Chapter 76 Duelist's Dance

With Xuan's proposal accepted, the various forces inside the chamber got to work deciding who their representative was going to be. There were eight major powers present, making a perfect tournament bracket, which meant Xuan had to sit out.

Of course, that was not a bad thing. As the one who came up with this plan, it was agreed that he would get to duel the winner of the tournament, and if he won, he'd be able to enjoy the benefits of the Earthpulse. If not, well—it was high risk, high return for a reason.

As such, he observed the other fights carefully—out of the eight representatives chosen, he determined only three of them to be of any threat to himself—Qu Yun from High Heaven Pavilion, Xiao Huojun from the Temple of Flames, and Li Youpeng from Thousand Swords Sect. All three were incredibly powerful forces in Asphodel, and could be said to rank amongst the top ten.

As it turned out, however, both Xiao Huojun and Qu Yun ended up being eliminated—Huojun won over Qu Yun, but Li Youpeng defeated Huojun. At the end of it all, Li Youpeng was the only one left—the ultimate victor of the tournament, and also the person who Xuan would be facing.

"Brother, may I ask for your name?" Li Youpeng asked, inviting Xuan to the duel.

"Xuan," Xuan replied as usual, and walked up a few meters so that the two men were standing a good distance apart. Then, pulling out his sword, he aimed it at Li Youpeng. "Shall we?"

At this, Li Youpeng smiled. "Very well. Sword Qi only?"

'Oh…? He wants to challenge me to only use sword techniques?'

Xuan smirked. If it was a proper duel with no limitations, then he might actually lose. Li Youpeng was a Qi Transformation stage cultivator, but he must have learned plenty of incredible techniques given how powerful his sect was. Rather than risking a fight like that, a duel of pure sword skill and Sword Qi strength had far higher success chances.

As such, Xuan easily agreed to the duel, and Li Youpeng pulled out his sword as well.

"Let us dance."

With a gush of wind, he dashed towards Xuan, aiming directly for the throat. He did not hold back—just how Xuan liked it. The crowd of spectators gasped at Li Youpeng's sheer speed, and to be honest, they did not hold high hopes for Xuan—a nameless nobody who wasn't really famous by any means.

"As expected of the infamous Speed Devil of Thousand Swords Sect…"

"If nothing else, his speed is unparalleled."

"Let's see if this brother can match it…?"

'Match it?' Xuan laughed in his head. 'I won't just match it. I'll exceed it.'

With sword skill as meager as this, he wants to beat Zero? Think again.

Li Youpeng was fast—that was for sure. But no matter how fast one was, all Xuan had to do to counter it was find the right timing to parry. Narrowing his eyes, he suddenly cut upwards with his sword, parrying Li Youpeng's forward thrust, before landing a sinking kick into the other man's stomach.

"Ngh-!"

Xuan's STR stat was no joke. Li Youpeng may be wearing defensive artifacts, but a direct kick like this paired with the amount of momentum he himself had would still cause quite some pain.

"Agh…"

Slowly, he picked himself back up, and smiled at Xuan. "This brother's strength is truly impressive… to be able to parry me, you must have a lot of sword-fighting experience."

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"I've dabbled in it here and there," Xuan replied—a white lie. "I had a good teacher, that's all."

In reality, he'd spent thousands of years perfecting his swordsmanship, fighting countless sword masters and studying the legacies of many historical grandmasters. As such, he was able to easily spot the flaws in Li Youpeng's sword skills, and adapt accordingly.

However, the duel wasn't quite over yet. Li Youpeng's pride would never let it end that quickly. Lifting his sword, the Thousands Swords Sect disciple charged his blade up with intense Qi, and launched a wave of Sword Qi towards Xuan.

'Oh…? Fifth Level Sword Intent at Qi Transformation stage… he's quite talented,' Xuan thought. Even by his standards, this was pretty good. Unfortunately…

… His was even stronger.

Calmly, he mimicked Li Youpeng's actions and unleashed a wave of his own Sword Intent. The two's respective waves of energy clashed into one another, and shook the entire cavern with the impact.

But in the end, Xuan's Qi was stronger, thanks to his ridiculous Soul Strength.

His blood-red Qi slowly began devouring Li Youpeng's blue energy, and the crowd gasped in shock.

"No way… his Sword Intent is stronger than Li Youpeng's?"

"Just who is this man… he doesn't even look older than us!"

"So handsome…"

Realizing it was over, Li Youpeng hurriedly activated his last-minute defensive artifact, and managed to save his own life. Both sides had been holding back as to not destroy this entire cave system, so the resulting explosion didn't cause much damage. Still, the victor of the duel was clear.

"This Li admits defeat," Li Youpeng said, bowing. "I must ask, though… just who was your master? To be able to teach to this level…"

"He has already passed," Xuan replied quietly—another lie, but this time it was to avoid answering any further questions.

As expected, Li Youpeng opened his mouth and closed it again, before saying 'my condolences' and not questioning it any further. With the duel settled, it was finally time to enjoy the power of the Earthpulse. Settling down in the pool, the people who obtained the right to use it settled in respectively. Xuan, as the ultimate winner of the tournament, got to enjoy it alone for the first ten minutes. Then, the Thousand Swords Sect will enter, then the second place, and so on.

Letting his body sink into the water, Xuan let out a deep breath as a warmth enveloped his body. The radiant Qi seeped into his skin and filled him with energy, letting him enter a state of meditation.

'Hm…? This water… there's something odd about it.'