Chapter 95: Holy crap! There

Wu Qi also came to the exhibition today; he was still the young master of the Wu family in Huju City, and his family had sent him here to see if there were any good demon-hunting tools available.

If there were, the Wu family would certainly buy the technology and invest heavily to enhance their own demon-hunting capabilities.

Indeed, Wu Qi found a talent—he had invented a special demon-hunting net.

This device was like a Poké Ball: once thrown and striking a demon beast, it would instantly trap the creature inside.

He completed his purchases early in the morning and invited the inventor, along with his invention, back to the Wu family for detailed discussions.

But Wu Nanzhi had nothing to do today; since Li Chen hadn’t come to meet her, she continued wandering around.

As she walked near the jewelry stalls, she suddenly spotted Li Chen’s figure.

Just as she was about to greet him, she noticed a stunningly beautiful woman beside him.

Wasn’t this the very woman she had seen on the Matchmaking Mountain?

I knew it—you ditched me today because you had another date with some other girl.

Definitely a master of time management!

Wu Nanzhi had originally planned to find an opportunity to make Li Chen clash with the girl beside him.

But after thinking it over, she realized that aside from when he acted rashly toward her in the secret realm, he hadn’t been overly rude otherwise; in fact, her impression of him these past two days had been quite good.

The exhibition was crowded—if she made Li Chen look foolish now, it would truly be unfair.

Who am I to be so soft-hearted? I’ll let you off today.

Besides, she had always known there were women around Li Chen and hadn’t cared much.

Just as Wu Nanzhi was about to leave, Li Chen turned around and called out to her.

“Huh? Why are you here today? Want to shop together?”

This startled Wu Nanzhi badly—Chu Ruoyan was still examining items at the display case and hadn’t noticed Li Chen greeting her.

She quickly made a “shh” gesture and pointed at Chu Ruoyan.

Meaning: don’t greet me, or you’ll make the woman beside you angry.

I’ve already let you off the hook—how dare you come near me?

Li Chen instantly understood what she meant and was about to explain, when Chu Ruoyan turned around and softly asked, “Who is this?”

Chu Ruoyan, upon seeing Wu Nanzhi, also felt a strong sense of awe.

This woman’s beauty and figure made every other woman who saw her feel a tinge of envy.

Before Li Chen could speak, Wu Nanzhi blurted out: “I’m his sister.”

Li Chen: “.”

Playing dress-up, huh? Fine, I’ll play along.

Wu Nanzhi said this because she feared Chu Ruoyan might cause a scene over jealousy.

“Oh, if you’re his sister, then join us for some shopping.”

Chu Ruoyan had never heard of any imperial princesses in the palace, but Wu Nanzhi’s attire clearly wasn’t palace-style.

So she assumed Wu Nanzhi must be from Li Chen’s mother’s side.

As Li Chen’s woman, she naturally wanted to make a good impression on his “sister.”

“No, I still—”

Before Wu Nanzhi could finish, Li Chen grabbed her arm and grinned: “Come on, sister~”

Wu Nanzhi was furious—after I said that, you still take advantage of me? You little brat is playing with fire!

Chu Ruoyan genuinely didn’t think much of it and kept calling her “sister.”

Soon, the two women were chatting enthusiastically about jewelry, completely forgetting Li Chen beside them.

At this point, Li Chen had no need to interrupt—he could just enjoy the show.

After wandering a while, the three arrived at the central plaza—the competition arena.

The crowd was roaring; clearly, someone important had just appeared.

These two were both renowned figures in the armament circle: Bai Zhanfei, the sect master of the Hundred Forge Sect in the imperial capital, and Qiu Youneng, the owner of a thousand-year-old blacksmith shop.

Both were showcasing their crafted “divine weapons.”

Bai Zhanfei’s creation was the “Separation Sword,” forged from a special metal.

Slogan: “Tired of your sword strikes being blocked? With my Separation Sword, even if they block your attack, they can’t block your blade!”

The Separation Sword consisted of five blade fragments forming the blade body.

For example, you swing it in a downward slash.

The opponent raises their weapon to block—but can only block one of the five fragments.

The other four fragments, due to inertia, continue slicing downward, striking the enemy and achieving a surprising effect.

Simply channel energy into the hilt, and the fragments instantly fuse into a single blade.

Someone in the crowd immediately asked: “Master Bai, what if someone steals one of the blade fragments?”

Bai Zhanfei grinned smugly, as if he’d expected the question, and replied: “Just carry extra fragments on your person—I sell them here, and you can customize the length to your preference. Very practical.”

The crowd murmured in admiration—no wonder Master Bai had stayed away so long; he showed up with a weapon this brilliant. Li Chen thought: Damn, this thing has high maintenance costs—I don’t know if it’s effective, but it’ll definitely make money.

Because anyone who bought this sword would inevitably carry many spare fragments.

Nearby, Qiu Youneng was unimpressed—he displayed his own Spiral Sword.

Slogan: “Tired of failing to pierce your opponent? With my Spiral Sword, its ultra-powerful rotation guarantees a hole through your enemy!”

Just by watching the demonstration, Li Chen knew this was a power drill.

It enhanced piercing attacks through high-speed rotation, achieving the effect of “one force breaking a thousand.”

Both were master-level armament experts, each convinced their weapon was superior, hence the live demonstration.

Bai Zhanfei suggested: “Fighting each other is pointless—weapons are judged by how they perform in others’ hands. Let’s invite two random people to test them.”

He said this because his cultivation level and battle experience were lower than Qiu Youneng’s—he’d be at a disadvantage in direct combat and couldn’t properly showcase his weapon’s strength.

Qiu Youneng, confident in his weapon, replied: “Fine, let’s pick two at random.”

In truth, Bai Zhanfei had set a trap—he’d invited a plant as his “random” participant.

Here, Bai Zhanfei had played a trick—he had “casually” invited passersby who were actually his hired accomplices.

The plant was his disciple Zhao Chong, who had spent the past few months mastering the Separation Sword’s techniques—he had virtually no chance of losing.

Qiu Youneng truly picked randomly—he chose Li Chen.

Now Li Chen knew this performance had no script—at least not for him.

Since he had nothing better to do, and with encouragement from Chu Ruoyan and Wu Nanzhi, Li Chen stepped onto the stage.

After receiving the Spiral Sword, Qiu Youneng explained its usage and precautions; Li Chen, with his insight, grasped it effortlessly.

Once the Separation Sword side was ready, Li Chen and Zhao Chong stepped onto the competition platform.

The rules were simple: to avoid hostility, both combatants would suppress their cultivation to the Meridian Opening realm.

Because Meridian Opening cultivators were the most numerous—and the primary buyers of these flashy weapons.

The crowd was packed, eager spectators waiting for the match.

From sheer appearance alone, Li Chen had already won—he was handsome.

But combat isn’t decided by looks—it’s decided by skill.

With a clear bell ring, the weapon trial began.

Zhao Chong moved instantly, executing a tiger-slam slash—his blade sliced through the air with a piercing whistle, aimed straight at Li Chen’s vital points.

Li Chen, as if forgetting Zhao Chong’s weapon, simply raised his sword to block directly.

“Clang!” The two blades collided midair with a deafening crash.

At that moment, the Separation Sword’s feature activated—the four unblocked fragments flew toward Li Chen.

But Li Chen effortlessly sidestepped.

The Separation Sword fragments scattered on the ground; Li Chen seized the chance, activating the Spiral Sword and lunging forward—a violent gale howled like a dragon diving into the sea, unstoppable!

Zhao Chong reacted quickly, channeling energy into the hilt—the fragments instantly reassembled into a solid blade.

Even as he blocked the spinning Spiral Sword with the blade’s body, it showed no signs of breaking—extremely sturdy.

Piercing attacks were only effective in one thrust—if they missed, the momentum was lost and the technique had to change.

As the battle deepened, their sword techniques grew increasingly refined.

Zhao Chong unleashed “Meteor Chasing the Moon”—swordlight flashed like a meteor across the night sky, swift as lightning, aimed at Li Chen’s waist.

Li Chen dodged effortlessly.

Zhao Chong followed with “Clouds Rolling and Unfolding”—his blade tip flicked lightly, swordlight surged like clouds, splitting into five lingering blade shadows that enveloped Li Chen.

Again, Li Chen dodged effortlessly.

They exchanged blows, swordlight flashing, weapons clashing incessantly.

Zhao Chong was drenched in sweat—he was cheating, using the Separation Sword’s full technique, and still couldn’t win?

Finally, Li Chen lightly tapped Zhao Chong’s hilt—the blade slipped from his grip. The match ended. Li Chen won.

“Everyone see? My Spiral Sword clearly crushes the Separation Sword.”

Qiu Youneng beamed, stepping onto the stage to declare his victory.

Zhao Chong looked guiltily at his master—he had truly lost.

Seeing the crowd’s praise, Qiu Youneng was ecstatic—this proved he was superior to his old rival Bai Zhanfei.

After years of research, Bai Zhanfei still couldn’t match Qiu Youneng’s simple creation.

Qiu Youneng continued: “Let’s hear the first user of the Spiral Sword’s thoughts.”

Qiu You continued, “Come, let’s hear the first user of the Spiral Sword share his thoughts.”

Li Chen replied thoughtfully: “I think your spiral sword has major flaws—first, the hilt is too light while the blade is heavy, making it hard to control when spinning, and the rotation speed can’t be adjusted; the vibrations it generates are extremely strong.”

“In a prolonged fight, the opponent might not be affected much, but you’ll likely suffer from hand numbness due to constant vibration, causing you to lose your grip—far less practical than the sword across from you.”

Li Chen was a man who spoke the truth, and this statement was objectively accurate.

Hearing this, Qiu You frowned in confusion: “But I saw you using it smoothly—and you won, didn’t you?”

Li Chen shrugged and said: “Is it possible that I won simply because I’m stronger, not because your weapon is better than his?”

Everyone: “.”

Damn, is there another expert?

This guy’s been pretending all along!

(End of Chapter)