“Still as arrogant as ever,” Feng Qinghe sneered coldly.
The world believed that only the academy was the true holy land for cultivation. As long as one was a disciple of the academy, they were always stronger than others. Today, he intended to take this opportunity to defeat Yuan Nongbai and prove to everyone that the academy was a thing of the past. At the same time, he hoped to promote his own sect and earn the praise of his master in the future.
Within Xunyang City, the powerful families were numerous, and geniuses were in abundance. Half of them chose to join the Xuantian Sword Sect, bringing in a vast amount of fresh blood, enough to make a sect prosper for a hundred, even a thousand years!
“Begin the match!”
The steward of Wanxiang Pavilion stepped forward, his face expressionless. He raised his right hand high, then swung it down heavily.
Boom!
In the next instant, Yuan Nongbai struck. The ground beneath his feet shattered as if it were a thunderbolt. He moved at lightning speed, quickly closing the distance between himself and Feng Qinghe.
His brbladed sword, resembling an ancient mountain, was incredibly heavy. As he lifted it, the air seemed to thicken, and an overwhelming sense of suffocation filled the space. One could only imagine how devastating it would be to be struck by it, as if one's body would be cleaved in two.
However, Feng Qinghe remained unfazed, even allowing a cold smirk to appear on his face. With a light leap backward, he easily dodged the incoming blade. In the blink of an eye, his sword was unsheathed, and a barrage of sword shadows erupted, the sharp force overwhelming.
Yuan Nongbai raised his sword, swiftly parrying, but the intensity of the sword strikes forced him back several steps.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Sparks flew as the swords clashed, and Yuan Nongbai could feel the force of the blows vibrating through his body.
“Mid-tier Mystic Swordsmanship,” Yuan Nongbai muttered as he blocked.
Both he and Feng Qinghe were at the ninth level of the True Aperture Realm, so only such a sword technique could force him back. He had anticipated this, knowing that anyone capable of making it onto the Potential Dragon Ranking had likely mastered a mid-tier Mystic technique. The difference would be in their proficiency.
What surprised him, however, was that Feng Qinghe's swordsmanship had already reached perfection, and even among mid-tier Mystic techniques, it was of a particularly high standard. The power was equal to, if not surpassing, his own.
“Surprised? There's more to amaze you!” Feng Qinghe smirked, his lips curling into a wicked grin.
In the next moment, his figure blurred, leaving behind a trail of afterimages. In an instant, he closed the distance, appearing right in front of Yuan Nongbai.
“Not good!” Yuan Nongbai's expression changed drastically.
He hadn't expected Feng Qinghe's speed to be so fast. This was a very high-level body technique, at least mid-tier Mystic!
Feng Qinghe had mastered two mid-tier Mystic techniques!
For a True Aperture Realm martial artist, mastering such techniques was incredibly difficult. Even a genius like Yuan Nongbai could only manage one. But Feng Qinghe, with similar talent, had somehow mastered both.
This sudden revelation shook Yuan Nongbai to his core, and his previous confidence evaporated in an instant!
Boom!
Although Yuan Nongbai barely managed to evade, Feng Qinghe's sword still grazed his arm, cutting deep and causing blood to gush out.
Seizing the opportunity, Feng Qinghe, with his superior body technique, relentlessly pressed the attack. His sword Qi surged, forcing Yuan Nongbai into an ever-tightening corner.
Finally—
Bang!
Yuan Nongbai's towering figure was blasted out of the arena, crashing heavily to the ground, barely conscious.
Upon witnessing this, the quiet crowd erupted in shock. Many spectators wore looks of disbelief.
Yuan Nongbai had been defeated! And so quickly!
The battle, which everyone had expected to be a fierce contest, turned out to be one-sided.
Despite both being at the ninth level of the True Aperture Realm, Feng Qinghe's strength had completely overwhelmed Yuan Nongbai.
“The winner, Xuantian Sword Sect—Feng Qinghe!”
The steward of Wanxiang Pavilion announced coldly, his face unchanged.
“Academy disciples are nothing special,” Feng Qinghe said, flicking his sword with a dismissive gesture, sheathing it on his back. His gaze swept across the arena, and a smug smile crept onto his face.
Upon hearing these words, Cheng Qingman and the others were filled with fury.
The academy had long been regarded as the holy land for cultivation within the empire, a place of reverence. As disciples of the academy, the three of them held their honor and pride in the academy dearly. They could never tolerate such insults.
“This is the kind of expert on the Potential Dragon Ranking? He's unexpectedly strong,” Luo Mu narrowed his eyes.
Feng Qinghe had actually mastered two mid-tier Mystic techniques. Though his footwork wasn't perfected, it had still reached a small degree of accomplishment, enough to force Yuan Nongbai into constant retreat.
From the standpoint of martial arts proficiency, Feng Qinghe was on the same level as Luo Mu.
But Luo Mu had a stronger trump card: his blade intent!
The martial art momentum that all martial artists dreamed of! Once his blade intent was unleashed, defeating Feng Qinghe would only take one strike.
At a nearby tavern.
Clink!
A wine cup shattered on the floor.
The head of the Yuan family looked extremely upset. Just moments ago, he had confidently guaranteed to the other family heads that Yuan Nongbai would defeat Feng Qinghe within ten moves.
But who would have thought the outcome would be the complete opposite?
“Victory and defeat are common in battle. Yuan family head need not dwell on it. Please, do not worry,” the Ninth Prince said, taking a deep breath, his face breaking into a smile.
As a member of the royal family, he couldn't allow such trivial matters to affect him, and even if it did, he would never show it in front of others.
“Thank you, Your Highness, for your understanding. I will certainly encourage my son to train harder in the future,” the head of the Yuan family sighed with relief, grateful that the Ninth Prince didn't hold it against him.
Internally, however, he was full of regret. If he had known things would turn out this way, he wouldn't have been so meddlesome. He had essentially shot himself in the foot.
He had never anticipated that Feng Qinghe would be hiding his true strength—he was nothing like the information they had received.
“The power of sects is truly growing,” the Ninth Prince said slowly, standing with his hands clasped behind his back. “As Yuan family head said, your son and Feng Qinghe are nearly on the same level of talent, yet the gap in their strength is immense.”
“This shows that the Xuantian Sword Sect's cultivation of geniuses has already surpassed that of the academy.”
“Under heaven, there is no land that isn't the king's, no shore that isn't the king's subjects,” one of the family heads stood and said. “No matter how strong a sect may be, there's a limit. They must still bow to the rule of the empire.”
Upon hearing these words, the Ninth Prince smiled.
Although it was flattery, he enjoyed hearing it.
“Sects.”
A cold glint flickered in the Ninth Prince's eyes. “The trends of the world rise and fall. Perhaps the academy is no longer the best choice. You might want to consider the Xuantian Sword Sect.”
Upon hearing this, the crowd gasped in surprise once again.
Such an overt insult to the academy was extremely rare. Yet no one dared to refute him.
After all, Yuan Nongbai was still lying on the ground, no longer even able to stand properly—his body was covered in blood-red sword wounds.
“Damn it!” Cheng Qingman clenched her fists, her beautiful face flushed with anger.
Her father, and even her ancestors, had all cultivated in the academy, so she had deep feelings for it. To hear such an insult to the academy was more than she could bear.
But now, she was only at the sixth level of the True Aperture Realm, and even Yuan Nongbai wasn't a match for Feng Qinghe. How could she possibly take on someone like him?
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。