"Why is Senior Brother Huo going up?"
"Although Senior Brother Huo is only at the middle stage of the Violet Palace Realm, he can kill experts at the peak of the Violet Palace Realm."
"Huo Qingming? What's he going up there for?"
Not far away, the Martial Hall elder frowned slightly. "Isn't this bullying someone weaker?"
He knew Huo Qingming's strength very well.
In his view, the current Ye Qiubai had absolutely no chance of winning against Huo Qingming.
Lu Changsheng, however, looked utterly unconcerned.
Someone would be there to save him anyway.
Besides, was Ye Qiubai certain to lose?
Not necessarily...
Huo Qingming looked at Ye Qiubai and said gravely, "I didn't want to bully someone weaker, but I owe someone a favor. I hope you can understand."
Ye Qiubai paused slightly. Someone wanted to harm him?
"Who?"
Huo Qingming shook his head. "I can only tell you after you beat me. If you lose, knowing won't mean anything anyway."
After all, Ye Yan's request was to cripple Ye Qiubai.
Once crippled, he would no longer have the ability to take revenge.
Hearing this, Ye Qiubai said nothing more. He lightly raised the wooden sword in his hand, took a step, and charged at Huo Qingming with astonishing Sword Qi!
Huo Qingming remained where he stood and thrust both hands forward.
A tremendous wave of air actually erupted from his palms, compressing the space around it as successive sonic booms swept toward Ye Qiubai!
Ye Qiubai dared not take him lightly. After all, his opponent could kill experts at the peak of the Violet Palace Realm.
Dark demonic Qi immediately began boiling over the wooden sword!
An imposing presence that made all things submit erupted!
It spread madly in every direction!
"Oh? So these are the Nine Swords of the Heavenly Demon? Extraordinary indeed."
Even he felt traces of its oppressive might.
"First sword!"
The wooden sword in his hand slashed out fiercely!
Black Sword Qi collided with the waves of air pressure.
They separated after a single clash!
The air pressure dispersed, while Ye Qiubai was also driven into a rapid retreat.
"Not bad. You even managed to keep your wooden sword intact under my punch."
Looking at the wooden sword, still as whole as before, Huo Qingming could not help growing inwardly wary.
He knew he could not have achieved this himself back when he was at the peak of the Golden Core Realm.
Now, even those on the other raised platforms turned to look.
"Oh? He actually took a punch from Huo Qingming? This kid's pretty good."
"Yes, even I'd have some trouble taking that punch. But this fellow really is bullying someone weaker. Has he no shame?"
"There's probably some grudge involved. Huo Qingming isn't that sort of person."
Ye Qiubai, meanwhile, did not remain where he was for long. With a step, he shot forward again.
"Second sword."
The demonic Qi of this strike was even stronger!
Huo Qingming snorted coldly and strode forward, charging straight at Ye Qiubai without dodging or evading.
His momentum was terrifying!
Boom!
The wooden sword struck Huo Qingming squarely on the shoulder!
Yet Huo Qingming's body was as though it had been forged and tempered a hundred times, incomparably hard and indestructible!
Even so, this strike forced Huo Qingming back five full steps!
"The second sword is who knows how many times stronger than the first. If it were the third sword, even I would probably have to treat it cautiously.
"But... you should only have comprehended the second sword, right?"
To comprehend the second sword in such a short time already made him a heaven-sent genius.
"Still, this ends here."
With that, Huo Qingming's body suddenly began to swell.
At that moment, his skin actually took on the color of refined iron.
An intensely oppressive presence began emanating from him, making even the disciples below the platform feel its pressure!
"Senior Brother Huo's body has undergone countless rounds of tempering. Now, his physical body alone already rivals an expert at the peak of the Violet Palace Realm."
"If he has no other tricks, this is as far as Ye Qiubai goes."
"Still, Ye Qiubai has every right to be proud."
Watching this, Ye Yan bared his teeth in a savage grin.
"Yes, just like that. Crush Ye Qiubai outright, and no one in the Ye Lineage will be left to compete with me!"
Clearly, no one favored Ye Qiubai's chances.
On the other side, Ye Qiubai held his wooden sword, unafraid of his opponent's imposing might. His expression remained as calm as still water.
Seeing this, Huo Qingming's expression turned vicious. "Still putting on an act, even now..."
With that, he charged wildly toward Ye Qiubai like a small mountain.
His momentum was utterly terrifying!
Ye Qiubai remained unruffled, but streams of demonic Qi began spreading over the wooden sword, turning it pitch-black.
The Sword Hall elder abruptly rose to his feet, his face filled with disbelief.
Huo Qingming also froze. Those strands of almost tangible demonic Qi gave him an immense sense of danger!
His mind began to tremble!
Even his speed slowed!
Immediately afterward, a towering surge of demonic Qi shot into the sky!
The expressions of everyone on the surrounding raised platforms changed, and they instinctively activated their cultivation methods to keep the demonic Qi at bay!
The disciples below were not so fortunate. Those closest to the raised platform whose cultivation was insufficient even dropped straight to their knees!
"Third sword."
Ye Qiubai softly uttered those two words, raising his wooden sword high as the demonic Qi soaring into the sky began gathering along its blade.
At that moment, the ordinary wooden sword transformed into a heaven-shaking demonic sword!
Then he swung it toward Huo Qingming in a plain, unadorned slash!
An enormous streak of black Sword Qi cleaved through space and swept toward Huo Qingming!
Huo Qingming's expression changed drastically, and he instantly halted his forward charge.
With a roar, he stamped both feet down so fiercely that they plunged straight into the ground!
He also crossed his arms in front of his chest.
At the same time, patches of refined-iron color began covering every part of his body!
The surrounding space actually began to compress!
Clearly, this strike forced Huo Qingming to devote all his strength to defense!
On the other side, Qin Tiannan, the Martial Hall elder, and the others were already tense, ready to intervene at any moment.
After all, life and death could easily hang in the balance during a duel.
Moreover, both sides had now used high-level martial techniques. Any failure to control them could result in injury or death!
Both were elite disciples of the academy. The elders could not allow anything to happen to them!
Even Lu Changsheng, standing to the side, put away his carefree expression. His gaze sharpened slightly as he prepared to act at any moment.
The black Sword Qi crashed into the constantly compressing space before Huo Qingming!
Yet it broke straight through without the slightest resistance and continued slashing toward Huo Qingming!
Huo Qingming's expression changed. With a roar, golden chains actually appeared around his arms!
A Profound Rank treasure artifact!
The Sword Qi arrived in an instant and struck the chains with a thunderous metallic clang!
Crack, crack!
Yet in just an instant, cracks began spreading across the golden chains!
Then they shattered outright!
Huo Qingming froze. Even a Profound Rank treasure artifact could not block it?
With nothing left to obstruct it, the Sword Qi slashed directly into Huo Qingming's arms!
Splurt!
His refined-iron-like body suddenly split open, spilling blood!
At that very moment, the Martial Hall elder appeared directly in the arena. With a turn of his palm, the black Sword Qi dispersed.
Ye Qiubai's face was also somewhat pale. Clearly, the third of the Nine Swords of the Heavenly Demon placed a considerable burden on him as well.
Looking at Huo Qingming, who was covered in blood, Ye Qiubai asked, "Can you tell me now?"