Reversing the Milky Way

Guo Yanyang: "As expected of the Qin family's genius, even the inner disciples of those major sects would find it difficult to achieve such talent."

Man Chong: "This Sword Control Technique is a standard Qi Condensation Realm technique. After mastering the technique, one can control dozens of swords simultaneously. Depending on individual abilities, one can control hundreds, even thousands or tens of thousands of flying swords. Although Qin Ming can only control two swords now, dealing with Lei Che should be no problem. Even if he has a lightning attribute cultivation physique, it would be difficult for him to deal with Qin Ming, who can control the Sword Control Technique."

Bai Cheng, watching from the sidelines, asked in confusion, "Hey, wait a minute. Why didn't you interrupt the spellcasting when you had such a good opportunity?" However, he couldn't help but sigh as he looked at Qin Ming wielding the two spirit swords. 'Sigh, what's that saying again? Is this what other people's Body Refinement Realm is like?'

On the arena, Lei Che's expression spoke volumes.

"Is this your trump card? I never expected that you have already mastered a cultivation technique that can only be practiced by those at the Qi Condensation Realm."

Qin Ming controlled two spirit swords that hovered in front of his body and said, "That's right, a genius indeed. Heaven refers to the talent that Heaven gives you, while talent is your wealth. Only when these two are combined can you be considered a genius. If you have Heaven but no wealth, you are destined not to grow. If you have talent but no Heaven, you can only live under someone else's roof for the rest of your life."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng, who was sitting in the audience, was filled with countless questions.

'What the hell? This genius can actually explain it like that. But, what he said doesn't seem to be wrong.'

Upon hearing this, Lei Che's expression turned serious. "Then I'll have a go at you, this so-called Heavenly Wealth!" With that, lightning flashed around him once more.

Qin Ming: "Alright, I'd like to see whether you're faster or I can control my sword faster." With that, he pointed forward with both hands. The two golden spirit swords floating in front of him flew rapidly towards Lei Che, like arrows being shot.

Lei Che's eyes narrowed, lightning crackled beneath his feet, and he vanished from his spot in an instant. He moved with the speed of the wind, his body like a phantom, constantly dodging the two flying swords while rapidly closing in on Qin Ming. The two flying swords, under Qin Ming's control, clashed and attacked Lei Che back and forth.

As Lei Che ran, he dodged the two flying swords. Even with his spiritual energy protecting him, he dared not directly confront them with his body. Qin Ming, on the other hand, constantly changed his hand gestures, and the two spiritual swords he controlled sometimes ran side by side, sometimes crossed, and sometimes spun as they attacked Lei Che.

Lei Che quickly stopped approaching Qin Ming. Now, he could only rely on his speed to dodge Xue Qin's flying sword. Soon, a scene appeared on the arena where one person stood still while another danced rapidly back and forth. However, the dancer's speed was so fast that many afterimages followed behind.

Upon witnessing this scene, the rest of the crowd began to discuss it amongst themselves.

Xu Lie: "Sigh, what a pity. If it weren't for Qin Ming, Lei Che would probably have made it straight to the finals."

Sun Jianxin: "That's right. Judging solely from his talent and combat strength, Qin Ming truly deserves to be called the number one player of this generation."

Man Chong: "That's not necessarily true. You all saw Bai Cheng in the last match. Even Qin Ming would probably be unable to defeat Zhao Bo after he has been transformed into a demon."

Xu Lie: "Tch, from what you're saying, it sounds like Bai Cheng defeated Zhao Bo."

Man Chong: "Hehe, Fellow Daoist Xu, I cannot agree with what you said. You are now at the mid-stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, just like me. Let me ask you: can you shatter the scales of a low-level demonic beast with a single punch?"

Xu Lie snorted coldly after hearing this: "Hmph, I'm not like you Xuanwu Hall body cultivators. Although I can't break through with one punch, I'm confident that I can break through the scales of this low-level demon beast with one strike."

Man Chong sneered, "Even you have to use a weapon. What does that mean? It means that Bai Cheng's punch is comparable to your sword strike." Xu Lie remained silent after hearing this.

On the arena, Raiche, who was dodging back and forth, realized that this was not a solution, so he quickly retreated.

Qin Ming said, "Hmm? Where do you think you're going?" With that, he manipulated his two spirit swords, intertwining them as he rapidly attacked Lei Che. Seeing this, Lei Che immediately gathered lightning in his palms, then repeatedly crossed them in front of him. Next, Lei Che formed a right fist, concentrating the lightning on his knuckles, instantly enveloping his fist in a ring of lightning. Then, he met the two attacking spirit swords with a punch.

In an instant, a huge surge of spiritual energy emanated from the arena, and then the spiritual sword clashed with Lei Che's fist. Everyone present watched this scene with tension.

Sun Jianxin: "Now, it's a contest of who has the stronger spiritual power."

Guo Yanyang: "Although Lei Che has a lightning attribute cultivation physique, Qin Ming clearly has the advantage in terms of spiritual power." As he was speaking, Qin Ming increased the output of spiritual power to his spirit sword on the arena, and Lei Che was also startled. He braced himself with his feet and was constantly being pushed backward by the spirit sword.

Soon his back foot had reached the edge of the arena, pressing against the Spirit-Trapping Array.

Gradually, he succumbed to his weakened spiritual energy and was defeated. His back then leaned against the edge of the Spirit-Trapping Array, with two golden spiritual swords pressed against his face.

Then, Lei Che smiled with relief. He was now unable to use any spiritual power at all, and then he uttered the words, "I admit defeat." Upon hearing this, the entire audience erupted in cheers.

At this moment, Zhu Yingjie's face was extremely grim. A question lingered in his mind: 'Strange! Logically speaking, the spiritual energy within the imperial capital, Tianhuo City, should be many times higher than outside, and this place is at least tens of thousands of miles away from the capital. Why would the Qin family be in a place like this? Damn it!'

Immediately after the two stepped off the stage, the next match began. This next match was between Xue Min and Shui Ning'er. As the two entered the stage, Xue Qianfu announced the start of the match.

As the match began, Shui Ning'er quickly conjured a trident from water, just as before, while Xue Min directly condensed a green spirit sword in his hand. Immediately afterward, the two attacked each other with their weapons. They exchanged dozens of blows. While attacking, Shui Ning'er remained wary of Xue Min's sudden attack where vines would sprout from the ground.

Xue Min relentlessly attacked Shui Ning'er with his spiritual sword. When Shui Ning'er blocked Xue Min's attacks with her trident, the trident, formed from condensed water, instantly transformed into a long, thin stream, resembling a rope, attempting to bind Xue Min. Xue Min was startled and immediately retreated, creating distance.

At this moment, the water rope in Shui Ning'er's hand transformed into a trident once more. Seeing this, Bai Cheng, standing below the arena, couldn't help but exclaim, "As expected of someone with an extreme water-attribute cultivation physique, she can manipulate matter so skillfully." As Bai Cheng marveled, he suddenly remembered the water figure in the mysterious cave. He became even more certain that some creature was controlling the water figure within that cave. He said "creature" because Bai Cheng wasn't sure if the water figure was controlled by a human.

On the arena, Xue Min's expression hardened. He gripped the green spirit sword formed from spiritual energy tightly in his hand. He took a step forward with his left foot, made a throwing motion with his right hand, and then threw it with all his might. The spirit sword spun rapidly and flew towards Shui Ning'er.

Shui Ning'er used her trident to deflect the spirit sword thrown by Xue Min. Seeing this, Xue Min's lips curled slightly, and he raised two fingers in front of him. The spirit sword, which Shui Ning'er had deflected, suddenly stopped spinning in mid-air and then flew straight towards her at high speed.

Upon seeing this, Shui Ning'er was secretly alarmed, thinking, "This is bad!"

She immediately swung her trident again, trying to block the attack. However, at that moment, vines made of green spiritual energy suddenly sprouted from the ground around her.

Shui Ning'er was also greatly surprised upon seeing this. "What!?"

At that moment, she was wielding her trident, trying to block the flying spirit sword. However, the next instant, her wrists, ankles, and even waist were tightly bound by suddenly sprouting vines, rendering her unable to move. The flying spirit sword hovered directly at her neck.

Xue Min smiled faintly. "You flatter me, Miss Shui Ning'er."

Shui Ning'er: "I...lost."

Upon seeing this, everyone present gasped in surprise.

"My God, has Shui Ning'er really lost like this?" (Comment from a member of the public)

Crowd #2: "This defeat was a bit too quick!"

In the VIP seats, Mo Yan stroked his sparse beard again and slowly said, "Xue Min seemed to want to throw a spirit sword to attack Shui Ling'er, but that was just a feint. He used this action to let his spiritual power penetrate deep into the ground, forming vines, and then approach Shui Ling'er. Whether Shui Ling'er dodged or blocked the attack, Xue Min's attack was already complete. Even his subsequent use of sword control to manipulate the spirit sword was to cover the attack of the underground vines. Although the two are not far apart in strength, Xue Min is obviously superior in practical combat experience."

The other cultivators present also affirmed this conclusion.

Zhu Yingjie, standing on one side of the ring, stomped his foot in anger upon seeing the result. This scene was witnessed by Xue Qianfu on the floating platform, who was secretly overjoyed.

"Hehehe, it seems Zhu Yingjie is quite angry. But I still prefer your calm and composed expression before."

Thinking of this, he continued to announce: "Next up is the final match of the semi-finals, with Xue Min facing off against Qin Ming."

After speaking, he nodded to Qin Ming. Qin Ming also nodded in response. Then, the two stepped onto the arena.

Unlike the tense atmosphere of the other contestants, these two were extremely relaxed. Immediately afterwards, the two walked towards each other on the stage, and soon they were less than half a meter apart.

Qin Ming: "There's a reason why your father specifically arranged for Bai Cheng to enter the finals." After saying that, he made a money gesture with his right hand.

Indeed, although the spiritual characters in the sky were written by Mo Qiuyue, they were actually controlled by Xue Qianfu. Upon seeing this, Xue Min instantly understood Qin Ming's meaning. The original plan was for Qin Ming and Xue Min to meet in the finals. However, there were too many variables this year, so they directly arranged for Bai Cheng, this uncertain variable, to enter the finals. After all, Xue Min held a crucial weakness in Bai Cheng's hands—the main reason he participated in this Wuling Town competition.

Xue Min immediately understood Qin Ming's meaning and nodded.

Upon seeing this, Qin Ming shouted loudly, "I admit defeat."

These words surprised everyone present. They had expected a thrilling match, and many were discussing who would prevail between Qin Ming and Xue Min. However, upon hearing Qin Ming declare his surrender, their thoughts began to wander.

Upon seeing the result, Zhu Yingjie, standing on one side of the ring, shouted, "This is favoritism and cheating!" This immediately sparked various speculations among the audience.

Standing on the floating platform, Xue Qianfu asked Qin Ming, "Qin Ming, why do you want to surrender?"

Qin Ming: "After my battle with Lei Che just now, I used up almost all of my spiritual power. I'm afraid I can't continue fighting Xue Min. It's only natural that I admit defeat. How could I be thinking of cheating?"

In fact, what Qin Ming said was not untrue. In the battle with Lei Che just now, he had indeed used all his skills.

After hearing this answer, Xue Qianfu said to Zhu Yingjie, "Principal Zhu, are you satisfied with this answer?"

Zhu Yingjie was speechless after hearing this. Zhu Yingjie: "Fine, very well."

He then turned to look at Bai Cheng, and continued, "I'd like to see if your Wuling Academy will have such good luck again." Xue Qianfu ignored him and announced, "Alright, after a long competition, the finals are about to begin. Both sides, get ready."

His words meant that Bai Cheng should go on stage, while Xue Min had been on the stage the whole time.

When Bai Cheng stepped onto the stage, Su Boran patted Bai Cheng on the shoulder and said, "Just do your best. It doesn't matter if you get first place or not. The reward for second place won't be too bad anyway."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng jokingly thought to himself, "That won't do. The first-place prize alone isn't enough for me to pay off my debts."

He then nodded and said, "Don't worry, Principal Su, I will do my best."

He then strode onto the ring.