Ye An Battles Xie Hengyi

Ye An watched Xie Hengyi approach step by step. Xie made no attempt to restrain the force of his saber; instead, he poured all of it toward Ye An.

Xie Hengyi's saber force surged down like the Milky Way hanging from the ninth heaven, bearing down on Ye An through every inch of air across the arena.

His dark-purple Saber Intent had nearly condensed into a tangible tide. Even the lower-ranked martial artists at the edge of the grounds struggled to breathe at the sight.

Ye An answered with Sword Intent of his own.

The Sword Intent of the White Tiger Thunderclap Sword burst forth like an invisible heavenly sword, colliding head-on with Xie Hengyi's saber force in midair!

The moment the two forces met, a string of muffled rumbles erupted through the air around the Martial Practice Ground.

The crushing pressure of sword and saber made teacups and wine goblets tremble more than a dozen yards from the platform, sending fine ripples across the liquid inside.

"Xie Hengyi's saber art has reached the Realm of Perfection. How can Chief Disciple Ye look so at ease against that saber force?"

"Wasn't Chief Disciple Ye's Sword Dao Martial Technique only at the Penetration level?"

"Could it be that his two inner arts are protecting him? Is that why he looks so untroubled?"

Whispers spread below the platform. Everyone saw how easily Ye An faced Xie Hengyi's perfected Saber Intent, but no one knew that Ye An's Black Tortoise Mountain-Suppressing Palm and White Tiger Thunderclap Sword had both reached the Realm of Perfection too.

Ye An looked at Xie Hengyi and repeated what he had asked every previous challenger. "Are you here to exchange pointers, or to make a name for yourself? Or do you want an explanation for what happened before?"