Raging Flames Replaced the Torrent

In the eyes of the cultivators watching below the platform, this scene had already sealed his defeat.

Yet Mo Chen was still waiting.

Waiting for Wu Wen to come close enough.

The very first introductory section of the Vast Sea Blade Intent taught a technique for seizing an opponent's saber as he began his strike.

The opening of a saber strike was like a person drawing breath. Before the exhale, strength gathered in the waist and back, intent coursed through the shoulders, and qi sank beneath the elbows. At this moment, saber and body united, body and intent united, yet the spirit lay in the saber rather than the grip. For at the outset of a strike, blade intent was at its strongest, while the hand holding the saber was at its weakest.

Thus, to seize his saber, one must wait for him to begin his strike. With that beginning, blade intent flowed outward; as it flowed, a gap appeared. Send intent into that gap, lock his wrist with True Qi, and displace his fingers with deft force.

With those three united, the saber would surely leave his hand!

Wu Wen fought with broad, sweeping movements. Mo Chen had already seen through his blade intent.

Nearly a hundred years of body tempering and occasional saber practice had long since cultivated True Qi within Mo Chen. On top of that, after beginning cultivation, he had gained the Object-Manipulation Technique to draw objects toward him from a distance. Combined with the saber-snatching secrets in the Vast Sea Blade Intent, this was no longer anything like the risky gamble Lu Canghai had described...

It was a sure thing!

Mo Chen watched Wu Wen sweep his saber upward from below. The instant his Divine Sense caught Wu Wen's blade intent at its strongest and his grip at its weakest, he slightly opened his right hand. True Qi and Dharma Power worked together within him, transmitting deft force through the air as he performed the most crucial move of the opening-strike saber-snatching technique.

Finger displacement!

Wu Wen froze.

Huh?

Wu Wen felt a force catch the pulse point of his wrist, then give it a gentle twist. His palm opened outright, and the web between his thumb and forefinger went numb and sore.

The Gilt Great Saber left his hand.

It wheeled through the air and flew into Mo Chen's grasp.

The entire crowd fell utterly silent.

For a moment, the only shouts around the Mingyi Arena came from the other groups' matches.

Still unable to believe it, Wu Wen swept his palm with his Divine Sense. There was indeed nothing there.

My saber... was taken?

Before that thought could fully form in Wu Wen's mind, Mo Chen's next attack had already arrived.

Lu Canghai had written it plainly in the Vast Sea Blade Intent.

After seizing the saber, one must immediately follow with a strike.

The instant an opponent lost his saber, his defenses stood completely open.

That fleeting opening vanished in a blink. Failing to seize it would be a wanton waste of heaven's gifts.

After taking the saber, Mo Chen chopped straight at Wu Wen's right shoulder, actually aiming to sever his right arm!

Wu Wen's pupils abruptly contracted. Suddenly, he felt an aura distinct from spiritual pressure emanating from Mo Chen.

Having cultivated the saber for years, Wu Wen could not have been more familiar with that aura.

Blade intent.

Seas becoming fields, tides rising and falling—all were contained within that single slash.

How could a mere Qi Refining Stage brat possess blade intent?

Only seasoned veterans who had spent half their lives weathering the world would possess Sword Intent or blade intent.

But he looks barely seventeen or eighteen...

Naturally, Wu Wen had no idea that Mo Chen was already over two hundred and forty years old.

Though his studies of the hundred arts of immortal cultivation were scattered and hardly refined, the Vast Sea Blade Intent was among the earliest secret manuals Mo Chen had obtained. How could he possibly have failed to master it?

But the descending saber gave him little time to think.

With a thought, Wu Wen summoned a Talismans, grabbed it with his left hand without hesitation, and slapped it onto his chest.

The instant the Talismans touched Wu Wen, a layer of Stone Armor formed over him.

The moment the golden saber struck the shoulder of the Stone Armor, the armor shattered inch by inch.

A vicious gleam flashed in Wu Wen's eyes. Bending his arm, he drove an elbow at Mo Chen.

Mo Chen was about to bring the saber across to block, but Wu Wen dropped his elbow and flicked it sideways, knocking the golden saber aside.

At this, Mo Chen snorted coldly, abandoned the saber, and rode the wind backward. At the same time, he held two fingers together like a sword and pointed at Wu Wen.

In an instant, the scattered Stone Armor fragments reversed direction and stabbed into Wu Wen's shoulder blade and right arm.

Still reeling from pain and shock, Wu Wen came back to his senses.

This brat can actually use blade intent to guide Stone Armor fragments into an attack!

Wu Wen dared not be overconfident. After retreating and landing, he hurriedly put distance between them.

The two returned to their original positions over the eyes of the yin-yang fish, hovering above the water.

All trace of his earlier contempt had vanished from Wu Wen's face. He raised a hand to recall the Gilt Great Saber from the water and spoke slowly.

"You cultivate the saber too?"

Mo Chen answered only with a cold snort.

"Then let's go again!"

The cultivators watching below finally recovered from their shock, and a roar of discussion erupted.

"Did you see that? He didn't even touch Wu Wen's saber!"

"Seizing a weapon from a distance? Was that a martial technique or a spell?"

"It didn't seem like a spell... the protective barrier doesn't block Divine Sense, and none of us sensed any fluctuations in Spiritual Power. It seemed more like a purely martial maneuver!"

"A Talisman Cultivator used saber techniques to steal a body cultivator's saber, then turned around and wounded Wu Wen? I can't make sense of this."

Once again met with Mo Chen's icy dismissal, Wu Wen was so furious that he pulled out another Talismans and stuck it to himself.

The Talismans swiftly merged into Wu Wen's chest. His body rapidly expanded, his muscles swelled, and his veins bulged, as though his whole frame had been inflated a size larger.

"A Body Tempering Talisman!"

Mo Chen's pupils contracted. Alarm bells rang in his heart as his mind rapidly worked through every possible development.

Damn it, this bastard really did have another trick up his sleeve!

Mo Chen flew into the air, further widening the distance between himself and Wu Wen.

But Wu Wen seized his chance, kicked off the ground, and threw a punch at Mo Chen.

So fast!

Mo Chen had clearly underestimated Wu Wen's physical prowess under the Body Tempering Talisman's enhancement.

There was no time to dodge.

Mo Chen immediately activated the Flame-Drinking Art. Dharma Power raced through his meridians to every part of his body as he raised one hand.

Under everyone's gaze, Mo Chen took Wu Wen's punch squarely and spat out a mouthful of blood. Yet as Mo Chen raised his hand, all the pooled water below surged upward at once, wrapping Wu Wen in a sphere of water.

Without time to inspect his injuries, Mo Chen formed another spell gesture.

Then a trace of green appeared within the water sphere.

Countless aquatic plants grew wildly inside it. The slender plants rapidly transformed into vines, which kept growing thicker.

Water nourished wood, and the vines grew at incredible speed. In just a few blinks, they sucked the arena's water dry and swiftly carpeted the platform.

Wu Wen was also bound by the vines, unable to move.

The vines were exceedingly tough. Wu Wen struggled a few times, only to be bound even more tightly.

Their barbs dug into Wu Wen's robes, and they continued tightening, squeezing until his bones creaked.

The cultivators below could not help sweating on Wu Wen's behalf, but he remained unconcerned.

Infused with Dharma Power, the Gilt Great Saber protected its master on its own, continuously hacking at the vines.

Beneath the great saber's golden light, the vines broke into sections, severed branches flying everywhere.

Empowered by the Body Tempering Talisman, Wu Wen released a sudden blast of force from his body, pulverizing the coils of vines.

At this sight, Mo Chen's mouth fell open. He retreated three steps, looking utterly taken aback.

Wu Wen, who had just broken free of the vines, plainly caught Mo Chen's expression. He immediately darted toward him.

Yet as Wu Wen rushed forward and prepared to unleash his fully charged strike, he saw Mo Chen put away his panicked expression and replace it with a smile.

Damn it, I fell for his trap!

Then Wu Wen saw Mo Chen's figure flicker and vanish eerily from where he stood. The saber slashed through empty air.

Immediately afterward, a few sparks flashed in the arena.

Because Wu Wen had shattered the vines into countless fragments, those wood particles now filled the air like grains of gunpowder.

As the sparks landed on the wood particles, Wu Wen inwardly cried out in alarm.

Flash ignition!

In the blink of an eye, the sparks had become a sea of fire.

The spectators instantly fell silent, staring woodenly at the flames soaring into the sky.

"Wasn't Wu Wen just winning?"

"Wu Wen should still be the winner, right?"

"These flames are terrifying. You can't see what's happening inside at all."

The spectators grew animated once more, the watching cultivators buzzing with discussion. Meanwhile, the examiner who had remained silent in midair let the corners of his mouth curl slightly and murmured his praise.

"Not bad. Not bad at all."