“My name is Du Zheng Ying. Remember my name, because soon, this name will be known all around the world!” The young man exclaimed proudly.
This man looked to be in his early twenties, and his cultivation level was the sixth layer of Element Gathering Tier. Who knew where he got such overwhelming self-confidence from.
But only he himself knew that he had only been in the ninth layer of Body Refining Tier two years ago, and could not manage to break through to Element Gathering Tier. Yet he obtained a fateful encounter, which caused his cultivation level to spike up. After only two years, he was already in the sixth layer of Element Gathering Tier.
After such instantaneous success, he naturally became condescending towards everything, and thought that he’d be able to reach the ninth layer of Element Gathering Tier next year and break through to Gushing Spring Tier in the year after, sweeping away all the other geniuses and elites of the world.
Ling Han smiled calmly, and said, “Being too idle would be a bit boring anyways, so I’ll play with you for a while.”
“How dare you!” Du Zheng Ying leapt forward suddenly, the long saber at his waist drawn. The light of the saber flickered, exuding a coldness like frost. He gave a loud shout and brandished his saber in a slash, which formed a terrifying cold flash that flew towards Ling Han’s waist.
The advantage of a sword was its lightness, while the saber had its ferocity. This saber slash was fierce and merciless, so it did have a certain level of standard.
Ling Han drew his sword, and with a ‘ding’, the blade of the sword screamed as it passed over the saber’s blade all the way to the hilt of the saber, easily dispersing the power of this slash as it kicked up a rain of sparks.
The blade of Du Zheng Ying’s saber stopped at a spot three inches below Ling Han’s rib, but its energy was completely exhausted and it was no longer a threat.
“You do have some ability,” Du Zheng Ying snorted coldly, “But in front of me, all that is pointless effort! I’m destined to be a genius that will become world-famous. Everyone else is only fated to become stepping stones on my path to advance, to be mercilessly swept away by me!”
He resumed his offensive. “Shua, shua, shua,” the saber flashed, striking with considerable power.
Those who were standing downstage were completely struck speechless. They have seen many proud people, but Du Zheng Ying was not just proud anymore. He was already arrogant to the point that he didn’t know his own measure.
Ling Han casually parried his attacks. In any case, the tournament stage battles would only end by sundown, so there was no difference whether he defeated Du Zheng Ying sooner or later.
Du Zheng Ying shouted and yelled, using all his ultimate techniques. From the look of it, he was at an absolute advantage.
He naturally thought that this was to be expected. His opponent was only in the fourth layer of Element Gathering Tier, a whole two layers below him, so how could Ling Han be a match for him? To be able to disregard the gap between cultivation levels and challenge one at a higher cultivation level was of course something that only he could do.
“Hahahaha, not bad, not bad. I have to admit that you really are not bad. But everything will cease at this point, I’m about to get serious!” Du Zheng Ying laughed loudly, causing everyone else to think that he was even more of an idiot than before.
His expression grew serious, and he once again brandished his blade. “Shua,” there actually appeared a flash of Saber Qi!
“Yi!”
“En!”
Gasps exploded downstage all of a sudden.
“Saber Qi!”
“It can’t be! That’s the sign of a ruler!”
“I didn’t realize that this egomaniac was actually quite capable.”
“This time, Ling Han should not be able to parry his attacks anymore.”
“I heard that there are no more than ten within this generation that have managed to grasp ‘Qi’!”
Du Zheng Ying was very proud of himself. If it was not because he had managed to form Saber Qi, how would he dare keep such a high profile? He laughed loudly, and said, “To be able to make me use Saber Qi, you should feel very honored!”
Ling Han shook his head and said in disappointment, “You only have one flash of Saber Qi?”
‘Hey, hey, hey, what kind of expression is that? Isn’t one flash of Saber Qi already very awesome?’ Du Zheng Yi was extremely displeased. After seeing him forming Saber Qi, this brat was still not scared witless?
“It’s enough to defeat you a hundred times!” He yelled loudly. He started brandishing his saber in a dance, and his Saber Qi moved unhindered. The power behind it was extremely terrifying.
Ling Han laughed, and casually waved his own sword in a slash, similarly producing a flash of Sword Qi.
“Pu!”
Everyone downstage choked in shock.
Those who managed to form “Qi” would have the potential to be a ruler in martial arts. But normally, four flashes of “Qi” would be regarded as a minor accomplishment, seven flashes as a major accomplishment, while ten flashes would be completion. And only those who managed to reach the level of minor accomplishment had the right to be named as rulers.
But even if only one flash of “Qi” was formed, that was already a very big deal, as it was extremely rare. Thus, now that there appeared two people who have both managed to form “Qi” and were even battling on the same stage, it naturally caused everyone to gasp in surprise.
…This was something that they had expected would only happen at tomorrow’s battle, at the very least.
“What, you actually also have Sword Qi?” Du Zheng Ying’s eyes were wide with astonishment. He looked extremely shocked.
“Is this very odd?” Ling Han said with a laugh.
“Heng, so what if you possess Sword Qi, you’ll definitely still be no match for me!” Du Zheng Ying raised his saber up high, standing in an attacking stance.
The fateful encounter that he had obtained included a book of Saber Arts and a bottle of alchemical pills. The alchemical pills allowed him to break through to Element Gathering Tier and also caused his cultivation to soar. The book of Saber Arts was also extraordinary. It contained two different stages. The first stage was a Yellow Grade high level martial arts technique, whereas the second stage was upgraded to Black Grade low level.
He was only in Element Gathering Tier, so naturally only managed to learn the first stage. Yet it already allowed him to form Saber Qi, which was proof enough of the extraordinary power of this Saber Arts technique.
“Cleaving Mountain Saber Arts!” He roared loudly. He brandished his saber in a slash, and the Saber Qi he produced looked like a dragon, extremely dazzling and possessing a terrifying level of power.
Ling Han’s sword rose in a slant, using the Shocking Electricity Sword Arts, and the Sword Qi he possessed flew forwards.
“Peng!”
Sword Qi and Saber Qi crashed into one another and caused a sudden explosion. A dazzling light appeared, and it was visible that the Saber Qi was actually completely shattered by Ling Han’s attack. His Sword Qi, like a rainbow, continued forward to cut into Du Zheng Ying’s chest. Instantly, blood splattered.
“Ah…” Du Zheng Ying gave a pained shout, and was flung directly offstage by the power of the Sword Qi.
“Si!”
Everyone was overwhelmed with shock. Both martial artists had formed Qi, yet why was there such a big gap between their respective power?
There were only a few who had also managed to form “Qi”; it was only them that knew that there were stronger and weaker “Qi”. It was definitely not something that guaranteed you success if you just manage to form it. However, no matter how weak it was, it was still Qi, so it was impossible that it couldn’t even withstand a single attack. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be so difficult to form Qi in the first place.
That could only mean one thing–Ling Han’s Sword Qi possessed overwhelming power!
Even the Fourth Prince, Li Dong Yue and the other Stage Masters who occupied the earlier stages revealed expressions of shock. This kind of attack power caused even them to be slightly surprised. Yet they thought that their cultivation level was so much higher than Ling Han, so they absolutely could still suppress him with their much stronger prowess.
Such an easy victory also caused Ling Han’s image to become stronger and taller, letting everyone know that he was not as simple as simply depending on three alchemists as support for himself.
The challenges continued. Most of the people had focused their attention on the ninth and tenth tournament stages. The Stage Masters of these two stages were the weakest and had already expended much energy during the continuous battles. This was the best path to obtain a place in the top ten for everyone else.
When the sun set, the top ten martial artists were decided.
There was not much surprise this time round, as the top ten were mostly within expectations. Though Li Hao tried his best in his battles, his lacking cultivation level was a very solid disadvantage. The best he could do was to fight evenly with someone in the fourth layer of Element Gathering Tier, but against a stronger person, he could only accept defeat.
Ling Dong Xing was again surrounded by the masses. Most of them had not thought that Ling Han could actually manage to advance into the top ten. This was an extremely huge honor. In future, he may even have a chance of becoming a powerful warrior of Gushing Spring Tier.
This naturally caused Ling Dong Xing to beam with joy. When he saw that his son managed to attain such an accomplishment, he was the most delighted out of all of them.
If he advanced one step further the next day, then he’d be able to get the Dark Moon Grass.
Ling Han was filled with anticipation.