After giving their greetings, each sect returned to the edge of the stage before they sent out their first fighter.
A few moments later, the Divine Sword Sect sends out a disciple at the peak of the True Spirit Realm.
"Who wants to fight first?" Liu Lanzhi asked them.
"Oh! Me! Allow me to experience their swords first, Sect Master!" Disciple Jin Xi immediately raised her hand.
Liu Lanzhi looked at her and nodded. "Be careful, your opponent is not only three stages above you, but his Profound Qi is incredibly thick for someone at his level. He most likely has strength equal to someone who just entered the Earth Spirit Realm."
Jin Xi nodded with a serious expression.
However, just as Jin Xi prepared to enter the stage, Su Yang spoke, "Wait a second."
He then approached her and gave her a gentle tap on her forehead.
Jin Xi suddenly felt as though something had been unleashed within her body, and a profound energy sprouted within her aura.
"I have removed your limiter. Go wild." Su Yang said to her with a smile.
Jin Xi showed a wide smile and nodded excitement, "I will not disappoint you!"
Once Jin Xi stepped onto the stage, Liu Lanzhi asked Su Yang with, "What on earth did you just do to her? How did her Profound Qi suddenly grow stronger?"
"I didn’t mention this, but the disciples have not been using their full abilities before, as I have placed a limit on their Dantian," said Su Yang, revealing this shocking information to her.
"What?! You mean to tell me that they have been fighting with only some of their potential this entire time?! Why would you limit their strength?"
Being dumbfounded can’t even describe what Liu Lanzhi was feeling right now.
"You’ll understand in just a moment. It won’t be fun if they dominate all of the matches with ease, right?"
Liu Lanzhi did not immediately respond and turned to look at Jin Xi instead.
"Are the two of you ready?" Zi Dong asked them after both sides had a fighter on the stage.
Jin Xi and the young man in front of her nodded.
"Then let the first match for the semifinals begin!" Zi Dong waved his hand before retreating to the edge of the stage.
The moment the match began, the young man from the Divine Sword Sect roared, causing his aura to sharpen like the blade of a sword.
"Is that Sword Intent?!"
The audience was shocked upon feeling the sharp aura from the young man, almost like they were looking at a swordmaster.
"No, that’s not real sword intent. It’s only an imitation of the real thing. There’s no way any of them would be able to emit real sword intent, as that would require decades of training to even understand sword intent, much less create it."
"However, even if it’s fake, it’s quite impressive, as not just anybody can imitate sword intent, and you can tell that he has a profound understanding of the sword."
The real experts there gave their insights.
"While I have to give you guys credits for reaching this far, this is as far as you’ll go."
The Divine Sword Sect’s disciple pointed his sword at Jin Xi, who stood there calmly.
"Indeed, even I could’ve never expected that I would come this far before." Jin Xi spoke with a smile on her face.
"However, I will have to disagree with you on one thing — that this is our end. We will not only defeat you, but we all also defeat the Azure Cloud Sect and become the champions."
The young man burst out laughing after hearing her words and said, "You wish to defeat us? Although you may have an impressive cultivation base, that’s all you guys have, and that won’t be enough to defeat us!"
Jin Xi suddenly grasped the sword by her side and said, "While we do not have much experience in real combat, we have sparred with a swordmaster plenty of times — enough to deal with people like you."
"Hahahaha! A swordmaster? Just because someone can hold a sword, it does not make them a swordmaster!" The young man snorted in disdain.
"Speak for yourself. Just because they are called swordmaster does not really make them one!" Jin Xi unsheathed her sword.
The second she drew her sword, Jin Xi’s aura shot into the sky and sharpened like a blade, making it seem as though her entire body had turned into a sword.
"T-This is — impossible!"
When the Divine Sword Sect disciple realized that it was sword intent coming from Jin Xi’s body, his legs gave up and he fell to the floor.
"T-That’s real sword intent?! How is that possible?!"
It was not just the Divine Sword Sect’s disciples, even the others were baffled by this situation.
"What is going on? How could she have sword intent?!" Elder Zhong’s entire body was trembling from shock and disbelief at this moment.
"This is truly unexpected..." Even Lord Xie couldn’t comprehend the situation. "I wasn’t able to sense any sword intent from her before this, yet she can suddenly emit sword intent. What the hell is going on?"
"S-S-S-Su Yang! What is going on?! How come she can suddenly use sword intent?! I don’t remember the Profound Blossom Sect having any sword techniques besides the Profound Blossom Art, and understanding the sword arts enough to create sword intent with that Mortal-grade technique is simply impossible!" Liu Lanzhi said to him.
"Hm? Oh, I taught them a thing or two about swords whenever we are not cultivating." Su Yang casually responded.
"Eh? D-Does this mean they can all emit sword intent?" Liu Lanzhi looked at the other disciples with wide eyes.
"Of course." Su Yang nodded. "It’s just that I have sealed their sword intent inside their Dantian at the moment, so you won’t be able to tell."
"U-Unbelievable..." Liu Lanzhi didn’t know what to think of this and could only accept reality as it is.