My awakened ability allows me to manipulate metal, making those flying swords turn is a piece of cake!

But this is for the best, as it removes any reason for the Chu family to interfere.

He grinned maliciously, distracted himself, and split the swords in the air into several streams, which shot out from the opponent's sides, behind, and above.

Then he suddenly noticed that Zaun had removed a piece from the middle of the shield, leaving a large empty space in the center, making the shield look like a U-shape.

This is called a shield? That's outrageous!

Yuan Wendong assumed the other party had lost his mind, or was trying to alert the Chu family to save him, and thus increased the speed of his flying sword.

Huh, what's going on? Why are some of these swords not obeying my commands?

His expression changed drastically. He saw that the swords and blades in mid-air were suddenly trembling, as if two forces were clashing.

Suddenly, the swords that had been shooting out from all directions seemed to be guided by another force, and they all converged in the same direction. In the end, dozens of swords were all stuck tightly to the strange shield in front of Zu An, and no matter how Yuan Wendong tried to summon them, they did not budge an inch.

This...this is impossible!

The entire audience was in an uproar, completely unprepared for such an unexpected turn of events.

Yuan Wendong's voice trembled as he looked incredulously at Zuan, who had reappeared behind the shield: "You... how did you do that?"

Zuan shook his head and sighed deeply: "My lord, times have changed."

Ever since he witnessed Yuan Wendong's sword control ability at the academy, he had been pondering how to counter it. After all, it was difficult to dodge swords flying all over the field, and he didn't have Pei Mianman's destructive black flames.

Even if you can dodge, it's not a good idea. The opponent is so cool and stylish controlling their flying sword. If you're just running around like a coward, don't you have any dignity?

Whether the moves can win or not doesn't matter, the key is to look cool!

His first thought was to use a magnet, but the magnetic force of a natural magnet is too weak to resist the control of a metal element cultivator. Otherwise, metal element manipulators would not be able to survive in this world.

Fortunately, Zaun stood on the shoulders of giants, possessing thousands of years of knowledge from previous humankind. He then thought of electromagnets, whose magnetic properties are so strong that they can easily lift cars and other heavy objects in industry.

The principle of an electromagnet is very simple, and it is not complicated to make. He consulted with the rune master of the Chu family mansion, and it was easy to make.

Another bigger problem is electricity. Although there is no electricity in this world, there are lightning-type cultivators who can store lightning power briefly in special arrays.

Zaun had money, so he simply asked the family runemaster to take care of everything for him. It wasn't a difficult task, nor did it require much technical skill; the runemaster handled it casually, not even bothering to report it to the family head.

Little did he know that the power of lightning combined with the pair of opposite coils he had created could generate such a tremendous magnetic force.

At this moment, the others in the arena also came to their senses and all stared at the strangely shaped shield in Zaun's hand:

"Huh, could this be the Chu family's latest secret weapon?"

"I knew it! The Chu family's centuries-old expertise in weapon forging is far beyond what the Yuan family can match."

"Chu Zhongtian is a real old fox. He pretended that the spirit spring was destroyed and the quality of the weapons had declined and could not compare with the Yuan family. It turns out that he was planning to openly slap the Yuan family in the face during the competition."

...

Sensing the amused gazes of Sang Hong and others on the platform, Chu Zhongtian was completely bewildered: What is that thing in Xiao An's hand? I have no idea!

At this moment, Yuan Wendong was almost fainting. The bizarre things that had happened one after another today were far beyond his comprehension. Looking at the smiling guy opposite him, he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

"This guy has no idea how many more tricks up his sleeve to use against me!"

Sensing the change in his courage, the heads of the Wu and Yuan families exchanged glances and simultaneously transmitted their inner energy:

"Fool, that's just a new weapon developed by the Chu family. It's fine to use it to deal with flying swords, but it's incredibly cumbersome. Do you think it can be used for close combat?"

"Stop controlling the flying sword. Just fight him with swordsmanship. Protect yourself with your sword energy. Even if his movement technique is superb, the difference in your cultivation levels means he can't hurt you at all!"

With the guidance of the two, Yuan Wendong's spirits lifted and his fighting spirit was instantly restored: That's right, although that guy from Zu'an has a bunch of random stuff, the difference in raw strength is there. Even without using elemental power, my cultivation level alone is enough to crush him.

Having figured all this out, he relaxed a bit and said coldly, "Zu'an, I must say that your strange weapon really surprised me, but this is because the Chu family's weaponry is so advanced, not because you are so good. Just like I told you at school last time, relying on external forces can't last long. You have to be strong yourself to be truly strong."

Having been repeatedly humiliated by this guy on the arena, he had to seize every opportunity to change everyone's impression of him.

He drew his longsword from his waist and casually flicked it, his body faintly filled with wisps of translucent sword energy. The crowd in the training ground watched with admiration. As expected of a fifth-rank master, his swordsmanship was simply astonishing. He truly deserved to be called a renowned young genius.

Incidentally, everyone also felt that what he said made sense. Although Zu'an attracted attention with all sorts of strange things, he still couldn't win. Once Young Master Yuan recovered, he would eventually lose.