Zack Zhao raised the edge of his sword slightly, the tip pointing straight at Evan Lin's position.
Evan Lin still had his backpack slung over his shoulders, looking a bit out of place compared to Zack Zhao's sharp and heroic posture.
"Uh... Mr. Lin—friend, for a proper arena match, please set aside any unnecessary items, so they don't affect your performance."
Uncle Victor Li, silent until now, finally snapped back to reality and hurriedly addressed Evan Lin with respect.
He had wanted to call Evan 'Master Lin,' but thought better of it and quickly changed his wording.
Right now, Evan Lin was here for one thing—the Mu Family Ancient Sword. It was clear he was ready to take on the entire Southriver Sword Sect.
In Uncle Victor Li's mind, he was actually rooting more for Evan Lin.
Martin Mu and Bob Moore's actions had left Uncle Victor Li feeling pretty cold, and he sympathized even more with Melissa Mu's current situation.
"No need."
Evan Lin didn't even glance at Uncle Victor Li.
Seeing his attitude, Uncle Li could only give a wry smile. If anyone else talked to him like that, Uncle Li would definitely be a little annoyed, but since it was Evan Lin, he had no way to object.
He could only sigh and say nothing more.
“Where’s your Misty Rain Sword?”
Evan Lin looked at Zack Zhao. Zack still gripped that seven-inch-long sword of condensed qi tightly in his hand.
“I told you, if you want to see the Misty Rain Sword, first show me if you’ve got what it takes!”
Zack Zhao’s face turned ice-cold. He gripped the seven-inch sword tighter, then flicked the blade upward—a blast of powerful sword qi shot out from the tip, blasting straight at Evan’s face.
The sword qi swept across the arena, leaving a long, narrow groove in its wake—like a raging dragon bursting from the sea, unstoppable!
“What insane sword energy! He’s not just shaping qi—he’s actually releasing it outward. And that kind of external sword qi is seriously terrifying!”
The crowd below the stage saw Zack’s casual sword strike and couldn’t help but change expressions.
Even from a distance, they felt as if their faces were being slashed by the sword’s edge. Not only that—the sword qi looked almost solid, like a real blade.
Such a level of condensed power—no ordinary person could ever reach this!
The sword edge shot forward, tearing through the solid flagstones of the arena, and when it reached Evan Lin—
In everyone's eyes, the young man on stage simply tapped his foot, lightly pressing the ground beneath him. Instantly, earth and stone burst out before him with a roar, colliding head-on with that surging sword qi.
A deafening boom exploded in everyone's ears.
"How is this possible!"
The crowd below had expected this exchange to decide the winner, but to their shock, that fierce sword qi was actually knocked skyward by the earth and stone!
The seemingly solid sword qi soared toward the sky before their very eyes, while the stone jutted from the ground pushed the sword qi upward!
"Sword qi may look solid, but at the end of the day, it's still just energy! When it hits earth and stone, it should either smash them to bits or be completely blocked! How could it get pushed into the air instead?" someone cried out, utterly baffled.
"What the heck is that? I've never seen anyone push away something as formless as qi!"
Everyone craned their necks, searching the sky for any trace of the sword qi. But no matter how hard they looked, it was nowhere to be seen—like it had vanished into thin air.
Zhu Yidong's face froze in disbelief.
Uncle Li was filled with emotion.
Hearing all the wild guesses from the crowd below the stage, he couldn't help but let out a wry laugh.
Forget just pushing away sword qi—didn't this young man once summon wind and rain and step on a dragon? Wasn't that even more unbelievable than what he just did?
"Hmm?"
Seeing this, Zack Zhao raised an eyebrow. "No matter what trick you're pulling, you'll pay for what you said and did today!"
He shouted, his face finally showing a bit of seriousness.
As soon as he finished speaking, Zack lunged forward at full speed, each step ringing crisply on the ground.
With his right hand gripping the sword formed from pure qi, he brought the blade in front of him. Wherever it passed, the air howled, and the sword's force seemed to rip a gash right through space.
Charging forward, his aura grew even stronger, and his sharp, delicate face took on an eerie, almost demonic look.
"Let's see how you block my sword! This strike will tear your flesh and break your bones!"
"I'll let you live, but for the rest of your life, you'll crawl through this world with half a body—groveling like a worm, repenting for your sins today!"
A cold gleam flashed in Zack Zhao's eyes, and at that moment, his seven-inch blade glowed faint white. The howling wind grew louder, and his surging qi made the crowd's hearts pound with dread.
But when everyone looked at the young man standing before Zack, they saw Evan Lin completely unfazed. He stared calmly at Zack, who was barreling toward him, and suddenly lifted his right hand.
He raised his right hand to the sky, left hand behind his back, not even thinking of dodging or moving his feet!
"What's he doing? Is he seriously planning to block Zack Zhao's strike with his bare hand?" Someone in the crowd gasped at Evan Lin's action.
"That's suicide! Zack's sword qi was already terrifying, but the actual sword formed from qi is on a whole other level. And this kid thinks he can take it head-on with just his body?"
Everyone watched Evan Lin's move and shook their heads inwardly.
Even if Evan's earlier stomp was legendary, it couldn't shake their ingrained beliefs.
Besides, Evan's opponent was Zack Zhao!
"Wait! Look up!"
Finally, someone noticed something wrong and cried out in alarm.
As soon as he spoke, everyone instinctively raised their heads, looking up at the sky.
There, at the edge of the sky, a tiny dot was rapidly growing larger.
A heavy whistling sound came from above, louder than before, as if something massive was falling.
"Is that the earth and stone from earlier?"
Someone recognized the falling object and froze, still unsure.
"It's definitely earth and stone, but why does it look kind of like sword qi?"
Another person hesitated, unsure.
But up on the arena, Zack Zhao had already reached Evan Lin. The long blade in his hand swept toward Evan's waist in a lethal horizontal slash!
At that very moment, the object falling from the sky landed right in Evan Lin's raised right palm!
Evan's face remained calm as he gently closed his fingers around it. Only then did the crowd finally see what he was truly holding.