After dinner, Yang Zixuan left in a hurry. She still had to go back to summarize the battle and conduct targeted training.
Yang Hong wanted to keep Yang Zixuan to guide her, but he didn't want to expose his martial arts skills, so he gave up.
The next day, Yang Hong went to the usual spot to watch the competition.
The Five Directions Heavenly Pride Competition adopted a traditional knockout system, with winners advancing and losers being eliminated.
However, besides resolving conflicts between various factions, the main purpose of the Five Directions Heavenly Pride Competition was for the **Supremes** to select disciples.
It was also an opportunity for various factions to recommend disciples to enter the Supremes.
Therefore, except for battles between factions with a deep-seated feud, most battles were stopped at a touch.
This was because the losing contestants still had an opportunity for exhibition matches.
Each group in the Heavenly Pride Competition had 40 contestants. On the first day, 20 people were eliminated. These 20 people were paired up again on the second day to fight.
Moreover, this pairing allowed contestants to freely find opponents among themselves. As long as the other party agreed, a match could take place.
It was less of a competition and more of a performance.
Each pair of contestants had half an hour on the stage, during which they could fully display their learned skills and showcase their abilities to the cultivators of the Supremes.
If your abilities were recognized by a cultivator of the Supremes, it would be like a carp leaping over the dragon gate.
However, this information was only known to factions and powerhouses of a certain level. The matches between these eliminated contestants were euphemistically called: Heavenly Pride Guidance Matches.
The Heavenly Prides displayed their martial arts on stage, while elders below the stage offered pointers and guidance to the newcomers.
This was the guidance of Heavenly Prides to ordinary martial artists, and also the reason why countless ordinary martial artists traveled thousands of miles to watch the competition.
At the same time, this **Heavenly Pride Guidance Match** was the most surprising part for Yang Hong.
"Holy crap! I've struck gold today. Thirteen high-level martial arts, fifty-nine intermediate martial arts, and twenty-six low-level martial arts."
Looking at the martial arts that had appeared on the灌顶 (Guàndǐng - anointing/impartation) system panel, Yang Hong was exceptionally surprised.
If his eyes could see more, he would have wanted to learn even more martial arts.
However, stealing 98 martial arts in one day was enough to be satisfied.
Moreover, as the competition progressed, although he could continue to steal skills, the number of martial arts he could learn would gradually decrease.
After all, there were only so many contestants, and their martial arts were not infinite. Many martial arts would inevitably be performed repeatedly.
On the third day, Yang Zixuan had another match. Yang Hong arrived at the spectator seats early.
Because Yang Zixuan had the lowest cultivation, she went up first.
"Sixth Young Master, Miss Seven's opponent this time is Zhuo Yihang, a true disciple from the Wudang Sect of the Great Ming martial arts world. It is said he is also the personal disciple of the Sect Master, a genius who reached his current level through self-cultivation without the aid of pills."
Before the battle even began, Old Wang reported softly in Yang Hong's ear.
"Mm."
Yang Hong nodded indifferently, offering no comment, as he was not supposed to know martial arts.
However, he didn't need to ask anything; someone would enlighten him. The seats behind him were still occupied by the young couple.
"Jun Ge, that little sister from Great Sui is probably doomed this time."
"Liang Mei, you speak the truth. Yang Zixuan of Great Sui is only at the intermediate stage of the first-rate, and she has just entered it. Her strength is very weak. Her only advantage is her strong physique and high defense.
She might have an advantage against contestants like Chu Yushu who are fast but weak in offense.
But against a martial artist like Zhuo Yihang who excels in both internal and external cultivation and possesses powerful offense, she is bound to lose."
The young man, Li Jun, explained with conviction, while the beautiful girl nodded in agreement.
"That's true. I heard that Zhuo Yihang's attack, augmented by his sword techniques, has already exceeded 8,000 jin."
"Haha, that's not just hearsay. The brother of the nephew of my third uncle's second aunt is a Wudang disciple. When he came home for the New Year, he confirmed to us that Zhuo Yihang's attack has long surpassed 8,000 jin."
"That Yang Zixuan little sister is doomed to lose.
The bodies of first-rate experts cannot withstand such immense force of 8,000 jin, even masters who cultivate external arts cannot."
"Indeed. Moreover, Zhuo Yihang's sword skills are extremely profound. This Yang Zixuan is clearly a clumsy person and absolutely cannot dodge Zhuo Yihang's attacks."
"Alas... the little sister is truly pitiable."
Hearing the words of the two people behind him, not only did Yang Hong's mouth twitch, but even Old Wang and the other two looked displeased, as they were discussing Yang Zixuan, their young mistress.
At the same time, they became worried.
Yang Hong was also a little worried, as knives and swords have no eyes. He was concerned the little girl might get hurt.
He secretly decided that if the situation became truly dangerous, he would intervene secretly.
With his True Qi, he should be able to avoid detection by the cultivators of the Supremes if he was careful.
Amidst the rapt attention of the crowd, Yang Zixuan and Zhuo Yihang entered the stage from opposite sides.
After the referee reiterated the rules of the match, the two stood facing each other.
"Great Ming, Wudang's Zhuo Yihang."
Zhuo Yihang politely performed a sword-holding salute and introduced himself. Yang Zixuan responded with a clasped-fist salute.
"Great Sui, Royal Family's Yang Zixuan."
Looking at the gleaming long sword, Yang Zixuan, on a whim, said.
"Let's not use weapons and just fight with fists and kicks, how about that?"
"Ah~ Heh heh, little sister, that won't do. My martial arts are all in this sword. If I don't use my sword, I will lose."
"Oh, alright."
Yang Zixuan's cute little face wrinkled, showing some unhappiness, but she didn't insist. She took out a set of tiger-claw gloves and put them on her hands.
She assumed a stance, and the battle began.
Seeing Yang Zixuan ready, Zhuo Yihang's smile disappeared, and his sword moves flowed continuously.
Although it was the intermediate martial art, "Wudang Qingfeng Sword Technique," in Zhuo Yihang's hands, it had a continuous and relentless momentum, forcing Yang Zixuan to use her movement techniques to constantly dodge.
The battle appeared to be a one-sided crush.
Zhuo Yihang was crushing Yang Zixuan.
The audience in the seats in front and behind were all feeling sorry for Yang Zixuan, but Yang Hong's eyes held a smile.
"Heh heh~ This little girl actually knows how to hide her strength. Good, good, she's grown up."
Everyone thought that Yang Zixuan, who was being suppressed, was doomed, but only Yang Hong knew that this little girl was being greedy again.
"Bang~ Snap~ Hmph Hah~"
In sword techniques, besides chopping and stabbing, there were also clouding, pointing, and patting.
Every time Zhuo Yihang used a less damaging move like "pat," the little girl would tank it with her body.
Through Zhuo Yihang's attacks, she was further strengthening her body.
All other attacks, regardless of type, were dodged by her extremely fast movement techniques.
The little girl's physique was strong in all aspects. Not only was her strength great and her defense formidable, but her speed was also extremely fast. Coupled with her petite frame, speed was her true forte.
As time passed, the expressions on the audience's faces became increasingly fascinating. Anyone with eyes could see that.
Yang Zixuan was fighting with ease!
"This little girl is definitely invincible at her level in terms of physique."
A innate grandmaster in front of Yang Hong suddenly exclaimed.
"This little girl's physical condition is comprehensively powerful. She has no shortcomings. Her strength, defense, speed, and reaction are all top-notch."
"The most commendable thing is that she's a bit clever. In such a competition, she's still trying to use the opponent's attacks to temper her skills."
"Haha~ I guess people from the Great Sui royal family dote on this little girl and are reluctant to let her get hurt, so she has no opportunity to practice defense. That's why she resorted to this method."
"Haha~ I think so too."