One Breath! One Sword!

An arrogant sneer sat on Cao Yang's face; he didn't put Li Guanqi in his eyes at all. To him, Li Guanqi was nothing more than a clown leaping between beams. Cao Yang gripped a teal sword, a high-grade dharma artifact. Amid the thundering roll of war drums, Ge Qing took his place upon the arena platform to preside over the duel himself. The old man abruptly swept down his raised arm and bellowed, "Begin!" *Boom!!* A teal luminescence abruptly flared around Cao Yang. He was actually the wielder of an exceedingly rare wind spiritual root! A formidable pressure erupted as Cao Yang mobilized his movement technique, his figure sweeping toward Li Guanqi like a violent gale. Fierce ripples of origin power surged along both edges of his blade, cloaking the sword in an azure radiance. *Boom!!* With a sweep of Cao Yang's arm, the sword light whirled toward Li Guanqi like a tempest. The surging sword momentum engulfed a radius of three zhang around Li Guanqi. "The Boundless Tiangang Sword!!" The onlookers gasped in astonishment. The sheer finesse of this sword momentum held the power of at least a high-grade Profound-tier art. "What swift sword light! As expected of a wind spiritual root!" "If you ask me, that Great Xia Sword Sect disciple is in grave danger." Yet just as everyone was fretting for the blind youth— *Thump!* A detonation like a thunderclap struck everyone's ears. Their vision blurred, and they immediately whipped their heads toward where Li Guanqi had been standing. The blue flagstones where Li Guanqi had stood were blasted apart, yet the boy was nowhere to be seen. Right on its heels came a violent roar. *Boom!* When the dust cleared from the stage, the crowd saw the Xuanmen Palace disciple standing frozen in place. The sword in his right hand hung mere inches from the white-robed figure. Yet Cao Yang could not move in the slightest, frozen stiff where he stood, not even daring to shift his posture. Before the onlookers' eyes, the white-robed youth had ducked low, slipping past the incoming strike. And the sword in his hand had pierced a finger's depth straight into Cao Yang's throat! Blood trickled slowly down the blade. Pale-faced and trembling slightly, Cao Yang spoke in a dry, raspy voice. "I... I concede..." *Clang!* Li Guanqi slowly straightened and sheathed his sword, murmuring with a calm, indifferent expression, "Next." One breath! One sword! The staggering strength Li Guanqi displayed left countless people thoroughly shocked! That gale-swift offensive had been seen through by the youth in a single glance, and in an instant, he had already devised the perfect counter. Moreover, what had transpired in that fleeting moment was naturally clear as day to those of higher cultivation realms. It turned out that the moment Cao Yang prepared his opening stance, his subsequent attacks had already been laid bare before Li Guanqi's senses. Only then could that scene have unfolded. Li Guanqi's formidable prowess drew stunned looks from all around. Naturally, that included Ji Linglan and the other acknowledged paragons of heaven. Ji Linglan's beautiful eyes were filled with disbelief! A late Foundation Establishment disciple of the esteemed Xuanmen Palace would be an absolute pillar of strength in any sect. They enjoyed the finest resources and the most exceptional cultivation arts. Yet now, he had been subdued in a single sword strike by a disciple from an obscure, declining sect! A single sword! The young woman stared blankly at the youth carrying the sword casket on his back, whispering under her breath, "He... is so strong!" "Just what kind of person are you?" Every disciple from the Great Xia Sword Sect watched Li Guanqi with fervent excitement, raising their fists and cheering loudly to spur him on. *Roar!!* A wave of roaring cheers erupted from the spectators atop Mount Tianyu. It was as though they were the ones standing on that platform. The slaughter everyone had anticipated—of the youth stepping up only to be brutally beaten down like a stray dog by a Xuanmen Palace disciple—had never materialized. With an ashen face, Cao Yang leaped down from the elevated platform. Only to be greeted by a vicious slap across the face from Guan Qingyun! Hidden within his wide sleeves, Li Nanting's fists were clenched tight as he stared with a complex gaze at the youth on the high stage. The origin power churning around the lame man grew increasingly turbulent! A sharp gleam flared in Qin Xian's eyes as well. Taking out a jade slip, he said softly, "Sect Master, Tianlei Peak disciple Li Guanqi has initiated the Purgatory Challenge." "Perhaps... this generation of disciples will become the hope for the Great Xia Sword Sect's rise." The elders of Xuanmen Palace watched the youth on the platform with shifting gazes, completely casting aside their prior contempt! At their level, they could naturally discern the immense strength the youth had just displayed! Against a peer of the same cultivation realm, it was practically an overwhelming crush. Even a genius disciple like Guan Qingyun, if pitted against Cao Yang just now, might not have dared guarantee a single decisive, lethal strike to seal victory. Before the elders could speak, Guan Qingyun's expression contorted into a sinister snarl as he growled, "A bunch of useless trash!" "This round, I'll go!" *Whoosh!* Breaking his usual routine, Guan Qingyun did not wait to take the stage last. Stepping through the air and sweeping onto the high platform, Guan Qingyun locked a burning gaze onto the youth. Li Guanqi was slightly taken aback as well. Like everyone else, he had assumed Guan Qingyun would take the stage last. In truth, no one had misjudged his character. Guan Qingyun had never held any regard for Li Guanqi. One could even say he had never seen him as a threat. To his mind, Li Guanqi wouldn't even last until he reached him; he would have long fallen beneath the feet of other Xuanmen Palace disciples. Yet reality had delivered a stinging slap to his face—the opponent's strength far surpassed other cultivators of the same realm. Xuanmen Palace could not lose! Because they could not afford to lose! They were one of the Six Palaces of the Northern Region; how could they tolerate Li Guanqi stealing all the limelight on his own? If he lost, it would be fine—people would simply say Xuanmen Palace disciples had won the duel as crisply as they ought to. But if Li Guanqi won one match after another, the entire outside world would look down on Xuanmen Palace! This now concerned the very face and dignity of Xuanmen Palace. Guan Qingyun rolled his shoulders and stretched slightly before Li Guanqi, bones popping like beans roasted in a bamboo cylinder. "Brat, since you're courting death yourself, don't blame me." "Overconfident fool!" Li Guanqi frowned slightly and spoke in a low voice, "Do all of you love prattling on so much?" Guan Qingyun froze for a moment, then let out a false smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I hope your strength is as tough as your mouth!" A sharp gleam flickered in Ge Qing's eyes! With his level of cultivation, he could naturally tell that both were exceptionally powerful. Though he had not seen Li Guanqi reveal more of his repertoire, based on that single sword strike alone, the old man was certain the youth's strength was by no means inferior to Guan Qingyun's! As the old man swept his arm down, a chilly glint flashed in the depths of Guan Qingyun's eyes, and he said darkly, "Rest assured, I will make you kneel on the ground and beg me!" Li Guanqi gave a cold sneer and softly spat two words. "Noisy!" *Boom!!* Li Guanqi naturally had no intention of underestimating his opponent, so from the very beginning, he unleashed his full strength! A tempestuous aura erupted instantly, and the blue flagstones within a zhang around him shattered violently! Mobilizing the Roaming the Clouds movement technique, his figure transformed into a streak of white rainbow, striking straight for Guan Qingyun!