Just one more sword strike

Next came the ranking battles.

Everyone strove to advance further.

As for the two coveted places in the Primal Secret Region, most had already reached a consensus.

Only two people had made it to the Seventh Trial Tower.

The Seventh Trial Tower was incomparably harder than the sixth, so even Rong Jun in third place and Chen Ao in fourth had no chance of competing with Bolan and Luo Feng for places in the Primal Secret Region.

Match followed match as the Virtual Universe paired those with the longest and shortest battle times to select the winners.

Soon, only the top ten remained, including Bolan, Luo Feng, Rong Jun, and Chen Ao.

Next, they faced Ai Chen, Jiang Mo, Wuka, and Gusiluo in their respective matches.

The top five emerged: Bolan, Luo Feng, Rong Jun, Chen Ao, and Long Yun.

"I never thought two of the top five would be people who usually kept such a low profile!"

"Exactly. Chen Ao and Long Yun were completely unknown before, yet they actually made the top five!"

The five of them would now face one another in turn, with each fighting four matches.

The top two would enter the highest-tier Primal Secret Region, while the remaining three could only join the other five in the Primordial Secret Realm.

"Now, let the first battle begin!"

Who went first hardly mattered.

They all had to fight anyway.

Chen Ao actually faced Bolan in his very first match.

It was practically a crushing victory-well, a crushing defeat for him. Bolan drew his sword in an instant and stabbed Chen Ao to death.

The enormous gap between their abilities was plain to see. Chen Ao seemed unable to react at all.

"The gap is too big!"

"Bolan is just too strong. Chen Ao might be average among the top five, but he's still in the top five, and he couldn't even block a single strike!"

Only Luo Feng and Rong Jun stared wide-eyed.

How was that possible? Even if Chen Ao was weaker than Bolan, he couldn't possibly be completely helpless.

Even they could put up some resistance. In their eyes, Chen Ao and Bolan should have fought an intense battle.

What exactly was Senior thinking?

What was this Sword God playing at?

Facing their doubtful gazes, Chen Ao waved a hand. "Ah, Bolan is too strong. You two should be careful too!"

With that, he stood back in place and waited for the others to fight.

Long Yun faced Luo Feng.

In the original story, Long Yun had relied on his advantage as a warrior to hold out until the arena shrank, narrowly defeating Luo Feng.

This time was different. Having fully mastered the second move, Sky Piercing Style, Luo Feng possessed tremendous offensive power. He easily pierced Long Yun's defenses and killed him.

Next, Luo Feng faced Chen Ao.

"Senior, I finally have a chance to fight you for real!" Luo Feng was visibly excited.

Chen Ao had been the goal he wanted to surpass all these years.

He had worked tirelessly toward that end.

Standing here now, he felt like a student who had studied hard all semester and was waiting for his final exam.

Chen Ao was speechless. "I told you, you're the Child of Fortune. You'll surpass me sooner or later!"

Luo Feng frowned. Was it really appropriate to say that in front of so many people?

"Besides, I don't think we've ever met before!"

Luo Feng: ...

He took a deep breath. Although Chen Ao seemed rather flippant, he still had high expectations for Chen Ao's strength.

"Senior, here I come!"

Sky Piercing Style!

Right from the start, Luo Feng unleashed his strongest move.

Luo Feng felt this was how he should show Chen Ao respect.

Chen Ao shook his head. Ah, so we still have to fight after all.

Chen Ao calmly raised the sword in his hand.

Then he firmly blocked Luo Feng's attack.

The blow sent Chen Ao flying backward, but he did not fall!

Seeing that he had actually driven Chen Ao back, Luo Feng's eyes filled with excitement. "Senior, if you don't fight back now, you won't get another chance!"

"I am, I am!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Again and again, the massive Golden Illusion Sword shot straight at Chen Ao, battering him into a miserable state.

He even began coughing up blood.

Clearly, Luo Feng had the upper hand.

The excitement in Luo Feng's eyes grew. If he pushed just a little harder, it seemed he could defeat Chen Ao and prove how much his recent efforts had paid off.

But soon, Luo Feng noticed that the arena was shrinking.

And Chen Ao still seemed to be just one sword strike away from defeat.

Many spectators frowned as they watched. "Chen Ao's defense is incredible!"

"Exactly. He's taken so many attacks from a spirit reader. Every one of those terrifying impacts could shatter a planet, yet Chen Ao can still withstand them!"

Time dwindled, and the arena grew smaller and smaller.

Yet Chen Ao still seemed to be just one sword strike away from going down.

After all, Chen Ao had coughed up so much blood that his entire body was drenched in it. There was no reason he should be able to hold on much longer.

Soon, any moment now. Just one more strike. All it would take was one more strike!

Luo Feng grew increasingly anxious. But this... this wasn't right!

Yet he could not put his finger on what was wrong. The arena was now less than three meters across, and the two of them were practically pressed together.

Luo Feng could no longer even unleash his massive Golden Illusion Sword.

The illusion sword was too large to fit inside the arena.

"Urgh!"

Suddenly, an utterly ordinary sword pierced Luo Feng's chest.

They were so close that Chen Ao could run Luo Feng through without even moving from his spot.

"Good thing the arena shrank, or I wouldn't have held out!" Chen Ao gave a triumphant smile.

Looking at Chen Ao's smile, Luo Feng could not shake the feeling that something was strange.

But he had indeed lost.

Soon, Luo Feng and Chen Ao were transported out.

Rong Jun gave the two of them an odd look. He also felt that something was wrong.

As far as he knew, Chen Ao was extremely powerful-or rather, his attacks were extremely powerful, especially with how unpredictably he appeared and disappeared.

Yet this time, Chen Ao seemed to have done nothing but defend. Aside from that final sword strike, he had not attacked once, as though he had been unable to fight back.

"This isn't right. Something is very wrong!" Rong Jun frowned.

Could Chen Ao, as a senior, have intended to give his junior Luo Feng some guidance, which was why he had held back all along?

Everyone, even Luo Feng himself, felt that Chen Ao's defense was incredibly strong, but his overall strength was only average. If the arena had not been shrinking, perhaps Luo Feng's next sword strike would have defeated him.

"Isn't this the second time Luo Feng has lost out because the arena shrank?"

"The Arena Competition really is unfair to Controllers!"

"Chen Ao was way too lucky. Even I could tell Luo Feng was much stronger than him! In a one-on-one fight to the death, Chen Ao would definitely be the one to die!"

Quite a few Immortals frowned.

They also thought Chen Ao had won through his defense, but why was his defense so strong?

The strongest among them were merely ordinary King-level Immortals, and most were only Marquis Immortals. Their mastery of Space Law had not reached a particularly profound level.

After all, mastering any one of the three ultimate spatial techniques would make someone a high-level King-level Immortal. They clearly had not reached that realm.

Only Venerable Nine Swords smiled. "This little fellow is interesting. His application is crude in the extreme, yet he actually used Phantom Bodies to take the attacks head-on. If he hadn't had enough Phantom Bodies, he would probably have lost long ago!"

In his eyes, Chen Ao had already attained Hundred Line Flow, but his application of it was very poor.

He probably has no teacher. Should I take him as a disciple?

If he could attain Hundred Line Flow by cultivating alone, then with his guidance, he might not fall short of Bolan in the future.

Still, even if he attained King Rank, he would seemingly be nothing exceptional.

He hesitated!