Sword Intent was unfamiliar to no one.
The Azure Yang Sword Sect bore the name of a "sword sect," so naturally, everyone throughout the sect primarily cultivated the sword.
The vast majority of its elders were sword cultivators as well.
Yet becoming a sword cultivator was easy-all one needed was a sword. Reaching the pinnacle of sword cultivation, however, was extremely difficult.
Throughout the Azure Yang Sword Sect, never mind Sword Intent-even those who could comprehend nascent Sword Intent were few and far between.
Only one person in the entire sect had comprehended true Sword Intent!
That was the strongest person in the Azure Yang Sword Sect-Ancestor Xuanjian.
As for the others...
Even Sect Master Xuanyang had only comprehended nascent Sword Intent.
Even perfected nascent Sword Intent was still merely nascent, not true Sword Intent.
It possessed only the shadow of Sword Intent, not its essence.
Elders and Peak Masters alike all rose to their feet in astonishment, their eyes widening in disbelief as they stared fixedly at the figure in the arena.
There was no mistaking it...
Feeling the presence of Sword Intent suffusing their surroundings, not a single person could remain calm now. Some Peak Masters even found jealousy surfacing uncontrollably on their faces.
"How old is this brat?! Not even twenty, at the first level of the Earth Profound Realm, and he's already comprehended Sword Intent? This, this, this..."
All the sect disciples gathered around the arena widened their eyes in disbelief.
Had they not witnessed it themselves, they would never have believed anyone who told them that a nineteen-year-old at the first level of the Earth Profound Realm had comprehended Sword Intent!
This was no commonplace cabbage. This was Sword Intent!
Even after seeing it with their own eyes, they struggled to believe that someone could comprehend Sword Intent without a word, only revealing his strength during the sect tournament.
Sect Master Xuanyang watched Wang Yan without blinking, feeling the Sword Intent in the air grow increasingly rich and profound. After his astonishment came undisguised appreciation and delight.
Standing at the edge of the arena, he looked at Wang Yan with irrepressible fervor and excitement.
"To think... our sect had such a prodigy?"
First came Su Lianxin, defeating the Holy Son with a single strike. Then came Wang Yan, comprehending Sword Intent at such a young age.
Heaven truly blessed his Azure Yang Sword Sect.
Sect Master Xuanyang's gaze trembled slightly, a thoughtful look flickering in his eyes.
Unlike his appreciation and delight, the Peak Masters and elders of the Holy Son's faction recovered extremely quickly, unable to stop themselves from watching.
Against Wang Yan, who had comprehended Sword Intent, did the Holy Son... stand a chance? Even if his cultivation was several levels above Wang Yan's, still...
In the arena, violent Sword Intent erupted from Wang Yan's body. Holding his longsword across his chest, he stamped down and shot forward, unleashing a frenzied assault wrapped in countless sharp rays of Sword Intent.
At that moment, he was the sword, and the sword was him.
Sword Intent was terrifying beyond measure. The moment Lu Tianxing discovered that Wang Yan had comprehended it, panic seized his mind. Despite being several cultivation levels above Wang Yan, he was no match for him now. Under Wang Yan's violent, lightning-fast assault, he retreated step by step. Small wounds soon covered his body, and his brocade robes were stained bloody red.
Boom!
Boom-
Each sword strike, each move, each technique-every blow was fierce, every move razor-sharp, his presence overwhelming.
In less than half an incense stick's time, Lu Tianxing, who had been struggling desperately to hold on, was blasted out of the arena by a single sword strike.
Unlike his previous fight with Su Lianxin, when he had at least left the arena on his feet, this time he was sent flying backward.
He hit the ground with a heavy thud. Propping himself up on one arm, Lu Tianxing slumped half-prone on the ground, then immediately twisted around and retched out a great mouthful of blood. His presence weakened considerably along with it.
A crushing defeat!
Not only had he suffered a crushing defeat, he had also been severely injured.
But blades had no eyes. The sect tournament's only ironclad rule was that disciples could not take one another's lives. However much resentment Lu Tianxing felt, he could only swallow it down.
The blood on the stone slabs was a vivid, piercing red. Endless shock filled Lu Tianxing's eyes as he angrily raised his head toward Wang Yan. His emotions surged repeatedly, frustration and loathing flickering wildly in his eyes.
He had wanted to vent his anger on Wang Yan, only to be thrashed instead, reduced to an utterly wretched state!
The malice and humiliation surging over him nearly drove Lu Tianxing mad.
This outcome had never entered his expectations!
Was this still the Azure Yang Sword Sect he knew?
As if one Su Lianxin was not enough, now there had to be a Wang Yan too! How dare they humiliate him like this!
Clutching his chest, Lu Tianxing suddenly spat out another mouthful of blood. Everyone else thought it was stagnant blood, but only he knew the truth: he had been so enraged that he had coughed up blood...
"Thank you for the match, Your Highness the Holy Son." Wang Yan cupped his hands, then leaped down from the arena with his sword in his arms.
He had not expected the illustrious Holy Son to be so fragile either. He had failed to withstand even Wang Yan's Sword Intent and had been beaten until he spat blood, despite the several minor cultivation levels separating them.
He had overestimated the Holy Son and underestimated the power of the Azure Emperor Scripture and Sword Intent.
"Number 222... wins."
The referee wore an odd expression, clearly only just coming back to his senses. Wiping away cold sweat, he announced the next match.
"Next match, arena two, number 65 against number 89!"
Meanwhile, after being helped back to his seat and fed a healing pill, Lu Tianxing slowly calmed the surging blood within his body.
His internal injuries healed quickly. As the Holy Son, the resources at his disposal were hardly inferior.
But though his injuries healed, the humiliation he had suffered did not fade. Instead, he etched it fiercely into his heart. His fingers curled tightly into his palms as Lu Tianxing exhaled the turbid breath in his chest, silently soothing his restless mind.
"Arena three, number 79 against number 255!"
The drawing ended, and both people whose numbers had been called wore faces as still as water.
After stepping into the arena, Lu Tianxing narrowed his eyes slightly when he saw the opponent who leaped up across from him.
Whether his luck was too good or too bad, he did not know. He had actually drawn another Starfall Peak disciple!
This time, his opponent was still a disciple of Starfall Peak.
It was none other than...
Qu Youmeng.
Starfall Peak... again?!
Could he not shake them off?
That was Lu Tianxing's only thought at that moment.
"This time... he won't lose again, will he?"
The disciples watching around them had already gone numb.
Lu Tianxing had already lost twice. If he lost another match...
As it turned out, the more one feared something, the more surely it came.
Facing Qu Youmeng, Lu Tianxing lost even more decisively this time...
Two strikes!
Qu Youmeng defeated Lu Tianxing cleanly with just two sword strikes. Had she not stopped in time, a piece of flesh would have been sliced from his neck.
She sheathed her sword without so much as a glance at Lu Tianxing, lowered her gaze, and left the arena with ease.
She felt little joy. Even now, she was still thinking about the sword strike with which Su Lianxin had defeated her earlier.
By this point, the sect disciples and elders watching from outside the arena had all gone numb.
The Peak Masters led by Heavenly Sword Peak all wore expressions as dark as heavy water, their reluctance and astonishment practically written across their faces.
Only now did they suddenly realize something.
With three consecutive defeats, the Holy Son was out of the final showdown. What would become of the contest for Young Sect Master now?!
Lu Tianxing-he was the Holy Son...
The sect's exceptionally gifted Holy Son had actually picked up three straight defeats without even reaching the finals. Who would believe it if word got out?
And with those three consecutive defeats, Lu Tianxing was destined to miss the finals.
Before the sect tournament began, who could have imagined it? Who would have dared?
Before this, Lu Tianxing had always been hailed as a genius with an excellent chance of taking first place in the tournament.
After he defeated Li Fufeng, taking first had seemed as easy as reaching into a bag. He had practically become the predetermined winner.
Yet now, he could not even reach the finals...
"This has to be a dream..."
The disciples of Second Peak were dazed. Even as they pinched their thighs, they refused to acknowledge the truth. They could only sigh helplessly; it all seemed like dreams and bubbles, too insubstantial to be real.
Everyone had only one thought:
How was this possible?!
Their gazes toward Starfall Peak were filled with profound shock and awe.
Three monstrous talents on one peak! All had soundly defeated the Holy Son, and one had even surpassed the vast majority of Peak Masters and elders, comprehending Sword Intent at nineteen!
How exactly had Starfall Peak done it?
Why had it remained so obscure before?
Baffling! Inexplicable!
Many turned their gazes toward Lin Xuan on the raised platform, their eyes growing increasingly complicated.
This "useless Peak Master," whom they had never taken seriously, had three disciples who defeated the Holy Son they had favored most. It was simply... as fantastical as a tale from the Arabian Nights.
Those disciples who had previously left Starfall Peak for what they considered "more promising peaks" felt especially conflicted.
Others might not know, but how could they not?
Su Lianxin and Wang Yan had possessed thoroughly unremarkable talent before. Apart from Su Lianxin's face, neither would have stood out in a crowd.
But now?
They had transformed, leaving everyone so far behind that they could not even glimpse their exhaust fumes!
An indescribable regret gradually sprouted and spread.
Among them, no one felt more conflicted than Yang Hao.
Back then, believing Starfall Peak had no future, he had resolved to leave. Because he admired Su Lianxin and could not bear to see her waste her years there, he had personally tried to persuade her to leave with him, only to be turned away at the door. It would be a lie to say he had not been annoyed.
He had even been waiting for Starfall Peak to disband, for his shining moment of rescuing the beauty. Yet he had never imagined that, when they met again, familiar things would remain while the people had changed...
He was still the same Yang Hao, having made little progress, while Su Lianxin, whom he admired, had grown into someone he could only look up to.
Even saying he admired her seemed to have become an insult...
All manner of tangled emotions spread through Yang Hao's heart like the colors from a shattered dye vat. He could not help smiling bitterly as he mocked himself.
"All that talk about waiting for her to regret it. Looking at things now, I'm the one who should be regretting it."
The sect tournament ended without much suspense, yet was filled with bizarre turns.
Even Sect Master Xuanyang, who had weathered many great storms, could not help casting several extra glances toward Lu Tianxing when he saw the list of winners.
Lu Tianxing... Lu Tianxing kept his eyes lowered, revealing only his tightly pressed lips. His face was expressionless, but one could imagine that his mood was probably utterly foul.
"The sect tournament has concluded."
Sect Master Xuanyang sighed inwardly, waved his hand, and flew onto the raised platform. He surveyed the disciples waiting eagerly all around him, particularly Su Lianxin and the others gathered together. After a brief pause, he spoke with authority, announcing the results.
He read out the names one by one, starting from the bottom. Every disciple who heard their name could not help clenching their fists in excitement, while the others held their breaths and listened intently.
At last, he reached the top five.
"...Fourth place in the tournament, Holy Maiden Li Fufeng."
"Third place, Wang Yan of Starfall Peak."
"Second place, Qu Youmeng of Starfall Peak."
"First place... Su Lianxin of Starfall Peak!"
Though everyone had anticipated this outcome, they still could not help... looking at Lu Tianxing.
Lu Tianxing remained expressionless, but his taut lips and the bulging veins at his temples revealed the storms raging within him.
Wang Yan, on the other hand, took it well.
He had never expected to place particularly well in the first place. Finishing in the top three was already far better than expected, leaving him grinning from ear to ear.
He did not mind losing to Qu Youmeng either. They were disciples of the same peak, after all, and both their master's disciples!
As for Holy Maiden Li Fufeng...
Listening to the names being announced, Li Fufeng slowly lowered her eyes, a mixture of emotions filling her heart.
She had studied and trained diligently for so long, day and night without rest, only to finish fourth?
A trace of a bitter smile appeared on her breathtaking face.
Truly, it came down to timing, fate, and fortune. Probably no one could have foreseen this outcome.
But after hearing the top three and recovering her composure, Li Fufeng accepted reality. She even chuckled softly, releasing a breath of frustration she had held in for a long time.
So what if she was fourth? Lu Tianxing had not even reached the finals. Those in the top three were all from Starfall Peak, and Starfall Peak... was on her side!
Ultimately, the meat had still landed in their own pot. Whoever ate it, it made no difference!
Besides, today had thoroughly crushed the Holy Son faction's arrogance. From now on, never mind acting arrogant-Lu Tianxing probably would not be able to hold his head up for quite some time.
Their two factions would completely exchange positions, offense and defense reversed.
Alongside her relief, Li Fufeng also felt a lingering fear.
Back then, she had not thought much of Starfall Peak either. She simply had not been as arrogant as Lu Tianxing, thinking that even a mosquito's leg was still meat. Fortunately, she had thought that way. Otherwise, if Lin Xuan had joined the Holy Son's faction...
Just imagining that scene made Li Fufeng's hair stand on end.
She had no desire to suffer Lu Tianxing's treatment.
For every measure of relief, someone else felt regret.
Lu Tianxing, for instance, suppressed madness beneath his calm, while fury seeped through that madness, mixed with humiliation, resentment, and unwillingness...
Then there was the Ninth Peak Master...
When the results came out, the Ninth Peak Master's vision had darkened again and again.
Now, sitting not far from Lin Xuan, he suddenly felt that being treated as invisible by Lin Xuan was rather good. At least he lost a little less face...
Just as he was thinking this, however, he suddenly heard a soft chuckle beside him.
The laughter came from none other than Lin Xuan. The Ninth Peak Master turned and saw Lin Xuan watching him with a half-smile, slowly uttering a sentence.
"It seems my time as Peak Master won't be coming to an end after all."
"Looking at things now, who regrets it is plain as day, wouldn't you say?"