Wen Mo drew the Qingfeng Sword, struck a Seven-Star Sword starting posture, and then delivered a strike. Zhu Weixian narrowed his eyes slightly, forming a hand seal in front of his chest with his chubby hands while seeming to chant an incantation under his breath. Golden light flashed all around him, enveloping him completely.
"It's the Golden Light Shield! Senior Brother Zhu uses his strongest defense right off the bat—it looks like he doesn't plan to hold anything back."
"Senior Brother Zhu wants a quick victory so he can get out of Elder Jinxiang's sight."
The Qingfeng Sword struck the golden light and could not advance an inch; instead, the golden light began flowing along the blade toward Wen Mo. Wen Mo withdrew and pulled back his sword, sweeping it in a semicircle through the air to form a fan shape out of sword shadows. He then thrust the long sword back along its original path, and the shadow fan actually folded up just like a real fan, causing the blade of the Qingfeng Sword to emit a pale green glow. All of these movements were completed in a single instant. The moment the sword's radiance appeared, Wen Mo thrust forward once more, though this time his speed was much slower.
Yet Dean Tieshi muttered, "Such rapid footwork."
This time, the tip of the sword pierced more than two inches into the golden light, and the golden light failed to spread along the blade any further.
Wen Mo let out a low shout: "Break!"
The Golden Light Shield actually began to show tiny cracks, and the cracks spread faster and faster, turning into a spiderweb-like maze within a few breaths.
"Zhu Weixian's Golden Light Shield has actually been broken! Could it be that he found the weak spot? Excellent, very good." Elder Jinxiang was extremely satisfied with Wen Mo's performance.
With his defense shattered, Zhu Weixian did not panic. With a wave of his left hand, the golden light dispersed while he simultaneously struck out with his right palm, which radiated golden light. Having seen the opening Wen Mo left behind when breaking his defense, Zhu Weixian naturally would not let it pass. Nor was Wen Mo naive enough to think that breaking the defense alone would secure victory; the number one figure of Panshi Spiritual Academy could not possibly lack offensive methods.
Wen Mo extended his left hand to meet Zhu Weixian's palm head-on. The pale, fleshy palm collided with the golden spiritual power palm, but there was no loud crash; the two of them simply retreated five or six zhang each. The moment they made contact, the ambient spiritual energy of heaven and earth fluctuated violently, and the people off the stage felt it acutely as the wind whipped their clothes into a loud rustling rattle.
"What realm has this Wen Mo reached? He actually met Senior Brother Zhu's Golden Palm head-on. Didn't Senior Brother Zhu use his full strength?"
"Don't talk nonsense. Didn't you feel that spiritual energy fluctuation?"
"This pretty scholar's strength is actually so formidable—no wonder Elder Jinxiang had him face Senior Brother Zhu!"
At this moment, a golden pestle less than two feet long appeared in Zhu Weixian's hand. He said sheepishly, "I suppose I have to use my tools after all."
Zhu Weixian slammed the tail of the pestle against the ground, and a bolt of golden lightning shot toward Wen Mo like a flash of lightning. Wen Mo swung the Qingfeng Sword, hacking down onto the golden lightning. The golden light shattered, and the long sword broke into several pieces. Aside from the sound of the snapping sword, there was not a single other noise on the stage. Wen Mo's figure flashed and he shot forward, moving even faster than when he had broken the defense just moments before.
"Such fast footwork; this definitely wasn't taught by Zhang Zheng and the others," Mu Lei said, staring wide-eyed.
Wen Mo's figure simultaneously appeared in Zhu Weixian's left, right, and upper directions. Three crisp sounds—*clang, clang, clang*—rang out as Zhu Weixian used his golden pestle to block the ox-ear pointed dagger that Wen Mo was thrusting toward his throat. Both of them were continuously channeling spiritual power into their weapons; Wen Mo was not superior in technique, so he wanted to test their spiritual power. At this point, it truly came down to a contest of cultivation realms and spiritual power foundations.
The dagger tip and the golden pestle emitted a grinding *creak*, and although it was not very loud, the extreme silence of the scene made the sound somewhat chilling.
Suddenly, Wen Mo felt Zhu Weixian gradually withdrawing his spiritual power. Zhu Weixian raised an eyebrow at Wen Mo, and Wen Mo, catching his meaning, also began to withdraw his spiritual power. Zhu Weixian squeezed a sentence out between his teeth: "No need to risk our lives. Just put on a good show for a few dozen rounds and muddle through. Let's hurry back and get some sleep."
Wen Mo chuckled inwardly: Is this chubby guy really the senior brother of Panshi? He doesn't look anything like a top-one-hundred contender on the Tidal Selection Rankings.
Thinking of this, Wen Mo blinked. Zhu Weixian understood, shouted "Open!", and the two of them leaped backward simultaneously.
Immediately afterward, a "spectacular battle" commenced: one was chubby yet not clumsy, the other lean yet not frail; one was agile, the other ethereal. The flashing sword lights and pestle shadows flew up and down, making quite a splendid sight.
Although Wen Mo did not have a vast repertoire of techniques, relying on the combat skills he had honed through close-quarters combat with monster beasts over the past few years, paired with his arcane footwork, he managed to fight Zhu Weixian to a standstill. After more than fifty exchanges, Elder Jinxiang, watching from beneath the stage, could no longer bear it. With a flick of his robe sleeve, he separated the two of them.
Zhu Weixian and Wen Mo hurriedly stopped. Wen Mo lowered his gaze slightly, his expression as calm as still water, while Zhu Weixian looked at Elder Jinxiang with a face full of smiles.
Elder Jinxiang glared fiercely at Zhu Weixian before speaking aloud: "This match was not lacking in excitement. Since these two boys were unwilling to pull out their trump cards, I cannot force them. Bringing these two children from Qingshi Spiritual Academy up on stage today was meant to tell you all not to look down on any spiritual academy, and even less to underestimate any opponent. You may strut around arrogantly here in Liujin City, but once you step outside... not to mention Three Saints City and Chijin City, you are still far inferior even compared to the spiritual academy disciples of Sucheng and Liucheng! Our Panshi Spiritual Academy only holds five spots on the Tidal Selection Rankings. Aside from Zhu Weixian at seventy-eighth, the other four are all ranked past three hundred. The Hundred Sects Tidal Selection is fast approaching, and if we cannot improve further, I'm afraid the results this time won't be very good again. Enough said, disperse!" Elder Jinxiang glanced at Zhu Weixian and Wen Mo, who wore quite different expressions, and said indifferently, "Tomorrow after breakfast, bring Ling Zhan and find me at the Book Tower." With that, he turned and left.
Wen Mo looked at Zhu Weixian. Keeping his smile, Zhu Weixian said, "It's fine, going to the Book Tower just means getting pointers. That being said, for you and Ling Zhan to possess such strength while still at Qingshi Spiritual Academy is truly extraordinary. I think highly of both of you. Tomorrow noon at Jinmanlou, I'll host a welcoming banquet for you." After speaking, he too departed.
Wen Mo returned to the Qingshi Spiritual Academy group. Ling Zhan had also returned, and the three instructors along with the other students showered the two of them with praise.
Wen Mo shook his head and said, "He was holding back and still has trump cards he hasn't shown."
Liu Liang nodded and said, "With the Tidal Selection approaching, no one wants to expose their true strength during a spar with fellow disciples."
On the way back to their quarters, Wen Mo walked over to Liu Kun and Li Mian, speaking in a low voice: "Within three months, we must advance by at least one grade and learn one offensive and one defensive technique each. Only then will we be secure."
Through tonight's sparring session, the two of them naturally knew that with their current strength, obtaining an ideal ranking in the Tidal Selection would surely be fraught with difficulty. If their strength increased somewhat, their chances would be that much greater. The two of them nodded forcefully—who wouldn't want to go cultivate in the Upper Four Prefectures? Even if they couldn't enter the Seven Great Sects, being able to go to a second-rate—no, a third-rate sect would still be a satisfying outcome.