“Good! I’d like to see, how much can you really do?”
Jin Yue Ming’s eyes sank, his ten fingers pinched into a claw shape, and a faint layer of golden light flowed on the surface of the skin of his arms.
She was two metres and two feet tall, more robust than many men, and her arms were as thick as the mouth of a bowl, with a single golden tendon protruding from her arms.
“Boom!”
The golden hand claws struck out, grabbing at Mo Qinglong’s neck.
Mo Qinglong’s body was much shorter than Jin Yue Ming’s, but his speed was faster than Jin Yue Ming’s, and his body flipped out sideways, dodging the golden claw prints.
His left arm turned slightly, his battle sword turned backwards, and he backhanded a sword stab towards Jin Yue Ming’s waist.
Jin Yue Ming’s arm sank down and blocked the tip of the sword with his palm.
The palm of his hand and the tip of the sword clashed together, striking out grains of golden light and emitting a loud “bang” sound.
What surprised people was that Jin Yue Ming’s palm was as if it was made of molten gold and iron, blocking the tip of the sword with his bare hands, he was not even injured.
“Lol! Mo Qinglong, with this amount of strength, you dare to challenge me? You’re still too weak!” Jin Yue Ming sneered.
“Is that so? Since that’s the case, then I’ll see you see the power of the Dual Sword Deer Beheading Decision in its grand form.” Mo Qinglong withdrew his sword, his feet slightly spread apart, his arms pinching the battle sword one after the other, striking an odd pose.
“Great accomplishment? You’ve cultivated the Dual Sword Deer Beheading Decision to a grand completion?” Jin Yue Ming stared with wide eyes, somewhat disbelieving.
How could a middle-grade Spirit Grade martial skill be cultivated so easily?
“Swish!”
Mo Qinglong swung his sword with both hands, his body spinning up at a rapid speed, emitting a whistling sword sound, as if he had transformed into a rapidly spinning windmill.
The sword light flashed, and all directions were filled with sword shadows.
“Boom boom!”
Jin Yue Ming only managed to block three of Mo Qinglong’s moves before she was chopped to the ground by Mo Qinglong. Fortunately, her defence was very strong, otherwise she would have been seriously injured.
Mo Qinglong’s feet landed on the ground and with a swish, he pointed his sword at the top of Jin Yue Ming’s head and said, “You’ve lost!”
“Boom!”
The trainees under the challenge stage, all of them boiled over and shouted out Mo Qinglong’s name.
Especially the male trainees, shouted the most vigorously, after all, one more male trainee in the top ten, the male trainees would have a higher status in the Western Academy in the future.
“Mo Qinglong defeated Jin Yue Ming, it’s still incredible!”
“It’s normal, didn’t you hear, Mo Qinglong cultivated the Dual Sword Deer Chopping Jie to a great success, that’s a Spirit Grade Medium Martial Skill. In the Western Academy, the number of people who have cultivated a Spirit Grade Middle Grade martial skill to a great success only adds up to five people in total. Mo Qinglong is the sixth person.”
Zhang Ruochen stood at the bottom of the stage, nodded, and said, “Not bad, Mo Qinglong has already cultivated his sword intent to the Sword Follows the Heart middle rank realm.”
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen smelled a faint and charming fragrance, so he looked to his side, only to see Duanmu Xingling standing on his left at some point, provoking a swathe of envious and jealous gazes.
Beside him, someone whispered, “Senior Sister Duanmu and Zhang Ruochen’s relationship is really extraordinary, it is said that they have been living together for a long time ……”
“Zhang Ruochen’s natural talent is so high, it’s only natural for Senior Sister Duanmu to fancy him. Hehe! Senior Sister Duanmu has always been my goddess, how wonderful it would be if I could live together with her! Even if I live for one day and lose ten years of my life, I would be willing.”
Duanmu Xingling’s figure was exquisite and small, looking like a young girl of thirteen or fourteen, her skin was glistening white and her long hair was like a black waterfall, her hands were clasped in front of her chest as she stared at Mo Qinglong on the Challenge Stage, “Mo Qinglong has actually cultivated a Spirit Grade Intermediate Martial Skill to the point of Dahana, it looks like he is able to securely make it into the top ten, and he even has a chance to contend for the top five. Zhang Ruochen, you’ve already cultivated to the middle extreme position of the Xuanji Realm, right?”
“I just broke through two days ago……. Ah……. What are you pinching me for?” Zhang Ruochen said.
Duanmu Xingling’s two jade fingers pinched Zhang Ruochen’s waist with a deadly twist, saying, “Since you broke through the realm, why didn’t you tell me yesterday, causing me to worry all night.”
“What’s there to worry about?” Zhang Ruochen said.
“What I’m worried about is that the Western Academy can’t get the first place in the freshmen composite, you think I’m worried about you?”
Duanmu Xingling took her hand back, and a playful smile appeared on her well-behaved face, “With your strength, you should be able to enter the top ten of the Western Academy, do you want to give it a try?”
Zhang Ruochen followed Duanmu Xingling’s example and clasped his hands in front of his chest, smiling faintly, “Let’s take a look before deciding who to challenge.”
“You shouldn’t be too familiar with the top ten experts of the Western Academy, so I can help you analyse them.” Duanmu Xingling said, “The top five ranked in the Western Academy are Luo Shuihan, Huang Yichen, me, Duo Mu Zi, and Ju Hailan. Except for Ju Hailan, all four of us are Xuan Ranked martial artists.”
“Ju Hailan was the number one freshman in the Western Academy seven years ago, and his strength was comparable to those at the back of the Xuan Ranking, but he was just unlucky and never managed to win ten consecutive matches in the Martial Market Fighting Arena, which is why he couldn’t become a Xuan Ranking martial artist.”
“With your strength, there’s still a slight gap between you and Xuan Ranking martial artists, it’s impossible to defeat the five of us. Then the only ones left are ranked sixth Cai Chen, ranked seventh Sikong Art, ranked eighth Xue Qingchuan, ranked ninth Liu Ning, and ranked tenth Mo Qinglong.”
“You’ve also seen the battle between Mo Qinglong and Jin Yue Ming just now, this person has cultivated into a Spirit Grade mid-grade martial art, and his battle power is directly after Ju Hailan, the tenth rank is by no means his final ranking.”
Zhang Ruochen nodded and stared at Mo Qinglong, who was carrying dual swords, and said, “I think that his cultivation is not as simple as it seems, and when he fought with Jin Yue Ming just now, he still hid something. His true strength may be even more powerful than you think.”
“Is that so? What do you see?” Duanmu Xingling asked.
Zhang Ruochen said, “His mental power should have reached the twenty-second rank, moreover, he is using dual swords, and trying to control dual swords to the Sword Follows the Heart Middle Stage realm is several times more difficult than single swords. Therefore, his attainments in sword intent should be in the same range as yours, and he is close to reaching the Sword Follows Heart High Rank Realm. If his speed and strength are also hidden, then his true strength should be about the same as yours.”
Hearing Zhang Ruochen’s words, Duanmu Xingling’s face turned serious as she said, “Could it be that he had been hiding it before and only exploded it now? If he really wants to challenge me, I will definitely force his true strength out.”
Zhang Ruochen shook his head and said, “Since he has been hiding his strength all along, he must have his reasons. If he challenged you, he would appear to be too sharp and it would definitely push him into the limelight. My guess is that he won’t challenge you and will continue to keep a low profile.”
“Since he has always chosen to keep a low profile, why did he challenge Jin Yue Ming?” Duanmu Xingling said.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Because he also wants to enter the Intermediate Ruins.”
Duanmu Starling came to a realisation and said, “So that’s how it is.”
Duanmu Starling had great faith in Zhang Ruochen’s eyesight, so he began to be wary of Mo Qinglong, treating him as a potential competitor.
Just then, Duanmu Xingling’s eyes lit up as she stared at the challenge stage and laughed, “Zhang Ruochen, your favourite has also gone to challenge.”
Duanmu Xingling was referring to Zixi.
Zixi’s figure was very slender and her face was clear and beautiful as she ascended the challenge stage step by step.
In a split second, the challenge stage was completely quiet, everyone stared at the white-clothed beauty standing on the stage, it was just too stunning, like a fairy from a painting.
The trainees from the other three courtyards were also talking and letting out sounds of amazement.
“In the past, I only heard that the three beauties of the West Courtyard, all of them Xuan Ranked martial artists, dominated the West Courtyard without any rivals. Today, I found out that a freshman from the Western Academy is also so beautiful, no less than the three beauties of the Western Academy.”
“She is the second best freshman in the West Academy, her strength should not be underestimated, guess how many places she will challenge?”
“I reckon that she will challenge the top one hundred strongest, with her strength, she can already defeat a Xuanji realm great circle martial artist.”
……
Zhang Ruochen was also a bit curious, who would Zixi challenge?
Zi Xi stood above with dignity and said, “I challenge the ninth place, Senior Sister Liu Ning.”
Under the stage, countless people were stunned.
A new student actually wanted to challenge the top ten?
Zhang Ruochen was also slightly surprised for a moment, but he knew that Zixi wasn’t a risk-taker, and since she chose to challenge Liu Ning, she definitely had some certainty.
“She doesn’t have a lot of guts to challenge Liu Ning. Liu Ning was the second freshman five years ago, the same year as Sister Dust, and if Sister Dust hadn’t pushed her down, she would probably have been the first freshman five years ago.” Duanmu Xingling asked, “Zhang Ruochen, I’m afraid that your ace will lose eight or nine out of ten.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “What are Liu Ning’s shortcomings?”
Duanmu Xingling pondered for a moment and said, “If I really want to talk about flaws, it’s just like me, flawed in speed.”
Duanmu Xingling’s speed was already very fast, but when compared to the martial artists ranked in front of the Xuan Rankings, the disadvantage of speed became apparent.
This was also the reason why her ranking in The Xuan Ranking was far inferior to Huang Yicun.
Of course, after cultivating the Royal Wind Flying Dragon Shadow, Duanmu Xingling’s speed disadvantage was compensated for, and her ranking on the Xuan Ranking immediately skyrocketed, rushing into the top 100, reaching the 88th position.
Zhang Ruochen said, “If Liu Ning has a flaw in speed, then Zixi might have a chance to win.”
While Zhang Ruochen and Duanmu Xingling were exchanging words, Liu Ning had already battled Zixi.
Although Zixie’s cultivation was only at the Xuanji Realm’s Great Extreme Position, her speed was extremely fast, reaching fifty-seven metres per second.
Liu Ning was at the peak of the Xuan Extremity Realm Great Extremity, yet her speed was only fifty-four metres per second, much slower than Zixi.
The most powerful thing about Liu Ning was her strength. Just the waves of true qi fists that she struck out shook Zixi to the point that she kept retreating, as if she would lose at any moment.
“You’re underestimating me if you think you can win just because you’re faster than me! I can become the ninth in the Western Academy, a ranking that I fought with hard power.” Liu Ning laughed coldly.
Zixi steadied her footsteps, her palm gently touched the top of her robe, and thirty-six silver needles appeared in her hand.
She transported her true qi to her palms and spat it out from her palms, and the thirty-six silver needles were suspended between her palms.
With a push of her arm, under the effect of her true qi, the thirty-six silver needles turned into a piece of silver light and flew towards Liu Ning.
……
