The Herb King



It was already the second day of the martial arts competition. Many geniuses who were once unknown suddenly rose to fame, displaying high levels and powerful skills. 

Other than Princess Altina Azure of the Azure Phoenix Empire and William Holt of the Zion Empire, a few more names rose to prominence. One of them was Xavier Paxley, a genius from a small empire called Gregory Empire. This was the person who has a crescent-shaped weapon on his back. There was also Art Ryann, the genius warrior from the Paramount Heaven Empire. He was a mid stage Level 3 Esper, just a hairbreadth away from the late stage. 

At this moment, only the winners from the first day of the martial competition remained. Each young talent displayed remarkable power that made the older generation inside the stadium feel ashamed of their inferiority.

"Sigh! These young ones are truly blessed by the heavens. How did they even level up to this degree?" 

"These juniors have already surpassed many of us here..." 

The crowd sighed as they watched the young talents' terrifying potential. 

Meanwhile, Alec's name was finally called. He was one of the favorites of the martial competition because of his superb performance last time. Although he wasn't as famous as Princess Altina and the other top contenders, there were a few people in the crowd who believes in his strength. 

"It's Alec Ward from the Leone Empire! Last time, he didn't even give his opponent a chance to fight back! He is probably the dark horse of this competition!" 

"What dark horse are you spouting? It should be Xavier Paxley from the Gregory Empire!" 

Alec was unaware that there was a fierce debate because of him. He stepped on the stage and stared at his opponent. It was a young man holding a folding fan. He had a thin frame and beautiful facial features. If not for his protruding Adam's apple, anyone would have believed that he was a woman. 

"Begin!" The referee announced.

Alec didn't waste any time and grabbed his sword. He didn't underestimate the enemy because of how weak he looked. "Mid stage Level 3 Esper..." He muttered after sensing the level of his opponent. 

With a quick leap, Alec summoned a dozen wind blades. The wind blades cut through the air at the speed of sound. 

Looking at the wind blades, the referee furrowed his eyebrows. He quickly gave a signal to the Elders observing the battle. Before something goes wrong, they would immediately stop the fight.

Just as the Elders were about to intervene, the effeminate young man abruptly swiped his folding fan, knocking away the wind blades with sheer ease. 

Seeing this, Alec frowned and released a few more attacks. However, the effeminate young man managed to evade or block his strikes. 

"This..." Janrose stared at the scene in disbelief. "There's actually someone who could effortlessly escape Alec's attacks? No... That shouldn't be possible. That folding fan isn't an ordinary weapon! Is that a Divine-Rated weapon?!" 

The crowd also noticed the abnormality of the folding fan and they soon realized that it was actually a Divine-Rated weapon! 

"Big brother, you should surrender. You can't beat me with that Unique-Rated sword." The effeminate young man giggled in amusement. 

Hearing this, Alec was unperturbed. He calmly executed the sword move he learned from Aethelwolf. "This sword move is something I learned recently. It has ten movements, but I only managed to learn the first three movements because of my lacking talent. If you can block this technique, I will admit defeat." He muttered. 

Suddenly, a dense amount of world essence gathered towards Alec and formed a giant incorporeal sword. 

The audience was dumbfounded when they sensed the energy contained by the incorporeal sword. 

"This energy! It can rival the attack of a Level 4 Esper! Just how strong is this sword technique!?"

"How powerful!"

The effeminate young man was no longer smiling. He could sense the overwhelming power carried by the incorporeal sword. His folding fan might be a Divine-Rated weapon, but he still could not fully control its power. Even with it, he might not be able to survive this sword technique! 

"Be careful..." Alec warned his opponent as he released the incorporeal sword. 

A devastating power surged as soon as the illusory sword moved. 

The referee quickly gave a signal upon seeing this. "Wait!" He shouted, but it was already too late, the illusory sword was already released. 

The Elders who were observing the scene immediately activated their defensive skills to block the illusory sword. 

BANG!

A violent explosion echoed in the stadium. The Elders managed to block the illusory sword, but their faces were disheveled as if they were washed away by a storm! 

As for the effeminate young man, he was looking at Alec with a terrified look on his face. 

"Alec Ward wins!" The referee announced in shock.

Alec bowed at the Elders before he jumped out of the stage. 

"Did you guys see that? He actually summoned an illusory sword that contains the power that was on the same level as a Level 4 Esper!" 

"Alec! Alec! Alec!" 

The other participants stared at Alec with serious gazes. Even the crown princess of the Azure Phoenix Empire took notice of him. After all, the power he displayed was enough to challenge her!

"Not bad! You actually comprehend the first sword movement to that degree." Janrose chuckled as glanced at him teasingly. 

Alec's mouth twitched at her words. He shook his head and muttered. "I'm still inferior compared to you. You have already fully grasped the first four sword movements." 

Janrose smiled from ear to ear after hearing his words. This guy had always won their sparring and she hasn't won against him even once. She felt good hearing him admit his inferiority. 

At the waiting area of the Azure Phoenix Empire, Princess Altina stared at Alec's figure with narrowed eyes. She thought that victory was already in her grasp. Who would have thought that an unstable factor would actually appear?