Chapter Forty-Four: Unexpected Joy

  "Two young geniuses with Diamond Bodies, this battle is going to be a great show." Elder Shen said with a smile after taking a sip of tea.

  On the trial field, Fang Hongjin and Liu Sheng were already in a stalemate. Liu Sheng's figure was slightly faster, his long spear swallowing black mist, like a spirit snake, constantly capturing Fang Hongjin's figure.

  Fang Hongjin's Ghost Demon Knife, however, took a vastly different approach, with wide and powerful strokes - horizontal chops and sideways sweeps. Each strike sent out a burst of icy knife light that left onlookers gasping in shock.

  Although Liu Sheng was only a first-tier Divine Power, compared to Fang Hongjin's fifth-tier Divine Power, he had an enormous gap. However, as he stood amidst the silver-white knife lights, he remained completely fearless.

  His hands also didn't have any intention of defending with all his might, but instead carried an unstoppable momentum and launched a counterattack against Fang Hong.

  The black long spear wrapped in mist, although it looks much smaller in the silver light, is extremely agile. This mist around Fang Hongjin's body also makes him somewhat cautious.

  "This Liu Sheng is not only strong in his domain, but also has a great mentality. Look at him in this battle, he's not only not inferior to Fang Hongjin in terms of momentum, but also very stable when holding the gun, and his accuracy in attack is even better than Fang Hongjin. If given another year, he should be able to surpass Fang Hongjin."

  The old man's words also won the approval of others.

  This match was not only fierce, but also extremely fast-paced. Before long, Liu Sheng's body had already shown more than a dozen small wounds. His spear, however, had only pierced a tiny wound on Fang Hongjin's body.

  After so many rounds, even Lian Fanghong began to admire Liu Sheng. This person was simply born for martial arts. In the competition, his calm mentality and desire to win were firmly displayed from the very beginning.

  No matter how unfavorable the situation is, these have never changed.

  Although Fang Hongjin seems to have the upper hand at the moment, the wounds he inflicted on Liu Sheng not only failed to make his opponent retreat but instead made him even more spirited.

  "Could it be..." Fang Hongjin's mind suddenly popped up with a strange idea, "Could this kid named Liu Sheng not know what pain is?"

  Liu Sheng completely disregarded the wounds on his body, and his attacks maintained their usual rhythm, carrying a precise and terrifying pressure, wrapped in a silver-white glow.

  His body was hit five more times, but at the same time, he hit Fang Hongjin's body again, this time stabbing deeper than before.

  The pain sensation in Fang Hongjin's heart stirred up a ripple, and he began to have some hesitation. Could it be that he didn't have the upper hand in this battle after all?

  His demonic knife, although it could hit Liu Sheng and leave scars, however, he didn't know what means to use in order to defeat this opponent.

  At this moment of sudden movement, all that could be heard was a "poof" sound.

  His Ghost Demon Knife and Liu Sheng's long spear struck each other at the same time.

  Liu Sheng's attack was still calm and sharp. Fang Hongjin, who was still in the upper hand, felt that his heart had become somewhat disordered.

  In the showdown between masters, the most frightening situation is to lose one's footing. Liu Sheng's heart has not changed from the start of the battle until now. But Fang Hongjin's heart, however, began to change slowly from his previous calm and confident state.

  Looking at the blood oozing out of Liu Sheng's body, Zhang Chong and Lin Ye involuntarily stood up at the same time, their fists clenched tightly. At this moment, all they could do was to silently cheer for Liu Sheng in this place.

  But Liu Sheng seemed to be unaware of the wounds on his body. His eyes were even sharper than the black spearhead, staring tightly at Fang Hongjin's figure, with every move precise and unmatched.

  "It can't go on like this." Fang Hong took a ruthless step forward, swinging the Ghost Demon Knife with force. As their blades clashed, both of them retreated several steps back. Then, his Ghost Demon Knife spun horizontally in front of his chest, rotating like a windmill.

  The Demon Blade rotated, emitting a thunderous roar like the wailing of ghosts and wolves. The sound carried infinite pressure, and for an instant, it seemed as if only the color silver-white remained on the dueling stage.

  The silver-white giant wheel that emerged from the Ghost Demon Knife slowly moved forward, although its speed was not fast, it had an overwhelming momentum. Under this momentum, Liu Sheng in front of him seemed particularly small, and what's more, he had nowhere to escape before this giant wheel, as if there were only two paths to choose from: either leave the trial field or be crushed.

  Liu Sheng's eyes burst with a sharp light, his body surrounded by black mist had become extremely faint.

  At this moment, he also let out a loud roar, his long spear held horizontally in front of his chest, his entire body motionless.

  However, if one looks closely, they can see the black long spear in Liu Sheng's hand, rapidly rotating along the direction of time. As it rotates, a tiny black dot condenses at the tip of the spear, and the surrounding weak black mist, which had been suppressed by the silver light, quickly rushes towards the black dot.

  As the dark mist surged in, that tiny black dot became increasingly dense and turned into an extremely rich deep black color.

  The black dot condensed at the front end of the black long spear, quietly guarding there towards the slowly rolling silver-white giant wheel.

  It wasn't long before they met again.

  Time seemed to have stopped at that moment, the black dot under the silver-white giant wheel was even more eye-catching, like a grain of sand on a silver plate.

  The giant wheel stopped moving, but it seemed to weigh on everyone's heart, making the onlookers feel a sense of heavy breathing. Then, from this grain of sand, the silver plate seemed to crack open a thread-like slit, revealing a thin black line.

  And then comes the second clause, the third clause...

  The silver giant wheel fell under the fine lines, bursting open with a loud roar, amidst the thunderous rumble, the entire arena was occupied by the silver light.

  When it returned to calmness, the martial arts arena was empty. Fang Hongjin and Liu Sheng had both disappeared.

  Where did they go?

  They were all at the very core of the explosion, and no one saw their figures.

  "Over there~~~"

  Some sharp-eyed people saw Liu Sheng, he fell down from the testing field and had already fainted.

  "But where is Fang Hongjin?"

  Just as everyone was looking up, a hand stretched out from the edge of the stage, followed by Fang Hongjin's head.

  He was also seriously injured, but still conscious. He only saw him stubbornly crawling onto the trial field and then lying down there, no longer moving.

  Fang Hongjin and Liu Sheng, in the third stage of the trial, contributed the most brilliant trial since the Battle of Genius. Hundreds of years later, there are still people who are enthusiastic about this battle.

  However, the greatest beneficiary was neither of them, but Zhang Chong instead.

  Zhang Chong's next opponent, Fang Hongjin, was unable to participate due to severe injury, so Zhang Chong advanced to the top 125 without a fight.

  And he is also the only disciple in Changshengmen who entered the top 125.

  With that, the first round of the Genius War also came to an end. Next, the elder judges will select three promising disciples from those who were eliminated in the previous competition as additional candidates.

  These 128 disciples will participate in the final round of competition three months later, competing for the first place in this Genius War.

  After returning to Changshengmen, Listening Windfall was both surprised and delighted by Zhang Chong's performance. He had thought that Liu Sheng would go further, but unexpectedly, it was actually Zhang Chong.

  "If it weren't for Brother Liu's help, I wouldn't have been able to get promoted. I just got lucky." Zhang Chong opened his mouth and let out a hearty laugh, which was indeed genuine, because after the promotion, the reward crystal would double again.

  "Come to my room and I'll give you something," said Feng Lu towards Zhang Chong.