Hun Qianxue picked up his teacup, took a sip, and suppressed the worry in his heart.
He knew that saying anything now was useless; everything depended on Han Xuanji's subsequent performance.
What he didn't know was that, just as he thought...
Elder Meng was also filled with mixed emotions at this moment. On one hand, the potential Han Xuanji had shown was already enough to tempt him. If possible, he even wanted to take him as a disciple himself, but he also felt that he might not even be suitable to be his teacher.
On the other hand, just as Song Ling had said, what kept him uneasy was that Han Xuanji indeed won by relying on his powerful Physical Body, and it was unknown how his Comprehension Ability and dao foundation were.
To him, Cultivators of the Way of Laws had no need to spend too much energy refining their Physical Body or Spirit Refining their Divine Soul during the Eternal Dao Lord stage.
Comprehending laws and polishing one's dao foundation were far more crucial.
This dao foundation referred to the strength and compatibility of the ten major laws condensed during the Eternal Dao Lord stage.
This was a vital Foundation; one could even say it determined a Cultivator's upper limit.
For someone like Centurion Zhou Lie, with his Creation and Law of Destruction, plus a few high-tier laws, if all went smoothly, he could enter the Eternal True Lord Realm with a High Grade dao foundation. With such a dao foundation, if things went well, he could also enter the Saint Realm.
This was already considered a Genius of one in hundreds of millions.
However, even among those with a High Grade dao foundation, those who could enter the Saint Realm were one in ten thousand.
He himself possessed a High Grade dao foundation and knew the difficulty involved, so he still hoped that Han Xuanji's dao foundation would be even more outstanding.
As for Ling Cang, to be honest, although he admired him, he didn't quite favor him; the other was more suited to join those sword lunatics of the Eternal Sword Pavilion.
...
The spectators in the stands did not think as much as the big shots on the high platform.
Things like dao foundation, Comprehension Ability, and the balance between the Physical Body and laws...
These terms were far too distant from them.
What they saw was simply a splendid duel, an unexpected yet reasonable outcome.
"I think this looks like the finals being played out ahead of time."
Someone in the crowd lamented:
"With Ling Cang's strength, winning the championship wouldn't have been a problem in previous Law Conferences. It's a pity he ran into Han Xuanji."
"It's not really a pity. Did you see Han Xuanji's final strike? Who could have blocked that?"
"True, but for Ling Cang to force out Han Xuanji's sword is already incredible.
Those previous opponents probably didn't even have the qualification to force Han Xuanji to fight seriously."
These people naturally assumed that Han Xuanji hadn't been serious when using his fists before, and had been hiding the fact that he was highly skilled in the way of the sword.
Soon, sighs of awe, regret, and admiration intertwined.
Ling Cang's elimination caused quite a stir.
After all, Ling Cang's name had been lingering in their hearts for a long time.
The number one sword Cultivator of Jiuxuan City, a once-in-ten-thousand-years sword Genius, and the hot favorite to win this conference.
For such a figure to be knocked out in the quarter-finals, who wouldn't find it a pity?
When Ling Cang returned to the stands, Ling Xuan immediately went up to meet him.
His face was filled with inner conflict. He opened his mouth and closed it, closed it and opened it, and finally squeezed out a sentence after a long while:
"Brother... are you okay?"
Ling Cang glanced at him and said calmly:
"I lost. What could be wrong?"
"But..."
Ling Xuan scratched his head:
"You are the number one sword Cultivator of Jiuxuan, how could you just..."
"What 'number one sword Cultivator'? You believe whatever others say?"
Ling Cang interrupted him, his tone so calm that he didn't sound like someone who had just been eliminated:
"A loss is a loss. My skills were inferior; there is nothing more to say."
Ling Xuan opened his mouth, wanting to say something else, but found himself unable to utter a word. He felt bitter in his heart. Frankly speaking, he was somewhat responsible for this.
Previously at the Qianmeng Pavilion, he had belittled Han Xuanji as worthless in front of Wang Ping, Li Tiantong, and the others.
And the result?
His brother was knocked flat by Han Xuanji with a single strike of his sword.
Wasn't this a blatant slap to the face?
Just as he was thinking, several glances cast over from the other side of the stands, carrying a hint of mockery.
Ling Xuan followed the gazes and immediately felt a massive headache.
It was Wang Ping, as well as Li Tiantong and Hun Jiuge—the very people he had argued with at the Qianmeng Pavilion earlier.
Wang Ping was looking at him with a smile, his eyes clearly saying:
"Is that all?"
Ling Xuan wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into, but there was no crack, only his brother and a burly man watching the spectacle.
Ling Cang noticed his younger brother's strange behavior and thought he was finding it hard to accept his defeat.
Feeling a warmth in his heart, he reached out and patted Ling Xuan's shoulder, his tone softening a bit:
"No need to be like this. Victory and defeat are common in battle. I lost this time, but I'll just win it back next time."
Ling Xuan's lips twitched.
He wasn't upset because Ling Cang had lost, but because the boast he had made had been shattered.
Qin Yong, who was beside them, suddenly spoke up, saying out of the blue:
"He probably isn't upset, but rather because he boasted a lot about you outside earlier, and now he feels like he's lost face."
Ling Cang was slightly startled, and his gaze toward Ling Xuan became a bit more probing:
"Oh? What did you boast about me?"
Ling Xuan's face flushed red. He stammered for a long time before finally confessing everything he had done at the Qianmeng Pavilion under the pressure of Ling Cang's gaze.
He told everything in detail, not daring to hide a thing.
Since the Law Conference had started, he had said these things quite a lot. Even if he didn't confess, Ling Cang could easily find out by asking anyone familiar with him.
After speaking, he lowered his head like a child who had done something wrong, waiting to be scolded.
Ling Cang fell silent for a long time after hearing this. He recalled that Ling Xuan had excitedly run over to tell him about Han Xuanji before. He hadn't cared at the time, and hadn't even cared to look up information on him. He thought he didn't need to care. How strong could an Earth-grade Seed from a small border city be?
Thinking about it now, how laughable that arrogance was.
"That mouth of yours..."
Ling Cang sighed. There was no blame in his tone, only emotion.
After all, he realized that he himself back then had been just like Ling Xuan, so there was nothing he could say.
"I'll settle the score with you when we get back."
Ling Xuan kept his head down, not daring to speak.
Ling Cang did not look at him again, but turned his gaze toward the direction where Wang Ping and the others were.
He stood up, tidied his robes, and walked over.
Ling Xuan was startled: "Brother, what are you doing?"
"Apologizing."
Ling Cang said without looking back:
"You boasted about me outside and offended people. As your brother, I naturally have to clean up your mess."
Ling Xuan naturally didn't dare to let Ling Cang go alone, so he hurriedly trotted after him.