# Chapter 27: Fire Snake Spear Art
"Your Highness the Ninth Prince, you had better be careful!"
Xue Kai's lips curled slightly as he infused his true qi into the sword body, simultaneously activating three force-type inscription patterns. The war sword in his hand immediately reached a weight of three hundred fifty jin, extremely heavy.
Holding the sword with both hands, his sword technique was grand and sweeping. As the war sword slashed out, it immediately erupted with surging airwaves.
The sword technique appeared simple, yet it was paradoxically flawless, without any embellishment. Each strike carried terrifying power.
Zhang Ruochen also infused his true qi into the Green Water Sword, activating one ice-type inscription pattern and one force-type inscription pattern. A bone-piercing cold aura emanated from the sword body, forming white frost particles in the air.
Knowing that his strength was inferior to Xue Kai's, Zhang Ruochen did not clash head-on with him.
Zhang Ruochen's feet moved in a mysterious footwork pattern. As he swung his sword, he circled around, dodging Xue Kai's attacks almost every time.
At this moment, Lin Fengxian, standing outside the training ground, stared intently at Zhang Ruochen's footwork. His heart was slightly startled. "How can his footwork be the footwork of the Heavenly Heart Sword Art?"
Spirit-level sword techniques all had matching footwork.
Only when footwork and sword technique were combined could the full power of the sword art be unleashed.
The footwork Zhang Ruochen was now executing was precisely the matching footwork for the Heavenly Heart Sword Art. Seeing this footwork performed by Zhang Ruochen, how could Lin Fengxian not be shocked?
Xue Kai's sword was extremely heavy, naturally consuming a great deal of true qi.
As the battle dragged on, Xue Kai finally began to feel strained. Sweat poured from his forehead, and the true qi in his body had already been depleted by more than half.
He had originally wanted to defeat Zhang Ruochen within a few moves, but after dozens of exchanges, he hadn't even touched Zhang Ruochen's sword.
Damn it!
He had fallen into a trap!
"He's deliberately exhausting my physical strength and true qi."
After realizing this, Xue Kai immediately withdrew some of his true qi, activating only one force-type inscription pattern. The heavy sword in his hand immediately became half as light.
That was the moment.
Zhang Ruochen took the initiative to attack!
"Heavenly Heart Points the Way!"
Zhang Ruochen's arm moved as he slashed out a sword strike. A sword qi over eight meters long flew out from the ground, leaving a sword path on the earth as it extended toward Xue Kai.
Xue Kai had never expected Zhang Ruochen to be able to execute a spirit-level sword technique.
In his haste, Xue Kai had no choice but to mobilize all his true qi and block horizontally with his sword.
"Bang!"
The sword qi struck the war sword in Xue Kai's hand, sending him flying backward. All the clothes on his body split apart, turning into shreds.
When he landed back on the ground, he was already outside the training ground.
Xue Kai looked at his bloody hand, then glanced at Zhang Ruochen standing proudly in the training ground. Bitterly, he said, "I have lost!"
When the battle ended, the crowd still hadn't recovered from their shock.
A martial artist at the Yellow Extreme Great Extreme Position had actually lost to a martial artist at the Yellow Extreme Small Extreme Position?
"The footwork he used really is the Heavenly Heart Sword Art. How is that possible?" Lin Yingshan was extremely shocked in her heart, unable to believe that Zhang Ruochen also knew the Heavenly Heart Sword Art. Moreover, Zhang Ruochen's mastery of the Heavenly Void Sword Art seemed even higher than hers.
"Could the mysterious person we encountered at the Central Auction House be him?"
Lin Fengxian's expression was grave. "This matter might not be that simple. Yingshan, don't forget, the Heavenly Heart Sword Art we bought was not the original version, but a copy transcribed by a Heavenly Extreme Realm expert."
"Father, do you mean that the reason Zhang Ruochen's cultivation speed is so fast is because he has a Heavenly Extreme Realm expert backing him?" Lin Yingshan exclaimed in shock.
"Shh!"
Lin Fengxian made a silencing gesture and said in a low voice, "It's best not to let outsiders know about this. We'll discuss it slowly after returning home."
Lin Yingshan nodded, then fixed her gaze on Zhang Ruochen again, her heart even more resentful. "No wonder he could easily dodge the 'Heavenly Heart Points the Way' I executed. So he had also cultivated this sword technique. Zhang Ruochen, just how many secrets are you still hiding?"
"Even Xue Kai lost?"
"The Ninth Prince seems to have mastered a spirit-level sword technique. Xue Kai losing to his sword is not unjust at all."
"The Ninth Prince must have also reached the 'Sword Follows the Heart' realm. He truly is a sword path genius."
...
No one dared to underestimate the Ninth Prince anymore. Instead, they regarded him as a monstrous martial arts prodigy. Some even felt that his talent was not inferior to the Seventh Prince's.
The next martial match was the Fifth Prince versus Situ Linhai.
The Fifth Prince had awakened a third-rank Divine Martial Mark. He was nineteen years old this year and had stepped into the Yellow Extreme Great Extreme Position.
Situ Linhai was the number one genius of the Situ Clan. He had awakened a fourth-rank Crimson Flame Divine Martial Mark. He was seventeen years old this year and was also at the Yellow Extreme Great Extreme Position.
Among the younger generation of the entire royal capital, Situ Linhai could definitely rank among the top. With his talent, he even had the chance to break through the Yellow Extreme Great Perfection and reach the Mysterious Extreme Realm before the age of twenty.
Situ Linhai carried a pitch-black long spear and stood proudly in the training ground, staring at the Fifth Prince standing opposite him. Confidently, he said, "Your Highness the Fifth Prince, you are no match for me!"
The Fifth Prince said, "We are both at the Yellow Extreme Great Extreme Position. It won't be easy for you to defeat me."
"You should know better than anyone that I awakened a fourth-rank Crimson Flame Divine Martial Mark. My true qi carries the power of crimson flames. At the same cultivation level, no one is my match. With your cultivation, it would be difficult for you to last even ten moves under my spear." Situ Linhai's gaze was firm, his eyes sharp, carrying an undefeatable momentum.
At the same cultivation level, martial artists who awakened elemental Divine Martial Marks were indeed stronger than those who awakened ordinary Divine Martial Marks.
"Is that so? Who is stronger and who is weaker, we'll only know after fighting." The Fifth Prince lifted the war sword inserted in front of him. True qi flowed rapidly through the twelve main meridians in his body, all pouring into the war sword.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
He simultaneously activated the power of three inscription patterns in the war sword.
The war sword immediately surged with a meter-tall sword light.
The Fifth Prince took the initiative to attack, executing a human-grade mid-rank sword technique. He continuously swung the war sword, forming a vortex of sword light that slashed toward Situ Linhai.
To achieve a prominent ranking on the year-end assessment training ground, most of the young martial artists had prepared one or several human-grade mid-rank martial techniques. They wanted to make a name for themselves during the year-end assessment.
The Fifth Prince was no exception. He had spent half a year painstakingly cultivating a human-grade mid-rank martial technique, the Heavenly Light Sword Art. This set of sword techniques had a total of eight moves, and the Fifth Prince had mastered three of them.
"The Heavenly Light Sword Art is nothing special." Situ Linhai sneered coldly.
Under the Fifth Prince's continuous attacks, Situ Linhai appeared completely at ease, swinging his pitch-black long spear to continuously deflect the Fifth Prince's attacks.
"Bang! Bang!"
The long spear and war sword clashed, immediately sending out large sparks.
"Cloud Rain Sword!"
The Fifth Prince roared loudly. His body sprang up, flying six meters into the air. Holding the sword hilt with both hands, he slashed downward.
The light of the war sword became even brighter, like a rain of light cascading down toward Situ Linjiang.
Situ Linjiang had opened a total of thirteen meridians, one more than the Fifth Prince.
True qi flowed rapidly through the thirteen meridians, surging toward Situ Linjiang's hands.
Situ Linjiang's hands seemed to ignite with a ball of flame. The flame surged toward the pitch-black long spear, simultaneously activating the power of three fire-type inscription patterns within the spear.
"Crimson Fire Spirit Snake!"
A human-grade upper-rank martial technique, the Fire Snake Spear Art.
As the spear thrust out, it was as if a fire snake had charged forward, shattering all the sword light unleashed by the Fifth Prince.
"Bang!"
The Fifth Prince flew backward. The imperial python robe on his body was ignited by the flames and burned to ashes in an instant.
Situ Linhai charged forward rapidly. With a reverse spear strike, the butt of the spear struck the Fifth Prince's chest, sending him flying out of the training ground.
The Fifth Prince climbed up from the ground, a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth. He stared at Situ Linjiang, who stood in the center of the training ground like a spear god reincarnated, and said, "Fire Snake Spear Art! Impressive! If you had used the Fire Snake Spear Art from the start, I probably wouldn't have lasted even three moves."
The spear technique Situ Linjiang had just executed was extremely stunning, definitely at the "Spear Follows the Heart" realm. Combined with the crimson flame power inherent in his true qi, few at the Yellow Extreme Great Extreme Position would be his match.
Outside the training ground, Mo Hanlin said indifferently, "Now only the Ninth Prince and Situ Linjiang remain. Situ Linjiang truly deserves to be the number one expert of the younger generation of the Situ Clan. The final battle probably doesn't even need to be fought."
"Why?" Qin Ya's beautiful eyes blinked gently, her eyelashes neat and slender. Her charming and seductive gaze seemed capable of stealing a man's soul at any moment.
Mo Hanlin said, "With Situ Linjiang's cultivation, even among those at the Yellow Extreme Great Extreme Position, he rarely encounters an opponent. He is definitely a young powerhouse. Although the Ninth Prince is more outstanding and more talented than Situ Linjiang, he is still only at the Yellow Extreme Small Extreme Position. He could defeat Xue Kai, but he absolutely cannot defeat Situ Linjiang."
Many people present shared the same thought as Mo Hanlin.
They also acknowledged that the Ninth Prince was a martial arts prodigy, but they absolutely did not believe that the Ninth Prince could defeat Situ Linjiang now.
"If the Ninth Prince were given another year to cultivate martial arts, defeating Situ Linjiang would definitely not be difficult. But right now, there is still a considerable gap between the Ninth Prince and Situ Linjiang."
Qin Ya's red lips curved slightly as she smiled. "That's not necessarily true. Geniuses are called geniuses because they can create miracles. I'm quite looking forward to the Ninth Prince creating a miracle. If that happens, I'll be even more interested in him. Hehe!"
Qin Ya's eyes narrowed slightly, curving like two bright crescent moons.