Following Liu Mengdi's fast sword slashes, the tall youth who was madly charging at him received more than a dozen cuts and wounds. He almost lost his grip on his axe and he could barely hold it with his wounded arms.

Arghh!

'Since when did Liu Mengdi become this strong?! Was he hiding his strength all this time?!' The youth muttered in his heart as he looked at Liu Mengdi. A hint of respect could be seen at the corner of his eyes.

"Woah! Young Master Liu is actually hiding his strength! Although he is only a 3rd-rank Crusader, his sword techniques and fast movement speed is more than enough to fight toe to toe with someone at the 4th-rank Knight Crusader realm, so this tall guy here would not be able to defeat him!"

"I never thought that the arrogant Young Master Liu was actually this awesome! So his arrogance isn't unfounded!"

"Young Master Liu should be laughing right now after smacking those youths. They mocked him earlier, but now, they are grimacing beneath his feet!"

The patriarch of the Liu Family smiled proudly as he looked at the confident figure of his son. What kind of father would not be happy after hearing praises for his son?

'This isn't the end. Liu Mengdi has not yet shown his true power!' He muttered in his heart as he looked at his son with excitement.

Those who mocked Liu Mengdi earlier felt as if they had swallowed a fly after seeing this scene. They regretted having said those words. Now, they had to be careful about Liu Mengdi's retaliation!

The tall youth glanced at Liu Mengdi with newfound respect, but he wasn't willing to back down.

"Young Master Liu, I must admit that your strength has surprised me, but if you think that this would stop me from going all out, then you are terribly wrong! I have waited for this martial arts contest and I don't want my path to end in the first round of the competition!" The youth shouted as he abruptly raised his giant axe, ignoring the fresh wounds on his arms. Blood gushed out profusely from the cuts on his arms, but the tall youth ignored the pain as he aimed his strike towards Liu Mengdi.

Liu Mengdi admired the man's tenacity. Not anyone could have this kind of spirit, and he admired this kind of people the most. Although the young man had mocked him earlier, he didn't take it seriously.

With a wave of his sword, Liu Mengdi muttered softly. "Brilliant Sword Ray."

Baang!

A blinding sword light streaked towards the tall youth and it resoundingly smashed his axe. This attack threw him out of the battle platform and his bulky body helplessly tumbled on the ground a few times before someone from the organizers managed to catch him.

The person who caught the youth checked his condition and heaved a sigh of relief after seeing that the young man was alright.

Liu Mengdi glanced at the young man and said. "I admire your courage and spirit. Can you please tell me your name?"

The tall youth stood up with difficulty with the help of the person who had caught him earlier. He then glanced at Liu Mengdi and answered. "Kal Bo!"

Liu Mengdi smiled at him and raised his right thumb upwards.

* * *

On a different battle platform, Yang Zenke was effortlessly knocking out his opponents and he didn't even need to take out his sword to defeat them. He was merely using his fists and kicks to subdue his opponents! They weren't even able to last a few rounds against him before they found themselves lying outside of the battle platform with pained looks.

"That guy is one of those young men that followed behind Wine Master Jiu! So strong! No one was even able to last five strikes from him!"

"His strength is at the early stage of the 4th-rank Knight Crusader realm and he could be considered as one of the strongest among the younger generation! Look! All the youths who came with Wine Master Jiu had a blood-red sword on them, but these guy has not even used it yet! How strong could he be if unsheathes his sword?!"

The crowd shifted their gazes on Yang Zenke's battle platform. His fights were fairly one-sided and no one among his opponents was even able to give him a good fight. His performance was even more fascinating compared to what Liu Mengdi had shown, so the crowd's surprise wasn't unfounded.

Yang Zenke glanced at the people around him and frowned. Most of the participants who were on the same battle platform as him were only 3rd-rank Crusaders, and they weren't even able to give him a satisfying battle.

"Why are they so weak? They aren't even as strong as the savage beasts that we fought in the forest." He muttered silently in dissatisfaction.

The savage beasts that Yang Zenke's group fought in the Spirit World were all wild creatures and they fought with those kinds of enemies without rest for more than a week! They had learned a lot from that training and their battle experience was already equivalent to that of an experienced soldier. Coupled with the high-level techniques that they learned from Jiu Shen, they were practically invincible among those with the same level of cultivation as them!

Yang Zenke's eyes then hovered on a young man who had a similar level of cultivation. This young man was wearing the robes of the Beiming Family.

"A disciple of the Beiming Family? Hm, this is a bit interesting!" Yang Zenke's cold eyes revealed a trace of excitement as he swiftly dashed towards the youth.

He could feel that this young man from the Beiming Family was different to the ones that he had defeated earlier. 'From what I know, the Beiming Family is a military family loyal to the Silveria Imperial Family. All their descendants are strictly trained to learn the art of war, and even the women in their family are also strong. I hope this guy could get me to unsheathed my sword!'

Hm?

The young disciple of the Beiming Family sensed a strong presence locking on him, so he immediately shifted his gaze to Yang Zenke who was just twenty meters away from him.

"Who is this guy?" He muttered in shock.

Yang Zenke halted his steps when he was only five meters away from the youth. He then said in a calm voice. "Take out your weapon and let me see the strength of a disciple from the renowned Beiming Family."

Yang Zenke's words sounded arrogant to the eyes of others since this was equivalent to challenging the Beiming Family, but he didn't care about what the others thought of him. His goal in this competition was to get the first place and fight with the strongest young elites of the Silver Wing Empire!

The disciple from the Beiming Family frowned at Yang Zenke's words. He saw that Yang Zenke didn't even take out his sword, and this made him a bit angry. "The swords of the Beiming Family's disciples aren't taken out lightly. Only opponents deserving of it could see its shadow!" He said while holding his anger.

Yang Zenke smiled at his words.

"If that's the case, then I won't hold back my fists!"