Realm-Hopping Martial Master

The ten clan leaders and guests outside the arena perhaps had not yet sensed it.

But right in the midst of the battle, he could clearly sense the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi around him gathering toward Jiang Shu's position!

He had yet to reach the Acupoint Passage Realm, yet could actually draw Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi to him.

*What kind of secret technique was this, exactly?*

*Even during his tempering in the prefecture city, he had never heard of such a thing!*

Zhao Chengxuan roared, and drew the treasured sword from his back.

When martial artists fought, with equal strength, the one with a weapon occupied an absolute advantage!

At this moment, he could no longer afford to hesitate.

This battle, he had to win!

Zhao Chengxuan steeled his resolve, burning every drop of his Essence Blood within at that moment.

His vital energy seemed depleted, his face went ghostly pale, and his body nearly collapsed, but his gaze only grew wilder. With a mighty hurl, the sword's blade glowed out three feet long, poised in midair on a slant like a miniature missile, aimed straight at Jiang Shu.

The Zhao Family's secret art, a middle-grade martial skill.

The 'Meteor Sword!'

"Go!"

This sword attack was Zhao Chengxuan's ultimate strike.

If he were on Xuanxing, it would slice through iron like it was nothing.

Even tanks and planes could be cleaved in two with a single stroke.

Even peaks shaped by nature could have their summits sliced right off.

Yet this sword—the power of a Blood Exchange Realm martial artist's full Essence Blood and True Force poured into it—

Jiang Shu embodied a Great Pill, yin and yang entwined.

His palm lifted to the heavens, gripping the void itself.

The Four Symbols True Strength wreathed the air, instantly condensing it into threads of transparent qi—hard as steel, soft as flowing water.

True Force extended outward, gathering qi into strands.

Between Heaven and Earth, vast Primordial Qi lingered.

A peak Blood Exchange martial artist, at the limit of the flesh, drew primordial qi into the body, opened the acupoints, and that was the Acupoint Passage Realm.

To command Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi was the mark of the Acupoint Passage Realm!

*No matter how monstrous a genius at the Blood Exchange Realm, at most they could sense primordial qi—they could not use it.*

If Jiang Shu had only trained in the Da Jing Dynasty's martial arts, facing this strike, he would have been forced to dodge at top speed.

But unfortunately, he was more than a Blood Exchange Realm martial artist.

He was also... a Grandmaster of Pill Force.

The unity of essence, qi, and spirit at the martial arts Pill Force stage.

Even if he could not draw primordial qi into the body and open the acupoints like an Acupoint Passage Realm master,

with the subtlety of True Force, guiding a portion of primordial qi to confront the enemy was as natural and easy as breathing.

"Pop."

It was like a tiny insect flying at high speed, flung into a spider's web.

With a soft sound, that "Meteor Sword" full of peerless might and plummeting force was stopped midair by Jiang Shu's hand.

True Force and primordial qi bound the "Meteor Sword" tight.

"This...how is this possible!"

Zhao Chengxuan's body shuddered, the words slipping from his mouth.

*From the county city to the prefecture, he had seen countless geniuses.*

*But every genius from the county, he had defeated in turn.*

In terms of background, he was a scion of the county's greatest clan—the Zhao Family. His close cousin had even made the Little Dragon Tiger List.

In terms of talent, he advanced to the Refining Internal Realm at seventeen, and reached the Blood Exchange Realm at nineteen. He wielded forbidden techniques that most Blood Exchange martial artists dreamed of mastering.

The only geniuses who had ever beaten him were born to the great families of the prefecture city!

And if they surpassed him, it was only because of their cultivation technique, martial arts, higher realm, or experience.

*He had every bit of the experience needed to surpass them in turn.*

*But now, Jiang Shu's simple move had shattered everything he believed about the Blood Exchange Realm!*

True Force and primordial qi intertwined, merged as one!

*How could such a battle be possible at the Blood Exchange Realm?!*

"Do you yield or not?"

With a flick of his fingers, like a sonic boom,

the "Meteor Sword," suspended in midair all this time, finally, wrapped in True Force and primordial qi, reverted to an ordinary sword and clattered to the ground.

Jiang Shu did not care in the least. He stepped forward lightly and spoke with a calm air.

His voice, unlike Zhao Chengxuan's, was not meant to draw the attention of thousands, nor did it thunder intentionally.

But the whole arena was gripped by utter silence nonetheless.

From Jiang Shu's first move until now, it had really only been two simple exchanges.

Yet these two moves had overturned everyone's understanding of strength at the Blood Exchange Realm.

With such might, such momentum—"Shang Junming" need not even rank on the Little Dragon Tiger List yet.

Within a year, he was certain to make the top ten.

He might even, in the not-so-distant future, ascend the true Dragon Tiger List!

Everyone was stunned, witnessing the rise of a genius.

Zhang Ruo's small mouth hung open, her generously-sized chest heaving unconsciously.

Her heart, at that moment, pounded at its utmost speed.

*She never imagined that the elder brother Shang who had accompanied her to Yongning County, the same who had just been sitting beside her, could be such an existence.*

*Genius? Monster? In her heart, no words sufficed to describe Elder Brother Shang.*

Li Qi and Zhao Zhen, shaken to their core, wished they could slap themselves awake.

Jiang Shu stood atop the arena like a god descending, felling the county's number-one genius under twenty, Zhao Chengxuan, with a mere turn of his hand. In the face of such power, how could they dare utter a word of slander?

The ten clan leaders found their thoughts racing in all directions.

Some wanted to enlist Jiang Shu for their own.

Others sought a chance to trick Jiang Shu into revealing his cultivation methods.

Anyone could see Jiang Shu was hiding a monumental secret.

Forbidden techniques alone were enough to make any Blood Exchange martial artist fight to the death for them.

But this cultivation method, able to fuse with Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi...

*Even the prefecture's greatest geniuses would go mad for it!*

None of the expressions below escaped Jiang Shu's notice.

Jiang Shu's face was as calm as still water, awaiting Zhao Chengxuan's reply.

Long before traveling here, he had fixed his goal for coming to the Da Jing Dynasty.

To make the Little Dragon Tiger List!

Zhao Chengxuan was strong, but merely at the early stage of the Blood Exchange Realm.

Reaching the late stage would take him another year.

As for Jiang Shu, if he only had enough resources, his vital energy would surge; relying on Pill Force, he could completely ascend the Little Dragon Tiger List.

The gap between them had been clear as day from the very start.

"I...yield..."

Zhao Chengxuan hung his head, his voice shrinking, all his former arrogance gone.

Jiang Shu's peerless command of True Force and Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi had already burned itself into his memory.

*He was terrified, unable to ever forget it!*

"Young brother Shang, as the saying goes, 'No fight, no friendship.' Why not stay at our Zhao Family's estate for a while..."

The Zhao Family clan leader, seeing his clan's genius required time to recover, jumped in to smooth things over first.

"Zhao Yuanrui, that's going too far. Young brother Shang clearly won the championship at our Zhang Family's county talents gathering. I say, let him stay with us at the Zhang Family. Besides, our Zhang Family's mysterious grand gift is due to be awarded."

The Zhang Family clan leader certainly was not about to let the Zhao Family seize the upper hand, so he replied directly.

"No need, Clan Leader Zhang."

Before the Zhang clan leader could speak further, Jiang Shu shook his head.

Before coming to the county talents gathering, he already guessed what the mysterious gift was.

It was definitely a set of cultivation resources any Blood Exchange martial artist would crave, and a marriage contract with Zhang Yunsu.

The cultivation resources he could take, but marriage—absolutely not.

That opportunity he would leave for someone else.

"I am devoted to the martial path and may head to the prefecture city soon. Besides, this appearance on stage was only to accept a challenge, not to truly participate in the county talents gathering. In my view, the championship is yours to award as you choose, Clan Leader Zhang."

"Whether Zhao Chengxuan or Wang Liancheng, they are both fine candidates."

Jiang Shu's voice was gentle, but it made Clan Leader Zhang crack a wry smile.

*As expected, there was nothing simple about anyone who could reach such a realm in cultivation.*

He spared not another glance at Zhao Chengxuan.

Jiang Shu stepped down from the arena, walking to the stands and then to the plaza's edge.

His last words drifted behind him.

"Clan Leader Zhang, since Zhang Ruo and I know each other, let her focus on her cultivation."

His figure receded, vanishing from sight.

Zhang Ruo gazed out beyond the plaza, her eyes shimmering like water sliced by a blade.

*She wanted to cry, but had to strain to hold it back.*

*Her heart felt as though seized, squeezed tight by a giant hand.*

Blood Exchange Realm, Yunzhou prefecture city, Little Dragon Tiger List...

*Now that they parted, who knew how long it would be before they met again...*