Power at the Peak Origin Core Realm

Terrifying spatial winds erupted upon impact, a clear testament to the Void Blade's ferocious attempt at devouring the Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd.

Yet the beauty about spatial techniques was that it was almost always silent in nature, as any sound below a certain threshold would have been lost in the deepness of space itself. If not for the tremendous amount of spatial winds generated from the collision, others might even suspect that the duo had deliberately reduced the power behind their strikes at the very last minute!

Still, that did not last for long. In fact, the spatial winds only erupted for a single moment before Geng Guoye's sword was thrown back by the momentum behind the halberd.

Even after using his signature Void Blade, Geng Guoye had still been at a disadvantage in that exchange!

While the Disperse array had no influence upon the spatial effects of the Void Blade technique, it was still able to diminish the physical momentum of the sword itself. This allowed Zhao Yunxiao to completely overpower Geng Guoye with his halberd strike.

As for the Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd, it actually managed to remain intact despite clashing directly against Geng Guoye's Void Blade. Realising this inevitably brought a faint smile to Zhao Yunxiao's face.

As expected of Lou Yuan's blueprint... this halberd is strong!

"No way...!" Qie Xing blurted out as he started to worry.

In terms of sheer destructive power, the Void Blade would be considered superior even to most other techniques at the Origin Core realm. Despite being suppressed to the Essence Gathering realm, it should still allow Geng Guoye to completely overwhelm his current opponent.

So, what the hell was going on right now?

Just like him, the members of the audience were getting more and more riled up. Some were worried, some were excited, while most were just confused.

Even if Geng Guoye had suppressed his cultivation level to the Essence Gathering realm, it still did not make sense for Zhao Yunxiao to be able to suppress Geng Guoye in such a manner!

Once again, Geng Guoye did not have the luxury of time to decipher the cause and effect behind this matter. Or rather, Zhao Yunxiao was not giving him any opportunity to do so.

Why would he?

After Zhao Yunxiao's halberd strike threw Geng Guoye off his stance, Zhao Yunxiao Three immediately followed up from behind with a dagger strike of his own.

Geng Guoye had had the option of executing a movement technique to escape this two-pronged attack earlier, but he had chosen not to do so.

Unfortunately, that window of opportunity was now closed. Mercilessly so.

At this point, Geng Guoye finally lost his composure.

A mere outer disciple was about to inflict a direct injury on him. And to make things worse, it was an outer disciple with whom he had picked a fight with the intention of humiliating the other party.

Over his dead body!

With his right hand, he swung his sword back down towards the oncoming halberd. With his left, he directly punched out towards the approaching dagger.

Such an action shocked everyone once again.

Everyone had already seen the result of him trying to block the halberd with his sword earlier – it simply did not work. But that was not even the concerning part. Without first utilising a defensive technique, why was he trying to block Zhao Yunxiao's dagger with his bare hands?

Judging from his clenched fist, he was definitely not trying to stop the dagger by pinching it by the blade.

Was he trying to lose his hand?

Just as everyone was feeling confused, Geng Guoye revealed his answer with a pure display of indisputable might.

Bang-! Bang-!

Geng Guoye's sword slammed against the Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd with such power that it even caused the latter to bend slightly. While it immediately bounced back to its original shape, it still could not avoid the fate of being sent flying – along with Zhao Yunxiao who was holding on like his life depended on it.

On the other end, Zhao Yunxiao Three's dagger shattered upon meeting Geng Guoye's bare fist, which continued forward to smash against his chest. This punched a hole straight through Zhao Yunxiao Three, instantly turning him into earthen rubble.

Just like that, Geng Guoye easily turned the tide, not only defending against the two-pronged attack, but also dealing a huge blow to Zhao Yunxiao!

However, his expression was extremely ugly at the moment, as though he was the one who had just suffered a huge loss.

And in a way, that was indeed true.

When he saw how Zhao Yunxiao managed to barely land on his feet after being sent flying, his expression only darkened further.

"Brother Geng, that does not seem very courteous of you," Chen Pingxi remarked while most others were still reeling from the shock of the sudden turnaround. "Didn't you promise to suppress your cultivation level to the Essence Gathering realm?"

"My apologies, I might have overreacted a little indeed," Geng Guoye admitted reluctantly while awkwardly straightening his robes. "However, I had not expected Junior Martial Brother Zhao to resort to such petty tricks. That caught me by surprise, which was perhaps why I failed to control myself for a moment there."

"...Petty tri-?" Zhao Yunxiao was speaking halfway when he stopped to spit out a mouthful of blood.

The impact from Geng Guoye's earlier sword strike was simply too strong, sending shockwaves through the halberd to shake him down to his inner organs. His entire body was hurting, and he could sense that his dantian had descended into a chaotic state.

However, Chen Pingxi was right.

This level of power definitely did not belong in the Essence Gathering realm. Geng Guoye had gone against his word and released the seal on his cultivation level!

Thankfully, it would appear that Geng Guoye did not go all out after doing so. Otherwise, Zhao Yunxiao would no longer be standing right now.

Even so...

"May I know what Brother Geng means by petty tricks?" Chen Pingxi asked what was on his mind.

"Have you not noticed, Fairy Chen?" Geng Guoye pointed to Zhao Yunxiao's halberd. "There is something strange about that weapon!"

"That weapon? What's strange about it?"

Geng Guoye's words drew everyone's attention to the Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd.

"If I am not wrong, there is an array hidden somewhere on the halberd. Am I right, Junior Martial Brother Zhao?" Geng Guoye questioned.

He was not just an inner disciple in name.

After thinking a little about what happened earlier, he had quickly come to the conclusion that there must be an array hidden on the halberd.

During the spar, he had picked up on the glowing rune that was inscribed on the Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd. While he did not recognise it, it was highly likely to be related to the reason why he had been significantly weakened during the fight!

"If that's true, then deliberately hiding the existence of an array inscription despite this being a friendly spar can be considered trickery indeed," Qie Xing quickly added in support.

"Exactly," Geng Guoye continued. "If not for that, how would I have been surprised enough to accidentally act as I did? Now, I cannot help but question the reason behind deliberately concealing and then activating this array during the spar. Would you like to explain yourself, Junior Martial Brother Zhao?"

Zhao Yunxiao: "..."

This was a true example of twisting black and white!

It was an individual's right to improve their equipment, and array inscriptions were not an uncommon way to do so.

But now, he was being accused of not announcing the fact that he had done so?

What was he supposed to do otherwise? Volunteer all his secrets to everyone with whom he interacted?

Yet despite how unfair he felt the accusation was, he was not exactly in a position where he could argue against Geng Guoye. After all, as an inner disciple, the latter was technically his superior.

Going against him in such a public setting might bring temporary satisfaction, but it would also be tantamount to setting himself up for trouble in the future.

While it was frustrating, it would still be in his best interest to take a step back here. Not just that, but he also made a mental note to steer clear of Geng Guoye in the future.

"Senior Martial Brother Geng is right. I should hav-"

"What a joke!" Chen Pingxi quickly cut him off, startling everyone present.

Up until now, Chen Pingxi had maintained a graceful decorum, carrying herself in a manner that truly lived up to the 'Fairy' part of her alias, Tidal Fairy.

But at this very moment, all signs of that were nowhere to be seen, replaced with a fierce light that was burning within her eyes. Her tone was firm and solemn, truly exuding a level of prestige befitting the prime disciple that she was.

"As a senior, you wanting to provide guidance to Brother Zhao is laudable. As a senior, you suppressing your cultivation level to level the playing ground is natural. But as a senior, you wanting to win at all costs, to the extent of going against your promise and injuring your junior, is laughable!" Chen Pingxi admonished. "You blame Brother Zhao for not revealing the array inscriptions on his weapon, but did you reveal the secrets to your Void Blade?"

"How is that the same?" Geng Guoye's expression turned ugly as well, extremely unhappy to be confronted in such a public manner. "My Void Blade is no secret, while those strange characters on his weapon are suspicious to say the least. Who knows? There might even be a chance that their origins did not belong to the orthodox path!"

Since he had already gone against his promise of suppressing his cultivation level, Geng Guoye wanted to use any means necessary to justify his actions. That was why he had to paint Zhao Yunxiao as the bad person here, even if it meant throwing random accusations at him.

Only by doing so would he be able to distract everyone into excusing his actions, preventing his reputation from taking a hit. Not just that, but painting Zhao Yunxiao as the bad person would also achieve the original intention of putting him down.

At the same time, Geng Guoye made sure to phrase things in a speculative manner, all so that there would be no need for him to take responsibility for his words later.

However, he never expected that those words would instantly backfire on him.

"Insolence!" Chen Pingxi's Peak Origin Core realm aura erupted in an instant, creating an immense spiritual pressure on everyone at the Clear Thoughts Pavilion. "Those are archaic runes that can be found in my Origin Lake Sect as well. Are you insinuating that my Origin Lake Sect is not of the orthodox path?!"

Indeed, while others might not be familiar with the archaic characters on the Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd, she clearly remembered seeing them at the Origin Lake.

She did not understand what they meant or how they worked, but it would appear Zhao Yunxiao did!

Or at the very least, Zhao Yunxiao had ties to someone who did.

As for who that someone might be, who else could it be but Elder He Luoxuan?

To be able to utilise those archaic characters in the creation of array inscriptions, Elder He Luoxuan's understanding of these archaic characters must have already reached a sublime level.

If Chen Pingxi could learn a thing or two about it with Zhao Yunxiao's help, then it might help her unravel some of the mysteries pertaining to the Origin Lake as well. That would be a huge contribution to her sect!

Just a moment ago, her heart had still been pounding in excitement while thinking about the endless possibilities that could result from that. Who knew that while she was still contemplating how to bring the matter up with Zhao Yunxiao, these same characters would be labelled as potentially unorthodox right in front of her face?

Faced with such an accusation, even someone with Chen Pingxi's demeanour could not keep her emotions in check!

Such a drastic turn of events shocked everyone present.

Chen Pingxi was doing nothing to hide her rage, and her unrestrained aura was taking a significant toll on the audience.

Those at the Foundation Building realm felt their legs go soft, unable to stand without holding onto something else for support.

Those at the Essence Gathering realm had to focus on regulating their dantian, consciously suppressing the essence energy in their dantian from going wild.

Even those at the Essence Physique realm felt their heads hurt from the sheer spiritual pressure.

Among them, Lu Zhiying had to quickly hold onto Huang An for support, or she would have buckled to her knees. Even then, she could not help but grin in excitement, relishing in the moment as she personally experienced such immense spiritual pressure for the very first time in her life.

So, this is the strength of a cultivator at the Peak Origin Core realm!