Xuanwu War Sovereign

Liu Canyang’s face was alight with excitement as he first gazed upon the grand hall of the Ninth Palace. But his expression instantly darkened as he glanced to the side. "Someone’s been here!"

To one side of the hall, countless shattered shards of ice lay scattered about. The icy surface was ruined and riddled with sword marks. A fierce battle had clearly taken place here.

"One of the parties was Xiao Yuchan’s group!"

Liu Canyang’s figure flashed, reappearing several dozen steps away. At his feet, eight people lay stiffly on the ground, their bodies frozen solid and their eyes vacant.

It was Qian Kai and his men, who had been frozen by Qin Feng’s methods.

"I know them. These eight are Xiao Yuchan’s men, and they’re usually inseparable from him. It looks like they’re in a bad spot!" Li Qiubai followed close behind, his brow furrowed and his expression grave as he knelt to inspect them.

"It seems Xiao Yuchan’s group got here first. But it looks like they ran into a formidable enemy and even lost their eight lackeys. They’re half-dead!" A cold glint flashed in Liu Canyang’s eyes.

"The other party must have been Qin Feng!" On the other side, Yuan Daozhen knelt down, tracing the marks left by a sword’s light on the ice. He carefully analyzed them before reaching his conclusion.

"What makes you so sure?" Li Qiubai shot to his feet.

A grim look settled on Li Qiubai’s face. Both Xiao Yuchan and Qin Feng were powerful rivals in their competition for the position of Elder.

How could Li Qiubai possibly remain calm knowing these two had gotten so far ahead of everyone else?

"It’s simple. Only he could produce this kind of Sword Qi," Yuan Daozhen said, standing up and brushing the ice chips from his hands.

"There are only two types of sword marks here, and the Sword Dao mastery behind both is by no means inferior to ours. Look at these marks on the ice. A fair amount of time has clearly passed, yet a chilling Sword Qi still lingers, making it impossible to get close!"

"One set of marks is bright and immense, filled with a Vast Heaven Righteous Qi! The other, however, is like the great waves of a turquoise sea, an unending tide!"

"The latter set of marks should be from Qin Feng. I’ve observed his swordsmanship before. His Sword Qi is like the great waves of a long river, and a single strike is like an unending tide. The marks left by this kind of sword light are very distinct—unforgettable once you’ve seen them."

"Then who does the other style belong to?" Liu Canyang asked suddenly.

Liu Canyang’s expression was grim. This trial was full of one surprise after another, with powerful rivals emerging out of nowhere.

Liu Canyang had learned to be cautious.

"As far as I know, among the geniuses admitted to All Stars Academy this year, many practice the sword. But very few can leave marks of this caliber. This level of Sword Dao mastery has, at the very least, reached the Second Stage of Sword Dao Realm of Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Sect!"

"However, I’m very familiar with all of their Sword Intents. This one is completely foreign to me... but I think I have an answer."

"Who is it?"

"Xiao Yuchan!"

"It’s him? His Sword Dao mastery is that high?" Li Qiubai’s expression was one of shock.

"That Xiao Yuchan has hidden his strength so well!"

"Xiao Yuchan has indeed hidden himself very deeply. Every time I saw him, I always felt he posed a great danger to me. I thought it was just my imagination, but it seems I was careless and underestimated this formidable rival!"

Liu Canyang’s face was gloomy. This conclusion was completely beyond his expectations.

It was a heavy blow for Liu Canyang, who had always considered himself the number one student at All Stars Academy.

"It’s Qin Feng who’s hidden himself even deeper," Yuan Daozhen said, shaking his head. "To be able to contend with such a terrifying Xiao Yuchan without being at a disadvantage... Qin Feng is the most frightening one of all!"

"Let’s go. Hopefully, we can catch up to them and slow their progress! No matter what, the position of Elder of All Stars Academy must not fall into their hands!"

A battle intent that seemed to soar to the heavens emanated from Yuan Daozhen. The stronger the opponent, the stronger his will to fight.

After a glance at his surroundings, Yuan Daozhen’s figure flashed as he charged toward the Ninth Palace.

"Let’s go, too!" Liu Canyang gave the nearby ruins a cold glance before his figure flickered and vanished into the Ninth Palace.

Several figures rushed into the Ninth Palace one after another.

Two hours later, Du Pingxia and Lû Chunyang also found their way to the location and rushed into the Ninth Palace.

...

Qin Feng closely pursued Xiao Yuchan into the Palace of the Stars within the Ninth Palace.

"How unexpected. To think someone could break through the first eight palaces and enter the Ninth Palace so early!" Within the Palace of the Stars, a voice rang out, grating and metallic like the scraping of Refined Iron.

The speaker was a young man of otherworldly beauty, clad in a Golden Battle Armor.

His Battle Armor was dazzling. It was entirely golden, but it was clearly no mere decoration. The light of golden stars flowed across its surface, and two golden bull horns adorned the helmet.

He appeared to be in his twenties, with white hair that fell to his waist. A golden mask covered half of his handsome face. He sat imposingly before a massive gate of light, a terrifying Golden Greatsword propped at his side.

Qin Feng’s gaze immediately fell upon the gate of light behind the young man.

’The Gate of All Stars?’ Qin Feng’s eyes narrowed.

At the same time, Xiao Yuchan, who had been neck and neck with him, also fixed his gaze on the massive gate of light, as if drawn in by some immense gravitational force.

The inhumanly beautiful, white-haired youth spoke, his gaze indifferent and his voice deep and hoarse. "You two little ones, I am the Guardian of the Ninth Palace and the Guardian of the Taurus Star in the heavens. You may call me the Golden Bull Star General. I have been ordered to stand guard over the Ninth Palace and protect the Gate of All Stars!"

"You may have noticed, and you may be guessing in your hearts... and your guesses are correct. This is the final objective of your mission: the Gate of All Stars. As long as you can get past my obstruction and enter the Gate of All Stars, you will have succeeded in the trial!"

"For this stage, you can choose to face me alone or together. I don’t care what methods you use. As long as you can break past my blockade, you will be considered to have passed!"

At this, the hoarse voice gave a strange laugh. "Whoever enters the Gate of All Stars first will be the new Elder of All Stars Academy!"

"However, there can only be one first place!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the palace instantly became tense.

"I’ll go first!" Xiao Yuchan’s eyes shifted, and with a sharp cry, his figure instantly shot toward the Gate of All Stars.

But in the next moment, the Star General drew the Golden Greatsword with one hand, swung it, and slashed out.

A golden beam of sword light thundered past!

Xiao Yuchan was instantly sent flying, landing not far from Qin Feng.

THUD! Xiao Yuchan’s body slammed heavily to the ground. The sound of breaking bones followed, and he lay there, groaning in pain.

Terrifying!

A being as powerful as Xiao Yuchan was sent flying by a single sword strike without even being able to fight back!

Qin Feng could see that this was the result of the Star General showing mercy. At the last moment, he had turned his blade and used its spine to swat Xiao Yuchan away.

’He’s at least an expert at the Fifth Secret Realm of Condensing Veins or above! And his Sword Dao has reached at least Tier Four, Flying Heaven with Sword!’ Qin Feng muttered to himself, an irrepressible, gloating smile appearing on his face.