Chapter 218: Second Sword

The Grand Competition of the Divine Wood Sect finally reached its eagerly anticipated final round.

The three top true disciples stood on the arena.

Besides Chen Mobai, the participants included Feng Hongxue from the Sword Practice Department, who was last year's first-place winner.

The third participant was Li Yixian, a true disciple from the Puppet Department, who, despite placing tenth last year, had broken into the top three this year.

After they had stood for a moment, Meng Hong, the Sect Master of the Divine Wood Sect, descended from the sky accompanied by two Foundation Establishment elders.

“Excellent, you are all very good.”

Meng Hong simply stated that, then smiled and took his seat. Immediately after, Cang Qi, who was seated to his left, announced the beginning of the final round.

“You three will face each other. If all of you end up with one win and one loss, then we three old fellows will decide the final ranking of the true disciples.”

Among the twenty-four true disciples, only the top three positions held significant competitive value. The remaining true disciples were guaranteed a Foundation Establishment Pill, a second-tier high-grade spirit vein cave dwelling, and an annual additional benefit of 200 spirit stones.

“Both senior brothers are far beyond my reach. It’s already a stroke of luck that I’ve made it to the final round. I’ll gladly take the third position.”

Li Yixian was a tall, stout young man with a simple, honest face.

He had climbed from tenth place last year to this year’s final round by successfully cultivating a peak first-tier Crimson Sun Puppet, complemented by a second-tier magical artifact.

However, during the six-to-three elimination round, he faced a true disciple from the Spirit Beast Department. Though he managed a difficult victory, his puppet sustained considerable damage from his opponent’s counterattack, significantly reducing its power.

He knew, however, that even with his puppet perfectly intact, he would only have a twenty to thirty percent chance of defeating Feng Hongxue.

But even with those odds, he wouldn’t have hesitated to fight fiercely.

However, after witnessing Chen Mobai’s stunning sword strike that defeated Mu Yuan in the previous round, Li Yixian understood clearly that only by upgrading his Crimson Sun Puppet to a second-tier Azure Sun Puppet could he possibly withstand that particular sword technique.

Otherwise, even ten Crimson Sun Puppets would be reduced to scrap metal and shattered wood under the might of that sword qi rainbow.

Since he couldn’t win against Chen Mobai anyway, there was no longer any need to fight Feng Hongxue.

So, he simply conceded.

Li Yixian’s pragmatic decision drew a look of approval from Meng Hong, who had just settled into his seat.

“This young man understands discretion. If he manages to reach the Foundation Establishment stage in the future, he could be groomed with special attention.”

Cang Qi, who was nearby, nodded in agreement, making a mental note of this true disciple from the Puppet Department.

“You two may begin.”

After Li Yixian exited the arena, Chen Mobai and Feng Hongxue, standing on the platform, nodded to each other upon hearing Cang Qi’s words.

Having defeated Ding Ying and Mu Yuan, Chen Mobai felt no lingering regrets. He decided to secure victory as quickly as possible. He opened his storage bag, and the Divine Wood Sword flew out, settling against his fingertip.

As expected of a sword cultivator, so straightforward. Is he planning to defeat me in a single move? That suits me perfectly.

Watching the pure green flying sword leap forward, drawing in an overwhelming surge of pure elemental energy to form a brilliant rainbow mist—a magnificent sword rainbow sweeping towards him—Feng Hongxue’s expression remained calm, but a flicker of joy appeared in his heart.

If Chen Mobai were to rely on his sword dao realm, which far surpassed Feng Hongxue’s, to dismantle his every move and deliver a thorough defeat similar to Mu Yuan’s, Feng Hongxue might genuinely not be able to withstand it.

However, seeing Chen Mobai immediately unleash a decisive sword technique, Feng Hongxue realized that the Spirit Leaf Talisman given to him by Zhou Wangshen could be put to perfect use.

Although he would ultimately have to concede, Feng Hongxue still hoped to leave a lasting impression on this unparalleled sword dao genius.

Perhaps in the future, a casual piece of guidance from Chen Mobai could help him break through the sword practice bottleneck that had long plagued him.

The brilliant sword rainbow shot forth, resembling a falling morning glow. Just when everyone expected Feng Hongxue to be defeated, he pulled out a golden leaf.

Upon injecting spiritual energy, the veins on the leaf erupted with powerful spiritual light, transforming into a transparent, leaf-shaped energy shield. This shield successfully blocked Chen Mobai’s sword qi rainbow, a strike that a cultivator at the Qi Cultivation realm should have been utterly incapable of withstanding.

“A Spirit Leaf Talisman!”

Upon seeing this, Meng Hong’s aged eyes gleamed. Recalling Feng Hongxue’s personal records, he immediately understood.

“To use such a talisman for a true disciple competition is rather wasteful.”

Lu Yi, the head of the Merit Imparting Department, mumbled this from Meng Hong’s right.

Whether it was a magical artifact or a talisman, defensive items always commanded higher prices than offensive ones. This particular Spirit Leaf Talisman, if sold in an outside market, could easily fetch over a thousand spirit stones.

Some less affluent true disciples might not even earn that much in an entire year.

“However, with that, Feng Hongxue now has a chance to win.”

Cang Qi’s expression remained impassive as he began to analyze the situation in the arena.

He shared Zhou Wangshen’s opinion, believing that no matter how astonishingly talented Chen Mobai was, given he was only at the Qi Cultivation realm, that single sword qi rainbow strike was likely his limit.

If that one sword strike failed to defeat his opponent, Chen Mobai would likely be defeated himself due to excessive spiritual energy consumption.

In that case, the ownership of Junior Uncle Zeng’s batch of Foundation Establishment Pills might become uncertain.

“Rest assured, if I’m not mistaken, Nephew Feng will concede in the end.”

Meng Hong’s words slightly surprised Cang Qi and Lu Yi, but both then frowned, especially Lu Yi, who seemed to disapprove of such a tactic.

“It’s far too deliberate. Although Zhou Wangshen is a descendant of Old Ancestor Zhou, his methods are still a bit crude. Trying to win over a sword cultivator in this manner could very well backfire.”

“If it were anyone else, that might be true. However, he is a descendant of Old Ancestor Zhou. Even if Chen Mobai realizes what’s happening, he’ll still have to show some deference.”

Just as Cang Qi and Lu Yi were engaged in their disagreement, on the arena, Chen Mobai calmly retrieved his Divine Wood Sword. He stood opposite Feng Hongxue, who, having used the Spirit Leaf Talisman to block the sword qi rainbow, was now composedly drawing his own sword.

“Junior Brother Chen, although this might be a somewhat unchivalrous victory, I would still like to ask for your guidance on my swordsmanship.”

Faced with Feng Hongxue’s respectful request for guidance, Chen Mobai felt a slight tension in his heart.

This person couldn’t possibly have a second Spirit Leaf Talisman, could he?!

Never mind, I’ll just go for it. I can unleash one more sword strike anyway. If he can block it, I’ll just concede. I just hope Junior Uncle Zeng’s batch of Foundation Establishment Pills yields two pills by then.

Chen Mobai was quite pragmatic about it.

However, the others were unaware of his thoughts and simply assumed he was sullen with anger.

“Junior Brother Chen, this sword technique of mine is called ‘Flying Swan Drifting Snow’...”

Just as Feng Hongxue was about to unleash his most celebrated technique, he saw the composed, handsome young man opposite him slightly frown. Then, under Feng Hongxue’s disbelieving gaze, Chen Mobai flicked his finger against the Divine Wood Sword.

Immediately, another overwhelming surge of pure elemental energy was drawn in, transforming into a brilliant sword rainbow that flew directly towards him.

*Pffft!*

Without the Spirit Leaf Talisman, Feng Hongxue had no means to resist. His sword shattered, and he was sent flying, spitting blood before losing consciousness.

Chen Mobai had resolved to settle the match with this single sword strike. Therefore, aside from conserving his last drop of liquid spiritual energy, he channeled all his remaining immortal spiritual energy into the Divine Wood Sword.

The force was even stronger than his first strike!

I didn’t control that well.

If Cang Qi, who had been observing closely, hadn’t intervened to redirect the aftermath of the sword strike towards the sky, Feng Hongxue might not have died, but he would certainly have been crippled.

Truly, a sword cultivator with a fiery temper.