Chapter 479: Chapter 478: You perform, then I take the stage (part 3)
"Could this be another genius from Fish Belly State?"
Upon witnessing the elegant figure that emerged, the mood on the ship started to buzz.
Up to now, geniuses from two different Fish Belly States had successively broken the record of no geniuses attending the convention. Could a third state be next?
"Who goes there? State your name."
The young man in green demanded.
"Ai Wenhong from Xuanwu State."
The young man in white replied with a smile.
Far off, a beautiful young woman, who greatly resembled Ai Wenhong, blinked her eyes and a rare smile finally appeared on her face.
Save for the Four Seas Retribution God, there are still many whom you can’t beat. But, it’s not worth having them deal with you, so I’ll have to teach you a lesson myself."
Eyeing the young man in green, Ai Wenhong casually drew his sword.
Originally, Shi Xiaole was preparing to step forward. But seeing Ai Wenhong preempt him, he could only pick up his cup and continued drinking as he was not worried about the outcome.
Despite Ai Wenhong’s seemingly carefree attitude, his talent was indeed terrifying.
In fact, among all the prodigies under thirty years old who attended the Linjiang Immortal Convention, nearly eighty percent attained the first level of Dragon Gate Realm and nearly twenty percent were at the second level of Dragon Gate Realm. The remainder are at the third level.
For the fourth level of Dragon Gate Realm, there were only three acknowledged top geniuses.
Therefore, in terms of cultivation, Ai Wenhong was ranked in the top hundred.
Combining the previous battles and comparing with other geniuses, Shi Xiaole estimated that Ai Wenhong’s ranking was somewhere between fifty and seventy. Excluding the dozens of places taken by Xuanwu State and distributing them among the ten leading states, he was basically ranked first or second.
"Conquering Dragon and Subduing Tiger!"
Displeased with Ai Wenhong’s nonchalant attitude, the young man in green raised his hands and then fiercely brought down his stick. The vigorous air formed into the shape of a dragon and a tiger, alternatingly attacking forward.
"Buddhist martial arts?"
Ai Wenhong gave a faint smile while his long sword swept out, carrying a piece of water-color sword light with it.
Boom!
Before the remaining waves could disperse, the young man in green appeared not far from Ai Wenhong. With a spiked iron stick drawn from below and raised above fiercely, the sound of a dragon’s roar echoed between the heaven and earth.
On the surface of the water, ripples spread outwards in batches and streaks, like countless white fish scales covering the surface. At a certain moment, the fish scales exploded. With the Glazed Fairy Platform as the center, everything within a radius of fifty meters was covered by a water pillar.
Hundreds of meters away, some people with weaker feats only felt their blood surging uncontrollably, unable to control themselves.
"Brother Deng’s True Intent of Waves has already reached twenty percent, not anyone can handle that."
Several other geniuses from the same state as the young man in green calmly laughed, appearing rather relaxed.
Although True Intent of Waves is only one of the primary intentions, Deng Jian has elevated it to twenty percent, combining it with Buddhist Dragon and Tiger stick method, people who have not personally experienced it will never know how difficult it is to deal with.
"One Color, One Body."
Turning left and right, Ai Wenhong swiftly maneuvered among the invisible Stick Forces of Waves. Each time, he narrowly avoided them. The moonlight shining on him made him appear as if he was translucent.
"Water Color Body Technique, so this lad is from the Ai Family."
Yu Wen Cang realized, eagle eyes filled with a hint of barely detectable admiration.
The Ai Family, being one of the top-tier forces in Xuanwu State, possessed secret techniques beyond the imagination of ordinary people. The Water Color Body Technique was one of the famed Flying Skills of the Ai Family, reaching up to the second top-tier level.
Given that Ai Wenhong was still so young and yet able to cultivate to an almost perfect level, he was indeed impressive.
"So what if he’s from the Ai Family? Against my elder brother, he’s still bound to lose miserably."
Yuwen Yan pouted, appearing both arrogant and proud.
Yu Wen Cang patted his younger sister’s head, his expression as cold as ever.
It was not his turn to make his move yet. However, even if not for himself, he could not allow himself to lose to anyone for the sake of his sister’s worship, not even to Yu Zhao or Li Zifeng.
"Hiding and dodging, is that the act of a hero? Take this — Dragon Soaring the Wild!"
Unable to break through for a long time, the young man in the green robe let out a wild roar. The iron stick in his hand started to vibrate intensely. From a distance of several dozen yards, Ai Wenhong’s blood began to churn, greatly restricting his movements.
Almost at the same time, dozens of spikes flew out from the surface of the young man’s iron stick, forming a physical dragon shape rumbling forward.
"I cannot lose."
Thinking of his sister who must be watching from somewhere, Ai Wenhong’s spirits soared. The incoming dragon shape in his eyes was constantly broken down, recombined, appearing as if a long time had passed, and yet it also seemed like just a moment. Ai Wenhong drew his sword.
With each sword thrust, fan-shaped ripples layered on top of each other, the Sword Qi from behind pushed that in front, like a tsunami, accumulating all the strength at the crest of the wave, ferociously crashing into the physical dragon shape.
This was the Ai Family’s lower first-tier sword technique, the Water Sky Sword Technique.
In the midst of the crackling breaking sounds, the spikes shot in all directions, blowing up a series of water pillar dozens of meters high on the river surface. Yet, six spikes still broke through the Sword Qi and approached Ai Wenhong, who flicked them away with two swift sword movements.
In contrast, the young man in green, with no more power in his stick movement and unable to dodge in time, was grazed by the remaining Sword Qi, a not-so-visible bloodstain appearing on his chest.
"Ai Wenhong, next time, I will definitely defeat you!"
Despite his unwillingness, despite his humiliation, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the young man in green would not deny his defeat. Leaving behind a harsh word, he flew back to the ship.
"Twenty percent of the Water True Intent, interesting."
The effeminate young man, Zhuo Feifan, was smirking.
According to his knowledge, among all the prodigies present, less than sixty people could comprehend the top-tier True Intent to the extent of twenty percent.
Of course, even at twenty percent top-tier True Intent, the depth of understanding varies. Those who had a head start in comprehension would naturally be stronger in their understanding of True Intent and their integration of moves than others.
Ai Wenhong’s Water True Intent was obviously only 20% complete, with many noticeable flaws when utilized. If he was the opponent, he would easily be able to defeat him.
"Brother Ai’s strength exceeds mine by far."
Yang Feng sighed regretfully, filled with envy.
Each combat encounter continuously deepened his understanding that the gap between geniuses was far larger than regular people could fathom. Cultivation, True Intent, martial arts realm, even instant reactions during a duel; a slight shortfall in any aspect would categorize them differently.
In comparison with Ai Wenhong for instance, he is far behind in all regards. If they were to truly engage in combat, he probably wouldn’t be able to withstand five moves from him.
If the second-level Dragon Gate Realm Ai Wenhong is already this powerful, the power of those in the third level, or even the fourth level of the Dragon Gate Realm, is hard to imagine.
Eventually, Yang Feng stole a glance towards Shi Xiaole.
"More than half a year ago, Brother Shi was just a bit better than Shen Wumei. Now, he could probably rank within the top twenty, or even the top fifteen, at this talent-packed Linjiang Immortal Convention."
Yang Feng pondered while taking a light breath.
The Linjiang Immortal Convention is acknowledged as the number one gathering of elites in Shuntian Capital, and no one would argue. What kind of feat would it be to rank within the top fifteen at such an event?
"Who will come and challenge me?"
Exhilarated by the wine, Ai Wenhong had a desire to fight the world’s heroes, continuously challenging the four corners of the room.
"Xiahou Liang from Xuanwu State."
The speaker was a bald man with triangle-shaped eyes. His eyes were mainly white with very little iris, glinting with a sinister glow from time to time.
"From the Xiahou family?"
Ai Wenhong’s expression changed, an uncontrollable anger emerging on his face.
The Xiahou Clan is also a martial arts family from Xuanwu State, not inferior to the Ai Family.
Over a decade ago, a member of the Xiahou Clan deceitfully and brutally murdered a woman from the Ai Family. That woman happened to be Ai Wenhong’s aunt, hailed as the most talented individual of the previous Ai generation.
After the incident, the Ai family virtually exhausted all its resources in a fierce feud with the Xiahou family that lasted for several years, with both sides suffering heavy losses. It was only when other top-tier powers of Xuanwu State intervened that the Ai family was pressured into halting their vengeance.
Nevertheless, this hatred remains deeply ingrained in the heart of each member of the Ai family.
Therefore, upon hearing that the opponent bore the surname Xiahou, Ai Wenhong’s emotions naturally stirred.
"Hahaha, you are correct, I am from the Xiahou Clan. Xiahou Jing is indeed my uncle."
Xiahou Liang answered with a cold, sneer.
Xiahou Jing was the very man who had brutally murdered Ai Wenhong’s aunt.
"Kill!"
Engulfed in rage, Ai Wenhong swung his sword forcefully. His sword light split into two, then into four, and finally into sixty-four parts, striking towards Xiahou Liang from all directions.
"The Water Sky Sword Technique is indeed well-deserved, too bad the one putting it into action is too weak."
His feet gliding upon the Glazed Fairy Platform, Xiahou Liang moved his shoulders in tandem and effortlessly evaded Ai Wenhong’s first attack. The next moment, he pulled out his sword in response.
The dark sword glow seemed like shadows in the dusk, leaving one feeling oppressed and powerless. As it wriggled, the sixty-four sword lights that Ai Wenhong had put forth were rapidly consumed, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
"The Dark Eater Sword Technique has reached a complete state and the True Intent he masters is more proficient than mine."
Wen Qian’s cold face started to turn icy. A sword on the table automatically sheathed itself, releasing a chilly aura that made the musician nearby feel as if he had fallen into an ice pit.
"Both the Ai Family and Xiahou Clan rarely let their descendants roam the Martial World. However, in the past year, they have all started to appear. I wonder how far they’ve come."
The crowd knew little about the capabilities of Ai Wenhong and Xiahou Liang, especially the latter, nothing was known about him. Amid the feud of both clans, everyone was glued to the duel in the middle.
Amid the sounds of clashing swords, the two swapped positions, repeatedly unleashing their unique maneuvers. Sparks flew through the air with murderous intent as the water-color sword light and the dark sword light clashed fiercely from time to time, yet the river around them stayed remarkably calm.
It wasn’t that their destructive power wasn’t strong enough, it was their concentration of all power into their distinct sword techniques, aiming to defeat their opponent with one blow.
The audience held their breaths; this was by far the duel with the richest tension and the fiercest exchanges.
"Water and Sky Reflecting Light!"
After dozens of rounds, Ai Wenhong flicked his wrist, and an arc of Autumn Water Sword light whizzed pass.
"That must be the most potent move of the Water Sky Sword Technique. Such a waste it’s in your hands."
Laughing wildly, Xiahou Liang’s body suddenly twisted and passed through the gap between the Autumn Water sword light strands. Then, he flicked his long sword upwards.
Swish!
Ai Wenhong only felt a shiver down his chest. He then realized that although his body was unharmed, his clothes had been split open, exposing his robust upper torso.
"The genius of the Ai Family, that’s all you’ve got. Under the same realm, I can defeat you as easily as plucking a weed! Ai Wenhong, if I were you and had to face such humiliation, I would have killed myself long ago."
Xiahou Liang sheathed his sword, his face full of disdain.
Killing was not allowed at the Linjiang Immortal Convention so he wouldn’t lose his head. However, some actions were more ruthless than taking someone’s life.
Stripping the garments of the direct descendant of the Ai Family in public and exposing his naked torso would not only smear his personal image permanently but would also make the Ai Family the laughing stock of the Martial World.
"You..."
As expected, the usually cavalier Ai Wenhong’s face turned incredibly red before turning pale.
The strange glances from all around were as sharp as knives, tormenting him pitilessly. For the first time in his life, the simple and naive Ai Wenhong realized that the world was not full of kindness and warmth.
Bang.
After placing his wine cup down, Shi Xiaole stood up, his eyes cold as ice.
