All-Class Anti-Mage - - - - -

It was easy to imagine the plummet in morale when people heard the final message from Kerry. At a critical moment, Pascal played his part by casually exposing the devious acts done by Steve’s children.

In just a moment, the news that Steve’s daughter had used the Great Love Incantation against Mr. Yang Zhen spread. At first, people were skeptical, but the source of the information was the city guards from the Lord’s Mansion, and coupled with the siblings’ incestuous affair, the public was convinced.

The big shots on the viewing stand learned of the incident from the murmurs of the crowd below. The old men finally realized why Katie dressed so beautifully the night before; she was trying to seduce Mr. Yang Zhen. Serves her right! The most despicable of all was Steve, who didn’t comfort his failing children but instead traded his son’s life for prestige, which was utterly condemnable!

Describing Steve as deserted by his kin and followers couldn’t be more apt now, as a few members of the Sword Cultivators Guild had already removed their badges from their chests. Under such leadership, everyone felt it was disgraceful. However, most members were still eagerly looking at Lauren on the stage. As the vice president of the headquarters, shouldn’t Mr. Lauren intervene?

Lauren turned his face away as if he hadn’t seen anything. Steve was still the guild president until he completed the challenge. Even if Lauren wanted to intervene, he had to consider Karl who was nearby. Like most people who enjoy kicking someone when they’re down, Your Eminence was no exception.

Thus, in just a short while, all eyes were once again on Yang Zhen. Only the young man could decide Steve’s fate, but with only fourth-tier strength, could he really challenge and defeat Steve, a sixth-tier?

Just when people were worrying about this, Yang Zhen advanced again. Kerry, a fifth-tier anti-mage who had died, possessed thirty years of sixth-level psychic energy in his soul. The pure willpower gathered from Kerry’s soul made it effortless for Yang Zhen to break from fourth to fifth tier!

The fifth halo in Yang Zhen’s mind slowly evolved, finally turning into a golden halo. Along with the advancement, a cool aura appeared momentarily. Yang Zhen stretched his arms out, comfortably accepting the cool aura’s transformation of his body.

His bones made a series of popping sounds like frying beans, as if every pore in his skin was breathing the fresh air of the world! Undoubtedly, advanced magic principles and a whirlwind of thoughts also appeared in his memory. Yang Zhen didn’t have time to study these yet; he had a challenge to complete!

“Hmph!” Yang Zhen snorted coldly. The dagger lodged in his back shot out, like a flowing light, piercing the assassin through the heart. With barely any reaction, the assassin was hit by his own dagger. The dagger continued its momentum, directly embedding itself into the stone wall of the Temple of War God!

“That was too sudden!” This was the feeling of everyone present. The young man had merely snorted before killing a fourth-tier slayer. What tier was he actually? He looked more like a seventh-tier or even an eighth-tier grand sword master!

Karl’s eyes lit up; only he knew what Yang Zhen was doing at that moment. This was clearly the bloodline awakening of a golden bloodline! Based on the young man’s level, this was already his fifth awakening! Pope Charles was right; each awakening of the golden bloodline transforms the body, making him a natural strength-based sword cultivator!

The ease with which Yang Zhen killed the fourth-tier slayer shocked Steve. His hands trembled slightly as Kerry’s description of Yang Zhen echoed in his mind: he was like a cold piece of metal, unaware of pain; when you thought you had the means to kill him, it was you who ended up dead. This person had no weaknesses!

“No, you’re lying! You’re just trying to bring me down because I killed you!” Steve’s mind fractured. His son’s words, “No weaknesses,” resounded in his head. Clutching his head, Steve screamed, “I will kill him! Don’t think you can break me!”

“Ah!” Steve drew the greatsword from his waist and shouted as he lunged at Yang Zhen, who was facing away from the viewing stand. Karl’s follower, a ninth-tier grand sword master, secretly glanced at the pope for guidance, but Karl only shook his head with a cold smile. A golden bloodline in the process of awakening was even more terrifying!

With a sharp strike carrying sixth-level battle qi, Steve aimed at the young man, but Yang Zhen had no intention of dodging. After all, Roland was right in front of him; how could he evade? Communicating with his space ring, a jaw-droppingly humorous jagged greatsword suddenly appeared in his hand. He turned around to parry Steve’s strike head-on…

What happened next left everyone astounded. Yang Zhen managed to deflect the attack filled with sixth-level battle qi. Even more astonishing was that Steve, along with his sword, was sent flying, crashing violently against the stone wall of the Temple of War God. People could even feel the slight tremor of the temple!

Though the sixth-level battle qi was raging inside him, destroying his body, as Karl had said, a golden bloodline in the process of awakening was far more formidable. In just a couple of breaths, the cool aura instantly healed Yang Zhen’s internal injuries.

Yang Zhen approached Steve, gripping the jagged greatsword covered in nicks, and stretched his neck, emitting a series of cracks. “In too much of a rush to die, are you?” To everyone watching, he appeared as a monster; sending a sixth-tier sword master flying with sheer strength wasn’t something an ordinary person could do, was it?

Steve felt slightly more alert after that strike. The sixth-level qi armor protected him, preventing any serious injury. Yang Zhen didn’t want him to be defeated so quickly; Steve was his only opponent in this challenge, and finishing the fight too quickly would leave no one to evaluate his swordsmanship.

Still a bit dazed, Steve steadied himself. Before Yang Zhen could close the distance, he unleashed a qi rain sword, a technique within his qi sword techniques. A total of eighty-four qi rain blades formed a cyclone array, mercilessly shooting toward Yang Zhen. This was the advantage of qi sword techniques-they could attack from a distance, while strength-based sword techniques required close combat.

“Is there really no way to counter from a distance?” At this critical moment, Yang Zhen couldn’t help but analyze the flaws in his swordsmanship. He felt that the techniques he remembered should be able to counter this attack perfectly. However, as he gripped the greatsword and focused on his thought, a chaotic rush of intent interrupted his technique.

Seeing Yang Zhen’s moment of distraction, gasps spread through the crowd. The power of those eighty-four qi rain blades was not to be underestimated; it was already comparable to second-level magic. Yet Karl merely sneered, unfazed. “What does second-level magic matter? How could a non-elemental qi rain hope to breach the defenses of someone with a golden bloodline who has awakened five times? It’s laughable!”

With a series of rapid-fire sounds, all eighty-four qi rain blades struck Yang Zhen. He glanced at the jagged greatsword in his hands and felt the spots on his chest where the qi rain had hit him. He spoke words that left everyone in disbelief, “How do you even use this sword? It actually hurts a bit when it hits!”

Yang Zhen was indeed troubled by how to wield the sword properly; as for Steve’s distant attack, he dismissed it entirely. Only close combat could harm him. Yang Zhen realized that if he didn’t identify the flaws in his remembered techniques, he would become increasingly unable to use them as he continued to advance. This was why he had remained unresponsive to the eighty-four qi rain blades.

“Forget about that for now. Once this is over, I’ll go explore the Beast Language Forest; the flamingo said there’s the answer I’m looking for.” Yang Zhen made up his mind, and no longer showed any mercy toward Steve.

Even without relying on sword techniques, Yang Zhen used sheer brute force to nullify Steve’s attacks entirely. In contrast, poor Steve was sent flying time and again by the young man’s overwhelming strength. The crowd stood in astonished silence-was this really a duel? It was like an adult fighting a child, just with the roles reversed.

Looking at Yang Zhen’s impressive display, few realized he was actually in a perilous situation. After advancing to the fifth tier, he could not invoke his sword techniques no matter what he tried. Each time he concentrated, a chaotic thought would suddenly surface, forcefully preventing him from executing his sword skills. Therefore, Yang Zhen was left swinging his greatsword like a barbarian, wildly hacking away!

“It seems he hasn’t received the ultimate inheritance from the sword saint,” Karl thought to himself.

“By the War God, how can the Bidel Sword Cultivators Guild be challenged and defeated by such a barbarian? This is absurd!” Lauren lamented inwardly. To think that this useless character would make Steve sacrifice his daughter’s beauty-it was just foolish!

Melon wanted to shout, “Stop pretending and just finish the fight already!” He clearly remembered Yang Zhen displaying exquisite strength-based sword techniques that day, but now he seemed utterly incapable of using his sword.

After multiple failed attacks, Steve’s mind began to spiral out of control again. Kerry’s voice echoed in his thoughts, causing him to lose all sixth-tier sword master proficiency after his initial strike against Yang Zhen.

What was supposed to be an exciting battle turned into a farce, resembling more of a game between adults and children. Many people began shouting, “Kill Steve!” As for Yang Zhen, he could only rely on his brute strength to repeatedly send his opponent flying, finding no better way to deal with Steve for the moment.

In despair, Steve no longer hoped for victory in the duel; his mind was consumed by a single thought: kill Yang Zhen. He was the one who had caused him to lose his children! He was the one who had stripped him of power! Finally, in a moment of desperation, Steve disregarded the rules of the duel…

He pulled out a beast hide scroll from his chest, one that looked like it had been treasured for a long time. Ignoring the loud protests from Lauren, Karl, and others, Steve unfurled the scroll and invoked a seventh-level magic-“Space Explosion.” A ball of transparent, barely visible spatial elements flew toward Yang Zhen. If it penetrated the young man’s body, even the gods would be unable to save him!

People seemed to have forgotten Yang Zhen’s true class. Just as the nearly invisible space element was about to launch, Yang Zhen had already produced an ominous-looking anti-magic sword! Many spectators only saw the young man poke the anti-magic sword lightly, and then there was no further reaction from Steve, as if he were amusing himself with a blank scroll.

In a moment of desperation, Steve made an action that struck many as amusing. He intentionally rolled up the scroll, and with a loud “pfft,” unfurled it once more. The magic could no longer be cast, and as the backlash from the magic elements shattered the scroll, it was clear his plan had failed!