June 15, the seventh day of this year's unified entry-level Martial Arts Examination.
For a twelve-day grand competition, the seventh day could seem neither here nor there. But this year's examination was different. Many new disciples even considered the seventh day the climax of the year's competition.
Because the first match of the day was a duel between two supreme geniuses!
At Xinyue Immortal Institute, Wang Qi had fought thirteen battles and won them all, each time with absolute strength, crushing his opponents in their areas of expertise! What was even more chilling was his terrible mischief, as he enjoyed mocking his opponents with inexplicable remarks on the field, completely breaking them down!
At Langde Immortal Institute, Ai Changyuan, with fourteen battles and fourteen wins, each match ended with just one punch! Unlike Wang Qi, he hardly spoke to his opponents, nor did they have the opportunity to talk tough to him.
In the first six days of competition, they had both clearly demonstrated their terrifying abilities to everyone. Recently, these two freaks were about to begin a peak-level clash of the strong.
That's why most of the new disciples arrived early at the venue. They didn't line up by their respective Immortal Institutes but crowded to the A1 field or gathered around the Illusion Mirror broadcasting the A1 field. No one wanted to miss such a match!
Ai Changyuan arrived early beside the field. Unlike before, where he flaunted his strength by hovering in the air, he stood on the ground, quietly playing with an apple in his hand. The bright red fruit moved up and down with his actions. Some young cultivators with profound cultivation were surprised to discover that the breath of heaven and earth around them produced a rhythm that synchronized with the rise and fall of the fruit!
This was a high compatibility with the breathing of heaven and earth, where the cultivator's own movements in turn influenced the breathing of heaven and earth. Ai Changyuan was clearly contemplating mechanics through the motion of the apple, his thoughts driving the mana inside him, which in turn interfered with the breath of heaven and earth.
Such interference was almost to the extent of writing a thesis!
"Really? This guy is a monster!"
"I'm not even that focused when I write my papers!"
"He can even think deeply under such noisy circumstances and facing the pressure of imminent battle..."
Amidst the exclamations, someone else looked around in confusion, "Speaking of which, where's Wang Qi?"
"Yeah, I haven't seen him."
"Doesn't he come here before the fight to adjust his condition?"
The crowd became somewhat restless. Everyone was looking for Wang Qi. Meanwhile, Ai Changyuan remained focused on the apple's swing, as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.
Just then, the morning bell sounded, signaling the start of the day's Martial Arts Examination.
Along with the melodious chime, there was also a disturbance. The disturbance began at the edge of the steel mill and gradually spread to the A1 field.
The crowd parted automatically, and a young man who was yawning walked out, "Ah... yo, you're pretty early."
Ai Changyuan was still playing with the apple.
At this point, Lu Qianqian rushed over, smacked Ai Changyuan hard, and then blushed as she stepped back. Ai Changyuan finally woke up, "Oh, Wang Qi."
Wang Qi sighed softly and then stepped directly onto the field.
The signal to start the first match was the 7 a.m. bell, meaning the duel had already begun.
After positioning themselves in the arena, both maintained a distance of twelve meters with tacit understanding. Wang Qi swiped across his Storage Bag and drew out a long saber. Then, instead of hanging the Storage Bag back at his waist, he tied the bag around his wrist with a thin rope tightening the bag's mouth.
Ai Changyuan saw that Wang Qi was holding a saber and frowned slightly, "Not a sword?"
Wang Qi casually executed a flourish with the saber, "Having mastered group theory and integrated it into martial arts, I can derive any technique easily and make analogies. Swordsmanship and saber techniques can be equivalently realized through symmetry; a saber, for me, is merely a convenient tool."
Wang Qi's true reliance was not on swordsmanship or saber skills but on mathematics. Only the latter was fundamental to his cultivation.
Swords or sabers? Just convenient tools.
Ai Changyuan shook his head, "No, that sword of yours is at least a Heavy Artifact, whereas the saber in your hand is just a crudely made training saber, which I can break with a casual strike."
Wang Qi helplessly explained, "Well, I developed my own swordsmanship, while Bai Ze and Senior Fu, two masters of the Carefree school, created this saber technique. Currently, my saber skills are stronger than my sword skills."
"Oh, is that so," Ai Changyuan nodded, "Then, sorry. Although I don't have a must-win reason like you, I still quite want to win."
"Ah?" Ai Changyuan's abrupt statement left Wang Qi a bit at a loss. Just then, Ai Changyuan tightened his grip on the apple and brought it to his mouth.
Wang Qi instantly understood Ai Changyuan's intentions and immediately lunged toward him.
"Newton's Apple" contained the Yuanli Master's understanding of heavenly phenomena and gravity. Eating it could allow one to choose to absorb these insights. Moreover, as Ai Changyuan was already a practitioner of Wanxiang Heavenly Attraction, consuming it would mean the power from the fruit could directly interact with his True Cultivation to produce an effect greater than the sum of the parts!
Ai Changyuan had never used magic artifacts, seemingly adhering stubbornly to his belief in his strength alone. This made people unconsciously overlook the incredibly valuable treasure on him—his apple, which contained the insights of Yuanli Master, was undoubtedly more valuable than even Wang Qi's "Kun Mountain Sword", which could drive Golden Cores crazy and distort Nascent Souls.
A brilliant slash turned into a straight line aimed at Wang Qi. Ideal, straight, unstoppable—it seemed to extend to the far reaches of the Star Sea. And the slash was aimed at Ai Changyuan!
However, a crisp "snap" signified that Wang Qi was too slow. Ai Changyuan had already bitten off a big chunk of the apple and swallowed it whole.
Then, he smiled slightly at Wang Qi, flipped his right hand, and struck directly at the long saber.
In an instant, Wang Qi felt the ground tilt.
The gravity field was altered, the environment rewritten—this was Wanxiang Heavenly Attraction!