Hundred Sects Tournament · Golden Core (9)

By this point in the fourth round, only one arena still shone with spiritual light on the vast Sword Trial Platform. All the noise and every gaze converged upon it, like rivers flowing into the sea.

Only one duel took place at a time, and only the winner could advance. This arrangement allowed the spectators to follow every match clearly.

The cultivators who had made it this far had all survived three rounds of elimination. In foundations, skill, judgment, and even fortune, they stood among the finest of their peers. None had reached this stage by chance.

Standing on one side of the arena was Zhou Wan of the Profound Heaven Sect. Her opponent, Feng Li of Ten Thousand Swords Valley, had also stepped steadily onto the platform.

Feng Li wore plain gray robes without a single embellishment. His frame was lean, yet straight as a pine, and an antique sword case rested on his back. Even standing still, he naturally exuded a keen, cutting presence.

Sword cultivators were renowned for ferocious attacks and decisive killing strokes, often enjoying an advantage over opponents of the same realm. They were precisely the sort of adversary a Literary Dao spell cultivator like Zhou Wan, who specialized in battlefield control and needed time to set things up, least wanted to face.

Below the arena, the spectators whispered among themselves. Most thought Zhou Wan's chances were bleak. Even Shen Yuxi could not help worrying for her.

Yet Zhou Wan remained composed.

The Profound Heaven Sect was itself a major sword cultivation sect, filled with sword cultivators whose styles varied widely across its lineages. Constant exposure had given her extensive knowledge. She understood their methods, strengths, weaknesses, and even certain common habits and tendencies far better than outsiders did. She was not necessarily without a