Chen Zhi's voice, amplified by Qi, carried clearly throughout the stadium. "The Azure-Rank Championship Match shall now begin."
The discussions throughout the arena gradually subsided.
Immediately, two figures stepped onto Arena Platform One.
Li Yan and Sun Lei.
The atmosphere became noticeably more serious.
Among all Azure-Rank disciples, Sun Lei possessed perhaps the greatest reputation for swordsmanship.
His Sword Aura had already reached the Ninth Stage—Completion.
Only a single step remained before awakening Sword Intent.
Even several elders privately believed that, given another few months, Sun Lei would almost certainly succeed.
His cultivation had likewise reached the Qi Channeling Realm (Stage-Peak).
As the two arrived at opposite ends of the platform, the head referee, Chen Zhi, called the match to begin, but neither attacked immediately.
The spectators gradually quieted.
Sun Lei had long dark gray hair and blue eyes. He slowly drew his sword—a faint pressure spread across the arena. Unlike Ji Xin's Sword Aura, Sun Lei's aura felt complete.
Stable. Mature.
Even while standing still, his sword radiated an invisible sharpness that many disciples could clearly sense.
Li Yan nodded slightly. "As expected."
Sun Lei smiled. "I've been looking forward to this match."
"So have I."
For several moments, neither of them moved.
Then Li Yan suddenly spoke. "Use your strongest attack."
Sun Lei blinked.
The spectators exchanged puzzled looks.
Their strongest attack?
At the beginning of the match?
Sun Lei frowned slightly. "My strongest technique isn't fully under my control."
Li Yan looked at him calmly. "What technique?"
"A Mortal-Tier High-Level Technique."
A ripple spread through the crowd.
Many disciples knew exactly how difficult it was to cultivate techniques at that level, especially for Azure-Rank disciples.
Sun Lei continued. "I can execute it. But not perfectly. If I lose control…"
"…even I cannot completely predict the outcome."
Li Yan smiled faintly. "Good."
Sun Lei stared at him. "Good?"
"Use it."
The confusion among the spectators only deepened.
Even Ji Xin, sitting among the disciples, frowned slightly.
Meanwhile, Ji Hong silently observed Li Yan from the elders' seating area. Something told him Li Yan was planning something.
Sun Lei remained silent for several breaths before asking, "Do you understand what you're asking?"
Li Yan nodded. "I do."
"Then why?"
A faint smile appeared on Li Yan's face. "Because you're standing at the threshold."
Sun Lei narrowed his eyes. "The threshold?"
"The threshold of awakening Sword Intent."
The words immediately drew the attention of every elder present.
Sun Lei's expression changed.
Even Ji Hong became visibly surprised.
Li Yan continued calmly. "If you experience Sword Intent directly…"
"…you might gain the insight needed to awaken it much sooner than you expect."
The entire arena fell silent. Several disciples stared blankly. Others looked completely confused.
Meanwhile, the elders exchanged shocked glances.
Only a handful of them understood what Li Yan truly meant.
Ji Hong.
Cao Lian.
And several senior elders.
The younger disciples naturally did not.
Sun Lei's heartbeat unconsciously accelerated. "You mean…" His voice became noticeably quieter. "…you've already awakened Sword Intent?"
Li Yan met his gaze calmly.
Then he nodded. "I have."
Boom!
The arena erupted into an uproar.
"What?!"
"Sword Intent?"
"Impossible!"
"He's not even fifteen years old!"
Countless shocked voices echoed throughout the stadium. Even many Purple-Rank and Black-Rank disciples rose to their feet in disbelief.
Sword Intent.
Unlike Sword Aura, it represented something entirely different.
Countless swordsmen spent years—or even their entire lives—trying to comprehend it.
Many reached the Ninth Stage of Sword Aura. Very few ever crossed that final threshold.
And yet the young disciple standing upon Arena Platform One had already accomplished it before reaching the age of fifteen.
Among the elders, expressions gradually grew more complex.
Some were astonished.
Others found it difficult to believe.
Ji Hong simply watched the two young swordsmen in silence.
He had already known.
Yet hearing Li Yan reveal it before the entire Sect still made him realize that another remarkable page in the Shadow Haven Sect's history was about to be written.
Sun Lei's eyes widened.
For several moments, he simply stared at Li Yan, unable to say a word. Then, as the meaning behind Li Yan's words settled in, understanding gradually appeared in his eyes.
So that was why.
That was why Li Yan's swordsmanship had always felt impossible to comprehend. That was why every battle had ended so effortlessly.
A surge of excitement appeared on Sun Lei's face. "You're serious."
Li Yan nodded calmly. "I am."
He slowly raised his sword and pointed it toward the sky. "Use your strongest attack."
His voice remained calm, without the slightest trace of arrogance.
"Attack me from a distance. Once you've released it, move aside and focus entirely on my attack. Don't think about the outcome. Don't think about winning or losing."
He looked directly at Sun Lei. "Just do your best to gain insight from it. It may help you see the path ahead."
His words sent another wave of shock through the arena.
Even the elders found themselves speechless. They naturally understood what Li Yan intended to do. He was not trying to defeat Sun Lei. He was trying to use this battle to help him take the final step toward Sword Intent.
Sun Lei drew a deep breath.
Then another.
His grip around his sword gradually tightened as the excitement in his eyes transformed into determination.
He understood exactly how valuable this opportunity was.
Many swordsmen spent decades searching for even the slightest clue toward Sword Intent.
Now, Li Yan was willingly demonstrating it before him to help. Perhaps this would become the greatest opportunity of his life.
After several moments, he nodded solemnly. "Thank you."
He slowly retreated several meters before stopping. Darkness Qi immediately surged from his body. The atmosphere around the platform changed at once.
Sun Lei slowly raised his sword. Darkness Qi continuously poured into the blade. More and more Qi gathered around it as the surrounding spiritual energy began flowing toward his position.
The sword trembled violently.
A sharp humming sound echoed throughout the arena.
The pressure released from the blade became increasingly terrifying.
Even from a distance, many disciples could clearly feel the frightening power gathering within that single attack.
Sun Lei's expression gradually became strained. Sweat appeared upon his forehead. It was obvious that this technique exceeded the limits of his current mastery.
Yet he continued gathering Qi without hesitation.
The Darkness Qi surrounding him compressed further and further, becoming denser with each passing breath.
Several moments later, Sun Lei finally moved.
His sword slashed repeatedly toward the sky, each movement leaving behind a streak of condensed Darkness Qi.
Those streaks rapidly intertwined several meters above the platform, then formed a massive sword formation.
Ancient runes lit up one after another across its surface.
"Shadow Heaven Severing Sword!"
The formation erupted with dazzling black light.
A gigantic sword slowly emerged from within it.
The blade was nearly twenty meters long, condensed entirely from Darkness Qi, radiating an overwhelming sharpness that distorted the surrounding air.
As the sword descended toward Li Yan, the entire platform trembled beneath its pressure.
Countless disciples widened their eyes. Even many Brown-Rank disciples felt chills run down their spines.
Such power had already surpassed what most Azure-Rank disciples could withstand.
Meanwhile, Li Yan remained standing silently. His expression never changed. He neither advanced nor retreated. He simply watched the descending sword calmly, waiting for it to approach.
When the gigantic sword entered his attack range, a faint humming sound echoed from the sword in his hand.
It was soft.
Almost impossible to notice.
Yet the instant that sound appeared, the atmosphere throughout the arena changed completely.
An invisible pressure descended upon everyone present.
Ancient. Sharp. Unyielding.
Li Yan slowly released his Sword Intent. The spectators froze where they sat or stood. Several elders instinctively rose from their seats.
Sun Lei's pupils contracted violently. Realizing he could no longer control the technique under the pressure of Sword Intent, he immediately severed his connection to it to avoid suffering a backlash. His entire focus shifted to Li Yan.
Within that Sword Intent, everyone present sensed something they had never experienced before.
It was not merely sharpness. Nor was it merely dominance. It carried an indescribable will. A will that refused to yield. A will that judged everything standing before it.
Defiant Judgment Sword Intent.
Naturally, Li Yan restrained its true power. Rather than releasing his Earth-Level Sword Intent, he limited it to the Practitioner Level.
Even so, the pressure alone left countless disciples struggling to breathe.
At that moment, Li Yan finally moved.
He swung his sword twice in one smooth motion. The first slash traveled horizontally. The second descended vertically.
Two crescent-shaped arcs of Sword Intent shot forward simultaneously, intersecting in midair to form a perfect cross before flying directly toward the descending giant sword.
Meanwhile, Sun Lei had already stepped aside. His entire focus rested upon Li Yan's attack.
Victory no longer mattered. Defeat no longer mattered.
His eyes followed every fluctuation within the Sword Intent, unwilling to miss even the slightest detail.
The two attacks met high above the platform. There was no prolonged clash. No fierce struggle between techniques.
The cross-shaped Sword Intent passed cleanly through the enormous sword as though it had encountered no resistance.
The gigantic blade split into four equal sections.
Without slowing in the slightest, the cross-shaped Sword Intent continued upward, cutting through the sword formation itself.
Cracks spread rapidly across the ancient runes. An instant later, the entire formation shattered. The fragments of Darkness Qi exploded into countless particles, then gradually dispersed into the surrounding Heaven and Earth energy.
Li Yan's Sword Intent continued traveling several more meters toward the sky before slowly fading from sight.
Silence filled the arena.
Absolute silence.
Every disciple stared blankly at the scene before them. Many of the younger disciples could not even comprehend what they had just witnessed.
The difference between the two attacks had been overwhelming. It wasn't simply a stronger technique. It was the difference between two entirely different levels of swordsmanship.
Sun Lei remained motionless.
His strongest attack had been destroyed with a single exchange. Yet he paid no attention to that. His entire focus remained fixed upon the fading traces of Li Yan's Sword Intent.
For the briefest instant, he had seen something.
A path. A direction.
The barrier that had trapped him for months suddenly no longer seemed unreachable. A strange light gradually appeared within his eyes. At the same time, the Sword Aura surrounding his body began to fluctuate.
It trembled slightly, as though responding to the insight he had just gained. Several elders immediately noticed the change.
Ji Hong's pupils contracted. "Insight…"
His quiet voice was heard clearly by the elders seated nearby.
No one spoke.
Their attention remained fixed upon Sun Lei.
He stood there silently, his gaze never leaving the place where Li Yan's Sword Intent had disappeared.
To everyone else, the battle had already ended. To Sun Lei, however, it had only just begun. Within his mind, countless scenes replayed continuously.
Li Yan's stance.
His movement.
The Sword Intent.
The invisible will resides within it. Everything repeated itself over and over again. A few moments later, Sun Lei slowly sat down cross-legged.
He gently placed his sword across his knees before closing his eyes. He did not wish to waste even a single moment of this rare opportunity.
Seeing this, Li Yan smiled faintly.
Whether Sun Lei ultimately succeeded depended entirely upon his own talent and comprehension.
The opportunity had already been given. The rest was a path only Sun Lei could walk.
The entire arena remained remarkably quiet.
Not a single disciple dared disturb him.
Even those who did not understand what was happening instinctively lowered their voices after seeing the elders remain silent.
Li Yan calmly returned his sword to his Storage Ring before stepping to one side of the platform.
As he swept his gaze across the spectators, a familiar fluctuation suddenly drew his attention. His eyes stopped on a Brown-Rank disciple seated among the crowd.
Sword Aura quietly flowed around the young man's body. Although far weaker than Sun Lei's, it was clearly undergoing subtle changes.
A faint smile appeared on Li Yan's face.
It seemed Sun Lei was not the only one who had benefited from witnessing Sword Intent.
His gaze continued moving through the audience. Soon, he discovered several more disciples in similar conditions.
Most belonged to the Brown Rank.
Only one was a Purple-Rank disciple.
Seeing this, Li Yan immediately understood.
Crossing the final threshold toward Sword Intent was never easy.
Even after witnessing it firsthand, only a handful had gained even the slightest insight. The rest would have to continue searching for their own path.