"How is this possible?"

Not only did others find it hard to believe, but even Li Yuanhao couldn't believe it himself. While moving at high speed, all eight of him attacked together, thinking that he would surely defeat Ling Chen with one blow. Unexpectedly, Ling Chen not only distinguished his true self but also broke his palm knife with a single finger, demonstrating superior insight, attack power, and accuracy by several times.

"This kid seems to have improved his strength again."

Ling Yuxuan's eyes flashed coldly, and he couldn't help but tighten his fist. In just a few days, Ling Chen's strength had improved so much, which was truly unbelievable.

"Beast, I'll destroy you!"

Suddenly flying up, Li Yuanhao punched toward Ling Chen. The punch he threw had the semblance of a Pegasus meteor or earth fire lava, giving the illusion of impending disaster.

"This Li Yuanhao's strength is indeed slightly stronger than Peerless Sword."

Ling Chen noticed right away that Li Yuanhao's martial arts contained two different martial arts true meanings, namely True Essence of Fire and True meaning of earth, which would have different effects depending on the user.

This aspect bore resemblance to his Blazing Thunder Cut.

Bang!

Ling Chen still didn't draw his sword; his sword-finger pointed out, consecutively shooting two sword qi toward Li Yuanhao. The cold sword qi clashed with the fist strength, erupting into intensely turbulent air currents.

"Hm? Blocked it. But you can only hold it off for a moment, you can't keep it up forever!"

Li Yuanhao, not willing to accept defeat, clenched his fists tightly, punching towards Ling Chen like a meteor shower, each punch more fierce than the last. He did not believe Ling Chen could withstand successive heavy blows.

Boom boom boom boom boom buzz boom...

The sound of air energy bursts kept coming, causing the lake water to explode outward in all directions, forming a massive whirlpool. Ling Chen, however, didn't take a step back.

"It's my turn."

Clang!

Ling Chen drew the Red Sky Sword, the sword light flashed, slashing out suddenly.

Thunder Cut!

Using sixty percent of the Thunder Intent to perform Thunder Cut, its power was not just marginally stronger than before but grand in magnitude; the sword light slashed out, accompanied by raging thunder, slicing through the Void.

"So fast!"

Li Yuanhao was taken aback; Ling Chen's sword speed was beyond his imagination. In just the blink of an eye, it had already slashed toward him, and just the sword pressure alone showed signs of twisting his Protective True Qi.

In the blink of an eye, Li Yuanhao's double-handedly pushed out two golden dragon-shaped True Qi, forming two giant shields several meters in diameter in front of him.

Dong!

A sword strike on the giant shield produced a deafening sound; the two giant shields suddenly underwent massive distortion, with astonishing ripples spreading out, forcing Li Yuanhao back dozens of meters.

Splashes...

As his body was knocked back, Li Yuanhao's feet also suddenly created towering waves, retreating endlessly, waves soaring.

"Blazing Thunder Cut!"

Ling Chen didn't give Li Yuanhao any chance to react, immediately activating sixty percent Thunder Intent and seventy percent True Essence of Fire, combining the two, rapidly slashing out sword qi imbued with the aura of invincibility and destruction.

"Too fast, can't avoid it!"

Li Yuanhao was horrified as if facing death, realizing no matter how he dodged, he couldn't escape this sword—it was unimaginably fast.

"Even if I can't dodge, so what? Block it!"

Li Yuanhao roared in anger in his mind.

He punched with all his might, the meteoric fist strength shooting out, trying to clash with Ling Chen's sword light head-on.

Swish!

In the blink of an eye, the fist strength was pierced. This move Blazing Thunder Cut was not just fast, its attack power was also terrifying, not only breaking Li Yuanhao's fist strength but also piercing his Protective True Qi, striking his chest forcefully.

Puff!

A mouthful of blood spewed out as Li Yuanhao lost control of his body, his face turning pale as he was hit backward.

"What?"

Ling Yuxuan exclaimed in shock. In just three moves, the top expert of the Imperial Clan's third generation, Li Yuanhao, was defeated by Ling Chen.

"Such a powerful sword."

Ling Lie also squinted his eyes. At the Heavenly Sword Tournament, he had also seen Ling Chen perform this move. But back then, the Blazing Thunder Cut paled in comparison to its power today. Now, the move was a genuine killer move. If Ling Chen had used it at the tournament, he would have easily defeated Peerless Sword without any difficulty.

"Li Yuanhao was just too overbearing; his strength was only so-so."

Ling Xue commented dismissively.

"You're mistaken if you think that."

Ling Lie shook his head. "Li Yuanhao's strength is indeed a notch above Peerless Sword. If it were Ling Yu from ten days ago, he certainly wouldn't be a match. However, in these ten days, Ling Yu's strength has greatly improved, his sword technique's power has at least doubled, which is why he could win so effortlessly."

This battle seemed simple, but without Ling Chen's rapid progress, it wouldn't have ended so smoothly. Even he didn't expect that Ling Chen could conclude the fight so swiftly.

"I actually lost."

Looking at the sword scar on his chest, Li Yuanhao's face showed an extremely grim expression. He came to the Grand General's Mansion full of confidence, believing he could certainly handle Ling Chen, restore the royal family's honor and heavily suppress Peerless Sword, but unexpectedly, he lost the duel.

"Thank you for letting me win."

Ling Chen sheathed his sword, satisfied with the power of the Blazing Thunder Cut which merged sixty percent Thunder Intent and seventy percent True Essence of Fire. Li Yuanhao, after all, was a standout in the Imperial Clan's third generation of experts, his cultivation nearly at the Half-Saint Level, strong indeed, yet still defeated in one sword strike, sent flying away.

Li Yuanhao felt profoundly unreconciled, but a loss was a loss. In front of this audience, especially at the Grand General's Mansion, he couldn't act out.

"The green mountains do not change, the rivers flow forever. You may enjoy temporary success, but surely not forever. My path forward is still long, and when the time comes, I'll make you pay."

Li Yuanhao now had Half-Saint cultivation; he never doubted that one day he would cross into the Saint Realm and when he became a Saint, his strength would multiply, even Senior Half-Saints wouldn't be able to stand a single move against him, let alone Ling Chen.

"Let's talk when you become a Saint. Empty words won't make you improve."

Ling Chen's expression unchanged, not mentioning the difficulty of becoming a Saint. When Li Yuanhao becomes a Saint, it's certain he won't remain at his current cultivation level. Even without improvement in cultivation, his martial arts' true meaning continues to evolve, and subsequent moves of Green Lotus Sword Song are awaiting development. In the future, he cannot predict how far his strength will grow.

"Let's go!"

Turning to the entourage behind him, Li Yuanhao left with a gloomy face. He knew nothing would change with mere words, a loss was a loss, only by defeating the opponent in the future could he regain his dignity.