“The four factions’ martial arts competition, we are the hosts. Cao Yun, you go and spar with your fellow disciples!”
After the three factions introduced their participating disciples, Chen Nanxing said to Cao Yun.
“Understood, Master!”
A confident smile appeared on Cao Yun’s face as he walked to the centre of the Sword Pavilion.
With his cultivation at the ninth level of the Mortal Realm Divine Power stage, purely in terms of cultivation, he surpassed the third-ranked core disciples of the Moonlight Sect and the Beast King Palace.
Yet, in the Sword King Sect, he was only ranked fifth.
If not for the deaths of Chen Tian and Wu Zonglian, he likely would not have had his chance to compete.
“Everyone, who’s first?”
Cao Yun stood there, his gaze fixed on Leng Hao.
Leng Hao, the third-ranked disciple of the Moonlight Sect, had a lower cultivation level than him, making him a relatively easy target to defeat. It would also serve as a show of strength to humble the Moonlight Sect and vent some frustration for his sect, an ideal choice.
Unfortunately, Leng Hao did not even glance at him, instead whispering and chatting with Ling Xiao beside him.
Cao Yun was irritated. How dare a clown from the Moonlight Sect disrespect him!
Just as he was about to hurl some mocking words, someone stepped into the arena.
“Let me test Brother Cao’s skills.”
The one who stepped forward was Wang Lang, the third-ranked core disciple of the Beast King Palace, whose cultivation was on par with Cao Yun’s and who looked extremely ferocious.
“Fine!”
Cao Yun glanced at the Moonlight Sect members and sneered, “You cowards, watch closely how real warriors fight!”
“Utter nonsense.”
Ling Xiao glanced at Dai Yuling and said in a low voice, “Senior Sister Yuling, don’t hold back for our sake. When it’s your turn, just crush this guy. So much nonsense.”
“Mm.”
Dai Yuling nodded with a smile, showing no sign of hesitation.
Clearly, she was very confident.
While they spoke, the battle over there had already concluded.
Cao Yun indeed had some skill. Although Wang Lang was no slouch, he was defeated in just two moves under Cao Yun’s hands.
With the same level of cultivation, Cao Yun’s strength was clearly superior to Wang Lang’s. His arrogance was not entirely baseless.
“I yield!”
Cao Yun clasped his fists towards Wang Lang.
Wang Lang returned to his seat, visibly dejected.
“Senior Brother, you’re no good. Defeated in two moves? I’ll go next!”
Li Hu glanced at Wang Lang, feeling rather unconvinced, and jumped into the arena, saying, “Brother Cao, if you need a rest, we can pause. If not, let’s begin.”
Originally, after defeating Wang Lang, Cao Yun had intended to target someone from the Moonlight Sect, but Li Hu stepped up instead.
Feeling somewhat annoyed, his attacks became even more ruthless than before.
Li Hu was indeed a bit smarter and more cunning than Wang Lang. Facing Cao Yun’s attacks, though he was steadily pushed back, he managed to hold out for ten moves before being injured by a single sword strike from Cao Yun.
“I’ve lost!”
Li Hu was thoroughly frustrated.
He sat there silently.
“This doesn’t look good. Cao Yun seems quite strong. Is Yuling really a match for him?”
Lan Yuer looked at Ling Xiao with some concern and asked.
“Don’t worry. Within ten moves, the outcome will be clear. It’s not that Cao Yun is too strong, but those two from the Beast King Palace are too weak. They’re practically just making up numbers. The real powerhouses on their side are Ba Tianhu and Ying Wuya. Even She Jiao is stronger than those two.”
In terms of insight, no one present could surpass Ling Xiao. He had long seen through their strengths, which was why he arranged for Dai Yuling to fight.
“Two matches are over, Cao Yun. Take a break for now. Next, the Beast King Palace will take the stage.”
A sparring match is just that, a spar. Unlike a true duel, any rules can be negotiated.
Although Cao Yun felt he was fine, he had to follow Chen Nanxing’s orders and returned to his seat.
She Jiao stepped into the arena and directly challenged Ling Xiao.
“If you want to challenge Junior Brother Ling, you’ll have to get past me first.”
Dai Yuling slowly stood up, like a spirit of nature. Where she walked, flowers seemed to bloom, and even the plants appeared more vibrant.
This was due to her martial soul and the martial arts she cultivated.
“Fine. Our cultivations are equal. I’ll defeat you first, then challenge him.”
She Jiao did not object.
Her cultivation was currently at the early ninth level of the Mortal Realm, roughly the same as Dai Yuling’s.
“Defeating me won’t be that easy.”
Dai Yuling smiled lightly.
“Is that so?”
She Jiao’s eyes suddenly flashed with green light, and a snake’s shadow appeared behind her. Like She Mei, she also had a snake martial soul, though of a different kind.
“Of course!”
Dai Yuling did not show weakness. A shadow of a gourd vine appeared behind her, looking somewhat aged, with many roots yellowed or even withered, only showing some green at the base.
“What a pathetic martial soul!”
She Jiao glanced at it disdainfully.
Purple Vine Triple Wave!
Dai Yuling did not explain. She merely smiled faintly, and three purple vines suddenly shot out from behind her, hurtling towards She Jiao.
The vines extended from her gourd vine martial soul, as if alive, impossible to underestimate.
The overwhelming pressure made She Jiao’s heart tremble, her breathing suddenly heavy and difficult.
She now realised that one could not judge a person’s strength solely by their cultivation.
Nor could one judge a martial soul’s strength by its appearance.
This Dai Yuling was too strong!
Thousand Poisons Ten Thousand Snakes Hand!
She Jiao unleashed her strongest technique. The snake martial soul shadow behind her shimmered with dazzling light, and as she pushed her hands forward, countless snake shadows flew out, colliding with the three vines.
Snap, snap, snap…
A series of strikes rang out. The three vines, as if truly alive, swiftly cleared the snake shadows. In an instant, they not only eradicated the snake shadows entirely but also left several wounds on She Jiao’s body.
“What a terrifying martial soul, what an astonishing technique. Could this woman have inherited an ancient martial soul?”
“No mistake. Her martial soul looks unimpressive, but its power is immense. In terms of level, it has reached the first moment of the Soul Emergence stage, far stronger than She Jiao’s.”
“Indeed. She Jiao’s martial soul is only at the Complete Soul Entity stage, not yet at the Soul Emergence stage. The strength of a martial soul directly determines combat power.”
Those seated in the Sword Pavilion were all experts. Apart from the participating disciples of the three sects, there were the high-ranking leaders of the sects. Seeing the battle between Dai Yuling and She Jiao, they were all astonished.
Pfft, pfft, pfft!
Three consecutive sounds rang out as the three vines struck three points on She Jiao’s body.
They were not vital points, as sparring could not involve taking lives.
The Moonlight Sect had no need to provoke the Beast King Palace further after already offending the Sword King Sect.
She Jiao was knocked out of the arena, her challenge defeated.
“The fifth-ranked disciple of the Moonlight Sect actually defeated the fifth-ranked disciple of the Beast King Palace. This three-faction martial arts competition is interesting. Compared to past ones, it’s indeed a bit unexpected.”
Chen Nanxing stroked his beard, smiled, and looked at Cao Yun, saying, “Cao Yun, you’ve rested for a bit. Go test Dai Yuling’s strength.”
