If not for Mo Ran intentionally taunting Xiao Chen incessantly and rousing Xiao Chen’s suspicions, Xiao Chen would not have found the weakness so fast.
Clearly, Mo Ran could not accept such an answer. He was stunned for a few seconds before threatening, “Just you wait. When I’ve cultivated my Earth Origin Returning Art to the tenth layer, I will not have any more weaknesses. At that time, I will be back for revenge.”
Right after Mo Ran said that, he quickly left the arena while pressing down on his wound with his hand, leaving the city without looking back.
Xiao Chen entered deep thought as he watched Mo Ran leave. Even though he already targeted Mo Ran’s weakness, the attack had not even broken his ribs. This fellow’s physical body was indeed ridiculously strong.
If Mo Ran managed to fix this weakness in the future, he would definitely become a troublesome opponent. Xiao Chen made a mental note to remember this young expert from the Human-Demon Sea.
After winning two consecutive battles, Xiao Chen was still calm and composed.
Anyone who could make it into the top four of the Outstanding Talent Summit Meeting was not weak. They were all dragons and phoenixes of men, geniuses among geniuses.
[TL Note: Dragons and phoenixes of men is a Chinese expression for greatly talented people. There is also a similar expression for parents hoping for their children to become dragons and phoenixes—dragons for sons and phoenixes for daughters. The emperor also wore dragon robes and the empress, phoenix robes.]
However, Xiao Chen arrived holding the Forceful Charge Token and mercilessly ejected Huang Yun and Mo Ran while making it look easy.
“Excellent eyesight. Who knows, he might actually be able to break the record and become the first outstanding talent to succeed with the Forceful Charge Token.”
“It is hard to say. The further he goes, the more trump cards he will expose, the more energy he will exhaust. In those two earlier matches, it looked like he won easily. However, I’m sure that he expended a significant amount of his Law Energy.”
“That’s right. Furthermore, Leng Xin and Sima Lingxuan are expert swordsmen. They will not be that easy to deal with. Both of them are in the running for the top rank.”
“I wonder whom Xiao Chen will choose next. Leng Xin and Sima Lingxuan are almost on par based on what we saw so far.”
“If it were me, I would choose Sima Lingxuan. Leng Xin’s aura is too frightening, giving off the impression that he is unfathomable.”
After two matches, the cultivators who initially did not hold much hope for Xiao Chen now felt some hope. They all started guessing what direction the latter matches would take.
After defeating Mo Ran, Xiao Chen’s expression still did not change. Now, his gaze wandered between Sima Lingxuan and Leng Xin before landing on Leng Xin.
A cold wind blew, and the temperature in the entire arena plummeted. Leng Xin said expressionlessly, “The Ice Sea’s Leng Xin seeks your advice.”
After they greeted each other, Leng Xin’s aura turned even colder. His eyes wandered all about Xiao Chen’s body, looking at every corner.
This swordsman had eyes as sharp as those of eagles. So long as Xiao Chen exposed any openings, Leng Xin would discover it in an instant, then strike at lightning speed.
Xiao Chen paid more attention when he saw Leng Xin’s gaze. He knew he met with a troublesome opponent, one even more troublesome than the previous two.
“Whoosh! Whoosh!”
The cold wind moved all about the arena. The two looked at each other, clashing with their auras and not rushing to attack. Instead, they waited for their opponent to attack suddenly, when they could no longer wait, trying to seize the upper hand in one go.
In a battle between a bladesman and a swordsman, generally, the victor would be whoever gained the upper hand in the instant they attacked.
The person at the disadvantage would not be able to turn the situation around. Of course, this was under the condition where the two were of similar cultivations.
It was impossible for men to be perfect and flawless. Even if one stood still without moving, the pulsations of the aura, the changes in mental states, the fluctuations of thoughts, the rate at which blood flowed, and many other factors would undermine the maintenance of the peak state at all times.
Without exception, an opening would eventually appear.
Amid the cold wind, it looked like a light flashed in the eyes of the two. They both captured small openings of each other at the same time and instantly launched their attacks.
The two drew their saber and sword simultaneously. Before the two even fought, the berserk lightning saber soul and ice sword soul formed their own momentum and clashed intensely with each other.
The clangor lingered on, spreading to every corner of the arena. It sounded like thousands upon thousands of sabers and swords smashing together in the air.
Saber lights and sword images flickered in every spot, lightning and ice crashing against each other.
The plunging lightning roared, sending out countless sparks of electricity. The emotionless ice created thousands of drifting snowflakes.
“Dang!”
The two leaped up at the same time. Amid the various mysterious phenomena, figures flickered. Finally, the saber and sword clashed for the first time.
The hums from the saber and the sword merged into a sound like a dragon’s roar, soaring and breaking through the dark clouds and scattering them. A beam of golden sunlight descended, looking like a holy light that seemed to freeze the instant that Xiao Chen and Leng Xin clashed, forming a stirring diorama.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
The two retreated upon contact. Each of them executed their respective strong Movement Techniques and quickly exchanged moves.
Every time the two exchanged moves, the sound from the saber and sword clashing would turn into resonant dragon roars surging to the clouds and tearing them apart, causing rays of golden light to descend.
Xiao Chen’s Thunder Dragon Steps and Leng Xin’s mysterious Movement Technique were both so fast that they pushed the limit. Ordinary people would not be able to see their movements clearly.
Only when the light shone down, capturing the two figures in a poetic scene frozen in time, were they visible to ordinary eyes.
Watching the two’s intense battle was like viewing and appreciating a marvelous painting. As one saw these paintings one after another, one slowly got drawn into the mood. As each picture entered the onlookers’ sight and imprinted in their minds, it roused their emotions, and their blood surged.
“Flawless Bright Moon!”
“Boundless Water Moon!”
After another hundred moves, the two appeared to be on par. They each executed a killing move and began another intense exchange, trying to gain the upper hand.
Two bright moons appeared behind each of them. Xiao Chen’s saber light was the light of the bright moon at its most resplendent moment, boundlessly tyrannical.
Leng Xin’s sword light was blending of the bright moon and its peaceful and gentle light on seawater. However, this light seemed inseparable from conflicts. Compared to Xiao Chen’s simple tyranny, it was much more complicated.
The two moons clashed with each other. One side was the flawless moon with unparalleled light. The other side was the reflection of the moon in the water. On the surface, it was the moon, but in reality, it was still a layer of unchanging cold water.
After this move, the clouds in the sky, which were already riddled with thousands of holes, scattered entirely. A large patch of golden light poured down like a waterfall.
Compared to the surrounding dark sky, this area was bathed in golden light. Although the two’s clothes were tattered and blood flowed from their wounds, they still appeared incomparably holy in the golden light. A strange aura lingered on their bodies.
This aura made anyone who saw this scene want to worship them for no apparent reason.
There was no other reason than the two being a true swordsman and a true bladesman. They possessed the rare saber soul and sword soul.
Xiao Chen stood upright while holding his saber. Drops of blood trickled off the tip of his saber.
On the other side, drops of blood also fell from the tip of Leng Xin’s sword. The two had executed their killing moves at the same time, injuring each other at the same time.
However, the results were markedly different.
Xiao Chen looked at Leng Xin and said, “Your Sword Techniques are equal to my Saber Techniques. However, my physical body is much stronger than yours. If this battle continues, you will lose.”
Leng Xin’s complexion paled, a tacit acknowledgment of Xiao Chen’s words. However, he did not intend to just admit defeat.
“I still have a chance with one particular sword strike. If this sword strike cannot defeat you, I will admit defeat.”
This Leng Xin before Xiao Chen had produced his own school of Sword Techniques that was rather powerful.
If not for Xiao Chen’s saber soul suppressing the other party, in addition to his physical body being much stronger than the other party’s, he absolutely would not be able to hold such a significant advantage.
Both had sent out one move. Xiao Chen’s saber light had pierced through the other party’s left chest. However, Leng Xin’s sword light only scraped Xiao Chen’s right shoulder, not even breaking a bone.
Actually, the ice sword intent endlessly corroded the wound, making it hard for Xiao Chen to bear. However, he was in a much better situation compared to Leng Xin.
In terms of Martial Techniques, Xiao Chen felt that the other party was not weaker than himself. This was likely due to the other party focusing all his time on comprehending Sword Techniques.
Skill-wise, the other party might be slightly better than Xiao Chen. However, Xiao Chen had created the Flawless saber Dao, which belonged only to him, holding the advantage there.
Furthermore, Xiao Chen did not train in just Saber Techniques. His tempering of the physical body was already exceptional, standing out from the crowd.
Unless the other party’s Sword Techniques far surpassed Xiao Chen’s Saber Techniques, Leng Xin had no way to defeat him just by being his match or slightly stronger.
Hearing that Leng Xin still wanted to exchange one more move piqued Xiao Chen’s interest immediately.
What kind of attack was it that could give Leng Xin hope of turning the situation around under such circumstances?
Xiao Chen replied gravely, “Very well. I will let you have the chance to execute this attack and not fight a drawn-out battle with you.”
If this match continued dragging out, Xiao Chen needed only another hundred more moves. By preventing Leng Xin from executing that attack, Xiao Chen could ensure his victory, given the advantages of his physical body.
Now that Xiao Chen gave Leng Xin the chance to execute that attack, the outcome of the match became uncertain.
However, Xiao Chen did not care. In the first place, he had not planned on participating in this Outstanding Talent Summit Meeting.
His presence here was just an accident. Since the Flame Rock Sovereign tossed him into this mess, Xiao Chen would just enjoy it.
Since Xiao Chen was going to fight, he would fight to his heart’s content.
As for victory, Xiao Chen no longer cared about it. His breadth of mind already far surpassed that of the people in the same generation.
Surprise flashed in Leng Xin’s eyes. Unexpectedly, Xiao Chen agreed so straightforwardly. It looked like Xiao Chen was even more indifferent about a proper victory than he was.
After a moment of silence, Leng Xin gave him a shallow bow and said sincerely, “Many thanks.”
Such a scene moved all the cultivators here somewhat. The white-robed bladesman’s breadth of mind was truly admirable.
Even after seizing the upper hand, Xiao Chen still calmly gave it away, all to see the attack that might possibly defeat him.
A phrase appeared in everyone’s mind: “The air of a king!”
The one that was moved the most deeply was naturally none other than Sima Lingxuan.
Sima Lingxuan kept feeling that Xiao Chen was on a completely different level from himself. Even though the difference in their cultivations was not large, his own Martial Techniques and Cultivation Techniques were all weaker.
He had a sense of forever being unable to catch up—a strange despair and pain.
Sima Lingxuan’s right hand, which held his sword, trembled slightly. He clenched his left hand, and his fingernails dug deep enough into his flesh for blood to ooze out.
“You are too polite. Both you and I are people of passion. There is no need to be so reserved. Please!”
Xiao Chen extended his hand in a gesture of invitation. Then, he took up a stance and concentrated. He did not dare to be careless before this unknown attack.
