Xiao Chen’s eyes widened at the sword that reached his face in an instant. He held his breath. Not only was he exhausted from battling the snow creature earlier, but he was also hiding some of his cultivation. Taking on this attack wasn’t a walk in the park. He unleashed his Immortal-override Steps at once, leaving only his shadow behind as he reappeared a hundred feet away.

Even so, the wind carrying the sword managed to graze his cheek, making him feel suffocated. A loud explosion rang beside his ears as a floating island was cut into smithereens. The pavilions and kiosks on the island were all reduced to dust.

Xiao Chen was shocked. What unadulterated power would it take to destroy a floating island fitted with a defensive barrier from such a distance?

Just pure strength wouldn’t cut it. No matter how strong one was, if his strength wasn’t pure, his power would surely scatter after traveling such a distance. He would, at most, push away the floating island. To destroy it, his power would have to be so concentrated that it wouldn’t disperse, and this would have required absolutely pure cultivation.

The same logic applied when you try to snuff out a candle from a distance. No matter how strong one was, if his breath wasn’t concentrated, he could at most make the flame flutter. If he could condense his breath, then just a gentle blow would have been enough to extinguish the candle. Everything boiled down to whether one could condense his breath. Strength alone was insufficient.

Realization suddenly dawned on Xiao Chen. He finally understood that while Bai Ling’s cultivation was beneath his, his power was a little richer than his.

Then, in a split second, the crushed island swiftly pulled together and once again became complete. It looked no different than before. Of course, the island had indeed fallen once, but the Cloud Mist Academy was fixed with a powerful Spirit Energy Restoration Formation capable of restoring anything that its disciples damage. Without it, the buildings inside the academy would have long been ruined by its war-mongering students.

“Immortals in the Sky!”

Before Xiao Chen could snap out of it, Bai Ling was once again screeching. This time, Cyan Spirit Sword had produced two additional illusions of itself and was attacking Xiao Chen from three directions. It felt as if three fairies had appeared in the sky, with their sleeves fluttering in the wind.

Of course, what appeared to be three beautiful fairies were nothing more than three terrifying Sword Qi to Xiao Chen. He rolled to the side in a panic, dodging the first attack. Following a loud explosion, a massive pit appeared on the ground, only to swiftly return to normal.

“KABOOM!” Another deafening explosion resounded. Once again, Xiao Chen was desperately avoiding the Sword Qi. He had no way of fighting back in his current state.

Over at the Long-Gate Pass, a dozen or so youngsters were clenching their hands. Jiang Qianqian’s eyebrows were weaved into a frown. Xiao Chen was able to pinch her sword with a single hand, but he was now being badly trashed by an ordinary disciple of the Cloud Mist Academy. This academy was indeed hiding many gifted students. Still, she felt more excited than ever.

The older disciples who were watching from a distance inside the square started laughing when they saw Xiao Chen running with his tail behind his legs, without an ounce of his previous arrogance. One of them boasted, “If Senior Sister Bai Ling gets serious, even ten of us won’t be her match. This kid is going to suffer.”

“Pfft! Maybe Senior Sister Bai Ling will let him off just because he’s handsome?” said another female disciple, laughing.

Another massive pit had appeared in the middle of the square, with stones scattered everywhere, but everything soon regathered. Xiao Chen pushed his Immortal-override Steps to its pinnacle so he could avoid the onslaught of Sword Qi. Sometimes, he would be rolling on the ground. Other times, he would be retreating in haste. The youngsters watching in the square watched him with bated breath.

Xiao Chen was still dodging attacks, making him look like a sorry figure. His opponent’s cultivation wasn’t as high as his, but her power was purer. In Bai Ying’s words, compared to Bai Ling’s pure strength, his power seemed empty. Overcoming Bai Ling with strength alone seemed impossible, not even if he stopped hiding his strength.

This made him yell, “Jade for a Thousand Miles!”

Most people would cry out the name of their attacks, not because the attacks relied on the yelling alone or because they wanted to scare their opponents. Rather, attacking required the rapid circulation of True Energy. The moment a person cried out the name of his attack, his Qi would sink in his Elixir Field and facilitate the demonstration of the attack. That would allow him to become truly one with his weapon.

“Swish! Swish! Swish!” Following several bursts of wind movements, four cyan-colored sword lights of nearly 300 meters long attacked Bai Ling from all around. Everyone was taken aback. His swordsmanship was pretty good; was he making a comeback?

Bai Ling, being the target of the sword lights, could feel better than anyone just how terrifying the attacks were. She couldn’t figure out why a peak of the Nascent Soul cultivator could unleash a Sword Qi that rivaled her Immortals in the Sky move, but knew that she couldn’t fight him head-on. Instantly, her body became weightless as she deftly evaded the Sword Qi attack. She was lithe in the air, unlike Xiao Chen’s pathetic rolling on the ground.

“Phoenix’s Cry Amid Bamboos!” Before Bai Ling could fall to the ground, Xiao Chen was once again attacking. Since he couldn’t win against her with strength, let them battle close-combat swordsmanship.

The onlookers gasped when they saw him taking the initiative to get close to Bai Ling. Wasn’t he underestimating his opponent a little too much? To think he would dare engage in close combat with Bai Ling. Didn’t he know that Bai Ling trained her swordsmanship under Perfected Immortal Qingxu for seven days? Was he unaware that she was known to be the best swords master around? However, it seemed that he was indeed in the dark about all these.

“Clang!” A quick, sharp noise cut through the air as Bai Ling blocked Xiao Chen’s sword. Even though his sword was like a maze of illusions that made it hard for people to distinguish reality from fantasy, she was still able to pinpoint the sword’s body at once. She twisted her wrist and twelve copies of her sword materialized in the air, their shadows layering upon each other. This time, it was Xiao Chen who was surrounded.

Xiao Chen’s insides turned cold. She was the first person who could so easily shatter his Green Flute Swordplay. Her exquisite grasp of swordsmanship was truly beyond his expectations. Her swordsmanship was not at all beneath his.

In a flash, Bai Ling’s swords were flying toward him, leaving him no time to think. He used the move Undiscovered Talent, turning offense into defense. As if he was searching for a pearl in the vast sea, he aimed the sharp end of his sword at Bai Ling’s throat.

“Clang!” Another loud clang resounded. Bai Ling deftly and swiftly pushed the tip of Xiao Chen’s sword away. She followed up with the move Dream of a Thousand Years, launching a horizontal cut across Xiao Chen’s neck.

The shadow of the sword was so swift that it left Xiao Chen barely any room to dodge, forcing him to use the Clouds Obscure the Moon style of the Immortal-override Steps. His body blurred out of view before reappearing beside Bai Ling. He thrust his sword at her, prompting a loud clang. Bai Ling had once again blocked his sword.

Both were so swift and deft at swordsmanship that they were able to exchange more than 20 blows in a matter of seconds. The audience was completely dazzled. Some were nodding. Xiao Chen was surely no ordinary person if he could exchange 20 or so sword attacks with Bai Ling without losing. As a newcomer, he had the right to be arrogant about his skills.

Many had stopped mocking Xiao Chen. It was impressive for a newcomer to stand his ground against an outstanding disciple from the previous batch. It wasn’t something that they could accomplish. Even now, they couldn’t exchange so many blows with Bai Ling. It didn’t matter if Xiao Chen lost today. They had no right whatsoever to laugh at him, because if they were in his shoes, they would have lost a long time ago.

Xiao Chen and Bai Ling continued to cross swords in the square until a deafening clang shattered the air, bouncing them off by nearly 25 meters and once again putting distance between them. The collision seemed to have sent each other flying.

Bai Ling adjusted her breathing. Xiao Chen was beyond her expectations. If she thought that this guy was simply showing off earlier, she wasn’t thinking that now. “You’re strong, much stronger than the newcomer in my batch at that time,” she said. “But unfortunately, this is the end.”

She moved her fingers at rapid-fire pace as she chanted a spell. At the end of it, she yelled, “Song of the Cyan Spirit Sword!”

After her voice dissipated, birdsong swirled up into the air. The Cyan Spirit Sword instantly turned into a cyan light and charged at Xiao Chen. This time, the sword had produced a semi-illusory, cyan-colored divine bird.

The gaze of the divine bird turned sharp. It unfurled its wings that spanned nearly three meters, prompting startled cries from the onlookers. “Sword Spirit! She’s summoned her Sword Spirit!”

No one could have foreseen a Nascent Soul Realm newcomer forcing Bai Ling into summoning her Sword Spirit. Was he really just a cultivator at the peak of Nascent Soul Realm?

The Sword Spirit arrived in Xiao Chen’s face in the blink of an eye, startling him. This bird was weaker than Mo Jinyan’s Northern Dark Cyan Bird, but was no easy opponent either. He instantly summoned his True Energy and used the Unsullied Sword to defend himself.

“Clang!” The charging of the Sword Spirit sent Xiao Chen backward by tens of feet. His feet dragged on the floor, leaving a long trail on the tiles, but all signs of damage were swiftly reinstated.

Once again, the audience was alarmed by the fact that he remained standing even in the face of a Sword Spirit. They couldn’t understand him at all.

After multiple violent attacks, Xiao Chen’s insides were on the verge of rupturing. He was almost done, and he thought, all that was left was the final step: to lure her closer to him. He gnashed his teeth and summoned his True Energy. Clenching his sword blade, he mustered up a considerable force to push the Sword Spirit nearly three meters away.

The onlookers were shocked speechless. Bai Ling’s pretty face was also marked by surprise. She leaped on the tip of her foot and rushed at him with her palm. This time, she used only 70 percent of her strength. Xiao Chen, who wasn’t using all of his strength either, was sent staggering backward by her power and the Sword Spirit. A metallic sensation rose in his throat as he nearly spat blood.

The audience was finally at ease. Even though his cultivation was pure, he was still just a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. He was still far weaker than Bai Ling, who was in the second-level Nirvana Realm.

Bai Ling didn’t intend to truly hurt him, so she frowned when she saw his pale face. “Give up. You’re still in the Nascent Soul Realm. No one will say anything even if you lose. I can forget about your three Mystic Stones, but not them.”

“Heh!” Xiao Chen smiled craftily. “Who said I’m only in the Nascent Soul Realm?”

“What did you say?” Bai Ling’s frown deepened. Right now, she finally understood what was going on. Her expression changed, but it was already too late.

“Cyan Dragon Roars!”

This time, he no longer had to hold back. His strongest power erupted from within, producing two golden illusory dragons, and sent Bai Ling and her Sword Spirit flying. The moment Bai Ling hit the ground, Xiao Chen was already in front of her with his sword pressed against her fair neck.

Bai Ling’s face was a shocking shade of white. Right now, every person and every gust of wind was silent. The old and new disciples of the academy were all so astonished that words failed them.