Apotheosis

As an Illuminating Soul Realm master, if Vale lost to a second grade of nature level disciple, he would undoubtedly lose his face.

Even though Zen was as strong as Hercules at that moment, it would be impossible for him to punch off Vale's sword by only his mere strength.

The cultivators at the nature level or above realms held their weapons not just by their own physical strengths but with the help of life vitality. For a swordsman, the effective wielding of a sword was a fundamental skill. The methods of wielding a sword were generally divided into two: the three-point sword-wielding method and the six-point sword-wielding method.

The three-point sword-wielding method was commonly used by the nature creatures. This method was used to fix the sword hilt in the swordsman's hand with the help of three streams of life vitality transmitted from three acupoints: one from the thumb and two from the little finger.

The six-point sword-wielding method, on the other hand, was used by Illuminating Soul Realm masters. From the three acupoints of the three-point sword-wielding method, the six-point sword-wielding method added three acupoints: forefinger, middle finger, and ring finger. So the sword hilt was tightly enveloped with life vitality in the six-point sword-wielding method. The Illuminating Soul Realm masters possessed thicker and stronger life vitality than that of the nature creatures which made it easy for the first to master the six-point sword-wielding method.

The ultimate swordsmanship was the so-called union of swordsman and sword. And it was based on the close connection between swordsman's life vitality and his sword. That was why when some people wielded a sword, there was an impression that the sword and the man had integrated into one.

Vale was an Illuminating Soul Realm master who could use the six-point sword-wielding method. And his Gentleman Sword was as light as a feather to sustain no forces, so it would be difficult for Zen to knock it down even with full strength.

But then again, Zen almost succeeded.

Zen's last punch wasn't very powerful because he had only turned on the Phoenix Crystal but hadn't mobilized the strength of dragon scales.

However, there was terrible vibration energy contained in his punch. And the moment Zen's fist touched the sword hilt, the sword began shaking heavily.

Although the amplitude was small, the frequency was quite high. The six streams of life vitality connecting to the sword were disrupted which almost made Vale drop his Gentleman Sword.

The violent vibration was transmitted to Vale's body through the sword hilt. His blood churned inside him, making him feel uncomfortable.

The audience was shocked once again by the scene.

Though they were not all swordsmen, most of the people in the audience had their own weapons. The wielding method of almost all weapons was the same. For example, wielding a spear required the warrior to use the life vitality from both hands but the acupoints were different from those of a swordsman.

If Vale's Gentleman Sword was a broad-bladed sword, Zen might have hit easier.

muttered Vale. The pain and shame left him speechless. In his current physical state, he knew he could no longer summon the Lotus War Body.

"Give up! You're no match for me now! Even if you use your Lotus War Body, what makes you think that I don't have any other skill to use against you?" asked Zen. Six months ago, beating Vale was just a farfetched dream for Zen. But today, at the All Peaks Competition, Zen defeated him only with his fist in front of entire Cloud Sect.

Vale raised his head feebly and looked at Zen with dead grey eyes.

'He's probably right. He hasn't used his flying knife yet. If Zen threw his flying knife when I was blinded by the strong starry light, I would have already lost my life.

During the combat, Zen hasn't even used his soul attack. Although I specially prepared a jade pendant to defend against his soul attack, I don't think it will work given the progress he has made from the last time we've met.

Despite being an Illuminating Soul Realm master, I can't even compete with a second grade nature creature. Am I really a genius or just being arrogant?' Vale dazed as he stood still on the same spot.

Vale had always been arrogant. But now, he couldn't hide his frustration and sadness. Zen noticed in Vale's eyes that the latter's spirit of martial arts had already collapsed.

Zen stared at Vale blankly, but he felt pity for Vale at the same time. Some people had a tenacious spirit of martial arts, and even if they had lost it a thousand times, they would always make it come back. But Vale was of noble birth and haughty in character and had never suffered hardships in his childhood. So now that he had become a master of Illuminating Soul Realm, any setbacks would be a great deal and he couldn't easily accept any failure. His spirit of martial arts instantly weakened, and this could result in some syndromes of martial arts cultivation going wrong.

Once Vale lost his spirit of martial arts, he would be hopeless to practice any further.

If he went wrong in martial arts cultivation, he could become a madman.