"Let's begin!"
Jian Ruyan, seeing Wu Shisan finish warming up, instantly entered a combat state, and her gaze became stern as she spoke in a deep voice.
"Ha!"
Wu Shisan's angry shout erupted like the Lion's Roar Skill, his voice thundering, causing the group of newcomers watching their fight in the distance to feel their heads ache and their vision darken.
Wu Shisan bellowed, trying to overpower with his momentum, and then his figure, ghost-like, charged towards Jian Ruyan and delivered a kick towards her abdomen.
"Clang!"
At the critical moment, Jian Ruyan suddenly drew her sword from its sheath.
Wu Shisan stopped moving.
Glancing sideways at the long sword resting against his neck, emitting a cold Sword Qi, he dared not move any further.
Wu Shisan roared inwardly, how could this be possible?
Jian Ruyan had just reached the Early Energy Transformation Stage a year ago, how have she reached the Peak Energy Transformation in just one year?
This shouldn't be!
When they had ambushed Nameless together a while ago, her strength hadn't been this strong!
Could it be that she had been concealing her true power all this time?!
If that was the case, then everything would make sense.
"Are you convinced now?"
Jian Ruyan asked, looking at Wu Shisan who was sweating profusely from his forehead, her tone indifferent.
"Convinced, totally convinced..."
Wu Shisan said with a wry smile.
Under the absolute disparity in strength, he was utterly without any chance to retaliate once he made a misstep.
Just as when Xiang Mantang returned to the capital, they had all competed with Xiang Mantang, and all lost to him just as now.
Seeing Wu Shisan concede, Jian Ruyan then sheathed her sword.
Feeling the sharp sensation on his neck disappear, Wu Shisan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Although he knew Jian Ruyan would not kill him, he was still afraid. What if Jian Ruyan accidentally trembled her hand?
Mu Hongchen witnessed their battle, which ended in merely three seconds, and was stunned for a long while.
Then, she looked up, no longer with a worried gaze at Jian Ruyan, but with a mix of curiosity and astonishment, "Ruyan, when did you step into the Peak Energy Transformation?"
"A few days ago," Jian Ruyan answered indifferently.
It didn't seem like a big deal to her.
They were talking on this side.
On the other side, the instructors and the newcomers were a bit dumbfounded.
"Instructor, didn't you just say that the Tianxuan Hall Master could subdue the Yaoguang Hall Master in three moves?"
"Yeah, how come it was the Yaoguang Hall Master who subdued the Tianxuan Hall Master in one move?"
After being bewildered for a while, the newcomers turned their heads and looked at the instructor with strange expressions, asking.
The instructor was also bewildered.
He thought to himself, even if Jian Ruyan had made a breakthrough, she would just be at the Completion Stage of Energy Transformation, and, being at the same stage, her gap with Wu Shisan was quite apparent; one had just entered this level, while the other was about to advance to a higher level.
But the result, Jian Ruyan subduing Wu Shisan in one move, was too unreasonable, wasn't it?
Hearing the trainee's question, the instructor's mouth twitched slightly as he explained, "Perhaps the Tianxuan Hall Master was careless."
"But, instructor..." someone asked, puzzled, "didn't you just teach us that we can despise the enemy strategically, but must value them tactically? It doesn't make sense—Tianxuan Hall Master should know this!"
The instructor, hearing the trainee's words, became somewhat annoyed and snapped, "Stop prattling on! Have you all had enough rest? Get up and continue training!"
"Yes!"
Seeing the instructor's anger, no one dared to provoke him further. They obediently got up—ready to resume training.
Mei Yinxue hadn't spoken at all; she was just drinking water, resting, and recovering her strength. At the moment, she felt quite good, unlike some who kept chattering nonstop and now struggled to stand, their legs shaking.
The instructor's training was merely a minor incident here.
Meanwhile, Wu Shisan, having admitted defeat, was full of regret.
If only he had known that Jian Ruyan had unwittingly become the second at Dragon King Hall, he would not have challenged Jian Ruyan but instead have targeted Mu Hongchen. Even becoming a Vermilion Bird would have been good!
Now that he had lost, he could no longer challenge Mu Hongchen!
He could only turn into a turtle now.
Mu Hongchen didn't care about Wu Shisan's thoughts. Hearing Jian Ruyan's response, she circled around her a few times, both surprised and envious, "You broke through to the Peak Energy Transformation in just a few days? Why can't I be that lucky?"
Jian Ruyan said indifferently, "Once you understand, you understand. If not, maybe you'll never get it, but it's nothing — with your talent, I dare not say the God Realm but reaching Peak Energy Transformation is only a matter of time."
Mu Hongchen understood what Jian Ruyan meant, like countless martial artists in the country who might spend their entire lives stuck at Peak Dark Energy, never able to step into the Energy Transformation stage.
And some masters of Energy Transformation remain at the Early or Complete stages for life. If they can't grasp the essence, they probably will never integrate and reach the Peak Energy Transformation, becoming a grandmaster of martial arts.
People like Mu Jinyu, Xiang Mantang, and Jian Ruyan, only in their twenties and already grandmasters of Peak Energy Transformation, could possibly comprehend the Unity of Heaven and Man, the union of Essence, Qi, and Spirit, stepping into the God Realm, are truly rare.
Realizing this, Mu Hongchen felt less dejected.
Then, Mu Hongchen glanced at the disheartened Wu Shisan with a bit of schadenfreude and looked towards Xiang Mantang, asking, "Dragon King, now that the rankings of the new Sub-hall Masters have been set, is there anything else to announce?"
"No more!" Xiang Mantang's expression was somewhat complex as he shook his head and said to them, "You and Xuanwu, step back for now."
"Yes!" Mu Hongchen was quite curious about what Xiang Mantang wanted to discuss with Jian Ruyan but dared not defy his command. Along with Wu Shisan, he responded and prepared to leave.
"Wait a minute!" Xiang Mantang suddenly recalled something and reminded, "From now on, don't call me Dragon King. There is only one Dragon King in Dragon King Hall, my senior, you can call me Azure Dragon!"
"Yes!"
Mu Hongchen and Wu Shisan, upon hearing Xiang Mantang's words, felt a chill in their hearts and hastily responded.
They had initially speculated that Xiang Mantang intended to replace Mu Jinyu's title of Dragon King with his position as Azure Dragon. It seems they had thought too much.
Fortunately, Xiang Mantang did not take much issue with it; otherwise, they probably would not have fared well.
After Mu Hongchen and Wu Shisan left,
Xiang Mantang looked at Jian Ruyan with a calm gaze and asked, "Have you been concealing your strength?"
Jian Ruyan's expression remained unchanged, and she replied in a very calm tone, "I couldn't deceive you in the end."
Yes, her claim of having broken through a few days ago was false.
Advancing to the Peak Energy Transformation within a few days usually means one has been long stagnant at the Complete Energy Transformation Stage, having had a sudden insight and naturally progressing further.
But it is impossible to leap from the Early to the Peak Energy Transformation in two stages.
Which means, she originally possessed the strength of Complete Energy Transformation, not same as Mu Hongchen in the early stages.
Xiang Mantang furrowed his brows slightly but did not ask why Jian Ruyan had concealed her strength.
He did not even blame her for hiding it.
After all, during their last encounter with Nameless, even with Jian Ruyan exerting Peak Energy Transformation strength, they still could not capture Nameless.
Xiang Mantang curiously asked, "Why conceal it before and not now?"