of Elders below, however, revealed faint smiles, as though Xiao Huohuo's defeat had already been decided.

Watching the scene above, Chu Feng's eyes followed Xu Ling'er's movements. He seemed to understand something and shook his head with a smile:

"So she's accumulating power for a martial technique. I wonder whether Xiao Huohuo can detect it."

On the Training Ground, the youth's crimson palm once again shattered an illusory figure, shaking the young girl back several steps.

Xiao Huohuo seemed somewhat impatient as he said:

"If this is all you have, then I'll end this boring farce."

Hearing this, Xu Ling'er, standing before him, tightened her grip on the sword hilt and smiled as well:

"You're right. It's time to end all of this."

Boom!

The aura around Xu Ling'er surged once again.

Then, along every path she had taken when charging at Xiao Huohuo, a pale-blue halo suddenly flickered.

She raised her sword, and those halos converged, forming a three-meter-long giant sword that stood behind her.

From the corridor came cries of delighted surprise:

"That is the Misty Sect Swordplay! Senior Sister Ling'er actually mastered even this?"

The Elders on the Immortal Terrace below watched, their faces also blooming with smiles:

"It's over."

Within those pitch-black pupils, the giant sword had already fully condensed. Xiao Huohuo shook his head:

"So this is what gives you confidence?"

"Pathetically weak!"