“Today will be the last day. Fight well.

First match. Tian Zhong. And Zhi Yong (the family name means “wise”, and the given name means “strong”).”

Thankfully, I don’t have to fight with Yun An. There is no way I can fight her seriously.

“May the junior master give some pointers.” Spoke, my opponent.

Zhi Yong is by no means weak. If the vines are correct, he is the fifth strongest among the participants, not including me and Yun An. Even so, I am two levels above him.

“I dare not.” Saying yes would make me sound prideful for wanting to displace his master’s duty. It’s just one way of thinking, but it will be the way those hostile people believe. I and his master are no friends. No reason to be careless. My action may affect two other persons I care about.

“Start!” Senior Fang Yun, our observer announced.

“Thirty palms of suppression!” He came forth to me with a series of attack.

After one has gained sufficient skills in Soundless Palm, they can learn the variety of palm combos. The thirty palms of suppression is a combo aims to restrict the enemy movement. The thirty palms will strike the area around the enemy, forcing them to stay put. Then-

“Nine palms of silence!”

The practitioner can release his next move to target the opponent. Using the nine palms was a great choice. This combo is essentially nine hits unleashed almost at the same time, overlapping the same mark. It is the best among the combos against a single target.

In a blink of the eyes, I drew my blade. 

The nine flying qi palms that were heading my way disappeared in a loud explosion.

“What? What’s that?”

“Did something happen?”

“Tian Zhong drew his sword!”

“What? I didn’t even see him draw the sword.”

“What happened?”

“One-point sword. A low-rank martial art. Qi is concentrated at the sword tip then released. Anyone can think of this stuff if they use their head a bit.”

I remembered this voice. He was the same person who commented on Yun An’s advancement to near mid qi manipulation. Turns out. The number one disciple of this batch is a quiet man in the ring and a running mouth on the sideline.

“Twenty three palms of lethality!”

The twenty-three that targets the forehead, the eyes, the eardrums, the lower jaw, the throat, the heart, the lungs, and the spinal joints. Unlike the nine and the thirty, the twenty-three is contact-technique.

Did he intend to not allow me to use One-point sword? I knew that was the only technique I used to defeat the previous contestants. Certainly he understood I would have more to myself, yes? He couldn’t be thinking this would work, wouldn't he?

I parried every palm with the sword.

Before his horror could completely manifest, my sword was already beside his neck.

I allowed him time to register the situation.

Instead of surrendering, he pushed my sword away, even formed a layer of qi over his neck as insurance.

Not that it matters. My enhanced sword could cut through any qi defense he could muster, if I would choose so. However, we were not enemies. Such lethal attack was uncalled for in this kind of battle. There were ways to win.

I grabbed one of his hands and tossed him away, then casually launched a qi bullet from my One-point sword toward him.

Still in the air, Zhi Yong hardened his defense with qi-imbued body, qi skin, flesh, bone, and a layer of qi armour over his chest area.

Upon impact, his qi defense was shattered. Zhi Yong laid unconscious.

It’s true that One-point sword is a low-rank technique. It has a long history and has become a common technique that anyone could learn. However, the master that taught me this technique had said. “Young master Tian. This technique is as basic as a punch, but the strongest martial artists are those that have the best fists.”

If this technique can concentrate qi to the point it can pierce through even the strongest defense, then it is a must-learn.

“Tian Zhong, win.” Declared, my dutiful senior.

“That’s junior master Tian Zhong for you. He handled a fifth-level of the qi forming stage with just qi manipulation.” The strayed voice outside the ring reached my ears.

I promptly exited the stage, leaving it for the next fight.

“Chen Zhi (clever, wisdom) Yi (just). And Xu Jiang (river).”

From the sitting crowd, a young man quickly stood up, his hand rose high. “Junior master. I would like to surrender.”

Senior Fang Yun paused to assess the situation. It appeared there was no further opinion. “Xu Jiang has surrendered. Chen Zhi Yi, won.”

“It’s to be expected.”

“Yeah. Zhi Yi is the best. There is no way Xu Jiang can win.”

“We will continue. Li Lian (lotus) Hua (flower). And Mo Tie (iron) Ren (people/human).”

The named disciples entered the ring one after the other. On the right, stood a beautiful young girl with a jade-colour hairpin. On the other side, a young boy with a sword on each side.

“I thought Lian Hua would give up. She is the sixth among the participants but Tie Ren is only weaker than Zhi Yi.”

“I heard Lian Hua had achieved a new height. She shouldn’t be weaker than Tie Ren.”

“If so, they will fight to settle the score.”

“Aren’t they the best disciples of senior master Zhao Ren (humane)? Would it make sense for disciples of the same master to beat each other up?”

“This will be great!”

Among disciples, there is a law, one should not to fight against your own fellow disciples. This is to keep the relationship between the disciples from getting bitter. Competitiveness is prone to go out of control. A good master will end a spar before the winner becomes apparent.

Among cultivators, there is an unwritten rule, one should only fight those you can guarantee an easy win. If the strong fights against the strong, the weak will grab the chance. Therefore, no one will engage in direct combat against someone roughly their equal.

If Mo Tie Ren and Li Lian Hua fight, they will break both of those rules. Li Lian Hua is desperate for glory, she won’t pass the chance. Meanwhile, Mo Tie Ren has his pride as the top disciple, he won’t back down. This is the reason why the audiences are so excited.

Yun An’s struggles and triumphs were a rare sight. Tian Zhong and other matches with top disciples were also eye-catching. However, an even fight between two high ranks where they would demonstrate their true power was more appealing.