C29 Top 10

Out of the remaining people, on City Lord's Mansion's side, there were only three people: Hong Ling, Zhihuo and Lian Chengyue.

Furthermore, because Hong Ling's cultivation was only at the middle stage of the Essence Refinement into Qi, many people did not think highly of him, nor did they think highly of the City Lord's Mansion's side.

The one who went on stage was the Unique Aristocrat of the Zhou Family, the one who had completed the Essence Refinement into Qi realm, Zhou Kuang.

Zhou Kuang was not yet eighteen years old, and the aura exuding from his body was unfathomable in the eyes of the crowd. When Hong Ling's soul power landed on his body, it was actually easily repelled by an invisible force, causing him to become somewhat mute.

Although he was only at the middle stage of the Essence Refinement into Qi, even for a cultivator like Lian Chengyu, he could immediately see through her cultivation. It was clear that this Zhou Kuang had some sort of secret.

Many people had secrets on their bodies, so Hong Ling would not covet other people's things. To him, only his own strength was the right path, other people's secrets were other people's, and unless it was absolutely necessary, he would not touch these things, and would rather be infected by karma.

Zhou Kuang was as arrogant and unbridled as he was. His innate talent was already extremely powerful, and coupled with his tyrannical cultivation, he didn't place any importance on anyone.

He had encountered a cultivator of the middle stage of the Essence Refinement into Qi of the Wan Family. This time, the cultivator wanted to admit defeat, but Zhou Kuang would not give him the chance to do so.

His indescribable speed and power caused his entire person to disappear in the instant the Dharma Gong was struck. When he reappeared, he dealt a heavy blow to the cultivator from the ten thousand clans with a single punch, causing him to fall outside of the battle stage. His aura was like wisps of smoke, and all the bones in his body were shattered.

Although the three great families were in a state of alliance, no one was stupid. They were willing to give their spots to each other.

Since there were only three people left in the City Lord's Mansion, then it would be as low as possible to them, and they would not let go of this opportunity to become stronger. Everyone knew, the more people they have to eliminate, the more initiative they would have in the end.

"Hmph, this Zhou Kuang is looking down on us more and more!"

The few people beside him nodded their heads seriously. Although Zhou Kuang's talent in cultivation far exceeded theirs, he was still just a cultivator at the great circle of the Essence Refinement into Qi, yet he was so arrogant right now. This truly made everyone unhappy.

Hong Ling did not pay attention to the other people's battle. If there were no surprises, then the three people on his side could enter into the top ten. Of course, thinking like that, did not mean that the others would agree.

Zhihuo met the late stage Essence Refinement into Qi cultivator from the Wan Family. As the second seeded participant from the Wan Family, the cultivator from the Wan Family was naturally strong, but unfortunately, his strength was limited.

Zhihuo's cultivation was already stronger than his, and his talent was also at the fifth stage. In front of such absolute strength, although the ten thousand cultivators did their utmost to cause Zhihuo some injuries, unfortunately, he was unable to achieve his own wish.

After severely injuring him with a single strike, Zhihuo did not cripple him. This made the Patriarch of the Wan Family heave a long sigh of relief.

Lian Chengyue's cultivation was not ordinary either, her opponent was only a cultivator with a cultivation at the middle stage of the Essence Refinement into Qi. However, she clearly had no intention of holding back, her sword directly heavily injuring her opponent, and ruthlessly kicking him down the battle stage.

...

"Number nine, enter the battle stage!"

Hong Ling stood up and slowly walked into the battle stage. He was still holding onto the Fine Steel Sword, and the cultivator opposite him was holding onto an ancient halberd.

"Zhang Yao from the Zhang Clan, please enlighten me!"

Zhang Yao wasn't as arrogant and despotic as the previous group of people. He was only holding onto the ancient halberd with one hand. His entire body was covered by a layer of Authentic Qi, and even the ancient halberd became foggy.

Hong Ling did not underestimate this youth. For the disciples of influential families, their main branch usually took up the majority of their resources, and the side branch could barely manage to obtain enough for their own cultivation, but to rely on these resources to let their cultivation pace not lag behind the main branch's heaven's pride level experts was no different from wishful thinking.

To be able to raise his strength to the late stage of Essence Refinement into Qi before the age of eighteen, a descendant of a noble family like Zhang Yao was definitely a person with a strong mind and tough body and mind.

"Hu!" Hong Ling called out a Turbid Air, "I am Hong Ling, please advise me!"

Buzz. The heavenly halberd quickly smashed down from the sky, slicing apart the layers of air, bringing about a berserk sonic boom. Zhang Yao followed the halberd and walked forward, the Authentic Qi in his hands gurgling as it entered the iron pole of the halberd.

Hong Ling did not dare to take it head-on. Even if a cultivator of the late stage of the Essence Refinement into Qi could take this attack, the steel sword in his hand would definitely shatter. The youth dodged to the side, his eyes filled with seriousness.

Boom! The ancient halberd ruthlessly smashed onto the battle stage, directly smashing apart the half a foot thick stone slab.

Countless rocks flew in all directions, the sword in Hong Ling's hand danced, forming a silver shield in front of him. Dong!

The halberd in his hand swept out instantly, actually aiming for Hong Ling's lower body. The halberd that was covered with the Authentic Qi swept towards Hong Ling's legs fiercely, with an unspeakable domineering force.

The young man rose into the air, twisted his waist, and then plummeted down. The longsword in his hand suddenly surged with blazing flames, the young man's longsword quickly tapped in the air, leaving behind streams of flaming sword aura. "Boom!"

His body became one with the sword and plummeted straight down from the sky like a setting sun.

"Flame Breaking Spell, break for me!"

A sharp sword intent was instantly created from the Fine Steel Sword. All the sword glows that were hovering in the air fell down together with the youth, like countless falling stars.

Zhang Yao stared intently at the descending sword ray. His eyes flashed with a serious expression. He didn't care about the other weak sword beams, but the one leading them contained a force that made even him tremble.

He did not have time to recall what this power was, as the ancient halberd in his hand pierced through the sky, the Authentic Qi in his body pouring into the tip of the halberd.

Bang!! A huge wave of flames engulfed him and instantly engulfed him. At the same time, Hong Ling fell from the sky as the longsword in his hand coincidentally touched the tip of the halberd.

With a swoosh, the halberd made of fine iron was sliced open.

Within the flames, Zhang Yao's expression changed instantly. That fierce sword qi had already destroyed the Authentic Qi that he was using to draw the halberd, and Hong Ling's sword that was coming down from the sky had also cut the halberd in half.

Countless flaming sword beams fell from the sky and landed on his protective Authentic Qi, causing his body of strong Authentic Qi to constantly exhaust itself.

Zhang Yao let out a furious roar as he ruthlessly stepped onto the battle stage. His figure quickly retreated, directly cutting through the flame waves, and landed not far away. He had a look of shock on his face as he stared at the white-clothed youth who walked out of the flames.

Kacha, a few cracks instantly formed on the steel sword in Hong Ling's hands, and after that, the cracks extended throughout the entire sword.

Bang! The youth's sword instantly shattered. His sword intent was truly too strong. Even if he had only used a sliver, it was still not something that this Fine Steel Sword could withstand.

The most shocking thing was that those metal pieces did not directly fall to the ground, but instead started to dance around Hong Ling like stars surrounding the moon.

Zhang Yao stared intently at the iron sword fragments floating in front of Hong Ling, his face full of seriousness. He had heard long ago that this youth knew the way to control the sword. Now that he had actually seen it, the astonishment in his heart was difficult to describe.

"The legendary Sword Manipulation?!"

Zhang Yao's entire body was once again enveloped by Authentic Qi. He no longer had the heavenly halberd, but this did not hinder him from fighting. At his current stage of cultivation, even if he did not have a weapon, he would not lose much of his battle prowess.

Bang bang bang, all the iron sword fragments around Hong Ling immediately ignited. Threads of sword intent appeared in each piece of metal. They circulated around the youth's body and continuously danced about.

Inside Hong Ling's Divine Palace, the Primordial Spirit Clone's hands were constantly making hand seals, controlling the operation of every single metal piece.

This was a secret technique that he had recently comprehended. The principle was the same as the 'Condensing Flame Break' technique, but each fragment contained a hint of complete sword intent. As a result, the power of this secret technique was ten times stronger than the 'Condensing Flame Break' technique.

Zhang Yao's hands enveloped the Authentic Qi, and directly inserted it into the floor of the battle stage, he grabbed two thick and heavy stone tablets. He spun on the spot, and the stone tablet instantly flew out from his hands, and directly smashed towards Hong Ling.

Hong Ling's eyes focused, two burning pieces of metal flew out, instantly smashing the two stone tablets into powder. The young man saw that Zhang Yao still wanted to squat down and grab the other stone tablets, so he shouted and countless of metal pieces shot out.

Zhang Yao was shocked. Seeing Hong Ling approaching with the flying pieces of iron, he immediately grabbed two stone tablets and threw them out.

Bang, the two slabs of stone turned into dust in an instant. Hong Ling's momentum did not decrease at all, a majestic Authentic Qi surged out of his hands as he continuously urged the metal pieces to fly forward.

Zhang Yao continued to retreat. At this moment, he didn't dare to dodge to either side.

He knew that Hong Ling's intent had already completely locked onto his body, and if he were to leap to the side, then what would welcome him would be an overwhelming, igniting piece of metal.

Furthermore, at this time, he had already completely understood that the iron piece that Hong Ling was controlling contained a complete sword intent.

That was sword intent! Even someone as talented as Zhou Kuang from the Zhou Clan was unable to comprehend the sword intent. It was enough to see how monstrous this young man was.

Other than the sword intent, Zhang Yao also felt a different kind of power. This kind of power, when paired with the sword intent, was the key for Hong Ling to successfully use the Sword Manipulation.

He could not figure out what exactly this power was. In his impression, no one in the Tianhuang City or even the surrounding cities would be able to grasp this kind of power.

"Could he be a weapons craftsman?" Zhang Yao could not help but think, he immediately shook his head, rejecting his own thought. He had never heard of any artificers appearing in families throughout the Tianhuang City.

In the instant that Zhang Yao became lost in thought, Hong Ling appeared with a burning metal piece in his hand. The youth walked to the side of him and ruthlessly struck at him with his palm.

Swish swish swish sounds rang in the air, leaving only a sky full of flames in Zhang Yao's vision. Then, his consciousness dimmed and he became completely oblivious to everything that was happening.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Countless fragments of Zhang Yao's body flew out from his back, bringing with it blood, they nailed the huge drum on top of his battle stage, causing it to be riddled with holes.

Hong Ling turned around, and did not look at Zhang Yao who was sprawled on the ground, his body so broken that blood kept on flowing out. Originally, he could not bear to see this, but when he thought about how strong this man was, and how he would be unable to defeat him in such a short time, he could only come up with this idea.

The Zhang Family Patriarch stood up, staring straight at Hong Ling. He did not expect that the youngster in front of him, who had such a high City Lord's Mansion, would be able to defeat Zhang Yao, who was one rank higher than him.

Originally, he thought that after the late stage Essence Refinement into Qi cultivators of the Wan and Zhou families were defeated by Zhihuo, their cultivators of the same level would stand out. He never expected that a young man with no reputation would be able to defeat the second seeded disciple of the Zhang Family so easily.

"City Lord's Mansion, Hong Ling wins!"