Chapter 23: A Tie

Silence!

Complete silence!

Shen Chen and Lin Hai passed each other, standing back to back, their long swords slightly drooping, pointing at the ground.

"Drip... drip..." Drops of bright red blood fell from Lin Hai's sword.

In that instant, Lin Hai had unleashed the strongest killing move of the Thirteen Thunder Swords - Thunder Annihilation, stabbing Shen Chen at least thirteen times!

The speed of Lin Hai's sword was evident!

If it weren't for the pure energy suddenly emitted by the mysterious mirror in Shen Chen's mind, allowing Shen Chen to勉强施展出大成境界的幽冥鬼斩, he would have been dead by now.

Even so, Shen Chen had thirteen wounds of varying sizes and lengths on his body, continuously bleeding, making him look like a blood-soaked man.

However, Lin Hai was clearly not faring well either; Shen Chen's幽冥鬼斩 also injured him!

Although, Shen Chen's幽冥鬼斩 only left a thin scar on Lin Hai's rib.

But, this was the first time Shen Chen had resisted Lin Hai's "Thirteen Thunder Swords" and injured him, which greatly boosted Shen Chen's confidence!

It was like a wolf, when facing a fierce tiger, would definitely tremble in fear, suppressed by the tiger's dominance, and, being no match for the tiger, could only become its prey.

But, when the wolf discovers it can injure the tiger and stand up to it, its wild nature is unleashed, and it dares to fight the tiger!

Shen Chen was now such a wolf, a wild and unyielding wolf!

"This... Senior Lin Hai is actually injured? How is that possible? Isn't that kid Shen Chen only at the Third Level of the Blood Fusion Realm? How could he injure Senior Lin Hai, who is at the Sixth Level of the Blood Fusion Realm?"

"Am I seeing things?"

"So what if he managed to injure Senior Lin Hai by chance? That kid Shen Chen is already heavily wounded; he's just barely holding on. How can he possibly be a match for Senior Lin Hai?"

"Just a last-ditch effort before dying!"

"Overestimating himself! Truly asking for death!"

...

The surrounding inner disciples were all discussing, each one talking big, not taking Shen Chen seriously, especially Lin Hai's few followers, who were greatly belittling Shen Chen.

Wang Yue glared angrily at the inner disciples who were cursing and mocking Shen Chen, wanting to rush over and fight, but was worried about his leader Shen Chen's sparring with Lin Hai, so he could only glare at them and curse loudly.

...

"Stinking country bumpkin! How dare you injure me! You're dead!" Lin Hai's face turned a deep purple, his eyes full of venomous hatred.

Since Lin Hai became the fifth-ranked inner disciple and the personal disciple of Blood Hand Mad Slaughter Xiao Zhenhai, he had never been injured in any competition!

Even when sparring with the top four inner disciples, he had never been at a disadvantage, let alone injured.

But, unexpectedly, he was injured in a match with Shen Chen, a rookie who had just entered the inner disciples and was only at the Third Level of the Blood Fusion Realm!

This was a great humiliation! How could Lin Hai not be angry?

"Swish... swish swish..." Lin Hai's sword was suddenly thrown into the air, spinning rapidly as if controlled by an invisible hand.

"Purple Lightning Divine Thunder Slash!" Lin Hai roared, and the rapidly spinning sword shot towards Shen Chen like a bolt of lightning.

"Good! Come on!" Shen Chen roared, his eyes bloodshot, like a mad wolf, and his iron sword swung wildly, like waves.

Shen Chen had only been practicing sword techniques for half a month, and his sword skills were limited to the Nine Ghost Slashes, without any defensive techniques.

However, with his head acupoints now unblocked, his hearing and vision were sharp, and his mental strength was even greater than that of a Sixth Level Blood Fusion Realm martial artist. Plus, the memory of the old man sealed in the mysterious mirror gave Shen Chen an idea, and he used the iron sword to perform the Surging Tide Technique!

The Surging Tide Technique was primarily defensive, and when Shen Chen used the iron sword to perform it, the sword light slashed out like waves, blocking his entire body tightly!

"Bang bang bang..." Lin Hai's sword repeatedly collided with Shen Chen's iron sword.

Under the repeated collisions of Lin Hai's sword, Shen Chen's body kept retreating, and sparks flew from his iron sword under the strikes of Lin Hai's sword.

"Spit..." Under the continuous collisions, Shen Chen spat out a mouthful of blood, his body retreating four to five steps, and a fierce wound appeared on his wrist, bleeding profusely.

If it weren't for the pure energy infused into Shen Chen's body by the mysterious mirror, with just his Third Level Blood Fusion Realm strength, the first strike alone would have broken through his defense and killed him!

"What a powerful attack! Truly worthy of being the fifth-ranked inner disciple!" Shen Chen spat out the blood in his mouth, thinking to himself.

"Good! Well done!"

"Senior Lin Hai is mighty!"

...

The surrounding inner disciples cheered in unison.

However, Lin Hai's face showed no excitement or joy, but rather a frown and a serious expression.

The Purple Lightning Divine Thunder Slash! This was the strongest killing move Lin Hai had learned from Blood Hand Mad Slaughter Xiao Zhenhai in recent years. Even a Seventh or Eighth Level Blood Fusion Realm martial artist might not be able to withstand it. This was Lin Hai's trump card to challenge the first-ranked inner disciple Qi Zheng!

Originally, Lin Hai had intended to use this move against the Seventh Level Blood Fusion Realm first-ranked inner disciple Qi Zheng, but it was now used against the Third Level Blood Fusion Realm rookie Shen Chen, who, although heavily injured, had managed to withstand it!

This made Lin Hai lose confidence in his trump card!

"How is this possible? I spent two years perfecting the Purple Lightning Divine Thunder Slash. My master said that even a Seventh Level Blood Fusion Realm martial artist couldn't withstand it! But this kid, who is clearly only at the Third Level, managed to withstand it! What's going on?" Lin Hai's face was full of disbelief.

Lin Hai could not have known that Shen Chen did not withstand the Purple Lightning Divine Thunder Slash with his own strength, but with the help of the mysterious mirror.

At this point, both Shen Chen and Lin Hai were at the end of their strength. Lin Hai had used up almost half of his blood energy in the Purple Lightning Divine Thunder Slash, and it was impossible for him to use it again, even the Thirteen Thunder Swords were difficult to perform.

Shen Chen, heavily injured, had a greatly reduced attack power and could not perform the Ghost Slash again.

"Wow... I didn't expect this kid to be so strong! He actually fought Senior Lin Hai to a draw!"

"Heaven! Is this kid so talented? He just entered the inner disciples, and given time, he will surely be among the top in the inner disciples!"

The surrounding inner disciples whispered to each other, their gazes towards Shen Chen completely changed!

Originally, they had looked down on Shen Chen, mocking and ridiculing him, but now, seeing that he was only at the Third Level of the Blood Fusion Realm and had fought the Sixth Level Senior Lin Hai to a draw, everyone looked at Shen Chen with new respect, no longer underestimating him!

In the end, wherever you go, the strong are respected! As long as you show enough strength, even if you were born poor and begged for a living, you can still earn the respect of others!

"Alright! Since it's a sparring match, let's stop now!" At this moment, a voice suddenly came from the front of the lecture hall.

Everyone turned to the source of the voice and found that, at some point, one of the five inner elders, the Jade-Faced Demon Fox Situ Ya, had already stood at the front of the hall.

"Salute Elder Situ!" All the inner disciples hurriedly bowed.

"Alright! Disperse!" Situ Ya said indifferently and turned to walk into the lecture hall.

Whether it was an illusion or not, Shen Chen noticed that as the Jade-Faced Demon Fox Situ Ya left, she gave him a deep look, her eyes filled with a hint of approval and great importance.

"Hmph!" Lin Hai coldly snorted, gave Shen Chen a venomous look, and walked away without looking back.

Shen Chen watched Lin Hai's retreating back, a cold and fierce look in his eyes.

"Truly asking for trouble! Want to use me as a warning to others? You must be blind! Don't think I'm easy to bully! Next time, I'll make you know the consequences of offending me!" Shen Chen's lips curled into a slightly evil smile.

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