As the man rose to his feet, Yuan came to a halt, his focus sharpening as he watched the stranger’s every move.
Without warning, the man drew the sword at his waist and unleashed a swift slash from afar, sending a powerful wave of ordinary Sword Aura hurtling toward Yuan.
Yet, Yuan didn’t move a muscle and allowed the Sword Aura to hit him, and when it did, the Sword Aura shattered into countless fragments like glass.
"So it was just ordinary Sword Aura..." Yuan muttered as he retrieved a random sword he had in his spatial ring.
Since all treasures were essentially the same in the trial, he didn’t need to use Number One Under Heaven, nor did he want to use it before so many spectators.
Then, without hesitation, he swung at the man, sending a wave of Supreme Sword Aura at the man. However, as if copying Yuan’s actions, the man did not attempt to block it and allowed it to strike his body.
Once the Supreme Sword Aura struck his body, the mysterious aura around him flared up, deflecting Yuan’s Supreme Sword Aura.
Seeing this, Yuan raised an eyebrow. The trial had just begun, yet he was already fighting an enemy immune to Supreme Sword Aura? Something felt off.
Just to make sure, he struck the man again with Supreme Sword Aura, and sure enough, the results were the same.
After blocking his second attack, the man suddenly moved, charging toward Yuan with his sword raised and gushing with ordinary Sword Aura.
"If Supreme Sword Aura doesn’t work, then..."
Yuan swung his sword at the man without channeling any Sword Aura, yet once again, his blade was effortlessly deflected by the aura.
Yuan was certain now that the trial required him to somehow get past the man’s mysterious aura, and for the next several minutes, he analyzed the man’s aura to the best of his abilities.
Unfortunately, he was unable to figure out its secrets.
’There’s gotta be a clue...’
Yuan glanced around, searching for anything that might offer a clue to counter the man’s mysterious aura, but aside from the silent figure before him, there was nothing in sight to guide him.
Suddenly, realization flickered across Yuan’s face.
"Let’s see if this works..." he murmured.
Lifting his sword, he gathered only ordinary Sword Aura, just as the man had been using all along, and unleashed a focused slash.
The very next moment, his sword tore right through the aura and sliced the man in half.
"An aura that blocks Supreme Sword Aura but cannot resist ordinary Sword Aura, huh?" Yuan muttered out loud, his voice filled with intrigue.
After defeating the man, Yuan searched his body to see if there was anything to loot.
"Nothing."
After defeating two masked opponents simultaneously—and then another wave of four—he eventually came to a halt again, and standing before him was a lone masked man wielding Supreme Sword Aura.
When the masked man struck, his swordsmanship was precise, fluid, and refined to perfection. It was incomparably superior to that of Yuan’s previous opponents, leaving no doubt that this foe was on an entirely different level.
Not only did the man move like an expert with tens of thousands of years of experience, but he even used martial techniques.
Yet, despite the drastic improvements, Yuan defeated the man in just a few exchanges.
"This can’t be the real trial. It’s too easy..." Yuan mumbled as he continued forward.
After overcoming two more waves of opponents wielding Supreme Sword Aura, Yuan finally arrived at the end of the path. It opened into a vast, circular field, one that radiated an unmistakable pressure, as if silently declaring the beginning of the real trial.
Without hesitation, Yuan walked to the center of the field and waited for the trial to begin.
Moments later, Yuan could sense several—many presences appearing all around him.
In the blink of an eye, hundreds... no, thousands of masked men surrounded him, each radiating a mysterious aura. Yet not all were the same. The three distinct types of aura Yuan had faced earlier—ordinary, enhanced, and Supreme Sword Aura—were now interwoven throughout the crowd.
"Now this is more like it." Yuan muttered with an excited smile on his face.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m
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