Swords emerge from Mount Hua, sweeping across the heavens from the world of Swordsman.

"Go, sister!" A childish voice mingled with the chatter.

Yue Lingshan smiled and nodded to her younger brother on the platform, then confidently looked at her opponent:

"Senior Brother Zhao, please make your move!"

"Junior sister, be careful."

Zhao Zhong took a deep breath and unleashed the "Welcoming Guests with Pine Tree" sword technique, striking first.

He was eight years older than Yue Lingshan, but he dared not be presumptuous in the slightest.

I've seen too many prodigies in the martial arts hall these past few years. If you underestimate someone just because they're young, you'll definitely suffer a great loss.

As a senior disciple, he has practiced Huashan swordsmanship for even longer.

His swordplay was steady and skillful, and Feng Buping and the others on the high platform nodded in approval.

This level of swordsmanship would put most third-rate figures to shame in the martial arts world.

However, when Yue Lingshan drew her sword, she instantly overshadowed Zhao Zhong.

Yue Lingshan's Huashan swordsmanship was not only equally skillful, but also extremely inspired, making the difference in skill immediately apparent.

Chapter 16 Competing with the top ten

Zhao Zhong was also startled, realizing that Yue Lingshan's swordplay was more agile than his own.

Despite being amazed, my hands remained calm and focused.

Flexibility has its advantages, and composure has its strengths. Calm your mind and just focus on executing each move of the Huashan Sword Technique.

For the past three years, they have stayed in the martial arts hall to study and have not fought with people from the martial arts world, but that does not mean they have no combat experience.

The apprentices also frequently sparred with each other. He understood that one must not lose one's composure in battle. Once one falls into the opponent's rhythm, even if one has the advantage in strength, one will still be defeated.

He used his sword techniques in a way that remained unchanged amidst all changes, and fought Yue Lingshan to a standstill.

"Zhao Zhong has a solid foundation in swordsmanship and a very calm temperament. If he practices hard for another four or five years, he will at least be a second-rate swordsman and will be able to make a name for himself in the martial arts world."

Ning Zhongze gave her comments from the high platform with a big smile on her face.

Although Mount Hua no longer has a branch sect based on sword energy, it still belongs to the Qi sect and is particularly pleased with Zhao Zhong's performance.

In the martial arts world, strength is divided into several levels: unranked, third-rate, second-rate, first-rate, and top-rate.

This division reflects the level of strength, not the level of martial arts mastery, and strictly speaking, it is not very clear.

Even so, those with second-rate strength are still considered to be in the upper-middle tier of the martial arts world.

After all, there are only two or three hundred people from all the sects and forces who can reach the first-class level.

As for the truly top-tier ones, they are extremely rare.

The Huashan Sect now only has Feng Qingyang left.

Ning Zhongze's statement that Zhao Zhong would become famous in the martial arts world a few years later was not an exaggeration at all.

Yue Zhuoqun nodded in satisfaction upon hearing this, but said, "That's true, but he will still lose."

Others may not know Yue Lingshan's current strength, but her father knows it all too well.

He did send Yue Lingshan to the martial arts academy to study, but that doesn't mean he didn't give her special tutoring.

The Huashan swordplay and Huashan mental cultivation techniques, which are the main focus of the disciples of the Martial Arts Hall, are still the incomplete versions from before.

He had already passed on the complete Huashan sword technique found in the cave on the Cliff of Contemplation to Yue Lingshan, and even changed her internal energy cultivation method to Mingyu Gong.

He would often use the Broken Five Mountains Sword Manual to practice swordplay with Yue Lingshan and give her pointers on her swordsmanship.

The agility in Yue Lingshan's swordsmanship was all influenced by him little by little.

It can be said that Yue Lingshan didn't even use her most secret skills when she fought Zhao Zhong.

Zhao Zhong had already used the Huashan Sword Technique three times, and even with his composure, he was somewhat helpless.

Sure enough, as Yue Zhuoqun finished speaking, Zhao Zhong, whose forehead was covered in sweat, changed his moves.

He knew that if the fight continued like this, defeat was only a matter of time. He suddenly thrust his sword at the hilt of Yue Lingshan's sword, hoping to use his age and inner strength to force Yue Lingshan to abandon her sword.

This move is from the Huashan sword technique, specifically the "Heavenly Gentleman Hanging Upside Down" move, which is inherently imposing and powerful.

Yue Lingshan remained calm in the face of the powerful and heavy attack, and chuckled lightly, "Senior Brother Zhao, please forgive me!"

Swish!

The Azure Water Sword in his hand suddenly emitted a cold light, piercing into Zhao Zhong's sword move from a tricky angle.

Not only did it break Tian Shen's upside-down move, it also knocked Zhao Zhong's longsword away.

"What... what kind of swordsmanship is Junior Sister Ling Shan using? She actually broke our Huashan swordsmanship?"

"Her move seems to have been created specifically to counter the Heavenly Gentleman's Upside-Down Suspension."

Many people in the audience gasped in surprise.

Even the hundred outstanding apprentices waiting to take the stage were getting restless. How could they possibly be a match for the sword moves that were specifically designed to counter the Huashan sword style?

Ning Zhongze also glanced at Yue Zhuoqun subtly and said softly:

"Senior brother, you've already passed on the Five Mountains Sword Manual to Shan'er? Isn't it too unfair to let her participate in the competition?"

“I didn’t teach her; she just learned it herself while sparring with me.”

Yue Zhuoqun's lips curled up.

Yue Lingshan's aptitude is quite good; after seeing him demonstrate it so many times, it's normal for her to learn it on her own.

In the original book, because of Yue Lingshan's problematic teaching methods, Yue Lingshan spent all her time hanging out with Linghu Chong, and her martial arts skills were only so-so.

However, after learning the sword techniques from the stone cave, she even defeated Mo Da of the Hengshan Sect.

This alone demonstrates his talent in martial arts.

Seeing the apprentices discussing in the arena, Yue Zhuoqun said loudly:

"Every martial art has its limitations, and the Huashan Sword Technique is no exception."

You must understand that martial arts are always just a means to an end; what's truly powerful is the person. Don't panic just because someone has broken your moves.

Furthermore, the Huashan Swordplay is merely the foundational martial art of our Huashan Sect. There are countless martial arts techniques far superior to it, and as long as we diligently practice, we will have ample opportunities to learn more in the future.

Even when you are promoted to formal Huashan disciples, I will teach you the sword techniques of this broken Huashan sword style.

Yue Zhuoqun never intended to hide anything from the Five Sacred Mountains Sword Records; the training requirement was to reach the third-rate level in order to become a formal disciple.

Those outer disciples who cannot graduate are out of the question.

These people are too weak. If they were to learn the skills, they would surely incur the jealousy of the other four mountains, which would be more harmful than beneficial.

Upon hearing this, everyone calmed down and felt a surge of excitement.

They weren't entirely sure how many profound martial arts techniques the Huashan Sect possessed, but they had heard of a few.

For example, Zixia Divine Skill, Hunyuan Skill, Qingfeng Thirteen Styles, Kuangfeng Sword Technique, etc., who wouldn't want to learn these!

The competition continued, with more and more people stepping up to compete.

After rounds of competition, only ten people remained on the field: Linghu Chong, Yang Lin, Feng Xinghua, Cheng Shuanghua, Mu Renqing, Mu Sang, Xia Xueyi, Yue Lingshan, Xiao Fang, and Chen Yuanxiu.

Xiao Fang and Chen Yuanxiu were both in their early twenties, and like Zhao Zhong, they were among the original group of old disciples.

The two of them made it to the end thanks to their solid foundation, and managed to prevent their senior disciples from being completely wiped out.

The competition has reached its most exciting moment, and the remaining ten people will be ranked first, second, third, and fourth.

The first match is between Mu Sang and Xia Xueyi.

Both of them, along with Mu Renqing, are characters from the novel *The Sword Stained with Royal Blood*, and are no ordinary people.

Xia Xueyi, the Golden Snake Swordsman, possesses the profound and mysterious Golden Snake Sword Technique.

Mu Renqing was the head of the Huashan Sect, and Mu Sang was the head of the Iron Sword Sect. They were also close friends.

In this world, they all became disciples of the Huashan Sect, a truly wondrous turn of events.

As soon as Mu Sang and Xia Xueyi made their move, the scene was reduced to two afterimages.

One was a blur of movement, the other a blur of sword light; their moves were so fast that the onlookers could hardly tell them apart.

When Mu Sang usually practices, he has little interest in either Huashan sword techniques or Huashan mental techniques, but he is particularly fond of light footwork.

Every afternoon at the martial arts academy, there was a self-selected course, and he chose the lightness skill course, which he attended almost every day.

After unleashing his movement technique, he circled around Xia Xueyi, leaving behind a series of afterimages.

Despite having a sword in his hand, he rarely used sword techniques to attack. Instead, he preferred to use his lightning-fast legs to kick Xia Xueyi all over her body.

Xia Xueyi stood motionless in the arena, her longsword flashing like a venomous snake spitting its tongue at the leg that Mu Sang was kicking at.

Chapter 17 The Competition for the Sect Leader's Top Disciple

Huashan swordplay emphasizes the unconventional and dangerous, with sword moves that are sharp and fierce. However, as a righteous martial art, and derived from the Quanzhen School of swordplay, it also contains the Taoist principles of spontaneity and naturalness.

The casual and natural style that Xia Xueyi displayed was gone; instead, it revealed a spicy edge.