Chapter 166: Chapter 128: Absolute Focus, 2nd Transformation of the Smoke Ring

But Li Wen’s movements didn’t falter in the slightest.

His arm was as steady as a rock, its swing stirring the air into a sharp whistle.

The eighth slash! A bolt of incredibly condensed gray energy suddenly erupted.

ROAR—!

The scene erupted.

"The eighth slash! That’s the eighth slash!! And he hasn’t stopped!" This had completely surpassed their earlier expectations.

The ninth slash! The blade’s light was ephemeral, so fast it left only a faint afterimage on the retina.

Before the blade even arrived, an acute sharpness that seemed to tear through the air and sever thought itself washed over them, forcing the spectating geniuses standing closer to subconsciously take half a step back.

"My god! The ninth slash!!"

"Another nine-form genius!"

"This year is insane. One nine-form freak wasn’t enough, and now there’s this guy causing phenomena... Wait, he... he isn’t sheathing his saber?!"

The sharp-eyed instantly noticed that Li Wen showed no intention of stopping; on the contrary, his aura grew even more condensed.

The tenth slash! This slash was completely different from the previous nine.

There was no afterimage, no sound. Even the light from the blade seemed somewhat dim.

Li Wen simply pushed the saber forward, his motion almost slow, perfectly level.

The cheers on the plaza, which had been like a landslide and a tsunami, were utterly cleaved apart by this silent yet immensely shocking slash.

Dead silence! As if the thickest ink had been splashed across the scene, the entire White Jade Plaza fell into an absolute, suffocating stillness.

It was as if everyone’s souls had been frozen by this silent tenth slash, their throats clutched by a massive, invisible hand. Even their hearts skipped a beat.

A few seconds later, a series of sharp gasps rang out, as clear as the pumping of a bellows.

"HISS—"

"T-ten... ten slashes..." someone’s trembling voice muttered, as if in a dream.

"The tenth slash... He actually comprehended ten forms." An upperclassman from Xinhuo University, his face pale, whispered in disbelief.

The youth who had stunned the crowd earlier with his nine forms was now completely frozen, staring at Li Wen standing in the center of the field with his saber sheathed and his aura calm. There was nothing but disbelief in his eyes.

"Hoo—" Li Wen slowly sheathed his saber and let out a light breath.

As if he had just done something trivial, he calmly placed the saber back on the weapon rack.

The attendant in charge of counting opened and closed his mouth several times before mustering all his strength to maintain his composure. Even so, his voice, cracking with shock, echoed across the silent plaza:

"Li Wen! Has comprehended the saber skill... Ten! Forms!"

BOOM—!

When this number was officially announced and confirmed, the frozen atmosphere instantly exploded.

The uproar instantly pierced the heavens, echoing throughout Enlightenment Peak. The rolling sound waves were so powerful they made one’s eardrums ache.

On the high platform for the Marquis Level experts.

The look of doubt and contemplation in Marquis Qingyuan Lu Jingming’s eyes was now replaced by unprecedented shock and undisguised ecstasy.

He even leaned forward slightly, staring intently at Li Wen’s figure as if trying to see right through him.

"Ten forms... No, more than ten forms... The resonance of that final slash..." Marquis Qingyuan’s voice was laced with an unprecedented gravity and excitement. "I feel he isn’t far from comprehending the eleventh form. He might have even grasped it already."

He whipped his head around to look at the Chuhe King seated in the center, his tone filled with sincere admiration. "Senior Brother Zhou, did you... already see this coming?"

At that moment, the deeply hidden, indescribable smile of pleasant surprise on Chuhe King Zhou Yan’s face finally blossomed completely.

He didn’t answer Marquis Qingyuan directly. Instead, his gaze, sharp as a torch, was locked onto Li Wen, as if admiring a priceless treasure finally radiating its true, brilliant splendor.

"Good! Good! Good!" The Chuhe King said it three times. His voice wasn’t loud, but it clearly pierced through the clamor of the crowd, carrying the genuine delight and praise of a supreme expert.

"His Spiritual Sense is peerless, and his comprehension is equally supreme!"

His eyes blazed, as profound as a swirling Star River.

"This child is no pearl gathering dust, but a golden dragon... who has already begun to soar on the clouds! My path... has found its future!"

In the depths of his profound eyes, a barely perceptible fervor flashed—the thrill of discovering a worthy talent, the true relief that he was not alone on his path.

For a King-level expert to say he was "not alone on his path"—this praise carried immense weight.

On the edges of the bustling plaza, the observing upperclassmen from Xinhuo University were no longer whispering among themselves; they had erupted into chaos.

Disbelief and intense curiosity were written all over their faces.

"I knew that cyan ring phenomenon wasn’t simple. It turned out to be a transformation of the Dao-Guiding Cyan Ring."

"If I remember correctly, Senior Brother Ling Feng also comprehended the Ten Forms Saber Skill three years ago. Are we about to see another Blade Demon?"

Someone in the crowd mentioned Ling Feng.

...

Meanwhile, the nearly one thousand geniuses of Li Wen’s cohort, who were either participating in or waiting for their assessment, had vastly different reactions and states of mind.

In the Jiangnan province contingent, the sharp, aggressive aura in Chu Feng’s eyes was gone, replaced by utter submission.

Nangong Xue’s eyes remained cool and distant, but a complex, unreadable ripple flickered in their depths, finally resolving into an almost inaudible sigh.

Wang Shuo and the others were completely stupefied, their mouths agape, wide enough to fit an egg.

The ordinary geniuses felt more of a sense of reverence and awe, as if they were gazing up at an incomprehensible myth standing tall in the clouds.

But for the top prodigies, who had achieved outstanding results and were incredibly proud, the feeling was far more complex.

Envy, jealousy, unwillingness to accept defeat, shock... all sorts of emotions intertwined.

This was especially true for those who had previously questioned Li Wen’s background and potential, or even shown a hint of schadenfreude when he took so long to enter a meditative state. Their faces now burned with shame, as if they had been brutally slapped by an invisible hand.

In the crowd, Du Yun’s expression was just as complicated.

Although he had comprehended seven forms in his own comprehension assessment, which was already a top-tier result, the gap between that and Li Wen’s world-shocking ten forms was like the difference between the clouds and the mud.

’Yesterday, I lost to Li Wen in both temperament and Spiritual Sense. I thought I could widen the gap today with my comprehension and combat skills, but instead, he’s the one who has left me in the dust.’

He pressed his lips together tightly, but his gaze grew even sharper, like a blade. He subconsciously tightened his grip on his weapon.

’I have only one thought left: in the upcoming combat assessment, I must give it my absolute all!’

This Li Wen had completely shattered everyone’s perceptions.

Ron Zaka, number one on the Blue Star Youth Platinum List, now had a look of shock and defeat written all over his chiseled face.

His proud title as number one on the Blue Star Youth List seemed rather flimsy in front of this Li Wen, who had not only comprehended the Ten Forms Saber Skill but also earned the evaluation of "peerless Spiritual Sense." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Chuhe King Zhou Yan took in everyone’s reactions, and the appreciative smile in his eyes deepened.

He slowly raised his hand. A gentle yet vast power rippled out like water, instantly calming the clamor in the plaza.

"Silence."

The dignified voice was not loud, but it resonated directly in the mind of every genius like the tolling of a great bell.

"The second batch of the comprehension assessment is complete. The third batch will now prepare."

The Chuhe King’s gaze swept over the group in the center of the field who had just finished their demonstrations, pausing on Li Wen for a brief moment.

After withdrawing his gaze, he continued to direct the third batch of participants into the Enlightenment Room.

...

「An entire morning passed in the blink of an eye.」

All one thousand geniuses completed the comprehension assessment.

Although there were many talented individuals among the subsequent three batches, no monster as shocking as Li Wen emerged.

Fang Chenghong from Red Flame Star displayed top-tier talent, completely comprehending the Seven-Style Mural Martial Arts and once again proving his profound foundation.

Ron Zaka, ranked number one on the Blue Star Youth Platinum List, followed close behind. He fully comprehended six forms and could barely execute most of the seventh, which barely salvaged some of his pride.

As for Chu Feng, Nangong Xue, the other top geniuses from Jiangnan province, and the prodigies from the other continents, most of them hovered around the Five Forms mark. While impressive, their accomplishments were temporarily overshadowed by the few who shone even brighter.

And with that, the comprehension assessment, which would determine the starting point of their future paths, came to a close.