Chapter 807: Piercing Attribute

"I've been working hard on my cultivation lately!" Deng Yongshi stuck out her tongue playfully. While she had indeed been spoiled and lazy in the past, she'd improved significantly.

"You little rascal!" Deng Xian shook his head with a laugh. "Next year, I hope to see you standing on that stage, bringing honor to your grandfather!"

"This..."

Deng Yongshi's face showed a trace of hesitation - reaching that stage was no easy feat. Yet in the next moment, determination flashed in her eyes.

"Yes! I can do it too! Because... he's my teacher!"

Biting her lip, her bright eyes locked onto a figure among the contestants...

...

At last, under the crowd's watchful gaze, the two strongest sword teams from Zhenlong Academy and Hailan Academy stepped onto the stage.

The audience erupted like a tidal wave before the match even began, the atmosphere instantly electrified!

"Cai Yan from Hailan Academy truly lives up to her reputation as one of the imperial capital's top ten beauties!"

Among the contestants, Yu Sixian's eyes gleamed as he stared at the stunning Cai Yan on stage, practically drooling.

Gu Tengfeng shot him a glare. "What kind of occasion is this? Don't embarrass us!"

"Exactly!" Xue Xiaolin glared daggers at him. "Cai Yan may be beautiful, but is Junior Sister Qianxue any less attractive? I think she's far prettier than Cai Yan!"

"Well, Junior Sister Mu is indeed very beautiful,

hehe

..."

Gu Tengfeng chuckled awkwardly, then noticing Xue Xiaolin's pointed look, quickly amended, "You're beautiful too, of course!"

"

Hahaha!

" Yu Sixian burst into laughter. "Who would've thought the mighty Boss Gu would be so terrified of her?"

"

Pfft—hahaha!

"

The entire group burst into laughter, even Mu Qianxue biting her lip to suppress a smile.

"Afraid? My ass!" Gu Tengfeng threw a punch, leaving the guy dazed and disoriented. "This brat just loves asking for trouble—can't go a day without a good beating!"

Amid the laughter, the two teams on stage completed their formal greetings and took their positions.

For the first match, both sides were clearly testing each other's strength. After a year since their last competition, each team had undoubtedly prepared some trump cards.

The outcome of this opening match would significantly impact morale, especially with the psychological pressure of being the first match.

Cai Yan immediately instructed her team to adopt a conservative formation, all members subtly protecting a male student at their core.

This student's aura was restrained, but his eyes gleamed like a hungry wolf's - ready to pounce at the first opportunity.

"That man is a formidable opponent!"

Ling Feng narrowed his eyes, speaking unconsciously. Li Bufan nodded in agreement beside him.

"He is Wan Jianyi, a genius who emerged from Hailan Academy two years ago. His swordsmanship has reached an extraordinary level, with both his techniques and movement arts being exceptionally refined. Moreover, a few months ago, he broke through to the Spiritual Element Realm. His soul manifestation is a Sword of Attribute—an extremely rare piercing attribute!"

"Piercing attribute!" Ling Feng's pupils contracted.

He knew Spiritual Element Realm experts could summon their soul manifestations for combat, a powerful technique at this level. Top-tier soul manifestations provided terrifying boosts to their users.

For example, Li Yunting's Sword of Sunflower-Water or Yan Cangtian's Eight Desolations Divine Fire were both high-level soul manifestations.

While these soul manifestations were deemed highly advanced, they still fell a tier below the Sword of Sharpness soul manifestation, which carried the rare piercing attribute.

The piercing attribute inherently possessed cutting and bleeding effects. Once struck by its sword qi, wounds would continue to bleed, making them difficult to heal.

Among all the monsters Ling Feng had encountered, Wan Jianyi's soul manifestation ranked second only to Yan Jinghong's Frost Dominator.

At that moment, Ling Feng couldn't help wondering - what kind of soul manifestation would he awaken when he reached the Spiritual Element Realm?

"Hailan Academy's strategy is brilliant. With their strongest attacker Wan Jianyi as the core, they can both attack and defend flexibly. Combined with Cai Yan who has also reached the Spiritual Element Realm, Zhenlong Academy's Mo Wufeng might be in for a tough time."

Gu Tengfeng squinted as he analyzed.

Reality proved him right.

Mo Wufeng fully grasped the danger Wan Jianyi posed to their team, especially his Ten Thousand Swords Art. The moment it was unleashed, sword qi engulfed the entire stage. Zhenlong Academy's flag keeper, an array master, could set up defensive formations, but the immense true qi consumption made sustaining them a daunting challenge.

Finally, with Wan Jianyi drawing most of their attention, Cai Yan launched a surprise attack, bypassing Zhenlong Academy's defenses to topple their Vermilion Bird battle flag.

The first match's first round went to Hailan Academy.

"This Wan Jianyi is terrifyingly strong!" Ye Nanfeng's eyelids twitched uncontrollably.

Wan Jianyi had single-handedly withstood attacks from three opponents including Mo Wufeng himself. Mo Wufeng controlled eight swords simultaneously, but eight blades were destined to lose against ten thousand.

"What an impressive Wan Jianyi! Brother Feng, your Hailan Academy has produced quite the monster!"

Zhenlong Academy's director Di Jinglong offered surface-level praise while secretly grinding his teeth.

Feng Yuanzhan stroked his beard with a pleased expression. "Their success is the result of their own hard work—what does it have to do with an old director like me?"

Mu Yunsang (Tianwei Academy's director) narrowed his eyes. "A soul manifestation with piercing attribute is indeed remarkable. Though his cultivation lags slightly behind Mo Wufeng's, Wan Jianyi completely disrupted Mo Wufeng's rhythm, controlling the battle's tempo. He's truly a born swordsman with great potential!"

"Director Mu speaks wisely." Minister Wen Ce nodded respectfully toward Mu Yunsang.

Mu Yunsang was a highly esteemed figure, having once served as the grand tutor to the crown prince—the very ruler who now reigned as the King of Tianbai. Following His Majesty's ascension, Mu Yunsang was further honored with the title of "Imperial Mentor," firmly establishing Tianwei Academy as the leading institution among the empire's four major academies.

Yet the current emperor proved ambitious, determined to change the Tianbai Empire's weakened state. While honoring Mu Yunsang, he secretly supported Zhenlong Academy while investing heavily in the Royal Sword Team's development.

This created intense competition among the four major academies while establishing an almost unreachable benchmark for their talents to strive toward.

Thus, the empire's geniuses would push their limits, achieving new heights in martial prosperity.

As the saying goes: When the youth are strong, the nation is strong!

From this perspective, the King of Tianbai was indeed a ruler of great ambition and keen strategic prowess.