“Would the Thunder Knife Sect suggest something like this if they were not extremely confident?”
Zhou Donghuang shook his head with a smile after he heard what He Mengxi said.
Before he arrived, He Mengxi had told him the details of what had happened. He knew that what was unfolding before him was the suggestion of somebody from the Thunder Knife Sect.
If they were not confident, why would they suggest something like this?
If things were going as planned, then the four from the Thunder Knife Sect who had come down this time were undeniably the sect’s four strongest adepts who were at the mid Dharma stage.
“Cheng Yanyang, core disciple of the Thunder Knife Sect.”
There were still two people from the Thunder Knife Sect who had not yet stepped forward. Of the pair, the young lady stepped forward as the crowd watched. She descended, her robes billowing softly in the wind like butterflies. There was something curiously enchanting about her every move.
The moment she opened her mouth to speak, the crowd was instantly frightened.
The Thunder Knife Sect originated from the Lightning Sword Sect, so whatever was going on in that sect was essentially just a replication of what the Lightning Sword Sect had going on.
For example, the Lightning Sword Sect had five external halls and four internal valleys. The Thunder Knife Sect did, too.
The Lightning Sword Sect had the Lightning Peak. The Thunder Knife Sect had the Thunder Palace.
The assessment criteria for the core disciples of the Thunder Knife Sect were also aligned to those of the Lightning Sword Sect.
The Cheng Yanyang lady standing right in front of them now was a core disciple of the Thunder Knife Sect, but she was also an adept at the mid Dharma stage. This was testament to the fact that she was not necessarily any less competent than core disciple Hu Jian of the Lightning Sword Sect.
“A female disciple? A core disciple who’s at the mid Dharma stage?”
The higher-ups of the Lightning Sword Sect, who were under the leadership of Sect Leader Yu Yucheng, looked towards Thunder Knife Sect Leader Luo Yuanqiu, only to find that the smile on Luo Yuanqiu’s face seemed to be growing more and more radiant, as if in appraisal of the female disciple.
“Sect Leader Luo.”
At this time, Autumn Valley Lord Lian Kun looked at Luo Yuanqiu and asked curiously, “Of Thunder Knife Sect adepts who are at the mid Dharma stage, who is stronger, this female core disciple or the one you’ve recently accepted?”
As Lian Kun spoke, his gaze subconsciously shifted to Han Yuzheng who had been standing behind Luo Yuanqiu.
Han Yuzheng was the genius disciple the Thunder Knife Sect had most recently accepted. He was also known as a rare talent, the kind the Tielao planet had not seen in a century. The moment he joined the Thunder Knife Sect, Sect Leader Luo Yuanqiu took him under his wing.
“Haha…”
Luo Yuanqiu chuckled as he said, “That girl Cheng Yanyang, she will lose within three moves when she goes up against Yuzheng.”
Lian Kun’s eyes constricted when he heard what Luo Yuanqiu said. Lian Can, who had since returned to his side, was also so frightened that his face paled.
In the next second, the crowd’s gaze turned once again towards the Thunder Knife Sect core disciple, Cheng Yanyang, and everyone become a little more somber.
“Please.”
After Cheng Yanyang’s feet touched the ground, Hu Jian nodded at her.
He did not let his guard down just because the opponent standing right in front of him now was a woman. He knew that it was equally difficult for one to become a core disciple in the Thunder Knife Sect before one reached the Primordial Soul stage just as it was in the Lightning Sword Sect.
The lower your training level, the more difficult a feat it was.
It was more difficult at the late Dharma stage than it was at the ultimate Dharma stage, and it was even more difficult at the mid Dharma stage than it was at the late Dharma stage!
He was, to date, the only disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect who was at the mid Dharma stage. This was proof enough of how difficult for a Lightning Sword Sect disciple to become a core disciple while they were at the mid Dharma stage.
The only exception was if one were extremely lucky and landed themselves in a unique situation, like the situation that had unfolded earlier.
The Lightning Sword Sect Leader had promised that the Summer Valley disciple, Lian Can could move to the Lightning Peak ahead of time to become a core disciple as long as he could defeat the Thunder Knife Sect inner disciple.
If Lian Can won, he could become the Lightning Sword Sect’s second core disciple who was at the mid Dharma stage.
The thing was, he had failed.
Of course, the fact that he even had this opportunity at all after landing in such a situation was due to luck, but it was also mostly due to the fact that he was the foster son of the Summer Valley Lord, Lian Kun.
If he were any regular Summer Valley disciple, there was no way the Lightning Sword Sect leader would have made such a promise.
“I’m not one to strike while my opponent’s still down, so you can take some time to heal,” Cheng Yanyang said.
“I didn’t expend a lot so it’s not going to affect much.” Hu Jian shook his head.
“Just heal. I don’t want to be condemned,” Cheng Yanyang said again.
Hu Jian, hearing what she said, could do little but to sit with his legs crossed. He took out a high-quality spirit stone, absorbing its inner Yuan to recover the Dharma power in his body that he had expended.
After a few breaths, he was done healing. He stood up immediately. “All done.”
“Please.”
Cheng Yanyang had obviously wanted for Hu Jian to make the first move.
Hu Jian, on the other hand, did not want to be careless. Since she was offering to have him make the first move, he made no move to decline the offer. After all, this was on the home court of the Lightning Sword Sect.
If he handed the right over to her only to lose, he would have killed the Lightning Sword Sect’s last hope.
Of course, he was only having such thoughts because he did not hear what the Thunder Knife Sect leader, Luo Yuanqiu, had said to the Lightning Sword Sect’s Summer Valley Lord, Lian Kun.
Within the Thunder Knife Sect, the strongest mid Dharma adept was not Cheng Yanyang… It was the mid Dharma adept who was only 24 years old, Han Yuzheng!
Whew!
Hu Jian’s Dharma power manifested in the form of a huge blade ten-meters long. It followed behind him as he flew at full speed, charging towards Cheng Yanyang.
Buzz!!
In the face of Hu Jian who had taken the initiative to strike first, Cheng Yanyang’s Dharma power manifested in response. Similarly, she summoned a giant sword that was ten-meters tall. The giant blade cut through the air and faced Hu Jian head on.
The two of them were both core disciples, one from the Lightning Sword Sect and the other from the Thunder Knife Sect.
They were the very embodiment of the standard of a mid Dharma core disciple within their respective sects.
Under the gaze of the crowd that was looking on, Hu Jian and Cheng Yanyang exchanged blows. In the blink of an eye, they had already exchanged more than 10 blows, then 20, and then 30…
After 100 moves, there was still no victor.
Two hundred moves later, they were still evenly matched.
The two of them separated silently.
“Seems like it’s another draw,” He Mengxi turned to Zhou Donghuang and said.
“Mm.”
Zhou Donghuang nodded as he squinted lazily. He thought that the two people who were crossing blows in front of him were absolutely boring. If it were not for the fact that He Jin had intentionally asked for him to be here to watch the match, he would have left a long time ago.
He would have gone back to sleep, which was much better than staying here.
“What do you say to calling this match a draw?” Cheng Yanyang looked to Hu Jian to ask, admiration obvious in her gaze.
The core disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect were not too shabby after all.
“Mm.” Hu Jian nodded, somewhat helplessly. He had already put his best foot forward in this match but was still not able to best the other.
Though his opponent was a woman, she was undeniably strong, not the least bit weaker than him.
“I never would have expected that the core disciples of your sect would be this outstanding, Sect Leader Yu.”
Luo Yuanqiu looked at Yu Yucheng and exclaimed with a sigh, “I had initially thought that Cheng Yanyang would be able to beat Hu Jian. To think that he had been hiding his true abilities.”
Indeed, what Hu Jian had displayed just now was much, much stronger than what he had shown in the match before.
Clearly, that inner disciple from the Thunder Knife Sect had never forced him to put his all into a fight before.
“You really came prepared this time, Sect Leader Luo,” Yu Yucheng said bitterly with a laugh.
Even Hu Jian had lost—he felt that the Lightning Sword Sect had lost today.
The showdown today was just as much as one between the Lightning Sword Sect and the Thunder Knife Sect as it was one between mid Dharma adepts. There was no way the Lightning Sword Sect could send a disciple who was at least at the late Dharma stage to take part in this.
“Maybe there are other mid Dharma adepts who are stronger than you in your sect?”
After the two of them had tied, Cheng Yanyang looked to Hu Jian to say, “For example, there might be other mid Dharma core disciples in your sect?”
Cheng Yanyang was sitting cross-legged as she spoke, absorbing the energy from the spirit stones to recover her inner Yuan. Her eyes were gleaming in challenge.
“I am the only mid Dharma core disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect,” Hu Jian said with a shake of his head.
He followed up hurriedly, “Since we’ve tied in this fight, we can conclude this round as a draw.”
“No.” Cheng Yanyang shook her head.
“No?” Hu Jian frowned. “You don’t wish to continue, do you?”
On a subconscious level, Hu Jian felt that the lady before him was probably the strongest mid Dharma adept the Thunder Knife Sect had, because it was difficult for him to imagine they would have a mid Dharma adept stronger than her.
Now, there was only one mid Dharma adept from the Thunder Knife Sect that had not appeared, and that was Han Yuzheng.
The thing was, Han Yuzheng was only 24 years old this year. Even if he was at the mid Dharma stage, the tempering of his Dharma power was definitely not going to be crude.
Focus was imperative. It was natural that Dharma adepts temporarily cease the tempering of their Dharma power when they chose to focus on advancement instead.
“You think I’m the strongest mid Dharma adept in the Thunder Knife Sect?” Cheng Yanyang countered with her own question, her tone especially playful.
“Are you not?” Hu Jian’s eyes constricted. His chest filled with an ominous feeling.
“The strongest mid Dharma adept in the Thunder Knife Sect is not me but Junior Brother Yuzheng… I’d go as far as to say that I can’t last more than three moves when I spar with him,” Cheng Yanyang said.
The spacious outdoor martial arts arena was quiet now, save for the sounds of Cheng Yanyang and Hu Jian speaking. As soon as she spoke, the space fell deadly silent.
The silence passed and the crowd was, unsurprisingly, in an uproar.
“This core disciple of the Thunder Knife Sect is not the strongest mid Dharma adept of her sect?”
“She said that she could not last more than three moves when she went up against the strongest mid Dharma adept of the Thunder Knife Sect? Is she for real? Isn’t she stretching it too far?”
“If what she says turns out to be true, then the Thunder Knife Sect really did come prepared this time. They came with the intention to ruin us!”
…
The league of elders and disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect who were present looked disconcerted, whether they were from outside or inside the sect, or whether they were from the Lightning Peak.
“Are you serious?” Hu Jian asked, face pale.
“If you don’t believe me, you can test it for yourself after you regain a bit of your inner Yuan,” Cheng Yanyang said with a shake of her head.
Almost at the same time as she spoke, the young man who was standing behind Thunder Knife Sect Leader Luo Yuanqiu morphed into a bolt of thunder as black as the robes on his body, cutting through the air and reappearing.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared right beside Cheng Yanyang. He looked towards Hu Jian, eyes coloring with scorn and disdain, then spoke in a chilly tone, “I’ll wait until you’re done healing.”
