One Strike

All of the disciples from the three great sects were at the edge of their seats. Everybody intently watched the fight that was about to unfold; many even anticipated it as the main event.

The geniuses of the two Great Sects clashing in the bout to see who reigns supreme. It would shape the coming year of the Province.

Wang Xue was also interested in this fight; he wanted to observe the capabilities of the so-called geniuses.

An excellent way to know the level of a place was through its younger generation. They rarely hold trump cards for much later and go all out for their so-called Pride.

Older cultivators were more experienced in scheming. He should know; he was one of the more notorious schemers.

'Heh, good times.'

As for the result of the match, Wang Xue couldn't care less.

"Wu Feng, the two of us have fought many battles, all of them ending without a clear winner. Let's use today's fight to decide who's the real number one really is!"

Zi Shuang had a tall and muscular physique; although it was not as burly as the other disciples from the Boulder Sect, he was still large in comparison to others. Paired with his herculean physique a solid and clear voice, Zi Shuang was very popular and loved.

Domineering aura leaked out of his boy; his eyes had a fire in them like they were itching for a fight; he determined to win it all and get the rewards of the competition.

"You say too much as always. Zi Shuang, you are no match for me; just surrender and walk away!" Wu Feng answered.

With a harrumphed "Hmph! Wu Feng, I don't care if you're a disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect or have a great Martial Spirit in you; I will make sure to break your head open."

Zi Shuang let out a snort, and a cold glint laced his eyes.

Wang Xue's attention was taken from him when he heard Zi Shuang talk about Martial Spirit. 'What was it? A great Martial Spirit? This will make things interesting.'

"Enough of your bullshit, let's fight!"

Wu Feng moved like a fierce animal. His sword shone in the light of the sun; raising his sword, a blue spirit appeared behind him. It started taking form, and before long, it took the image of a ferocious Lion.

Wu Feng's entire body was enveloped with whirlpools of spiritual energy; he then slashed down as he tried to cleave down Zi Shuang in two. His attack was like the beast that answered his call, ferocious.

The sword of Wu Feng sliced through the air; its howl echoed throughout the square, the lion behind gave a roar empowering Wu Feng's sword skill. His sword showed a visible myriad of mysterious symbols.

On the opposite side, Zi Shuang's face turned serious as well. He slowly raised his momentum as spiritual energy started flowing out from his body. He stretched his arm forward, and a golden shield started to form.

His Martial Spirit carried a domineering aura, just like him, taking out an ax about two meters long from his storage bracelet Zi Shuang prepared himself to take on Wu Feng's attack.

"This fierce spiritual energy, it seems like his Martial is the Raging Lion a great Martial Spirit to possess. But this Zi Shuang fellow's Martial Spirit is also not something to ignore; the Engraved Round Shield is something that holds great defensive strength, and paired with that one-handed ax, this fight will be hard to decide." Wang Xue raised his brows as he ran through simulation in his mind.

The two Martial Spirit were fascinating, the other possessing a beast type Martial Spirit and the other a weapon type Martial Spirit was a fight he wanted to see; although it wasn't something as rare as an elemental Martial Spirit, it still gets his attention nonetheless.

Zi Shuang planted his feet on the ground and steadied himself, and waited for Wu Feng to come to him.

Ha!

Wu Feng's sword and Zi Shuang's round shield met with a shout, creating a boom, dust scattered around the fighting stage. Although Zi Shuang was able to block the frontal attack of Wu Feng, the ground where he was standing was cracked, resulting in the web of lines appearing.

The fighting stage was made of Fire Stones, and to create a crack on its surface, the attack would need to contain at least 4,000 kilograms of force, and to break a Firestone the attack would need at the very least 8,000 kilograms of force, so the floor cracking showed just how strong they really were.

Zi Shuang felt that shock all over his body, but he gripped the handle of the Engraved Round Shield and shoved Wu Feng's sword to the side. Keeping himself grounded, Zi Shuang used the force of Wu Feng's strike and carried him up, taking him away from the ground.

Zi Shuang didn't let Wu Feng regain his footing on the ground; unleashed his heavenly essence, Zi Shuang swung his ax aiming for Wu Feng's body.

The domineering energy of Zi Shuang's was unleashed. His muscles bulged out and becoming bigger than it usually was. Zi Shuang trained his body diligently, his body was unlike many others out there, and even Wu Feng, who he treated as someone of the same level as his rival, could not hold a candle against him in brute strength.

Boom!

Zi Shuang's ax was met with Wu Feng's sword, which had the mysterious symbol from the Raging Lion. However, even with Wu Feng's sword guarding against the devastating strike, it wasn't enough.

"Oh no!" Wu Feng could now see his end!

"Die!!!" The loud voice of Zi Shuang was followed by a cracking sound.

Click! Crack!

The sword of Wu Feng cracked from Zi Shuang's attack.

Wu Feng circulated his heavenly essence to the Raging Lion as if it was responding to his call. The Raging Lion made the light of his sword glow brighter. However, it was no use. Zi Shuang's strength was too strong for him; his sword broke, and his body met the ax.

Swoosh!

The wind was broken when Wu Feng's body flew out in the air and out of the fighting stage before crashing below the location near the stairway; Wu Feng struggled to summon his strength but failed and slumped down on the ground with his sword that had lost its upper half still in his hand.

"I admit defeat." He said in a pained voice that his sword was already broken, and he didn't have any strength left inside him. The only thing he could do right now was admit defeat.

In one move, the two rivals only exchanged one move, and it was extremely fast to the point that some from the audience could not clearly see what really happened.

Before they knew it, Wu Feng had struck Zi Shuang's round shield, and the next, Wu Feng was flying in the air like some kite that had its string cut.

This fight was too fast for them to follow, but that didn't stop them from showering Zi Shuang with praises.

"That move of Zi Shuang was too intense, overpowering a genius like Wu Feng like that is too overpowered even for him, and I guess he wasn't the top genius of the Boulder Sect this year without a good reason."

"But Wu Feng was also strong, that Raging Lion is fierce and if he were to complete the sword manual of the Heavenly Sword Sect, his fierce sword would also improve greatly. But Zi Shuang's physical prowess was still too strong."

The audience was talking about the previous fight with fervor. The disciples from the Boulder Sect were also like the audience acting all excited like them, and seeing Wu Feng getting carried by the people from his Sect made them especially happy.

"Hahaha! You people of the Heavenly Sword Sect are truly too weak; go home already; we from the Boulder Sect and the Nine Flower Valley have the rights to fight for the first place. But the Nine Flower Valley don't specialize in fights, so the Boulder Sect would take it home again this year."

"Wu Feng, you are too weak! Beaten by one move, your name is too big for you that you even let it inside your head."

Many from the Boulder Sect started trash-talking Wu Feng and the Heavenly Sword Sect, however for the disciples from the Heavenly Sword Sect, the only that they could do were keep their heads down, they knew the disciples from the Boulder Sect were right; they didn't have anyone else to fight for first place, and the Nine Flower Valley don't necessarily have higher combat strength than them.

Wang Xue watched all this drama unfold before him, but the only thing he found intriguing was the fight earlier. 'Seems like this Zi Shuang fellow practiced some kind of body refining technique; if not, then he should have one great physic. Either way, he's also quite smart. Taking away the ground and striking him whilst in the air was a treat to watch. For a muscle-bound fool, he's smarter than he seemed.'

A person that had the Raging Lion as their Martial Spirit would gain a boost in their strength, and even when they're only at the Jade Palace realm, it's still hard to deal with them, but seeing Zi Shuang beating Wu Feng with one strike Wang Xue had his doubt.

But even with this, Wang had the Golden Pagoda skill that grants him formidable strength.

"The fifth fight is now over. Zi Shuang from the Boulder Sect won." Dongfang Qianyin announced the results of the fifth match with a smile. It was obvious he was proud of his Sect taking a win from the Heavenly Sword Sect, "People holding the plate with the number 6, step in the platform."

Wang Xue heard what Dongfang Qianyin had said, so he stood up from where he sat and went to the platform right above him. Wang Xue calmly went up the stairway with his hands behind his back; he seemed to be having a leisure walk.

When he reached the platform, what welcomed him was the woman who took the third place earlier, the number one genius of the Nine Flower Valley this year Yu Da-Xia; with her sexy way of clothing and her provocative movement and gestures, many pairs of eyes were drawn to him.

When Wang Xue saw her, a headache appeared in his head. 'This is the kind of fights I don't like.'

Fighting a woman was no problem for him; he could kill them as quickly as killing any man, but he often chooses to avoid this kind of enchantress, especially in this situation where he can't kill someone.

Yu Da-Xia bowed to Wang Xue and said to him, "The dark horse of the tournament holds secrets; please don't be so hard on Da-Xia."

Her voice was playful and sounded like music to people's ears, but to Wang Xue, it sounded so fake and irritating that he was cringing on the inside. He just wanted to get this over with. So Wang Xue just straight greeted Yu Da-Xia and went to ready himself.

"Wang Xue of the Red River State, ready."

Yu Da-Xia saw how she was being ignored right now by this average-looking person who didn't have any favorable features in him except for his luck that let him participate in the final round of competition, so being ignored like this by someone like Wang Xue made her angry.

"Yu Da-Xia of the Nine Flower Valley, ready." With that said, Yu Da-Xia decided to whip him up well until he begged her.