“A battle with him might be able to bring my attainments in swordplay to the next level.”
Qing Chi Bai looked in the direction of the Battle Martial Stage and realised that Liu Xin couldn’t even touch the corner of Zhang Ruochen’s coat, and was completely suppressed by Zhang Ruochen.
“He is indeed a sword master.” Qing Chi Bai’s heart became even more determined to fight Zhang Ruochen.
“Boom!”
Zhang Ruochen finally opened his eyes and stabbed his sword at Liu Xin’s abdomen, a powerful force travelled out from the sword and shook Liu Xin out, falling off the Battle Martial Stage.
Since the broken sword did not have a tip, Liu Xin was not too seriously injured, he just looked very wretched!
If he had lost in the hands of Qing Chibai, Liu Xin would not have any complaints, but to lose in the hands of a prince who was a lowly county lord was definitely a heavy blow to him, and was even harder to bear than if he had been killed.
Liu Xin’s eyes were a little dull, his mouth kept chanting, “He used only a broken sword, how could I lose …… how could I lose ……”
The crowd all saw quite clearly that Liu Xin had never touched Zhang Ruochen’s body from the beginning to the end, if Zhang Ruochen really wanted to defeat him, it was estimated that it would really only take one move.
Liu Xin greyly hid into the crowd, very afraid of being seen by Zhang Ruochen and forcing him to chop off his hand. If he really chopped off his hand, it would definitely affect his future cultivation.
Zhang Ruochen naturally saw Liu Xin hiding in the crowd and gently shook his head, not wanting to force him, after all, he was a disciple of the Left Minister.
If Zhang Ruochen forced him to chop off his hand, it would be like slapping the Left Minister’s face, and the Left Minister would definitely retaliate. There was no benefit to the Yunwu County Kingdom.
Anyway, after today’s incident, Liu Xin would be reduced to a joke in the Thousand Water County Kingdom, so Zhang Ruochen was too lazy to add fuel to the fire.
Now, throughout the entire Sword Discussion Assembly, no one dared to mock Zhang Ruochen anymore, even if he really claimed himself to be the world’s number one swordsmanship expert, people wouldn’t find it laughable, they would only think that he was a very self-confident person who possessed a wildly arrogant nature.
Huo Ming was also completely dumbfounded, staring at Zhang Ruochen who stood on the Battle Martial Stage, feeling as if he had been viciously slapped by Zhang Ruochen.
“Wow!”
Those noble ladies on the first floor of Jin Feng Wan threw out another piece of gold and jade leaves, which fell onto the Battle Martial Stage in a flurry.
Even the third floor of Golden Phoenix Wan threw out two golden jade leaves. One must know that on the third floor, those watching the battle were all the county lords of the Thousand Water County.
There were actually two County Lords who also showed their love to Zhang Ruochen.
At the same time, on the Flying Pavilion hidden in the void, the laughter of the County King of Thousand Waters also resounded, saying, “Minister Ning, this Zhang Ruochen you mentioned is truly a young hero, using a broken sword he was able to defeat Tuoba Linsu and Liu Xin.”
Shangshu Ning laughed, “This Zhang Ruochen is indeed quite outstanding, however, he is still a little bit inferior compared to the Great King when he was young. As I recall, the Great King was in the Eastern Sea Sacred City back then, defeating all the geniuses from various countries with one person and one sword, and that elegance is still unrivalled even today.”
Hearing the flattering words of Minister Ning, the County King of Thousand Waters was in a great mood, thinking of his own youth, and laughed out loud, “Minister Ning, don’t forget that Zhang Ruochen used a broken sword. To be so powerful even with a broken sword, this king was not as good as him even back then.”
The ten powerful ministers present were all old foxes and had already heard something else.
It seemed that the Great King had already moved to love talent and was ready to recruit Zhang Ruochen as his son-in-law.
Naturally, Minister Ning also heard the meaning in the words of the County King of Thousand Waters and said in his heart, ”The Great King seems to be quite optimistic about Zhang Ruochen, this Zhang Ruochen will have a great future in the future, I must bring the relationship with the Yunwu County Kingdom a little closer. On the side of the Four Direction County Kingdom, I will also have to go and knock around a bit.”
Great General Gongsun Lin laughed, “Today, Zhang Ruochen broke his sword to battle the group of heroes at the Sword Discussion Conference, defeating all the heavenly prides of all walks of life, and soon, his fame will surely spread to all the countries.”
The Left Minister said, “Whether or not Zhang Ruochen can spread his fame to all the countries, there is still one final battle to go. If he loses to Qing Chi Bai, then all the glory he won earlier will be transferred to Qing Chi Bai.”
Minister Ning frowned slightly and said, “Qing Chibai is a half-saint disciple, and with his cultivation reaching the middle stage of the Earth Extreme Realm, and his sword intent realm reaching the peak of Sword Follows Heart, he can be called the number one heavenly pride of the Thousand Waters County Kingdom in the past hundred years. Zhang Ruochen’s defeat at his hands is not something to be ashamed of.”
Another powerhouse said, “When Qing Chibai was at the middle pole position of the Xuanji Realm, he should have been a little weaker than Zhang Ruochen. But now, he is still much stronger than Zhang Ruochen even if he suppressed his realm to the middle extreme level of the Xuan Extreme Realm. A battle between the two would have been unfair. Qing Chi Bai will win!”
“If Qing Chi Bai suppressed his cultivation to the Xuan Extreme Realm Small Extreme Position, it should be an even match. But that would be rather unfair to Qing Chi Bai as well. After all, as a half-saint disciple, he doesn’t want to lose either, and even more so, he can’t.”
“Zhang Ruochen only needs to last ten moves in Qing Chibai’s hands, and there will be a place for him among the young talents in the world today.”
……
The crowd of Jin Feng Wan didn’t know that those bigwigs of the Thousand Water County Kingdom were also paying attention to the latest rising young geniuses of each country.
For these bigwigs, each of the top geniuses could potentially grow to become world-defying overlords in the future. There was naturally no harm in bringing them together in advance now.
Zhang Ruochen stood on the Battle Martial Stage and didn’t rush to leave because he knew that even if he wanted to leave now, someone would definitely come out to stop him.
It was impossible to let him leave without defeating him.
Since this was the case, then he would defeat all those who had opinions, and beat all those who were unconvinced, and at that time, he would naturally be able to leave with ease.
“Who else wants to compete with me with a sword?” Zhang Ruochen carried his broken sword as he swept his gaze over every genius below.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen’s gaze, everyone lowered their heads.
“I’ll do it!”
Qing Chi Bai stood up and took off the outer robe that was split over his shoulders, revealing a neat and clean green robe, carrying a green coloured battle sword as he walked towards the Battle Martial Stage.
Cyan-coloured true qi surged beneath his feet, condensing into a cloud of true qi.
Every time he took a step, a cloud of true qi would appear under his feet, holding his body and sending him up to the Battle Martial Stage.
Seeing the stance that Qing Chi Bai had performed, a cry of surprise came from the crowd, “Could …… this be the legendary stance martial art ‘Flat Steps to Green Clouds’?”
“It should be that kind of martial skill, it’s said to be a Spirit Grade Upper Grade stance martial skill, and Qing Chibai is probably on the verge of cultivating it to its grand completion.”
“Qing Chibai is finally going to make a move, he represents the number one person in the younger generation of our Thousand Water County King, since he’s making a move, he should be able to easily defeat that one Ninth Prince of Yunwu County Kingdom.”
……
Qing Chi Bai landed on the Battle Martial Stage, looking very unrestrained, staring at Zhang Ruochen and smiling, “My name, Qing Chi Bai, originally did not want to make a move in the Sword Discussion Conference, however, after seeing the Ninth Prince’s exquisite swordsmanship, my heart admired it, and I would like to spar with Your Excellency as well. You have already fought four matches in a row, your true qi must have been heavily depleted, you should rest for half an hour first, and we will fight again.”
Zhang Ruochen knew that Qing Chi Bai was a strong opponent and was not arrogant enough to think that he would definitely be able to defeat him.
Zhang Ruochen nodded and immediately sat down on the ground and began to recover his depleted True Qi.
After about a quarter of an hour, Zhang Ruochen recovered to his peak state and stood up, staring at Qing Chi Bai, saying, “How do you plan to compete?”
Qing Chi Bai said, “My sword intent realm has reached the peak realm of Sword Follows Heart, so if we only compete in sword moves, it will definitely be quite unfavourable for you. Therefore, let’s follow the previous rules, I’ll suppress my cultivation to the middle pole position of the Xuan Extreme Realm, how about we battle at the same realm.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Good! I have no opinion!”
At this moment, Xun Guihai, who was sitting not far away from the Thirteen County Lords, stood up and smiled, “I have a proposal, I wonder if everyone is willing to listen to it?”
Qing Chi Bai glanced towards Xun Guihai and smiled, “What proposal does Brother Xun have, but there’s no harm in saying it.”
Xun Guihai said, “The Battle Martial Stage is only nine metres square, which seems a little too small for martial artists in the middle extreme position of the Xuanji Realm. Both of you are top experts in the Dao of the Sword, and a battle between the two of you is bound to be incomparably exciting. Why don’t you expand the battlefield to the entirety of Jin Feng Wan, wouldn’t it be more conducive for you to utilise your sword skills?”
The Thirteenth County Lord knew that Qing Chi Bai’s stance was very powerful and definitely had the advantage, so she immediately agreed and said, “Duke Xun is right, the limitations of the Battle Martial Stage are indeed too great. For your battle, you will use Golden Phoenix Wan as the battlefield, and you don’t need to limit yourselves to a mere Battle Martial Stage.”
Qing Chi Bai looked towards Zhang Ruochen and said, “Ninth Prince, do you think so?”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Since everyone has already decided, then I naturally have no objections.”
Qing Chi Bai stared at the broken sword in Zhang Ruochen’s hand and said; “Ninth Prince, you’d better change your sword!”
Zhang Ruochen smiled faintly and said, “I’m already accustomed to using my own sword, so if I temporarily switch to a different sword, I won’t be able to utilise my true strength instead.”
“Since that’s the case, then that’s it!”
Qing Chi Bai appeared dashing and calm as he raised his arm, the green coloured battle sword traced an arc in the void, one hand cupping the hilt and the other cupping the tip.
True Qi surged out from his fingertips, and it was as if his fingers were covered in a layer of cyan-coloured halo.
“Snap!”
That fourth rank True Martial Treasure Artifact grade battle sword was forcibly snapped under the effect of the green-red-white true qi, and it also turned into a broken sword.
With a wave of his hand, Qing Chi Bai threw the broken sword tip out, falling into the pool of water below the Battle Martial Stage.
The crowd stared at Qing Chibai with admiring eyes, feeling that he was open and honest. Only Zhang Ruochen understood that Qing Chibai had actually prepared to break his sword before he ascended the Battle Martial Stage, which was why he only brought a fourth rank True Martial Treasure Grade Battle Sword with him to the Battle Martial Stage.
If he had used an intact sword, even if he defeated Zhang Ruochen, the crowd would not recognise his strength.
On the contrary, if he took the initiative to break his battle sword and then defeated Zhang Ruochen, not only did he just win Zhang Ruochen, but he also won fame.
For a genius, reputation was also important.
Zhang Ruochen cleared all the distracting thoughts from his mind, his eyes staring straight at Qing Chibai who stood opposite him, his entire being was as if he was completely separate from the surrounding space, entering an incomparably empty realm.
