48: Chapter 48 Rogue Cultivator Assassin

Martial Artist No. 7, Zhou Shi, had a large square Face and was a Loose Cultivator.

There were only two Loose Cultivators participating in the Shuinan County Martial Examination this time whose strength had reached the Martial Master Realm.

Unexpectedly, Ye Yisong had encountered both of them.

On Ring No. 1, Zhou Shi took out his weapon, a rusted longsword. Without exchanging any pleasantries, he took a large stride and lunged straight toward Ye Yisong.

Having watched the previous matches and understood some of Ye Yisong's methods, Zhou Shi did not imbue his longsword with Spiritual Qi. Instead, he delivered an unremarkable thrust, hoping to use speed against speed to secure a chance at victory.

Zhou Shi was truly a Martial Master who had grown from being a Loose Cultivator; his Swift Sword was sharp and imposing, with sword light scattering around the ring like starlight.

Ye Yisong maneuvered his body, dodging the edge of Zhou Shi's longsword. In the turn, he immediately drew his own precious sword and began to clash with Zhou Shi.

Seeing that Zhou Shi had not imbued his longsword with Spiritual Qi, Ye Yisong did not use the blue light to disrupt Zhou Shi's sword moves, as the blue light had no effect on the Spiritual Qi within the weapon itself.

"Since you are not using Spiritual Qi to reinforce your longsword, I will increase my output of Spiritual Qi and see how many moves your longsword can withstand," Ye Yisong thought to himself, contemplating a countermeasure.

When Martial Artists faced enemies, they usually imbued their weapons with their own Spiritual Qi. Combining Spiritual Qi of the same attribute with a weapon of the same attribute would double the power of the attack, inflicting more damage on the enemy.

Because Zhou Shi feared Ye Yisong's blue light, he dared not imbue his longsword with Spiritual Qi, but Ye Yisong had no such concerns.

Continuously increasing the Spiritual Qi on his precious sword, he struck forcefully, attempting to snap Zhou Shi's longsword. The rusted longsword already had three or four nicks; under Ye Yisong's hacking, a few more appeared.

The longsword seemed as if it might snap at any moment, emitting a wailing sound.

Zhou Shi was deeply anxious; he could not let this continue, or his sword would likely fail.

This longsword was something he had exchanged for at the Shuinan County government office only after slaying three Third-Stage Yao Beasts and accumulating enough merit.

If he continued to clash head-on with Ye Yisong, his sword would likely break, and by then, he would lose anyway.

Standing on the ring, Zhou Shi truly realized the terrifying nature of Ye Yisong's strength. Everyone thought Ye Yisong had won his matches by relying on special methods, but that was not the case.

Both he and Ye Yisong were Three-Star Martial Masters. Zhou Shi had assumed that after using his Spiritual Qi-enhanced precious sword a dozen times, Ye Yisong's Spiritual Qi would be exhausted, at which point he would have a chance to counterattack.

Unexpectedly, after Ye Yisong had slashed a dozen times, not only was there no sign of his Spiritual Qi being depleted, but his strikes had actually become increasingly fierce.

Zhou Shi rolled on the ground and delivered a feint thrust diagonally upward, aiming at Ye Yisong's chest. Ye Yisong was forced to turn and dodge this abrupt sword strike.

Taking this opportunity, Zhou Shi immediately put distance between himself and Ye Yisong.

"Zhou Shi has been completely suppressed by Ye Yisong."

"What abundant Spiritual Qi."

"He is worthy of being a seeded player from the Cangjiang Ye Family."

The Martial Artists below the ring whispered to one another, discussing the battle between Ye Yisong and Zhou Shi.

"Do you have the confidence to beat him?" Zhao Wentao asked Li Yuan, who was beside him. He himself had no chance of competing for first place.

Li Yuan looked at this cousin who always liked to sponge off others for food and drink. If it weren't for the sake of his uncle's Face, he wouldn't even want to acknowledge him—how embarrassing!

Given Zhao Wentao's natural talent, combined with the fact that he was the Clan Chief's own grandson, his treatment in the Zhao Family could be described as top-tier; he had whatever he wanted.

Yet Zhao Wentao did not like staying at his own home; he always liked to run over to the Li Family to find Li Yuan and Cultivate in seclusion together.

This time, the two of them participated in the Shuinan County Martial Examination together. Zhao Wentao had already run to the Li Family's resting area for the Nth time, and his mouth could not stay idle; he always liked to critique every match.

Li Yuan was so annoyed by him that he was on the verge of losing his temper.

"No," Li Yuan said truthfully. "I have no way to deal with his two types of special Spiritual Qi. The only thing I can do is keep my distance and avoid contact with him."

"Looking at his match with Zhou Shi now, Ye Yisong's Spiritual Qi reserves do not look like those of a Three-Star Martial Master."

"Could it be that he has hidden his strength and, like us, has reached the Middle Stage of the Martial Master Realm?" Zhao Wentao said.

"No, his strength is indeed that of a Three-Star Martial Master," Li Yuan said.

"Then what is it?" Zhao Wentao said.

"A special Cultivation Technique. He is truly from a prefecture-level aristocratic Family with a deep foundation," Li Yuan said, speechless as he looked at his ignorant cousin.

Although the Shuinan Zhao Family could not compare to the various giant powers of Cangjiang Prefecture, they were still a Family with an eight-hundred-year Legacy. Yet, Zhao Wentao did not even have this basic knowledge.

"My cousin is still too fond of playing around. Apart from being serious when Cultivating, he hasn't learned anything else. This won't do. I must have a serious talk with Uncle; otherwise, it will be too dangerous when he goes out on missions alone in the future," Li Yuan thought to himself.

"Cousin, you say..."

"Shut up, Zhou Shi is about to use his trump card," Li Yuan interrupted.

Zhou Shi raised his longsword above his head and used his Spiritual Qi to trigger the mark on the sword. It erupted with a faint red light, and his body instantly split into three, with three Zhou Shis appearing on the ring simultaneously.

"It's Zhou Shi's Clone Sword."

The three Zhou Shis sealed off Ye Yisong's surroundings and attacked from different directions. Each Zhou Shi was imposing with Spiritual Qi, making it impossible to distinguish which was real and which was fake.

"Mere parlor tricks," Ye Yisong said with a faint curl of his lips, looking disdainful.

"Green Lotus Sword Arts—Water Droplets Pierce Stone."

Three water-drop-shaped Sword Qi were unleashed from Ye Yisong's precious sword, striking toward the three Zhou Shis at an astonishing speed.

He didn't need to care which was real or fake; as long as he took care of all three, the truth or falsehood didn't matter.

As soon as two of the Sword Qi touched the Zhou Shis, they turned into bubbles and vanished. However, the Sword Qi did not fly forward but miraculously converged toward the direction of the third Sword Qi.

"What kind of sword technique is this?" Zhou Shi was greatly alarmed. Not only did the three Sword Qi instantly break his Clone, but they were also simultaneously shooting toward him.

Zhou Shi held his sword horizontally in front of him, channeling Spiritual Qi to form a Sword Qi shield, attempting to block the three Sword Qi.

The Sword Qi shield shattered after blocking only one Sword Qi. The second Sword Qi snapped Zhou Shi's precious sword, and the third Sword Qi struck Zhou Shi squarely, blasting a blood hole the size of a Dragon's eye into his upper body.

"This is too brutal."

"He pierced a hole straight through the person."

"He is becoming more and more mysterious, and he has too many methods."

Zhou Shi clutched his wound and said with difficulty, "I concede."

"My apologies, it was truly unintentional. This is a Yangyuan Medicinal Pill; please, Brother Zhou, you must accept it," Ye Yisong said apologetically as he looked at Zhou Shi's miserable state.

He had been a bit too heavy-handed in this match. It was an attempt at a sword technique, and he hadn't expected the power to be so great, directly severely injuring his opponent and breaking Zhou Shi's weapon.

Feeling truly guilty, Ye Yisong gave him a healing Medicinal Pill to express his apology.

Zhou Shi did not stand on ceremony; he accepted the Medicinal Pill and swallowed it, saying, "Many thanks, Brother Ye, for showing mercy."

Ye Yisong had won two consecutive matches and returned to the Ye Family's resting area, where Ye Jielu was baring his large white teeth while bragging about his own invincible combat record.

The kid was also lucky; the two Martial Artists he encountered were both Martial Masters who had only recently achieved their Breakthrough and were simply no match for him.