From bone collectors to the supreme ruler of humanity

Lin Yan stood up and walked a few steps in the room, feeling that the pain and stiffness in her legs and feet had disappeared.

He drew his sword and held it horizontally in front of him.

The blade is intact, the edge is not curled, and the hemp rope on the handle has been replaced with a new one.

He tried the knife.

Decapitation strike.

The blade slashed through the air, and the whistling sound it emitted was much stronger than it had been ten days ago.

Not only because of the results of cultivating [Basic Body Tempering] these past few days, but also because after the blood stasis was resolved, Lin Yan felt that his blood and qi circulation was smoother than before.

Ten days ago, when he fought Shen Yue, there was still blood in his chest cavity. When his true energy circulated to his chest, it would be blocked for a moment. Although it was only for a moment, it was enough for masters to fight.

The traffic jam has stopped.

Lin Yan sheathed the knife and lay back down on the kang (a heated brick bed).

He closed his eyes, his mind racing with thoughts of his opponent in tomorrow's final: Murong Chong.

Commander of the Valiant Cavalry Camp, mid-stage of the Transformation Realm.

He had looked at Manager Feng's information, but it wasn't very comprehensive.

Murong Chong is a very mysterious person. He never reveals his full strength in front of others. He only uses seven-tenths of his strength in every duel. He leaves as soon as he wins and never lingers in battle.

The Dharma form within his body is a cloud leopard, which is very fast. Combined with his family's Murong sword technique, it is impossible to defend against. The Murong sword technique is not the style of military drills, but the ruthless and cunning sword technique of the martial arts world, which targets vital points.

He also had a nickname, "The Knife on Horseback".

Because his forte is not infantry combat, but cavalry combat. The Elite Cavalry is a cavalry unit, and Murong Chong's swordsmanship on horseback is more than twice as good as on the ground.

But the final was a foot battle, without horses.

Lin Yan went through this person's information in his mind three times, and after memorizing some of Murong Chong's characteristics, he stopped thinking about it.

We'll find out what it's like after we get the test tomorrow.

......

At the end of October, the final of the Imperial Guards' Grand Martial Arts Competition was held.

There were several times more people on the training ground than in the previous sessions.

Not only were the stands full, but the earthen slopes surrounding the training ground were also packed with people, including military officers who had come from out of town, instructors and disciples from various martial arts schools in the capital, and soldiers from various battalions.

Some of the people even came from the street to watch the spectacle.

On the main viewing platform, Emperor Li Chengji, wearing a new dragon robe, looked better than last time and sat on the dragon throne with his eyes closed, resting.

On the east side of the stands, Crown Prince Li Zhengxin remained in his usual posture, holding a teacup with a calm expression. However, he was wearing a new robe today, a dark blue one embroidered with a four-clawed dragon pattern, which was much more formal than usual.

Manager Feng stood behind him, holding a roster in his hands. Inside the roster was a slip of paper with all of Murong Chong's information written on it, which corresponded one by one with Lin Yan's information in the roster.

On the west side of the stands, the Second Prince Li Zhengming, who hadn't appeared in court for a long time, also came today.

He sat in the chair, not holding a folding fan, but with both hands on the armrests, his thumbs tapping the armrests one after another, as if keeping time.

The Third Prince, Li Zhengyuan, also arrived and sat next to the Second Prince, but there were two empty seats between them.

The third prince was six years younger than the crown prince and three years younger than the second prince. He looked to be about twenty-four or twenty-five years old. He had fair skin, wore a moon-white robe, and held a folding fan with landscape paintings on it.

He glanced at the scene, then at the Second Prince, a slight smirk playing on his lips, but said nothing.

In the center of the arena, Lin Yan stood inside the circle drawn with white ash.

He was dressed in an old-fashioned outfit, his hair loosely draped over his shoulders.

His face was still very pale, and his lips were almost bloodless. He looked rather thin, as if a gust of wind could blow him over.

On the other side of the circle opposite, Murong Chong stood there.

Murong Chong looked very young, around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. He was of medium build, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. He wore a black uniform of the elite cavalry, with a curved sword hanging at his waist.

The blade has a greater curvature than ordinary blades, and the cutting edge is on the inside, making it a typical cavalry scimitar.

He stood there, arms crossed, looking at Lin Yan with a scrutinizing gaze, as if examining an object to see if it was worthy of his status.

Standing at the sidelines, Vice Minister Zhou raised his command flag and announced loudly, "Begin!"

Murong Chong stood still, arms crossed, looking at Lin Yan with a mocking expression.

At this moment, Lin Yan on the opposite side also did not move.

He stood on the other side of the circle, his right hand resting on the hilt of his sword, looking at Murong Chong. The area within ten steps was already covered by the perception of [Qi Observation].

The trajectory of the spiritual energy circulating within Murong Chong's body vaguely appeared in his perception.

Like Shen Yue, he was at the middle stage of the Transformation Realm.

Lin Yan has always been very cautious about the Dharma forms in the Transformation Realm. After all, physical cultivation only has one path: true qi. But in the Transformation Realm of spiritual cultivation, the Dharma forms can be incredibly diverse, with all sorts of functions.

Some powerful Dharma forms even possess innate supernatural abilities, the power of which far surpasses ordinary cultivation techniques.

Lin Yan drew his sword and took the initiative to attack.

The first strike, executed by Lin Yan using the [Twig-Splitting Slash] which he had mastered to perfection, was imbued with true energy and aimed straight for Murong Chong's waist and abdomen.

Murong Chong did not draw his sword.

He stepped aside, his left hand slapping the back of Lin Yan's sword with a seemingly casual yet surprisingly powerful motion. Lin Yan's sword was deflected by half a foot, the blade grazing Murong Chong's clothes without making contact.

Lin Yan sheathed his sword, took a step back, and looked at Murong Chong again.

Murong Chong still did not draw his sword.

He stood there, crossed his arms again, looked at Lin Yan, and had a faint smile on his lips.

"That's it? How did you even make it to the finals with your mediocre swordsmanship? Or... are all the participants in this competition trash?"

Lin Yan didn't say anything, and then slashed with his second blade.

This time it's the fifth move of the [Mysterious Blade Technique], the Mountain Splitting Strike. The blade slashes downwards, aiming straight for Murong Chong's head.

Murong Chong's internal Dharma body condensed into a phantom behind him, easily dodging to the side, and pinched the back of the knife between two fingers of his right hand.

Two fingers gripped the back of the knife.

Lin Yan's sword could neither strike nor be withdrawn.

He tried to pull it out, but the knife didn't budge.

Murong Chong's two fingers gripped the back of the knife tightly like an iron clamp.

"General Lin, how come you only have so little strength? Your injuries haven't healed yet?"

Murong Chong's voice wasn't loud, but those nearby could hear it.

A murmur arose from the stands.

Lin Yan didn't answer, but instead slapped Murong Chong's chest with his left hand.

Layered waves, triple.

Murong Chong loosened his grip on the back of his blade, took a step back, and dodged the palm strike.

Lin Yan sheathed his sword and took two steps back, creating distance between himself and Murong Chong on the arena.

At this moment, Lin Yan felt a dull pain in his chest.

Although he unleashed a powerful, surging force with that palm strike, his chest was jolted when he exerted the force, and a dull pain shot through the broken bone.

The area that hadn't fully healed was affected by the shock.

Murong Chong had clearly seen through it.

"It seems your injury hasn't fully healed," Murong Chong said, looking at Lin Yan. "If I'm not mistaken, you're only at about 50% of your usual strength right now. You might as well admit defeat early, so that General Lin doesn't lose the match and lose face as well."

Lin Yan remained silent.

Murong Chong was right; he did indeed only use half of his usual strength.

He deliberately slowed down the circulation of his true energy, deliberately slowed down his swordsmanship by 20%, and deliberately held back 30% of his strength when exerting force.

He's faking it.

He wanted everyone to believe that he was really badly injured and only had 50% of his strength left.

Then, when the opponent lowers their guard, unleash your full power!