"Qi Sword? Very well, Zhao Letian, I can't believe that you still act so arrogantly before me. Since you're sincerely seeking death, I will grant your wish!" Seeing that Zhao Letian refused to draw his sword, Zhao Hongyu felt as if he had been insulted and couldn't help but laugh in anger. With a cold shout, he directly pulled out the knife he carried at his waist.

"Boom!"

The moment Zhao Hongyu grasped the knife in his hand, a surge of crimson flames suddenly burst forth on the cold, gleaming blade. The flames made the patterns on the blade burn with a piercingly bright red, as if filled with boundless power.

"Fiery Flame Martial Soul, capable of controlling the power of flame, merging fire attribute energy into attacks to scorch the opponent—extremely powerful!"

The crowd of onlookers exclaimed in surprise. Although Zhao Hongyu's Martial Soul was not as good as the Sword Martial Soul, it was still extraordinary and much more powerful than that of ordinary people.

"Zhao Letian, you should understand that even though you still have some strength now, after a significant drop in your cultivation level, your martial foundation has been damaged, and you can no longer reach higher realms. In other words, even if you've reached fourth in the combat power rankings, you are still nothing but trash. With this strike, I will prove to everyone that you are no longer the pride of the Zhao Family!" As he spoke, Zhao Hongyu's aura kept rising steadily, like surging waves, fiercely lashing at Zhao Letian across from him, seemingly trying to crush him with sheer momentum. Enjoying the story? Discover more on *.

However, although Zhao Letian's white robe was flapping loudly, his body was as steady as Mount Tai, motionless. The sword light flickered at his fingertips, waiting for the opportunity to act. He had seen an aura more fearsome than Zhao Hongyu's before; to him, such a scene was trivial.

Suddenly, the Martial Arts Arena fell eerily silent. The silence was somewhat terrifying. Everyone watched intently at the silent confrontation between the two on the platform, knowing that this was just the calm before the storm. The next moment might witness a thunderous and furious assault from both parties.

"Fiery Flame Mad Saber, slash!"

Suddenly, Zhao Hongyu's aura reached its peak. He fiercely raised the knife in his hand and slashed it toward Zhao Letian, producing a more than three-meter-long crimson blade light, as if intending to obliterate Zhao Letian down to the last fragment.

"One Sword Following the Wind!"

Facing the astonishing blade light slashed by Zhao Hongyu, Zhao Letian remained extraordinarily calm. His eyes showed no superfluous luster, only the instinct for battle. He whispered softly and wielded the sword light at his fingertips, directly leaping to meet the attack.

"Swish! Swish! Swish! …"

Just as the terrifying blade light unleashed by Zhao Hongyu was about to directly strike the approaching Zhao Letian, Zhao Letian's figure flickered, splitting into six. Suddenly transforming into six white afterimages, like pieces of blowing fluff in the wind, he moved agilely and rapidly. Not only did he easily dodge Zhao Hongyu's blade light, but he also kept swinging the sword light at his fingertips, rushing at Zhao Hongyu from six different directions and angles.

"Is this... Universe Palm?"

The crowd was instantly shocked; the scene in front of them was very familiar. They had just seen it not long ago—wasn't that the Universe Palm used by Zhao Zihao? But how had the Universe Palm, when performed by Zhao Letian, turned into swordsmanship?

"Ssst!"

In the time it takes to speak, giving no time for the crowd to ponder further, Zhao Letian, wielding the power of the Second Armor, passed Zhao Hongyu at an astonishing speed. There was also a very faint sound of cutting, as if something had been sliced by a sharp blade.

Everyone hurriedly focused their sight to see the two individuals standing back to back, both seemingly unharmed. Zhao Letian's sword tip still breathing light, and Zhao Hongyu's saber still ablaze with crimson flames. Only between them on the ground lay a strand of hair.

Whose hair was that?

A question immediately surfaced in everyone's minds, and they quickly examined the temples of Zhao Letian and Zhao Hongyu.

"It's his!"

"It's Zhao Hongyu's hair!"

Ultimately, the gaze of the crowd locked onto Zhao Hongyu, and indeed, the hair at his temple looked as though it had been cut with a blade, leaving a clean trace. Furthermore, those with sharp eyes even noticed beads of sweat forming on Zhao Hongyu's forehead and his body shivering uncontrollably.

"If this wasn't the mid-year assessment, you'd be dead. Do you want to continue the fight?" Zhao Letian coldly said, without turning his head toward Zhao Hongyu. If he hadn't restrained himself just now, he could have ended it with a sword to the throat, killing Zhao Hongyu on the spot.

"How did you do it? How can the family's treasured martial technique, Universe Palm, be used as swordsmanship? How could I never have known?" Zhao Hongyu's back was soaked with cold sweat; in that instant just now, he had felt the threat of death. It took him a long while to recover, then trembling, he turned around, his expression a complicated mix of resentment and helplessness as he questioned the silhouette of Zhao Letian.

Upon hearing this, the crowd's attention turned straight to Zhao Letian; they were also eager to know how Universe Palm had become swordsmanship.

"One Sword Following the Wind is a swordsmanship technique I created after studying Universe Palm," Zhao Letian spoke indifferently, hands behind his back. "One Sword Becomes Six, six swords merge into one; its power can be greatly multiplied. Of course, you wouldn't know."

"Created… your own sword technique?" Zhao Hongyu was shocked. With his level of comprehension, he struggled with many cultivation techniques and martial arts, not to mention inventing his own. This was beyond his reach; he suddenly realized how weighty the phrase 'genius of the heavens' truly was. Compared to Zhao Letian, he couldn't help but feel a sense of shame, insignificant and powerless.

"Good heavens! This is simply monstrous!"

"A mere Primordial Martial Realm practitioner and he can create his own sword techniques? My True Martial Realm cultivation seems to have gone to waste!"

"At such a young age, to be able to invent his own sword technique, Zhao Letian truly deserves to be the genius of the Zhao Family. Sadly, as Zhao Hongyu said, after suffering a major fall in cultivation base, his martial foundation must have been severely damaged. His future achievements will likely be very limited, and he can no longer be called a genius."

The crowd clamored with endless shocked murmurs.

Meanwhile, on the main platform, the expressions of the Zhao Family's high-ranking members were also priceless. Third Uncle Zhao Liehu had his eyes wide open in disbelief; he could not fathom that his own son would be defeated, much less by Zhao Letian in a single move. Wanting to salvage pride through his eldest son Zhao Hongyu, he suddenly felt a scorching pain on his face, as if everybody in the Martial Arts Arena was mocking them, father and son alike.

At the same time, Second Uncle Zhao Jianping and Family Head Zhao Wuji also wore troubled expressions. If Zhao Letian was this powerful, then what danger did their own children face?

Additionally, expressions on the faces of Fourth Uncle Liu and Second Uncle Sun became even more sinister and murderous. The stronger Zhao Letian became, the more unrest they felt.

As for Zhao Lingshan and Zhao Shijie, at this moment, they no longer dared to underestimate Zhao Letian. Even more, they involuntarily recalled the years spent overshadowed by him, experiencing that feeling of despair and powerlessness, completely dominated by fear, as if that had been the cruel reality. As for their unabashed mocking and ridicule of Zhao Letian throughout the year, it was nothing but a delusion, a beautiful dream that now seemed to be slipping away.