when xu nian stepped down from the battle platform, the entire venue finally reacted completely.

    then, there was a wave of frantic exclamations, and even though xu nian had already returned to the preparatory area, the shouting in the arena continued to surge wave after wave.

    the tianhen empire worshipped the strong, and xu nian''s strength had undoubtedly conquered the entire venue, with some female students from the tianhen academy secretly cheering for xu nian.

    with a single battle, xu nian had become a household name, his fame skyrocketing to the same level as ji yun''s.

    xu nian was indifferent to this since after achieving man and sword as one, his gale sword technique had already reached the realm of divine transformation, naturally allowing him to display the most perfect sword strike, and the power of this sword had also been within his expectations.

    after the battle ended, he returned to his cabin.

    as for the fourth fight, xu nian didn''t need to watch it to know that ultimately lin ruolan would be victorious.

    indeed, the news chen xifeng and dugu jingcheng brought back later was exactly as xu nian had predicted.

    xu nian didn''t think too much of it and continued to shut himself in his room, desperately practicing hammer technique.

    as he continued to practice, he had now mastered thirty percent of collapse thunder. the power of this move was even more terrifying than any of his other attack moves.

    only thirty percent mastery had already surpassed all his other attack moves; he couldn''t imagine how terrifying it would be to reach one hundred percent.

    soon, the next morning arrived, and today would be the final day of the tournament.

    the top three would be decided from the four individuals who advanced yesterday.

    however, when xu nian and the others arrived at the giant sword square, they received unexpected news.

    zhao yan was dead!

    lin ruolan had disappeared!

    zhao yan died a gruesome death, with only skin and bones left, all the blood qi in his body drained completely.

    hearing this, xu nian knew how zhao yan had died. zhao yan must have coveted lin ruolan''s beauty and ended up being drained of his yang energy by the old demoness inside lin ruolan.

    as for why zhao yan was chosen, it might be because he was an artifact master, who regularly practiced fire-related exceptional arts, and therefore had a substantial amount of yang energy in his body.

    with zhao yan''s death and lin ruolan''s disappearance, many people easily linked the two events. so, the dean of beihai academy and the dean of tianlan academy immediately issued a wanted order for lin ruolan. however, she was nowhere to be found despite searching the entire tianfeng city.

    xu nian''s performance earlier had truly moved and shocked her, especially that last sword, which was truly in the realm of divine transformation—she might not even be able to withstand that sword herself.

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    at the same time, in the preparation area of qinglin academy.

    chen xifeng looked at xu nian and asked, "why don''t you break through to the silver moon realm directly?"

    xu nian gave a bitter smile. although his spirit cultivation had already reached the nine-star peak, breaking through right now was definitely not the wise move; he didn''t want to damage his foundation for the sake of a match.

    as for body cultivation, he had only recently broken through to a nine-star body cultivator and hadn''t even reached the peak yet, so how could he break through?

    "no need, i can handle it even without breaking through," xu nian replied with a smile.

    chen xifeng nodded and said nothing more. however, dugu jingcheng unexpectedly reminded him, "be careful later. ji yun''s gang qi is extremely domineering and fierce. if i''m not mistaken, the body technique he cultivates is at least middle earth level, possibly even top grade. his spear technique is very fast, and his understanding of spear combat is not inferior to my swordsmanship. moreover, i feel that he didn''t use his full strength when he fought with me."

    xu nian was slightly stunned. he hadn''t expected dugu jingcheng to say such words.

    he knew dugu jingcheng was a very proud person, so for him to say something like this showed how formidable ji yun''s strength truly was.

    "okay, i''ll be careful," xu nian nodded in agreement.

    dugu jingcheng said no more and stood silently to the side.

    "boom!"

    not long after, a muffled sound of thunder came from the preparation area of tianhen academy, and then the audience saw ji yun slowly walk out.

    the audience burst into an uproar upon seeing this.

    they all knew that ji yun had broken through to the realm of a one-star body sect.

    the prefectural governor on the high platform nodded in approval, clearly very satisfied with ji yun''s strength, while the dean of tianhen academy was all smiles, filled with pride, even giving leng yanran a provocative look.

    leng yanran ignored this, silently watching the preparation area of qinglin academy.

    at this moment, ji yun had already jumped onto the battle platform, inserted his long spear into the platform, and roared toward xu nian''s area, "xu nian, come out and fight!"

    the roar was thunderous, like an explosion that resounded throughout the venue.

    the audience roared continuously, their blood boiling with excitement.