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nThe atmosphere before the Vermilion Bird Gate was electric.

nThis was the day of the Emperor’s birthday celebration and the final resource battle. In the past few days, the folks of Changan had witnessed incredible fights from the Main Path Guild disciples.

nMost of the people and rich families were hoping that they could send their children to the academy, so that they could have the opportunity to learn and grow into great cultivators like An Fan and Li Yuanzhen.

nThe final resource battle where the Sword Guild would fight against the Main Path Guild would put up a great show for the folks. However, hundreds of officials and the sect leaders were interested in the exhibition of skills and techniques.

nAfter all, even if the Main Path Guild won, they needed to give half of their share to the Sword Guild. Therefore, the Sword Guild was practically undefeatable in this battle for resources.

nHowever, this did not mean that the Main Path Guild’s disciples have lost the will to win.

nIf anything, they were more motivated to win. Only then, they could prove to everyone that the Main Path Guild’s team dominated the resource battle.

nEven if the Sword Guild’s disciples got their hands on the resources, they were not worthy of it!

nBefore the battle had even begun, they were already at each other’s throats.

nThe snow on the ring was cleared.

nThe five disciples of the Main Path Guild who stood in the ring were led by An Fan. The resource battle was not an individual fight but a group battle. A battle that would decide the winner and the distribution of the resources.

nThis was simple and straightforward but it attracted the attention of the entire nation.

nFang Lang alighted the coach and stepped into the spotlight. After all, it was just several months after the Imperial Examination had ended. The folks of Changan were still very familiar with the champion’s name.

nNonetheless, most of them understood that the new champion might not be able to turn the tide around since he had just joined the sect not long ago. How could he beat a senior disciple?

nThis resource battle was not just among the new disciples. It also involved a battle between senior disciples.

nOnce the senior disciple of the Sword Guild got defeated, the senior disciple of the opponents team would interfere with the battle between the new disciples. It would instantly cripple the new disciples of the other team.

nTherefore, there were no expectations for the Sword Guild to win the battle.

nThis was because there was a grand champion in both teams!

nAn Fan from the Main Path Guild was the grand champion two years ago.

nThis was a battle between the old champion and the new champion!

nAll the disciples were standing around the ring looking solemn.

nXimen Xianxian opened his paper fan and fanned lightly as he sighed, “Even though Brother Lang had made so many miracles, it would be difficult for the Sword Guild to win the final resource battle as this is a group fight.”

nWei Sheng also frowned. The Immortal Martial Association had lost to the Main Path Guild because An Fan was much stronger than their senior disciple with a fourth-class sword mastery.

nWei Sheng had no idea if Fang Lang could change the situation. He watched Fang Lang walk up the ring slowly with a hopeful gaze.

nAbove the Vermilion Tower, the fifth princess kept coughing as she stared at the disciples from both sects standing at opposite ends.

nHer eyes were fixated on the grinning Fang Lang dressed in white.

nThis guy was the reason why the first prince’s rebellion failed.

nHe was the young fellow master of the Sword Guild, the first ever disciple of Taihua Blade Lord in two centuries.

nCuriosity flashed across the fifth princess’s eyes.

n…

nIn the tallest restaurant in Changan City, there were two people eating and drinking on the fifth floor by the window.

nThey were watching the ring before the Vermilion Bird Gate.

nLu Taixuan poured himself a glass of alcohol. He swirled the liquid, creating ripples in the cup.

nOpposite of him sat Chao Xiaojian with a head full of white hair.

nLu Taixuan was gently sipping on the alcohol without eating anything. On the other hand, Chao Xiaojian was stuffing his mouth with food and washing it down with a mouthful of alcohol as he admired the scenic wintery view of Changan.

n“Aren’t you worried about this battle? The average skill of the Main Path Guild is no less than your Sword Guild disciples. Especially An Fan, who was the champion of the Imperial Examination two years ago. He is extremely talented in spell mastery. Even though Huang Ying is good, she is no match for An Fan,” Lu Taixuan said with a laugh, after taking a sip of the alcohol while he glanced at Chao Xiaojian.

nChao Xiaojian’s mouth was stuffed with food. He took a big gulp of alcohol and slammed the cup on the table. He wiped his mouth with his hand and answered, “An Fan? There were no worthy opponents in that year’s Imperial Examination. How could he be compared to Fang Lang?

n“There were so many geniuses in this year’s battle, yet Fang Lang exceeded everybody’s expectations and won the grand champion title. You think An Fan is…worthy? Furthermore, Fang Lang was personally chosen by my senior, the sect leader of the Sword Guild. He is the young fellow master of our sect. Who’s An Fan anyway?” Chao Xiaojian scoffed.

nLu Taixuan shook his head and laughed. Not only was Chao Xiaojian arrogant, he indulged his disciples with such despicable behavior too.

n“It’s a battle between champions.”

nChao Xiaojian leaned against the window and chuckled, “Master Lu, just you wait. Fang Lang will definitely cook something up. I just pity the right administrator’s son. He will be suffering from nightmares again after this battle.”

nLu Taixuan burst out laughing after hearing his words.

nA battle between champions, now that’s interesting.

nAfter a while, Lu Taixuan filled Chao Xiaojian’s glass and said, “After the resource battle, Fang Lang should be on his way to retrieve those three swords, right? It would be a treacherous journey ahead. Many people don’t want Sect Leader Taihua to return. So, are you going to personally protect them?”

nChao Xiaojian nodded his head, but he shook his head shortly after.

n“I won’t be joining him. I’ll be staying in Mount Shu. I’m going to see if anyone dares to start a fight.”

nLu Taixuan was stunned, “You’ll let him go alone? Aren’t you just looking for trouble?”

nChao Xiaojian raised his glass and smiled as he watched the snow fall from the sky, “I will send someone to protect him. He’s not too weak himself, you know?”

nChao Xiaojian laughed and downed the remaining liquid in the glass.

nThen, he bowed at Lu Taixuan. The sword beside his waist immediately darted out of its sheath and transformed into a ray of light.

nLu Taixuan stood up, “Aren’t you watching the battle?”

nChao Xiaojian leaped out of the restaurant, the blade ray circled around him as he flew into the sky, his white hair fluttered in the air.

n“I’m not. This kid from my Sword Guild will definitely win. Let these youngsters battle. I have received orders to clean up a sect.” Chao Xiaojian’s words fell like snowflakes.

nThen, he flew towards East on his sword.

nLu Taixuan raised his glass gently as he shook his head. He looked out of the window and settled his gaze on the ring before the Vermilion Bird Gate and sipped on the alcohol.

n…

nIn the ring, twelve of them were lined in pairs. The senior disciple against the senior disciples, and the new disciples against the new disciples.

nA gust of wind formed whirles of snowflakes and fluttered their white robes.

nThe referee of this battle was a seventh-class cultivator appointed by the Imperial Courts. He could interfere with the battle if any accidents occurred.

nFang Lang was facing Li Yuanzhen while Huang Ying was opposite An Fan.

nHowever, An Fan was not looking at Huang Ying, he was fixated on Fang Lang.

n“New champion… What a coincidence. I’m your senior, the champion two years ago,” An Fan said with a laugh.

nFang Lang raised his eyebrow and bowed after hearing what he said.

nLi Yuanzhen deadly stared at Fang Lang, “I won’t lose again in this battle!”

nHe had lost to Fang Lang in the Imperial Examination. That battle was an insult to him. Therefore, he swore that he would not lose to him again!

nThis was a group battle. It was impossible for Fang Lang to play any tricks with the flight sword or any other unpredictable moves. Not that he would give Fang Lang a chance to do so!

nClang.

nThe referee knocked on the golden gong.

nThe disciples of the Sword Guild and the Main Path Guild moved apart and positioned themselves into the formation that they had prepared.

nNi Wen was standing at the very back, protected by Liu Bubai and his broadsword.

nGeshu Yuehua and Jiang Linglong would focus on attacking while Fang Lang would deal with the spells casted by the opponents.

nHuang Ying and An Fan were facing each other on the other side of the ring, separating them into different categories.

nThe lower fourth-class realm—first-class spell disciple, second-class spell master, third-class spell advisor and fourth-class phantasm realm.

nThe upper fourth-class realm—first-class sword disciple, second-class sword master, third-class sword wave and fourth-class sword intent realm!

nHuang Ying and An Fan’s cultivation reached the peak of the lower fourth-class realm. Their battle would cause a lot more destruction than the new disciples.

nAfter all, they were on the verge of entering the upper fourth-class realm!

nClang.

nThe gong sounded again.

nThe referee announced, “Let the battle begin!”

nThe referee vanished from the middle of the ring after making the announcement.

nInstantly, the atmosphere in the ring became fierce and dangerous. Even the gentle snow started whirling in the air.

nThe crowd around the ring quietened, the folks and disciples from other sects were focused on the ring, ready to watch the impending battle.

nFang Lang started charging forward at an incredible speed with his hand on the sword handle.

nOn the other side of the ring, the formation of the Main Path Guild surprised everyone.

nLi Yuanzhen was protected by the four other new disciples since he had reached the third-level spell advisor realm. They were not actively attacking. Instead, they set up walls after walls of spiritual energy barriers!

nThe new disciples of the Main Path Guild had chosen defense from the very beginning!

nFang Lang narrowed his eyes as he realized their plan.

nThe Main Path Guild disciples knew that they might not be able to defeat the team that was made up of Fang Lang, Jiang Linglong and Geshu Yuehua.

nTherefore, they decided to play it safe and defend themselves until An Fan defeated Huang Ying and joined their battle. In that case, they would be able to end the battle instantly.

nTheir decision created an uproar in the crowd. They were impressed by their choice of strategy.

nFang Lang frowned.

n“Walls up!” Li Yuanzhen bellowed, shattering a speck of snow.

nThen, he put his hands together and made multiple shadows of gestures to cast the rune!

nHe glared at Fang Lang and thought about what An Fan told him. He would defeat Fang Lang with his most powerful rune that he was capable of.

nThe wooden staff of the four Main Path Guild disciples started flying around. Suddenly, the ground of the ring cracked open.

nAn earth wall rose from the ground like an angry dragon.

nThere was also a flowing water curtain that safeguarded the Main Path Guild disciples inside like a water dungeon.

nThe four Main Path Guild disciples had decent skills. They were all in the third-class spell advisor realm. With all of them channeling their forces on defense, even Wei Sheng would need to spend much time and effort to break their defenses.

nLi Yuanzhen was trying to form the rune, the spiritual energy grew restless in the air. Li Yuanzhen’s spiritual sense gathered and was about to materialise.

nThere was a massive rune pattern above Li Yuanzhen’s head. A killer sense exuded from it.

n“Li Yuanzhen is gathering the third-class killer rune, Thunder of Doom! This is the most powerful rune out of the third-class runes! Stop him!” Ni Wen yelled from the back of the Sword Guild team.

nFang Lang chuckled, “Defense? That’s great. We’ll shatter your shields with our sharpest blades! Little Jiang, Yuehua, attack their defenses. Little Wen, increase the perimeter of the attacking rune! Old Liu, protect Little Wen. We need to strike them down as soon as possible so that we can help senior Huang Ying!”

nFang Lang assigned a task to each member of the team. Liu Bubai held the broadsword in his hand, his face filled with complex emotions.

nLiu Bubai had a feeling that he would not be needed in this battle.

nSince their opponent chose to defend themselves, no one would be attacking Ni Wen. there was no need for him to protect her.

nLiu Bubai was frustrated as he had worn the thickest armor.

n‘Someone come fight me! There’s no one for me to fight with!’

nWhile Liu Bubai was venting, Fang Lang, Jiang Linglong and Geshu Yuehua had approached the opponent’s formation. Geshu Yuehua grinned at the towering earth wall, showing her cute little canine tooth. Then, she let out a high-pitched shriek and spun her sword like a windmill to rip through the water curtain and slammed onto the earth wall.

nWith her innate superhuman strength, the earth wall shuddered upon the impact, causing it to be filled with cracks.

nThe spell masters of the Main Path Guild were stunned. They quickly strengthened their defense rune with more spiritual sense!

nFang Lang did not use the Sword Draw Technique. He cast the spirit sense that he attained with the help of the Code, which was at the fifth-level spell advisor realm.

n“Spell: Spirit Awl”

nFang Lang targeted one of the Main Path Guild disciples who was about to mend the rune. With the giant awl stabbed into the disciple’s consciousness, he felt as if his head was about to explode, disrupting the rune that he was trying to form!

nFang Lang said that he would destroy their defense with the sharpest blade, but if he had the chance to cripple them from the inside, why would he choose otherwise?

nAs the disciple lost focus, it tore a huge hole in their defense.

nJiang Linglong stabbed her sword forward in the Summer Rain Style. Every rain droplet turned into sharp blades and charged towards the earth.

nThe defense of the four Main Path Guild disciples were shattered into pieces by Jiang Linglong and Geshu Yuehua.

nFang Lang watched Li Yuanzhen cast the Thunder of Doom at lightning’s speed.

nHe grinned and channeled his energy to his chest. The acupoints all over his body glowed brightly and erupted with wave energy!

nHe touched the scabbard with his fingers.

nThe Champion’s Blade charged towards the sky in an instant!

nLi Yuanzhen’s forehead was covered in bean-sized droplets of sweat.

nTheir defense fell apart too quickly!

nAt this rate, his rune would not be completed in time!

nThe formation of the Thunder of Doom required a lot of his strength.

nBoom!

nFinally, a thunderous roar sounded above his head. Dark clouds were accumulated in the rune.

n“It’s done!” Li Yuanzhen opened his eyes, his gaze filled with joy.

nThunder and lightning danced within the dark clouds.

n“Thunder of Doom!” Li Yuanzhen roared.

nThe rune pattern was spinning between his palms. He shoved it forward and a massive air wave was headed towards Fang Lang’s direction.

nLi Yuanzhen’s gaze was filled with determination and madness. He was still the best spell master in this cohort, the top scholar of Changan.

nThe previous time, his rune was incomplete, but this time, he would not lose again!

nFang Lang’s white robe fluttered violently in the wind, but he remained calm. He gestured two fingers and pushed downwards.

nA thunder clapped behind the thick clouds.

nLi Yuanzhen lifted his head.

nHe saw the brilliant and dazzling thunderbolt sword charge from the sky, crashing into his Thunder of Doom.

nIt pierced a hole in his rune and it kept crashing down with immense strength and thunder!

nLi Yuanzhen was completely shocked as the sword impaled his shoulder and pinned him onto the ground.

nFlight Sword!

nAgain!

nAlthough it was a different flight sword from the previous battle, it had the same effect!

nLi Yuanzhen was nailed to the ground. His eyes seemed lost, blood kept flowing from his body, forming a pool underneath him.

nHe had completely lost it.

nThe people around them went into a frenzy!

nSounds of doubt, anger, sorrows, praises… filled the atmosphere.

nThe new disciples of the Main Path Guild were instantly defeated. The time it took was less than the time needed to take ten breaths.

nIt was a lightning victory!

nEveryone was taken aback by how quick the battle ended.

nThose people who bet money on the Main Path Guild were howling as they covered their chest.

nFrom afar, An Fan who had seized control over Huang Ying from the very beginning, faltered.

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