At that moment, the Head Beast unleashed another devastating Spirit Wave attack.
The surrounding air trembled violently as the invisible force surged forward like a tidal wave.
Yet Zhao Mu's figure vanished like a ghost before the attack could even touch him.
Spirit Power gathered beneath his feet, and with the activation of Light Spirit Steps, his speed instantly reached an astonishing level.
His movements became nearly impossible to follow.
Even the instructors observing from afar struggled to track him clearly.
Unlike the others, Zhao Mu did not choose to fight from long range using arrows.
He understood the situation perfectly.
With his current strength, ordinary arrows would never pierce the Head Beast's Protective Spiritual Power.
Trying to wear it down from a distance would only waste time and Spirit Power.
So instead—
He chose direct close combat.
Without hesitation, Zhao Mu released the heavenly halberd from his hand and charged straight toward the massive beast.
"What exactly is this kid trying to do?!"
Zhang Biao couldn't help roaring in disbelief.
"He even threw away his weapon!"
"Is he planning to fight that thing head-on?!"
At that exact moment, a flash of silver light burst from Zhao Mu's palm.
A beautiful silver longsword instantly appeared in his hand.
First-grade Jinhai Ember Remains—
Silver Sword!
The blade shone brilliantly beneath the pale battlefield light.
This was currently the strongest weapon Zhao Mu possessed.
For more than half a month, he had continuously increased its synchronization rate in secret.
Originally, he intended to keep it as a hidden trump card.
Whether against Shao Han in future challenges or as protection against Tian Hu's schemes, Zhao Mu wanted an extra weapon no one expected him to possess.
And now—
This was the first time he revealed it publicly.
Spirit Power surged into the silver sword.
A terrifyingly sharp aura erupted from the blade instantly.
The pressure was so intense that even the surrounding air seemed to split apart.
Even the Head Beast sensed danger.
Its instincts screamed at it.
The creature let out a furious roar as its massive body trembled violently.
BOOM!
The beast slammed its claws into the ground and charged toward Zhao Mu like a cannonball.
Its claws, sharp as broken blades, tore through the air while slashing wildly toward him.
But Zhao Mu showed no fear whatsoever.
His eyes remained calm.
Focused.
Cold.
The silver sword in his hand moved like a living spirit snake.
Sword shadows flickered beneath the night sky as he thrust forward.
In an instant, countless overlapping streaks of sword light filled the battlefield.
One strike became two.
Two became four.
The blade danced endlessly, moving with impossible fluidity.
At first, the sword style resembled a gentle spring drizzle.
But in the next moment, it transformed into a violent storm.
This was not random swordplay.
It was a true Combat Technique.
The Startling Wind and Fine Rain Sword.
The Demon Clown's abilities allowed Zhao Mu to master all forms of weapons at unbelievable speed.
By bringing the Introductory Sword Technique to maximum proficiency, he had successfully derived this Intermediate Combat Technique.
Although its current proficiency was only 132 points, that level already rivaled a swordsman who had trained relentlessly for years.
Combined with the terrifying sharpness of the silver sword, the result became horrifying.
The Head Beast instantly sensed deadly danger.
It roared furiously and swung all ten claws downward.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The battlefield exploded with metallic collisions.
Sword light and claws collided repeatedly like a violent rainstorm.
Snow scattered into the air.
Spirit Power exploded outward with every impact.
In less than a single second—
The exchange ended.
The Head Beast suddenly froze.
Pain erupted through its entire body.
Slowly, it lifted its massive forelimbs.
Its eyes widened in disbelief.
Its claws—
All ten of them—
Had been severed completely.
Those claws were comparable in hardness to B-grade alloy.
Yet now only bare, bloody wrists remained.
"ROOOAAARRR!!!"
The beast let out a miserable howl filled with agony.
Its enormous body staggered backward several meters instinctively.
At that moment, the observing instructors were completely stunned.
Zhao Mu was once again shattering everything they thought they knew.
A Combat Level 5 Ability User—
Even one wielding a first-grade Jinhai—
Should never have been able to suppress a Variant Beast ten combat levels above him so overwhelmingly.
It simply made no sense.
Nearby, even Shao Han—a Combat Level 9 Ability User wielding his exclusive Frost Blade Ember Remains—had only managed to kill a Head Beast with the combined assistance of over a dozen elite fighters.
Yet Zhao Mu…
Was fighting alone.
And not only was he surviving—
He was dominating.
"How is this possible…?"
One of the instructors muttered unconsciously.
No one could understand it.
No one could explain it.
But Zhao Mu had no intention of giving the beast time to recover.
The Head Beast was already terrified.
For the first time, it truly sensed death approaching.
The human standing before it was no ordinary prey.
He was a monster.
Zhao Mu raised the silver sword once more.
Then his body shot forward like lightning.
The silver blade shone brilliantly in the darkness, resembling a crescent moon descending from the heavens.
Silver Sword Synchronization Rate—
92%.
This was an unbelievably terrifying number.
It meant Zhao Mu could unleash almost the full power of the Ember Remains.
Normally, exclusive Ember Remains were extremely difficult for outsiders to use effectively.
After all, the silver sword had originally been forged specifically for the Jin Family.
Most people would experience severe incompatibility.
Even among Spirit Power Users across the entire Xuanfeng Empire, achieving a synchronization rate above ninety percent was extraordinarily rare.
But Zhao Mu had done it.
And because of that, whenever he unleashed the sword's power to its limit, his instantaneous burst strength approached the level of the Silver Wolf itself—
The original owner of the Ember Remains.
A terrifying Sharp Edge-rank Variant Beast with combat power exceeding one hundred.
The claws and fangs of the Silver Wolf were its strongest weapons.
And now, Zhao Mu wielded that same terrifying sharpness.
Against a mere Level 15 Head Beast—
Severing its claws became effortless.
The beast wailed desperately and turned to flee.
Unfortunately for it—
Retreating before Zhao Mu was meaningless.
The moment Zhao Mu decided to kill someone, he would never allow them to escape.
His figure chased forward instantly.
The silver sword thrust directly toward the beast's chest.
The Startling Wind and Fine Rain Sword emphasized speed and relentless pressure.
Sword light flooded every possible escape route.
There was nowhere to dodge.
The Head Beast instinctively raised its forearms to block.
Its physical strength was extraordinary.
Its arms were harder than steel.
But if even its claws had been sliced apart—
How could its arms possibly fare any better?
PFFT! PFFT! PFFT!
Blood sprayed violently.
Before the silver sword, the beast's arms were cut apart piece by piece like fragile lotus roots.
Its resistance became utterly meaningless.
The gap in weapon quality was too overwhelming.
The difference in technique was even greater.
Every attempt at defense collapsed instantly.
Then—
The silver sword pierced directly through the beast's throat.
The Head Beast's eyes widened.
Zhao Mu twisted his wrist sharply.
A massive head flew high into the air.
THUD!
The gigantic corpse collapsed heavily onto the ground like a falling hill.
The earth shook violently beneath the impact.
Silence followed.
Complete silence.
The three observing instructors stood frozen in place.
None of them spoke for a very long time.
Just like that…
The battle was over.
Clean.
Efficient.
Brutal.
There had been no wasted movement whatsoever.
The instant Zhao Mu discovered an opening, he seized it mercilessly and expanded that advantage until it became certain death.
Even the swordsmanship instructors of Qingfeng Camp would feel ashamed witnessing that level of technique.
Instructor Xie Yingxue took a deep breath.
"As expected…"
"He truly is the disciple of that person."
Even so, disbelief still lingered in her eyes.
"But even considering that…"
"This performance is simply monstrous."
Beside her, Zhang Biao remained completely shaken.
His worldview had been overturned.
Because none of them understood Zhao Mu's true abilities, they naturally couldn't comprehend how he had suddenly mastered swordsmanship to such an absurd level.
Nor could they understand how he managed to unleash such terrifying power from a first-grade Jinhai.
If the silver sword were still in the hands of its original owner, Jin Xiangcheng, it would never display even a third of this strength.
After all, Jin Xiangcheng's synchronization rate with the sword was only five percent.
Meanwhile, Zhao Mu had reached ninety-two percent.
The difference was astronomical.
At that moment, the heavy sound of the Head Beast's corpse collapsing finally alerted the team members behind them.
Thinking something terrible had happened to Zhao Mu, they rushed over immediately.
But the moment they arrived—
Everyone froze.
Their eyes widened in utter disbelief.
The enormous Head Beast had already been decapitated.
And the entire battle had lasted less than ten seconds.
Ten seconds.
That was all.
Real combat between powerful opponents was often like this.
The moment a single flaw appeared—
Death followed instantly.
And Zhao Mu's fighting style was terrifying precisely because of that.
Every movement was efficient.
Every attack was precise.
There was no hesitation.
No unnecessary action.
Only killing intent.
Looking at the massive corpse lying before them, enormous waves surged through everyone's hearts.
No one spoke.
Because at that moment, they all understood one terrifying fact—
Zhao Mu was no longer someone they could compare themselves to anymore.
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)