Red Rock Ridge

On January 1st, 9985 of the Byron Calendar, before dawn had even fully broken, the residents of the imperial capital, Maple Leaf City, rose early and hurried toward the barren hills in the western suburbs.

Although these hills in the western suburbs were not particularly tall, they stretched out in a continuous expanse. Because Leian and Robert had not specified an exact location, the crowd could only wait in small groups at the foot of the hills.

Not long after, as the sun began to rise, a massive figure slowly approached the western suburbs from afar, eventually ascending one of the hills and coming to a halt.

The crowd had seen this figure several days prior; it was none other than Robert's mount—a level nine Blue Dragon.

"Robert is at Red Rock Ridge! Quick, hurry over, the battle is at Red Rock Ridge!"

Soon, this news spread through the crowd like the wind, and everyone began moving in the direction of Red Rock Ridge.

Red Rock Ridge was not tall, named for the red rocks that covered its surface. It had almost no vegetation, and even from the foot of the hill, one could clearly see the summit.

However, the best vantage points were the surrounding hills. These hills were less than a thousand meters apart, allowing even ordinary people to clearly see the figures. Within an hour, the surrounding hills were packed densely with people.

At a glance, the number of spectators easily exceeded a million.

On the hill closest to Red Rock Ridge, Emperor Joyce and a group of nobles, guarded by palace knights, had arrived early to wait.

"Mr. Tailun, do you think Robert is challenging Mr. Leian just to grandstand, or does he truly have the confidence to win?"

While waiting, Joyce could not help but ask his personal guard, the level nine warrior Tailun, in a low voice.

"This... forgive me, Your Majesty, but I am not familiar with Robert. It is hard to say exactly why he is doing this. However, given Mr. Leian's current level, I doubt Robert has even a ten percent chance of winning!"

Tailun thought for a moment before whispering his judgment.

His master was a Saint Realm powerhouse who had once explicitly told him that if one could fully command the power of heaven and earth while at the level nine stage, they would be essentially invincible beneath the Saint Realm.

After witnessing that sword strike a few days ago, he knew Leian was exactly that kind of person, which was why Tailun could not conceive of any possibility of Leian losing.

Joyce nodded slowly upon hearing this and said nothing more.

Before long, Leian's figure finally appeared at the base of Red Rock Ridge. Compared to the flashy entrance Robert had made riding his Blue Dragon, Leian, who had arrived on foot, seemed quite modest.

However, no one at the scene dared to underestimate this young level nine powerhouse.

With Leian's arrival, the crowd at the foot of Red Rock Ridge instinctively cleared a path leading up the hill.

Barry, the only person who had followed Leian, stopped in his tracks. Looking at his son's back, Barry said with a solemn expression, "Leian, be careful!"

"Don't worry, Father!"

Leian turned back and gave Barry a confident smile.

Following the uneven, sloping path, Leian quickly reached the summit of Red Rock Ridge.

The summit was an uneven stone platform, barren and devoid of any grass. Robert was currently sitting on the back of the Blue Dragon, waiting to one side.

Seeing Leian arrive alone, Robert jumped off the dragon's back, patted its head, and ordered it to return to the foot of the hill.

Seeing this, Leian flipped his hand to draw his standard-issue black longsword and said indifferently, "Anything else to say? If not, let's begin!"

Leian had no fondness for someone like Robert who wanted to use him as a stepping stone, even if the man was a dedicated cultivator.

Therefore, in this battle, he would win everything—including Robert's life!

A curve remained on the corner of Robert's mouth, and his eyes flickered with eagerness from time to time, as if he had been waiting for this moment for a long time. Hearing Leian's words, he didn't hesitate to draw the battle blade from his back and shouted:

"Nothing left to say. Let's see what you're truly made of!"

"Then come!"

Leian flicked his wrist, his longsword tracing a half-circle before pointing levelly at Robert.

Both men infused their voices with battle qi, allowing their words to carry far and wide for the surrounding crowd to hear. Seeing that the clash was imminent, everyone widened their eyes, their faces filled with excitement.

Although the imperial capital had arenas, the duels there usually involved level five or six fighters. A battle between level nine powerhouses was something rarely seen even once every few years or decades, which explained the crowd's intense agitation.

On Red Rock Ridge.

"Hah!"

With a furious roar, Robert launched the first attack. He stomped his feet, crossing dozens of meters in an instant to reach Leian. The heavy blade in his hand, shrouded in earthy-yellow light, slashed toward Leian with an unstoppable momentum.

Hum—

As the blade descended, the air trembled, and for a split second, Leian felt as if he had been locked in place by space itself.

The power of heaven and earth!

Leian narrowed his eyes, a sharp glint flashing within them. He truly hadn't expected Robert to have fully grasped the realm of "momentum." The feeling of being oppressed by space was unmistakable.

This guy has been a level nine warrior for over sixty years. With his accumulation of battle qi and this level of insight, breaking through to the Saint Realm should be a matter of a single thought. Instead of breaking through, he chooses to challenge me at this time—he clearly wants to use me to make a name for himself across the continent.

This guy is truly courting death!

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Leian no longer hid his killing intent. With a surge of battle qi, he shattered the spatial lock. In that instant, his figure flickered, and he moved with lightning speed to Robert's left, his longsword thrusting toward the man's ribs.

Such speed!

Robert had already been startled when he saw Leian easily break free from his attack.

Now, seeing Leian move with a speed that completely surpassed a normal level nine warrior, Robert was struck with terror. He didn't care about his dignity anymore and performed a desperate roll, narrowly avoiding the tip of Leian's sword.

If this were a normal sparring match, Leian would have stopped his assault after such a strike to give his opponent time to adjust. But at this moment, he had no such intention. With a tap of his toes, he closed the distance to Robert once again.

Damn it, how can this guy be so fast?

Out of the corner of his eye, Robert watched the sword light thrusting toward him once again. His face was as grim as stagnant water; there was no chance to stand up and dodge in time, so he had no choice but to continue rolling to the side to evade the blade.

At the same time, his mouth began to move incessantly.

He had never expected that the battle would put him at such a complete disadvantage right from the start, to the point where he was forced to reveal his trump card prematurely.

Originally, in his eyes, even if Leian were a genius, he would at most have grasped the realm of "Momentum." Who could have known that the opponent would possess such terrifying speed—a speed that simply should not exist on a level nine warrior.

However, how could Robert know that Leian had fused with a level nine magic core.

Some readers might feel that this duel is somewhat superfluous. In fact, I did write it specifically for practice, but unfortunately, sigh, I just can't capture that specific flavor of Tomato's writing style. How frustrating!