Yan Qin had a faint smile on her pretty face. She only knew that Wang Hao was highly skilled in boxing, but she did not expect that he was even more skilled in swordsmanship.
"With such high swordsmanship, it seems Wang Hao is bound to win. Sister Ran, you shouldn't be willing to kill such a genius, right? It's a once-in-a-century occurrence for such a prodigy to appear on the path of useless techniques."
Qingran was also slightly moved, but then stared at Yan Qin and said, "You don't mean you want me to accept him, do you?"
“He has seen every part of your body. Although we didn’t have any physical relationship, it’s pretty much the same. If you don’t accept this, then if I ever take a fancy to him in the future, don’t try to take him from me.”
Yan Qin chuckled, her bright, watery eyes curving slightly like two crescent moons.
Qingran stared intently at Yan Qin, pondering her words, and asked, "You don't actually have a crush on him, do you?"
“He’s only twenty-two, young and handsome, and so talented. Maybe after spending some time with him, I’ll really fall for him,” Yan Qin said with a smile.
Qingran frowned slightly and said, "You seem to be three years older than him."
"We can't be sisters anymore! You still have feelings for him." Yan Qin glared at Qing Ran with some resentment.
Qingran stared at Wang Hao, who was engaged in fierce battle on the stage. Her beautiful face showed no emotion. She said meaningfully, "Do you think it is possible for him to become the second Golden Core expert, or even transcend to reach the legendary Nascent Soul stage?"
Hearing this, Yan Qin also became serious and said in a deep voice, "The Nascent Soul has transcended the realm of mortals and entered another state of life. It is an existence that can be compared with the extraordinary existence of martial artists."
"The Celestial Star has been discovered for over two hundred years. Now, martial arts have found a path to transcendence, but the cultivation techniques are still incomplete; one can only cultivate to the Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage."
"I don't believe you when you say he's reached the Nascent Soul stage, but if he maintains his current cultivation speed, I think he has a good chance of becoming a Golden Core expert, comparable to the Heavenly Realm."
Qingran's beautiful eyes held a complex expression. She felt that she couldn't see through Wang Hao, and at the same time, she thought about her own identity, so she fell silent for a moment.
Nowadays, most people's cultivation techniques only go as far as the early stage of Foundation Establishment before they stop. If they want to obtain subsequent cultivation techniques, they need to make contributions to the academy.
There are only a handful of cultivation techniques that can lead to the Golden Core stage, and they are all in the hands of the sole Golden Core expert, namely the Dean of the Burning Lamp Academy.
Only promising talents favored by the dean have the opportunity to obtain the subsequent cultivation methods that lead directly to the Golden Core stage.
Wang Hao's cultivation level is obviously not as high as many people's, but the potential he has shown is astonishing. If they knew that Wang Hao also cultivated martial arts, their reaction would probably be more than just shock.
Once he reveals his full strength, the crowd will likely be more than just shocked. However, with Wang Hao's current cultivation level, defeating Li Leyao will not be difficult.
"It's actually Sword Heart Clarity, even higher than the elder's sword intent?!"
Li Leyao's face was extremely ugly. He never expected that Wang Hao's swordsmanship had reached such a powerful level.
"No, I won't lose, I haven't lost yet! I'm three cultivation realms higher than him, I'm sure I can defeat him!"
Li Leyao gritted his teeth, refusing to admit defeat, and swung his spear, attacking once again.
Seeing this, Wang Hao frowned slightly, and with a wave of his arm, the tip of his sword created an arc of air.
The shape of the air currents was like a tide, with countless sword energies shuttling through the air, making a surging sound like the tide.
"The tides of heaven are surging!"
With a single swing of his sword, the sword energy transformed into a five-meter-high wave that crashed against Li Leyao, sending him flying backward.
"ah……"
Li Leyao screamed as the spear slipped from his hand and fell to the ground with a loud thud.
At this moment, Li Leyao's white robe had been shredded by the sword energy into strips of cloth scattered on the ground, with only a silver scale armor vest still on his body.
Except for the areas covered by the silver-scaled armor vest, the rest of his body was covered in bloody wounds from the sword energy, and his entire body was covered in blood.
"Die." Wang Hao's murderous intent was fully revealed.
But at that moment, Li Leyao suddenly knelt down, kowtowing repeatedly to Wang Hao, begging, "Don't kill me, I know I was wrong, I'm willing to be your dog..."
Looking at Li Leyao kneeling in front of him, Wang Hao raised his iron sword high and left it hovering in mid-air. Suddenly, he sensed a dangerous aura.
The next second, Li Leyao suddenly raised his head and spat out three silver needles.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
The catapult sword is the signature skill of the Li brothers.
In the distant stands, no one expected Li Leyao to suddenly launch an attack, and they all cursed him as "despicable and shameless."
At such close range, not to mention Wang Hao, even a cultivator at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining Realm would be affected.
"Ding ding!"
Wang Hao swung his iron sword, striking the three silver needles precisely and sending them flying back.
One of the silver needles pierced Li Leyao's throat, and blood gushed out like a fountain.
The other two silver needles were inserted into his eyes, piercing his pupils.
Li Leyao clutched his neck and rushed towards the edge of the death platform, struggling in agony. However, he was blind and couldn't see the way. He accidentally stepped into a hole and fell from the 30-meter-high platform.
Amid a series of gasps, Li Leyao fell into the forest of iron spikes below the arena of life and death. Instantly, more than a dozen bloody holes were pierced through his body. He spat out two mouthfuls of blood, then his arms fell limply to his sides, and he was silent.
For a moment, all around was completely silent.
The entire area around the life-or-death arena became incredibly silent, with only the sounds of breathing and heartbeats audible. If a pin were to fall to the ground, it would be clearly audible.
Wang Hao glanced at Li Leyao's body, which was gradually growing cold, shook his head, and stepped off the life-or-death arena. The students who had originally favored Wang Hao cheered even more.
There was even a rather beautiful female student who stared at Wang Hao with admiration, squeezed through the crowd, and said, "Junior brother, your sword strike just now was amazing. Can I learn swordsmanship from you?"
......
Wang Hao didn't want too much attention, so he made up an excuse and slipped away. That night, he had a big meal at Fengxuelou in the academy with Han Yue, Yan Bing, and Li Bo.
Of course, Yan Bing treated everyone to the meal. He also mentioned that Ju De had been acting suspiciously lately, as if he had discovered some kind of large tomb in Tianxing.
Furthermore, the group agreed that if Ju De made any move, they would follow behind and ambush him.
......
After the decisive battle on the Battle Arena, Wang Hao returned to the War King's Hall and began to continue cultivating the Nameless Sword Manual. Once he completed the second sword technique, his strength would greatly increase.
On the third day, he was summoned by the head of the West Courtyard. He was wearing a long golden robe and sitting on a white stone by the pond, holding a fishing rod in his hand, fishing.
"Greetings, Headmaster!"
Wang Hao approached the West Courtyard Master from behind, bowed slightly, appearing quite composed and neither humble nor arrogant. Although the other party's aura was very powerful, respect and awe were two different things.
"Wang Hao, do you know why I summoned you a month after the academy exams?" The head of the West Academy still held his fishing rod, staring intently at the pond, without turning to look at him.
Wang Hao said, "The student doesn't know."
During the academy exams, Wang Hao met the head of the West Academy once, but he was too far away that time and only caught a casual glance.
At this moment, Wang Hao began to seriously examine this headmaster, after all, he was the only top expert in the West Academy who could wear a golden robe.
He looked to be in his seventies or eighties, with a full head of white hair, but there wasn't a single wrinkle on his hands or his face, and he didn't look old at all.
Wang Hao was surprised to find that he could not sense the cultivation level of the West Academy Master. Only when a cultivator reaches the mid-Foundation Establishment stage can they cultivate a Dao technique to conceal their cultivation level.
At this moment, the Dean of the West Academy put down his fishing rod, stood up, turned around and glanced at Wang Hao, saying, "Do you know that the top freshman of each year is taken as a personal disciple by the Vice Dean? Of course, if a freshman has exceptional talent, I will also personally take him as a disciple."
"Moreover, your performance in the Battle Tower was outstanding. At that time, I had the idea of taking you as my disciple. I was referring to your defeat of Li Xu, not that you passed the second level of the third floor."
Wang Hao was slightly surprised and said, "So the headmaster already knows."
The head of the West Courtyard laughed and said, "Do you really think that such an important place as the Battle Tower would only be guarded by Yan Qin and Qing Ran? There are many secrets that even they don't know."
Then, changing the subject, the head of the West Academy said solemnly, "However, they did the right thing. Even if they hadn't stopped you, I would have stepped in to stop you."
Wang Hao asked, "Is the headmaster worried that my talent is too outstanding and that I might be harmed by someone later?"
The head of the West Academy nodded and said, "The relationship between the major academies is actually not harmonious. There are even spies among the higher-ups of the academies, and there are countless spies among the students."
"This involves the interests of many conglomerates, as well as the infighting among several powerful families, and you are now the Li family's number one enemy."
Wang Hao's expression shifted, and he said, "The reason why the academy master summoned me after so long, could it be that he wanted to use me to lure out those spies and expose them all?"
The head of the West Courtyard's eyes lit up, and he laughed, "You guessed right, you won't hold a grudge against me, will you?"
"No, since the headmaster told me in person, how could I hold a grudge against him? But I'm curious to know if the headmaster has found out about those spies."
Wang Hao chuckled. He considered this matter quite normal and wouldn't take it to heart at all. On the contrary, the fact that the other party had told him on their own initiative improved his impression of the headmaster considerably.
"We've uncovered some clues, but we're still waiting for the big fish to fall into the net. However, I believe we'll be able to close the net soon," said the head of the West Academy.
Then, the head of the West Academy paused for a moment before continuing, "Wang Hao, would you be willing to become my disciple and be my personal student?"
There is a big difference between students and direct disciples. A teacher can teach many students, but direct disciples are very few.
Once you become the personal disciple of the West Academy Master, it's like having an extra powerful backer. The reason Wang Hao came to the Burning Lamp Academy was naturally to find a reliable backer.
However, Wang Hao has too many secrets. Even now, he doesn't know if the storage ring exists in Tianxing. If he becomes an apprentice, some of his secrets will definitely be exposed.
Moreover, he knew that relying solely on the West Academy Master as a backer was definitely not enough to contend with the Li family. He needed to find the Dean of the Burning Lamp Academy, as only he could perfectly leverage the power of the Li family.
Thinking of this, Wang Hao respectfully bowed to the Dean of the West Academy and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Dean. However, I want to cultivate my own path and have no intention of becoming a disciple for the time being."
Strangely, the head of the West Academy was not angry. Instead, he smiled and said, "Hey! I have served as the head of the West Academy for thirty-four years and have taken on disciples eleven times. You are the second person to refuse me."
Wang Hao was also somewhat surprised and asked curiously, "Who was the first one?"
The head of the West Academy seemed unwilling to bring it up, and instead continued, "Wang Hao, you should think this through. I have taken in nine disciples in total, six of whom have already successfully established their foundations."
"There's another person who's ranked in the top ten in the inner courtyard. The other two are Si Jingjun and Yan Qin. You should know how strong they are, right?"
"If you become my personal disciple, although I won't give you more cultivation resources, you will be able to use my name to gain more advantages within the Burning Lamp Academy, and no one will dare to easily antagonize you."
Wang Hao shook his head and said, "My mind is made up. I understand the academy master's good intentions. Even if I encounter any setbacks in the future, I will not regret it."
"Alright! Since you have such a firm belief, then I won't try to persuade you any further!"
The headmaster of the West Academy took out a delicate little jade bottle from his bosom and handed it to Wang Hao, saying, "This contains a drop of Foundation Establishment Liquid. Consider it a gift as compensation."
A hint of joy flashed in Wang Hao's eyes as he took the jade bottle.
Foundation Establishment Liquid, as the name suggests, is a spiritual liquid specifically for cultivators in the Qi Refining Realm. It can rapidly improve cultivation level, increase the success rate of Foundation Establishment, and stabilize the Dao foundation.
An ordinary student from the outer academy receives one drop of Foundation Building Liquid each year to temper their physique.
The top 100 students from the West Campus can receive one drop of Foundation Building Liquid every quarter.
The top ten students in the West Campus will receive two drops of Foundation Building Liquid every quarter.
The student ranked first in the West Campus receives ten drops of Foundation Building Liquid every quarter.
Refining a single drop of Foundation Establishment Liquid can greatly enhance a cultivator's physique, making them significantly stronger within the same cultivation realm.
Moreover, Foundation Building is divided into two types: one is Physical Foundation Building, which allows the physical body to break through its limits and reach the point where it can crush Dao techniques with bare hands; the other is Cultivation Foundation Building.
However, before Foundation Establishment, the Great Perfection of Qi Refining Realm is nine levels. But once the physical body is established, the Qi Refining Realm can break through to the tenth level, which is the limit of the Qi Refining Realm.
However, above the tenth level, there is the eleventh level of the Qi Refining Realm, which is a legendary realm on par with the Supreme Spirit Realm. Even in his previous life, Wang Hao only reached the tenth level of Qi Refining.
He once suspected that the eleventh level of Qi Refining might be related to the Great Circulation of Qi in cultivation techniques, but he was never able to confirm it.
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