If something was meant to happen, it would happen. Shoujing panicked for a while, but it did not take long for him to calm himself down.

　　Shouxuan looked at Shoujing and spoke gently, “Prioritise your survival.”

　　Shoujing felt hundreds of millions of lightning struck in his heart. He glared at Shouxuan and nodded, “Senior Apprentice-Brother, I hope that you will have Shen Ruoxi as your next opponent.”

　　Shouxuan twitched the corner of his mouth. He decided that he would teach this brat a lesson if he ended up having him as an opponent. As for what he teased Shoujing about, he had completely forgotten about that.

　　As Shoujing and Shouxuan spoke to each other, their mood lightened up gradually. Slowly, he walked into the veil of light. Zhao Siming had come in before him. At that moment, Zhao Siming’s overwhelming sword aura did not seem as scary anymore.

　　Both of them gestured respectfully and bowed to each other.

　　The moment Ge Yuan announced the beginning of the battle, a flash of cold light appeared in Zhao Siming’s eyes. The sword gleam in his hands was akin to a long snake, and it charged ferociously at Shoujing. The sword gleam had traveled a hundred feet when the thunderous roars of the sword were heard. The air turned blurry under the thrust of the sword.

　　The speed of his sword gleam was unrivaled in Qing Xuan. He defeated his opponent in the first three rounds within the length of a single breath. Most expected him to come in first in the Dao assessment. No one thought Shoujing could last under Zhao Siming’s unbelievably fast sword gleam.

　　Despite that Zhao Siming had only grasped the basics of the supreme swordcraft of thunderous sword aura, but not many people in Qing Xuan could compare to his speed.

　　Shen Lian nodded as he observed Zhao Siming’s sword gleam. Besides Senior Apprentice-Brother Chen, this person was another disciple of Qing Xuan who was notable for his potential in swordcraft. However, his pride hindered him from peering into the ingenuity of advanced swordcraft despite that he had mastered the thunderous sword aura.

　　Shoujing felt a chill in his heart, and the sword gleam was only a short distance away from him. However, his body reacted faster than his thoughts. A sword pill came out from his mouth and turned into white gas. It was then transformed into a rainbow that charged right at Zhao Siming.

　　Zhao Siming was surprised. He did not expect the brat to be so extreme and ignored his sword. Shoujing was trying to deal injuries to Zhao Siming at the price of his own life.

　　Ge Yuan frowned and was ready to step in. Yan Bugui too had a serious look on his face.

　　Shen Lian stood on top of the eastern tower and seemed to be at ease. He did not seem to be worrying about the two of them.

　　In fact, he was more than capable of stopping the two of them before they could seriously injure each other.

　　Regardless of the speed, they were moving at, they were shockingly slow in Shen Lian’s mind. Shen Lian took his time to scrutinize Shoujing’s swordcraft. Shoujing’s flying sword was wielded with one Qi.

　　All of his Qi of essence was focused on the sword, and this was an incredibly advanced technique of “Wielding the Sword with Qi”. The force in both the beginning and the end was endless and infinite. This technique was even more powerful than the “Regenerative Sword of Cloud and Water” of Qingjiang Sword sect.

　　This swordcraft was also one of the few Codexes of the Sword amongst the one hundred and eight techniques of Qing Xuan. It was known as “One Qi Fundamental Codex of the Sword”. Upon successful cultivation, the Qi of Essence of the cultivator and the sword would be interconnected. The cultivator could feed itself with the sword aura and unblock the Gold Portico and Jade Lock within his body. Subsequently, the cultivator could feed the sword pill with his Qi of Essence, forming a feedback loop. At the pinnacle of cultivation, the cultivator and the sword would be each other’s wielder. Eventually, the transformation of Yin and Yang, Deficiency and Excess, would take place. Despite being a codex of the sword, it was a remarkable Dao formula.

　　It focused on waiting for the right time to strike and emphasized on improvisation rather than a rigid set of moves.

　　After all, Shoujing was not as good as Zhao Siming, which was why he had to resort to such an extreme measure and risked his life for it. Even though it seemed like they were fighting on equal footing, but he was actually the losing party as he did not show the essential quality of “Wielding the sword with Qi, waiting for the right time to strike”.

　　However, this was inevitable. If he were to wait for the right time to strike, he would have lost before the right time came.

　　Zhao Siming was calm and at ease. The repetitive roars of the sword sounded like a heavy downpour, at the same time it also sounded like large and small pearls were falling on a jade plate.

　　Shoujing was pale and he leaned forward. The white sword pill turned and transformed into a straight line, circumventing the sword gleam that was protecting Zhao Siming from harm. It circled around him and struck him from behind.

　　Zhao Siming had a contemptuous look on his face. He leaped and dodged away from the sword gleam. However, the sword gleam was persistent and trailed after him. Zhao Siming was not surprised at all, though the spectators gasped. The rainbow light enveloped everything and a loud explosion could be heard. The clouds and smoke stirred, and even the layer of light that was covering the battle venue shook.

　　The rainbow light disappeared slowly and a yellow talisman was floating in the clouds and exploded. It turned into shreds of paper and melted into the clouds.

　　Shoujing withered and the sword pill looked dulled and had lost its brilliance. It flew back to him shakily. His clothes had been turned into ashes by the Qi strength. Even the flesh and skin on his hand were charred.

　　He stared at Zhao Siming who was descending slowly from the sky and spoke, “Junior Apprentice-Brother Zhao, your swordcraft is very advanced. I admit defeat.”

　　If it was not for the protection offered by Yan Bugui’s Celestial Master Talisman, which had blocked out most of Zhao Siming’s attack, Shoujing would be gravely injured. Of course, he was the first opponent that Zhao Siming had taken seriously in the Dao assessment.

　　Zhao Siming replied, “The fact that you made me used the “Heaven-Plundering White Rainbow” is applaudable.”

　　Shoujing almost vomited blood upon hearing what he just said. He had an extra twenty years of cultivation experience as compared to Zhao Siming, and to think that Zhao Siming was talking down to him now! He was exasperated and was determined to elevate the “One Qi Fundamental Codex of the Sword” to a higher level.

　　Yan Bugui spoke lazily, “You two, stop dilly-dallying. Hurry up and come out.”

　　Zhao Siming remained calm, and he walked out slowly. Yan Bugui smiled and patted his shoulder, as though he was telling Zhao Siming that he did a great job. Zhao Siming wrinkled his brows and did not say anything. After all, both Yan Bugui and him were disciples under Drunken Daoist. More importantly, he looked up to those who were strong. Yan Bugui had attained Huandan, and was older than him by a lot. It was not that big of a deal to be patted on the shoulder by him.

　　His stole a quick glance at the headmaster.

　　He was the only person in Qing Xuan that Zhao Siming truly admired. One day, he would surpass this man whom he admired from the bottom of his heart. He would start by defeating Shen Ruoxi.

　　The next battle was between Shen Ruoxi and Shouxuan. Shoujing wanted to offer encouragement to his Senior Apprentice-Brother and to urge him on to be one of the top eight. However, after overhearing the conversation between his Senior Apprentice-Brother and Shen Ruoxi, he left immediately.

　　However, he could still feel the cold gaze from his Senior Apprentice-Brother directed at him. It was comparable to Zhao Siming’s sword aura.

　　Shoujing thought maybe he should just cultivate Hong Elder’s “Solution of Ziwei Dong Mystery” – the ultimate deductive technique that would allow him to peer into the designs of nature. This technique would suit him, seeing how his prediction of his Senior Apprentice-Brother having Shen Ruoxi as his next opponent had come true.

　　Shouxuan did not bother to entertain Shoujing. He walked into the battle venue solemnly. Ruoxi followed and she was as calm as she had been in the past three rounds. Her bright eyes were not stiffened with dismay, and it seemed as though she was not taking her opponent seriously.

　　Shouxuan could not afford to be careless. He had been watching Ruoxi, and he knew that she definitely had a supernatural power that was based on the Dao of Spirit. He guarded his mind and spirit as he bowed respectfully.