Crisis Emerges

The square remained as noisy as ever.

Round after round of arena matches raged in full swing.

Shen Yuan retreated to a secluded corner of the waiting area, sat cross-legged to regulate his breathing, and repeatedly pondered the warning the Heavenly Stele had just issued.

Xiao Wuji was now genuinely at the initial stage of the Profound Communion Realm. With true qi released beyond the body, Profound Qi Protection, and a thorough grasp of all the patterns in Shen Yuan's First Seven Forms of Azure Cloud Thirteen Swords, he had already prepared countermeasures in advance. If Shen Yuan relied solely on the swordsmanship he had displayed so far and met him head-on in the finals, the situation would be exceedingly dangerous.

To deduce higher-level techniques, I need Martial Dao Points, Shen Yuan thought.

Within his sea of consciousness, the Martial Dao Points he had gained from the previous rounds of real arena combat had accumulated to five.

But five Martial Dao Points were far from enough to deduce the Eighth Form of Azure Cloud Thirteen Swords, or further refine the complete combat method of Peerless Fist-and-Sword.

In every arena battle from here on, I need to fight for as many Martial Dao Points as possible.

"Shen Yuan! Next match, Arena Seven!"

The referee's shout rang out, interrupting Shen Yuan's thoughts.

Shen Yuan slowly rose to his feet and leaped onto the bluestone Arena Seven.

His opponent this round was Zhou Qi, an inner disciple at the Peak Meridian Opening Realm. He cultivated the Swift Thunder Saber, a saber art both swift and fierce, and was considered a seed-level powerhouse within this half of the bracket.

Standing across from him on the arena, Zhou Qi gripped a broad-backed saber and studied Shen Yuan with a grave expression. "Your Azure Cloud Thirteen Swords is indeed exquisite. But no matter how clever your swordsmanship is, the gap in cultivation stands before us. I want to see whether your sword can withstand the fierce eruption of the Swift Thunder Saber."

"We'll see the truth beneath our hands." Shen Yuan drew his longsword, cold light flashing.

"Take this saber!"

With a furious roar, Zhou Qi's broad-backed saber surged with rolling true qi, faint lightning flickering across its blade as the Swift Thunder Saber came crashing down. The saber force was tyrannical, its blade wind cleaving the air until it howled.

Shen Yuan shifted his feet, unleashing the second and sixth forms of Azure Cloud Thirteen Swords in succession. Sword light coiled around him, blocking the saber force layer upon layer.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Saber and sword collided madly, scattering sparks in every direction.

Zhou Qi was at the Peak Meridian Opening Realm, and his total true qi far surpassed Shen Yuan's. The Swift Thunder Saber specialized in fierce, explosive force; blow after blow came crashing down with overwhelming pressure. Shen Yuan continuously circled and evaded, using the intricacy of his swordsmanship to dissolve his opponent's brute strength.

Below the arena, countless eyes focused on the two of them.

High in the spectator stands, Xiao Wuji sat silently, his gaze nailed to every move and form Shen Yuan used on the arena. At his side, a trusted subordinate held a brush and continuously recorded the changes in Shen Yuan's sword techniques, his attack habits, and the directions in which he evaded.

"He habitually dodges to the left. After the seventh sword form, there is an extremely brief gap while he catches his breath and cycles his true qi." Xiao Wuji spoke softly to his subordinate. "Record all of it. In the finals, strike precisely at that gap."

The subordinate rapidly put brush to paper.

The battle on the arena continued.

After dozens of hard-fought exchanges, Zhou Qi's relentless attacks had consumed enormous amounts of true qi, and flaws gradually appeared in the rhythm of his saber technique.

Shen Yuan seized the instant Zhou Qi's saber slashed through empty air and its old force had completely dissipated.

Seventh Form of Azure Cloud Thirteen Swords—Cloud Descending on a Thousand Mountains!

The sword light on his longsword surged, layers of Sword Qi falling like hanging clouds and mist as they stabbed directly toward Zhou Qi's saber-wielding wrist.

Zhou Qi's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly drew back his saber to block, but in the end, he was half a beat too slow.

Slash!

Sword Qi swept across his wrist. Zhou Qi's broad-backed saber flew from his hand and crashed heavily onto the bluestone floor of the arena.

"I lost." Zhou Qi looked at his bleeding wrist and lowered his head in helpless concession.

"Shen Yuan wins!"

[Defeated a Peak Meridian Opening Realm opponent in actual combat. Martial Dao Points +3. Current Martial Dao Points: 8.]

The Heavenly Stele's prompt rang out in Shen Yuan's sea of consciousness.

Shen Yuan sheathed his sword and leaped down from the arena.

The semifinalists for this half of the bracket had already been decided. Shen Yuan had successfully entered the final four. As long as he won the semifinal, he could advance to the finals and face Xiao Wuji directly.

Yet Shen Yuan did not feel the slightest relief.

He knew that every battle he fought, every habit in his techniques, had all been taken in by Xiao Wuji's eyes.

After returning to the waiting area, Wang Dong hurried over, his expression worried. "I saw it clearly just now. Xiao Wuji's people have been using a notebook to record your moves the whole time! They've written down all your habits when attacking. It's obvious they intend to specifically restrain you in the finals!"

"I know." Shen Yuan nodded. "That's why I can't reveal all my trump cards in these preliminary arena matches. Fist-Sword Alternating Execution must absolutely not be used before the finals."

"But even with that trump-card execution technique, you're only at the middle stage of the Meridian Opening Realm while he's in the Profound Communion Realm. The gap is simply too great." Wang Dong's round face furrowed. "With a Profound Communion Realm expert's Profound Qi Protection, your current attacks will have a hard time piercing through it completely. What if that execution technique still can't break his defense in the finals? Then what?"

Shen Yuan fell silent.

What Wang Dong had said was precisely the greatest worry in Shen Yuan's heart.

"After I return to the courtyard, I'll enter the Martial Arts Simulation Space and use Xiao Wuji's current complete strength as a template for large-scale simulated battles," Shen Yuan said quietly. "I need to see whether, with my intelligence already in his hands, I still have another way to break this deadlock."

The semifinals would not begin until tomorrow. Today's minor-match schedule had come to a temporary end.

The disciples dispersed one after another.

Shen Yuan bade Wang Dong farewell and returned alone to his inner sect courtyard.

He closed the courtyard gate, entered the quiet room, and sat cross-legged. His consciousness sank into the vast whiteness of the Martial Arts Simulation Space.

"Heavenly Stele, import the complete combat sample of Xiao Wuji gathered from today's observations. At the same time, import the intelligence he recorded regarding the weaknesses in my swordsmanship. Recreate the real finals environment and begin extensive simulated battles."

[Sample import complete. Simulation conditions: Xiao Wuji already knows all flaws in the First Seven Forms of Azure Cloud Thirteen Swords and the host's attack habits. Beginning simulated battle.]

Within the simulated void, a phantom replica of Xiao Wuji slowly emerged. Profound Qi of the Profound Communion Realm circulated around him, while the palm wind of Mountain-Splitting Palm howled.

Shen Yuan held a virtual longsword and charged forward with sword raised.

The first battle.

Shen Yuan unleashed Azure Cloud Thirteen Swords. He had only just executed the sixth form when Xiao Wuji's phantom had already predicted the following sword move and sealed off his path in advance. Mountain-Splitting Palm, wrapped in Profound Qi, crashed down viciously.

Boom!

Shen Yuan's attack struck the Profound Qi barrier and raised only a single ripple. He was immediately blasted away by a palm strike, his simulated body dispersing. Simulation defeat.

The second battle.

Shen Yuan deliberately altered part of his sword sequence, attempting to disrupt his opponent's predictions. But Xiao Wuji's phantom had already thoroughly understood the essence of the first seven forms and could still rapidly deduce the subsequent changes. After dozens of exchanges, Shen Yuan was defeated once again.

The third battle, the fourth battle...

One slaughter after another played out without end.

Because the patterns of his techniques had been uncovered by his opponent in advance, Shen Yuan was targeted at every turn. Even when he used Fist-Sword Alternating Execution, most of the time he could only barely force his opponent back for a moment. It was difficult to truly inflict severe damage upon the Profound Communion Realm phantom.

His soul continuously endured the feedback of pain from the simulated battles. A fine layer of cold sweat seeped across Shen Yuan's real forehead.

More than a hundred simulated battles came to an end.

[Simulation statistics: with the opponent having prior knowledge of the flaws in the First Seven Forms of Azure Cloud Thirteen Swords, the probability of victory using current methods is below 7%.]

Only a seven percent chance of victory.

The result was incomparably cruel.

Shen Yuan slowly withdrew from the Martial Arts Simulation Space and opened his eyes, his gaze grave.

Seven percent was nearly the same as gambling with his life.

"To raise my chances of winning, I either deduce the Eighth Form of Azure Cloud Thirteen Swords and use an entirely new, unknown sword move to catch him off guard, or expend a large number of Martial Dao Points to deduce a completely new, unconventional surprise-attack tactic."

Deducing the eighth form was the optimal solution. The eighth form was a lost portion; Xiao Wuji had never seen it at all and had no contingency plan against it. Once it was unleashed, it could instantly throw all his predictions into disarray.

But how many Martial Dao Points would it take to deduce the eighth form?

Shen Yuan asked the Heavenly Stele in his heart.

[Deducing the Eighth Form of Azure Cloud Thirteen Swords requires 12 Martial Dao Points. Current Martial Dao Points: 8. Still lacking 4 points.]

He was still four Martial Dao Points short.

Tomorrow's semifinal could give him hope of gathering enough, as long as he defeated his opponent.

But his semifinal opponent would be no pushover either.