Chapter 1326: Sword Scabbard Arrives

"This is the incredible thing about Master Zhang. No matter how impossible something seems, in his hands, it can be easily accomplished, transforming decay into wonder..."

Zhang Jiuxiao's eyes sparkled with admiration.

As a junior of the Zhang clan, he had grown up hearing countless rumors about "that genius." Because of this, he had always considered that person the most talented, powerful, and admirable individual. Now, however, that admiration had completely shifted to the person standing before him.

No matter how formidable "the little genius" was, it was merely due to a powerful bloodline. How could he compare to Zhang Xuan?

Given enough time, it was clear that Zhang Xuan could easily surpass him and stand at the true pinnacle of the world.

"He is indeed... different!"

Zhao Xingmo also stood frozen in place.

From the moment he was easily defeated by Zhang Xuan while suppressing his own cultivation, he knew the young man was extraordinary. He just hadn't realized how extraordinary!

It seemed that if he continued on this path, he would definitely secure a place in the Saint Son Hall, even among its multitude of geniuses.

"Three moves are up. It's my turn!"

After using the swallowed lightning to disadvantage Zhang Yunfeng, Zhang Xuan relaxed his tensed body, stretched his neck, and grinned.

The lightning was indeed part of his plan. After just one exchange, the Library of Heaven's Path revealed hundreds of Zhang Yunfeng's flaws. Designing a method to exploit one of them was incredibly simple.

Moving like lightning, he appeared before Zhang Yunfeng, forming his fingers into a sword, and thrust forward again.

Whoosh!

The sword qi, brilliant like a meteor, immediately sliced an opening in Zhang Yunfeng's domain upon contact and continued its advance.

At the peak of the Primordial Spirit realm, attacks entering a domain would normally be pulled and controlled. However, Zhang Xuan's attack exceeded Zhang Yunfeng's capacity, rendering his domain ineffective.

"Break!"

Cold sweat streamed down Zhang Yunfeng's forehead. With a flick of his wrist, a long sword appeared in his palm, and he immediately met the attack.

Clang, clang, clang!

The sword sheath clashed with Zhang Xuan's sword qi, producing a series of sonic booms that completely annihilated the attack. Zhang Yunfeng took two steps back before finally exhaling.

"He's using a weapon?"

"In a fair fight, taking out a weapon first means he's already lost, right?"

"As a member of a Saint clan, with countless treasures at his disposal, how can he claim fairness when using a weapon against someone?"

Seeing him produce a long sword, even though it was still sheathed, the crowd below began to murmur with displeasure.

Large families like Saint clans possessed far too many formidable weapons; simply taking one out could make others despair. Thus, the use of a weapon made the fight far less fair than it had been.

Ignoring the crowd's chatter, Zhang Yunfeng took a pill, recovering somewhat from the lightning strike, and then looked back at Zhang Xuan.

"To make me take out a weapon, you are indeed extraordinary!"

He exhaled and smiled faintly, "However, rest assured, I know you are an unaligned cultivator from the Qingyuan Empire, so I won't bully you. This long sword of mine is called Congealed Frost; it's a half-step high-grade Saint artifact. Using it against you would indeed be unfair, but its sheath is only a mid-grade artifact... You can use any weapon you wish, and I will only use the sheath. That shouldn't break any rules."

With a flick of his wrist, Zhang Yunfeng removed the sword sheath. Sword intent flowed from it, spreading out and giving off a dazzling, brilliant sensation.

Even though he was only using the sheath, combined with his strength, it still exuded a powerful pressure, increasing his combat power by more than double.

"Only the sheath?"

"His sword sheath is a mid-grade Saint artifact. If he attacks like this, he won't be relying on the advantage of a higher-grade weapon, so it truly doesn't break the rules!"

"Zhang Yunfeng's swordsmanship is exquisite. Combined with the Zhang clan's sword art, if Zhang Xuan really agrees, he definitely won't be able to win..."

"Yes, the Zhang clan's sword art, I've heard of it... it's quite terrifying!"

The crowd whispered among themselves.

The Congealed Frost Sword, a half-step high-grade weapon, if drawn from its sheath, would unleash a chilling radiance and rampant sword intent that even early-stage Domain realm cultivators of the same level couldn't withstand, let alone Zhang Xuan.

If they were to fight with the actual sword, it would indeed be bullying. But... using just the sword sheath, which was akin to a mere stick, meant Zhang Xuan could also use a weapon of a similar grade. It could be considered fair and just!

"What do you say? Do you dare to have a match with me?"

With a slight smile, Zhang Yunfeng looked at him.

"Only the sheath?"

Zhang Xuan frowned.

"Indeed, you can use any weapon you wish!"

Zhang Yunfeng nodded, "We've already tested our movement techniques and combat arts. Now it's time to see our mastery of weapons! After all, using a weapon truly demonstrates one's combat prowess, and hand-to-hand combat is not my strongest suit."

"This..." Zhang Xuan hesitated.

What his opponent said was true; mastering weapons could indeed significantly boost one's combat power.

Just like Zheng Yang, if he didn't use his spear, he might not even pass the assessment to become an ordinary Combat Master, let alone a War Saint.

Zhang Xuan rarely used weapons, mainly because his opponents were often too weak to warrant the trouble; he could resolve matters with a single punch.

"May I first see your skill with a weapon before deciding whether to use one myself?"

After a moment's thought, Zhang Xuan said.

If this guy was truly powerful with a weapon, he might consider fighting him. But if he wasn't significantly stronger, and Zhang Xuan could win bare-handed, there would be no need to take out the Spirit Void Sword.

After all, using that sword was indeed quite unfair to his opponents.

"See my skill? Very well!"

With a faint smile, Zhang Yunfeng pushed his palm forward.

The sword sheath immediately thrust forward like a long serpent.

This move, resembling both swordplay and spear techniques, locked onto more than a dozen of Zhang Xuan's acupoints in mid-air. If he were struck, he would foreseeably lose all combat ability and be severely wounded.

"So strong!"

His eyes narrowed, and Zhang Xuan flicked his fingers repeatedly.

Several streaks of sword qi met the attack.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

A series of muffled sounds, like a torrential downpour, erupted as the sword qi clashed with the sheath. Zhang Yunfeng's eyebrows rose, and he flicked his wrist.

Whoosh!

The sword sheath seemed to transform into a long staff, sweeping down horizontally.

The projected sword qi, upon contact, was immediately bounced back, its force combining with that of the sheath as it swept forward.

His pupils constricted, and Zhang Xuan retreated again.

No wonder this guy claimed to be stronger with a weapon. Just one exchange revealed an immense difference, making him seem like two completely different people.

Although he only used the sword sheath, his forward thrusts resembled spear techniques, his horizontal sweeps were like staff methods, and his agile movements were akin to swordsmanship... The fusion of these three made him incredibly hard to defend against!

Even though Zhang Xuan had mastered many Heaven's Path martial arts for various weapons, this first encounter left him somewhat flustered.

It seemed that, as Zhang Yunfeng had stated, he had indeed put a great deal of effort into his weapon skills, and his combat power was significantly superior when using a weapon.

Whoosh!

However, as fast as he retreated, the opponent's sword sheath was even faster, following closely behind with incredible speed. It seemed no matter how swift Zhang Xuan's movement technique, he couldn't evade it.

"Treading on Waves... he's actually trained a weapon to such power?"

Elder Haoyu exclaimed in surprise.

Treading on Waves was a movement technique that allowed one to advance or retreat by leveraging the opponent's attacking or retreating force, much like a water strider moving across water waves.

He had thought it was merely a footwork technique, but he never dreamed that Zhang Yunfeng had integrated it into his weapon usage. Unless an opponent found a way to break the attack, the sword sheath in Zhang Yunfeng's hand would stick to them like a shadow, making it impossible to evade, regardless of their movements or speed.

Whoosh, whoosh!

As Elder Haoyu was shocked, Zhang Xuan also felt the power of the opponent's sword sheath. His body suddenly blurred as he activated Unbounded Traveler.

In the blink of an eye, he appeared on the other side of the arena. At the same moment, a powerful palm strike descended with a whistle.

Great Demonic Grief Palm!

Before the sword sheath could catch up, it met the formidable palm force. The two collided, producing an explosive sound in the air, and the violent shockwave caused the arena to shake continuously.

With this, Zhang Yunfeng was forced out of his special martial technique and could no longer pursue.

"So, how was my skill with a weapon? Not bad, right?"

Retrieving his sheath, Zhang Yunfeng smiled faintly, his face filled with pride.

Such skill indeed gave him reason to be proud.

"Indeed, not bad!"

Zhang Xuan nodded.

Using only the sword sheath meant he wasn't leveraging the full advantage of his weapon. In such a situation, a single move from him almost trapped Zhang Xuan, truly befitting a Zhang clan genius—his methods were numerous and frighteningly powerful.

"Do you dare to have a match with me using weapons? I saw your swordsmanship was extremely strong earlier. You should use a long sword; your combat power would surely be even greater!"

Zhang Yunfeng continued.

"My swordsmanship is indeed a bit more formidable... but my weapon is too ferocious, and I'm afraid it would be unfair to you!"

Zhang Xuan hesitated for a moment before saying, "How about... I also use a sword sheath?"

"Use a sword sheath?"

Zhang Yunfeng scoffed, "Just now, I merely let you experience the power of my weapon usage. If we were to truly fight, it would be many times stronger than that... If you only use a sheath and don't draw your sword, I'm afraid you might get hurt!"

"That won't happen. Even without drawing my sword, I'm still quite formidable!"

Seeing his opponent say this, Zhang Xuan smiled.

"Oh? Very well then, let me witness the power of your undrawn sword! Let me see what kind of combat power you can unleash with just a sword sheath!"

With a light snort, Zhang Yunfeng held his arm level, his aura surging.

He had trained with weapons since childhood, dabbling in swords, spears, halberds, staffs, and short clubs... Because of this, even a plain sword sheath in his hands seemed to gain a soul, making him virtually invincible among his peers.

And now his opponent wanted to fight him using only a sword sheath...

What kind of joke was this?

Since Zhang Xuan didn't know his place, Zhang Yunfeng decided to teach him a lesson, showing him that not everyone, unlike Zhang Yunfeng himself, could wield a mere sword sheath with power comparable to actual swordsmanship!

"Are you sure... you want me to use a sword sheath?"

Zhang Xuan hesitated slightly.

"Of course!"

Zhang Yunfeng raised an eyebrow and sneered, "What's wrong? Are you scared now?"

"Not at all. Just pay attention, my sword sheath is coming..."

Gritting his teeth, Zhang Xuan flicked his palm forward.

Whoosh!

Zhang Yunfeng was startled. Immediately, he felt a strong gust of wind whistling towards him. He quickly looked up and saw a circular platform several meters in diameter, plummeting straight down towards his head.

Thud!

Before he could react, he was crushed into a shape resembling the Chinese character '大' (great), with his feet sticking out and twitching uncontrollably. It was obvious he was severely injured and could no longer continue the match.

"Well..."

Seeing that his opponent couldn't even withstand a single move, Zhang Xuan scratched his head, "My sword sheath is a bit large. I'm really sorry, I forgot to tell you beforehand..."