Sword Path, Sixth Stage

"He's appeared!! The dark horse who showed astonishing combat power in the very first match has finally reappeared!"

From above, the host, stretching his vocal cords, let out an excited and fervent cry.

This kind of unexpected reversal was what the audience and he loved to see the most.

Hearing the host's excited shout, Scarface clearly frowned, looking displeased, and he lunged at Qin Yuan again.

Qin Yuan still didn't use his soul power, facing Scarface's all-out assault.

He hadn't forgotten the purpose of the soul duel, which was to hone his swordsmanship. If he went all out, he feared Scarface wouldn't last a single move, making it impossible to achieve his goal of honing his swordsmanship.

Of course, only in extremely critical situations would he use his soul power, as relying solely on his formidable physique to fight a high-level Soul Elder was still quite strenuous.

Thus, an extremely peculiar situation unfolded on the stage.

Ling Tian, wearing the Golden Dragon Mask, faced Scarface's full-power offense. Although he fought with great effort, he didn't suffer any disadvantage.

As time went on, Ling Tian even fought more and more easily, as if he had adapted to Scarface's offensive style.

This made Scarface extremely uncomfortable and very angry. He felt that the guy opposite him was his natural counter, as if born specifically to counter him.

Meanwhile, Qin Yuan, fighting Scarface, was filled with joy and excitement. In just this short time, his swordsmanship experience points had increased by over a hundred.

However, the longer he fought Scarface, the slower his experience points grew, until finally, they almost completely stagnated.

Qin Yuan knew that Scarface's value to him had been completely squeezed dry.

"Damn you, fighting you is so damn exhausting, it's unbearable!" Scarface roared in extreme anger, his attacks becoming more fierce and ruthless.

The audience was also losing interest. They wanted to see blood, screams, and gore.

What was happening now? After fighting for so long, not even a piece of clothing was torn; it was completely uninteresting!

Thus, more and more audience members began to voice their dissatisfaction, urging the match to end sooner.

The host felt a bit awkward, but he was helpless; he couldn't interfere with the match.

At the same time, he was also a bit depressed. This match, apart from the initial excitement, had become increasingly boring, to the point where even he, a professional host, didn't know how to commentate.

Just then, sensing that Scarface could no longer serve as a tool to hone his swordsmanship, Qin Yuan stopped holding back. He immediately channeled his soul power, gathering it in his hands.

The enraged Scarface's eyes instantly cleared, and a look of terror appeared on his face. He keenly sensed that the opponent was different now.

If the Qin Yuan before was a harmless sheep.

Then the current Qin Yuan was a terrifying beast that had suddenly awakened, his fierce and chilling aura pressing down on him, making it almost impossible to breathe.

"Wait..." Scarface opened his mouth to shout a halt, but it was too late.

Qin Yuan drew his sword.

Self-Created Soul Skill—Sword One!

A dazzling golden sword light, carrying a sharpness capable of severing all things, struck Scarface's hastily raised arms.

Puchi!

Scarface's arms were instantly severed, blood splattering. A deep, bloody gash opened on his chest, and the man, like a tattered blood bag, screamed miserably as he was sent flying, falling off the stage.

After landing, he twitched a few times on the ground before losing consciousness.

Just before he passed out, a thought that filled him with terror, shock, and confusion flashed through his mind:

"No way, dude, are you messing with me..."

Qin Yuan glanced indifferently at the unconscious Scarface, then surveyed the stunned, silent audience, before looking up at the equally dazed host.

He tilted his chin: "Announce the result."

The host snapped back to reality, swallowed hard, and said in an almost trembling voice:

"I, I announce that in this match, contestant Ling Tian wins! As a Bronze Badge holder defeated a Silver Badge holder by a higher rank, his points increase by two."

Qin Yuan nodded, turned, and left, saying without looking back:

"That guy is still alive. I deliberately held back. If treated in time, his arms can still be reattached."

After he left, the audience, having recovered from their shock, erupted in a thunderous roar, but this was no longer of concern to Qin Yuan.

Qin Yuan only had one match today. After it was over, he left the Soul Dueling Arena directly and went to an inn closest to the Heavenly Dou Imperial Palace.

After closing the doors and windows, he first cast [Life Miracle] on himself, to prevent any unknown powerful individuals from leaving tracking marks on him.

[Life Miracle] possessed extreme healing and purification effects, making it impossible for anyone to leave even the slightest trace on him.

Afterward, he directly used the soul bone skill "Teleportation" of his external soul bone, the Golden Dragon Wings. Consuming about a tenth of his soul power, he crossed a distance of several hundred meters and entered his courtyard within the Heavenly Dou Imperial Palace.

This way, no one would know Ling Tian's true identity. Those interested in him would at most track him to this inn; they couldn't possibly search his residence in the Imperial Palace, could they?

For a long time afterward, Qin Yuan participated in soul dueling matches under the identity of Ling Tian. And as he requested, the Soul Dueling Arena arranged at least five matches for him every day.

In every match, he would suppress his own strength and entangle with his opponents using his sword until their value was exhausted, after which he would defeat them with a single move, ending the match.

Thus, a very strange phenomenon appeared in the Soul Dueling Arena.

Even the weakest Soul Elder could fight Ling Tian for a long time, until Ling Tian familiarized himself with all of the opponent's moves, only then would he be defeated by a single strike.

As for those Silver Badge Soul Elder powerhouses, they were also defeated by a single strike when facing Ling Tian's burst of power.

This made Ling Tian's true strength a mystery, with no one knowing his actual power.

Because when Ling Tian got serious, no one could withstand the second move.

Three months later, Ling Tian, with an undefeated record, obtained a gold badge, and his fame soared, causing a sensation in Heaven Dou City.

Almost all factions knew that a young man of extraordinary talent had recently appeared in the Great Soul Arena, almost comparable to Heaven Dou City's top genius, Yu Tianheng, the premier prodigy of the Blue Electric Tyrant Dragon Sect.

Regarding this fame, Qin Yuan paid no mind. He was currently in his courtyard, looking at his status panel with a smile.

[Name: Qin Yuan]

[Age: 12]

[Martial Soul: Golden Dragon]

[Soul Power Level: 38 (+)]

[Soul Rings: Three-Clawed Dark Gold Dragon Soul Ring (6324 years) (+), Eight-Winged Black Gold Dragon Soul Ring (4444 years) (+), Titan Tremor Roar Soul Ring (6666) (+)]

[Soul Bone: Golden Dragon Wings (5444 years) (+)]

[Skills: Chess Path Rank 9 (3679/50000), Carving Path Rank 9 (1289/50000), Sword Path Rank 6 (4896/5000)]

[Evolution Points: 22]

Looking at the Skills section, the Sword Path was only a hundred and four experience points away from Rank 7. At most, two more matches would fill the experience bar.

However, based on past experience, breaking through to Sword Path Rank 7 would likely require comprehending the Sword Heart, which would delay things for a while.

His gaze shifted down to the Evolution Points section. Seeing the accumulated twenty-two Evolution Points, Qin Yuan nodded in satisfaction.

He hadn't allocated points to increase his Soul Power Level because he wanted to hone his Sword Path. If his Soul Power was too high, the number of opponents he could spar with would decrease, which he was unwilling to see.

Besides, the Evolution Points wouldn't disappear, and he could allocate them anytime.

Closing the panel and preparing to return to his room to sleep, Qin Yuan learned from a maid that Ning Fengzhi and Ning Rongrong would be visiting Heaven Dou City in seven days to pay their respects to Emperor Xue Ye and Xue Qinghe.

Upon hearing this, a flicker of surprise flashed in Qin Yuan's eyes.