The sudden change elicited exclamations of awe from countless spectators present.

Shen Qingming’s audacity in forcibly dispelling magic with her Blood Qi directly shattered many cultivators’ worldviews. The difference in strength between her and Lu Qun was apparent to all, with nearly an entire Realm gap between them. Shen Qingming was clearly struggling to maintain the Peak of the Cloud Surge Realm, Half-Step Cloud Flipping Realm True Essence using special pre-competition preparation methods, while Lu Qun was an unquestionable expert in the Cloud Flipping Realm, ready to break through to the next Realm at any moment.

Moreover, Lu Qun had cultivated in Wuxiang Sword Academy for two years, during which his sword techniques had matured significantly and his combat experience became ample; the spells he casually left around were essentially all-out killing moves for many Sword Cultivators of the same Realm.

Yet such a fierce killing move was shattered by Shen Qingming with sheer Blood Qi of her physical body, making it hard for onlookers to imagine what kind of formidable power was hidden within that petite and tender frame.

Subsequently, Lu Qun’s refracted vengeance brightened many observers’ eyes, as it indicated that his Golden Crow Swordsmanship had made a qualitative leap in his two years at Wuxiang Sword Academy. It was widely known that the Lu Family’s Golden Crow Sword was renowned for its brightness and clarity, but this refracted vengeance was undeniably a supple and even insidious sword technique. Lu Qun was only twenty years old and had practiced the Golden Crow Sword for five years, easily mastering the essence of the Yin and Yang Complementary Sword Dao, truly astonishing others.

The effectiveness of refracted vengeance was undeniable as well. When Lu Qun severed his left hand, his physical body remained in the luminous Sword Escape state and swiftly regenerated within the glow.

This was the power of the Golden Crow Sword; once in an all-out state, as long as the glow persisted, the Swordsman possessed virtually inexhaustible Life Force, wounds to the physical body and even injuries to the Primordial Spirit could heal within the light, provided vital points remained intact, granting a staring advantage in direct combat.

Therefore, many felt the battle was concluding with the successful strike of refracted vengeance.

Shen Qingming wielded a massive sword, the destructive power beyond words, yet she always held the sword with both hands, indicating her swordsmanship required extremely precise control. Now that her left hand was severed, despite an abundant Life Force, it was impossible to continue fighting single-handedly, signaling a certain defeat.

Yet the girl’s spirit wasn’t diminished, rather growing stronger, as if serious injuries of losing a hand propelled her to another level.

——

"Indeed... the long-forgotten sensation of pain."

As her left hand broke away at the wrist, Shen Qingming not only refrained from showing pain but rather grew more excited, her Blood Qi boiling and becoming more active.

Under Wang Jiu’s tutelage during this period, she was accustomed to the taste of pain, so much so that physical pain instead offered a sweet solace to her spirit.

Although this peculiar reaction capacity, upon deeper reflection, seemed truly sorrowful... yet undeniably, in the battlefield, the ability to savor pain was an extraordinary privilege.

The next moment, under the twinned stimuli of bodily pain and spiritual satisfaction, the Immovable Tyrant Body began operating beyond its limits, Shen Qingming’s petite frame suddenly expanded, transforming from the semblance of a ten-year-old child to a fourteen or fifteen-year-old budding girl.

And the doorboard heavy sword, seemingly as heavy as a mountain, was steadily held in her single hand, with muscle lines appearing distinctly on the girl’s fair arm, and the blood roaring through her veins as if molten lava, unfetteredly releasing vast energy.

The girl overcame pain and continued her charge against Lu Qun.

Lu Qun similarly grew increasingly composed, not becoming unsettled by his opponent’s imposing power.

After two years at Wuxiang Sword Academy, he had sparred countless times with fellow disciples and gotten used to seeing surprising trump cards in actual combat.

No need to panic, nor be impatient, as long as he maintained his rhythm, victory would not slip through his fingers.

Facing Shen Qingming’s unstoppable offensive, Lu Qun chose to avoid combat, utilizing the Sword Escape Technique to widen the gap and continually marked her with spells, then inflicted damage with Golden Crow’s Refraction.

In the previous exchange, Lu Qun had clearly assessed that, despite Shen Qingming possessing a strong tolerance for pain, she fundamentally couldn’t evade the reality of bodily injuries, unable to withstand the refraction of the Golden Crow Sword.

And regardless of how much temporary advantage the injuries might bring her, with cumulative accumulation, her defeat seemed inevitable.

Within Wuxiang Sword Academy, there were other swordsmen with similar combat styles, and every few months, the Sword Academy would organize real combat training with the soldiers of Shen City, with even more Berserkers there... thus Lu Qun was long accustomed to such battles, his record having improved from initially more losses than wins to recent overwhelming victories.

This time, he had the advantage in strength and his tactics were more advanced, hence there certainly wouldn’t be any surprises in the outcome.

The ensuing battle also seemed to confirm his conjecture.

However valiantly Shen Qingming performed, she remained undeniably on the passive side of the confrontation, even though she repeatedly dissipated her opponent’s spells with Blood Qi and launched charge after charge, her aggressive momentum striking fear into many higher Realm cultivators observing from outside...

Yet she still couldn’t change her entirely passive plight, after each charge she was heavily struck by the refracted vengeance of the Golden Crow Sword, though rarely having limbs directly severed now, but penetrating abdomen, breaking eyes... such injuries continued to accumulate.

At first, people marveled at Shen Qingming’s fearless bravery, but soon they started frowning, unable to voice any words.

The injuries she accumulated, even by the standards of many war-experienced fighters, were overly grave.

Injuries never truly make one stronger; they can only stimulate one’s ability to overdraw, once injuries accumulate excessively, no matter how one desires to overdraw, the body’s reserves are insufficient for payment.

And this was also the common tactic sword cultivators of Wuxiang Sword Academy used against Berserkers, gradually diminishing the opponent’s combat capabilities, until even the most resilient fighting spirit couldn’t sustain the battle, leading victory to be effortlessly claimed.

Shen Qingming now had likely reached and even exceeded her limits, her chest and abdomen vital areas had been repeatedly pierced, her left hand cut off at the wrist, her right arm bearing a large gash at the shoulder, her legs crisscrossed with numerous sword wounds, five of her ten toes severed, one eye blind...

Even though within the two academies, multiple injuries could quickly recover, witnessing a young girl subjected to such torment still stirred empathy in others.

"Dean, I think... we should call it off now?"

Outside the arena, a younger Sword Cultivator couldn’t bear the brutal scene inside any longer and suggested as much.

Wang Xiao was also frowning tightly, constantly suppressing his heartbeat with pure True Essence.

He had practiced for decades and seen much of the world, but such a bloody scene, no matter how many times, was still something he couldn’t get used to... So he had long wanted to call it off as well.

"Indeed, although the academy’s contestant fights very bravely, after all..."

As he spoke, Wang Xiao turned his head, only to see Wang Jiu looking as indifferent as ever, completely without any intention to call it off, as if the girl inside, who had turned into a blood-soaked figure, had nothing to do with him.

After pondering for a moment, Wang Xiao said, "Otherwise, let’s call it a draw?"

Wang Jiu shook his head, "That would be too unfair."

Wang Xiao thought, of course, it is unfair, but between fairness and humanity, we would rather choose humanity. This sword fighting conference is just a bet of a few hundred thousand Spirit Stones, if it wasn’t for you, the next Sect Leader, leading the team, I probably wouldn’t bother with this at all... So compared to the outcome of a battle with only 20% weighting in the junior group, I would rather preserve humanity.

But since the other party also knows that it’s unfair, the conversation can proceed from here.

Wang Xiao said, "Indeed, from the scene, the dominance is very clear, but after all, this is just a tournament, not a life-and-death battle. Our two academies have always been close, and there have never been any life-and-death battles. From the standard of a tournament, Shen Qingming, able to fight to this extent with our ace Lu Qun from a superior realm, is truly remarkable in terms of actual combat ability. If realm balancing had been done, she should have already won, so calling it a draw isn’t so unreasonable."

At this time, as if hearing Wang Xiao’s words from outside the arena, Lu Qun finally felt a sense of despair from the suffocating rhythm of the battle.

Accompanied by yet another refracted revenge, Lu Qun forcefully left a large hole in Shen Qingming’s right leg. For a moment, the girl was unsteady, barely leaning on her great sword to avoid collapsing, but she already appeared like a walking corpse, with nothing human left except the remaining obsession in her mind.

The injuries she sustained were enough to kill an ordinary cultivator of the same realm five, even ten times, yet accumulated to this point, she still charged forward... Lu Qun started to doubt whether he was fighting a real person or a puppet.

"Enough!"

With a roar, Lu Qun finally couldn’t help but want to stop this rhythm; even if it meant he would have to concede voluntarily, he really didn’t want to fight anymore.

In fact, he was already struggling to continue.

The refracted revenge wasn’t a damage-free swordsmanship; every time he left injuries on himself, even with the quick recovery through the Golden Crow Body, it wasn’t entirely undamaging. The consumption of True Essence, the expenditure of energy, all of it was significant.

Lu Qun caused injuries enough to kill an ordinary person ten times over, but that was predicated on him having already "killed" himself ten times!

Although Lu Qun still retained some combat ability, if he continued, it wouldn’t be long before he coughed up blood. So rather than fighting to mutual destruction and irreparable consequences, it would be better to stop early.

Even a draw wouldn’t be unacceptable. Anyone who witnessed the battle knew who the real winner was...

However, just as he thought this, Lu Qun suddenly felt a tide-like pressure overwhelming him.

"Finally... I’ve waited for this!"

Before him, a flash of lightning was faster than the sound, and by the time he heard it, his nose had already taken a heavy punch.

No matter how light his form became, he couldn’t dissipate the overwhelming force of the punch, and Lu Qun only felt his entire head buzzing as if it would explode.

This heavy punch was only the beginning; the second, third, a torrent of wild punches rained down, leaving him unable to catch his breath.

"Wait, wait..."

In desperation, Lu Qun tried to struggle with the Escape Technique, but the oncoming heavy fists continually disrupted his True Essence, preventing him from gathering Magic.

Soon, Lu Qun’s consciousness was completely trapped in bewilderment and chaos, as if he were amidst a raging sea, on the verge of being completely submerged... Fortunately, before darkness fell, a voice like a torch rang out.

"Enough, this battle ends here; it’s Cyan Lotus Academy’s victory."

The next moment, a cooling magic descended, instantly healing all of Lu Qun’s injuries.

Eagerly, Lu Qun opened his eyes, just in time to see Shen Qingming, her form shrunk back to a 10-year-old appearance, casually flexing her wrist, showing no surprise at this victory.

In that instant, Lu Qun had a thousand words, yet truly didn’t know where to start, only able to remember to ask, "Where, where is your sword?"

Throughout the fight, Lu Qun had been guarding against that heavy sword, opting for a conservative strategy because of that great sword, yet in the end, he never really saw her wield it.

Shen Qingming nonchalantly replied, "Oh, that doorboard? It was just a decoration, a trick on you, I actually used my fists."