Zhang Ruochen stopped and looked at Ao Xinyan. Then he smiled. “I’m the Group Leader of the first group now, and you are a Saint of the first group. Is it suitable that you call me by my name?”
Ao Xinyan’s bodily movement was very skillful. She barely touched the ground as she walked through the air. When she was 33 meters from Zhang Ruochen, she stopped. “If you can’t defeat me, I will not accept you as my Group Leader and I will not follow your orders.”
Zhang Ruochen did not really want to fight Ao Xinyan, but she was insistent. She was a real headache.
A man’s voice suddenly sounded from a distance.
“Great. Strength is the most important thing in the Saint Academy. Zhang Ruochen, is your strength really that powerful?”
Another four men appeared.
Three of them were familiar to Zhang Ruochen, Xu Hai of Saint Xu Gentry; Xi Yunxi of Saint Xi Gentry; and Zuo Qiuling of Saint Zuo Gentry.
Zhang Ruochen did not recognize the other person.
However, he could feel his strong aura. Obviously, the man was a master.
It was Xu Hai who had spoken.
Zhang Ruochen glared at the four men. “The power of my strength is none of your business.”
Xi Yunxi smiled charmingly. “We are all Saints of the Sword Technique Department. And you are the Group Leader of the first group; you represent our Sword Technique Department. If you are weak, every Saint in the Sword Technique Department will lose their pride.”
Xu Hai nodded and said, “Junior sister apprentice Ao is the princess of the Divine Dragon and half-human clan. She has a half-dragon body and her sword technique realm is profound. I think she is qualified to fight with you. Zhang Ruochen. You are looking down on her if you refuse.”
Ao Xinyan said, “Zhang Ruochen, if you can defeat me, I will accept your position as Group Leader and follow your orders without a word of complaint.”
Zhang Ruochen stared deeply at Ao Xinyan and sighed. “Alright! Since all you want is a fight, let’s fight.”
Ao Xinyan was too simple-minded. She did not know that she was being manipulated by the disciples of powerful Saint families.
Zhang Ruochen had to fight with her, lest she continued to be used by them.
Her beautiful face revealed an expression of joy. She immediately circulated her Genuine Qi and pulled out the Bluewater Dragon Patterned Sword. She pointed it at Zhang Ruochen who was standing opposite.
The Bluewater Dragon Patterned Sword appeared to be made of green crystal. The whole sword was transparent and green. Pieces of Dragon Scales on the surface of the blade made it unusual.
Zhang Ruochen did not despise Ao Xinyan. She had been able to enter the first group of the Sword Technique Department in third place. It showed she had powerful strength.
CLANG!
The Abyss Ancient Sword lew out of its sheath with a black light. It suspended in front of Zhang Ruochen.
Ao Xinyan’s eyes constricted. “He really has reached the realm of Heart Integrated into Sword.”
Ao Xinyan activated inscriptions in the Bluewater Dragon Patterned Sword. Suddenly, waves appeared from the center of the sword and swooshed like a stream flowing around her body.
“From Sky to Earth.”
She jumped and crossed the water curtain. Her sword broke through the air and attacked towards Zhang Ruochen’s glabella.
She was displaying an Inferior Class Ghost Level sword technique, the Sky sword technique. It could be seen from the power of her sword movement that her Sky sword technique had already reached the succeed.
The power she showed was as strong as that of Lu Fantian and the Orange Star Emissary.
Zhang Ruochen looked very calm. With a flick of his arms, the Abyss Ancient Sword flew out.
SWOOSH!
The sword movement seemed to be casual. Yet, it actually took a mysterious sword technique skill that brought out the 36 sword shadows of sword Qi. Each shadow was a variable, which meant the sword itself contained 36 sword technique variations.
Zhang Ruochen broke Ao Xinyan’s Sky sword technique.
Zhang Ruochen did not stop. He immediately executed a second sword technique.
He took a step forward. The Abyss Ancient Sword was already at Ao Xinyan’s chest. It was easy to see the sharp sword Qi on its tip.
Ao Xinyan’s facial expression changed. She immediately unleashed her Martial Soul.
“AWOO!”
A loud dragon’s roar came from her body.
A blue light column rushed out of her head. It condensed into a dragon-like illusory image. Like a blue mountain, it wrapped around behind her.
Ao Xinyan’s Martial Soul turned out to be the “Divine Dragon Martial Soul”.
Only a dragon from the Divine Dragon clan could cultivate a Divine Dragon Martial Soul.
It was impossible for the Divine Dragon or half-human clan to cultivate the Divine Dragon Martial Soul. And only a few from the half-human clan could practice the Flying Dragon Martial Soul or the Earth Dragon Martial Soul and cultivate it. Therefore, the power of Ao Xinyan’s Martial Soul was incredibly unusual.
“What a powerful Martial Soul. Her Martial Soul is as powerful as the Martial Soul of a Monk at the Fifth Change of the Fish-dragon Realm. Lu Fantian’s Martial Soul and the Martial Soul of Sacred Tree are both weaker than hers.”
The blue dragon, more than 100 meters long, was lying behind her. It had a giant dragon head, sharp claws and ferocious eyes. Every respect of it radiated a strong and unparalleled momentum.
In the distance, Xi Yunxi and Zuo Qiuling were both shocked by the Martial Soul Ao Xinyan unleashed. They retreated backwards.
Xu Hai’s eyes lit up. “It’s the Divine Dragon Martial Soul. No wonder Ao Xinyan is called the Genius of the Divine Dragon and half-human clan that only appears once in a blue moon. It’s possible she could defeat Zhang Ruochen.”
The Saint standing beside Xu Hai seemed to have reached his 30s. His face was pale and sallow. He said coldly to Xu Hai, “She can practice her Martial Soul into a level comparable to the Martial Soul of a Monk at the Fifth Change of the Fish-dragon Realm. It’s really remarkable. When I was in the Final State of the Heaven Realm, my Martial Soul gained the power of the Fourth Change in the Fish-dragon Realm and reached its limit.”
“It’s said that Zhang Ruochen’s Martial Soul is also powerful. Whose Martial Soul is stronger?” Xu Hai asked.
They stopped talking and watched the battle. They wanted to see if Ao Xinyan could force Zhang Ruochen to use all his strength.
“Traceless in the Sky.”
Ao Xinyan leapt up more than 33 meters. She held her sword with both hands and slashed ruthlessly to Zhang Ruochen.
The Bluewater Dragon Patterned Sword made a harsh sound and its blade lengthened almost hundred meters. The giant blade seemed ready to tear the earth apart.
The giant blue dragon lying behind her also made a sudden attack. Its claw overlapped with the blade.
The scene before Zhang Ruochen vanished. He heard the sound of waves, like a sea of water was crashing over him. A blue Divine Dragon was swimming in the water brewing storms in rivers and seas. The dragon waved its claws to attack his head.
SWISH!
Zhang Ruochen released his Martial Soul.
His Martial Soul suspended above his head and mobilized the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. The Spiritual Qi gathered into his Martial Soul.
“Soul-slaying Sword.”
Zhang Ruochen had not practiced any Ghost Level sword techniques, so he could only use a Spiritual Stage Superior class sword technique, the Thirteen Swords Technique of Soul Chasing to defend against Ao Xinyan’s attack.
Luckily, he had already practiced the Thirteen Swords Technique of Soul Chasing to the Perfection of Martial Arts, so he did not take a beating on sword movement.
“Zhang Ruochen is using a Spiritual Stage Superior class sword technique to defend against a Ghost Level Inferior Class Sky sword technique. The two sword techniques are not on the same level at all…” Xu Hai said.
Yet before he finished speaking, Zhang Ruochen had already broken Ao Xinyan’s sword movement. Then he launched a head-on attack at Ao Xinyan. Turning his sword, he attacked Ao Xinyan’s waist.
Ao Xinyan was surprised. She immediately erected her sword to block him.
CLANG!
The clash of the two swords broke into energy ripples. They turned into Qi billow and poured out in all directions.
Ao Xinyan flew back and fell to the ground. She continued to slide backwards, leaving a deep groove that stretched more than 33 meters.
Everyone was stunned.
The Spiritual Stage Superior class Thirteen Swords Technique of Soul Chasing had broken the Ghost Level Inferior Class Sky sword technique. It proved Zhang Ruochen’s strength indeed exceeded Ao Xinyan’s.
“Zhang Ruoche can’t be this strong just relying on the Heart Integrated into Sword,” Xu Hai exclaimed. “Is… is Zhang Ruochen’s Martial Soul stronger than Ao Xinyan’s?”
The man standing beside Xu Hai carefully observed Zhang Ruochen. “I can’t see through Zhang Ruochen’s true cultivation.”
Xu Hai also shook his head. “I can’t see it either. He is so unfathomable in the Heaven Realm. If he breaks into the Fish-dragon Realm, he will be even more incredible.”
As the two men discussed his abilities, Zhang Ruochen quickly caught up with Ao Xinyan. He displayed seven sword techniques simultaneously, giving her no opportunity to breathe.
Ao Xinyan could only see sword radiance so dazzling that she could not open her eyes. She could only rely on her Spiritual Power to feel his sword movement.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen stopped his sword movement. His sword tip pierced through her Celestial Bodyshield and stopped in front of her heart.
Ao Xinyan was bound. Her body appeared to be sealed by the sword Qi; she could not move. She still refused to admit that she had lost to Zhang Ruochen, so she took steps to quickly retreat back.
The sword in Zhang Ruochen’s hands was like a spiritual snake, always pointing at her heart.
If he wanted to, he could use the sword at any time to penetrate her heart.
In the end, Ao Xinyan realized the huge gap of power between her and Zhang Ruochen and she stopped dodging. She sighed. “I lost! I could only endure nine techniques. Am I weaker than both the Orange Star Emissary and Lu Fantian?”
Zhang Ruochen withdrew his sword. He realized that Ao Xinyan must have never failed. She also lacked control over her own volition, as she was extremely upset.
When such a person failed, they were unlikely to bounce back.
Zhang Ruochen was after all the Group Leader of the first group. He did not want to see a dimming Genius.
So he comforted her. “Actually, your strength is not weaker than that of the Orange Star Emissary or Lu Fantian. Your strength is stronger than theirs. But, I encountered something recently, so my sword technique and Martial Arts have improved since I fought with them.”
What Zhang Ruochen said was true, he wasn’t lying to her.
Zhang Ruochen’s strength had increased considerably after drinking the Blue-sky Herb Tea.