Sword Path Sixth Stage

"It's appeared!! The dark horse who showed astonishing strength in his very first match has finally appeared again!"

Above the arena, the host strained his voice, shouting with excitement.

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

Hearing the host's excited shout, Scarface frowned noticeably, looking thoroughly displeased. He charged at Qin Yuan again.

Qin Yuan still didn't use his Soul Power, even as he faced Scarface fighting at full strength.

He hadn't forgotten the purpose of Soul Fighting: to hone his swordsmanship. If he went all out, he feared Scarface wouldn't last a single move, and the fight wouldn't help him sharpen his skills at all.

Of course, he would use his Soul Power if he were ever in grave danger. After all, fighting a high-ranked Soul Elder with only his formidable physique was still quite taxing.

And so, an extremely bizarre sight unfolded in the arena.

Ling Tian, wearing the Golden Dragon Mask, struggled against Scarface's full-force attacks, yet never once suffered a disadvantage.

As time passed, Ling Tian even seemed to find the fight easier, as though he were growing accustomed to Scarface's style.

This left Scarface feeling both frustrated and furious. He thought the guy opposite him was his natural nemesis, as if he'd been born specifically to counter him.

Meanwhile, Qin Yuan was fighting Scarface with joy and excitement swelling in his heart. In just this short while, his Sword Path experience had increased by more than a hundred points.

But the longer he fought Scarface, the slower his experience grew, until at last it had almost come to a complete stop.

Qin Yuan knew he'd squeezed all the value he could out of Scarface.

"Damn it, fighting you is such a pain in the ass! You're driving me nuts!" Scarface roared in fury, his strikes growing ever more vicious and ruthless.

The audience was getting bored too. They wanted blood, screams, and carnage.

What was this supposed to be? They'd been fighting for ages, and not even a single piece of clothing was torn. There was nothing interesting about it!

More and more spectators began voicing their dissatisfaction, urging them to end the match already.

The host was a little embarrassed, but there was nothing he could do. He couldn't interfere with the match.

He was also rather annoyed. The match had been entertaining at first, but it had grown more and more boring. Even a professional host like him was running out of things to say.

Just then, realizing Scarface could no longer help him hone his Sword Path, Qin Yuan stopped holding back. He immediately summoned Soul Power and gathered it in both hands.

Scarface's furious eyes suddenly cleared, and terror appeared on his face. He keenly sensed that his opponent had changed.

If the Qin Yuan from before had been a harmless lamb, then the Qin Yuan now was a terrifying Ferocious Beast abruptly roused from slumber, its savage, fearsome aura pressing down on him until he could barely breathe.

"Wai—" Scarface opened his mouth to call for a stop, but it was too late.

Qin Yuan drew his sword.

Self-Created Soul Skill—Sword One!

A dazzling golden sword arc, sharp enough to cleave through all things, slashed into Scarface's arms as he hastily raised them to block.

Splurt!

Scarface's arms were severed on the spot. Blood sprayed everywhere as a long, deep gash split open across his chest. Like a broken sack of blood, he flew through the air with a shrill scream and crashed off the arena.

After hitting the ground, he twitched a few times, then passed out.

But just before he blacked out, a thought surfaced in his mind, leaving him horrified, shocked, and bewildered:

Dude, you were putting on an act this whole time...

Qin Yuan cast a casual glance at the unconscious Scarface, then swept his gaze around at the wide-eyed, utterly silent audience before looking up at the equally stunned host.

He lifted his chin. "Announce the result."

The host came to his senses and swallowed hard. His voice trembled as he said:

"I-I declare that Ling Tian has won this match! Since an Iron Badge fighter defeated a Copper Badge fighter of a higher rank, his score increases by two points."

Qin Yuan nodded, turned to leave, and said without looking back:

"That guy's still alive. I held back on purpose. If he gets treatment in time, his arms can still be reattached."

Only after he had left did the spectators, finally recovering from their shock, erupt into a deafening roar. But it had nothing to do with Qin Yuan anymore.

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

After shutting the doors and windows, he first cast [Life Miracle] on himself, in case some unknown expert had left a tracking mark on him.

[Life Miracle] possessed the ultimate powers of healing and purification. No one could leave even the slightest mark on him.

Then he immediately used the Soul Bone Skill "Teleportation" of his External Soul Bone, the Golden Dragon Wings. Spending about one-tenth of his Soul Power, he crossed several hundred meters and entered his own courtyard in the Heavenly Dou Imperial Palace.

That way, no one could discover Ling Tian's true identity. Anyone interested in him could follow him as far as this inn at most. Surely they couldn't search the palace for him.

For a long time after that, Qin Yuan competed in Soul Fighting matches as Ling Tian. At his request, the Soul Fighting Arena arranged at least five matches for him every day.

In each match, he suppressed his strength and tangled with his opponent using his sword until he had wrung all the value he could from them. Then he defeated them with a single move and ended the match.

And so, a very strange phenomenon appeared in the Soul Fighting Arena.

Even the weakest Soul Elder could fight Ling Tian for quite a while. Only after Ling Tian had grown familiar with all their moves would he defeat them with a single strike.

And when the Soul Elder experts with Silver Badges faced Ling Tian's sudden burst of strength, they too were defeated in a single move.

This made Ling Tian's true strength a mystery. Nobody knew how strong he really was.

After all, when Ling Tian got serious, no one could withstand a second move.

Three months later, Ling Tian earned a Gold Badge with a flawless winning record. His fame spread far and wide, causing a sensation throughout Heaven Dou City.

Almost every faction knew that a young man of extraordinary talent had recently appeared in the Great Soul Arena, one whose gifts nearly rivaled those of Heaven Dou City's greatest prodigy, Yu Tianheng, a top genius of the Blue Electric Tyrant Dragon Sect.

Qin Yuan didn't care about any of this. At that moment, he was in his courtyard, smiling as he looked over his panel.

[Name: Qin Yuan]

[Age: 12 years]

[Martial Soul: Golden Dragon]

[Soul Power: Level 38 (+)]

[Soul Rings: Three-Clawed Dark Gold Dragon Soul Ring (6,324 years) (+), Eight-Winged Black Gold Dragon Soul Ring (4,444 years) (+), Titan Tremor Roar Soul Ring (6,666 years) (+)]

[Soul Bone: Golden Dragon Wings (5,444 years) (+)]

[Skills: Chess Path ninth stage (3,679/50,000), Carving Path ninth stage (1,289/50,000), Sword Path sixth stage (4,896/5,000)]

[Evolution Points: 22]

Looking at the skills section, he saw that Sword Path was only 104 experience points away from the seventh stage. At most, two more matches would fill the experience bar.

However, judging by his past experience, advancing to Sword Path seventh stage would probably require him to comprehend Sword Heart, so he might have to wait a while.

His gaze moved down to the Evolution Points section. Seeing that he had accumulated a full twenty-two points, Qin Yuan nodded in satisfaction.

He hadn't spent any points to increase his Soul Power Level. He wanted to hone his Sword Path, and if his Soul Power got too high, there would be fewer opponents he could fight. That was the last thing he wanted.

Besides, he wouldn't lose his Evolution Points. He could spend them whenever he liked.

Qin Yuan closed the panel and was about to return to his room to sleep when he learned from a maid that Ning Fengzhi and Ning Rongrong would arrive in Heaven Dou City in seven days to pay a visit to Emperor Xue Ye and Xue Qinghe.

Hearing this, a peculiar glint flashed through Qin Yuan's eyes.