At the center of the training ground, Zihua dug in with a low stance while Wei leaned forward like a drawn bow. Their longsword and warblade clashed head-on, sending a terrifying surge of power rippling through their bodies and into the air, where it exploded in sharp, ear-splitting sonic booms.
Cracks began spreading beneath their feet, the ground fracturing under the sheer force of their collision. Chunks of shattered stone quivered, suspended briefly in the air from the violent shockwaves.
A split second later, both fighters were blasted backward by the impact.
But the moment they regained their footing—boom!
Another thunderous explosion erupted as their weapons clashed again.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
A series of deafening explosions rang out as the two continued their brutal exchange.
There were no fancy moves. No elegant techniques.
Just raw, brute-force collisions—one after another.
Clash for the clash. Strength against strength.
Each time their weapons met, the ground beneath them cracked and exploded outward, shockwaves sweeping in all directions like a raging storm.
In the blink of an eye, they had already exchanged over a dozen furious blows.
"What insane speed!"
"That power is terrifying!"
"There's no way this is something a True Martial cultivator should be capable of!"
The entire area surrounding the battlefield had erupted into chaos.
"Young Master! Young Master Zihua!"
Zihua's maid, Xuerou, couldn't hold back her excitement and called out joyfully as she watched her master unleash such overwhelming power.
"Zihua!!"
"Zihua!!"
The younger members of the Bai family also erupted in shouts, completely fired up.
They had long forgotten what happened three years ago. Forgotten how the Bai family had once been driven to decline. Now, in their eyes, Zihua was the embodiment of the family's pride and glory, battling Wei head-on in the center of the field, showing a power so overwhelming it left them utterly awestruck.
And in this world—strength was everything.
"He's too strong!"
Elsewhere, the four who had previously been defeated by Wei—Huo and Wan'er among them—stood together, eyes fixed in disbelief on the two figures locked in that brutal exchange.
Only now did they finally understand just how terrifying Wei's true power really was.
Back when Wei fought them, he hadn't even used his full strength.
It made sense that Wei was powerful—his overwhelming strength was at least something they could wrap their heads around.
But Zihua?
"He's just a cultivator at the ninth level of the True Martial Realm? And he's matching Wei blow for blow in pure force?" Huo stood there, stunned, mind reeling.
What he didn't know was that while Zihua was indeed a cultivator at the ninth level of the True Martial Realm, he had reached the peak of that realm. And more importantly—after cultivating the Bloodline Inheritance Technique, his spirit energy had already reached levels comparable to most cultivators at the tenth level of the True Martial Realm.
But what truly set him apart... was his power of bloodline.
Zihua possessed a Supreme Bloodline. Once activated, the power coursing through his body exploded far beyond the limits of a typical ninth-level cultivator—even surpassing the peak of the tenth level.
Boom!
Another devastating collision sent shockwaves through the air before the two finally came to a stop.
They now stood several dozen meters apart, facing each other, both still radiating terrifying waves of spirit energy.
"You can go head-to-head with me like this, clash after clash without falling behind... Zihua, I have to admit—you've got some skill." Wei's voice was cold, echoing across the training ground.
At first, Wei hadn't paid much attention to Zihua—the so-called genius who'd been locked away in the Anti-Demon Dungeon for three whole years. But the moment he watched Zihua severely injure four disciples from the Retainer Faction with a single sword strike, Wei was genuinely stunned. For the first time, he began to take Zihua seriously.
And now, Wei had come to regard Zihua as a true rival.
"Zihua! From here on out, I'm going to use my blade techniques. To force me to this point, you should be proud of that." Wei's cold voice echoed across the field.
Hearing that, many of the Bai family's warriors and younger generation—who had been thrilled by Zihua's performance—suddenly felt a chill run down their spines.
They had almost forgotten—Wei had passed the eleventh level of the True Martial Tower. His skill level had already reached terrifying heights.
So what would his blade techniques look like?
Could Zihua really keep up?
"Blade techniques, huh? I'd love to see what you've got." Zihua chuckled coldly, lifting his longsword and pointing it straight at Wei from a distance.
Whoosh!
Wei moved in a flash.
In a single step, Wei appeared right in front of him. If you looked closely, faint arcs of lightning danced across his skin.
He looked like a bolt of thunder crashing down from the heavens, and his warblade followed through with perfect timing.
Boom—crack!
The blade sliced downward, trailing lightning as it came.
"Mystic Thunder Technique!"
"The most powerful blade technique recorded in our Bai family's martial manuals!"
"Even his body is crackling with lightning—there's no doubt Wei has mastered this technique to perfection."
Several Sea Transformation Realm experts watching from the sidelines couldn't hide their shock.
To master the Mystic Thunder Technique meant standing at the very top of the Sea Transformation Realm when it came to skill and technique.
No wonder Wei had made it through the eleventh level of the True Martial Tower.
As Wei continued to unleash strike after strike, each blade light looked like thunder tearing through the world, raining down on Zihua with overwhelming pressure.
But Zihua's gaze was sharp as lightning. Though the incoming strikes were unimaginably fast, in his mind, they appeared to slow down bit by bit.
It was a unique ability he had awakened along with his Supreme Bloodline.
Using the sword techniques he'd cultivated, he could identify flaws and weaknesses within any technique—even improve them, or derive entirely new moves from their structure.
And during battle, unless his opponent's cultivation far exceeded his own, he could also pick out vulnerabilities in their combat style.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
A series of metallic crashes echoed across the field.
Zihua moved with casual grace, his sword swings looking almost effortless. His strikes didn't seem particularly forceful or impressive—yet each terrifying slash of lightning from Wei was met, dissolved, and deflected with precision.
In the blink of an eye, all thirty-six strikes from Wei had been countered. Zihua had only taken a few steps back.
"How... how is this possible?" Wei's breathing grew uneven, and his face twisted in disbelief.
"This... this is insane..." Even the spectators were completely stunned.
Especially the Sea Transformation Realm experts.
They knew how fearsome the Mystic Thunder Technique truly was. Under normal circumstances, blocking those attacks required equally powerful techniques—or a high-speed footwork style to dodge them.
But Zihua had done it with light, almost lazy sword swings. He had neutralized all thirty-six strikes—effortlessly.
None of them had ever seen anything like it.
"Why does this feel so familiar?" In the crowd nearby, Wan'er had already returned to her place among the spectators, but her expression had turned oddly complicated.
She remembered it clearly—back when they were standing before the True Martial Tower and he had asked that mysterious man known as Storm, the one who had passed the fourteenth level, for guidance. Mr. Storm had also been calm and casual, easily deflecting all of her sword techniques with a few effortless strikes.
"So this is your so-called blade technique?" Zihua said with a mocking smile at the corner of his lips as he stared at Wei.
"Bastard!" Wei was clearly rattled now. Even the aura around his body was becoming more violent and unstable.
Boom!
He surged forward again, the lightning crackling across his body now so dense it was beginning to take physical form.
"Noonday Thunder!"
With a furious shout, Wei gripped his blade in both hands and hacked down with everything he had.
It felt like a mountain-splitting strike—a blow capable of cutting through the heavens.
This was Wei's strongest ultimate technique!
Zihua still stood there, calm and steady. He didn't even move until the attack was right in front of him. Then, like a flash of lightning, he thrust his sword forward.
The tip of his sword struck the exact convergence point of the blade's terrifying force, and Wei suddenly felt a strange power surging through the collision. In an instant, the overwhelming momentum of his strongest slash was completely dissolved. As Zihua twisted his wrist, the sword tip smoothly and eerily slid right along his arm—
Shhhhk!
The sword edge sliced across Wei's shoulder, leaving behind a clean, shallow wound.
It wasn't deep, and it didn't affect his combat ability—but the psychological impact was devastating.
Just moments ago, Wei had declared with such pride that Zihua should feel honored for forcing him to use his blade technique.
Yet in the blink of an eye, Zihua had effortlessly countered it. Even Wei's ultimate move had been dismantled like it was nothing, and worse—he'd been injured in the process.
How was he supposed to accept that?!
"Zihua! You've pissed me off!!" Wei growled low, his eyes now visibly burning with rage.
The next moment, he charged forward again, unleashing another round of fierce and overwhelming blade strikes toward Zihua.