Wang Hao's unusual change startled Yang Lianting, and murderous intent rose in his heart as well.
He didn't understand why Wang Hao had developed such murderous intent toward him, but that didn't matter.
Since Wang Hao was an enemy, he had to find a way to eliminate him as soon as possible, and today was an excellent opportunity.
"That's right, I'm Yang Lianting. If you want to kill me, come on! After today, I'll leave the Blood Robe Tower. You won't have another chance to kill me then, or even a chance to see me."
Yang Lianting smiled smugly and viciously.
To provoke Wang Hao into acting, he had exhausted every means at his disposal, even revealing part of the secret mission he had accepted a few days ago.
Sure enough, Wang Hao's expression grew a shade colder at those words.
He was now almost certain that Yang Lianting was probably talking about going undercover at Dongfang Bai's side, and the timing roughly matched as well.
If he missed this chance, killing the bastard later would be difficult.
"You're good at goading people, and it worked. I accept your challenge, but I've just fought several grueling battles in a row and expended a lot of strength. Give me an hour to recover. We'll fight here in an hour, a battle to the death!"
Taking a deep breath, Wang Hao accepted Yang Lianting's challenge in a low voice, though he also needed to make some preparations.
"As long as you accept!"
Yang Lianting secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He really had been afraid Wang Hao would refuse!
The thought of an enemy with such terrifying potential keeping an eye on him in the future made his heart and liver tremble. Fortunately, the brat wasn't deep enough to conceal his thoughts and had agreed to fight after a little provocation, giving Yang Lianting an excellent chance to eliminate him.
As for the hour's rest Wang Hao had requested, he didn't care. What could he do in an hour?
Nothing at all, so the outcome had long since been decided!
Wang Hao said nothing more. He merely gave Zhao Dachui a meaningful look on the raised platform, then walked out of the training ground.
"Go on! Do your best to provide whatever he needs!"
Zhao Fengxue took another small sip of tea and spoke calmly. He had clearly noticed Wang Hao's little gesture just now as well.
Zhao Dachui said nothing either. His figure flashed, and he left.
The seven hall masters seated nearby exchanged glances and all smiled viciously. They clearly had some scheme in mind.
"You brat, you're really ruthless. You cut down a beauty like that without even blinking. That's no way to crush a flower with ruthless hands."
After arriving at a pavilion not far from the training ground, Zhao Dachui couldn't help complaining.
As a man who cherished flowers, he couldn't bear to see them crushed with ruthless hands.
"Sorry, I'm a devoted man. No matter how beautiful other women are, they're nothing but piles of dung and dirt in my eyes."
Wang Hao stared with dead fish eyes and replied expressionlessly.
His ultimate goal in this world was that girl Dongfang Bai. He hadn't even won her over yet, so how would he dare get involved with other women?
Besides, after seeing Dongfang Bai's peerless beauty, he had little interest in looking at other women.
Of course, more importantly, that woman earlier had posed too great a threat to him. Hidden weapons were hard enough to guard against as it was, and that woman had coated her throwing knives in deadly poison. If one had cut him, even his Bloodline Power wouldn't have been enough to withstand it.
So he had to kill her in a single strike. Otherwise, fighting her would have been troublesome.
That was why he had struck with all his strength, swiftly and cleanly.
"You brat, you already have a sweetheart? Come on, who is she?"
Zhao Dachui's eyes lit up. He had clearly caught the implication in Wang Hao's words and was quite interested. He also wanted to see what sort of bosom the woman who had captured Wang Hao possessed.
"Ahem... this isn't the time for that. I asked you here, leader, because I want to learn a sword technique."
Realizing he had let something slip, Wang Hao coughed dryly and hurriedly steered the conversation to the matter at hand.
After all, he only had an hour to learn. He had to master the sword technique within that hour and reach at least the Entering the Hall and Inner Chamber level.
Even with his True Spirit Sword Intent, that would be a tall order.
"Which sword technique do you want to learn?"
Zhao Dachui was curious. He knew quite a few sword techniques, but there weren't many that could help...
At that thought, Zhao Dachui's expression suddenly froze. He fixed his peach-blossom eyes on Wang Hao and said, "You don't mean to learn my family's sword technique, do you?"
"Heh heh... it's that left-handed sword technique of yours!"
Wang Hao chuckled. When his predecessor had stayed at that outpost, he had seen Zhao Dachui practice swordsmanship. The most powerful technique was a left-handed sword technique, which was also his family's sword technique.
That left-handed sword technique was vicious and brutal to begin with, and left-handed sword techniques were rare. If someone could divide their attention between two things, they could even use a right-handed sword technique at the same time, which would surely double their combat strength.
Take Wang Hao now, for example. It would be extremely difficult for him to make a huge improvement in an hour through conventional means. Even if he learned another sword technique, its power would be hard-pressed to match his current Ten Stances of Bloody Battle in such a short time.
But if he used two swords, things would be very different.
"All right, but although Blood Wind Fast Sword has a method for circulating physical force, it's mostly a method for circulating internal force. You don't have any internal force, so I'm afraid you'll have trouble using many of its moves."
Remembering what his father had said earlier, Zhao Dachui no longer minded.
His father was the one who had told him to do his best to meet this fellow's requests, so he couldn't be blamed for passing on the family sword technique.
He just wasn't sure whether Wang Hao could learn Blood Wind Fast Sword. Although the brat had an astonishing talent for the sword, he had no internal force, and it would be difficult to bring out the technique's power with physical force from external training alone.
Moreover, Blood Wind Fast Sword was an Acquired Grandmaster-level martial art, and cultivating it was very difficult.
"I have plenty of confidence in myself!"
Wang Hao was full of confidence. Although he had no Fortune Points to activate the Dao Comprehension Function, with his current attainments in swordsmanship and the help of True Spirit Sword Intent, learning a sword technique shouldn't be difficult.
"Then watch closely!"
Seeing how confident Wang Hao was, Zhao Dachui said no more. After that warning, he drew his sword and began demonstrating his family's sword technique-Blood Wind Fast Sword.
Blood Wind Fast Sword was indeed worthy of being a Grandmaster-level martial art. As soon as it was unleashed, a bloody wind seemed to strike Wang Hao in the face, as if he had been plunged into a storm of blood and gore. The flashes of the sword joined into a continuous sheet, moving with the utmost speed.
Zhao Dachui was diligent and thorough. He performed Blood Wind Fast Sword three times before stopping, slightly out of breath, and then explained how to circulate physical force for each sword move to Wang Hao.
But the more he explained, the more dejected he became. Wang Hao's talent for the sword was simply too outrageous. In only half an hour, he had learned the portion of the sword technique that used physical force and could even perform it.
Watching Wang Hao dart and weave around the pavilion with his sword, producing a vast sheet of sword light, Zhao Dachui felt an urge to cover his face and weep.
Back then, how much hardship and exhaustion had he endured to learn Blood Wind Fast Sword? Even so, it had taken him a full three years to barely learn it and reach the Entering the Hall and Inner Chamber level.
Yet now this fellow had completed his own arduous three-year journey in just an hour, raising Blood Wind Fast Sword to the Entering the Hall and Inner Chamber level, with even a faint tendency toward reaching a fully integrated understanding.
That was far too crushing!
"I thought you weren't coming!"
Yang Lianting smiled darkly as he watched Wang Hao walk into the training ground again, while inwardly breathing a great sigh of relief.
This battle concerned the Blood Wind Hall's share of the profits for the year, so the stakes were high. It would have been fine if Wang Hao had refused, but once he accepted, there was no reason he could run away. Otherwise, Zhao Fengxue alone would never let him off.
Even so, Yang Lianting had still been somewhat worried, and seeing Wang Hao finally arrive as promised immediately improved his mood.
"The final battle begins. Catch these swords!"
The Mystic Water Hall master had grown impatient with waiting. When he saw Wang Hao enter, he immediately announced the start of the fight. After speaking, he actually flung his own sword to Yang Lianting in the training ground, who caught it in one hand.
That wasn't all. Three other hall masters on the raised platform also raised their hands and flung their own swords to the other three brocade-clad youths.
"You've gone too far!"
Seeing this, Zhao Fengxue, who was also seated on the raised platform, suddenly turned cold, his expression ugly.
The longswords in those old fellows' hands were all forged from hundred-refined fine steel, with some Profound Iron worked into them. They were a grade above even the greatsword in Wang Hao's hands.
Yet now they had given them to the four juniors. With such divine swords in hand, the four could at least double their strength.
Wang Hao's chances of winning were even slimmer now. Even if he had other trump cards, his hopes of victory would be reduced to a minimum. How could Zhao Fengxue not be angry?
"Father, don't worry. Wang Hao has treasured swords too."
Zhao Dachui, who had also returned to the raised platform, patted his father on the shoulder. Then he turned to the four hall masters and said teasingly, "Uncles, according to the Blood Robe Tower's rules, everything the losing side owns goes to the victor. When you lose those treasured swords later, don't die of anger right here!"
"Hmph! I know the Blood Robe Tower's rules better than you do. I don't need a little brat like you reminding me!"
The four hall masters snorted coldly in displeasure, but they couldn't help growing nervous.
Could that brat have some powerful trump card he hadn't used yet?
"A change of equipment!"
Wang Hao was surprised. He hadn't expected them to pull a trick like this.
A powerful divine sword could indeed boost one's strength considerably, but that was all.
After all, he had two divine swords of his own. One of them was a divine weapon that had been folded and forged twelve times, and it was exceptionally sharp.
Although his greatsword was somewhat inferior, its broad, thick blade meant he wasn't afraid to clash head-on with theirs.
As long as there was no problem with his weapons, he was more than seventy percent confident of winning.
"Clang!"
"Hmph! Die!"
Drawing the treasured sword his hall master had thrown him, Yang Lianting let out a fierce shout and flashed forward to attack Wang Hao.
At the same time, the other three brocade-clad youths also drew their swords and attacked, coordinating with considerable tacit understanding.
During the hour Wang Hao had been away, the four of them hadn't been idle. They had found a place to spar using their strongest martial arts and had gained some understanding of one another.
That was why they could display such tacit understanding now. Their coordinated attacks also increased their combat strength considerably, and with the divine swords in their hands, the outcome was almost a foregone conclusion.
But what happened next made their expressions change drastically. Wang Hao drew a greatsword and a longsword from behind his back. The longsword had previously been hidden by the greatsword's broad blade, so they hadn't noticed it.
But what shocked them even more was the sword technique Wang Hao used next.
"Clink! Clink! Clink!"
A flash of sword light passed at incredible speed. The longsword in Wang Hao's left hand intercepted all three thrusts from the brocade-clad youths. It clashed head-on with the three divine swords without suffering the slightest damage, clearly making it a divine weapon at least comparable to the swords in their hands.
At the same time, Wang Hao swung the greatsword in his right hand straight at Yang Lianting, who was directly opposite him. Yang Lianting turned pale with shock and hurriedly changed his move, not daring to meet Wang Hao head-on!
After all, he had witnessed Wang Hao's brute strength. Even the burly youth who cultivated both internal and external arts had been unable to withstand it, much less him.
Those who practiced swordsmanship generally emphasized agility and nimbleness. An oddity like Wang Hao was rare.
Yang Lianting was naturally very confident in the intricacy of his swordsmanship, but he couldn't compete when it came to physical force and strength.