Even though Gui Tianchou had formed three shields, he still couldn't defend all sides, and there were still many gaps. Although these gaps were small, they were still openings, weaknesses.

Ling Chen excelled at exploiting others' loopholes, attacking their vulnerabilities. Moreover, with the Golden True Eyes now, it was like adding wings to a tiger.

In his hand, the Red Sky Sword swiftly struck at the gaps in Gui Tianchou's defense, even splitting into seven or eight sword qi attacks to assault Gui Tianchou, forcing the latter to desperately patch the gaps and struggle for survival.

Under such a fierce onslaught, Gui Tianchou quickly couldn't hold on; he was struck thrice by Ling Chen, with the last blow directly breaking through his defense, sending him flying off the stage.

"This kid, how did his style change so much?"

Li Tailong exclaimed in surprise.

Those who had watched Ling Chen's battles knew that from his last duel with Murong Ziying, Ling Chen's style had shifted from a low-profile, hidden approach to an extremely aggressive one.

"Could it be that he was holding back his strength before, and is only now unleashing it?" Li Yifeng, though reluctant to make such a guess, realized it was the truth.

"This kid is too deeply hidden."

Now Li Tailong understood, feeling a bit uneasy. Thankfully, he didn't confront Ling Chen in the West Market; otherwise, he would have been searching for his teeth back then.

"It's useless. Changing styles won't bridge the gap in strength."

Li Yifeng said with a gloomy expression.

He refused to believe that Ling Chen could make it into the top three this way.

"Damn it."

Gui Tianchou was still waiting for a comeback opportunity, not expecting his defenses to be breached by Ling Chen before the chance even came. He thought he had studied Ling Chen's tactics thoroughly, giving him a good chance of winning this contest, but who knew it would end like this, leaving him furious.

But there was nothing he could do; he had lost the match and could only swallow his anger.

"Only three rounds left."

On the Ling Family side, everyone's mood grew increasingly tense. Ling Chen was still ranked third, but the final three rounds were of utmost importance.

Ling Chen's current ranking guaranteed at least fourth, but fourth was not much different from the top ten; entering the top three was significant.

Although Ling Lie and others maintained a mindset of not being too greedy, they couldn't help but hope for Ling Chen to reach a higher rank.

...

Round seven.

By round seven, there were two high-level duels: one between Ling Chen and Sima Xiaoyao, and the other between Peerless Sword and Liu Mengru, both monstrous talents.

These two matches were generally regarded as battles for the top four, the contest between the third and fourth, first and second.

Once these two matches concluded, the results of this year's Heavenly Sword Tournament would essentially be settled in this round.

First up was Ling Chen versus Sima Xiaoyao.

"Before the tournament began, I truly didn't expect that it would be you standing here."

Sima Xiaoyao remarked to Ling Chen, somewhat sentimentally.

"If everything went as expected without any surprises, wouldn't that be too boring?"

Ling Chen replied calmly.

"That's true."

Sima Xiaoyao laughed freely, pointing his long knife at Ling Chen, his blade intent surging, "Let's fight!"

The power of the blade Spirit Embryo gathered above Sima Xiaoyao's head, transforming into a massive blade light suspended in the air, while at the same time, Ling Chen fully activated his Sword Spirit Embryo, forming a giant sword above his head.

One blade, one sword, each emitting an incredibly sharp aura, standing in opposition.

"Splitting Sea Slash!"

A formidable force surged like an ocean, as Sima Xiaoyao invigorated his True Qi, wielding a formidable slash towards Ling Chen. The arena's grand momentum seemed sliced in two, with the sea waters parting.

In the void, a deep star-like sword light flashed; at some point, Ling Chen's Red Sky Sword had been drawn, precisely striking the head of Sima Xiaoyao's blade qi, sparks scattering like a rain of fire.

With a flicker of movement, Ling Chen broke through the fire rain, appearing close to Sima Xiaoyao, thrusting his sword forward.

This sword strike encompassed a mix of slaughter, ethereal, overbearing, absolute kill, and various other auras, mutually accommodating, exuding a powerful presence.

Numerous insights fused into one sword; the earlier matches hadn't been in vain. However, this sword didn't merge all the complex insights into one; there wasn't enough time. Ling Chen believed he wasn't the only one with insights, but others needed more time to absorb the essence.

However, Ling Chen had incorporated these insights into his swordsmanship.

"What?"

Sima Xiaoyao was shocked. Ling Chen's Sword Intent clearly contained multiple attributes, at least four, yet there was no mutual repulsion. This indicated that Ling Chen's Sword Intent was at a very high level, at least at the peak of the second tier, possibly even the third.

If Ling Chen's Sword Intent had reached the third tier, it would be terrifying, because even for a genius blade wielder like him, his blade intent was still at the second level.

Thus, Ling Chen's sword strike immediately broke through his blade momentum, feeling unstoppable.

"Returning Edge Slash!"

At a critical moment, Sima Xiaoyao bit his tongue, spinning his body in a circle, with his True Qi erupting like a volcano, carrying an overwhelming blade intent. He swung his blade in a reverse grip, accurately blocking Ling Chen's sword edge.

Clang!

The clash of blade and sword sent sparks flying; Ling Chen's sword light was scattered, but a strand of sword wind still pierced through, grazing Sima Xiaoyao's cheek.

A bloodstain appeared, with traces of blood oozing out.

"What, am I seeing this right? Sima Xiaoyao is at a disadvantage?"

In the stands, a voice of astonishment suddenly rang out, tinged with disbelief.

Not only the watching warriors but even the top ten geniuses like Tang Haotian, Kong Wenju, Xing Youfa were all shocked. They were well aware of Sima Xiaoyao's strength, superior by a margin compared to them, and as for Ling Chen, he was stronger than them but supposedly still much inferior to Sima Xiaoyao.

Yet, at the start of the duel, Sima Xiaoyao was actually being suppressed by Ling Chen.

Could it be that Ling Chen hadn't shown his full strength when battling them? 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

How could that be possible?

"This is your true strength, then..."

Only Liu Mengru wasn't too surprised, looking on with a calm demeanor, as if she had expected this. She knew Ling Chen must have hidden his strength; she just didn't know to what extent Ling Chen had hidden it.

Now it seemed, Ling Chen was starting to get serious.

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