181: champion

"The competition begins!" Gu Chen announced loudly.

Lu Xingchen immediately drew his shadow sword and charged towards Dai Jinghai.

Dai Jinghai also drew a long saber and clashed with Lu Xingchen.

The long saber and shadow sword met, sparking a flurry of fire, and then both retreated three steps.

Lu Xingchen was immediately greatly surprised.

One must know that in the Heaven Burning Tower, he had defeated a Five-Star Martial Emperor Realm guard.

Yet, this Dai Jinghai could match him in strength.

Didn't that mean his true combat power was also at the Five-Star Martial Emperor level?

As expected of the number one on the Heavenly Ranking!

Dai Jinghai was also somewhat surprised and said in a deep voice, "Lu Xingchen, besides the two Saints, you are the first person who can directly clash with me!"

Lu Xingchen chuckled, "Senior Brother Dai's strength also amazes me!"

Dai Jinghai said in a deep voice, "Since that's the case, let's decide the victor!"

"Alright!"

The two engaged in battle.

Sword against saber, in just three minutes, the two had exchanged hundreds of blows.

Lu Xingchen was horrified to discover that Dai Jinghai's attributes were incredibly balanced; his abilities in every aspect were on par with his own.

Indeed, the Tianyuan Continent never lacked Geniuses.

He was not the only one who could fight above his Realm!

Although he intended to conserve his strength, to become the champion and complete the System mission, Lu Xingchen still used the shadow sword's displacement skill.

The shadow sword's grade had reached earth rank mid grade, allowing it to materialize four sword sheaths.

This meant that Lu Xingchen's displacement had four landing points, making it almost impossible to counter within the same Realm.

After using the shadow sword's displacement, Lu Xingchen avoided several of Dai Jinghai's attacks, found an opportunity, severely wounded him, leaving a bloodstain on his shoulder.

Dai Jinghai said in a deep voice, "What an elusive movement technique! Lu Xingchen, you truly opened my eyes; I never knew Martial Skill could be used this way."

Lu Xingchen chuckled, "This is already my ultimate trump card, Senior Brother Dai, if you don't have a way to counter it, you should surrender early."

Dai Jinhai said in a deep voice, "Don't be happy too soon. Lu Xingchen, I've already figured out the pattern of your teleportation; you can only teleport to the location of that black sword sheath, right?"

Lu Xingchen chuckled, "It's not hard to figure out my displacement pattern; the hard part is countering it."

Dai Jinghai said in a deep voice, "If you can recognize it, you can break it."

The two clashed again.

Three minutes later, Dai Jinghai had two more wounds on his body.

That's right, he couldn't break it.

Although he could discern Lu Xingchen's displacement pattern, he couldn't counter it.

Because Lu Xingchen activated the shadow sword without any wind-up, the four sword sheaths flew in four directions, and Dai Jinghai could only block one.

Dai Jinghai said in a deep voice, "I was careless. I can't break your displacement skill!"

Lu Xingchen chuckled, "Since that's the case, then Senior Brother Dai, please concede!"

Dai Jinghai said in a deep voice, "It's not that easy to make me surrender! Five Elements Art!"

Dai Jinghai let out an angry roar, and the Spiritual Qi around the arena madly converged towards him.

His aura also climbed steadily, increasing from Three-Star Martial Emperor to Seven-Star Martial Emperor.

Lu Xingchen was greatly surprised.

It turned out that Dai Jinghai also had a secret art that could temporarily increase his Realm.

Dai Jinhai clenched his fist and chuckled, "Junior Brother Lu, how about we clash again now?"

Lu Xingchen said in a deep voice, "As you wish!"

With that, he activated the shadow sword's displacement skill, teleporting behind Dai Jinghai and slashing down with his sword.

Dai Jinghai, however, summoned a Dou Qi Shield around his body and simultaneously struck backward with his palm.

Lu Xingchen's shadow sword struck the Dou Qi Shield, creating ripples, but failed to break through its defense.

The recoil, instead, pushed him back three steps.

At the same time, Dai Jinghai's palm arrived.

Lu Xingchen hurriedly extended his left hand to meet Dai Jinghai's attack and was directly sent flying backward, his palm slightly numb.

He did a backflip in the air, stopped his momentum, and landed at the edge of the arena.

Dai Jinghai said in a deep voice, "One strength breaks ten skills, Junior Brother Lu, no matter how much you displace, you cannot defeat me when I use the 'Five Elements Art'!"

Lu Xingchen sighed softly.

"I didn't expect the number one on the Heavenly Ranking to be so troublesome. I also have no choice but to reveal my trump card!"

Upon hearing this, Dai Jinghai's heart trembled.

"You still have a trump card?"

"Of course! Heaven Swallowing Art!"

The remaining sparse Spiritual Qi around the arena was drained by Lu Xingchen, and his aura also climbed steadily, increasing from Two-Star Martial Emperor to Seven-Star Martial Emperor.

Now, he was no longer weaker than Dai Jinghai in terms of Realm.

Dai Jinghai took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "What a powerful secret art, even stronger than my 'Five Elements Art'! Junior Brother Lu, both our secret arts have time limits, so we can't prolong the fight. Let's decide the victor in one move!"

Lu Xingchen chuckled, "Senior Brother Dai knows he can't beat me in swordplay, so he wants to go all out? That's a good plan!"

Dai Jinghai said in a deep voice, "You saw through it, as expected. So, are you going to clash head-on with me?"

Lu Xingchen nodded slightly.

"That's natural. Even in a battle of ultimate moves, I won't be afraid of you!"

"Mountain Splitting Seal!"

Lu Xingchen raised his right hand high, gently clenched it, and an earthen-yellow Dou Qi Hand Seal appeared above his head.

Dai Jinghai said in a deep voice, "Then let's go! Heaven-Piercing Seal!"

A greenish-blue Dou Qi Hand Seal condensed above his head.

Ten seconds later, both simultaneously swung their palms forward.

The two Dou Qi Hand Seals collided.

In an instant, a huge shockwave appeared, overturning more than half of the Inner Sect Disciple watching below the stage.

And the two at the center of the shockwave were simultaneously sent flying backward.

Lu Xingchen exerted force in mid-air, forcibly controlling his body, a trace of blood appearing at the corner of his mouth, finally stopping at the edge of the arena.

Dai Jinghai, on the other hand, failed to control his body and fell off the arena.

Gu Chen announced loudly, "Sect Grand Competition finals, Lu Xingchen wins!"

As soon as this result was announced, a commotion immediately erupted below the stage.

"Damn it, Lu Xingchen really went all the way as an underdog! The champion! Among the Disciples of the Cangxuan Sect, he is probably only weaker than the two Saints!"

"It's truly hard to imagine that Lu Xingchen, as a new Disciple who joined just over a year ago, could win the Sect Grand Competition champion!"

"Both of them are truly fierce! They both have secret arts that can temporarily boost their Realm, and their combat power is directly comparable to a Seven-Star Martial Emperor. I'm afraid even ordinary Inner Sect Elders are no match for the two of them."

"With Lu Xingchen and Dai Jinghai both entering the Greedy Wolf Secret Realm, the probability of our Cangxuan Sect winning is quite high!"

"Exactly, exactly, the Disciples of other Seventh-Rank Sects would never expect that we have two experts who are no weaker than Saints!"

Lu Xingchen heard the System prompt.

"[Congratulations, host, for completing the mission: Sect Grand Competition. You have received the rewards: one million experience points, and the 'poji pill' Pill Formula!]"