149 Chapter 1307: Here Comes My Sword Sheath! (1/2)
”This is exactly the aspect about Zhang shi that amazes others without fear. No matter how inconceivable a feat is, he's able to pull it off with perfect ease using unconventional methods…” Zhang Jiuxiao's eyes gleamed in admiration.
As an offspring of the Zhang Clan, he had grown up hearing about the greatness of the 'young prodigy'. As a result, he had grown up admiring the talents of the young prodigy, but in this moment, there was no one else in his eyes but Zhang Xuan.
No matter how formidable the young prodigy was, it was all based on the purity of his bloodline. How could he possibly compare to Zhang Xuan?
With sufficient time, Zhang Jiuxiao had no doubt that Zhang Xuan would be able to exceed the young prodigy and reach the very pinnacle of the world.
”He's indeed… exceptional.” Zhao Xingmo muttered in a daze.
From the moment Zhang Xuan managed to defeat him easily during the preliminary selection, he had already known that the young man was anything but normal. Just, he couldn't have imagined that the young man would be so abnormal!
From the current looks of it, he would be able to forge a legend for himself even in the Sanctum of Sages, where geniuses were aplenty.
”You have had your three moves. It's my turn!” Zhang Xuan loosened his huddled body and stretched his neck before speaking with a grin.
The attack from the lightning tribulation was indeed within his calculations. He had compiled a book on Zhang Yunfeng through the Library of Heaven's Path, and there were several hundred flaws reflected there. Picking one of them out and designing a scheme to do him in was, honestly, not that difficult.
Sou!
With a swift movement reminiscent of a streak of lightning, he dashed right up to Zhang Yunfeng and stabbed his finger forward.
Huala!
A brilliant burst of sword qi reminiscent of a shooting star shot forth, and upon contact with the latter's Dominion, it easily creating an opening and pushed ahead.
Back when he was still at Primordial Spirit realm pinnacle, his strength was still too weak to overcome Zhang Yunfeng's Dominion. However, after the consecutive breakthroughs, his strength had already surpassed the limits of the latter's Dominion, such that it couldn't impede him any longer.
”Break!”
Seeing how the sword qi actually managed to breach the defenses of his Dominion, cold sweat immediately rained down Zhang Yunfeng's forehead. With a flick of his palm, he hurriedly took out a sheathed sword to fend against the sword qi.
Ding ding ding!
The sword qi collided with the sword sheath and produced a resounding sonic boom before dissipating entirely. On the other hand, Zhang Yunfeng was forced to retreat two steps before he was able to ward off the might of the sword qi.
”He used a weapon?”
”Considering that it's supposed to be a fair duel, his act of drawing a weapon should suffice for this duel to be ruled as his loss!”
”Those of the Sage Clans possess innumerable powerful artifacts in their possession. If artifacts were to be allowed in the duel, it would become a battle of wealth instead of a battle of strength!”
…
Even though Zhang Yunfeng didn't draw his sword out of his sheath, his very act of taking out a weapon still induced a wave of disapproval from the crowd.
Offspring of the Sage Clans had no lack of good artifacts. Any single one of them could easily drive others into despair. For this reason, even though there was no explicit rules banning the usage of artifacts in the Challenge of the Defeated, there was a tacit agreement amongst the candidates against it.
On the dueling ring, Zhang Yunfeng paid no heed to the commotion of the crowd beneath and quickly popped a pill into his mouth in order to recover from the injuries he had sustained from the lightning tribulation. After which, he turned to Zhang Xuan and said, ”I must admit, you are indeed a formidable adversary.
”I might have drawn my weapon, but you don't have to worry. I know that you are a cultivator from Qingyuan Empire, so I won't bully you either. This sword of mine is known as Glacial Frost, and it's a half Saint high-tier artifact. It would be indeed unfair for me to fight you with it, but its sheath is only at Saint intermediate-tier… I'll just use this sheath, but you can use any weapon you want.”
After which, Zhang Yunfeng pulled out his sheath and wielded it. A surge of concentrated Sword Intent flowed forth from him, emanating a great pressure on those standing before it.
Even though he was armed with a sheath instead of a sword, his sheer mastery in swordsmanship enhanced his fighting prowess by more than twofold.
”He's only going to use his sheath?”
”Well, considering that his sheath is a Saint intermediate-tier artifact, I guess that it would still be acceptable since he won't be relying on the superior strength of his weapon to achieve victory.”
”On top of being a talented sword practitioner himself, he practices the profound sword arts of the Zhang Clan too. If Zhang Xuan were to accept the duel, there was no way he would be a match…”
”I've heard of how frightening the Zhang Clan's swordsmanship is as well. Zhang Xuan won't stand much of a chance against it…”
…
Such mutterings could be heard from the crowd.
As a half Saint high-tier artifact, once the Glacial Frost Sword was drawn, there would be no cultivator of the same cultivation realm as Zhang Yunfeng who could match him, much less Zhang Xuan. Naturally, the circumstances would be extremely unfair to Zhang Xuan.
However, if Zhang Yunfeng were to wield only the sheath of his sword whereas Zhang Xuan could choose to use any weapon of the same tier, the duel could still be considered to be fair.
”How about it? Do you dare to fight me?” Zhang Yunfeng looked at Zhang Xuan with a hint of provocation in his eyes.
”You're only going to use your sword sheath?” Zhang Xuan frowned.
”That's right. You don't have to feel restrained by me, you can use any weapon you want!” Zhang Yunfeng replied, heaping even more pressure on Zhang Xuan to accept the duel.
”We have already competed on movement techniques and battle techniques, so shouldn't we compete on our weapon mastery as well? After all, only with a weapon in hand can a cultivator display his true fighting prowess. Besides, what I specialize in isn't bare-handed combat either.”
”This…” Zhang Xuan revealed a hint of hesitation.
Indeed. With a weapon in hand, a person's fighting prowess could potentially rise exponentially.
Take Zheng Yang for example, without his spear in hand, there was no way he could have cleared the Dragon Gate Formation and become the Progeny of Combat.
Personally speaking, Zhang Xuan rarely used any weapons because his opponent tended to be too weak. After all, why go through the trouble of holding a weapon when a punch was sufficient to resolve the problem?
”May I first take a look at your prowess with the sheath before deciding whether I should use one or not?” Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment before asking.
If Zhang Yunfeng's prowess with a weapon was formidable, he could still consider wielding a weapon. Otherwise, there was really no need to take out the Lingxu Sword for something as minor as this.
After all, it wasn't really his hobby to bully the weak.