Su Mo was surprised by Han Yijian's sword move.
This move did not have much power, but there was something mysterious about it. How could one defend against an invisible sword radiance? How could one dodge it?
Although this mysterious sword move might have been hard for an average martial artist to defend against, Su Mo easily rose to the challenge.
His arm transformed into an illusion, waving the Spirit-slayer Sword at a frequency that could not be seen by the naked eye. Su Mo instantly dispatched 49 swords.
49 strands of Sword Qi formed a large sword net in front of Su Mo, transforming into a perfect shield.
The air around the sword net rippled as the sword move swept past.
Boom! Boom!
The sword net collapsed with a strong explosion. The sharp Sword Qi radiated out in all directions, causing the audience to retreat rapidly.
"He blocked it!"
Even as Han Yijian frowned, his hands did not stop moving. His entire body became like a sword radiance, instantly shooting toward Su Mo.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The piercing light flashed and then was gone. The sword radiance was almost undetectable as it quickly approached Su Mo's neck.
This type of rapid sword move far surpassed an average person's reaction time. Any average Lv 3 True Spirit Realm martial artist would not have reacted quickly enough to escape instant death.
Deadly Swordplay—each move was meant to kill, with a strong emphasis on an instant kill!
However, this swordsmanship was rendered ineffective when used against Su Mo because he was just as fast as his opponent.
Clang! Clang!
With yet another loud clash, Su Mo's Spirit-slayer Sword collided directly with his opponent's sword blade and both retreated at the same time.
Han Yijian retreated 10 steps, but Su Mo only took three.
"What rapid speed!"
"Such great strength!"
Han Yijian's face turned dark. He had thought just two or three moves would be sufficient to defeat Su Mo, but the results were far beyond his expectations.
Han Yijian gripped his sword tightly with his arm slightly trembling. Su Mo's sword moves were not only quick and sharp, but also unbelievably powerful. He did not dare to attempt attacking again from close range.
"Oh, my God! Su Mo is facing Han Yijian and is actually not losing!"
"He's so powerful!"
"So this is where his arrogance comes from!"
The audience, including many talents from the region, reacted with surprise as they were astonished by Su Mo's strength.
Zhu Shaojing's face was as black as thunder and he could not stop it from twitching.
"Han Yijian, your swordsmanship is indeed powerful, but it is not enough to defeat me!" Su Mo said faintly, "now, you can have a taste of my swordsmanship!"
Han Yijian replied coldly, "Bring it on!"
Han Yijian did not think that Su Mo's swordsmanship was at a high enough level to defeat him.
Su Mo nodded and the air around him started to ripple violently, forming a strong gust of wind that made Su Mo's clothes billow in the wind.
His gaze sharpened suddenly as the shadow of swords danced across his eyes for a brief moment.
Swish!
Su Mo moved rapidly, his body was a blur as he sent out his sword with one move.
This sword seemed both fast and slow, both swift and unhurried, bursting with Sword Qi. The sharp Sword Qi sliced through the sky, and the surrounding winds seemed to transform into multiple swords, cutting through space.
"What? Sword Will?"
Han Yijian's eyes bulged out, his eyes frozen wide open in shock.
This display of sharpness cutting through space was exactly what he had been dreaming of. However, he had never managed to realize the will of the sword!
"It's Sword Will…!"
Exclamations filled the air as the audience's eyes widened in disbelief.
Zhu Shaojing completely lost it! He stared emptily at the arena, his mouth agape, muttering to himself, "Sword… Sword Will!"
Only a handful of talents throughout the Hong Domain had managed to realize this elusive martial will, and now Su Mo was actually able to realize it!
Zhu Shaojing felt like his heart was even convulsing. Various expressions kept flashing across his face—it was an indescribable sight.
"Oh no!"
Han Yijian felt the power behind Su Mo's attack. This sword was hair-raising and he did not dare to block it directly, instead choosing to retreat rapidly.
At the same time, the sword radiance in his hand danced, forming a thick sword curtain layer.
Whoosh!
Su Mo's Sword Qi instantly hacked straight at the sword curtain in front of Han Yijian, its sharp edge slicing through everything.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The sword curtain began to crumble bit by bit, crushing Han Yijian's Sword Qi, eventually landing on Han Yijian's Body-protection Genuine Vitality.
Boom!
With a loud explosion, Han Yijian's body was flung back a few hundred meters.
However, Han Yijian was not injured. As sharp as Su Mo's Sword Qi was, its edge was worn out after slicing through multiple layers of the sword curtain. Whatever remaining power it had did not even amount to 20% of what it had originally, and it failed to break through Han Yijian's Body-protection Genuine Vitality.
Whoosh!
Just then, Su Mo moved again. His Sword Will was even more pronounced, forming a crushing sword momentum that firmly pressed against Han Yijian.
Han Yijian's body grew cold and his heart skipped a beat.
When a swordsman without Sword Will faced a swordsman with Sword Will, their powers would feel suppressed, which was the suppression caused by Sword Will.
Also, the stronger the Sword Will was, the stronger the suppression effect would be. A swordsman without Sword Will would already be at a disadvantage even before the battle had begun.
"Wait a minute!"
Just as Su Mo was ready to strike again, Han Yijian suddenly shouted.
"Hmm?"
Su Mo halted, and consequently, the attack brewing in his hand also stopped at that moment. He looked quizzically at his opponent.
Han Yijian's face changed as he grit his teeth and said, "Su Mo, you've won!"
With Han Yijian's words, a hush fell over the talents watching the duel. The audience reacted without much surprise.
Su Mo, with his fully released Sword Will, was clearly stronger than Han Yijian.
Han Yijian admitting defeat fell within the crowd's expectations.
Su Mo nodded. His opponent had clearly recognized the difference in their abilities since Su Mo's Sword Will had hit the higher end of the first level, almost doubling his combat strength as a result.
Immediately, Su Mo turned around and walked away from the arena under the worshiping eyes of thousands.
Su Mo looked around and said loudly, "Who's next?"
Since Su Mo was already in the arena, he intended to fight until the end, until there was no one left to fight.
The crowd fell silent, no one dared to speak.
Honglian's eyes sparked as she played with the idea for a brief moment, then she sighed, deciding against rising to the challenge.
Her strength was comparable to Han Yijian's. In fact, she might even be slightly weaker than Han Yijian. Now that even Han Yijian had been defeated, there was no need for her to compete.
Honglian's gaze fell upon Third Prince Jia Yuanji. And not only her, but most of the audience was looking at Jia Yuanji.
Jia Yuanji stood up, and everyone's eyes lit up at the thought that Jia Yuanji was about to rise to the challenge.
However, they were all disappointed once Jia Yuanji spoke.
"Haha! Su Mo, your strength has reached the point where you could easily sweep aside the talents from the surrounding nations!"
Jia Yuanji smiled slightly as he indicated with his left palm and said, "Come, please take a seat here!"
Su Mo nodded slightly when he saw that no one was rising to his challenge. He walked toward and took an empty seat next to Jia Yuanji.
"Brother Su, I'm Guo Jun from Grand City!"
"Brother Su, I'm Hu Hai from Prarie Country!"
"…"
The moment that Su Mo took his seat, a few talents around him from the List of Top 100 Talents greeted Su Mo and introduced themselves, their tone deferential.
Su Mo smiled and acknowledged the crowd. He could not help thinking that just a few moments ago, these were the very people who were so dismissive and cold toward him.
Now that he had shown that he surpassed their strength, there was an immediate change in their attitude toward him. This sudden change in attitude was giving him whiplash!
Strength was the basis of everything!
Respect was shown toward the strong, while the weak were looked down upon.
However, Zhu Shaojing, Feng Xiu, Ji Xuehan, and a few others did not actively seek out Su Mo due to their past clashes with him.
"Su Mo, I have not heard your name before. Surely you're not from Topsun Country?" Jia Yuanji smiled lightly as he raised his glass at Su Mo for a toast.
Su Mo also raised his glass and drank, then he answered truthfully, "I am from Skymoon Country!"
Surprised, Jia Yuanji said, "It is really rare for a small country like Skymoon Country to be able to produce a top talent like yourself. Historically, only a few talents from Skymoon Country have managed to make the list. Just on the previous one, only Yun Jiankong from the Sky Rapier Sect made the cut!"
"Haha. Let's not mention Yun Jiankong's strength here. With Brother Su's combat strength, one move would be sufficient to instantly kill him!"
Another talent from the list laughed and added, "Brother Su, will you take part in the upcoming Top-100-talent Competition? With your combat strength, you would definitely be considered a dark horse!"
"Haha, maybe!" unmoved, Su Mo replied, "within the Hong Domain, the talents are as numerous as the stars in the sky. No one knows how many experts will take part this time!"
As the banquet continued, Su Mo drank and spoke to a number of talents from the List of Top 100 Talents.
In the meantime, there were a few talents who decided to pit their strength against each other by challenging the other to a duel. However, after the few duels that Su Mo had fought, these challenges were pretty average in comparison.
The banquet went on for an entire day until the sky turned dark and only ended when dusk fell.
Everyone had started to leave, but Su Mo was asked by Third Prince Jia Yuanji to stay.