BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM—
Atop the arena, the nail spikes on the Wolf Fang Club were all cleaved apart by the pale-blue Sword Qi, scattering everywhere. Yet, the Wolf Fang Club itself continued to whoosh like the wind, gradually forcing Pei Jing into a corner of the arena.
Now!
Qi Shuo’s eyes bulged with rage, the veins on his arms bulging prominently as he suddenly increased his speed and swept the Wolf Fang Club towards Pei Jing.
The countless cracks on the surface of the Wolf Fang Club tore through the air, stirring up a fierce gale. Even a re graze could send an opponent flying away like a pebble.
Pei Jing’s gaze slightly condensed, his vision narrowing to only himself and his opponent, blind to the audience outside the arena. He leaned forward and knelt on one knee. Grabbing the middle of his right arm with his left hand, he aligned two fingers of his right hand to form a Sword technique, pressing them heavily downward towards the ground.
Spiritual Energy poured out. The Canghai Sword, hovering in the air, suddenly halted, drawing in all the pale-blue sword lights around it.
Then, it swept upward.
The Canghai Sword sharply thrust up, bursting forth with Canglan Sword Energy in a continuous surge, overwhelming Qi Shuo like a roiling tidal wave. Qi Shuo felt his breath catch as if he were facing a massive wave. The pressure mounted, making it difficult for him to advance further.
He couldn’t retreat; retreat would undoubtedly an defeat.
His gaze hardened, and he firmly planted the Wolf Fang Club into the ground to stabilize his stance. Nurous ripples lit up over his body—the Arena Restriction automatically detected and prevented harm to the participants. If the accumulated damage was enough to incapacitate a participant, the Arena Restriction would determine the outco and declare the match over.
Qi Shuo, though not clad in armor, still resisted the onslaught of the Canghai Sword Energy for several monts by virtue of his body’s strength, under the Arena Restriction’s judgnt. First, he stomped heavily forward with his foot. Then, he released a powerful surge of Qi and blood, tearing open a rift in the Canglan Sword Energy. Finally, he raised the battered Wolf Fang Club, smashing it towards the Canghai Sword hovering over Pei Jing’s head.
"Alas..." Pei Jing sighed deeply. His heart was like a still, ancient well. His fingers, still forming the sword technique pointed at the ground, swept heavily forward.
The direction of the Canghai Sword Energy suddenly shifted from horizontal pressure to a vertical slash. Qi Shuo felt an abrupt decrease in pressure around him. The Wolf Fang Club, mid-swing, accelerated. Just as it was about to smash the Canghai Sword, the Arena Restriction under Qi Shuo’s feet glowed red.
In the final second, the Canghai Sword Energy had accumulated enough damage, and the match was declared over.
"I yield."
Pei Jing gracefully stood up, cupped one hand in the other before his chest, and said calmly, "If this were outside the arena, without its restrictions, we likely would have perished together. Brother Qi, your Five Elents Opening Veins is indeed formidable."
"Hmph."
Qi Shuo glanced at the red light underfoot, then at the tattered Wolf Fang Club in his hands. Without saying much, he turned and jumped down from the arena.
Pei Jing wasn’t wrong; his victory had been obtained by exchanging blows under the protection of the Arena Restriction. Had it been outside the arena, even if the Canghai Sword could have killed Qi Shuo in that instant, Pei Jing himself would have been shattered by the incoming Wolf Fang Club in the next mont.
But there are no what-ifs. A loss is a loss. People from Jing Country do not make excuses for their own incapability.
Outside the arena, comntators Sun and Huang were still explaining the details of the final scene to the audience. Other staff mbers skillfully jumped onto the arena, cleaning the battlefield. They cleared the nail spikes from the Wolf Fang Club and returned them to the Jing Country delegation.
"Pei Si, it seems you held back..." Ji Linglang, a fellow Sword Study disciple, furrowed her brows slightly, her tone uncertain. "His final move seed to be our Sword Master’s River Flow Sword Skill from the Rain Listening Realm. It’s based on the poetic line, ’As mountains end against the plains, the river flows into the wilderness.’ The skill is ant to be overwhelming, unending, crushing the opponent. But wasn’t the effect a bit too good? Even if his Canghai Sword was a blade repeatedly improved by top craftsn at great expense to the Pei family, the amount of Spiritual Energy in his Qi Sea seed insufficient to maintain the River Flow Sword Skill for so long."
Everyone instinctively turned to another Sword Study disciple. He Fanshuang, feeling their gazes, slowly looked up from her book and said indifferently, "That move wasn’t the River Flow Sword Skill. It was Wave Breaking from Hedong’s Pei Family, a closely guarded secret taught only to core family mbers. There aren’t equivalent Cultivation Techniques for it in the Academic Palace; only so of its characteristics are recorded in the annals of a few Doctors."
A closely guarded secret?
People exchanged glances. The Pei Family from Hedong originated during the Eastern Han. During the Wei Jin period, they rose to fa alongside the Langya Wang Family and were collectively known as the Eight Pei and Eight Wang. They produced countless high-ranking officials; in the Yu Dynasty alone, fifteen Pri Ministers ca from their ranks. The Pei family has five branches: Western Pei, Stable Washing Pei, Southern Wu Pei, Middle Pei, and Eastern Pei. These five branches, linked by blood and tightly bound to the court through strategic marriages and recomndations, ford a genuine thousand-year-old nobel family.
Moreover, the Pei family was particularly compliant and not keen on land consolidation, unlike the Five Families and Seven Hopes who built "a state within a state." This was also one of the reasons why so many Pri Ministers erged from the Pei family.
"A thousand-year-old nobel family indeed," Yang Yu sighed with emotion. "Their foundation really isn’t sothing ordinary people can match."
"It’s alright," Li Ang shook his head, saying nonchalantly. "There’s no need to belittle ourselves. No matter how formidable a so-called ’nobel family’ is, even if they built a state within a state and fortified their local regions like an iron barrel, they could never compare to the Academic Palace. The Academic Palace is supported by the entire Yu Country. The number of talents, the collision of ideas, the efficiency of information exchange—none of it is on the sa level. It’s like the difference between a pond and the ocean."
Li Ang didn’t quite understand the admiration and envy Yang Yu and the others held for nobel families. In his view, a ’nobel family’ was just "a local nobel family," nothing more.
Currently, in Yu Country, due to the existence of the civil examination system and the Academic Palace, as well as the randomness of Innate Spiritual Veins, society had not yet reached the stage where "it’s difficult for a child from a poor family to beco a prominent figure."
The arena matches proceeded one after another, finishing very quickly. Li Ang and his companions leisurely enjoyed snacks and desserts, occasionally making sharp comnts.
"This Jing Country contestant has very pure eyes, possessing a wild beauty. Hmm? What? A cataract in one eye? Oh, never mind then."
"Our Academic Palace won again? We’ve never had such a wonderful start!"
"That Zhou Kingdom female contestant cried so bitterly after her loss. But there’s no helping it; this is Northern Yu, a place where strength speaks."
The sun gradually set, and the day’s matches were nearing their end.
On the comntary podium, Huang Donglai took a sip of warm water to moisten his dry mouth and read from the list, "...Next up in the ring is Bian Chenpei from Taihao Mountain, facing off against Turkic Ashina Galuo."
Hmm?
Hearing the familiar na, Li Ang slightly raised an eyebrow, his gaze turning towards the spectator stands on the opposite side. In the distance, Bian Chenpei smiled as he stood up from his seat. He waved at his companions, then leisurely walked down the steps and stood beside the arena. Slightly lifting his chin, he t Li Ang’s gaze from afar, a hint of a scornful smile playing on his lips.
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