"Ninth Prince, you should be careful!"
With a twist in the corner of his mouth, Xue Kai poured his Genuine Qi into the body of the sword to activate three Inscription of Power Series at the same time. The sword in his hand immediately increased its weight to 175 kg.
He held the sword with both hands, waving it valiantly. There was an oscillatory Qi billow wherever the sword went.
His sword technique seemed simple, but it was efficient. It was not fancy, but every hit had shocking power.
Zhang Ruochen also poured the Genuine Qi into the Blue Water Sword to activate an Inscription of Ice Series and an Inscription of Power Series. The sword emitted freezing ice into the air and the air filled with white frost.
Zhang Ruochen knew that he did not have as much power as Xue Kai. He did not plan to confront the tough with toughness.
Zhang Ruochen did some mysterious footwork while waving his sword. He dodged almost every attack.
Meanwhile, Lin Fengxian, who stood outside the drill ground, watched Zhang Ruochen's footwork whole-heartedly. With surprise, he silently asked himself how he could be using the footwork of the Sacred Sword Skill?
The sword techniques of the Spiritual Stage all had corresponding footwork.
Only by combining it with footwork could the sword technique reveal its real power.
Right now, the footwork that Zhang Ruochen used matched the Sacred Sword Skill exactly. Seeing Zhang Ruochen using this footwork, how could Lin Fengxian not be surprised?
Xue Kai's sword was extremely heavy. Naturally, it consumed a great amount of Genuine Qi.
As the battle continued, Xue Kai began to feel tired. There was sweat on his forehead and his Genuine Qi was halfway depleted.
His original strategy had been to defeat Zhang Ruochen in a few movements. But after dozens of movements, he had not even touched Zhang Ruochen's sword.
"Crap!
"I fell for his trick!"
"He was depleting his energy and Genuine Qi on purpose."
Xue Kai drew back a part of his Genuine Qi the moment that he realized it. As he activated only one Inscription of Power Series, the heavy sword in his hands doubled in weight immediately!
"This is high time."
Zhang Ruochen made a move!
"Sacred Guiding Sword!"
Zhang Ruochen waved his arm and struck and an eight-meter-long Sword Breath flew from the ground, leaving a sword path in Xue Kai's direction.
Xue Kai did not see it coming. He had never expected that Zhang Ruochen could practice a sword technique of the Spiritual Stage.
In haste, Xue Kai could only activate all his Genuine Qi and move his sword crosswise to counter.
"Bang!"
The Sword Breath hit the sword in Xue Kai's hands and threw him away. All his clothes were torn into pieces.
When he fell back on the ground, he was outside the drill ground.
Xue Kai looked at his bleeding hands, then glanced at Zhang Ruochen, who was standing upright on the drill ground. Bitterly, he acknowledged, "I've lost."
When the battle ended, the audience could not recover from their shock.
How could a warrior in the Final State of the Yellow Realm be beaten by one in the Dawn State?
"He's really practicing the Sacred Sword Skill. It's impossible!" Lin Ningshan was quite shocked. She could not believe that Zhang Ruochen could practice the Sacred Sword Skill. He even seemed better at it than she was.
"Could he be the mystery man we met at the Central Auction?"
Lin Fengxian seemed serious, and said, "It is not that simple, Ningshan. Don't forget that the Sacred Sword Skill we bought is not the master copy, but a hand-written copy by a superior of the Heaven Realm."
"Daddy, do you mean that the reason for Zhang Ruochen's extremely fast practice speed is the strength of the Heaven Realm hiding behind him?" Lin Ningshan asked in surprise.
"Hush!"
Lin Fengxian made a gesture to silence her, and said in a low voice, "It's better to keep it in the family. We'll talk about it when we get back."
Lin Ningshan nodded. Her grudge expanded as she stared at Zhang Ruochen. "No wonder he could so easily dodge the 'Sacred Guiding Sword' that I used. He also practices this sword technique. How many secrets do you have, Zhang Ruochen?"
"Even Xue Kai is defeated?"
"It seems that the Ninth Prince has practiced a sword technique of the Spiritual Stage. It is fair that he defeated Xue Kai."
"The Ninth Prince must have reached the realm of 'Sword Following the Heart'. He is indeed a genius of sword techniques."
...
No one dared to look down upon the Ninth Prince. Instead, they treated him like an incredible genius martialist. Some even thought his talent was as great as the Seventh Prince's.
The following battle was the Fifth Prince versus Situ Linhai.
The Fifth Prince was 19 years old and had reached the Final State of the Yellow Realm with a Third Class Sacred Mark.
Situ Linhai, the first genius of the Situs, was 17 years old and had also reached the Final State of the Yellow Realm with a Fourth Class of Blaze Sacred Mark.
Situ Linhai had his own reputation within the young generation of the entire Yunwu City. With his talent, he even had the chance to break through to the Completion of the Yellow Realm and reach the Black Realm before the age of 20.
Situ Linhai carried a long black spear, standing on the drill ground proudly. He stared at the Fifth Prince across from him and exclaimed with confidence, "Fifth Prince, you are no match for me!"
The Fifth Prince said, "We are both in the Final State of the Yellow Realm. It will not be easy for you to win."
"You should know better than anybody else that my Genuine Qi has the power of Blaze. I have a Fourth Class of Blaze Sacred Mark. I have no equal in the same realm. You won't last 10 movements against my spear with your cultivation." Situ Linhai's eyes were firm and sharp, full of confidence.
Warriors with natural Sacred Marks were indeed more powerful than those with normal Sacred Marks in the same realm.
"Really? We should let the battle decide who is stronger." The Fifth Prince picked up the combat sword in front of him, then activated his Genuine Qi to move fast through his 12 Meridians. He poured all of it into the sword.
"Phhf!"
He activated three inscriptions in the sword.
It immediately radiated out a one-meter-high light.
The Fifth Prince made a move proactively, using a sword technique of the Mid Class of the Human Stage. He waved the combat sword continually to form a vortex of sword light and cleaved at Situ Linhai.
To obtain a shining rank in the drill ground of the Year-end Assessment, most of the young warriors had learned at least one, or often several, martial techniques of the Mid Class of the Human Stage. They wanted to achieve fame with one battle in the Year-end Assessment.
The Fifth Prince was no exception. He had spent half a year practicing the Heaven Light Sword Skill, a martial technique of the Mid Class of the Human Stage. It contained eight movements in total, and the Fifth Prince had mastered three of them.
"The Heaven Light Sword Skill is mediocre," Situ Linhai said with a sneer.
Situ Linhai seemed at ease under the Fifth Prince's continuous attack. He waved the long black spear to counter back the Fifth Prince's every hit.
"Bang! Bang!"
The long spear hit the combat sword and sparks flew out.
"Sword of Cloud and Rain."
The Fifth Prince shouted, then he jumped into the sky about six meters high, holding the hilt with both hands, and cleaved.
The light of the combat sword became brighter, like a shower of illumination, falling on Situ Linjiang.
Situ Linjiang had developed 13 Meridians, one more than that of the Fifth Prince.
The Genuine Qi moved fast in Situ Linjiang's 13 Meridians, gathering at his hands.
His hands looked like a burning flame, and the flame rushed to the long black spear, activating the power of the three Inscriptions of Fire Series at the same time.
"Fire Snake!"
The Flame Snake Spear Technique was a martial technique of the Superior Class of the Human Stage.
The spear thrust like a fire snake, breaking all of the sword radiance made by the Fifth Prince.
"Bang!"
The Fifth Prince flew backward. His royal boa robe caught on fire, burning to ashes immediately.
Situ Linhai rushed forward and thrust his spear again. The end of the long spear hit the Fifth Prince in the chest, knocking him out of the drill ground.
With a trace of blood in the corner of his mouth, the Fifth Prince raised himself from the ground and stared at Situ Linjiang, who was standing at the center of the drill ground like a reincarnate Spear God. He declared. "Flame Snake Spear Technique! Terrific! If you had practiced it from the beginning, I wouldn't have lasted three movements."
The spear technique that Situ Linjiang had just used was extremely amazing. He definitely had reached the Realm of "Spear Following the Heart". Plus, with the power of Blaze in his Genuine Qi, he had virtually no equal in the Final State of the Yellow Realm.
Outside the drill ground, Mo Hanlin said mildly, "Only the Ninth Prince and Situ Linjiang stand now! It seems appropriate that Situ Linjiang is the strongest of the Situ's young generation. Maybe we won't need the final battle."
"Why?" Qin Ya blinked. Her eyelashes were long and neat. The charming light in her beautiful eyes could attract any man at any time.
Mo Hanlin said, "With his cultivation, Situ Linjiang is absolutely a young superior who has no equal even in the Final State of the Yellow Realm. Although the Ninth Prince is a greater genius than Situ Linjiang, he is only at the Dawn State of the Yellow Realm. He could beat Xue Kai, but beating Situ Linjiang is out of the question."
Almost everyone present was of the same opinion.
They admitted that the Ninth Prince was a Genius of Martial Arts, but they would not believe that he could beat Situ Linjiang right now.
"If the Ninth Prince had another year to practice Martial Arts, it would be easy for him to beat Situ Linjiang. But as of now, there is still a gap."
A small smile showed on Qin Ya's red lips as she said, "Don't bet on it. A genius is called a genius because they can create miracles. I hope the Ninth Prince can create a miracle. If that's the case, I will have even more interest in him! Hehe!"
Qin Ya's eyes narrowed a bit, like two bright crescents.