The entire central floating island was filled with an extremely enthusiastic atmosphere, with almost half of the disciples from the outer realms gathered here.
Apart from those vying for a spot in the nine-story pagoda, most of the rest were just there to watch the spectacle.
Even if they try their best, their rankings won't change much. The rewards for those ranked 100th and below are all pretty much the same. Instead of making those useless efforts, they might as well stay here and watch how the experts fight. They might even gain some insights that could benefit their cultivation.
Most of the onlookers were concentrated in the central martial arts arena, where the most elite cultivators in the entire outer domain arena resided.
Shi Xuan arrived on his sword and landed outside the central martial arts arena.
The cultivators here were all focused on the center of the training ground, and few people looked out, so not many people noticed Shi Xuan. Only a few people were momentarily confused and thought they had seen wrong.
"Huh? I think I just saw Shi Xuan come back..."
"You're hallucinating! Shi Xuan fell into the rift in front of so many people and didn't reappear until we came back. How could he possibly have survived?"
“I also thought she wouldn’t make it, but that person just now really looked like her.”
"It's an illusion! You must be hallucinating!"
"They just look alike, right? Hurry up and look at the stands, Lu Shenzhi is going to win again!"
...
This match is between Chen Zhimo, the newly promoted Nascent Soul cultivator of the HarmonyOS team, and Lu Shenzhi.
Chen Zhimo possessed a single fire spiritual root and exceptional talent, and he also obtained a Nascent Soul Pill from Shi Xuan's auction.
Previously, on the floating island of Yema, he cultivated by the rift and gained many benefits. He then took the Nascent Soul Pill and successfully formed his Nascent Soul in one fell swoop.
Chen Zhimo was a sword cultivator who, during his Golden Core stage, was second only to Shi Xuan in combat strength. His cultivation technique was extremely refined, and he was once renowned for being unmatched among his peers.
Lu Shenzhi has now reached fifth place on the Prodigy Ranking. Chen Zhimo's thought is that back in the Golden Core stage, he was invincible among his peers, and now that he has reached the Nascent Soul stage, he should be able to do the same.
Lu Shenzhi is only at the first level of the Nascent Soul stage, with the same cultivation level as him. He formed his Nascent Soul stage only a month earlier than him, so choosing him is the most suitable option.
But now that the two were fighting each other, Chen Zhimo suddenly realized that he had been taking things for granted. This Lu Shenzhi was unlike any opponent he had ever encountered before; he was far too difficult to deal with.
Both of them were sword cultivators. Since Chen Zhimo began practicing sword cultivation, everyone had said that he was a sword cultivator who was rare in a hundred years, a natural talent for sword cultivation, and his understanding of sword intent was unmatched. He had always been proud of this.
But now, he suddenly felt uncertain.
The man in front of me, Lu Shenzhi, possessed both golden and thunderous spiritual roots. He seemed to be inferior to me in terms of talent, but when we faced each other, I found that my sword intent was not as invincible as before. Instead, it was suppressed by his sword intent.
Chen Zhimo, who had originally planned to overwhelm his opponent with swordplay and finish the battle quickly, found himself unable to defeat him in a short time. As time went on, he began to consider retreating.
Because he knew that Lu Shenzhi was not only a sword cultivator but also an array cultivator. He had once destroyed Qian Zheng's magic artifact, the Chongxu Array, during a battle, causing Qian Zheng to fall out of the top fifty of the Prodigy Ranking.
If I continue to fight him, even if I am not injured by the formation, I will inevitably fall into the trap of his talisman array.
His thinking wasn't wrong, but it wasn't entirely without fault either.
Although Lu Shenzhi could have easily defeated Chen Zhimo using formations, both of them were sword cultivators, and for a sword cultivator, the best way to defeat him was with a sword.
Isn't he most proud of his swordsmanship? Then defeat him in the very thing he's most proud of.
Unlike Chen Zhimo's hesitation, Lu Shenzhi pressed forward relentlessly, completely suppressing Chen Zhimo with just the use of the Concealed Edge Sword Technique.
Chen Zhimo's swordsmanship may be more exquisite than Lianfeng Sword Technique, but his understanding of swordsmanship is limited, while Lu Shenzhi has already mastered Lianfeng Sword Technique to a high degree.
He had been trapped in the body of a fake dead person for ten years. He had thought about every detail of this sword technique more than a thousand times and practiced it virtually tens of thousands of times. His understanding of this level was far superior to that of ordinary sword-practicing disciples.
Soon, Chen Zhimo discovered that both of them had condensed their own sword intent, but Lu Shenzhi's sword intent always surpassed his.
After just over a hundred moves, Chen Zhimo was already showing signs of being outmatched.
The formation he had anticipated did not appear. Lu Shenzhi proved with his actions that a formation was unnecessary to deal with him alone.
Chen Zhimo didn't want to be defeated in his first battle after reaching the Nascent Soul stage, but he really had no way to deal with Lu Shenzhi.
In the end, before even reaching 150 moves, Chen Zhimo was knocked back by Lu Shenzhi's sword and forced to retreat outside the training ground.
Chen Zhimo turned and left. Although he seemed to have not been hurt, he was too ashamed to continue.
In this kind of competition, there is no rule that you lose once you've entered the arena, but according to everyone's unspoken rules, there's no need to fight any further.
Lu Shenzhi stood on the stage, holding his sword upside down, looking at the dark crowd below. Just as he was about to leave the stage, his gaze suddenly froze, and then he revealed a genuine smile.
His smile elicited gasps from many women in the crowd. A beautiful woman's smile is incredibly captivating.
The crowd followed Lu Shenzhi's gaze to a point outside the arena. People in the distance were obscured by the crowd and could not be seen clearly, while those closer were focused on the stage. It was only then that they saw the woman in red standing at the back of the crowd.
The woman was tall and slender, with long, seaweed-like hair and an overly radiant face. Who else could it be but Shi Xuan!
Seeing that her senior brother had already spotted her, Shi Xuan boldly leaped up and flew to the central platform of the martial arts arena.
The moment she stepped onto the stage, the entire crowd erupted in uproar!
Everyone knows that Shi Xuan fell into the Great Rift on the last Night Hemp Floating Island. No one who falls into that rift survives; they all explode and die. So, although no one mentions it, everyone assumes that Shi Xuan is dead.
They fell solidly into that crevice and sank to the bottom, with absolutely no hope of survival!
In recent months, the members of the best team have been very quiet and reserved, only silently challenging others in the training grounds, never mentioning their captain. This situation has further confirmed the rumors that the captain is dead.
And now, Shi Xuan herself is standing on the stage unharmed! She is smiling at everyone, her smile is incredibly bright. Some people are just surprised when they see it, but for others it is quite terrifying.
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