Jiu Tian was a genius that had resonated with the Nine Palace Sword Formation at birth. He was destined for greatness, and the Nine Palace Academy had always taken great care of him. He had only been released to the public during this competition.

He was young yet had a mature look, and was dressed in a gray outfit that made him look older than he was. His eyes reminded one of an old man who had seen the vicissitudes of life.

His appearance caused much excitement among the Nine Palace Academy disciples. They all wanted to personally witness Jiu Tian's might. The other disciples also looked over, curious as to just how strong the number one disciple of the Nine Palace Academy was.

"I had thought that you would only step on the stage at the very end," said Zhan Wushuang.

"That was the plan, but you guys are wasting too much time. So here I am," replied Jiu Tian indifferently.

"Let the fight begin," said Zhan Wushuang as he made the first move.

This was the very first time Zhan Wushuang had felt such pressure from an opponent. This pressure was stronger than what he felt facing Baili Yixiao in the past. He was displeased with it, and he wanted to personally smash the pressure apart and prevail over it.

Wolf Breaker!

His battle intent was as boundless as ever, and his fists had always been his strongest weapons with which he could punch a hole in the sky. He was at the very peak of the Emperor Realm, and after this competition, he would focus on forging his soul foundation. He was confident that he was currently strong enough to defeat anyone below the Soul Foundation Realm.

Naturally, Jiu Tian had the same confidence. He emanated the same presence of someone who believed that he was unrivaled. Blades of wind started swirling around him. These blades were powered from a unique wind found only high up in the sky, the purpleflame wind.

The wind was purple in color and could ignite everything it blew through. It felt more like fire than wind, but it also had a fearsome power that could rip everything apart. When one obtained full mastery over it, one would be able to tear even space apart. 

The purpleflame wind was a top-tier wind, and it was not the type of power an Emperor was supposed to be able to harness or tame. In fact, even a Soul Foundation Realm expert would need to flee when faced with this wind.

However, Jiu Tian had actually tamed this power and was wielding it freely—quite the shocking discovery for many people present. 

The purpleflame wind was even slicing open Zhan Wushuang's indestructible fists. Zhan Wushuang hurriedly retreated in panic. As he watched the blood flow out of his gold, shining fists, an ominous feeling welled inside him.

"Surrender. You are not my match," said Jiu Tian with the same indifference.

"There is no such thing as 'surrender' to me," roared Zhan Wushuang as he released his Indestructible Avatar. His body started growing, and a burst of destructive gold energy erupted from him. It was as though he had transformed into a war god, and he charged Jiu Tian in his avatar form.

Heaven Smasher!

Zhan Wushuang was fighting with all his strength. A pair of fists smashed forth like a golden mountain that was going to smash even the sky apart. A heavy pressure descended upon the surrounding disciples, and some of them paled.

They could clearly feel that the might of his attack was comparable with the might of True Martial Academy's number five genius, Zhou Haoyu. The fist energy crushed forward with a might to reduce all in its path to nothingness. This was what gave Zhan Wushuang the absolute confidence to be ever victorious.

Alas, his ever-victorious fists were nothing in Jiu Tian's eyes. Jiu Tian made a simple motion of pressing his palms together before swinging them at the incoming fist energy. Like some sort of demonic flame, the purpleflame wind sliced through Zhan Wushuang's fist energy and reached his chest.

Zhan Wushuang had never imagined that the purpleflame wind would be so terrifying. Even his fist energy was destroyed so easily. The Indestructible Avatar he was so proud of wasn't able to protect him against the wind either. His chest was split, and he was sent flying. He crashed outside the stage, dying the ground red with his blood.

The fight's development stunned all onlookers. Who would have imagined that someone as strong as Zhan Wushuang would be defeated in a single move? One ought to know that Jiu Tian hadn't even used his strongest trump card. How strong would he be after using his trump card? Would he be undefeated in the Emperor Realm?

The battle intent of Dugu Qiubai, Devil Concubine, Little Overlord and the others rose. As far as they were concerned, Jiu Tian was the type of opponent worth their time.

Baili Yixiao was stirred into action, but when he wanted to make a move, Long Shi stopped him and said, "Society master, your opponent should be that person from the Sacred Deer Academy. Just leave this person for later."

No matter what others said, Baili Yixiao was definitely someone with the potential to be one of the Four Blazing Suns. As his most faithful subordinate, Long Shi naturally did not wish to see Baili Yixiao facing such a powerful opponent so early on.

"Um. I'll wait further," replied Baili Yixiao calmly.

In truth, the one person he viewed as a worthy opponent was Dugu Qiubai. After all, both of them were pure sword masters. A clash between them would be interesting.

"I told you. You asked for this," said Jiu Tian with a faint smile on his face.

Away from the stage, Zhan Wushuang was still dazed. He couldn't even feel the pain in his chest because his heart was aching. He had thought that he had already reached the apex of the Emperor Realm, and he was confident that he would be one of the Four Blazing Suns. But now, he was defeated with one move. One could only imagine how terrible he felt right now.

None of the Crushing Sky members dared to say anything to him. They were clear that he could only rely on himself to snap out of his shock.

"Jiu Tian is too scary. He will definitely be one of the Four Blazing Suns. The only thing we don't know is if he will be the first of the four."

"He definitely won't be the first. Dugu Qiubai will be the one to take first place. After all, he is the one known with titles such as the Martial Fanatic, Martial Demon, and Martial Addict."

"That's right. I suppose Jiu Tian will take second place, with Devil Concubine taking the third place and Little Overlord taking fourth place."

"Do you think that Xiang Shaoyun won't be one of the four? He seems pretty strong and unfathomable as well."

"No way. He is still a tad bit too tender. Someone will eventually end his victory streak."

The observers started talking among themselves, fully convinced by the strength Jiu Tian had displayed. It was at this moment that a young man stepped onto Xiang Shaoyun's stage. The young man was in his 20s and was of a similar age to Xiang Shaoyun. He was a peak eighth-stage Dragon Ascension Realm cultivator, an amazing cultivation realm for someone this young.

The moment he stepped onto the stage, a loud clamor erupted among the True Martial Academy disciples.