Free Web NovelChapter 176: Chapter 175: 3 Moves
This...!
What on earth is going on?
The arena was utterly silent, without a sound!
"I’ve lost," Zhao Hao said bitterly, looking at Wen Qingye.
He had expected he wasn’t Wen Qingye’s match, but he never predicted he wouldn’t be able to withstand a single strike. He was defeated in just one move. ’Just how skilled is Wen Qingye’s Swordsmanship?’ A sense of powerlessness began to well up in Zhao Hao’s heart.
Wen Qingye slowly retracted his sword. "Your Swordsmanship has improved," he said lightly. "Keep working hard."
"Yes. Thank you for the lesson, Brother Wen." Zhao Hao nodded, slowly regaining his composure.
The crowd watched as Zhao Hao slowly walked off the stage, their minds still reeling in shock. They had expected a spectacular duel, but for it to end so quickly was something none of them had anticipated.
A single strike!
Wen Qingye had used just a single, unremarkable strike to defeat the Swordsmanship prodigy of Celestial Academy. It was simply terrifying, utterly unbelievable.
The students of Celestial Academy were the most shocked of all. They were well aware of Zhao Hao’s level of Swordsmanship, but this was just too fast. The cultivation Wen Qingye had just displayed was, at best, on par with Zhao Hao’s. That left only one possibility: Wen Qingye’s skill in Swordsmanship was so far beyond Zhao Hao’s that it resulted in an instant defeat with a single strike.
At this thought, the students of Celestial Academy couldn’t help but gasp.
As a master from Qig Mountain Academy, Wen Qingye’s reputation was clearly well-earned!
Many in the crowd had also discerned some of the finer points. Wen Qingye’s strike had seemed unremarkable, but he had executed it at the perfect moment and from the most optimal angle, deflecting Zhao Hao’s nimble sword before resting his own against his neck.
Zhu Shaoyou’s brow was knitted tightly. From Wen Qingye’s fight with Zhao Hao, he could tell that Wen Qingye’s Swordsmanship was profound, but he couldn’t get a read on his cultivation level at all. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
’So what if I don’t know your cultivation level? A month ago, you were just a Martial Artist at the Ninth Heaven of Refining Essence. Could you have defied the heavens in just one month?’
Zhu Shaoyou stretched his limbs and strode onto the stage. "Your Swordsmanship is not bad," he said arrogantly.
Zhu Shaoyou’s words served a dual purpose: to reassure himself and to diminish Wen Qingye’s momentum. After all, based on the Swordsmanship Wen Qingye had just displayed, "not bad" was a gross understatement.
Wen Qingye shot Zhu Shaoyou a cold glance. "Don’t worry," he said coolly, "I won’t use my sword against you."
GASP!
Wen Qingye’s tone was placid, but his words sent a ripple of unease through the crowd.
"Are you looking down on me?" Zhu Shaoyou’s expression darkened, uncontrollable rage flaring in his heart.
A corner of Wen Qingye’s mouth lifted into a smirk. He said nothing, but his meaning was perfectly clear.
"Three moves!" Zhu Shaoyou held up three fingers and said coldly, "You dare to face me without your sword? I can defeat you in just three moves. Do you believe me?" ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
Zhu Shaoyou tilted his head back, his eyes flashing with immense confidence.
Wen Qingye ignored his question and asked one of his own, "I hear you defeated Wang Jie?"
"That’s right, I defeated him. A shame, really. His strength wasn’t bad. That Wang Chong, on the other hand, was pathetic. I shattered his arm directly. HAHAHA!" A smug look spread across Zhu Shaoyou’s face, and he burst out laughing at the memory.
When fighting, Zhu Shaoyou particularly enjoyed crippling his opponents. He seemed to derive a strange pleasure from their pained expressions. It was a perverse habit of his.
"I may have lost to Yann Chuxue, but that was only because she’d had a breakthrough. You?" A trace of disdain surfaced in Zhu Shaoyou’s eyes.
The students of Celestial Academy had already thoroughly investigated Wen Qingye’s cultivation. At the Flame Spirit Pool, he was only at the Peak of Refining Essence. The breakthrough from Refining Essence to Refining Spirit was notoriously difficult. Even if he had managed it, he would only be at the Refining Spirit First Layer Heaven. Zhu Shaoyou, on the other hand, was at the peak of the Refining Spirit Second Layer Heaven; he naturally had no reason to fear Wen Qingye.
Zhu Shaoyou looked at Wen Qingye and said with a sinister smile, "You dare fight me without your sword. Very good. I can’t wait to see the state you’ll be in. I wonder... who will scream more miserably, you or Wang Chong?"
Seeing Zhu Shaoyou’s expression, the Celestial Academy students exchanged glances. They knew he intended to cripple Wen Qingye.
Wen Qingye saw the murderous glint in Zhu Shaoyou’s eyes, and his own narrowed slightly. Wen Qingye had always lived by a simple principle: if someone shows him a foot of respect, he returns ten.
Looking at Zhu Shaoyou’s savage expression, Wen Qingye couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.
In an instant, violent winds raged around Zhu Shaoyou, slowly gathering into a vortex.
"Long Wind Sorrowful Sky!"
The sky seemed to dim. Zhu Shaoyou strode forward, his body wreathed in streams of azure energy. He seemed to ride the gales, his speed astonishingly fast. His fists punched through the air, creating a series of thunderous booms.
This was the Seventh-Grade Peak Martial Arts, the Long Wind Fist Technique!
Wen Qingye’s expression remained unchanged as he watched Zhu Shaoyou’s ferocious advance. He met the attack head-on with a punch of his own.
"Fall of the Celestial Star!"
Wen Qingye’s fist was incredibly fierce. Like a meteor falling from the heavens, it carried ultimate speed and a domineering aura as it crashed toward the earth.
A falling meteor is an unstoppable force. How could the speed of wind ever compare to its descent?
Everything blurred in Zhu Shaoyou’s vision. Before he could even register what happened, a sharp, excruciating pain shot through his fist, feeling as if the bone was about to shatter. The qi and blood in his body roiled violently.
’Wen Qingye’s cultivation is higher than mine?’ Zhu Shaoyou was aghast. He could hardly believe his own conclusion. ’Isn’t he at the Peak of Refining Essence? How long has it been? How could he have reached the Refining Spirit Third Layer Heaven already?’
In reality, Wen Qingye’s cultivation was at the Refining Spirit Second Layer Heaven. However, having accumulated power through the Qi Cultivation Tenth Layer Heaven and the Refining Essence Tenth Layer of Heaven, his Primordial Qi was incomparably more potent than that of an ordinary Martial Artist at the Refining Spirit Second Layer Heaven. This was why Zhu Shaoyou had the false impression that Wen Qingye’s cultivation was higher than his own.
’I don’t believe it!’
Zhu Shaoyou clenched his jaw and charged at Wen Qingye once more.
The wind rose!
Countless gales began to rage, and for a moment, the entire plaza was engulfed by the storm. At its center, Wen Qingye was completely enveloped by the fierce winds.
The relentless wind whipped at Wen Qingye, sending his hair and the corners of his robes fluttering.
"Long Wind and Setting Sun!"
Zhu Shaoyou seemed to be bathed in sunlight, his entire body glowing with a golden light that made him appear majestic and extraordinary.
When the Celestial Academy students saw Zhu Shaoyou’s Fist Technique, they couldn’t help but be inwardly shocked.
Shu Nan frowned as he watched Zhu Shaoyou. "He’s already using Long Wind and Setting Sun. It seems this Wen Qingye is truly something special."
Nie Shuang nodded. "Zhu Shaoyou must be feeling some immense pressure from Wen Qingye to use that move so soon."
Cheng Yu couldn’t help but frown. "That Fist Technique Wen Qingye just used... could it be the one from the legendary Eight Kings Map? It’s truly extraordinary, worthy of its title as a Ninth-Grade Martial Arts."
