Chapter 64: Chapter 64: Inner Disciple Test [4]

High above, sitting on her frost-covered throne, Selene observed the delicate, dark-blue-haired girl. The icy elder closed her eyes for a brief second and gave a nod.

It was a rare, nearly unprecedented gesture of absolute approval. For a Sword Freak and a Heavenly Spirit Realm master with high standards, acknowledging the talent of a junior was a massive honor. The other elders noticed the nod and exchanged deeply shocked glances.

However, the moment Selene opened her eyes again, her frosty gaze immediately bypassed the victorious Ariel.

Her piercing stare snapped back to Damon. Ariel’s performance had been a magnificent display. It was impressive, yes. But it was not what Selene was waiting for.

She was waiting for the anomaly. She was waiting for the boy who possessed the golden eyes of a sovereign, the boy who had slaughtered her worthless brother without a second thought.

She was waiting to see if Damon’s rumored Sword Intent was just a fluke, or if he was truly the peerless blade capable of crossing her sword.

Down below, Damon felt the suffocating weight of Selene’s stare return to him.

He simply crossed his arms, his smirk widening as he patiently waited for his own name to be called.

Before the cheers for Ariel faded, Elder Alder unrolled his parchment, glancing briefly at the black-haired anomaly.

"Damon! Step forward!"

The arena fell deathly silent. Even the mountain winds stilled as thousands of eyes locked onto the handsome eighteen-year-old leaning against the barrier, waiting for his move.

He strode to the center of the arena. His aura wats at First Level of the True Spirit Realm. Yet, everyone present knew better than to underestimate him. This was the monster who had casually cut a noble in half brutally on his very first day.

His examiner walked out from the opposite side of the stage. Unlike the previous evaluators, the strongest inner disciples brought in specifically for the test.

"Inner Disciple Argon Allen. True Spirit Realm, Ninth Level," the man announced, his voice carrying the deep, resonant booming of a seasoned warrior.

Argondid not harbor the same foolish arrogance as James. His eyes were sharp and incredibly cautious.

He drew his weapon from his spatial ring, and a brilliant, golden-brown radiance instantly illuminated his side of the arena.

"Earth Grade Weapon, High Level," a disciple in the stands gasped, recognizing the gleam of the blade. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Senior Brother Argon isn’t holding anything back! He intends to crush Damon with his higher cultivation and weapon superiority!"

Argon pointed his broadsword at his junior.

"I have heard the rumors of your so-called Sword Intent, Junior Brother Damon. But in the face of higher cultivation, your tricks mean nothing. Draw your weapon."

Damon chuckled, the sound low and entirely devoid of anxiety. He reached down to his waist and lazily unholstered his blade.

The crowd blinked. Instead of a blinding Spirit or Earth Grade artifact, Damon held what appeared to be a charred, pitch-black stick.

To Argon and the thousands of outer disciples, it looked pathetic. To them, Damon was an arrogant fool challenging a Peak True Spirit Realm expert with a piece of firewood.

"You dare to insult me, if you refuse to take this seriously, I will break your bones and toss you out of the arena myself!" Argon growled, his pride stung.

Up on the obsidian platform, Elder Alder raised his hand.

"Begin!"

The moment the command left the elder’s lips, Argon erupted. He channeled every ounce of his dense, earth-attribute energy into his glowing sword, creating a massive, ten-meter-long phantom blade of solid rock and Qi in the air above him.

"Mountain Cleaving Strike!" Argon roared, launching himself through the air.

Yet, Damon stood there, holding the blackened wooden sword pointed toward the ground.

He looked up at the descending mountain of Qi with an expression of boredom.

High above, sitting on her seat, Selene leaned forward. Her instinct was screaming at her, ringing like alarm bells.

’What is he doing? Move!’ she thought, her breath catching in her throat.

Argon’s blade was mere inches away from crushing Damon’s head.

In fraction of a second, Damon finally moved. He flicked his wrist upward, channeling a burst of his Sword Intent.

But it was not just sword intent. He infused it with a thin layer of Sword Aura.

To the thousands of disciples and regular elders watching, absolutely nothing happened. They saw a faint, distorted blur in the air and heard a soundless ripple.

But to Selene, she saw something that make her world changed.

As Damon flicked his wrist, the entire world turned into a muted, breathless ash gray. Time itself seemed frozen to a halt.

In this gray, silent world, only one thing possessed color: a peerless arc of pure sword energy erupting from Damon’s wooden blade. It was the dream of the martial path she had dedicated her entire life to.

The world violently snapped back to full color with a deafening crack.

Argon’s ten-meter-long phantom blade completely disintegrated into a mist. The steel let out a high-pitched shriek before shattering into a hundred shards that rained down upon the arena.

The residual shockwave slammed into Argon’s chest, he was thrown backward as if struck by a falling meteor, until he crashed brutally into the boundary arrays, and slumping to the ground instantly unconscious.

The arena fell into a silence.

Damon was still standing in the exact same spot. He casually lowered the dark wooden sword back to his side, his handsome face displaying nothing but a calm smile.

He had defeated a Peak True Spirit Realm expert with a single flick of his wrist.

Up on the obsidian platform, the tranquility of the elders was completely shattered. But none reacted more violently than Selene.

Selene shot up from her seat. The sheer force of her movement shattered the armrests of her chair.

Her pristine black and azure-blue robes fluttered wildly as her chest heaving, her emotionless mask completely broken by an expression of shock.

Her eyes trembled as they locked onto the boy standing casually in the arena below.

’That wasn’t just sword intent...’ Selene thought to herself, her mind was in absolute chaos.

’That... that was something higher.’