Starting as the heir of a marquis's mansion, I gained access to a summoning system.

Just as Ye Xingchen stepped off the stage, a black figure soared into the sky and landed heavily in the center of the arena.

Li Tianxing's long, half-black, half-white hair danced wildly in the wind, his purple pupils flashing with an eerie light. He licked his lips, his gaze sweeping across the audience like a venomous snake, a signature wicked smile playing on his lips.

"Heavenly Demon Sect, Li Tianxing." His voice was hoarse and deep. "Who will play with this Holy Son?"

There was a moment of silence in the audience.

Then, a red figure streaked onto the arena like a shooting star.

Wu Zetian held a knife in one hand, her red outfit fluttering in the wind. She was extremely tall, half a head taller than Li Tianxing, standing on the arena like a small mountain. Her gaze was sharp as a knife as she sized Li Tianxing up and down, a disdainful smile curving her lips.

"The Marquis of Zhenbei's residence, Wu Zetian." Her voice was cheerful and loud. "I heard you bullied Ye Xingchen before? He's my friend, and I'm getting revenge for him today."

Li Tianxing's smile remained unchanged, his purple pupils narrowing slightly: "Is Miss Wu going to stand up for someone?"

"What, it's not going to work?" Wu Zetian slung her long sword over her shoulder. "Let's see if you have the ability."

"Hehe." Li Tianxing chuckled softly, and suddenly sprang up.

His right hand formed a claw with its five fingers, the tips swirling with intense black demonic energy, creating a sharp whistling sound as it aimed straight for Wu Zetian's throat. This claw strike was swift, ruthless, and extremely cunning.

Wu Zetian neither dodged nor evaded, nor even drew her sword.

She raised her left hand, fingers spread wide like an iron shield, to meet Li Tianxing's claw strike head-on.

"boom!"

The claw struck her palm with a dull thud. Demonic energy churned within her palm, attempting to erode her flesh and blood, but her vital energy surged like a dragon's, dispersing the demonic energy the moment it made contact.

Li Tianxing's pupils suddenly contracted.

Wu Zetian's hand remained completely still, without even a trace of blood. She grinned at Li Tianxing's shocked expression.

That's it?

A flash of anger crossed Li Tianxing's eyes. He took three steps back and unleashed both palms, his demonic energy surging and transforming into a black demonic python that opened its maw to devour Wu Zhao.

Wu Zetian finally drew her sword.

A knife.

There were no fancy moves, no prelude of building up power; it was just a clean and crisp vertical chop.

The blade flashed like a bolt of silver lightning, tearing through the sky. The demonic python was cleaved in two like paper before the blade, its demonic energy scattering. The blade's momentum undiminished, it slashed straight down at Li Tianxing's head.

Li Tianxing's expression changed drastically. He clasped his hands together, and demonic energy condensed into a black shield above his head.

"boom!"

The blade struck the demonic energy shield with a deafening roar. The shield trembled violently, cracking open with spiderweb-like fissures. Li Tianxing's arms went numb, and the immense impact forced him to his knees, his knee slamming into the stone surface and creating a shallow dent.

"Cough cough—" He coughed twice, and a trace of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

Wu Zetian sheathed her sword and stood looking down at him: "Do you admit defeat?"

Li Tianxing raised his head, his purple pupils filled with resentment. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but in the end he only took a few heavy breaths.

"...I concede."

The three words were squeezed out from between his teeth, as if he had chewed up glass.

Wu Zetian snorted, sheathed her sword, and turned to jump off the stage. She didn't even glance at Li Tianxing again, as if winning against him was just a trivial matter.

"Wu Zesheng." The voice of the King of the East Sea rang out again.

Li Tianxing slowly stood up, his face so dark it could drip water. He jumped off the arena and returned to the Heavenly Demon Sect's camp. The Blood Shadow Elder gave him a cold look: "Trash."

Li Tianxing clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms, but he did not refute.

There was a lot of discussion in the audience.

"One strike! Just one strike and he brought the Holy Son of the Heavenly Demon Sect to his knees?"

"This woman is too fierce... The people of the Zhenbei Marquis's mansion are all monsters."

"Li Tianxing has really lost face this time."

Chu Yunxiao leaped onto the arena.

He wore a blue robe, his posture as upright as a pine tree, his face cold and arrogant. His gaze swept across the entire room like a blade, carrying a condescending scrutiny.

"Chu Yunxiao." His voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable arrogance. "The four members of the Four Extremes Sword Sect, come at me all at once."

The audience erupted in uproar.

One against four?

The four sword masters of the Four Extremes Sword Sect are no ordinary characters—Xie Changkong, Ye Guhong, Meng Hanshuang, and Ouyang Xue. Each of them is at the peak of the Grandmaster level, and when they join forces to unleash the Four Extremes Sword Formation, its power is multiplied, making them capable of fighting even a Grandmaster at the first level.

"Chu Yunxiao has such a big mouth!" someone exclaimed.

"He's the direct descendant of the Chu family, a Grandmaster at the peak of the third level; he certainly has the confidence to back it up."

Within the Four Extremes Sword Sect's ranks, Xie Changkong's expression subtly changed. Ye Guhong frowned slightly, while Ouyang Xue pouted, "One person fighting the four of us? That's incredibly disrespectful."

Meng Hanshuang coldly replied, "Since he's put it that way, why don't we grant his wish?"

Xie Changkong was silent for a moment, then stood up: "Since Young Master Chu has invited us, we will respectfully accept."

Four figures simultaneously leaped onto the arena and stood in front of Chu Yunxiao.

Xie Changkong drew his sword, his Green Wood Sword Technique poised to strike: "Young Master Chu, please forgive me."

Chu Yunxiao stood with his hands behind his back, showing no intention of even drawing his sword: "Make your move."

Xie Changkong's eyes sharpened, and he thrust out his sword. The sword's momentum was like a gentle spring breeze and continuous rain, seemingly soft yet concealing deadly intent. At the same time, Ye Guhong, Meng Hanshuang, and Ouyang Xue attacked simultaneously—the Gengjin Sword Technique was incomparably fierce, the Lihuo Sword Technique was as blazing as fire, and the Xuanbing Sword Technique was chillingly cold. The four sword intents intertwined in the air to form a huge sword array, enveloping Chu Yunxiao within it.

The Four Extremes Sword Formation is activated.

A collective gasp rippled through the audience.

"What a powerful sword formation! With the four of them combined, their strength has at least doubled!"

"Chu Yunxiao is in trouble now..."

Within the sword formation, four-colored sword energies crisscrossed, forming a net that blocked all of Chu Yunxiao's escape routes. Green wood transformed into a spring breeze, Geng metal into a blade, Li fire into a raging flame, and Xuan ice into ice cones; the four powers erupted simultaneously, coordinating perfectly.

Chu Yunxiao stood in the center of the sword formation, his face showing no sign of panic.

"That's interesting," he said casually.

Then, he moved.

He activated the Cloud Soaring Technique at full power, unleashing a surge of powerful true energy from his body. He neither dodged nor defended, but instead extended his right hand, his index finger lightly touching the air.

A sharp and unparalleled sword aura shot out from his fingertips, striking the weakest point of the sword formation—the node where the four sword intents converged.

"Click—"

A crisp cracking sound rang out, and a crack appeared on the surface of the sword formation.

Xie Changkong's expression changed: "Hold on!"

But it was too late. Chu Yunxiao pointed with his second finger, and the sword energy pierced through the crack, completely tearing the sword formation apart. The four sword intents were scattered, and the four sword disciples simultaneously took two steps back, their faces pale.

Chu Yunxiao did not pursue. He stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze towards the four men calm and indifferent: "Do you want to continue?"

Xie Changkong gritted his teeth: "Again!"

The four gathered together again, their sword intent re-condensing, this time even more ferocious than before. The four longswords thrust out simultaneously, four sword lights intertwining to form a gigantic sword dragon, baring its fangs and claws as it pounced towards Chu Yunxiao.

A hint of impatience flashed in Chu Yunxiao's eyes.

He drew his sword.

A flash of sword light.

No one saw how he drew his sword; they only saw a silver arc of light trace a perfect semicircle in the air before the sword dragon snapped in half, and the longswords of the four swordsmen flew out of their hands at the same time.

"Ding ding ding ding!"

Four longswords were stuck in the stone surface of the arena, their blades humming and trembling.

The four swordsmen stood in place, their hands empty, each with a different expression.

Xie Changkong remained silent, Ye Guhong's face turned pale, Ouyang Xue's mouth gaped open, and a hint of shock flashed in Meng Hanshuang's eyes.

Chu Yunxiao sheathed his sword and said calmly, "You are all very strong, and the Four Extremes Sword Formation has great potential. However, your teamwork is still lacking a bit of coordination—Xie Changkong's sword was half a beat slow, Ye Guhong's sword was half a beat fast, and the two junior sisters' swords didn't work together. Go back and practice for another three years, and perhaps you'll be able to withstand three of my moves."

After he finished speaking, he turned and walked to the edge of the ring, without even looking at the four people behind him.

Xie Changkong took a deep breath, cupped his hands, and said, "Young Master Chu's swordsmanship is unparalleled; we concede defeat."

Chu Yunxiao jumped off the stage without looking back.

The four swordsmen exchanged a glance, picked up their respective longswords, and silently returned to the Four Extremes Sword Sect's camp.

"Chu Yunxiao wins." The voice of the King of the East Sea rang out.

A burst of enthusiastic applause and gasps of amazement erupted from the audience.

"One against four, without breaking a sweat... Chu Yunxiao truly lives up to his reputation."

"I didn't even see his sword strike clearly!"

"Peak of the third level of Grandmaster, that's too strong..."

However, those with keen eyes noticed that when Chu Yunxiao returned to the camp, his face was slightly pale and his breathing was more rapid than usual.

Although he won against four opponents, he had depleted more than half of his true energy.

He sat down, closed his eyes, and regulated his breathing, his brows slightly furrowed.

Chu Tianxing glanced at his son and said in a low voice, "Significant expenditure?"

Chu Yunxiao didn't open his eyes: "I won't die. I'll rest for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and I can still fight."

Chu Tianxing nodded and said no more.