Jian Li recognised one of the fighters using a light sword as her elder brother Jian Chen. The other fighter with the dark spear was Hao Wu, the person who was fighting against multiple inner disciples by himself when they first entered the sect arena half a year before.

Jian Chen was wearing his red training clothes and had his usual stern expression. His movements were quick and precise while he deflected Hao Wu's attacks with ease. The other core disciples often had trouble dealing with him and his heavy spear in sparring sessions.

Hao Wu had the same stern look on his face as he swung his heavy spear around. He did not make any mistakes during his moves but he also made no effort to push himself into an all-out fight. His spear was moving too fast for any of the core disciples to keep up with.

"He really is strong!", Jian Li muttered to herself as she watched them sparring from afar. She could feel the aura coming off both of them even though they were separated by a distance of a dozen meters. Jian Chen seemed to be faster than the last time she saw him fight but Hao Wu was clearly physically stronger.

With every move Hao Wu made, gusts of wind would move against the crowd watching the fight. Even with his speedy parries, Jian Chen was still get beaten back by Hao Wu. He was unable to get close enough to attack without risking heavy damage. Though the spear was blunt at the end, the force it was swung with combined with the weight of the Darksteel spear would not leave Jian Chen without a scratch if he was hit.

"So, you still can't defeat me in close combat and even your cultivation is lower than mine? Maybe you should just give up and focus on cultivating properly!", Hao Wu taunted Jian Chen as he deflected another of his blows, the dark spear keeping him at bay.

Jian Chen seemed unbothered by his taunting as Hao Wu's spear smashed the ground under Jian Chen's feet, sending dirt and stones flying everywhere. He gave his opponent a cold and calculated glare as he readied his sword again, waiting for an opening.

The core disciples watching the match were all silent as they waited for the two cultivators to reengage.

After a brief moment of silence, Jian Chen suddenly charged at the grinning Hao Wu, who was still standing on the same spot.

Stunned by Jian Chen taking the initiative, Hao Wu moved to strike him and unexpectedly, Jian Chen changed directions and dashed to the side. Hao Wu was still in the middle of his strike when he felt a burst of aura coming out of Jian Chen. His eyes could barely follow Jian Chen 's movements as he bursted out with a speed previously unseen in the fight.

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Hao Wu was still trying to understand what just happened when Jian Chen swung his sword at him. He forcefully brought the spear back to block the first blow, but was unable to defend against the next one that came seemingly without any delay.

Some of the small crowd moved away as the blunt sword hit Hao Wu right in the chest and sent him flying back, crashing into a tree behind him. He lay there motionless, stunned by the attack as leaves fell around him.

Hao Wu tried to get up but his legs gave way under him. Feeling defeated, he fell back down, gasping for air as he held his chest. He looked up to see Jian Chen standing above him and looking down at him with a cold gaze.

"You're strong.", Jian Chen said as he looked over Hao Wu's body before turning around and walking away. Jian Chen walked straight towards Jian Li, ignoring the surprised looks on the faces of the other core disciples. He approached Jian Li at a slow and steady pace until he was directly in front of her. Jian Chen reached out and placed a hand on her head, ruffling her hair slightly.

"Good morning!", Jian Chen said, finally letting out a smile.

As if reading the thoughts of all the surrounding core disciples, Jian Chen turned his head around and gave them a look that said ‘what are you waiting for?’.

At that point, the other disciples began moving towards Hao Wu to check on him.

He had not moved since he fell onto the ground and did not seem to be moving anytime soon. The core disciples rushed to him as well but quickly realised he had already passed out from the shock.

Jian Li could see them talking amongst themselves as they inspected him before they left the practice field with him in tow. The remaining core disciples were also talking amongst themselves before they went back to their previous tasks or began sparring once again.

"What kind of move was that last strike you did? It looked kind of special but I couldn't really follow it." Jian Li asked Jian Chen.

"It's a little hard to explain but it's a combination of the Engulfing Light Art speed and the True Sword Art Whitesteel swordplay.”, Jian Chen said as he gave her an apologetic smile.

Earth level cultivators could reliably learn to use two different Arts at the same time. Since Jian Chen never could learn the Jian Family Art of Refinement, Jian Ye taught him a different Art because he was more compatible with body Arts.

Naturally, that meant that Jian Li could not learn the Engulfing Light Art at this current point. She already had two Arts she cultivated. Additionally, the fact that Jian Li preferred to use the True Sword Arts Blacksteel style of swordplay, so Jian Chen’s move was not really suited for her in the first place.

‘Maybe, I’ll be able to do something combining my two current Arts as well at some point. But how...’, she thought to herself as she watched Jian Chen walking away from her.

She knew her brother had been training hard over these last six months, but it still seemed like there were no limits to his strength now. His body had reached Earth stage a long time ago, but his cultivation had also barely moved at all. However, he had without a doubt become a lot stronger than he was before.