171: Chapter 171 Becoming the Captain

On the arena, Chen Ying revealed a short sword.

The short sword was completely bright white, its blade as thin as paper, with extremely fine runes carved on it. The blade, forged from a mixture of cold iron and secret silver, emitted a piercing silver light under the sunlight. A collective gasp of shock immediately sounded from beneath the arena.

"He's brought out his weapon! Even Chen Ying has been forced to use his weapon!"

"Barehanded, he couldn't break through Lin Tian's defense. It'll be different with a weapon—no matter how strong the physique, it can't block a sharp sword!"

"Lin Tian is in danger!"

Chen Ying gripped the short sword, his gaze locked firmly on Lin Tian's figure through the stone dust on the arena. If palm techniques couldn't break through your defense, what about a weapon? He did not believe that Lin Tian's physique could be so hard that it was impervious to swords and spears.

He stomped his feet violently on the bluestone platform, his form once again turning into a blurred afterimage. The short sword in his hand traced a silvery-white arc under the sunlight, stabbing fiercely toward Lin Tian's right shoulder.

For this strike, he used the piercing technique of Qingxia Peak. When the sword tip broke through the air, it emitted an extremely fine and sharp hiss. The speed was faster than his previous palm blades, and the piercing power was incomparable.

Just as the sword tip reached Lin Tian, Lin Tian moved. Cloud Shadow Step erupted in the narrow space. Beneath his feet, it was as if he had stepped on a mass of highly compressed airflow, and he vanished from the spot the instant before the short sword reached him.

The short sword pierced the afterimage he left behind, the tip passing through its throat, but without any resistance of entering flesh. Chen Ying's expression changed slightly at that moment; he hadn't expected Lin Tian's speed to be this fast.

He had used ninety percent of his speed for this strike and thought it was a sure thing, but the opponent's timing for dodging was perfectly calculated—not too early, not too late, exactly in the gap when his sword momentum was spent and his follow-up move hadn't yet emerged.

However, he only sneered. Dodging once didn't mean he could dodge every time. Compare speed with him? He was a Disciple of Qingxia Peak specializing in movement techniques; Floating Light Sweeping Shadow was ranked among the seven peaks of the entire Qixia Sect.

He took a deep breath, pushing his movement technique to the limit. His figure swayed again, and three afterimages appeared on the arena simultaneously, closing in on Lin Tian from three different directions. Every afterimage was lifelike, and the short sword in the hand of every afterimage emitted a piercing cold light.

The Disciples with weaker cultivation beneath the arena could no longer distinguish which was real and which was fake. They only saw three Chen Yings attacking simultaneously, three short swords stabbing at Lin Tian's throat, heart, and lower back from three angles.

Lin Tian also deployed Cloud Shadow Step. His body darted left and right on the arena. Every time Chen Ying's sword tip arrived, he narrowly avoided it at the last moment.

The strong wind stirred up by the sword tip as it grazed his robe cut several small tears in the hem, but it could never truly pierce his body. The two chased at high speed on the arena, one cyan and one purple figure appearing and disappearing on the bluestone platform; the eyes of the onlookers below couldn't keep up.

Chen Ying refused to believe it and continued to attack. He gritted his teeth and pushed his movement technique to twelve percent, the wind caused by Floating Light Sweeping Shadow whistling. However, every one of his attacks was dodged by Lin Tian. Not barely avoided, but precisely, calmly, and perfectly dodged.

His short sword stabbed at the throat, Lin Tian sidestepped three inches, the sword tip sliding past his Adam's apple. His short sword slashed at his waist and ribs, Lin Tian stepped back half a step, the blade grazing his robe. His short sword swept across the back of his neck, Lin Tian lowered his head and ducked, slipping under his armpit, and casually slapped a palm on his back.

That palm didn't use much force, just a light push, yet it sent Chen Ying stumbling several steps. By the time he stabilized his figure and turned around, his face finally revealed unconcealable astonishment. It was one thing for the opponent's defense to be strong, but for his speed to be this fast too?

He was from Qingxia Peak and had practiced movement techniques since the first day he entered the sect. Floating Light Sweeping Shadow had always been rampant in the Late Stage of the Fourth Realm. But now, his speed advantage couldn't gain any benefit in front of Lin Tian.

Cloud Shadow Step was also at the Mastery Realm. Chen Ying's movement technique was fast, but Floating Light Sweeping Shadow was strong in long-distance explosive charges; short-range dodging and shifting were not its strongest Domain.

And Cloud Shadow Step was precisely skilled in footwork changes within a small range; changing direction and sudden stops in a confined space were its specialties. Chen Ying was making long-distance charges every time, while Lin Tian only needed to dodge within three steps on the spot, consuming less physical strength and having more reaction time.

The onlookers below were completely boiling over.

"Blocked! Dodged again! Lin Tian dodged everything!"

"Heavens! Such strong defense, and such fast speed—is this kid a monster!"

"Palm techniques, sword techniques, defense, speed—what else is he hiding?"

Chen Yixiao stood in the crowd, arms crossed, the expression on his face changing from confusion to silence, and from silence to a bitter smile. When he was blasted off the arena by the Thunderclap Sword Technique before, he was still somewhat unconvinced—he thought he had underestimated the enemy, not expecting the opponent to have a more powerful sword technique.

If he had used Vajra Glare right from the start, perhaps the outcome would have been different. But seeing Lin Tian and Chen Ying chasing at high speed on the arena, that bit of his unwillingness shattered bit by bit. He knew his own strengths and weaknesses best—his palm power was one of the strongest among his peers, but speed had always been his shortcoming.

If Lin Tian used this kind of movement technique to fight him, he wouldn't even be able to touch the corner of the opponent's clothes. Lin Tian chose to confront him head-on only because a head-on confrontation was the fastest way to resolve him. This kid hadn't treated him as a real threat from the beginning.

On the arena, Chen Ying's breathing began to grow heavy. Continuously pushing Floating Light Sweeping Shadow to the limit consumed a great deal of his energy. Every long-distance charge was rapidly burning his Internal Energy, while Lin Tian was only dodging and shifting on the spot, consuming more than half less than him.

He gritted his teeth and stabbed a few more times, but his sword speed involuntarily slowed down. The gap between each strike was lengthening, and the cold light on the short sword was no longer as biting as before.

His footsteps also began to feel heavy. The movement technique Qingxia Peak was most proud of became increasingly heavy as his physical strength declined.

Lin Tian seized this change. He no longer simply dodged. After avoiding a thrust, his right hand reached out like lightning and clamped onto Chen Ying's sword-wielding wrist. With his five fingers tightened and Internal Energy seeping out from his fingertips, he precisely pinched the Meridians on the wrist.

Chen Ying only felt his entire right arm go numb, his fingers involuntarily loosening, and the short sword clattered onto the bluestone platform. Before he could react, Lin Tian's left hand had already slapped a palm onto his shoulder.

Great Strength Vajra Palm.

Lin Tian's Great Strength Vajra Palm had also reached the Mastery Realm. He didn't dare use full force for this palm, using only fifty percent. But for a Great Strength Vajra Palm at the Mastery Realm, fifty percent force was enough for Chen Ying to suffer.

Chen Ying's body was shaken by this palm and flew sideways. He flipped in the air and crashed heavily onto the edge of the arena. His back hit the stone pillar, nearly rolling off the arena. He gritted his teeth and wanted to climb up, but the numbness in his right arm hadn't faded, and he couldn't stand straight after trying several times.

His cyan martial attire was torn by the palm force, his hair was disheveled, and several strands of broken hair stuck to his sweat-dampened forehead.

Lin Tian picked up the short sword from the ground and walked to Chen Ying. He reversed the short sword and handed the hilt to Chen Ying.

The autumn water sword was still hanging at his waist, not drawn to point at the opponent's throat, nor did he say anything condescending like "You lost." He just handed over the short sword and said in a calm tone that would only be used during sparring between fellow Disciples: "Senior Sister Chen, you let me win."

Chen Ying raised his head, looked at the hilt Lin Tian handed over, and remained silent for a long while. Then he extended his numb left hand to take the short sword, a somewhat bitter smile pulling at the corner of his mouth: "I am convinced by this loss. Your defense is stronger than mine, your movement technique is no slower than mine, and your sword technique is streets ahead of me—in this battle, I have nothing to say."

In front of the main hall of the bamboo building, Field Master Zhou stood up from his seat. A rare hint of a smile appeared in those sharp eyes on his thin face. He walked to the center of the arena, and a deacon Disciple brought over a copper token.

The front was carved with cloud and mist patterns, and the back was carved with the two characters "Team 7". Field Master Zhou personally placed the copper token into Lin Tian's palm, announcing that he had officially become the captain of Team 7.

Ma Gang was the first to walk up, patting Lin Tian's shoulder with his rough, thick hand. The force was not light, causing Lin Tian's shoulder to sink: "Junior Brother Lin, oh no, that's not right, now I should call you Captain Lin. I knew you could do it—when has the Wind Master ever misjudged a person?" Someone nearby whispered: "Didn't the Wind Master misjudge someone before?" Ma Gang glared back: "That's not called misjudging! That's called a late bloomer!"

Lin Tian gripped the copper token in his hand and nodded solemnly to the brothers of Team 6.

The morning mist on the surface of the Cloud Sea Lake had been dispersed by the sunlight. A Treasure Fish leaped out of the water, bringing up a spray of water before falling back in. Ripples spread out in circles, breaking against the stones on the shore.

He had stayed here for more than half a year. From a newcomer who would wobble even when poling a bamboo raft, he had become the captain of this fish pond.