Chapter 19: This sword, it pierces myriad rivers

The quicksand and chains easily pierced Chen Qiye's body, but the three quickly realized that the Chen Qiye standing in place was merely an illusion—the person the Quicksand River chains had pierced had already vanished.

Seeing this, the three were stunned, wondering where Chen Qiye had run off to.

Before they could even spot Chen Qiye's figure, they suddenly felt a heaven‑covering sword aura, and in an instant the three dazed kids were blasted off the stage.

"Chen Qiye, victory!" Wang Yan glanced pitifully at the three helpless ones and announced expressionlessly.

………

In the spectator area, Huo Yuhao's gaze toward Chen Qiao was filled with astonishment.

To be honest, he felt a bit envious, hoping that one day he too could shine brilliantly on stage and effortlessly settle battles.

Not only Huo Yuhao, but basically any teacher with somewhat stronger strength on site could tell that Chen Qiye was merely using soul power, without activating his martial soul or soul skills—just a plain use of soul power.

Those freshmen with little strength simply couldn't make sense of the situation.

In their view, the battle from start to finish was utterly bewildering—how had Chen Qiye just disappeared? Where did that sword aura come from? It was resolved so easily.

While opening their eyes, they couldn't help but compare themselves to Chen Qiye in their hearts.

But the ultimate result was only one: if it were them, they might well be killed in an instant.

Bear in mind this was still Chen Qiye without using his martial soul—just the use of soul power alone.

……

In the corner, Yan Shaozhe and Xuan Lao stood side by side, nodding satisfactorily after watching the battle.

After returning to the spectator area, Chen Qiye immediately noticed the deep, lingering look Wang Dong gave him.

"What's wrong with this girl? I didn't do anything to her—does she really have to look like a resentful wife?"

Being stared at made Chen Qiye feel a chill, and he shivered involuntarily.

Wang Dong still dressed as a boy, yet casting such a gaze felt strange no matter how you looked at it.

"Thank goodness I'm not sitting beside him—please don't look at me like that; it's really uncomfortable."

Although Huo Yuhao was right next to Wang Dong, all his attention was focused on the assessments in other areas.

"Watch more, and you'll gain more experience. Gu Yue will be up soon."

Gu Yue's dazzling elemental attacks were like special‑effect explosions burning through the budget, so many opponents withdrew before facing her—after all, who has such a violent girl? And Gu Yue's strangely talented elemental mastery quickly became known to several senior figures; her explanation to Zhou Yi was that it was an inherited martial soul of her family, unseen for ten thousand years.

………

Wang Dong saw Chen Qiye about to leave, had no intention of calling him back, stomped her feet in frustration, and hurried after him.

Although they had been together for three months, the mist surrounding Chen Qiye didn't clear up under her efforts—it only grew thicker.

His mysterious martial soul, soul‑ring ratios far beyond common sense, his frequent disappearances that Zhou Yi didn't punish, and his bizarre fighting methods—all of it kept reshaping her understanding.

Thinking of this, Wang Dong's steps quickened involuntarily.

Wang Dong hadn't expected Chen Qiye to be so fast; in the blink of an eye he vanished.

Wang Dong stomped her feet in anger, shouting, "Are you a rabbit? Running that fast!"

………

Because Chen Qiye had the best record in the previous five rounds, he remained in Area 33; after redrawing lots and swapping in five groups of freshmen to continue the evaluation, these newcomers certainly wouldn't be the top scorers from other areas, so the upcoming five round‑robin matches definitely wouldn't pit him against the strongest opponents. Still, compared to before, it might not be that easy either.

Teacher Wang Yan gave Huo Yuhao's trio a meaningful look, then announced, "All right, everyone's here. Since Class 1's Huo Yuhao team earned the area's best score in the previous five rounds, they are this area's seed team. According to the match order, they will go first."

"Area 33, Sixth Round, First Match: Freshman Class 1's Chen Qiye team versus Freshman Class 7's Huang Chu Tian team will undergo evaluation."

Both sides entered the arena at once; Huo Yuhao, watching from the stage, immediately noticed that the opposing team actually had a pair of female students who looked exactly alike.

Both girls had blue‑black hair, delicate rosy cheeks, looked very cute, and seemed a bit younger than them.

Twins? In front of the two girls stood a tall, sturdy male student—obviously Huang Chu Tian, the leader of their three‑person squad.

"I'm Huang Chu Tian; on my left is Lan Su Su, on my right Lan Luo Luo. Please advise."

"Chen Qiye, please advise." Chen Qiye replied.

Chen Qiye remained the original first place.

On the other side, Huang Chu Tian led the way, with Lan Su Su and Lan Luo Luo behind him.

Each team can have at most one Strong Attack System Soul Master; clearly the twin girls aren't that type—they're likely dual support or dual control.

Teacher Wang Yan shouted in a low voice, "Evaluation begins."

Both sides swiftly released their martial souls; Huang Chu Tian let out a roar and hammered his chest with both fists.

He was surely under twelve, yet his height already exceeded 1.5 meters; when his martial soul emerged, his physique instantly swelled to about 1.8 meters, his bulging muscles tearing apart his school uniform, and the exposed skin turned iron‑black.

His eyes shifted from black to yellow, his canine teeth protruded slightly from his thickened lips, his limbs were extraordinarily thick, and each muscle felt as hard and powerful as steel.

Two yellow soul rings rose from his feet at once—revealing him to be a Soul Elder of rank twenty or higher, a Strong Attack System Soul Master.

Behind Huang Chu Tian, the twin girls also released their martial souls at the same time—and their martial souls turned out to be their hair……

Beneath Lan Luo Luo and Lan Su Su each appeared two yellow soul rings; a flick of the head sent their blue‑black hair streaming outward, instantly unfurling in the air into strands over ten meters long that floated without falling.

But soon the spectators noticed something odd: the girls' hair had encircled their own party, trapping the three inside a semicircle formed by the hair.

Chen Qiye snorted coldly, "Your thinking is correct—you're afraid I'll kill you in one strike, so you defend first then attack."

Only then did the onlookers understand the meaning of Huang Chu Tian trio's move: by pre‑emptively releasing defense they could avoid being instant‑killed, and later they just needed to find a chance to defeat Chen Qiye.

"Too bad your thinking is right, but you forgot the gap between our strengths—it's like heaven and earth."

"Disjoined Sword."

Chen Qiye shouted, and a five‑foot long sword appeared in his hand—its body clear and flawless, the dark‑black blade tinged with a floating blood‑red hue.

Chen Qiye flashed into midair, and his sword exhaled wisps of cold air.

"This sword, it pierces myriad rivers."

At this moment Chen Qiye resembled a sword immortal descending from the ninth heaven; with a long sword in hand, even the stars above could be cut down in a single strike.

Chen Qiye's gaze turned icy; he swiftly slashed a fierce ice‑sword aura toward the semicircle formed by the three.

Yet what shocked the watching students was that the seemingly ordinary sword aura Chen Qiye swung, in midair not far from Huang Chu Tian's trio, inexplicably multiplied into ten identical sword auras out of nowhere, their edges exposed and their momentum threatening.

Eleven strands of sword qi, like meteors, sliced the horizon, pouring down like raindrops.

(End of chapter)