The next morning, before the sky even lit up, countless silhouettes made their way to the top of the mountain. It didn’t take long for the entire mountain to be filled with spectators. As for the latecomers, they could only find a spot somewhere further away.
At the Violethut Academy’s area, a violet-clothed individual was sitting down with his eyes closed as he meditated. No one knew how long he had been here for, but it was naturally Cao Zhen. His presence instantly attracted everyone’s attention. They were shocked that Cao Zhen came so early today. No matter how noisy the surrounding discussion was, there was no change in Cao Zhen’s expression.
“That’s Cao Zhen?” There were many newcomers and they were shocked when they looked at him. Cao Zhen looked like a skinny saber, but everyone could tell with just one look that he was strong.
But those who were familiar with Cao Zhen knew that he was more terrifying than his appearance let on. Many elders and disciples of the Violethut Academy were filled with confidence as they looked at him. Today, they would take the incomplete divine rune and fulfill the declaration they made two decades ago. With Cao Zhen around, there was nothing for them to be worried about.
“Flower Burial!” Someone suddenly exclaimed and everyone looked at the Heavenly Province Academy’s party arriving with Lin Yun. Lin Yun carried a sword box, so it was easy to spot him.
At the beginning of the competition, Lin Yun was deemed as the weakest helper of the five academies. But after yesterday’s battle, Lin Yun had proved his strength along with the Heavenly Province Academy’s eyesight. No one dared to underestimate him anymore.
Just thinking about how Luo Shen, Chen Yu, and Cao Xiu died miserably was enough to prove Lin Yun’s strength. There was without a doubt that Lin Yun had become the center of focus.
Lin Yun gently landed on the ground and looked at Cao Zhen, “You’re really early.”
“I told you that I would wait for you,” said Cao Zhen as he opened his eyes. When he opened his eyes, his pupils glowed bright like a sharp saber.
In the next second, two figures soared into the sky and landed on the stage. One was like a sword that made the clouds tremble, while the other was like a sharp saber that emitted a cold killing aura.
Everyone knew that this was the final battle of the Five Academies Competition. When Lin Yun and Cao Zhen landed on the stage, they raised their heads to look at each other before they unleashed their auras.
Lin Yun knew that Cao Zhen wouldn’t be an easy opponent as this was the first time he sensed such a terrifying pressure.
“Compared to Cao Xiu and the rest, you barely qualify as an opponent. I have to advise you to be careful or you’ll die a terrible death,” said Cao Zhen. Everyone could sense the eerie killing aura bursting from his body. At this moment, his frail body looked like an asura from hell. When he said those words, everyone could sense that the surrounding atmosphere had frozen.
Were they going to start immediately? The surrounding suddenly became quiet as both the Violethut Academy and Heavenly Province Academy’s parties wore nervous expressions. They could tell that Lin Yun and Cao Zhen were strong, so neither could guarantee a win.
Even if the Violethut Academy’s party had a certain degree of confidence, they were still worried when they thought about Lin Yun’s Thunderbolt Slasher.
“Everyone is afraid of death, but there are things we have to prove in life even with death,” said Lin Yun. He was naturally afraid of death, but compared to death, he was even more afraid that he would lose his way as a swordsman.
This was the toughest battle he would have since leaving the Great Qin Empire. He wasn’t just doing this because of his promise to Liu Yunyan or to further temper himself. He was ready to jump in because his sword never wavered.
“Defeating you today is what I, Lin Yun, will have to do today.” Lin Yun’s eyes blazed with fighting spirits as he took a step forward and unleashed his origin energy.
“Let’s fight then!” smiled Cao Zhen. Both of them made their moves at the same time as they disappeared.
“Where are they?”
“How fast!”
“Has the fight begun?” Exclamations came from the surroundings since no one imagined that the two would act so quickly. Lin Yun and Cao Zhen had disappeared before they could react.
Without warning, an explosion rang out on the stage as a sword and saber clashed together. The collision of the two weapons caused the entire mountain to start trembling.
Before some of the spectators could react, they felt their internal organs tremble from the explosion. When they recovered from their shock, they quickly turned their heads to where the sounds came from. They saw a silver sword and a white saber clashing in mid-air at the center of the stage, with ripples that could be seen spreading out in the air.
The sheer force of their collision swept up a powerful gale along with clouds of dust that forced many spectators to close their eyes. Many people even had difficulty standing despite the stage being a few thousand meters away. The fight was terrifying.
Throughout the fight, Lin Yun’s xiantian sword intent continued to grow incessantly as waves of terrifying sword aura gushed out from his body. As he twisted his wrist, the Flower Burial Sword created countless sword rays that shot out.
All the sword rays looked real, so it wasn’t easy to tell which were illusions. Lin Yun had perfectly combined the Overlord Sword and Aquaselenic Sword together before using the Iris Sword Sutra to unleash many terrifying sword rays.
“Interesting.” Cao Zhen frowned at this move. He had to admit that Lin Yun’s sword technique was giving him a headache. Compared to yesterday, Lin Yun’s attacks were very different and caught him by surprise.
“Absolutecloud Saber—Shattered Clouds!” Each slash from Cao Zhen’s saber brought along a violent wind that moved the clouds above. After ten-odd attacks later, the aura around Cao Zhen had reached an overwhelming level.
But right at this moment, Lin Yun’s sword burst out with a sharp killing aura.
Aquaselenic Sword—Heavenly Cloud Shatter!
This attack made Cao Zhen’s face change slightly as he avoided it. Lin Yun’s sword landed on the stage and left behind a long ravine that was at least a thousand meters.
When the sword ray reached the end of the stage, it suddenly exploded and created a crater over one hundred meters wide. The entire mountain trembled from the impact. Even though this was only a transcendent spiritual grade sword technique, it was terrifying since it had reached the Manifestation Stage.
If Cao Zhen was struck by it, he would be in a terrible position. At this moment, everyone looked at Lin Yun in shock as they were all surprised by Lin Yun’s attainments with the sword.
Cao Zhen narrowed his eyes, and he said, “You have quite a few means. I’m surprised that you can force me this far without using the sword technique you used yesterday. But it’s time for you to bring out your true strength!”
Cao Zhen’s aura began to rise and his origin energy began to boil. When everyone sensed his aura, their hearts throbbed because Cao Zhen had really reached the greater Yang stage before the age of twenty!