Sword radiance differs from sword light; the former is like a scattered speck, yet in an instant, it can shine with ten thousand feet of brilliance.
Zhao Chun knew that Shen Youzhen was not a body cultivator. This strike was a direct assault on her vital points, and in the path of the saber, he followed the style of rapid offense. The most critical element of this battle was the concept of "initiative." Therefore, Zhao Chun did not hide a single shred of her strength, channeling her entire power into a single sword strike. The outcome was decided in a mere instant!
Shen Youzhen felt affronted by her move, yet he did not underestimate her in the slightest. Holding his saber, he stood firm and lunged forward with a sweeping slash!
How could a saber that had not yet reached the "Entry Realm" possibly be faster than a sword in the "Second Realm"?
Zhao Chun’s sword made no sound of breaking the air; it was an explosion born of extreme stillness. In the eyes of onlookers, it appeared as a momentary flash of starlight, and by the time they looked again, the sword tip was already pressed against Shen Youzhen’s throat.
Meanwhile, his long saber was still mid-air, having not yet descended.
Zhao Chun stood a head shorter than Shen Youzhen, but as she looked up with cold eyes, it felt as though she were looking down upon him. Her breathing was uneven and her face was somewhat pale, revealing that her previous staggering strike had nearly emptied her dantian. Had Shen Youzhen unleashed his saber, defeating the current Zhao Chun would have been as simple as lifting a hand. However, not just him, but all the cultivators watching knew clearly: Zhao Chun had won a decisive victory!
In sect martial duels, one stops once the point is made. Had the two truly been enemies, that sword strike would have already slit Shen Youzhen’s throat.
"I lost." Having been defeated by Zhao Chun, whose age and cultivation were significantly inferior to his own, Shen Youzhen felt a momentary sense of melancholy, but what rose in his heart was more fighting spirit. The world is vast, and geniuses emerge in endless succession; those who are discouraged view this as a tragedy, while those who strive forward view it as a great blessing.
Zhao Chun sheathed her sword and let out a long sigh. "Thank you for the honor!" She understood that fighting on a martial stage was different from combat in the field; the former was limited by arena rules, while the latter was without restraint. To defeat Shen Youzhen by seizing the initiative was to win half the battle. Had the opponent struck half a breath earlier, the outcome would have been uncertain; even if she had won, it likely would have been a pyrrhic victory.
The spectators might have understood this logic, but the shock of that single sword strike could not be erased.
A cultivator of the Sword Radiance Realm at the sixth level of Qi Refinement—such talent was top-tier even within the Zhiyue Sect, the leader of the Southern Region sects.
Du Fan’s breathing tightened. One more step would bring one into the Sword Qi Realm; even among the entire Lingzhen Sect, only Qiu Jianying had entered that realm.
"I have practiced the sword since the beginning of my cultivation, and only after more than twenty years did I luckily enter the Sword Radiance Realm. Fellow Daoist Zhao is a young talent; you truly make me feel ashamed," said Jiang Yun, a blue-robed disciple who was also in the Sword Radiance Realm. Among sword cultivators, seniority is rarely judged by cultivation level, so he addressed Zhao Chun directly as "Fellow Daoist." As a famous martial fanatic of the inner sect, he was already calculating how to visit Zhao Chun to exchange sword techniques.
Liu Xuan showed great admiration, offering continuous praise. In terms of status, she was Zhao Chun’s senior sister, so others could only echo her sentiments. Among them, Jiang Yun and Meng Han were the most outspoken, while Xu Feng, being less skilled in speech, merely nodded in agreement from the side.
The various figures on the high platform were, after all, Foundation Establishment cultivators, and their words were measured and restrained.
Unlike the disciples watching from the periphery, who were cheering wildly and shouting Zhao Chun’s name. Though a casual strike and a full-power strike are vastly different, to an onlooker, they both appeared as a single move. A sixth-level Qi Refinement cultivator defeating an eighth-level one—a leap of two minor stages, not to mention the difference between the mid-stage and late-stage—was an incredible feat.
After today's battle, Zhao Chun had undoubtedly made a name for herself among tens of thousands of inner and outer disciples. Some outer disciples at the eighth or ninth level of Qi Refinement were even weighing whether they could withstand that single sword strike.
To cultivate together is to be invincible; to cultivate further is to drink water—this is the majesty of a sword cultivator!
Many disciples below the stage actually felt a burning desire to practice the sword. Because of this battle, the path of the sword saw a sudden surge in popularity within the outer sect; regardless of talent, many set their sights on sword cultivation. But those were matters for later...
Zhao Chun took the seventeenth position, and the remaining positions shifted accordingly. Xia Shende, who was in the twentieth position, was pushed out of the top twenty. However, since Zhao Chun had taken her place through sheer strength, it instilled a sense of dread in the lower-ranked cultivators.
Just as she expected, no one chose to challenge her in the subsequent rounds, allowing Zhao Chun to enjoy some peace.
As for the cultivators in the thirteenth through sixteenth positions, their strengths were extremely close. None were willing to concede, and they fought repeatedly for position, engaging in several evenly matched battles that provided great entertainment for the watching disciples!
There were two other minor climaxes. One involved Zheng Chenqing, who had just entered the ninth level of Qi Refinement, as he boldly challenged the first-ranked Zhuang Kun. After several hundred moves, he won by a hair's breadth! Zhuang Kun had remained at the ninth level for a long time, just one step away from Foundation Establishment, yet he still lost to the direct disciple of the Sect Leader, earning the admiration of the crowd.
The final battle saw another instance of a lower-level cultivator defeating a superior one. Due to Zhao Chun taking a position, Qu Zhanxing, who had been pushed to the twenty-second position, sought to challenge Gan Yuan, who was currently holding the twentieth spot.
Coincidentally, both cultivators were wood-attribute magic cultivators, and their sect-inherited techniques were somewhat similar. In the eyes of onlookers, Gan Yuan was at the eighth level of Qi Refinement; given the similarity in their spells, her cultivation advantage should have guaranteed a victory. Unexpectedly, Qu Zhanxing had come prepared; his Flying Leaf technique had reached Great Completion, and paired with a top-grade magic tool suited to his path, he defeated Gan Yuan.
Only then did Zhao Chun remember that Elder Wu Yunzhang had a disciple participating this time, named Qu Zhanxing. Among the Four Elders, Wu Yunzhang was obsessed with weapon forging, so it was not surprising that his disciple wielded a top-grade magic tool.
Some who, like Zhao Chun, knew the inner workings of things, felt a slight sense of injustice, believing his victory via magic tool was unseemly. The defeated Gan Yuan’s expression shifted several times before she finally took a lower seat, though whether she was truly convinced remained to be seen.
After those two battles, no one else stepped forward, and it seemed the top twenty were set. However, aside from the seven ninth-level Qi Refinement cultivators, the other thirteen did not dare to let their guard down. This was because, among those eliminated in the first round of the third round, there was still a ninth-level Qi Refinement cultivator, Fang Cairan, who intended to fight for a position.
Among all the eliminated cultivators, Zhao Chun was most wary of this woman.
Fang Cairan had only narrowly lost after encountering Zhuang Kun in the first round. In terms of strength, she could be ranked in the top three of the participants, second only to Zheng and Zhuang.
To her, there were many "soft persimmons" among the twenty on the stage. As Fang Cairan stepped onto the martial stage, her smiling eyes swept over Zhao Chun, causing her to instantly become vigilant. However, the gaze lingered only for a moment, as if giving a slight nod, before she spoke: "The one who was just wielding a magic tool, step forward. With such strength, it is a bit out of place for you to remain on the stage."
There were many people holding magic tools, even Zhao Chun held the Crimson Edge Dagger, but everyone present knew exactly who Fang Cairan was targeting. For a moment, the atmosphere became strange, with all eyes fixed on Qu Zhanxing.