Chapter 564: Strive
Above the vast Dragon Sealing City, all the geniuses in the air seemed to have shrunk before this self-confidence.
Sima Lingxuan was silently telling everyone that even though countless stars shone in the sky, he—Sima Lingxuan—was the brightest one.
He drew his sword and a bright light appeared. At this moment, all the strong winds blowing immediately gathered around the sword.
The surging sword intent slowly grew. Soon, it became a Small Perfection sword intent. Then, it continued rising, becoming a forty percent comprehended sword intent.
Just when everyone thought that it was about to stop, the sword intent ramped up. Fifty percent…sixty percent!
Sima Lingxuan’s comprehension unexpectedly reached sixty percent. If it improved by another ten percent, it would be a Great Perfection sword intent—a level that many of the older generation failed to achieve.
He launched a sharp, solid energy wave from the sword’s edge, which instantly tore apart the formless energy wave of Bai Qi’s saber intent.
“Pu ci!”
After Sima Lingxuan’s sword intent tore apart the saber intent, it dimmed slightly. However, it maintained its form and sharpness.
“Ka ca!”
When the sword intent was about to strike Bai Qi, Sima Lingxuan sheathed his sword. The sharp sword intent immediately scattered and turned into a formless sword wind. The few unfortunate cultivators struck by this sword wind suffered significant injuries.
The cultivators in the towers on the ring of peaks were silent.
They had known that Sima Lingxuan was strong. However, they had not expected him to be this strong. Despite being from the same generation, he smashed apart his opponent’s saber intent.
A Small Perfection saber intent was saber intent comprehended to thirty percent. However, Sima Lingxuan’s sword intent was comprehended to sixty percent, double his opponent’s.
The higher comprehension led to a qualitative change. Although Bai Qi’s saber intent was strong, he lost to Sima Lingxuan.
“Sixty percent comprehended sword intent. Bai Qi’s loss was not undeserved.”
“Sima Lingxuan, indeed, lives up to his name. He truly deserves the t.i.tle of number one genius. The first seed definitely belongs to him.”
“He has a strong self-confidence, excellent talent, and support from a n.o.ble Clan. He is bound to have an extraordinary future.”
“I believe the Sima Clan will end up getting a fourth consecutive first rank. If this keeps up, they will probably become the leader of the n.o.ble Clans.”
Many cultivators in the ring of peaks sighed. They were full of praise when they looked at Sima Lingxuan, who was encased in light.
At the very edge of the four hundred dragon pillars, the Eastern Sea’s Little Dragon King, Xuanyuan Zhantian, watched as Sima Lingxuan defeated Bai Qi with sword intent.
Xuanyuan Zhantian revealed a faint smile and said softly, “Interesting. I have made the right decision to come to the Five Nation Youth Compet.i.tion. The level here is much higher than the Boundless Sea’s Elite Compet.i.tion. I finally found someone who can allow me to bring out my full power.
“People are saying that Bai Qi’s defeat was well deserved. However, I feel that it is too undeserved. Ha ha! This Sima Lingxuan is not just strong, his plots are fearsome as well.”
Seeing Xuanyuan Zhantian’s distraction, the partic.i.p.ants competing for the same dragon pillar all smiled coldly. “You fool! To think that you got distracted at this moment!”
Their weapons vibrated as they sent fierce attacks at Xuanyuan Zhantian.
“Bang!”
Recovering his wits, Xuanyuan Zhantian smiled faintly. He quickly swung his Heavenly War Halberd and an azure flood dragon circled around the halberd and burst out.
The partic.i.p.ants who tried to sneak-attack Xuanyuan Zhantian had their weapons blasted back.
“He he! The game is up. Little friends, I no longer have the patience to keep playing with you.” Xuanyuan Zhantian laughed coldly. Then, before the partic.i.p.ants’ horrified eyes, he swung his halberd about.
A strong dragon-shaped energy exploded. Unable to endure even one move, the partic.i.p.ants fell to the ground after this.
Behind the central, tallest dragon pillar, Bai Qi looked very stunned. After a while, he reacted and said furiously, “Sima Lingxuan, you did that on purpose?!”
Sima Lingxuan laughed loudly and said fearlessly, “That’s right. I did it on purpose. It is time to pay up after your loss. You can leave now.”
Bai Qi was not resigned; he felt a frustration that he could not express. However, all he could do was to leave helplessly and compete for the other nine seeded spots.
The others could not make head or tail out of the exchange between Sima Lingxuan and Bai Qi. However, Xiao Chen understood it clearly.
The whole thing had been a trap laid down by Sima Lingxuan from the start. He knew how powerful the Four Season Saber Technique was. The Bai Qi now was completely different from the Bai Qi from the previous Five Nation Youth Compet.i.tion.
It would not be easy for Sima Lingxuan to defeat the current Bai Qi. So he purposely suggested competing with their weapon intents.
Ordinary people knew that saber intent was stronger than sword intent. However, Sima Lingxuan knew that there was more to it than that.
Hence, to force Bai Qi to accept such a contest, Sima Lingxuan had said all those things in front of everyone. Even though Bai Qi knew that something was wrong, he had to go head-on against him.
Furthermore, Bai Qi felt that his saber intent might still be stronger than Sima Lingxuan’s sword intent, so he walked into the trap.
This resulted in everyone seeing Sima Lingxuan easily defeating Bai Qi again, which caused Sima Lingxuan’s self-confidence to grow stronger.
However, in the end, this was an open conspiracy and not a hidden one. Sima Lingxuan had indeed defeated Bai Qi with his strength.
No matter how much resentment Bai Qi felt, he had lost this fight.
The laymen watched the exciting scene, and the experienced watched the tricks behind it. From the moment Sima Lingxuan made this play, Xiao Chen gained a rough understanding of his strength.
Although Sima Lingxuan’s sword intent was powerful, when he sheathed his sword, he could not properly prevent the sword intent from flying around chaotically.
Xiao Chen had definitely felt Sima Lingxuan try to control it. If Sima Lingxuan had not, the sword wind that had flown around would have been mightier, enough to kill the cultivators who were struck.
Xiao Chen thought to himself, He is probably able to control the sword intent only at fifty percent comprehension. Forcibly raising it to sixty percent is likely to be his limit.
Sima Lingxuan may be strong but he is not strong to the point of invincibility. His strongest aspect is probably his horrifying self-confidence.
The fights for the other dragon pillars had not stopped while Sima Lingxuan and Bai Qi fought each other. However, the crowd only paid attention to the two of them.
At this moment, some of the battles for the dragon pillars had concluded. Some people were standing firmly on top of their dragon pillar. Some were excited and some were calm as they waited for the golden dragon to soar up.
After a great round of elimination, the true elites under the sky would emerge one by one.
“Rumble…! Rumble…!”
A minute slowly trickled by. The dragons under these people started to move slowly, about to soar at any moment.
However, as the dragons were on the verge of taking to the sky, they suddenly stopped moving, as if time had frozen.
The dragon sculptures that came to life stilled. They seemed to sense something terrifying about to be born; they did not dare to do as they pleased.
The partic.i.p.ants who succeeded could not help but be startled. They quickly looked towards the center.
They saw that Sima Lingxuan was already standing on the tallest dragon pillar. The scales of the huge dragon coiled around that pillar immediately turned golden, and the carving transformed into a golden dragon that soared into the sky.
“The great dragon is indeed the great dragon. How could the little dragons move before the great dragon did?” Some of the cultivators who had seen previous Five Nation Youth Compet.i.tions commented with smiles on their faces.
These people were not too surprised. This was how it was in every Five Nation Youth Compet.i.tion.
As long as someone stood on the tallest pillar, the other dragon pillars would not have their dragons fly up, even if there were partic.i.p.ants on them.
This was because the dragon of the tallest dragon pillar was the king of dragons. When the king came out, the other dragons had to give way.
Sima Lingxuan, who was encased in golden light, looked at the flabbergasted group of people. His lips curled up and the confidence in his heart grew even stronger.
Years ago, Sima Lingxuan had proudly stood here. No one had been his match.
Now, with the era of geniuses upon them, he, Sima Lingxuan, stood here again, despite the a.s.semblage of geniuses.
Sima Lingxuan had to prove that even though this was the era of geniuses and a great age, he, Sima Lingxuan, could still stand at the peak. He would become the main character of this age.
Carrying the Luck of the Sky Dome Realm, he would go to the Kunlun Realm and trample the geniuses of the other great realms.
Only he, Sima Lingxuan, could be the main character!
Only he, Sima Lingxuan, could stand here!
Only he, Sima Lingxuan, was qualified to gain the Luck of the Sky Dome Realm and fight with heaven!
“Roar! Roar! Roar!”
Just as Sima Lingxuan’s strong self-confidence spread through the skies of Dragon Sealing City and created a strong wind, a resonant dragon roar resounded in every corner of Dragon Sealing City and the area above it.
That dragon roar shook heaven and earth and instantly scattered the wind caused by Sima Lingxuan’s aura.
Another huge golden dragon soared into the air. Although that dragon was smaller than Sima Lingxuan’s dragon, when they competed with their auras, it did not give way.
It resisted the other dragon’s royal aura, quickly soaring into the sky.
Xuanyuan Zhantian stood on a pillar. He wore purple robes with flood dragon designs on it. He wore a purple cape and held the Heavenly War Halberd in his hand.
Seeing Sima Lingxuan look over with astonishment on his face, Xuanyuan Zhantian revealed a mocking expression on his regal face.
Xuanyuan Zhantian did not show any fear at the sight of him who had just defeated Bai Qi.
The golden dragon above Xuanyuan Zhantian quickly chased and caught up to the huge dragon. They were neck and neck as they broke through the dark clouds.
“What’s going on? Unexpectedly, this little dragon dares to compete with the great dragon. This is strange.”
“I have never heard of something like this happening above Dragon Sealing City. Unexpectedly, a little dragon does not fear the king of dragons.”
The calm expressions of the cultivators in the ring of peaks immediately melted into panic.
“That is impossible. Something like this cannot happen. The king of dragons is a true dragon. How can the little dragon dare to fight with it?” a Sima Clan elder shouted hoa.r.s.ely.
Sima Lingxuan was from the Sima Clan. He was their hope of becoming the number one n.o.ble Clan. They had to s.n.a.t.c.h the Luck of this great age.
The Sima Clan could not afford to have anything unexpected happen. This was the most crucial moment for them.
Just when the crowd were exclaiming that it was impossible, a very old man snorted coldly. “What is impossible? For it to be able to fight with the great dragon, naturally, it is a great dragon as well. It is just two dragons fighting. In the history of Dragon Sealing City, nine dragons have fought at the same time above the city before.”