No Holding Back

Wu Zhen returned to the front desk and signed up for another match with a Qi Ocean 2 martial artist. At the same time, at another desk, another young man signed up for a match with a Qi Ocean 2 martial artist as well. He wore an azure robe with an emblem resembling a sword on it.

Wu Zhen sat down, and his name was called after only a few minutes. He didn't think much of it. Maybe there just weren't that many fights in the arena that day. As he stepped into the arena, he confronted his opponent, that very young man.

"What's going on?! I requested a Qi Ocean 2 opponent!", his opponent yelled.

Surprisingly, the announcer's voice quickly responded.

"The person you are facing off against has repeatedly beat Qi Ocean 2 opponents in rank-crossing matches. He is qualified to fight you."

His opponent yelled back, "Are you kidding me? I'm an Azure Blade sect disciple! Martial Star Arena is too full of themselves nowadays."

The announcer became nervous as he brought up the Azure Blade sect.

"Please understand, we didn't have any Qi Ocean 2 fighters come in today as there was a beast wave attacking the city."

The Azure Blade sect disciple stared angrily at the announcer, before looking at Wu Zhen.

"Come at me, and I'll see if you're really worthy to be my opponent.

Wu Zhen didn't care that his opponent was an Azure Blade sect disciple. If anything, he was rather excited. It was said that an Azure Blade sect disciple could fight against some 1 or even 2 levels higher than them. All of his previous opponents had been too weak, so he was looking forward to a good fight.

Wu Zhen leaped forward with the might of his newly-upgraded body, sending a punch of lightning straight at his opponent's face. His opponent managed to catch his punch but was pushed back 3 or 4 steps.

"Interesting!", his opponent said as he pulled out his sword from its sheath. "You are worthy enough for me to pull out my sword!"

His opponent gave out a newfound pressure after taking on a stance. He was clearly much stronger than before. Wu Zhen also began to use more of his power.

They launched forward at each other and unleashed a barrage of slashes and fists. Wu Zhen was actually losing since his opponent's sword had a far superior reach to his own hands. If so, then he could simply use his legs. He began attacking his opponent using more kicks, trying to negate the reach difference.

"Sun-slaying Slash!"

His enemy launched forward with his sword which was emitting a brilliant glow. The slash left a shallow wound on Wu Zhen's torso. If he didn't break through to the third rank of Nine Lightning body, that would've been an even worse wound. It was enough playing around.

Wu Zhen activated Divine Lightning Intent and turned the match around. Suddenly, he was absolutely dominating his opponent. The crowd watched on, cheering intensely.

"Martial Intent!", his opponent screeched. This seemingly unremarkable fighter had actually achieved the rank of martial intent? Impossible!

Still, he wasn't going to give up that easily. He was an Azure Blade sect disciple! Losing would be letting down not only himself but his entire sect.

"I am the Sword. The Sword is me!".

At that moment, his opponent achieved a mysterious synergy with his weapon, making it seem like the sword was a part of his own body, a third limb. His attacks were more nimble and hit precisely at Wu Zhen's weak points. His strength reached a new level, just like when Wu Zhen had activated his martial intent.

They were both even now.

One moment, Wu Zhen would be winning, the next, the match would have turned in his opponent's favor. The crowd had no idea who would win, which made the match all the more exciting.

Wu Zhen felt exhilarated, he had finally found a person who he could go all out on. Even though dominating his opponents was fun, having a battle at full power was even more exciting! As he fought on, he began to get even stronger. A good fight was worth months or even years of practice.

His martial intent began to grow stronger as it was pushed to its limit, and so was his opponent's synergy with his weapon. Rivals truly brought the best out of each other. As they got faster and faster, the crowd gradually became unable to see the fight. An ordinary person would only see blurs, and only Qi Ocean martial artists were able to truly spectate the fight.

"Swords of Light, come to my aid!", his opponent shouted. Light condensed in the sky above them, forming into the shape of 9 swords that majestically hovered above his opponent.

"To make me use my strongest technique, you are truly a strong fighter! My name's Yu Qiling, what's yours?"

"Wu Zhen."

After exchanging names, they continued to fight. The 9 swords of light above Yu Qiling weren't just for show, they were also all formidable weapons. They were incredibly fast, striking at Wu Zhen as he fought with Yu Qiling. While he could dodge a majority of them, one of them would manage to sneak its way into his defense and leave a hit.

If the match went on like this, Wu Zhen would certainly lose. Suddenly, he heard the voice of Freedom God-Emperor in his head.

"Use your soul to see, not your eyes."

Wu Zhen closed his eyes, using only his soul to see. Suddenly, he found that dodging was much easier using his soul than his eyes. While his eyes could see far in front of him, his soul could see all around him, but not far. While this meant that they were useless in day-to-day life, in combat, they were quite effective.

Yu Qiling's eyes bulged out in shock, how was Wu Zhen dodging even better without using his eyes? What peculiar technique did he master?

"Wu Zhen, you are one of the strongest fighters I've faced, but you still can't win!"

Above Yu Qiling, another 9 swords formed, creating 19 in total, including the sword Yu Qiling was currently using.

The crowd had been shocked countless times at this point, how many trump cards did these two even have?

Wu Zhen opened his eyes to see 18 swords above Yu Qiling's head. They were all in a circle, appearing like a halo. Wu Zhen once again closed his eyes. He was preparing to bring out all he had discovered about martial intents.

Dual martial intents!

He was using 2 martial intents at the same time, combining the best of Divine Lightning Strikes and Autumn Leaf Art. If he could use more intents at the same time, he would, but two was his maximum and the two strongest intents he had were these two, not because Autumn Leaf Art was the second strongest martial art he learned, but because it was the second one he had achieved the intent of.

With dual martial intents, he was able to barely stand up to Yu Qiling's domineering 18 swords of light. Yu Qiling rushed at Wu Zhen, preparing to finish him off.

"Solar Fire Cleave!"

Yu Qiling's sword burst into flames that were as bright as the sun. The temperature of the sword had reached a point where it almost seemed like it was being forged once again.

Wu Zhen took on the red-hot sword with his bare hands, burning them, but managing to land a hit on Yu Qiling.

His palms felt like they had touched molten lava. The heat burnt his skin off almost instantly, leaving a charred black surface. The wound was regenerating though, but he wouldn't be able to use his palms for the rest of the fight unless he wanted to injure them even more.

Even without his palms, Wu Zhen still put up a fight. Although his strength had reduced, he still wasn't decidedly going to lose. In Martial Star Arena, anything could happen.

The audience was watching on, closely observing the fight. The sight of Wu Zhen fighting without his hands was quite moving. For a martial artist, his hands were one of the most important things. A martial artist without hands simply couldn't compare to one who did have them, since only using your legs meant fewer ways to attack, fewer opportunities, and ultimately, less strength.

Leg styles were relatively fewer than palm and fist styles as well, so finding a good one would be harder, leading to even more disparities. Hands were absolutely crucial to a martial artist. Even though legs are stronger, hands can be used to block and catch other attacks as well as wield weapons.

"Enough of this. Let's hit each other with each of our most powerful attacks. Whoever can withstand it wins.", Wu Zhen said. He was running low on qi, and he would soon run out which would be an almost guaranteed loss.

"I agree.", Yu Qiling said.

Wu Zhen opened his eyes.

Yu Qiling's 19 swords all merged with each other. The sight was incredible. The giant sword of light stretched more than two meters long.

"Sword of Heavenly Light!"

"109th form, THUNDER KILL!"

Wu Zhen formed a fist with his burnt hands and leaped towards Yu Qiling. He used his power of the soul and martial intent simultaneously, this was his strongest attack.

The collision of the two moves resulted in a blinding light. No one could see anything.

Who won this epic battle? Who had triumphed? The crowd was all at the edge of the seats.

Who was it?