Could it be that I am the cruel villain?

The stone pillar rose unexpectedly from the ground, breaking through the earth, reaching five meters high, and forcibly intercepting the incoming Thunder Dragon.

The thunder light was dazzling, and even the disciples watching from afar found it hard to look directly. The steward overseeing the martial competition couldn't help but feel surprised, keeping one hand behind him, ready to intervene at any moment.

The battle between these two hadn't reached the point where he couldn't control it, but the level of skill was quite impressive for this year's martial competition.

Core Formation High Grade and Peak of Core Formation sound similar, but in actual combat, the differences are very pronounced.

The High Grade signifies someone who has just broken through, or whose spiritual energy isn't yet fully abundant, still in a phase of learning and constant improvement.

In contrast, the Peak indicates someone who can break through to Nascent Soul at any moment, meaning their physique, spiritual energy, and skills have all reached the highest level of Core Formation.

For example, Ying Ling, Jin Shan, and Xuan Yinzi are at this level, even Cen Yueyue is only at the High Grade level, far from reaching the Peak.

"Huff... huff..."

Breathing heavily.

The two had been entangled for an hour, and this martial competition truly offered a spectacle for all the spectators. After all, at the beginning of the competition, most disciples aren't at high levels, and the really exciting matches are generally expected to start around seven days into the competition.

No one anticipated such intense battles so soon on just the second day.

"How could this be, how could this be!"

"He is only at the initial stage of Core Formation. His Thunder Technique is truly fierce, even surpassing my Five Elements Taoism. Since when do Swordmaster Peak disciples know Thunder Technique?"

"Those who returned from Country Liang told me Xuan Yinzi's name is a mere façade, a hedonistic fool, he should have barely won by luck, what a miscalculation, a miscalculation."

Feeling somewhat annoyed inside.

To obtain this jade token and fight Jiang Feng, he indeed paid the price of a low-grade magic treasure and made the deal with someone who was also an internal disciple of Zhu Mingfeng, his realm being at Core Formation Low Grade.

If it wasn't for this connection, he probably wouldn't have secured even one magic treasure. So long as he could defeat Jiang Feng this time, it would undoubtedly bring him fame, making him a sensation.

As long as he could earn the master's attention, receive more true inheritance and nurturing, with his aptitude, it's estimated he could break through to Nascent Soul within four years. He is already over forty years old; in the Cultivation World, that's naturally not considered old.

But looking at the Purple Cloud Immortal Palace, if he doesn't make significant progress, he may inevitably get stuck before the threshold of Nascent Soul, considering the number of fellow disciples with better talent who will naturally attract better cultivation resources.

"Hmph."

A cold snort and feeling the Thunder Dragon gradually dissipate, its power waning, Wang Quan Zhi gritted his teeth and issued a fierce challenge.

"Even so, don't think you can win. No matter how much your Thunder Technique gallops, it can't break through my Thousand-Pound Pillar!"

This stone pillar buried underground was indeed his Lifebound Magical Treasure.

Originally a body cultivator, Wang Quan Zhi was correctly guessed by Jiang Feng; he hadn't grown up in Purple Cloud Palace but was like those external disciples, entering the mountain gate through selection.

Joining the mountain at the age of twenty or so, he was chosen by Zhu Mingfeng's Peak Master at a glance, deemed a good seed, and admitted to the internal sect. The only regret was that he missed the best opportunity for cultivation, and his path skewed a bit.

Subsequently, after joining Zhu Mingfeng, much time and effort were spent to pull him back from the skewed path. By then, the young Wang Quan Zhi had already refined his Lifebound Magical Treasure—a Thousand-Pound Pillar of merely Yellow Grade.

Despite exhausting much effort to continuously temper its quality, there was still little room for development. His talent was slightly lacking, and coupled with recruiting a large batch of disciples in the past two years, his treatment naturally diminished compared to before.

Feeling somewhat discontented inside, yet he didn't give up hope. As long as Jiang Feng couldn't break his Thousand-Pound Pillar, prolonging the situation would ensure the opponent would deplete his spiritual energy first.

This clearly demonstrated Wang Quan Zhi's clear-headedness, knowing to avoid sharp edges and exhaust the opponent's strength, capitalizing on his advantages, but unfortunately...

Thunk!

Sound of a foot stepping onto rock.

The sound came from above, and reflexively, Wang Quan Zhi looked up, only to see Jiang Feng had jumped onto the stone pillar upon its erection.

His face changed drastically, gripping the stone hammer tightly. According to logic, the opponent should now strive to close distance and engage because, after all, being a Swordmaster Peak disciple, his reliance was doubtlessly the three-foot Green Blade.

Yet the young man simply raised the iron wire in his hand.

"The killing intent arises."

Expressionless, he uttered the four words.

"This is bad, this is bad!"

The moment those four words appeared, Wang Quan Zhi didn't even bother to look at Jiang Feng, but glanced around because when he erected the Thousand-Pound Stone Pillar, it effectively blocked the opponent's attack outside, yet undoubtedly completely obscured his own vision.

Only then did he notice Jiang Feng's originally thrown eight flying swords had ceased their attack, each inserted at eight positions around the Martial Arts Arena, every flying sword shimmering with intense purple thunder light.

And the youth standing above merely thrust the ninth sword down, quietly uttering the final four words.

"Turning heaven and earth upside down!"

Boom!!!

The center of the Martial Arts Arena felt like explosives had been planted, erupting with a muffled roar, turning the whole arena upside down.

Debris spattered about, and the steward overseeing the match looked rather uneasy, originally intending to intervene but ultimately chose to flash to the front step and with a swift motion of his large hand, blocked all the flying stones created by the massive eruption.

Because many of the guests visiting Purple Cloud Palace lacked cultivation. If disciples were hit, they might just endure pain for a while, certainly able to withstand it, likely even Wang Quan Zhi in the center would just suffer slight injuries.

However, for those visiting guests, they might face fatal consequences from the battle's aftermath, leaving no doubt as to what was more crucial.

"Hiss, this kid..."

A gasp.

Not just him, other disciples with decent cultivation responded like the steward, their first reaction being to protect ordinary people's safety, proactively standing in front.

Even Yan Fengchun, watching from the corner, was no exception. This is what makes Purple Cloud Palace commendable; they indeed cultivate moral integrity while cultivating Tao, causing everyone to refocus, locking their gaze on the arena's center.

"What happened?"

"Who won or lost, it should be Jiang Feng who won, given Wang Quan Zhi was dealt such a blow, it's unlikely he could bear it."

"Definitely, those four words 'True Sword Immortal' aren't just for show. If he's the ruthless one capable of crushing Xuan Yinzi's body, and you choose soft persimmons, this time you kicked the iron plate."

"Heh, this kid deserved it, reaching out to inquire about Jiang Feng before the martial competition, and eventually even went to Zhang to exchange jade tokens. If it weren't for being fellow members, they'd probably ignore him."

"Now look, he tried to steal the chicken, but lost the rice, getting himself into trouble."

"Let's stop the derision; Old Wang probably wouldn't be killed, that blow was tough, only a few senior disciples might withstand it, we have a strict ban on the mountain..."

Voices mingled chaotically, filled with surprise, disbelief, and also admiration and fear, embodied the status Swordmaster Peak holds today.

Thus has it always been.

Even if Xuan Yinzi was trash, was often scorned, and deemed a loose cannon, he couldn't be compared with this Zhu Mingfeng disciple before them.

Even among the top sects of the entire Cultivation World, Xuan Yinzi remained virtually unmatched in the Core Formation Stage.

Like Wu Mingsheng, who once pursued Jiang Feng, even if condensed into Nascent Soul, without handy weapons and advanced Taoism, they stand no chance against Xuan Yinzi.

Within the sect, Jiang Feng had always purposely used swordsmanship to align with the 'True Sword Immortal' caption. Now he was compelled out of necessity.

Facing opponents of the same realm or slightly higher, he could achieve victory using only swordsmanship. However, against disciples of High Grade Core Formation, he had to employ all his strength.

Not entirely exerting his utmost, yet at least putting forth his adept Daoist skill and sword array. Soon after, the supervising steward scattered the dust at the arena's center with a slap, his curiosity piqued as to the eventual result.

But when the dust settled and they saw Jiang Feng standing atop the shattered ruins, even he couldn't suppress his inner shock and secretly nodded.

"Good boy, ruthless enough, after today, nobody in the mountain would dare to mess with you..."