Shock the Entire Audience

"What? A fourth-rank demon beast?" Everyone present was utterly shocked when they heard this.

They had all witnessed Wang Dong's battle with the Swift Leopard. Its strength was plain for all to see. Even Wang Dong, whose inner force cultivation had reached the fourth rank, had been defeated by it. Yet this youth named Liang Bo still dared to challenge a fourth-rank demon beast. Was this confidence, or stupidity?

Below, Zhao Zhao and Zhao Wu were both dumbfounded. They had assumed Liang Bo would challenge a sixth-rank demon beast, so neither had asked him earlier. In their eyes, Liang Bo's strength was only at the peak of the seventh rank. Apart from challenging a sixth-rank demon beast, where he might have had a sliver of hope, he had no hope at all against anything else.

And now, Liang Bo said he wanted to challenge a fourth-rank demon beast. Had he gone mad?

Zhao Zhao blurted out, "Liang Bo, did you misspeak?"

"Yes, yes, Liang Bo, you must have misspoken, right?" Zhao Wu came to his senses as well and hurriedly shouted.

Liang Bo turned and glanced at them, a trace of gratitude in his eyes.

He knew why Zhao Zhao and Zhao Wu had said that. They merely wanted to give him an excuse to take back his words by claiming he had misspoken. Otherwise, if the chief examiner truly agreed, it would be too late for him to change his mind.

The two of them were willing to risk being expelled from the examination grounds for making such a commotion just to speak up for him. It was clear that they truly regarded him as a friend.

At the examiners' platform, the representatives from each faction were all somewhat surprised.

The Purple Sun Temple representative frowned and muttered, "Interesting. Where did this little fellow come from? He actually dares to challenge a fourth-rank demon beast. Why have I never heard of him before?"

"I haven't heard of him either. This fellow is surnamed Liang. Could he be a descendant of the Liang Clan of Wan City? I remember that the Liang Clan produced a genius named Liang Xing a few years ago. Could another genius be emerging?" the True Martial Sect representative wondered.

"Hmph! Geniuses do not grow on trees. I think this fellow knows full well that he will fail and is merely grandstanding to draw attention!" The Limitless Sword Sect representative sneered, certain that Liang Bo had said this only to show off.

As for the other representatives, they too whispered among themselves. Clearly, however, most of them did not think highly of Liang Bo.

Since they had come to Nanyang Prefecture to oversee this grand competition, these representatives had naturally gathered information and gained some understanding of the young geniuses in Nanyang Prefecture. Yet in their memories, there seemed to be no genius named Liang Bo.

If some overlooked martial artist produced a dark horse capable of defeating a fifth-rank demon beast, that was possible. But for a genius capable of defeating a fourth-rank demon beast to emerge, they absolutely did not believe it.

After all, how rare was a genius who could defeat a fourth-rank demon beast before the age of sixteen? Such a genius could not possibly grow up without revealing even the slightest trace.

The chief examiner also glanced at Liang Bo in surprise, then asked solemnly, "You just said you wanted to challenge a fourth-rank demon beast. Are you certain you did not misspeak?"

Liang Bo smiled. "Of course I did not misspeak. I want to challenge a fourth-rank demon beast."

"Good!" The chief examiner's expression turned cold again. He waved a hand, signaling an examiner to lead Liang Bo down.

The Swift Leopard from earlier was still there. It had not been injured in its battle with Wang Dong, nor had it expended much strength, so according to the rules, there was no need to replace it with another fourth-rank demon beast.

Led by the examiner, Liang Bo entered the arena and stopped outside the safety line.

The examiner was an elderly man with grizzled hair. He glanced at Liang Bo and said in a low voice, "Kid, you've had your moment in the spotlight. It's time to forfeit, isn't it? It isn't worth suffering serious injuries just to show off! Besides, this Swift Leopard is incredibly fast. If you run into danger, this old man may not even be able to save you in time!"

The old man had clearly taken him for a grandstander, so his tone was far from friendly.

Liang Bo did not know whether to laugh or cry. Still, he understood why these people thought this way. He was an unknown nobody who had suddenly declared that he wanted to challenge a fourth-rank demon beast. No matter how one looked at it, it seemed like sheer foolishness.

Liang Bo said seriously, "Please rest assured, Senior. Since I intend to challenge it, I naturally have confidence."

"Hmph!" The old man rolled his eyes and ignored him.

Liang Bo rubbed his nose, drew the long saber at his waist, crossed the safety line, and walked toward the Swift Leopard.

Roar! The Swift Leopard glared at the person before it and let out an angry roar. It had just taught one human a lesson, and already another had come to provoke it. This infuriated it, and it decided to dispose of this opponent swiftly.

Its thick limbs suddenly exploded with force as it charged toward Liang Bo on a gust of wild wind.

Whoosh! Liang Bo swiftly dodged to the side, slipping beside the Swift Leopard. The beast came to an abrupt halt in midair, rapidly twisting its body around as its sharp foreclaws swept at him like two curved blades.

A cold gleam flickered in Liang Bo's eyes. Seizing the moment when it turned, he suddenly unleashed all his strength, channeling it directly into his arm. The long saber in his hand slashed mercilessly down at the Swift Leopard's neck with lightning speed.

The Purple Lightning Blade technique he used had always been famed for its swiftness. On top of that, he had cultivated it to the realm where man and blade became one. How could the Swift Leopard possibly evade it?

Splurt! A bloody head immediately flew high from the Swift Leopard's body as blood sprayed wildly from its severed neck.

"What?" On the examiners' platform, the representatives of all thirty-six factions shot to their feet with a collective gasp, their eyes filled with utter disbelief.

"A blade technique at the realm where man and blade become one!" The True Martial Sect representative sucked in a cold breath.

"That's right, it truly is the realm where man and blade become one. And his movement technique has reached the perfected basic level. Even his strength has reached at least the fifth rank, or he could never have severed the Swift Leopard's head so easily! Since when did Wan City produce such a genius?" The Limitless Sword Sect representative muttered, completely stunned.

Just moments ago, he had thought Liang Bo was merely grandstanding, deliberately claiming he wanted to challenge a fourth-rank demon beast to show off. But now, it was clear that Liang Bo's strength vastly exceeded that of the Swift Leopard. Otherwise, he could never have won in a single move.

The representatives from the other factions were also plunged into shock, before suddenly growing excited.

"A genius! He is absolutely a genius, one even stronger than that Wang Dong from earlier!"

"Indeed. At least fifth-rank cultivation, a blade technique at the realm where man and blade become one, and a movement technique at the perfected basic level. With such strength, he could probably even fight and defeat an ordinary third-rank martial artist!"

"Though young geniuses capable of defeating fourth-rank demon beasts have appeared in previous years, which of them did not fight for a long time before winning with great difficulty? Yet this little fellow named Liang Bo killed a fourth-rank demon beast in a single move. He is definitely the rarest genius Nanyang Prefecture has seen in the past decade!"

"No, we must recruit him into our sect!" The representatives of every faction immediately went into a frenzy.