At some point, Harriet Gu had already regained consciousness. Her gaze was cold and clear as she stared at the figure on the stage. For some reason, her usually calm and rippleless heart suddenly stirred with a faint trace of emotion.
As for Zoey Zhou, she could only sigh inwardly, while jealousy kept rising in her heart. Why was that guy's sword dao so much higher? She hadn’t even comprehended sword intent yet!
On the stage.
Harvey Hua wiped the blood from his mouth, but his face now showed a bitter expression. He said to Leon Huang, "I used to be arrogant, but I never thought you’d truly defeat me in one move. I admit my loss, fair and square!"
After saying this, Harvey Hua staggered off the platform.
"Does Sea Emperor Sect still have anyone who can fight?"
Leon Huang’s gaze settled on Invincible Xiong and Evan Ouyang.
"I’ll fight you!"
Evan Ouyang stepped forward, his eyes sharp as he stared at Leon Huang.
"You’re not my opponent!" Leon Huang shook his head. Evan Ouyang was stronger than Harvey Hua, but not by much.
"We’ll see after we fight!"
Evan Ouyang leaped onto the stage; in his hand appeared a transparent longsword radiating an endless icy chill.
A knowledgeable spectator exclaimed, "That sword in Evan Ouyang’s hand is a fifth-grade spirit sword!"
At these words, the crowd’s hearts tightened. A fifth-grade spirit weapon could boost a martial artist’s power several times over—now it seemed Leon Huang was sure to lose.
"Go ahead and make your move!"
Evan Ouyang raised his longsword, and instantly, a wave of cold air spread out, nearly freezing the entire platform.
"Alright!"
Leon Huang didn’t stand on ceremony—he simply lifted his sword and thrust forward.
But his body didn’t move an inch. The sword thrust produced no sword-qi, not even a glimmer of sword-light—it looked like a casual poke with no power at all.
"Hmph, if you’re going to waste your chance at the first move, then just die!"
Seeing this, Evan Ouyang gave a cold shout and swung his sword to strike.
But his sword had only swung halfway when a sudden stabbing pain erupted in his mind. The pain was so abrupt and intense that he couldn’t help but let out a muffled groan, then staggered backward.
In a flash, the cold sword tip was already pressed against his brow.
"I told you, you’re not my opponent!"
"What kind of sorcery did you use?"
Evan Ouyang gritted his teeth, enduring the pain in his head, and asked.
Leon Huang shook his head. "No, it was sword technique. You’re just too low-level to understand it!"
Below the stage, the young girl once again tugged her father’s arm, pouting: "Daddy, what sword technique did Leon Huang just use? Why did Evan Ouyang lose so cluelessly?"
The people around them pricked up their ears again.
But the father’s face flashed with embarrassment. "I don’t know either!"
On the other side.
"That brat definitely used some trick to ambush Evan Ouyang!" Hugh Ao said angrily.
Invincible Xiong’s eyes were filled with confusion—he hadn’t figured out why Evan Ouyang suddenly lost his fighting ability either.
On the stage.
Faced with Leon Huang’s mockery, Evan Ouyang’s expression kept shifting. Finally, he bowed to Leon Huang and said, "Can you tell me how you defeated me? I don’t want to lose without understanding!"
"Alright, since you’re so earnest, I’ll tell you!"
For a moment, not only did Evan Ouyang prepare to listen closely—even the entire area around the stage fell silent. You could have heard a pin drop; everyone wanted to know the answer.
Leon Huang explained, "The sword I thrust just now seemed to have no sword-qi or sword-light, but that doesn’t mean it had no attack—it’s just that none of you saw it!"
"An invisible attack? What was it?" Evan Ouyang pressed.
"That sword move is called Soul Assassination. It’s formless and shadowless, and it acts directly on your soul. Just now, I only used ten percent of my soul power—otherwise, you wouldn’t just have a headache, your soul would have collapsed and you’d have died instantly!"
Hearing Leon Huang’s explanation, Evan Ouyang couldn’t help but gasp, a surge of fear welling up in his heart.
Soul power is invisible and intangible—how could anyone defend against it?
"Alright, I admit defeat!"
Evan Ouyang bowed to Leon Huang once more, then left the platform.
"Invincible Xiong, you come up too! Let’s finish today’s matches!" Leon Huang’s gaze fell on Invincible Xiong.
But unexpectedly, Invincible Xiong didn’t take the stage. He shook his head and said, "In terms of intent, my blade intent is about equal to your sword intent. My cultivation is one tier higher than yours, so I should have the advantage. But I can’t block your Soul Assassination, so I concede!"
"How can you just concede like that!"
Hugh Ao roared at Invincible Xiong, unwilling to accept the outcome.
"If you’re not the opponent, why not concede?" Invincible Xiong replied coolly, then turned and left. Others might fear Elder Hugh Ao, but he didn’t—he was the sect master’s disciple.
Meanwhile, the Pristine Way Sect erupted in cheers.
A match they thought impossible to win was won. Not only did they keep their five Sanctum Admission Tokens, they also won five more from the Sea Emperor Sect.
That night.
Elder Hu and Elder Warren summoned Leon Huang to their room.
"This is for you!"
Elder Hu smiled and handed Leon Huang a storage ring.
"What is it?"
"Take a look and you’ll see!" Elder Hu replied mysteriously.
It was an ownerless storage ring. After Leon Huang dripped blood to claim it, he sent his mind inside and found stacks of high-value silver notes—counting them, there were fifty million taels.
There was also a bottle of fifth-grade Breakthrough Pills, ten mid-grade spirit crystals, and a sixth-grade spirit sword.
"Elder Hu, these things are too valuable—I can’t accept them!"
Leon Huang hurriedly handed the storage ring back.
"Keep it—it’s all yours! We didn’t take the five Sanctum Admission Tokens from the Sea Emperor Sect, so these are their compensation!" Elder Hu smiled. "This time, you made a huge contribution to our Pristine Way Sect—not only keeping our five tokens, but also earning great honor for us!"
"I wouldn’t dare—as a member of the Pristine Way Sect, this is just what I should do!"
"Well said! Elder Dongfang really didn’t misjudge you!" Elder Hu said. "I’ve already reported this to the sect master by flying eagle message, and he’s replied—once you reach late Grandmaster, he’ll directly promote you to core disciple!"
Hearing this, Leon Huang was overjoyed—only core disciples are eligible to compete for the position of sect master.
"Thank you, Sect Master! Thank you, Elders!"
"Alright, go and rest now—but don’t spread word of this!" Elder Hu waved him away.
"Yes!"
After Leon Huang left, Elder Hu and Elder Warren began to chat.
Elder Hu beamed, "Old Warren, I think our Pristine Way Sect’s rise is near!"
"You mean that kid!" Elder Warren laughed, clearly in good spirits.
"Who else? So young, and he’s already grasped sword intent at this level. Not to mention his Soul Assassination—it’s nearly impossible to defend against. Even a Grandmaster could fall if they’re careless. But a tree that stands out in the forest is sure to be blown down by the wind; I doubt the Sea Emperor Sect will let this go." Elder Hu suddenly looked worried.
Elder Warren was unconcerned. "Heh, they won’t get a chance. On the way to Holy Spirit Island, there’ll be plenty of danger, but experts from Sanctum Martial Academy will be watching from the shadows—the Sea Emperor Sect wouldn’t dare make a move. And once we’re at Sanctum, they’ll have even less opportunity!"