On Sikong Technique’s body, Zhang Ruochen felt no small amount of pressure and laughed bitterly in his heart, originally just wanting to keep a low profile and pick a weaker challenger.
Yet, he hadn’t thought that he had picked a top expert who was even more powerful than Ju Hailan.
Of course, since he had ascended the challenge stage, no matter how strong his opponent was, he must go all out.
“Senior brother, first receive a stick from senior brother.”
Sikong Technique roared, his voice was like a loud, deafening bell, turning into a rush of wind surging towards Zhang Ruochen. His feet stomped on the ground and he was as fast as a giant ape, rushing to Zhang Ruochen in a flash.
Raising his stick with both hands, he swung it down.
A wave of cold air poured out, and when Zhang Ruochen looked up, he only saw a huge stick shadow pressing down, it was almost as if an icy peak had pressed down upside down.
One must know that that one iron stick was 1,608 jin, if it was struck, even a 10,000 jin boulder would be able to smash into stone dust.
Zhang Ruochen did not clash with him, his legs were slightly bent, his body was short, and he performed the Wind Flying Dragon Shadow, as if he was travelling on the wind, and swept behind Sikong Technique.
Taking the initiative to attack, he swung his sword in a chop.
“Haha!”
Sikong Technique struck the stick in the air and laughed aloud, immediately twisting the tiger’s waist and swinging the stick backhandedly, slashing over towards his back.
Not only was he tall and powerful with amazing strength, but he also had a rather fast reaction speed, not giving Zhang Ruochen any chance at all.
If Zi Xie dared to challenge Sikong Technique, she would not have a single chance of winning, and would most likely be seriously injured by Sikong Shu in a single move.
Facing the oncoming Tungsten Star Cold Iron Stick, Zhang Ruochen simply had no room to retreat and could only fight hard. He gripped his sword with both hands and mobilised all the true qi in his body to meet it with a single strike.
“Boom!”
The power of the Tungsten Star Cold Iron Rod was surprisingly large, and just after the collision, Zhang Ruochen felt a mountainous force coming from the battle sword, sending him flying.
Fortunately, he had cultivated the Royal Wind Flying Dragon Shadow, and when he was about to fall off the Challenge Stage, he stomped in the air, and his body steadily descended and stood on the edge of the Challenge Stage.
“What a great strength.” Zhang Ruochen felt pain in his five fingers, and his arms felt like they were about to break.
After running the Jade Pure True Qi around his entire body for a week, the pain in his arms eased a bit.
Seeing that Zhang Ruochen had actually caught his stick hard, an excited look appeared in Sikong Technique’s eyes as he laughed, “Senior Brother is really good at this, it makes me admire Senior Brother. If I had allowed Senior Brother to cultivate for another year and a half, Senior Brother I would have lost miserably. Only with your current cultivation level, Senior Brother, but you are definitely not a match for Senior Brother me.”
After Zhang Ruochen had learnt of Sikong Technique’s formidable power, he no longer fought with Sikong Technique, slowly releasing the Space-Time Domain to cover the entire Challenge Stage.
“Heaven Breaking Eighteen Sticks!”
Sikong Art wanted to defeat Zhang Ruochen in one go, so he unleashed a Spirit Grade Lower Grade Attacking Stick Technique.
Carrying the stick with both hands, he slashed horizontally towards Zhang Ruochen with a sweeping momentum.
Sikong Technique’s attainments in the stick technique had reached the Sui Xin rank, carrying an iron stick of 1,608 jin was like carrying a wooden stick, lifting heavy weights as if they were light, opening and closing widely, dancing with a nebulous flow of water.
The eighteen moves of the stick, wave after wave, became stronger and stronger, completely sealing the space in all directions of Zhang Ruochen.
The powerful winds made “popping” sounds.
The trainees under the stage all pinched a sweat for Zhang Ruochen, if he was hit by the 1,608kg iron stick, it was estimated that his bones would turn into powder.
“Zhang Ruochen has no way back, within ten moves, he will definitely lose.” Yuchi Tiancong sneered.
“Even if he loses, he is still quite powerful. Other top ten ranked students, such as Xue Qingchuan and Cai Chen, are probably unable to receive so many moves from Sikong Technique. Zhang Ruochen possesses the strength to enter the top ten of the Western Academy.”
Just when everyone thought that Zhang Ruochen would definitely lose, suddenly, the surrounding trainees exclaimed in shock.
The crowd looked towards the challenge stage, only to see Zhang Ruochen surprisingly leap three feet high in one go, escaping Sikong Art’s battle circle.
“Senior brother, you can’t escape.”
Sikong Art laughed out loud and his body violently leapt upwards, actually leaping seven feet high, instantly soaring above Zhang Ruochen’s head, raising his stick with both hands and slashing down.
All martial artists knew that flying in mid-air, there was nowhere to borrow strength, and once attacked, they could not even hide.
“Swish!”
Right at this moment, Zhang Ruochen’s body paused slightly at a position three feet above the ground, and miraculously took a second step, flying upwards and kicking another three feet high, reaching a height of six feet above the ground.
Not yet finished, his body once again leapt upwards, reaching a position nine feet above the ground.
The three leaps were completed in a flash of lightning, causing those trainees under the stage to gasp in astonishment.
“What kind of martial art is …… this?”
“Without borrowing any strength, one can actually make two consecutive prancing leaps in the air.”
An elder said, “It’s not that he didn’t borrow any power, he borrowed the wind. He should not have cultivated this kind of martial skill to a great extent yet, otherwise, he could definitely borrow the wind and pranced into the clouds.”
That one Elder was right, Zhang Ruochen had only cultivated the Wind-Defying Flying Dragon Shadow to a small level of success right now, and at most, he could only make two upward leaps in mid-air.
If he had cultivated the Wind-Guarding Flying Dragon Shadow to a great accomplishment, he would be able to leap upwards in mid-air nine times, and would indeed have a chance to jump to the clouds.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen stood nine feet above the ground, two feet higher than Sikong Technique.
He held his sword in both hands, an odd smile on his face, “Senior brother, you catch my sword as well.”
“Heavenly Heart Tidal Wave.”
In mid-air, the sound of a tidal wave surging resounded, and the sword Qi was like a layer of water waves, surging downwards.
Zhang Ruochen’s use of the “Heavenly Heart Tidal Wave” instead of using another sword move was actually an attempt to utilise the momentum.
Borrowing what momentum?
Sikong Technique was now hanging seven feet above the ground, and was about to fall down rapidly. With his cultivation, even if he fell from seven feet in the air, he would not be injured.
However, Zhang Ruochen executed the “Heavenly Heart Tidal Wave” and chopped the sword qi downwards from the sky, in order to make Sikong Technique accelerate his fall downwards.
A moment later.
“Boom!”
Sikong Technique’s feet landed on the ground, stomping the ground with a roar, and the powerful impact caused his legs to bend slightly, almost unable to stabilise his body to sit on the ground.
“Pah-pah!”
The bones in Sikong Technique’s entire body rattled, fortunately, he reacted quickly, and before he landed on the ground, he drew back the true qi in the Tungsten Star Cold Iron Stick, causing the Tungsten Star Cold Iron Stick to become only one hundred and eight jin in weight.
If not, he would definitely not be able to withstand, the force of that violent fall just now.
“Heavenly Heart Full Moon!”
Zhang Ruochen seized the opportunity, and before he even landed on the ground, he chopped out with his sword, chopping at Sikong Technique’s neck.
In his haste, Sikong Technique took a step backward and swung his Tungsten Star Cold Iron Rod to block it.
How could the Tungsten Star Cold Iron Rod without activated inscriptions be able to block Zhang Ruochen?
“Boom!”
The Tungsten Star Cold Iron Rod flew out of Sikong Technique’s hand and fell down the challenge stage.
When Zhang Ruochen had the upper hand, he pressed on step by step, no longer leaving any chance for Sikong Art to fight back.
Sikong Art was forced to keep retreating, more than a dozen sword cuts appearing on his robes, and in the end, he was forced to the edge of the Challenge Stage.
“Blood Qi Condensation!”
A thick blood qi emanated from Sikong Technique’s body, and a five-metre-diameter blood formation coalesced under his feet, presenting the shadow of a giant savage lion and a stick-shaped blood soldier behind him.
Only when one reached the Great Perfection of the Xuanji Realm could they combine the blood beast, blood soldier, and blood formation all together to form a vision of blood qi, known as the “Blood Qi Condensation”.
Stimulating the power of his bloodline, Sikong Technique’s battle power climbed by a large margin, and with a wave of his arm, he punched out.
Along with Sikong Technique’s fist, the gigantic Savage Lion Void and the stick-shaped Blood Soldier flew towards Zhang Ruochen at the same time.
“Blood Qi Condensed Beast!”
Zhang Ruochen also stimulated the power of his bloodline, and a dragon shadow and elephant shape condensed behind him.
As soon as the sword stabbed out, the dragon shadow and elephant shape followed and surged over, crashing into Sikong Technique.
A shocking scene appeared as the dragon shadow and elephant shadow unexpectedly tore apart Sikong Technique’s blood qi vision, crushing him with a crushing might, sending him flying out and crashing down the challenge stage.
“The Blood Qi Condensation Beast of the Xuan Extremity Realm’s Minor Extremity Position unexpectedly broke the Blood Qi Condensation God of the Xuan Extremity Realm’s Great Perfection. How could Zhang Ruochen’s bloodline power be so powerful?”
From afar, the three Vice Courtyard Masters and the West Courtyard Master were shocked.
The Western Courtyard Master lost his voice and shouted, “Dragon Elephant Bloodline, he actually inspired a Dragon Elephant Bloodline.”
“It is indeed the Dragon Elephant Bloodline, Sikong Technique’s defeat at his hands is not unfair at all.” The South Courtyard’s Courtyard Master said.
The Vice-Master of the Northern Courtyard laughed, “Congratulations, Courtyard Master, the Western Courtyard has another Xuan Ranked Martial Artist level expert. This son, has the potential to hit the top ten of the Xuan Ranking.”
Those other trainees simply did not understand the significance of the Dragon Elephant Bloodline. However, they could see clearly that Zhang Ruochen had condensed the Blood Dragon and Blood Elephant, and just that martial aura alone could pressurise martial artists of the same realm to the point where they could not breathe.
The elder guarding the challenge stage was also slightly surprised for a moment before loudly announcing, “Zhang Ruochen has won the challenge and is ranked seventh in the Western Academy.”
Although it was only seventh, however, everyone knew that Zhang Ruochen’s true strength was feared to be able to enter the top five of the Western Academy.
Zhang Ruochen walked towards the challenge stage, and another student ascended the challenge stage
Cadets who were ranked behind the seventh in the Western Academy also had people who took the initiative to challenge Zhang Ruochen, however, they were all defeated by Zhang Ruochen. Gradually, Zhang Ruochen’s strength was recognised, and there were fewer and fewer cadets who dared to challenge him.
It was getting late and nightfall was approaching.
In the West Courtyard Martial Stadium, twelve balls of fire were lit up, illuminating the night sky.
On the ten challenge platforms, brutal battles were still being fought, that is, there were people who won their challenges, and there were also people who lost their challenges.
After Zhang Ruochen defeated eight challengers in a row, no one dared to challenge him anymore.
“Zhang Ruochen!”
Duanmu Xingling stood at the edge of the West Courtyard Martial Stadium and mysteriously waved at Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen walked over and said, “Senior Sister Duanmu, what is it you want?”
“Shhh! Keep your voice down, don’t get caught.”
Duanmu Xingling put her finger to her lips and made a silent gesture.
“Come with me, don’t make a sound.”
Duanmu Xingling appeared to be very cautious, just like a thief, looking left and right, seeing that he was not spotted before leading Zhang Ruochen towards the night.
……
