Wei Yuan felt that this boy was inexplicably angry, not understanding what was bothering him.
This boy was different from the others. Under the influence of shared Luck, he moved swiftly in Wei Yuan's eyes. Although his Luck was also suppressed by Wei Yuan's, the extent was limited. He didn't crawl as slowly as Brother Xu, and certainly wasn't as slow as a snail like the others. His sword technique, Three Thousand Lotus, was magnificent, replete with clever tricks. Most of the lotus blooms were not aimed at Wei Yuan but greeted the boar instead, successfully crushing it in an instant.
For this reason, Wei Yuan genuinely thought the opponent was commendable and showed the utmost courtesy, paying particular attention to sound sincere.
Yet, it seemed the boy was not grateful.
The boy grew angrier, and suddenly there were what looked like the Star River shattering in his eyes. The sword light in his hand flared intensely, rising like a round of sky-blue sun!
In an instant, Wei Yuan's vision was filled with a vast expanse of blue light, blinding him completely. His body was subjected to clinks and clangs like pearls falling on a Jade Plate, with no idea how many sword strikes he had received. Wei Yuan's ears were filled with the boy's voice, angry:
"Qu Shui Ru Shang!"
"Loneliness Without Flute and Drum!"
"A Song of Fishing Flowing East!"
"General Pavilion Asking Immortal Fate!"
…
"Barbarian, behold my sword!!!"
…
Wei Yuan felt as if caught in a tempest, barely able to discern the boy's figure through the myriad blue lights. Amidst the blue storm, wisps of black aura rose from Wei Yuan's body. As Heaven and Earth Madman activated, cracks appeared in the all-encompassing blue light in Wei Yuan's eyes, and the boy's figure flickered through them.
Wei Yuan lunged with his long spear, but the boy's elusive movements meant not a single stab hit its mark!
After several missed thrusts, Wei Yuan couldn't help but feel a surge of anger, and with a heavy huff, he used his Luck to momentarily slow down the blue light. The boy's figure emerged in one spot. Without a second thought, Wei Yuan gripped the spear with both hands and swung it like a club, striking directly!
With a smack, though the boy flickered twice more, the sweeping spear still hit him hard in the waist! The boy's body bent at an odd angle and disappeared into the light.
As the blue light dissipated, Wei Yuan saw his heavy armor pitted and marked all over. Looking at his battered armor, Wei Yuan couldn't help but feel a sense of fear; this time he had narrowly avoided real injury.
Wei Yuan then looked up at the top of the slope. Now, only three or four people remained. At the center was a girl of incomparable beauty, delicate and gentle, her hands holding a longsword as if she was about to begin a dance rather than being on guard.
The girl, albeit with some difficulty, raised her longsword and said to her companions, "It seems I have to take action myself! Don't be afraid. He's just a barbarian, nothing serious."
But this time, no one stepped forward. The remaining young men and women, devoid of any Luck Secret Techniques, could only cheer from the sidelines, standing there as a picturesque backdrop.
Wei Yuan strode up to the top of the slope and thrust his spear directly. The girl gracefully parried with her sword.
Wei Yuan was greatly surprised. The force behind this thrust had been the same as the one he had used to break Xiao Yu in half, yet it had been effortlessly blocked by this young girl?
When encountering an adversary for the first time, something within Wei Yuan seemed to have been provoked, slowly awakening, as if he were a true Immortal looking down upon the Mortal World's countless years of change from high above.
Wei Yuan had felt this sensation when he was three years old, as he was thrusting a short spear into the heart of a Refugee.
Heaven and Earth Madman revolved on its own, and wisps of black aura seeped out from behind Wei Yuan's face mask. With the spear blocked, he exerted force and thrust forward again, then there was a bang, as if piercing an invisible bubble.
The girl felt an overwhelming Huge Power bearing down on her. The longsword in her hand suddenly shattered, sending countless fragments flying in all directions. Three beams of white light rose around her, and she, covered in blood, fell backwards.
Watching the girl lying motionless on the ground, Wei Yuan snorted and turned his head to look around.
Hiss!
After a long, seemingly endless inhalation, the surrounding dark mist was all sucked into Wei Yuan's heavy armor. His Divine Sense continued to spread, and then a number of small beasts rushed towards him. Wei Yuan's gaze swept over rabbits, wolves, and bobcats, finding them all unworthy of his attention, ultimately settling on a wild boar. A wisp of dark mist shot out from his forehead and entered the body of the boar.
Amidst painful screams, the wild boar experienced all sorts of tortures known to immortals, its body swelling instantly to become a huge beast, ten feet tall and several tens of feet long.
Wei Yuan walked towards the wild boar, his war boots stepping on the ground, each step resonating until the last step landed squarely on the Jade Plate. The exquisitely crafted Jade Plate instantly shattered into flying sand.
Wei Yuan stopped and looked down to see only the last corner of the Jade Plate remaining, the small hill sculpted with such exquisite detail, it was unknown whose skilled hand had crafted it.
His war boots did not continue forward, but instead pivoted in place, the tip sweeping across the last remaining hill, severing it halfway.
Atop the hill, another girl lay face down, covered in blood, her life hanging by a thread.
Wei Yuan walked over to her, his hand raised his spear, and a white light arose.
The Judgement Hall was deadly silent. A young Cultivator covered his face, motionless for a long time. The expressions on the other judges' faces varied, and even Daoist Fu Feng raised an eyebrow, secretly taking a deep breath of cool air.
The two Confucian Scholars had been complacent, secretly gloating, but then they saw Wei Yuan mount the wild boar and turn his head south.
Their expressions stiffened instantly.
As he traveled south, Wei Yuan briefly reviewed the recent battle. The Vanguard General of the Northern Green Team commanded his troops divinely, with soldiers willing to give their lives, and his subordinates included many experts skilled in the Luck Technique. The girl in the goose-yellow dress was particularly strong, managing to block one of his spears!
Had he really annihilated such a force?
Wasn't this the style of a famous military strategist, erasing enemies in laughter and conversation? Wei Yuan suddenly thought, could it be that he was actually a grandmaster of military strategy?
The wild boar ran as fast as the wind, and in the blink of an eye, Wei Yuan had already rushed through the Central Zone and stepped into the Southern Zone.
Li Zhi was restless.
On both sides of the mountain, fierce battles were underway, but faced with the thirty-man Green Teams on each side, Li Zhi only deployed twenty men to hold them off, keeping the main force, especially the thirty elite of the Central Army, motionless and always facing North.
As the troops on the flanks dwindled in the battle, Li Zhi still refused to commit the main force, and a girl beside him said anxiously, "Brother Li, if we don't help the flanks soon, our people will be wiped out!"
Li Zhi suddenly exploded in anger and yelled, "What do you know! If the Central Army moves and Bao Yun launches an attack at this time, we'll be utterly defeated!!"
The girl was startled and shrank back, saying, "But she hasn't come yet!"
Li Zhi was also taken aback, "Right, why hasn't she come yet?"
Bao Yun had always outperformed Li Zhi, having prepared her team well in advance, not only outnumbering but also far leading in the number of experts endowed with Luck. Upon entering the martial test, Bao Yun decisively wiped out Li Zhi's Vanguard. Now, with the flanking pincer strategy, she was forcing Li Zhi to deplete his forces, having already established an absolute advantage. Li Zhi dared not move his Central Army, fearing that Bao Yun's main force would suddenly attack, which would indeed result in a total defeat.
Li Zhi knew he was most likely going to lose, but how one loses still mattered greatly. If he threw his forces into disarray by moving the Central Army and then was ambushed by Bao Yun, breaking his formation, his score would drop significantly. Although Li Zhi knew he had backers, Bao Yun had even stronger backers. Such a major blunder would surely make him fall behind Bao Yun in the scores.
The other option was to take the offensive, but Li Zhi was aware that Bao Yun's main force was likely waiting for him to make a move. With his current forces, an attack would also end in defeat, so it would be better to hold his position. Li Zhi couldn't believe that Bao Yun could turn a group of children into seasoned warriors in a short time; by the time her troops moved from north to south, they would have become disorganized.
Li Zhi would then await his enemy at leisure, with the thirty elites of the Central Army well-rested and amassing all the elixirs. With repeated charges, it was truly possible to defeat Bao Yun. Li Zhi's bet was that Bao Yun, confident in her status, would not take elixirs from the ordinary participants.