Could it be that I am the cruel villain?

The sword edge and the axe clashed, the thunder technique and the golden stone sparked with fire.

The exchange between both sides was both exciting and straightforward, exciting because both were skilled at controlling spiritual energy and daoist skills, but straightforward since neither was exerting themselves fully.

At least, Jiang Feng appeared to be handling it with ease.

Since the martial arts tournament began, it had been ten days, and today was the sixth round of duels. Except for the second round, when an impertinent challenger insisted on fighting him and got carried away happily by Jiang Feng, no one dared to seek trouble with him.

The subsequent days were much calmer. Since the sect considers the disciples' realm and age differences, most groupings are indeed divided by age and realm.

In the following days, his opponents were either low-grade or mid-grade core formation level.

The move of intimidating others by example was indeed very effective. Mainly because Wang Quan, among the sect's third-generation disciples, was definitely among the top fighters. Of several hundred participants in the inner sect, there were only dozens at the high-grade core formation level.

Defeating Wang Quan head-on and subduing him in combat clearly established Jiang Feng's strength as ranking at least in the top thirty of this Nine Peaks martial arts meeting, positioning him among the near-first-class level in this tournament.

Someone initially tried to break this "crab" and ended up hurting themselves; naturally others wouldn't seek discomfort, and many who initially eyed the eldest Swordmaster Peak disciple eagerly decided against challenging him after the second day of combat.

Moreover, among those who were high-grade core formation, even without resorting to tricky methods, they could achieve rather good rankings. Intentionally bumping into Jiang Feng would likely result in a disadvantage. Today he faced Xiao Xuan, considered weaker among the high-grade core formation levels.

At least, that's what the other spectators thought.

"Sword transforms into three."

The longsword in hand flew, transforming into three, sword intent spreading, this technique amazed many observing disciples. Although Jiang Feng's realm wasn't high, his skill already justified the title of Sword Immortal Disciple.

The two sides exchanged blows back and forth, but what's perplexing was the disciple named Xiao Xuan seemed to be holding back his full strength. Witnessing this, Jiang Feng decided to be unrestrained, silently calculating the timing in his mind.

"It's almost two quarter-hours."

"He hasn't shown any decent daoist skill, only wielded a single wild-goose-feather knife with good quality, yet no sign of any magic treasure—is he hiding a move?"

"That shouldn't be; he's currently at a disadvantage, if he doesn't use high-grade daoist skill to forcefully turn the tides, it's unlikely he can recover the situation with subsequent powers."

"Or perhaps due to unstable foundation, he can't utilize many magic artifacts, in which case, maybe I've been too cautious. If so, then swiftly ending this duel is the best move."

Lightning surged in his palm.

Seeing Jiang Feng's actions, those present realized he intended to exert more effort; this displayed Jiang Feng's high emotional intelligence. Regardless of opponent's strength, he always let the duel last over two quarter-hours.

Even if the opponent lost, they wouldn't be humiliated, and he could improve his standard and gain experience through fighting, but just as the Thunder Technique formed in his hand, a sudden jolt seized the young man's heart.

"What's happening?"

Crack!

The thunder light collided with the bizarrely-shaped wild-goose-feather knife, dispersed immediately, but he countered with a swift finger point, paired palm thunder with sword from sleeve, forcibly pushing Xiao Xuan back several meters.

His heart raced.

At the moment he intended to strike, a surge of uncontrollable panic and anxiety arose within him, furrowing his brow, the Thunder Technique in his hand wasn't released immediately, but held tightly.

Continuing several rounds of skirmish, the unease remained, yet Xiao Xuan persisted under duress, and in his indecision, the initially pressured Xiao Xuan started regaining momentum.

Launching an attack, the shining blade descended, stunning the young man's sword-wielding arm with numbing pain, almost losing grip.

People with gold attributes, whether in physique or physical strength, are notably robust. Their might is such that they can split gold and rock effortlessly, spiritual energy charging the long blade, weighing heavy as thousand catties.

Originally, Xiao Xuan's cultivation realm already had an advantage, delaying it was increasingly unfavorable to Jiang Feng. After a brief contemplation, he decided to continue striking, forcibly disrupting the rhythm with a Heavenly Thunder Technique, followed by thunder dragon surge entwining the sword.

"If this continues, reversal seems imminent; despite growing unease, this is within the sect, under senior sister's watchful eyes, how can anything go wrong."

The thunder dragon erupted.

Purple lightning darted forward, weighing the pros and cons, Jiang Feng disregarded his anxiety, opting to continue striking; in his view, winning the martial arts meet was clearly more crucial.

Given Jiang Feng's connections and status within the sect, he naturally learned a great deal about sect's upper echelons. After all, every peak master upon returning home would gripe about trivial matters, such as "Look at xxx's child," "What realm are they at versus you?" "You've shamed the family entirely," et cetera.

Uh.

No matter the age, parents always seem like this.

According to a young prince personally saying, his master, after returning to the mountain gate, directly confronted several useless senior brothers, berating and grabbing them for severe practice, especially those losing to someone of lower realm, getting scolded harshly.

So, Jiang Feng knows; lately, his senior sister slightly flaunted during sect's high-level meetings, especially when the tournament halfway, Swordmaster Peak disciples performed excellently, Su Yi and Bai Yu from outer sect striving for top ten.