Yu Lingkong, Ji Xingyao and the others all narrowed their eyes, surprised to see that Lin Xun hadn’t run into trouble and advanced through the dangerous situation in one go.

Immediately, they all turned to look at Sha Liuchan with playful expressions like they were excited to watch the show.

That guy’s smug and showy behavior had irked them.

“I heard that you like to play in water, how about we play together?” Lin Xun’s eyes locked on Sha Liuchan like lightning while qi surged around his body, creating a terrifying aura around him.

“Hmph!” Although Sha Liuchan was surprised, he was not afraid of Lin Xun.

Hua!

But before he could speak, Lin Xun made a sweeping motion with his sleeve, and thousands of blades formed from condensed seawater rushed out from the sea surface.

Each blade was one foot long, made from pure sea water, crystal clear, dazzling and sharp.

Condensing water into blades!

The others gasped audibly. The seawater was not ordinary because each drop weighed over ten thousand pounds. It was scary to think that someone had condensed it into thousands of incomparably sharp blades that obscured the sky and earth.

“This is bad!” Sha Liuchan trembled inwardly, sensing danger.

“Go!”

As Lin Xun stood on the lotus boat, he stretched out his hand and the sky full of blades buzzed and slashed through the air.

In the eyes of outsiders, Lin Xun resembled a celestial being amid a sea of blades. He looked ethereal as he manipulated the countless blades to sweep across the sea.

Chi!

The bright blades cut through the air with a rip like a piece of cloth being torn, creating a sonic boom that stung everyone’s eardrums. The scene was as though an army of thousand troops were charging forward, filling the area with chilling murderous intent.

“So strong!” All the spectators were amazed.

“His mastery of the great dao of water has reached the level of Dao Meaning. He can manipulate the power skillfully, condensing water into blades with a wave of his sleeve. Among the younger generation, very few people could achieve that,” someone marveled.

All the spectators nodded.

Dao Meaning was a power that only Cyclic Derivation experts could control, but that did not mean that all Cyclic Derivation experts could master Dao Meaning Power.

On the contrary, only one in a million in that cultivation stage could master the power of Dao Meaning!

It was understandable. The power of the great dao was too obscure and mysterious to be easily comprehended and grasped. It needed opportunities and blessings!

The Dao Meaning Stage was far beyond the foundation Dao Ripple Stage and thus more difficult to grasp.

Even among the genius talents present, most had only grasped the power of Dao Ripple. Only a handful possessed Dao Meaning power.

This was the reason why Lin Xun attracted so many astonished gazes when he displayed his mysterious power.

“Rise!”

As Sha Liuchan faced the thousands of blades shooting towards him, his face turned serious, and blood-colored qi rioted around his body. His sleeves flapped in the wind, and his imposing bearing soared in power. He folded his hands together and raised them in the air like he was lifting yin and yang.

Several walls of water rumbled out from the sea surface. Even if they were over hundreds of feet tall and ten feet thick, they froze over as soon as they emerged from the sea, turning into ice walls.

From afar, it was as though icebergs were floating in the sea.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The barrage of water blades instantly cut through the ice walls and fired ice shards everywhere.

Although many water blades were blocked and dispelled in this process, more were rushing towards him.

Under the shocked gazes, the water blades tore apart all obstacles in the way like a torrential rainstorm.

“Rise!”

Sha Liuchan was so frightened that his whole body went stiff; he was quite aware of his dangerous situation. He unleashed a loud roar as he circulated all his power to its peak and his blood-colored qi surged into the sky. He looked mightily terrifying.

Rumble—

On the surface of the sea, walls of ice rapidly rose to defend the surroundings. Not only were they all crystal clear, but they were also filled with pure aeth power and Dao Meaning.

They were stronger than a copper wall!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Sharp water blades continued to fire unceasingly, bombarding the ice wall with shrill metallic rings.

Many experts mobilized their qi and darted far away to avoid being affected.

However, within seconds, the ice walls were destroyed again, cut into shards of ice before plunking into the sea.

Meanwhile, hundreds of remaining water blades came speeding towards Sha Liuchan!

……

Sha Liuchan’s face changed dramatically as he did not expect the water blades to be so powerful.

Chi!

A water blade scraped past, leaving a bloodstain on his cheek and taking a chunk of hair off him. It was only a few inches of slashing his face.

Bang!

He lurched, and a bloody hole was pierced into his right arm while blood spurted everywhere.

Sha Liuchan attempted to block the attacks, but there were far too many water blades, all lashing down on him like a torrential rainstorm. Even if he had done everything he could to dispel them, he couldn’t avoid receiving any injuries.

Bang— Bang— Bang—

The water blades were resplendent, but they had a terrifyingly murderous aura, and their power was astonishing. With a shrill roar, Sha Liuchan met them head-on, but he was blasted back, shaking unceasingly. His qi and blood pulsed disorderly within his body, and he almost coughed up blood from the discomfort.

Worst of all, he couldn’t dodge through the air. He had to avoid them by steering the lotus boat, which was manipulated by his own cultivation, so his speed was also much slower.

“Ah—”

Sha Liuchan roared in fury, the corners of his eyes almost cracking out of anger. Even if he had mobilized all his strength, he still wasn’t able to fend off the attacks.

From the eyes of outsiders, they only saw streak after streak of dazzling snow-white water blades slashing down at Sha Liuchan. Every strike sent him shaking like he was enduring an unimaginable force!

By the time the water blades had all vanished, Sha Liuchan was already soaked with blood, body twitching and face distorting.

Pu

He couldn’t suppress that mouthful of blood anymore. He had also sustained internal injuries. The power contained in the water blades was too fierce, domineering, and condensed, and they were also imbued with a terrifying destructive quality.

……

Silence filled the area.

Everything seemed to have happened slowly, but only a few breaths had passed.

However, from the start to the finish, Lin Xun only used one move.

With a sweep of his sleeve, he brought thousands of water blades rising into the sky and slashing through the air, obscuring the sky and stirring the wind and clouds.

Sha Liuchan, a famous peerless genius, failed to defend himself and suffered heavy injuries!

The move was too epic.

For a moment, everyone spaced out from astonishment and even peerless figures such as Yu Lingkong, Ji Xingyao and Mu Jianting couldn’t calm down.

After his breakthrough, Lin Xun demonstrated terrifying combat power that far surpassed his former strength and brought them tremendous pressure.

“Ahh—”

Suddenly, someone screamed, fell from the lotus boat, submerged into the seawater, and was eliminated.

It turned out that the person was too focused on watching the battle that he became distracted, allowing a bizarre force of the sea to batter his mind and eliminate him.

It might seem comical, but it showed that the battle had a shocking impact on everything despite its short duration.

Immediately, everyone calmed themselves and raised their guard.

After all, they were in the third assessment where the power of the sea had a frightening impact on one’s state of mind. The slightest carelessness could lead to elimination.

……

“Isn’t it fun?” In the distance, Lin Xun looked at Sha Liuchan coldly while his clothes fluttered around him.

“Do you want to die?!” Sha Liuchan roared. He might be covered in blood and injuries, but his pride hurt more. He was on the verge of going mad with anger and shame.

“It seems like you plan to continue playing.”

With a wave of his sleeve, Lin Xun again formed thousands of glittering water blades, blotting out the sky.

Instantly, a swarm of water blades flew across the sky.

Sha Liuchan’s expression wildly changed. Having witnessed the terror of the blade power, he wouldn’t choose to fight them head-on anymore. He frantically steered the lotus boat away with all his strength and darted to the distance.

He fled!

Everyone stood stunned at the sight.

Even Lin Xun was slightly taken aback. He never thought that someone like Sha Liuchan would choose to escape and avoid fighting.

“Lin Xun, when we reach the Ancient Dao Lantern Tree, I will show you my true powers!” Sha Liuchan’s resentful voice rang from afar.

His words were loaded with undisguised threats.

“You don’t even dare to play with me in the water, yet you are still trying to threaten me with nonsense. Don’t you think you’re being ridiculous?” Lin Xun’s expression was ice-cold.

Lin Xun didn’t try to chase after him because he didn’t want him to be eliminated now. He wanted to kill Sha Liuchan once and for all in a battle to avoid any trouble in the future!

“That guy is smart. He knows that he can’t compete with Lin Xun in terms of the mastery of Water Dao Meaning so he chose to avoid him for now,” Li Qinghuan said ruminatively.

“Do you mean that he was frightened away?” Wu Duanya asked blankly.

“Sha Liuchan comes from the Fiend Devil Sea, and he is known as one of the top ten geniuses there. Their Ocean Shark Clan is also an overlord-like existence there. Their ancestors once cultivated a true saint. A person such as him has to have a great life-protecting weapon up his sleeve,” Li Qinghuan explained leisurely. “And this is exactly why he dared to threaten Lin Xun!”

……

Sha Liuchan retreated without a fight, disappearing into the distance.

This surprised everyone present, but no one laughed at Sha Liuchan’s cowardness. Instead, they were al amazed by Lin Xun’s strength.

So strong!

He easily wounded even a peerless genius and forced him to flee. It was hard to imagine how strong he had become.

The other peerless figures were all in deep thought, silently comparing themselves to Lin Xun.

After his breakthrough, Lin Xun had become stronger than ever. Now, they had no choice but to take him seriously.

All of a sudden, the murderous intent faded from the sea, and the tense atmosphere largely subsided.

Lin Xun didn’t care about that, He had just advanced to the intermediate Cylic Derivation Stage, so he hadn’t had the time to investigate the changes in his strength.

He sat down cross-legged and continued to meditate, looking calm and composed and ignoring the various gazes cast at him from all directions.

Half a day later.

A rolling coastline loomed in the distance.

There was no doubt that the participants would pass the third test once they reached there.

But…

Many experts had already been eliminated along the way and only a few thousand survived this far.