Chapter 298 – Convincing Strength … … … Lin Ming. Early Pulse Condensation cultivation, 16 years old! How did he defeat Mugu Buyu? And listening to the intent behind Mugu Buyu’s words, not only was he not Lin Ming’s match, but he was far surpassed by Lin Ming. No one person thought that Mugu Buyu would lie. Mugu Buyu was such a talented genius, there was no way that he would frustrate his own spirit. Not only that, but there was no need to do so. It would be impossible for Divine Phoenix Island to do something so careless like designating Lin Ming as a heaven-step talent just because of some words from Mugu Buyu. Then, the only explanation would be that Lin Ming truly was a terrifying presence. Peacock Mountain’s Lin Ping let out a long breath of air as he looked at Mugu Buyu. Naturally, he would be able to defeat Mugu Buyu by virtue of absolute suppression of power. But Lin Ming was only at the early Pulse Condensation period, how did he defeat him? If Lin Ming was fierce at the early Pulse Condensation period, then what would happen if he reached the middle Pulse Condensation period, late Pulse Condensation period, or even stepped into the Houtian realm? If that happened, maybe even Lin Ping himself wouldn’t be able to touch Lin Ming! No wonder Divine Phoenix Island had chosen Lin Ming as a heaven-step talent. He was so young, yet he had such strength! This was the reason that he was the only heaven-step talent. Lin Ping was simply speechless. At this time, Lin Ming was quietly sitting in the arena. Because of his age, no one had the qualifications to challenge him. But after Mugu Buyu rolled over Zhang Shaoshan, there were even less people that wanted to challenge him. If it really came down to a battle, the only one present that could match Lin Ming was probably Lin Ping. As for everyone else, they were mostly at Jiang Baoyun’s level; they would only be able to force out Lin Ming’s full power. At this time, Jiang Baoyun suddenly said to the youth with upturned eyebrows, “Senior-apprentice Brother, it’s about time we enter the stage.” The youth with upturned eyebrows was surprised, and then immediately felt bitterness in his heart. He had been nervous and gone crazy in challenging Jiang Baoyun. Their match was immediately after Mugu Buyu and Zhang Shaoshan’s! The youth with upturned eyebrows gulped; his mouth dry as he was left speechless. He didn’t believe for a moment that he would be a match for that mummy. And according to his information, Jiang Baoyun was someone who was even fiercer than that mummy fellow! Although the youth with upturned eyebrows was confident in his own abilities, he wasn’t so confident as to think he could defeat such an abnormal character. If he went on stage, wouldn’t he just be ruining himself? But he was the third-ranked disciple of Falling Cloud Sect, and Falling Cloud Sect was one of the six top third-grade sects. How could he run away from a mere Seven Profound Valleys disciple? But if he went on, he would be ruined, and most likely be abused into a shameless mess that would lose all face for his family. Yet if he was timid, then people would say that he was so scared that he dared not go on stage. In that case, he would still lose face! The youth with upturned eyebrows finally understood what it meant to jump on the tiger’s back, unable to crawl down. This catastrophe had all been brought about by his own big and cheap mouth! As he mulled over this dilemma, a cold voice suddenly said, “Junior-apprentice Brother Song, I will go.” The youth with upturned eyebrows turned around, seeing a white robed Bai Shuxuan standing behind him. Bai Shuxuan couldn’t be considered a true beauty, but from top to bottom, her body gave off a soft and placid temperament just like still water. When a person looked at her, it was easy to have an extremely favorable impression of her. “Senior-apprentice Sister!” The youth with upturned eyebrows’ heart raced with ecstatic joy. His face was full of gratitude as he looked at Bai Shuxuan. Bai Shuxuan was the chief disciple of their Falling Cloud Sect, and her status was equal to Jiang Baoyun’s in the Seven Profound Valleys. She was also the absolute famed talent of her generation, and the fame of her strength was no less than Lin Ping’s. Bai Shuxuan of Falling Cloud Sect and Lin Ping of Peacock Mountain were known as the Dragon and Phoenix Pair of the 19 third-grade sects. Lin Ping was a year older, and he had already stepped into the Houtian realm. As for Bai Shuxuan, she remained in the Pulse Condensation period, but she could break through at any time, she was only waiting for her true essence to flood over and make a natural breakthrough. From the First Stage of Body Transformation to reaching the Houtian realm, one could only be considered a peerless talent and have such confidence if they make breakthroughs completely depending on natural flooding of true essence. Otherwise, if one’s talent was insufficient then they would die before their true essence ever naturally overflowed. Jiang Baoyun had never challenged Bai Shuxuan; he had long ago planned to challenge this genius at some point. Now, this match just happened to align with his wishes. “Senior-apprentice Sister Bai, I have heard great things about you. Please advise!” Jiang Baoyun held his sword in a bowing ceremony, he held a great deal of admiration for Bai Shuxuan. “Please!” This battle of masters immediately attracted everyone’s attention, even Falling Cloud Sect’s elder sat up straight in his seat. Bai Shuxuan was their chief disciple. If she lost to Jiang Baoyun, then their Falling Cloud would truly be embarrassed. For better or for worse, Falling Cloud Sect was still a top third-grade sect that had a 1500 year history. Whether it was legacies or heritage, they far surpassed the 600 year old Seven Profound Valleys. As the match began, Jiang Baoyun took out both his blue and black swords at the start, and then summoned his Sword Spirit Avatar. Facing Bai Shuxuan, he dared not take any chances. Sword light flashed, and the two began to test each other with a few moves. But in an instant, their speed rose to the extreme! Bai Shuxuan’s speed was actually no slower than Jiang Baoyun’s! It had to be known that Jiang Baoyun had comprehended his own Sword Step. As for Bai Shuxuan, she didn’t know a Sword Step, but it seems as if her body had fused into her sword shadow, using this strange movement technique to move around the stage. With this, she was no slower than Jiang Baoyun! “So fierce!” Lin Ming’s eyes flashed. If Lin Ming could be said to have a weakness, then that would be facing someone with a speed more extreme than his own. When this happened, his reaction speed would become his weakness. Against near-instant melee attacks that were as fast as sound, he wasn’t able to respond. He could only integrate the coiling dragon steel needle into his body and release it at a critical moment to repel his opponent. This approach may have seemed like Lin Ming’s trick, but it wasn’t his true ability. “My weakness is speed… I didn’t think that even though I comprehended the Concept of Wind, my speed still wouldn’t be enough. Although Golden Roc Shattering the Void is an incomparably powerful movement martial skill, that was due to it being created and utilized by a Supreme Elder. The Concept of the Golden-winged Roc is incomparably vast and profound. In my current state, all I’ve comprehended is just a drop in the ocean. Not just that, but Golden Roc Shattering the Void actually contains two different concepts: the Concept of Wind and the Concept of Space. I understand the barest basic knowledge of the Concept of Wind, but I still cannot display the full power of Golden Roc Shattering the Void. I have to make up for this deficit in speed as soon as possible.” On the martial stage, there were already countless after-shadows, and the dense sword light was like a woven network of dazzling sparkles. In such a battle, even among the geniuses present, there were still some weaker ones who weren’t able to fully follow the footsteps of these two individuals. “Sword Shattering Clear Sky!” Jiang Baoyun’s aura erupted, his sword potential violently surged! He finally used his strongest skill, this was the Sword Faction’s ultimate secret technique that was driven by his own Sword Spirit! When Jiang Baoyun and Lin Ming had fought, Jiang Baoyun had used this move as his final strike. When he collided with Lin Ming, they had been evenly matched in power. This showed just how strong this ability was. Moreover, Lin Ming also knew that Jiang Baoyun’s sword contained a soul attack, using the Sword Spirit as the weapon in the soul attack. When this soul attack had rushed into Lin Ming’s spiritual sea, it had an extremely lethal murderous intent to it. How would Bai Shuxuan block this? Bai Shuxuan also became aware of just how strong Jiang Baoyun’s sword strike was. Her body flashed with a white light, and rings upon rings of water ripples condensed around her body. “Water Veil Lotus!” In that moment, Bai Shuxuan was surrounded by pure water origin energy. “Mm? Concept of Water?” Bai Shuxuan’s degree of comprehension of the Concept of Water was obviously much more deep and profound than Jiang Lanjian’s Concept of Wind! These talents truly did have their own skill. Pop! The Water Veil Lotus broke apart, mist drifting everywhere in the sky. But Jiang Baoyun’s strongest strike had also been blocked; the protection of the water veil was actually able to defend against the soul attack. This caused Lin Ming to be extremely startled. The two drew back several steps, both of their faces pale. Obviously, they had suffered some minor wounds, and these might have even been soul wounds. A soul wound was no trifling matter. Even a small amount of soul damage would take a long period of time to mend, and one had to be very careful. Once the soul left the protection of the spiritual sea, it was as vulnerable as a little baby in a snowstorm. “Enough! This match is considered a draw!” Mu Qianyu suddenly spoke up from her seat of honor. As she spoke, a strange and harmonious true essence fluctuation followed her voice. To those who heard it, it was inspiring like a pleasant spring breeze. On the martial stage, Jiang Baoyun and Bai Shuxuan were surrounded by these true essence fluctuations. They only felt a very nice and warm sensation, just like huddling around a warm stove in the middle of winter. Their shivering souls were suddenly brimming with vitality. This caused the two of them to be very startled. They knew that Mu Qianyu was a fire-attribute martial artist, but they had only ever thought that fire origin energy could be used in an offensive manner. But Mu Qianyu had actually used the fire origin energy to heal their wounds. Obviously, her understanding of Fire Laws had reached an unfathomably profound degree! “This is good.” The Falling Cloud Sect elder’s forehead was dripping with sweat. By watching the battle, he could see that Jiang Baoyun was no weaker than Bai Shuxuan. However, this was not what had horrified him. As the fight continued, he was able to discover to his amazement that Jiang Baoyun’s sword actually contained a soul attack. Not only that, but looking at his appearance, it didn’t seem as if he had good control over it. If Bai Shuxuan’s soul had been injured, she would have been finished. A soul wound was one of the most difficult kinds of wounds to treat and heal. To those who cultivated the sword, their perception was their most important aspect. Once the spiritual sea was damaged, a swordsman would basically become useless. Bai Shuxuan was the treasure of their Falling Cloud Sect. If she was ruined by an incurable soul wound just because of a little martial arts match, then he would really grieve to the point of having no tears. Shi Zongtian also let out a long breath of relief. The strengths of these two individuals was about the same. But, Jiang Baoyun was younger than Bai Shuxuan by several months. So Jiang Baoyun’s talent could be considered to be even better! After this, there was no one else who dared to object to the list of names that were crafted by Divine Phoenix Island. The Seven Profound Valleys was just too abnormal. First, there was some unknown mummy fellow named Mugu Buyu who had rolled over Zhang Shaoshan, and there was even a Jiang Baoyun who was on par with Falling Cloud Sect’s greatest talent! Lin Ming was even stronger than these two, and he was only 16 years of age. With such talent, nobody dared to question why he was the only designated heaven-step talent. As for those 30 earth-step talents, they accepted that they would rush through the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda to decided which ones of them would enter the earth-step, and which ones of them would fall to the human-step talent rankings. Of course, none of this mattered to Lin Ming. “If there are no more objections, then this meeting shall come to an end. Everyone may return!” Mu Qianyu stood up as she said this, and then beckoned towards Lin Ming, saying, “Lin Ming, you stay behind.” “Yes, Saintess Your Highness.” In such a large crowd of people, Lin Ming maintained his respectful manners. Why had Mu Qianyu told him to stay behind? Seeing that Lin Ming would stay behind alone with Mu Qianyu, this matter immediately attracted the attention of all the other geniuses. They didn’t need to be geniuses to know that this was some good thing, and also a form of special treatment. But still, besides envying, what else could they do? Their ability was less than others, there was nothing they could do! At this time, Zhang Shaoshan had just woken up after having eaten some pills. Seeing that Lin Ming would stay behind with Mu Qianyu, he almost fainted with anger again on scene.