Chapter 93: The Arena Duels Begin

Zhao Jian sneered across the dueling ring. His silver longsword hummed with dense spiritual energy. Despite his exhaustion, his cultivation was solidly at the 9th Layer of Qi Refining.

"You may have passed the first two stages, Lin Tian," he spat, his spiritual energy flaring. "But pure luck ends here. My Serpent-Strike Sword Art is unmatched in the outer sect. Your heavy scrap iron is useless against my speed."

Lin Tian stood motionless. His obsidian robes fluttered in the wind. His hands rested casually on the hilt of his heavy broadsword.

Under the Abyssal Shadow Veil, his Foundation Establishment liquid Qi remained perfectly hidden. To Zhao Jian, he was merely a Peak Qi Gathering disciple.

Zhao Jian’s arrogance was palpable. "Surrender now, or I will cripple your meridians!"

Lin Tian did not respond. His golden eyes looked at Zhao Jian with detached indifference. He slowly pulled his broadsword from the stone floor, resting it against his shoulder.

"System," he commanded silently. "Activate the Insight Eye."

Crimson runes flared within his pupils. The physical world lost its color, replaced by the System’s interface. The Insight Eye pierced directly into Zhao Jian’s spiritual roots and meridian flow.

To Lin Tian’s enhanced perception, Zhao Jian’s stance was riddled with fatal flaws. The spiritual energy flowing through his right arm was chaotic. The nodes connecting his Qi to the silver longsword were trembling under strain.

"You asked for it!" Zhao Jian roared, infuriated by Lin Tian’s silence.

He stomped his foot, his body turning into a blur. His silver longsword whistled through the air, dividing into three venomous sword phantoms. They aimed simultaneously at Lin Tian’s throat, heart, and Dantian.

The Serpent-Strike Sword Art was designed to overwhelm with speed and illusionary Qi. But illusions were nothing but fragile glass before the Insight Eye.

Lin Tian saw clearly that the strikes at his throat and Dantian were mere phantom projections. The true, lethal blade was thrusting directly toward his heart.

He planted his feet firmly into the green-stone floor. His muscles coiled like dragons. Drawing upon the raw physical might of his Primordial Yang-Tyrant Body, he swung the heavy broadsword.

He didn’t use spiritual energy. He relied entirely on the mountain-crushing physical weight of the weapon and his flawless bodily strength. Absolute force breaking all profound spells.

BOOOOOOM!

The collision produced a deafening shockwave. Lin Tian’s broadsword smashed accurately into the exact spiritual node of Zhao Jian’s silver longsword. The three sword phantoms shattered instantly like broken glass. The high-grade silver longsword snapped violently into two pieces!

"What?!" Zhao Jian’s eyes bulged in absolute horror.

Before he could process his weapon’s destruction, the remaining force of Lin Tian’s swing crashed into his chest. Terrifying physical might transferred directly through his ribs.

CRACK!

Zhao Jian coughed up a massive mouthful of blood. His body was lifted off his feet and sent flying backward. He slammed against the translucent spiritual barrier and slid down, instantly unconscious.

The battle ended in a single, flawless strike. Lin Tian didn’t even look back as he walked to the edge of the ring.

The surrounding disciples stared in stunned silence. A high-grade flying sword had been shattered by brute force alone. No one had ever seen such raw, unfiltered power in the outer sect.

---

High above, on the white jade platform, Instructor Qing watched. Her sharp gaze was locked onto the Spiritual Water Mirror. Her beautiful, athletic face revealed a rare flicker of martial astonishment.

"He shattered a high-grade flying sword with pure physical might," she murmured, her heart beating faster. "No wasted spiritual energy. No flashy spells. He saw through the illusions and struck the exact weakest node of the blade."

As a master possessing the rare Divine Valkyrie Body, she valued pure martial prowess above all else. Lin Tian’s dominating, brutal, and perfectly calculated strike resonated deeply with her martial Dao.

But a different resonance shook her body. The memory of the Irresistible Yang Scent she had accidentally absorbed earlier flooded her mind. Just looking at his towering physique caused the lethal Fire-Poison hidden within her meridians to shrink back in terror.

The agonizing burning pain in her lower abdomen, a torment she had endured for five years, was completely dormant. In its place, a heavy, shameful warmth spread through her veins. Her Divine Valkyrie Body, instinctively desperate for the cure, reacted violently to the visual stimulus of the man who possessed the ultimate Yang energy.

A heavy flush crept up her elegant neck. Her breathing hitched. Deep within her core, an unfamiliar dampness pooled again, forcing her to cross her powerful thighs tightly under her seat.

"This junior... Lin Tian..." She paused, her fingers tightening slightly around the armrests. "His martial foundation is remarkably pure. And there’s something about his Yang energy... it resonates with the power within me in a way I’ve never encountered before. I need him to enter the Inner Sect."

Her fingers dug into the armrests, leaving faint marks. She forced herself to look away from the mirror, but her eyes kept drifting back.

Down in the arena, the duels continued with brutal efficiency. Half an hour later, Lin Tian stepped into his second match.

His opponent was a towering, heavily scarred youth wielding a long profound-steel spear. The youth cultivated a body-refining technique, his skin emitting a faint metallic luster.

"You got lucky against a frail sword user," the spear-wielder growled, his spiritual energy erupting. "But my Iron-Bone Physique and Mountain-Piercing Spear Art will crush your crude strength!"

Lin Tian’s expression remained an unreadable mask of predatory calm. "System, scan," he ordered.

The Insight Eye flared. The interface highlighted the flow of Qi within the opponent’s body. While the youth’s skin was hardened by Qi, his joints—specifically his knees and elbows—were brittle. The Qi flow stagnated heavily in those areas due to improper cultivation methods.

"Begin!" the arena array chimed.

The opponent roared, thrusting his heavy spear forward. The spear tip spun wildly, creating a vortex of spiritual wind aimed at drilling through Lin Tian’s chest.

Lin Tian took a single precise step to the left. His movements flowed effortlessly with the natural Dao of the wind. The deadly spear thrust grazed past his robes, missing by a hair’s breadth.

Before the opponent could pull the spear back, Lin Tian stepped into his guard. He raised his left hand, his palm glowing faintly with compressed physical force. He bypassed the spear and struck directly against the opponent’s right elbow joint—the exact spiritual node where the Qi stagnated.

CRACK!

A sickening sound of bone snapping echoed in the ring. The opponent screamed in agony, his right arm going limp, dropping the heavy spear.

Lin Tian was not finished. Using his body’s rotation, he brought the flat, heavy side of his broadsword around in a devastating horizontal sweep. It slammed directly into the opponent’s ribcage.

BOOM!

The supposedly impenetrable Iron-Bone Physique shattered under the absolute weight of the blow. The youth was blasted off his feet, crashing violently into the spiritual barrier and sliding down, completely incapacitated.

Two matches. Two single-strike victories.

The surrounding rings, filled with disciples exchanging dozens of flashy spells, suddenly felt slow compared to the brutal physical dominance Lin Tian displayed. His efficiency was terrifying. His precision was surgical.

---

On the VIP platform, Elder Bai watched the second fight with her sharp, intelligent eyes. Her Heavenly Calculation Physique processed Lin Tian’s movements at lightning speed.

"He didn’t just use brute force," she murmured, the profound weariness in her soul momentarily soothing. "His footwork bypassed the spear’s offensive array node. His palm strike disrupted the opponent’s internal Qi flow before the physical impact. It is just like the ’Node Severing’ he used in the Labyrinth."

She leaned forward in her chair, her fingers steepled. Her tired eyes gleamed with intellectual hunger.

"This boy’s understanding of the Heavenly Dao’s flow is frighteningly profound. His movements are a perfect harmony of offense and defense. It’s like watching poetry written in spiritual energy."

A strange warmth spread through her chest—not the chaotic noise of her frayed soul, but something else. Something she hadn’t felt in years. Curiosity.

As the sun climbed higher, the preliminary rounds concluded. Out of four hundred and twelve disciples, only one hundred remained.

Lin Tian stood calmly in his ring, resting his heavy broadsword on the ground. He had not expended even a single drop of his Foundation Establishment liquid Qi. His breathing was slow and rhythmic. His robes were still pristine.

The Outer Sect geniuses who had mocked him now looked at his towering figure with deep, instinctual fear. They finally realized he was not a destitute scavenger—he was a primordial beast wearing human skin.

"The Top 100 have been decided!" Instructor Qing’s voice boomed from the heavens. Her tone carried heavy martial approval. Her gaze lingered on Lin Tian. "Take a fifteen-minute rest to consolidate your Qi! The next rounds will be the Quarter-Finals. Only the strongest fifty will earn the right to step into the Inner Sect!"

Lin Tian closed his golden eyes, a dark, ambitious smile curling his lips. The true elite targets of the Outer Sect, the wealthy heirs relying on high-tier talismans and expensive defensive arrays, were waiting in the next rounds. The Sovereign was ready.