CHAPTER 133: ONE SURPRISE AFTER ANOTHER

Chapter 133: One Surprise After Another

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The image of a long sword appeared above the arena. It didn’t take much to figure out who it belonged to.

It was formed from the sword aura of Yao Jianbo.

Sword aura was a type of sharp Qi that a sword user produced once they successfully developed their sword intent.

It went beyond the technique of using a sword, being more of an inner comprehension of sword techniques.

The deeper and more intense it was, the greater a person’s sword intent would be, and in turn, the use of sword techniques would improve, producing higher and higher effects depending on one’s level.

It had different stages of manifestation, each one more difficult than the last.

The first stage of sword intent was precisely the manifestation of the sword aura.

This meant that the swordsman had reached such a deep understanding of the sword that they could transform the Qi within their body into a form suited for their weapon.

This also happened in certain degrees of manifestation, but the fact that he had displayed an external manifestation of his sword aura meant that he had already reached a very profound level of comprehension of the first stage of sword intent.

A level that a normal swordsman would need a century or two of constant practice and refinement of sword technique and understanding to form.

The most skilled in history reached the first stage of sword intent in about fifty years, with only a handful had ever reached that level in less than twenty.

These individuals were extremely rare, and each left behind a deep mark on the history of the Hanxu Continent, with the first being none other than the first emperor of the Tianguo Empire.

He left behind many legacies, some of which were powerful sword techniques with the potential to raise a person’s mastery to the Lord rank, and even to the Emperor rank if one’s talent was good enough.

Throughout history there had been no more than three Sword Cultivators who reached the rank of Sword Emperor.

One of them was still alive, and was part of the human race.

The two who came after the first human emperor reached the Sword Emperor rank after practicing his sword techniques, merging them with their own sword styles, and elevating them to a level that would normally be impossible to reach.

Now, seeing another person under twenty years old reaching the first stage of sword intent immediately placed him at the rank of sword master in its early stages.

The rank of master, just like in secondary professions, was difficult to obtain, and for many it was even harder to reach than in the secondary professions.

This varied from profession to profession, but one thing was certain, whether secondary professions or main combat ones like that of the swordsman, reaching the rank of master was a great achievement, especially considering the age of the one who attained it.

Needless to say, this caused no small stir among the audience, and even the instructors couldn’t help whispering among themselves, praising the Yue family for giving birth to such a rare talent as Yao Jianbo.

That said, the latter didn’t seem to care about any of it. With the sword projection suspended in the air, radiating an invisible suffocating pressure, Yao Jianbo looked toward his opponent with a grin on his face.

So, what do you think? Do you still think I can’t defeat you?" he said as the yellowish aura emitted by his blade grew calmer and more controlled, completely wrapping around the sword.

Li Duoji, hearing his opponent’s words, showed a sneer of disdain, though clearly a little surprised to see him reach this level.

"Not bad, Looks like the Yao family has finally obtained a rough diamond among the many stones they’ve produced in the last century," said Li Duoji.

Although his words sounded like praise for Yao Jianbo, everyone could see he wasn’t taking the Yao family seriously at all, even openly disrespecting them.

This didn’t surprise many, everyone knew of the arrogant attitude the Li family had always held, especially in recent years, when, while the other three major families kept declining, the Li family seemed to be the only one that could still maintain a certain level of strength, even giving birth recently to an exceptional talent like Li Duoji.

"That said, if this is all you’ve got, then I’m sorry, but you still don’t have what it takes to stand on the same level as me," he said, and immediately a terrifying aura also burst out from him.

His cultivation, which since the beginning of the battle had stayed at the initial phase of the third stage, surged rapidly to its peak in an instant. But it didn’t stop there,

it kept rising, and to everyone’s shock, it went straight into the fourth stage, finally halting at its Early phase.

The crowd, who had just quieted down a little after Yao Jianbo’s sword aura reveal, was once again thrown into chaos at the sight, and this time the uproar was far greater.

"Shit, I was just joking before... he actually made it to the fourth stage?" shouted a third year student in the crowd, followed by many others who cried out in surprise as well.

Li Duoji, just like Yao Jianbo, was considered one of the best talents of the third year, and to many he was the very best of them, even surpassing talents like Yao Jianbo. Everyone already expected him to be at the peak of the third stage, which was an attainable goal for someone at his level, but to have already advanced into the fourth stage?

That was something no one had expected to see.

And how could they, when everyone knew just how big the gap was between the stages of cultivation?

The higher you went, the harder it became to reach the next stage, especially the last two, which required a huge amount of time just to make a single step forward.

Reaching such a stage before twenty years of age was acceptable for a talent of Li Duoji’s caliber, but doing so at barely over eighteen was a whole different matter.

Before, they thought that with Yao Jianbo’s hidden card revealed, the battle would get more intense and Li Duoji would finally feel some pressure. But now that he had brought out another hidden card of his own, one no weaker than his opponent’s, the disparity of strength from before was erased and had even tilted in Li Duoji’s favor.

This ignited the crowd’s spirits, and even many instructors couldn’t help but praise this third year student who had been surprising them with his rapid progress since the day he entered the academy.

Now that he had reached a level of strength similar to theirs, it was only natural for them to be happy.

Only two people didn’t seem to care much about this sudden revelation.

One was Zhu Rong, still napping away in his corner.

The other was the Headmaster, who, with his high cultivation level, could judge a student’s power level at a single glance.

It wasn’t a surprise to him, but even so, he was definitely pleased to see the strength displayed by so many of his academy’s students. Watching talents like Li Duoji and Yao Jianbo rise was a reason for joy even for him.

He couldn’t help but glance toward the waiting area for the participants, and when his eyes fell on a certain sleeping figure, he could only shake his head.

That said, there was someone else who didn’t seem too concerned about Li Duoji’s revelation, and that person was none other than Liang Yuexin.

She looked toward the arena with a calm expression that betrayed no emotion.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t been surprised by the revelation, but for some reason, she didn’t feel too shocked by such rapid progress in cultivation.

Perhaps it was because she knew someone else who had made enormous progress in recent months, or perhaps because she herself had made giant leaps, leaps that didn’t seem to be slowing down even now that she had entered the fifth stage.

The only thing holding her back at this point was the lack of natural lightning element resources. Apart from that, she no longer felt many barriers slowing her cultivation speed.

Because of this, the rapid progress of talents like Li Duoji or Yao Jianbo didn’t seem like much to her anymore.

In fact, they even seemed... slow?

She noticed this sudden change in perspective, but thinking about the rank of the cultivation technique she was practicing, she understood it was only natural.

That said, a strange glint flashed in her eyes when she looked at Li Duoji, and she couldn’t help but recall a certain event from the previous year.

Back then, she had just started teaching at the academy, and for some reason, news of her engagement with Zhu Rong had already spread. It had caused her quite a bit of trouble, but she ignored it all and continued her work.

It was then that she happened to meet this member of the Li family.

The Liang and Li families didn’t have any deep grudges, but they were still families of a certain level, and as the saying went, a mountain couldn’t host more than one tiger, and in this case, there were four.

So rivalry had always been there, even without true grudges.

That student, already somewhat famous back then, approached her.

At first, she thought he was coming to ask for advice or to show off, given his reputation for looking down on anyone whose talent was below his own.

But instead, he came with a proposal.

He told her that if she gave him a chance, he would take care of Zhu Rong and even settle the matter with her family.