Sword Qi Emerges, Heavy Blade Shatters

"Clang—"

The willow sword swept sideways, narrowly slicing past Ning Caier's neck. She fiercely cleaved down with her heavy blade, and sword and saber collided with an extraordinary metallic clang.

Spirit Ape Scoops the Moon!

The blade struck straight ahead, carrying wave after wave of savage wind-and-thunder force, forcing Li Fengshou to retreat more than ten feet.

She herself twisted her feet and slid backward to evade danger, instantly pulling the distance between them apart.

Several strands of black hair drifted from the young woman's lovely shoulder in the wind. Ning Caier's pupils contracted at the sight. At some point, cold sweat had soaked her back. Though her blood and qi flowed smoothly, her state of mind had become unstable.

"Ning Caier, I have to admire that heavy blade of yours. It forced out the thing I only use as a last resort. Even in defeat, you may still take pride!"

"Buzz!"

Li Fengshou ran two fingers across his sword. Threads of blood seeped into the blade, and as though drawn by some invisible force, the four-foot willow sword let out a shrill, rumbling whistle.

The next instant, blue-red strands of qi coiled around the sword tip like a green serpent flicking its tongue, their sharpness fully revealed.

"What is that? True qi? Or Essence of Blood and Qi?"

"It can't be true qi, but it doesn't look like Essence of Blood and Qi either. Its aura is far too tyrannical—I can feel it prickling my skin from this far away!"

"Li Fengshou's trump card is actually this powerful? What can Ning Caier use to block it?! Her life?"

Wang Xuance stood below the platform. Being closer to the arena, he understood even more clearly just how sharp Li Fengshou's sword edge was. It felt as if he were facing the charge of a thousand long spears, with only one possible end—being shredded into a mist of blood!

"If I faced him, could a perfected Vajra Fist withstand it head-on?"

Mo Wushuang of the White Ape Martial Hall remained calm and expressionless. Yet his casual remark made the disciples around him unable to help worrying for their senior sister.

"It's Sword Qi. But pouring the power of blood and qi into the sword can at most unleash one strike. Your senior sister will most likely be unable to block it..."

"Though it's only half-baked, this boy's talent cannot be underestimated..."

Inside a pavilion not far from the arena, General Li revealed a surprised expression.

"What an exceptionally gifted youngster. Though he used the power of blood and qi to nurture a strand of Sword Qi, among those his age, he has every right to be proud!"

"Li Fengshou... Li by surname. Could he be from a branch of the Inner City Li Family..."

Li Fengshou slightly lifted his eyes. His face was rather haggard after producing that blue-red Sword Qi, but his gaze shone brightly, filled instead with madness.

"Whoosh!"

His sleeve wrapped around the sword hilt, and his figure suddenly vanished from where he stood.

Wood Blossom Sword!

Like a flood dragon bursting from the sea, eyes blazing and whiskers flaring, only a dragon's roar and a sword's cry could be heard in the air as the blue-red streak shot forth.

The vast Sword Qi was like a clear river pouring in reverse, incomparably mighty!

This entire sequence took no more than the blink of an eye!

The arena beneath the two of them instantly burst open with countless pits and craters. Dust rushed into their faces, and a violent gale swept up.

Feeling the deadly threat of her head about to be cleaved apart, Ning Caier panicked and unleashed her own most practiced blade technique!

Spirit Ape Swings the Hammer!

A buzzing roar exploded. Black light flashed from the heavy blade as she gathered strength and swung upward, meeting that incomparably savage blue-red streak head-on.

"Clang—"

"Not good!"

The Sword Qi was like a rainbow, swelling and shrinking unpredictably. The instant the heavy blade touched it, it was like paper mache, effortlessly cut into several pieces by the blue-red serpent qi.

Even the skin on her pair of lotus-root arms was ravaged by the invisible Sword Qi, opening countless tiny wounds.

That streak also seemed to have exhausted its old force before new force could arise. It scattered into specks of blue-red mist, vanishing into the air with a single gust of wind.

"Whoosh!"

Blue radiance bloomed from the willow sword's tip, like a green serpent flicking its tongue as it thrust directly at Ning Caier's head.

This strike from Li Fengshou, who had somehow closed in before her, was his true killing move.

There was nowhere for Ning Caier to evade, nowhere to flee. She could only let him pierce her head with his sword and die on the spot.

Ning Caier immediately fell into a daze, not knowing how to dodge. She could only close her eyes and await death.

Wang Xuance watched as the willow sword, unstoppable as a bamboo split apart, swept toward the young woman's jade-white neck, ready to spill blood through the air.

A clear sigh broke the order of the match.

"Boy, your talent is not bad. Do me a favor, will you? I'm terribly fond of this girl's talent!"

"Whoosh!"

The Sword Qi was wiped away, scraping out an unbelievable spark in midair. Li Fengshou's body jolted as though struck by lightning. Unable to hold his willow sword, he was flung backward and sent it plunging into a wooden stake below the platform.

The sword body buzzed and shook without cease, until it had sunk more than three feet deep.

Before Ning Caier on the platform stood a bearded middle-aged man in a blue brocade robe. He looked helplessly at his youngest disciple behind him.

"Girl, our White Ape Martial Hall has truly lost all face at this martial gathering."

Mo Wushuang cupped his hands and smiled. "General Li, Mo is simply too devoted to his disciple. I hope you will forgive me. At this martial gathering, the White Ape Martial Hall will forfeit all rewards!"

Then his tone shifted, carrying deeper meaning.

"General, Mo will take on that matter. As for the specifics, please wait for further discussion, General Li!"

He glanced at Li Fengshou in the distance, then flipped out an object and tossed it toward him.

"Old Ghost Qian's disciple truly is remarkable. This old man broke the rules—consider this my apology!"

This brief incident made the atmosphere of the martial gathering subtle and strange, leaving the people below the stage baffled.

That old bastard is really protective of his own. You saved both of his precious disciples, yet he still has the nerve to act like this!

Wang Xuance grumbled inwardly. Then, as if sensing something, he abruptly turned his head.

Wu Shan, dressed in black robes, was staring fixedly at him, as though trying to discern something.

"Old ghost, did you see anything? By all logic, it shouldn't be that person. With his bones and talent, it would be impossible for him to reach the Two-Knock Blood Pass!"

"No. The green armor on his face seems somewhat strange. I cannot see his true appearance. Moreover, this person's power of blood and qi seems to have broken through. If you fight him, you must be careful!"

Wu Shan's expression stiffened. The voice within him had never before spoken with such caution.

"Tsk, tsk. White Light City truly deserves to be a major city of Blue Orchid Continent. It really hides dragons and crouching tigers, with no end of geniuses!"

The second match was between an elite disciple of the Red Armor Martial Hall and a disciple of the Giant Whale Martial Hall. One wielded twin curved blades, while the other held a great halberd. Blade light and halberd shadows clashed in an exceptionally dangerous battle.

A string of inconceivable sparks scattered in every direction. The air itself burst with the ear-piercing ring of refined iron as the two weapons collided.

The two were incredibly sharp and their fight perilous beyond measure. The force of their exchanges had already stirred fierce winds across the entire arena.

The sight left those below the stage dumbstruck. Where had they ever seen weapons used like extensions of one's limbs—heavy strikes made light, horizontal sweeps and slanting thrusts flowing with ease?

Looks like I need to learn a weapon as well. Otherwise, if I rely only on Vajra Fist, this mortal-tier martial art, I'll probably be turned into a sieve before I can even get close enough to fight!

Standing below the platform, Wang Xuance watched until his eyes blurred. He secretly decided that he too needed to master a martial art for wielding a weapon.

"Clang—"

"Clank—"

An inch longer, an inch stronger. The great halberd's edge was unmatched. After deliberately exposing an opening and revealing the vital spot on his back—

He lured the Red Armor Martial Hall disciple into circling his blades and chopping down. Who would have thought that the Giant Whale Martial Hall disciple would violently twist his waist, swing his halberd back in a reverse chop, and use strength to break skill? He bent the twin blades and forced the Red Armor Martial Hall disciple off the platform.

Thus, after the two contestants from the White Ape Martial Hall had fallen in succession, the Red Armor Martial Hall became the second martial hall to lose its chance at the top five.

The remaining four martial halls each had only one person left. This alone showed that this martial gathering was far more intense than those of the past.