Below the stage, there was dead silence.
Everyone watched the scene on the arena, watched Wan Guiyun's sword tip press against Chen Xuan's chest, yet fail to pierce him in the slightest.
"Th-this... what kind of body is that?"
"Copper Skin and Iron Bone? Even Copper Skin and Iron Bone shouldn't be able to block Wan Guiyun's Armor-Piercing Sword Technique, should it? That's a Peak Sword Technique, specifically meant to counter external hardening arts. Even if Chen Xuan cultivated a peak-tier external hardening technique, he couldn't possibly come away completely unscathed—unless it was an Ultimate Art?"
"External hardening techniques are easy in the early stages, but reaching major accomplishment or even perfection is several times harder than cultivating other martial arts. Let alone an external hardening technique at the Ultimate Art level—there aren't even a few such arts in the entire world."
"I heard that when Chen Xuan first arrived in Qingshi Town, he saved a Vajra Sect disciple from Tyrant Blade Sect disciples and obtained the Vajra Sect's top-tier technique, the Vajra Technique?"
"The Vajra Technique? That is the Vajra Sect's sect-defending technique. But even the Vajra Technique is only a top-tier technique. Over the past century, only a handful of Vajra Sect members have cultivated it to the Perfected Body Tempering Realm. Chen Xuan obtained the Vajra Technique only half a month ago, yet he has already cultivated it to perfection? Unless, like the Vajra Sect's founding patriarch, he encountered some extraordinary fortuitous opportunity."
"Who can say for sure when it comes to fortuitous opportunities?"
"Baishui Town Branch of the Blood Wolf Gang was destroyed by a mysterious expert who cultivated an external hardening art. Could that person have been Chen Xuan?"
"Who knows? It might have been him, or it might not have been."
The discussions rose and fell like boiling water, bubbling and gurgling without end.
Every face was filled with shock and disbelief. The way they looked at Chen Xuan was as though they were looking at a humanoid ferocious beast.
Below the arena.
Sun Tianxing's hand holding the teacup paused slightly. A few drops splashed onto the back of his hand, yet he did not notice them at all.
His gaze rested on Chen Xuan, and a complicated look flickered through his eyes.
The Vajra Technique...
Could this kid truly have some earth-shattering fortuitous opportunity? The Vajra Sect had already been wiped out, yet he had actually mastered the Vajra Technique?
However, Sun Tianxing did not dwell on it. No matter what technique Chen Xuan cultivated, as long as he was a disciple of the Guiyuan Sect, that was enough.
Some disciples might appear ordinary while cultivating within the sect, with nothing particularly outstanding about them. Yet once they left the sect, they could advance by leaps and bounds. There were precedents for this.
The world of martial artists was vast, and fortuitous opportunities were countless. Who could possibly explain them all?
A sect did not need to know every secret its disciples held. It only needed to know their loyalty to the sect and the benefits they could bring it.
Take the founding patriarch of the Vajra Sect, for example.
Before obtaining his fortuitous opportunity, he had merely been an ordinary wanderer of the martial world. Even past forty, he had only reached the Sixth Stage of Body Tempering. He had drifted through the martial world for half his life and achieved nothing. Yet after obtaining that opportunity, he advanced by leaps and bounds, reaching the Ninth Layer of Qi Casting in an extremely short time and founding the Vajra Sect as a force in its own right.
Could Chen Xuan become the next founding patriarch of the Vajra Sect?
Sun Tianxing set down his teacup, his gaze turning profound.
Over at the Iron Sword Sect, the atmosphere was even more solemn.
Wan Zhenshan's face was ashen, and the teacup in his hand creaked under his grip.
He had originally believed that once Wan Guiyun took the field, victory would be certain.
Wan Guiyun's talent in the sword was among the best of Ten Thousand Sword Villa's younger generation.
He had cultivated twenty-three Superior Sword Techniques to perfection, three Peak Sword Techniques to perfection, and had even cultivated an Ultimate Sword Art.
With such strength, let alone those in the Body Tempering Realm, even an ordinary First Layer of Qi Casting might not be Wan Guiyun's match.
Yet Chen Xuan stood upon the arena without even moving his feet, remaining where he was and allowing Wan Guiyun to attack him.
"Sect Master, this Chen Xuan... doesn't seem like a Guiyuan Sect Outer Disciple. Could the Red Sun Gang be falsifying things?"
An Iron Sword Sect elder behind him spoke.
"No. Chen Xuan showed no traces of disguise. Before the match, the bone examiner tested the bones of all six people, and Chen Xuan's bone age was also under twenty." Wan Zhenshan shook his head, then said, "Keep watching. Guiyun still hasn't used his Ultimate Sword Art. He may not lose."
Though he said so, his tone no longer carried the confidence it had before.
Wan Shengkuang stood behind Wan Zhenshan with his head lowered. He looked at his swollen, misshapen right hand and remained silent.
Previously, he had thought his loss was unjust, that he had lost only because he had been careless.
Now he understood that Chen Xuan's palm strike had already shown mercy. If Chen Xuan had used his full strength, he might not have been able to keep his entire arm.
Wan Yifan's face was pale as well.
Fortunately, Wan Guiyun had taken the stage ahead of him. If he had faced Chen Xuan himself, he feared he would have been like Wan Shengkuang, unable to withstand even a single move.
His Gale Sword Technique was merely a Superior Sword Technique. Before Chen Xuan, it did not even count as scratching an itch.
"How could this be..."
Wan Guiyun withdrew his sword and stepped back, his expression grave.
His Armor-Piercing Sword Technique had once pierced through an iron plate an inch thick with a single thrust, yet this youth named Chen Xuan had actually received it head-on with his fleshly body?
Even a Peak Sword Technique at the perfected level could not harm Chen Xuan in the slightest.
"Since a perfected Peak Sword Technique at the Body Tempering level cannot hurt you, then I have no choice but to use an Ultimate Sword Art."
Wan Guiyun gritted his teeth, tightening his grip on the sword hilt as a look of resolve flashed through his eyes.
Although he had not cultivated the Body Tempering Realm Ultimate Sword Art to perfection, he had reached the major accomplishment stage.
It was simply that, without reaching perfection, using it would force him to pay a price. His qi and blood would be greatly depleted, and his meridians would be damaged. Even if he took pills to restore his vital energy, he would need ten days to half a month to recover.
"Yiyuan Sword Art!"
Wan Guiyun took a deep breath and gripped his sword with both hands.
In that instant, the aura around his entire body changed.
If his previous Superior Sword Techniques and Peak Sword Techniques had been consumption and probing, then now, he was going all out.
The Yiyuan Sword Art was one of Ten Thousand Sword Villa's three great Ultimate Sword Arts.
Even with Wan Guiyun's exceptional comprehension, it had taken him more than a year to cultivate the Body Tempering Realm portion of the Yiyuan Sword Art to major accomplishment.
This sword art emphasized the return of all methods to one, gathering all power into a single point and using the point to break the surface—nothing was indestructible before it.
"Tianyuan Sword Strike."
Wan Guiyun struck.
This sword contained none of the flashy transformations from before, no sword shadows filling the sky. It was simply a straightforward thrust.
Yet that thrust contained everything he had learned in his life.
A silver-white radiance condensed at the sword tip, almost tangible.
At the instant he struck, all the force qi within his body was drained away. Even more than half his qi and blood was drawn out and condensed at the sword tip.
Wan Guiyun's face turned pale at a visible speed.
The air was torn apart, letting out a shrill howl.
Everyone below the stage held their breath.
This was Wan Guiyun's strongest sword.
If even this sword could not defeat Chen Xuan, then he would have no strength left to fight back.
"Excellent sword art!"
Chen Xuan watched the strike, a trace of appreciation flashing through his eyes.
The Yiyuan Sword Art truly deserved to be called an Ultimate Sword Art.
The marvel of this strike lay in gathering every bit of power into a single point, without wasting even a fraction. This level of control, this explosive force, had already surpassed the limits of the Body Tempering Realm.
This strike had drained the force qi and more than half the qi and blood from Wan Guiyun's body. The sword radiance condensed at its tip was enough to rival true qi, perhaps even surpass ordinary true qi and reach the level of superior true qi.
If he had not broken through to the Zhuqi Realm, he truly would not have been able to receive this strike. But after reaching the Zhuqi Realm, his body had been tempered by true qi, and the toughness of his skin, flesh, tendons, and bones had increased severalfold.
This strike still could not injure him.
Chen Xuan raised his hand, pressing his index and middle fingers together as he met the sword tip.
Clang!
The sword tip was caught between two fingers.
The silver-white radiance exploded between Chen Xuan's fingers, scattering into countless points of light. Wan Guiyun's sword trembled violently and hummed, yet it could not advance even half an inch.
The sword radiance that had gathered all of Wan Guiyun's force qi melted swiftly between Chen Xuan's two fingers like ice and snow beneath a blazing sun.
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