Zhao Letian's words struck Luo Hao like thunder, harshly smacking against his heart and making him realize what it meant to overestimate oneself, to shake a tree like an ant, and to feel utterly ashamed.

"Zhao Letian, thank you. You made me realize that I shouldn't have set my sights on surpassing you. I only need to surpass myself continuously. Perhaps, I may never catch up to you, but as long as I keep cultivating diligently, one day, I, too, will reach the peak of martial arts," Luo Hao said, enlightened after a moment of dazed contemplation, feeling grateful as he looked at Zhao Letian.

"There's no need to thank me. Having such an epiphany is your own fortune and has nothing to do with me," Zhao Letian replied with a slight shrug and a smile after a brief pause. His initial words were simply intended to prevent Luo Hao from challenging him continuously; he did not expect Luo Hao to read so much into them.

Luo Hao didn't say anything more and directly flew off Huangquan Island on his giant saber, now clear about the path he needed to follow. For him, this grand competition had lost its significance.

"Unshaken by failure and instead awakening to the truth, this young man's natural talent may be ordinary, but his perceptiveness is exceptional. His potential accomplishments are boundless. He should be carefully nurtured," Sect Master Chu Yunshan, observing the grand competition from the Golden Warship, nodded approvingly at the sight of Luo Hao's retreating figure. Then, he turned his attention to Zhao Letian, who had just stepped off the fighting stage on his flying sword, and mused, "As for Zhao Letian, considering his current level of cultivation and combat prowess, his talents and perceptiveness go without saying, truly excellent. Even more precious is his extraordinary composure and decisive ruthlessness, surpassing his peers. Perhaps, I have even underestimated him."

The surrounding Guardian Elders were all inwardly shaken, carefully sizing up Zhao Letian. Receiving such high praise from the Sect Master meant that Zhao Letian could very well be on par with Xiao Feng and Lin Yun.

"The individuals I, Sword Obsession, take interest in are naturally extraordinary. Just you wait and see, my disciple's future achievements will surely surpass both Lin Yun and Xiao Feng," Sword Obsession thought to himself with a smile. Hеlp us соntinuе by rеаding аt thе sоurсе:

On Huangquan Island below, battles continued one after another.

Liu Wei and the Star Sea Five Tigers chose not to take their chances in the challenge, not needing to prove anything in this sect competition, thus avoiding unnecessary risks.

As for Liu Fei and Pan Qingqing, considering themselves to be of noble lineage, they were even less willing to risk entering the stage.

Soon, it was time for the tenth ranked Zhuo Yifeng to enter the challenge stage.

"Zhao Letian, come down. Today, I will redeem my past humiliations."

Holding a longsword and with True Yuan power surging around him, Zhuo Yifeng directly called out to Zhao Letian. His goal today was simple—to defeat Zhao Letian.

"A three-star, inferior-grade Spiritual Artifact, True Martial Fourth Realm cultivation?" Zhao Letian narrowed his gaze, and without hesitation, swiftly descended onto the platform, boldly facing Zhuo Yifeng.

Zhuo Yifeng had broken through to the True Martial Fourth Realm, greatly enhancing his strength, but Zhao Letian also had not stopped advancing.

"Unexpectedly, Zhuo Yifeng has advanced to Middle Stage True Martial. If I hadn't been cultivating so diligently lately and improved my cultivation, I fear I might have been overtaken by him. With his True Martial Fourth Realm cultivation, he should be enough to defeat Zhao Letian, right?" Lin Yun watched Zhuo Yifeng from the air, wondering to himself. Zhuo Yifeng's cultivation was not much less than his now. If Zhuo Yifeng couldn't defeat Zhao Letian, then his upcoming life-or-death battle with Zhao Letian might be troublesome.

"True Martial Fourth Realm? He should be able to suppress Zhao Letian, right?" Shentu Yu's expression changed slightly.

"Being two levels higher in cultivation, if Zhuo Yifeng still can't defeat a mere True Martial Second Realm opponent, he'd truly be a waste," Yan Peng said coldly.

Atop the ranking stage, the aura emanating from both Zhuo Yifeng and Zhao Letian climbed to the peak, spreading out like torrents of a storm.

"Zhao Letian, show me your greatest strength, otherwise, I can't guarantee that this strike won't cripple your cultivation," Zhuo Yifeng raised his longsword high, gathering a massive force of True Yuan on the blade, seemingly preparing to unleash some powerful sword technique.

"If you can cripple my cultivation, that would be your skill. Fight to your fullest," Zhao Letian said with a calm smile, lifting his sword and leaping forward, sequentially executing the Three Armor Power, Double Sword Force, and the Four Dragon Roar Sword Skill, accompanied by thunderous Dragon Roars and endless Sword Qi, hurling a majestic assault toward Zhuo Yifeng.

"Swordsmanship should be pure, pristine. Your swordsmanship is too cluttered. Today, let me show you what a true Sword Cultivator is. Thousand Peaks Sword—slash!"

Zhuo Yifeng bellowed, and the longsword in his hand suddenly shot out beams of sword light, forming a colossal sword-shaped lotus, with a giant sword beam several tens of meters long in the center. The sword lotus, propelled by Zhuo Yifeng's downward slash, violently charged towards the oncoming Zhao Letian.

"Teach me swordsmanship? You're not qualified yet," Zhao Letian said indifferently, as waves of Dragon Roar sounds and endless Sword Qi battered the giant sword lotus. His sword struck the very center of the sword lotus, clashing with the lengthy sword beam, resulting in a stalemate where both attacks canceled each other out.

"Boom!"

Finally, after the clashing energies reached their zenith, they erupted into a powerful True Yuan shockwave, shattering Zhuo Yifeng's sword lotus and sending Zhao Letian, who was wielding his sword, staggering back.

"To be able to withstand the might of my sword with your mere True Martial Second Realm cultivation, Zhao Letian, you should be proud. But that last strike must have drained much of your True Yuan, right? My True Yuan power far exceeds yours; I'd like to see how many more of my strikes you can block," Zhuo Yifeng said, slightly astonished, then spoke with arrogance.

He didn't expect that only after advancing to the True Martial Fourth Realm could he be evenly matched with Zhao Letian. No wonder he was defeated by a single sword strike from Zhao Letian before. It was no unjust loss. However, now that he had advanced to the True Martial Fourth Realm, his True Yuan power should far surpass that of Zhao Letian, who was at the True Martial Second Realm, allowing him to endure a longer battle. If Zhao Letian's power was only at this level, defeat was inevitable.

"How many more of your strikes can I block? No need. Just see if you can block this single strike of mine, and if you can, I'll concede defeat," Zhao Letian shook his head with a smile. Saying this, he suddenly released his powerful Triple Sword Force.

Zhao Letian originally planned to reserve some strength for the fights against Shentu Yu and Lin Yun, intending to use the Triple Sword Force then. However, it seemed that relying on the Double Sword Force alone would hardly be sufficient to defeat Zhuo Yifeng, who had advanced to the True Martial Fourth Realm, forcing him to preemptively execute the Triple Sword Force.

"Triple Sword Force?"

Zhuo Yifeng's eyes revealed an incredulous look of shock. As a Sword Cultivator, he was acutely aware of how difficult it was to master the sword forces. Up to this day, he had only mastered the First Layer Sword Force, and yet Zhao Letian, who was only a bit older, had already mastered the Triple Sword Force. It was utterly unbelievable.