In the square, a feverish atmosphere was surging and enveloped all the people there. Everyone outside the high-platform fixed their eyes on Xiao Chen and Jiang Qianqian. Jiang Qianqian was expressionless, her face as calm as the surface of the still water, but her eyes stayed on Xiao Chen’s face. It seemed that she was trying to find out Xiao Chen’s cultivation level and what he was thinking about at this very moment.
She didn’t expect that the last person to fight with her at the peak final would be an unknown person who had never turned up before. Nevertheless, she didn’t underestimate him, for she knew that everyone who entered the peak final was definitely not an ordinary person. Especially after seeing his composed look yesterday, she was even surer.
And now, with a gentle smile on his face, Xiao Chen looked calm and at ease. It was always difficult to penetrate his thoughts and figure out his level of cultivation.
All of a sudden, the crowd outside the square shouted in unison, “Come on, Junior Sister! Come on, Junior Sister!”
It was the people of the Pure Mind Sect who exclaimed with excitement. Aside, Baili Xiaohualuo was also there, smiling. He seemed to have always had the smile as warm as the sunshine on his face. Although he had reached the Nirvana Realm at a young age, he was still approachable and not arrogant. Or at least, he looked like that.
Jiang Qianqian said nothing else. Slightly leaped, she landed gently on the Fighting Platform in the sky above like a swift bird. Knowing that the Fighting Platform would weaken her strength, she then started to operate the cultivation method to get prepared for that. Fully prepared in advance, she was determined to win the first place this time and enter the Cloud Mist Academy.
However, to her surprise, after Xiao Chen flew up, the Fighting Platform didn’t cripple her power as it did when she had fought with others. Her face suddenly changed. “Is there anything wrong with the Fighting Platform?” It was the first thought that appeared in her mind. However, she soon calmed down, thinking, “It has nothing to do with the Fighting Platform. It is because this young man’s cultivation level is higher than mine.”
“His cultivation level is even higher above mine!” This idea never occurred to her. She had always thought that there would be no one in her generation who could enter the Nirvana Realm except for Baili Xiaohualuo, who was quite annoying. However, the young man in front of her had surprised her.
“Come on, Junior Sister! Come on, Junior Sister!” The crowd below them began to shout again. Although the Fighting Platform was placed above the square, they could see what was going on there through the Transmitting Formation, but they couldn’t hear the voices of Xiao Chen and Jiang Qianqian.
“It seems that Qianqian is also very serious this time.” On the high platform in the due east of the square, Perfected Immortal Chongyang stroked his beard and said with a smile.
Beside him, Jiang Bietian also smiled and said, “My daughter has always been competitive since she was a child. This time, she has sort of met her match. Although that kid appears to be carefree, he also has the will to win. He looks like he wants to enter the Cloud Mist Academy.”
Jiang Qianqian, who was as pretty as a picture, stood on the Fighting Platform, her hair behind her shoulders waving in the air. Even though she was confronting someone whose cultivation was higher than hers, she was still very confident. She said, “Don’t worry. Master Ren designed this Fighting Platform so that it makes no mistake. Your cultivation level will only be limited to the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm, so the fighting is very fair.”
Xiao Chen smiled, thinking, “Sure enough, the thing designed by Ren Tianxing is really powerful. It nearly sealed my cultivation as soon as I came up. Fortunately, I ran the Wisdom-forsaking Technique in time and leveled down my cultivation level by using the power of the seal.”
Now, he felt like he had wielded the Wisdom-forsaking Technique several times when he was at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm. Although he couldn’t exert the strength when he was in the Nirvana Realm, he stayed stably at the peak of Nascent Soul Realm.
“Then, Miss Jiang, please.”
As his voice fell, the whole Fighting Platform suddenly shook violently and then was enveloped in a dense fog. The two people on the platform suddenly couldn’t see each other. There was only an endless fog in front of them as if they had entered another space.
The change immediately caused an uproar from the crowd below. Although the Fighting Platform was shrouded in the fog and the two sides were out of each other’s sight, the people below them could see everything clearly. The peak final was the last fight. To test the various abilities of both sides, it was naturally much more complicated than the previous ones. Any contestants depending solely on brute strength would be defeated without any doubt.
The wonder of the Fighting Platform was that it had myriads of changes. The person standing on it would feel as if he had entered another space. In it, he would never fall or be able to hear the sound of the outside world.
Xiao Chen grasped the Unsullied Sword and held his breath, moving slowly step by step. Now, he could see nothing but only a vast expanse of white before him, nor could he feel any trace of Jiang Qianqian’s aura. Xiao Chen thought to himself, “The thing designed by Ren Tianxing is really powerful. Now that it has even sealed my Divine Sense, which could find no way to get out to probe the present situation. This battle might be the most special one I have ever experienced. I can never defeat her by force alone.”
Now, neither of them could feel each other’s position. Step by step, they moved slowly, waiting to perceive the other’s aura when they were close enough to each other. However, they could only feel each other’s presence but could not orient each other at all. Xiao Chen didn’t know whether Jiang Qianqian was in his front, behind him, on his left side, or on his right side, and neither did Jiang Qianqian know Xiao Chen’s position.
Now with swords in their hands, both of them were on high alert to look for each other. Finally, Xiao Chen felt a faint aura fluctuation—Jiang Qianqian appeared within his attacking range!
Of course, the moment when he felt her presence, Jiang Qianqian must have also sensed him. The two of them became more vigilant. Now, not only did they need to find out where the other party was, but also they had to prevent the sudden attack from each other. “Once her surprise attack successes, I will lose for sure,” Xiao Chen said in his heart.
He held his breath, his heart beating increasingly faster. Now he couldn’t even hear her footsteps. What he could sense was that she was creeping towards him little by little. “But which direction is she coming from?” Xiao Chen pondered.
The people below also held their breath in deep concentration. They could see the two people’s position clearly, but they couldn’t call the information out. Even if they did, it was useless because the two people above couldn’t hear them at all. In fact, even their Divine Senses couldn’t penetrate the barrier and get to Xiao Chen or Jiang Qianqian.
Xiao Chen composed himself, for he couldn’t be in a hurry at the moment. The more anxious he was, the more easily he would expose his position to Jiang Qianqian and hence being attacked by surprise. Now he had felt that Jiang Qianqian’s aura was getting stronger, which indicated that they were approaching each other. Xiao Chen wondered, “Is she on my left or right side? Or is she in front of or behind me? If I guess wrong, I’m likely to expose myself and being killed by her instead.”
Suddenly, Xiao Chen thought of something. “At this point, to see whether she is on my left or right, all I needed to do was… move a little to the right.” Thinking of this, Xiao Chen quickly moved two steps to the right. At this moment, he felt that Jiang Qianqian’s aura became a little weaker. That was to say, she was a little further away from him, which indicated that she was not on his right side.
Since she was not on his right side, there were still three positions left. Xiao Chen immediately took another step back, and then Jiang Qianqian’s aura weakened a little at the same time. It showed that she was not behind him.
The extremely acute spiritual sense was needed for him to feel the tiny changes of the opponent’s aura accurately. Once again, Xiao Chen moved two more steps to the left. This time, her aura only increased a little. Xiao Chen made his judgment. “If she were on my left, her aura would not merely grow such a little bit. She is right in front of me!”
“Swoosh!” In a flash, Xiao Chen turned into a swift light and sent his sword forward to stab Jiang Qianqian, like an eagle that had found its prey.
“Clang!” There was a sharp noise, and sparks flashed. It turned out that Jiang Qianqian reacted in less than no time and blocked his deadly blow with her sword.
At this instant, they finally saw each other when they were so close. Without the least hesitation, they both used their most powerful killing moves on each other. “Clang!” With another sharp sound, the blades of their swords collided. They felt that their arms sank and meanwhile were sent flying by each other’s powerful strike. The next moment, neither of them could feel each other’s aura again.
As they witnessed the whole process, the crowd below gasped. All of this happened in the blink of an eye. Even before they could react, the two people above had already finished their first fierce confrontation.
At this moment, there were many discussions among the crowd. Some people admired Xiao Chen’s acute judgment, while some exclaimed Jiang Qianqian’s extraordinary reaction ability. On the east side of the high platform, Perfected Immortal Chongyang stroked his beard and seemed to be very impressed by Xiao Chen’s move just now. He said, “This kid did an excellent job to judge the position of Jiang Qianqian with this method. And Qianqian’s counter-attack ability is also very strong. Both of them played pretty well.”
In the distance, a layer of cold sweat covered Liu Qing’s back. If it were him, he could never stand up to Xiao Chen’s sudden attack just now. Thinking of this, he couldn’t help sighing secretly. “In terms of cultivation level only, I am the same as her. However, as to other aspects, maybe I am inferior to her. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have lost to her in the semifinal.”
The Fighting Platform was still in a dense fog. Once again, Xiao Chen and Jiang Qianqian moved with great caution. When they reappeared within each other’s perception range, Jiang Qianqian seemed to have become much smarter this time. She kept moving around to disrupt Xiao Chen’s judgment. At the same time, she was also trying to locate Xiao Chen.
Just like that, they moved around constantly, simultaneously guessing where the other party would appear in the next instant. This time, they needed not only extremely sharp spiritual senses but also excellent reaction ability and judgment. If either of them were slightly inferior in any of these aspects, he or she would probably be defeated by the other’s sudden attack.
Suddenly, they moved a little. It seemed that they had confirmed each other’s position at the same time. Then, they launched their attacks on each other. “Clang!” After a tremendous crash, they started to fight again. But this time, they didn’t immediately get away from each other after their swords touched. Instead, they engaged in a vicious fight.
Jiang Qianqian performed a set of swordsmanship called the Heavenly Maids Blossoms-Scattering Swordplay. Her posture was like the Mystic Lady of the Nine Heavens. The long sword in her hand left numerous shadows behind. It was like a rain of swords pouring down from midair. One after another, those shadows of her sword came to attack Xiao Chen.
Of course, Xiao Chen would never stay there and wait to be killed. He chose to play the Phoenix’s Cry Amid Bamboos of the Green Flute Swordplay. His sword uttered a long and loud whistle like a phoenix as soon as he started to wield it. Wherever his sword went, there would be a strong wind soughing. The dazzled sword shadows he made were all well ordered.
For a moment, metallic sounds on the Fighting Platform could be heard without end. Those people down the Fighting Platform were completely bewitched in a daze. There were too many things for their eyes to see. Their swordsmanship was ingenious to the extreme. This fight between them could be truly considered as a Sword Tryout!
On the east end of the high platform, Perfected Immortal Chongyang’s face finally changed at this moment. Initially, he thought that Xiao Chen only had a high cultivation level. And even, in his opinion, though Xiao Chen’s cultivation was high, it was inevitably a little superficial. But after seeing the fight, he found that Xiao Chen not only had an extremely acute spiritual sense but also had an outstanding reaction ability. Now he even displayed such an exquisite set of swordsmanship. Perfected Immortal Chongyang couldn’t help pondering, “Does this person only want to enter the Cloud Mist Academy? If he didn’t intend to enter the Cloud Mist Academy, why would he take part in the Sword Tryout? Does he just want to make a name for himself?”