“Chi!”
High in the sky, Lin Xiao gripped his broken sword with both hands, a terrifying aura radiating from him. His entire body seemed to glow with translucence.
Then, a dazzling white light burst from him, filling the heavens, unmatched fluctuations rippling outward from his body in all directions.
Under the activation of the Yaoguang Sword Art, the Yaoguang Broken Sword seemed to resonate and tremble, radiant light shining from it, an even more terrifying aura surging forth.
In that instant, the entire sky seemed split in two, half golden, half white, the light so intense it was nearly impossible to look at.
“Tyrant Gold Blade, Sky Support!”
With Jin Bihui’s booming shout, an even more dazzling golden blade beam surged forward, like a rainbow across the sky or lightning through the air, imbued with overwhelming, domineering force, unleashing howling winds as it rushed towards Lin Xiao.
“Yaoguang!”
Lin Xiao softly uttered, unleashing the perfectly honed Yaoguang sword beam. As the broken sword channeled its power, the void seemed to tremble, an exceptionally bright white sword beam slashing forward as if to cleave the void and annihilate all obstacles.
“Boom!”
Like nine skies of thunder exploding, an earth-shattering roar erupted, a blinding light bursting forth, illuminating all directions. Torrents of energy waves surged, shaking the heavens, terrifying fluctuations sweeping outward in all directions.
The crowd was stunned again, unable to imagine the sheer power of their clash.
It was hard to believe that, if not for fighting in the sky, the ground, city walls, and buildings below would likely have been razed to the ground.
Amid the immense commotion and dazzling light, no one could see their figures.
At that moment, everyone was filled with curiosity and doubt: who had gained the upper hand in this strike?
After a while, as the light faded and the energy dissipated, Lin Xiao and Jin Bihui appeared in the air.
Both had clearly been pushed back some distance.
Yet, both seemed unharmed.
“A draw?”
The crowd thought to themselves.
“Pfft!”
But at that moment, they saw a large mouthful of blood spurt from Jin Bihui’s mouth, his body growing visibly weaker, as if on the verge of collapse.
“Jin Bihui lost?”
In that instant, the Jin family and the people of the Jin family’s thirty-eighth city showed disbelief on their faces, unable to accept that the mighty Jin Bihui had been defeated by a fourth-layer Martial Venerable youth.
“He won, he really won?” Zi Jinchen was stunned, gazing at Lin Xiao in the sky, his face lighting up with incredulous joy.
The other Zi family members were equally thrilled.
In the sky, Jin Bihui trembled, shouting in disbelief, “Impossible! I used Tyrant Blade Intent and a Mysterious High-Grade Golden Blade Phenomenon, you have nothing, you can’t possibly withstand my strike or injure me!”
Jin Bihui’s emotions spiraled out of control. With his Mysterious High-Grade Golden Blade Phenomenon and rare Tyrant Blade Intent, a genius held in high esteem, he had lost to a youth with nothing.
And this youth was two or three years younger and two realms below him.
“Impossible, you must have used a secret technique to boost your strength! You couldn’t block my second strike, I didn’t lose!” Jin Bihui’s aura surged again, unmatched vital energy mobilizing as he prepared another ultimate strike.
“If you won’t admit defeat, I’ll beat you until you can’t fight in the next arena!”
Lin Xiao’s eyes narrowed coldly, gripping his sword as he prepared the Yaoguang Sword Art again.
Though Yaoguang consumed great energy, Jin Bihui’s consumption was surely no less.
And Jin Bihui’s power couldn’t match his Yaoguang Sword Art. If the opponent wanted to continue, Lin Xiao didn’t mind dealing another heavy blow.
Another blow, and who knew if Jin Bihui could fight again?
“Stop!” At that moment, Jin Wuhuan’s booming voice rang out, “Jin Bihui, you lost this match. No need to waste energy, you still have the next arena!”
Hearing this, Jin Bihui snapped back to reality. Besides the first arena, he had three more to fight. If he pushed himself to the brink here, no one could meet the conditions for the other arenas, and the Jin family would suffer great losses.
Though unwilling, he had to stop, especially as he sensed Lin Xiao’s surging aura.
“You won this match!” Jin Bihui said, seeing Lin Xiao halt his attack. He relaxed, a trace of fear rising in his heart.
Could Lin Xiao, without using a self-damaging technique, unleash another strike as powerful as before?
“I appreciate your concession!” Lin Xiao sheathed his Yaoguang Broken Sword, smiling at Jin Bihui.
Jin Bihui’s expression darkened, struggling to accept the reality, but under Jin Wuhuan’s orders, he had to stop for the sake of the Jin family’s broader strategy.
“Hmph, I’ll settle this score with you eventually!” With that, Jin Bihui turned and flew back to the Jin family’s city wall.
“You’ll get your chance soon,” Lin Xiao grinned.
Then, with a move, he returned to the Zi family’s group.
At this moment, Zi Jinchen and the Zi family were thrilled. This arena was won, and one of the Jin family’s cities now belonged to them.
But just as the Zi family was about to speak, Xiao Mao’s childish voice piped up first, “Wow, Lin Xiao, you’re so bad, you didn’t even knock that guy out.”
The Zi family’s words caught in their throats.
Defeating Jin Bihui and still called bad?
Was this little girl raised by Lin Xiao’s sweet-talking?
Her words left them choking, unable to voice their praise.
“The geniuses of Martial Emperor forces are something else, far stronger than families like the Cao. They’re not easy to deal with,” Lin Xiao replied calmly.
“Oh, I see. So if you went all out, could you knock him out?” Xiao Mao asked in her childish voice.
“Probably,” Lin Xiao smiled faintly. If he went all out, forget knocking him out, he could kill him.
“Then why didn’t you knock him out?” Xiao Mao asked again.
“Uh…” Lin Xiao was left speechless.
The Zi family was equally dumbfounded. What was this little girl thinking, insisting on knocking the opponent out? Defeating Jin Bihui was already a huge feat. If Jin Bihui heard their conversation, he’d probably spit blood in rage. A generation’s genius, casually mocked as someone to be knocked out…
