The top ten arrogant geniuses - when chatting, they were just the capital for ordinary disciples to brag; when watching battles, they were the idols for ordinary disciples to cheer; but if you faced them head-on, then they would become nightmares for ordinary disciples.
And in such an important assessment, no disciple wanted to face the top ten arrogant geniuses head-on... What they thought the most was probably that there were only ten arrogant geniuses, how could it be possible to encounter one.
So no matter how Xu Ze thought about it, he couldn't imagine that he would be so "lucky" to encounter Li Shiyin in the very first battle.
He had watched Li Shiyin's battles countless times. He knew Li Shiyin's sword skills were precise, sharp, and almost like a work of art. She could always find the weak point of her opponent and defeat them using the simplest methods. Because of this, she could always challenge those above her level. Her battle style was clean, precise, and swift. As an audience, it was truly a visual enjoyment.
But now, he was her opponent.
Xu Ze looked at the peerless beauty across from him, but he could not enjoy the visual beauty brought by the beautiful girl at all. He could only see the endless terrifying oppressiveness of the sword aura as deep and cold as the night sky. He couldn't breathe.
He realized he was having trouble breathing, his head felt a little dizzy, he could sense sword aura in the air, the air was sharp.
His legs were shaking, his heart was urging him to turn around and run away...
"Danfeng, Li Shiyin!" The girl across from him held her sword in salute and asked him formally in crisp voice.
"Outer... outer disciple, Xu, Ze!" He saluted back, but felt it wasn't him speaking.
"Shing!"
The girl across from him drew her sword!
The girl kindly reminded him: "Brother Xu, pay attention!"
Only then did Xu Ze regain some of his senses. He realized his face was already covered in sweat. He wiped his face and gritted his teeth, secretly cheering himself on. He told himself that even if he was going to lose, he shouldn't lose too badly.
He circulated the inner power within his body, and a shimmering membrane appeared around him. He exerted force with his feet, ready to use his lightness skill to escape at any time.
Defending and maneuvering was the strategy he came up with that could allow him to persist a little longer.
Then...
"Puff!"
Before he could react, he heard the sound of his protective shield shattering. He was stunned, and then heard the girl across from him say: "Brother Xu, please excuse me."
He looked up to see the beautiful girl put away her sword, and politely nodded to him.
Then the girl turned and left.
Xu Ze stood there in a daze. Huh? So... he had lost just like that?
Lost in one move... No, could this even be considered one move?
Xu Ze didn't know.
He also didn't know how he got off the Dao Lecture Stage. He only vaguely remembered that the expressions of the people below didn't change at all, as if they were not surprised at all that he lost in one move. After all, his opponent was Li Shiyin!
"What a pity, going against one of the top ten arrogant geniuses..." That was how his good friend comforted him.
"How was the opponent?"
In a remote corner of the square, Long Qiqi asked Li Shiyin.
"This martial brother has some skills, but his temperament is a bit lacking..." Li Shiyin shook her head and said, "Before we even started fighting, he was already fearful and wanted to flee. In that instant, his whole body was full of flaws, so with just a casual strike from me, he would have been sliced to pieces."
Long Qiqi took notes based on the description, and then asked, "What if he had better composure and fought you with his full strength?"
"Then I might have had to use a serious strike," said Li Shiyin.
"I see..." Long Qiqi nodded.
"What a pity that Chasing the Wind can't go on stage!" Li Shiyin sighed. She looked at Chasing the Wind, rather disappointed, "If you could go on stage, Chasing the Wind, and then you could pin them down and I strike the finishing blow, we would definitely be invincible and unstoppable. The likes of Lu Junxing and Liu Baiyun would be no match for us."
Chasing the Wind just lay there lazily and yawned, "My bad!"
"For the next round, Shiyin, do you want to try things like Fu Talismans, Formation Disks, Pills?" Long Qiqi suggested again, "You can also try poison pills." As she spoke, she took out a "Body Tempering Pill" that she often ate to improve her physique from her Cosmic Bag.
"I guess I could try..." said Li Shiyin, "But I feel like those methods won't work against the other arrogant geniuses. And against disciples without the strength of an arrogant genius, my sword is still better."
"There are still many days to go!" Long Qiqi said, "Better save as much strength as possible!"
"Alright, I'll try Fu Talismans tomorrow..."
After they finished recording this round, they prepared to go gather more intelligence.
"Hey! Isn't that Wenjin over there?" With his height, Chasing the Wind could see far. He saw Tian Wenjin as they walked towards the Dao Lecture Stage.
"Wenjin?" Li Shiyin jumped onto Chasing the Wind's back to look over, "Wow, it really is Wenjin! Is she in this round?"
"She's at the ninth Dao Lecture Stage..." Long Qiqi said, "Let's call her over to join us later!"
"Okay, sounds good."
Tian Wenjin's first opponent in this round was a Qi Peak disciple, a male disciple who recognized her... After all, Tian Wenjin was one of the Five Great Beauties, so it was difficult for the male disciples of the Dao Sword Sect not to recognize her.
This martial brother very courteously saluted Tian Wenjin with a smile, "Sister Tian, greetings to you."
"Brother Hu," Tian Wenjin returned the greeting.
"I will be mindful of restraint, Sister Tian need not worry..." Brother Hu said, "Although I can't let you win, I can accompany you in an invigorating battle."
Unlike Li Shiyin, Tian Wenjin was a bit more reserved, after all she had not yet become arrogant, but had already suffered consecutive misfortunes. Within the sect, Tian Wenjin had almost never issued a challenge, and others did not dare to challenge her because she was one of the Five Great Beauties, so this peerless sword dao genius who had comprehended Sword Intent, actually had an obscure reputation in the Dao Sword Sect.
"Brother need not hold back, please come at me with your full strength," said Tian Wenjin in a deep voice.
As she spoke, she drew the Thunder Sword from behind her back.
As the Thunder Sword left its sheath, the atmosphere on the entire Dao Lecture Stage instantly changed. Brother Hu suddenly felt a sense of merciless, absolute destruction.
"What is this?" He had never seen it before.
Then Tian Wenjin across from him moved, and there was suddenly a "crackle" in the air. Brother Hu only felt his vision blur, and then saw a sword-shaped blue lightning bolt stab towards him!
He quickly circulated his Qi to push out a mass of energy to block this sword-shaped lightning...
Tian Wenjin suddenly closed the distance, and the two were immediately embroiled in fierce combat.
The more they fought, the more Brother Hu felt something was wrong. He discovered that he was getting more and more suppressed, as if there was a relentless, merciless aura enveloping him, causing his spirits to sink and making it harder and harder for him to attack.
Until at one point, Tian Wenjin stabbed towards him with her sword, and the rich sword intent of mercilessness on the blade let him understand that his mind and spirit had been suppressed by the sword intent from the very beginning...
But it was already too late.
Unlike Li Shiyin's match which was absolute suppression through strength, when Tian Wenjin thrusted out this strike, she did not hold back, piercing through Brother Hu's shoulder blade.
Tian Wenjin sheathed her sword and said: "I'm sorry, Brother."
Brother Hu did not speak, only watching as Tian Wenjin stepped down from the Dao Lecture Stage.
"Hey! Wenjin, over here..." Tian Wenjin had just stepped off the stage when she saw Long Qiqi jumping and waving at her in the crowd.
She walked over and asked, "You're alone?"
"They're at other stages," Long Qiqi replied, then asked again, "Want to join us?"