“I didn’t expect the swordsman’s level of cultivation to be so high. He won without even using his full strength,” Yu Wude said emotionally.

“Lu Qianchen did not use his maximum power as well. Why is this so?” Lyu Hao asked, extremely perplexed.

“Perhaps he knew that he was no match for his opponent, even if he did,” Zhao Changge said as he stroked his chin.

“That was secondary. I overheard their conversation just now, and Lu Qianchen seemed to have understood that Leng Yueyan’s strength was definitely enough to defeat him. As such, he didn’t want to find out how much power Feng Tianming actually possessed,” Wang Bugui said. He had used his spiritual power to separate the zonal barriers to tell his sworn brothers the truth.

Zhang Changge and the others frowned as they heard him. Feng Tianming’s had considerable power. At the very least, according to their observations, they could only defeat him by using all of their skills. Why would Lu Qianchen think that such a powerful foe would have no chance of beating Leng Yueyan at all? How powerful was she actually?

“In that case, Big Brother, how much chance of beating Leng Yueyan do you think you have?” Zhao Changge asked Wang Bugui as he poked him with his elbow.

“I’ll have to see how powerful she is before I can say. After all, she’s in a similar position like me. So far, no one has forced us to use much of our real powers yet,” Wang Bugui replied as he turned to look in Leng Yueyan’s direction. He could sense that the unique lady was definitely strong. At the very least, she was the only one who had detected that he was concealing great strength.

After a break of about 10 minutes, the competitors that had progressed to the next round were decided upon. Yu Wude and Lyu Hao took in a deep cold breath as they looked at the draw, and even the eyebrows of Wang Bugui leaped once. The three of them turned to look at Zhao Changge, and he was standing with his mouth agape. His eyes were so wide open that they looked like they were going to leap out of their sockets.

“It…can’t be this coincidental!” Zhao Changge said as he spat. He stared at his opponent’s name glowing in the skies and could not believe his bad luck.

“Zhao Changge of the Dragon Spear Sect versus Leng Yueyan of the Sect of the Nine Heavens!” He gazed at the huge words that gave of a gold glow and could not help hissing. He secretly cursed himself for mentioning the woman’s names so many times earlier today. Now, she was going to be his opponent in the next round.

Leng Yueyan and Lu Qianchen were still conversing at the other corner. “Why didn’t you use your maximum strength, Senior? I noticed that both of you are not that far apart in terms of power. You even have the Thunder God Technique; you would have stood a chance,” she said softly.

“Junior Yueyan, you know that I learned forbidden art, but have you considered that of Feng Tianming? He should have already taken ‘that step’ in cultivating his sword craft, and I’m no match for him unless I have more in depth knowledge about the use of lightning. Furthermore, you don’t need me to test him for you; you can surely defeat him! Not only him, but everyone else as well!” Lu Qianchen said with a laugh.

“Since you’ve already made your choice, I shall not question you any further,” Leng Yueyan said softly. Her tone was pretty unemotional and icy like her master’s. After speaking, she shifted herself away stealthily and prepared to enter the arena again.

Lu Qianchen smiled as he stood behind her, and Leng Yueyan nodded slightly. A puddle of water appeared in the center of the arena and rose rapidly, forming a simalucrum of herself. The Leng Yueyan which stood in front of Lu Qianchen gradually dissipated into a mirage and vanished. The wonderful magic caused all of the practitioners who were present to exclaim in amazement.

“Changge, this woman is simply too powerful. Take care,” Yu Wude said as he patted Zhao Changge on his shoulder and shook his head.

“Her magic is strange, be careful!” Lyu Hao advised as he frowned.

“Remember not to dally and strike as soon as you can. Keep it close, otherwise you’ll be completely suppressed by her!” Wang Bugui reminded him carefully.

“Right. Let me be the guinea pig to test this little nun’s power!” Zhao Changge said as he laughed bitterly. He then turned, leaped into the middle of the arena, and looked Leng Yueyan in the eye.

The other practitioners standing outside the arena started various discussions as they watched the two combatants. Most of them believed that Leng Yueyan would win, as she had beat her opponents in each battle rather quickly. Except for Jing Yu, the junior of Ning Zhe from the Buddhists, none of them could take more than three blows from her.

Zhao Changge took a good look at the beautiful ice queen in front of him and spoke. “Little Taoist nun, why are you so quiet? Go easy on me later, give me some face, alright?” he asked.

“You can surrender immediately if you’re afraid. I don’t give in to anyone in battle,” Leng Yueyan replied, her lips only moving slightly. Her dark eyes were perfectly calm and did not display any emotion.

“That’s it. He even dared to tease her. I think he’ll suffer a terrible defeat,” Yu Wude said as he smacked his mouth. Wang Bugui and Lyu Hao looked at him and were speechless.

“Clang!”

The sound of an old bell rang out and reverberated in the training ground. Zhao Changge had shot like a flying arrow toward his opponent the moment the bell rang, and he appeared in front of Leng Yueyan in an instant before piercing with his spear, his attack as quick and ferocious as that of a dragon’s.

Leng Yueyan did not dodge the fearsome attack. She raised her horse tail duster, and no one could notice any spiritual energy being formed; it looked like a very ordinary move. The momentum of Zhao Changge’s spear was completely stopped by the motion of her duster, however, and his weapon would not move, no matter how much strength he channeled into it. As such, he immediately retracted his spear and tried a sweeping move instead.

An icy ray of energy shot toward Leng Yueyan, but it stopped about one meter in front of her. Zhao Changge frowned slightly and began to twirl his lance with both hands at great speed. He made dozens of attacks from every direction. In a matter of seconds, he had dug, slashed, pierced and swept at his opponent, but no matter what he did, he could not break into the meter wide protective barrier of spiritual force surrounding Leng Yueyan, and she swept away all of his attacks with her horse tail duster.

“Rain of Pear Flower Spear Strikes!”

As Zhao Changge was flying backward, he made use of the momentum to backflip and realign himself before leaping forward again with a step. He was twirling his lance at a speed many times quicker than before, and the spectators could see mirror images of him appearing in the air, all of them stabbing at Leng Yueyan with their spear. It looked like the falling of flowers from pear trees, but the ferocity of the attacks were like that of a gale and storm.

He had made hundreds of attacks in a few seconds. Leng Yueyan merely raised her horse tail duster slightly and waved it around a few times, absorbing the blows with her Tao powers. She then spun around and retreated a few meters away. She began chanting and thrusted her elegant arms upward, causing dozens of golden beams of power to appear in the skies.

They swooped down viciously toward Zhao Changge, and he evaded two of them by leaping backward. He struck his spear against the ground and held onto it as he stood upside down, before spinning backward and soaring into the air to avoid another two energy beams. He regathered his lance in mid-air with spiritual force and swept away the other six beams of power as he spun with weapon in hand.

Zhao Changge retreated as he blocked the attacks, and he had stopped all of the energy beams within seconds. He then charged at his opponent again. Even though he was an opportunist, it did not mean that he would only remain reactive if there were no openings. He was more than capable of creating his own chances.

He then unleashed his “Seven Entries and Coiled Snake” spear technique. It was created by Zhao Yun and divided into the “Seven Entries” and “Coiled Snake” skills. The former was actually made up of seven lethal offensive strikes, while the latter symbolized the user continuously twirling his or her spear like a snake circling around its prey, thereby creating a impenetrable barrier. Combined together, it formed an all-rounded technique.

Zhao Changge used the Coiled Snake Technique to block away all of Leng Yueyan’s attacks and the Seven Entries Technique to attack. For a while, the two combatants were equally matched; the technique created by Zhao Yun was extremely wonderful. A twirl of the user’s spear at high speed could block away concentrated attacks by his or her opponent, and it was an exceptional defensive technique.

Zhao Changge was whirling the silver spear in his hand at maximum speed, and he used both Seven Entries and Coiled Snake Techniques cleverly. While defending against his opponent’s blows, he would close the distance between them and counter attack. Leng Yueyan was well connected with Tao, however, and her movements were in sync with Tao itself. Each attack she made was a form of Taoist magic, and she even knew how to use Lu Qianchen’s Lightning Technique.

“Heaven, earth, water, clouds, demon, combat, emergence of the Lightning Technique!”

Leng Yueyan formed a seal of the true words with her hands and unleashed the Lightning Technique of Six Forms at the same time. Six different elemental forms of lightning filled the arena, and the sound of thunder resonated in the skies. Hundreds of lightning bolts surged down toward Zhao Changge.

“Bamboo Wedging Plum Blossom Spear Technique!”

Zhao Changge unleashed another of Zhao Zilong’s ultimate techniques. His spear split into five, and he made 25 strikes with each of them, thereby launching 125 attacks in a short span. Each strike struck a ray of lightning, and he amplified the spiritual force surrounding him before charging at Leng Yueyan with his body overturned. An image of a blue thunder god appeared behind her, and it looked even more solid than that of Lu Qianchen’s.

It stared at Zhao Changge angrily before raising its Thunder God Hammer and smashing it down on him. They exchanged powerful blows, and Zhao pierced through the image but he was also knocked back by the powerful blow of the energy blast. He could feel the sweet taste of iron in his throat after landing and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

“Changge!”

Lyu Hao and his other sworn brothers exclaimed, but Zhao Changge shook his head at them. He then turned to look at Leng Yueyan and told her, “My understanding of Tao is not as deep as yours. Let’s decide who’ll be the winner in the next move!”

“As you wish,” Leng Yueyan replied, her expression unchanged.

“Roar!”

Zhao Changge let out a huge roar and rays of piercing white light emanated from his entire body. The spectators could vaguely hear the cries of a dragon and saw the white light slowly forming into a suit of armor!

“This?! Could this be the soul of General Zilong?”

“Legend has it that the soul of the Victorious General Zhao Yun resides in the Dragon Gut Silver Spear. Seems like it’s true. His soul is worthy of being known as a Greater Power of his time!”

“If that’s the case, wouldn’t the soul of the Flying General, Lyu Bu, be in that double-bladed halberd?!”

The elders began discussing among themselves, and if what they said was true, the soul of another extremely powerful being was present in the world right now. Just mentioning the names of those two famous generals gave them the chills.

The Flying General, Lyu Bu, was the man known as the Demonic God within the community of practitioners, and no one was a match for him when he wielded his double-bladed halberd. The Victorious General Zhao Yun became famous after charging in and out of an army of millions of enemy soldiers for seven times, and he defeated dozens of generals in the Cao Army who were in Semi-Saint level.

Just as they were speaking admirably about the two generals, they were captivated by Leng Yueyan’s magic again. She waved her duster lightly and moved with the agility of an immortal. “The true immortal, Heavenly Girl, determine my fate and enter the mountains and oceans. Rid the world of dragons and evil spirits and unleash your divine might. I summon thee, Heavenly Girl, with the utmost urgency!” she chanted with every step she took.

The moment she finished chanting, a huge divine seal appeared behind her, and a life-like peerless female deity was carved on it. She wore flowing green robes, and her beauty moved the hearts of anyone who saw her. In her hand was a holy sword.

“Hiss! Seal of the Heavenly Girl!”

The elders took in a breath of cold air subconsciously. The Heavenly Girl was the first Goddess of War of the Chinese people, and only sages could comprehend how to summon her. Unexpectedly, Leng Yueyan could use this skill at Semi-Saint Level. Her talent was simply too terrifying!

The reason behind the name “Sect of the Nine Heavens” was because its members worshipped the Goddess Heavenly Girl, also known as the first Goddess of War in China. Her influence on Taoists was only secondary to Nyu’wa and the Queen Mother of the West, so the sect worshipped her as their main deity. All techniques that were named after her were secret and forbidden arts of the sect.

“Wild Dragon Soul Shattering Spear Technique!”

The battle had began before the elders could continue reminiscing about the past. Zhao Changge was wearing a suit of silver armor with white trim, and he let out a huge roar as he stabbed at his opponent with his spear. It transformed into a silver dragon who gazed sternly and majestically down on everyone before shrieking and streaking toward Leng Yueyan.

At the same time, the seal of the Heavenly Girl behind Leng Yueyan also came crashing down toward him. The carving of the goddess was truly life-like, and shortly after, the spectators witnessed an authoritative looking goddess appear!

“Boom!”

The silver dragon crashed head on into the Seal of the Heavenly Girl, and dazzling white light emanated from them. The piercing light engulfed both of them and the overwhelming energy shockwave made everyone feel terrified, even as they stood at a great distance away from the combatants. One minute later, the divine silver dragon and the Seal of the Heavenly Dragon disappeared before the surrounding light and dust dissipated slowly into the air.

Leng Yueyan stood quietly in the center of the arena. She was slightly wounded, and Zhao Changge, who was standing in front of her, was rubbing his chest with one hand while he held tightly onto his silver spear with the other. He knelt down on one knee and laughed bitterly. “As expected, I’m no match for ancient Taoist magic. I concede defeat!”

“Leng Yueyan is really strong. She only suffered some superificial wounds after the violent clash!”

“The Seal of the Heavenly Girl is an ultimate technique of the Sect of the Nine Heavens. It’s really powerful!”

“It’s not that Zhao Changge is weak, but his opponent was too strong. It seems like he’s the first person to exchange 100 blows with her.”

…

All of the practitioners who had witnessed the battle were in awe of Leng Yueyan’s terrifying power. Zhao Changge got up slowly and wiped off the trail of blood from his lips. He cupped his fists and smiled at Leng Yueyan. She returned the greeting, and they bid each other farewell in this manner before returning to their respective camps. The victor had won honorably, while the loser had lost elegantly.