Yue Zhengyu and Xu Xiaoyan were also watching this match, and both of them wore resigned expressions on their faces.

"Sigh, why did Xinglan have to come up against him in the first elimination round? This is downright rotten luck," Xu Xiaoyan sighed.

Yue Zhengyu said, "This may not be a bad thing; all of us always improve more significantly when battling powerful opponents, so even if Xinglan loses here, she should benefit immensely from this match. Old Man Sima is still too powerful for us at this point. He should've become a three-word battle armor master a long time ago, but he has such a bad reputation and so little money that he's still stuck with a suit of two-word battle armor. Who would've thought that would be a blessing in disguise and allow him to become one of the hot favorites in this competition?"

Saber Demon Sima Jinchi was the commander of the Southern Legion's Wild Gale Division, and he was also a senior colonel. In the Southern Legion, he had the nickname of Wild Gale Saber Demon, and he was constantly picking fights with everyone. Aside from the handful of most powerful beings in the legion, no one was a match for him. Even all of the eight-ring three-word battle armor masters in the legion were no match for him.

He was 42 years of age, and was addicted to honing his saber skills. His greatest hobby was to challenge other people to fights. He was convinced to join the Southern Legion by the legion commander, who was also Yue Zhengyu's grandfather, and he was constantly challenging the powerful beings within the legion. Furthermore, he fought in an extremely wild and aggressive manner, which often led to him hurting his sparring partners, so he was the kind of person that everyone tried to avoid.

He was the only one in the entire legion who dared to challenge the legion commander, and he lost every single battle, which was why he was truly respectful of Yue Zhengyu's grandfather. Otherwise, who would be able to keep him in the military with his personality?

The Wild Gale Division was the most powerful division of the Southern Legion. It was a mecha division, but what was quite comical was that its commander, Sima Jinchi, had no idea how to pilot a mecha himself. Instead, he dominated with nothing more than his Dragonslaying Saber and suit of two-word battle armor.

Yue Zhengyu's grandfather had always been intentionally holding him back instead of supporting him so he could become a three-word battle armor master, and he was doing this so Sima Jinchi could build up a stronger foundation. He had once said that if Sima Jinchi could become a Titled Douluo, then he'd definitely be one of the most powerful Titled Douluos in the entire world, and if he could become a Hyper Douluo, then he could even be powerful enough to pose a challenge to a Limit Douluo.

In the future, he was definitely going to be the brightest star of the Southern Legion. It was just a pity that his leadership skills were quite lackluster, so he couldn't be entrusted with any higher military ranks.

This was why he still hadn't become a general despite his immense power.

Yue Zhengyu's grandfather had promised to forge him a suit of three-word battle armor if he could become the champion of this competition, and he'd have to exchange for that suit of battle armor with the awards he received as champion.

As such, he emerged as number one in their group, and Yue Zhengyu could only strive for number two, but unfortunately he fell at the final hurdle, losing to Phantom King.

When Yue Zhengyu and Xu Xiaoyan had first joined the Southern Legion, Sima Jinchi hadn't thought much of him. However, their friendship was forged through battle as Yue Zhengyu was able to last 10 minutes against him in a battle. This completely changed Sima Jinchi's opinion of him, but it was exactly because he'd fought Sima Jinchi that Yue Zhengyu knew just how fearsome this man was.

He was only a Soul Douluo, but his actual combat prowess exceeded that of most Titled Douluos.

The odds being offered for him becoming the final champion were only 1:2, placing him even above Tang Wulin as the one with the second-highest odds, and he was second only to someone who was even more insane.

As such, Ye Xinglan was extremely unlucky to have encountered Wild Gale Saber Demon Sima Jinchi in the first elimination round, but no one could do anything about that.

Sima Jinchi's massive Dragonslaying Saber was resting on his shoulder, and there was a hint of surprise in his heart as he appraised the young woman before him. From her blood essence fluctuations, he could sense that Ye Xinglan was quite young, but her Stargod Sword had been quite troublesome for him to deal with. In fact, it could even be said that her sword had posed a threat to him. Such an opponent was not very common for him!

Ye Xinglan was panting slightly, but that wasn't from exertion. Instead, she was being struck by a sense of asphyxiation in the face of her opponent's immense powers.

He was too powerful; his saber techniques and saber intent were both superior to hers. In reality, Sima Jinchi had only attacked three times with his saber during the course of the battle thus far, yet each and every attack had posed a massive threat to her.

Ye Xinglan took a deep breath to calm her own churning blood essence, and a determined look appeared on her face. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and specks of starlight appeared around her. Even her battle armor was glowing, and it was as if countless specks of starlight were emerging from her body, radiating the most dazzling light in the process.

Ye Xinglan's sixth soul ring finally lit up, and immediately thereafter, she closed her eyes while gripping onto the hilt of her Stargod Sword with both hands.

Sima Jinchi raised an eyebrow slightly, and he was surprised to discover that his opponent's aura had changed. This was an indescribable feeling akin to the feeling that he'd been struck by back when he had made a certain breakthrough in his saber intent. This was a feeling of evolution and being elevated to a higher level, except on this occasion, it was his opponent who was undergoing this evolution.

The specks of starlight that had appeared around Ye Xinglan began to undergo an intriguing transformation; they suddenly became extremely bright, as if they'd been set alight. Immediately thereafter, they really were vaporized, transforming into wisps of light that revolved around her body.

She also slowly raised her Stargod Sword before her, and the wisps of starlight around her body all converged toward her sword.

Her Stargod Sword began to glow brighter and brighter, and at the same time, it gradually began to expand. The sword itself wasn't what was expanding. Instead, it was a transparent, yet extremely dazzling sword projection.

The sword projection was constantly flickering slightly, yet it was giving off a sense of sentience. There was no overwhelming pressure emanating from it, but as it appeared, Sima Jinchi's expression changed drastically.

The Dragonslaying Saber that was resting on his shoulder descended, and a look of unadulterated shock appeared in his eyes. Even he had only reached this level after becoming a Soul Sage, yet it was quite apparent from the energy fluctuations emanating from his opponent's body that she definitely wasn't a Soul Sage yet.

Sima Jinchi had never been a believer of prodigies; he only believed in hard work and determination. However, that deep-rooted belief was suddenly beginning to waver. Could it be that there really were prodigies in this world?

Otherwise, how was this young woman able to achieve this?

In the eyes of the audience, the sword projection that had appeared didn't look all that spectacular. However, Sima Jinchi knew that this wasn't just a soul skill or a manifestation of her sword intent; it wasn't even something becoming one with one's sword could compare with.

This was a sword soul!

Regardless of the type of weapon one was using, if one were to develop a deep enough understanding of it, they'd be able to awaken the soul within the weapon.

As a powerful being who had already forged a saber soul, he was now being faced with an opponent who possessed a sword soul. The lackadaisical demeanor in his heart vanished, and it was replaced by a far more serious approach. An opponent like this was worthy of his respect.

He could clearly recall that only after forging his saber soul did his powers truly begin to increase at a rapid rate, and that was what had propelled him to become the most powerful being in the Southern Legion below the Hyper Douluo level.

However, this young woman was clearly far younger than he was, and even if she had only just attained her sword soul, it wouldn't take her long to become a truly powerful being!

"Nice!"

Intense battle intent welled up in Sima Jinchi's heart. The Dragonslaying Saber in his right hand rested by his side as his seventh soul ring lit up.

Regardless of whether it was a sword soul or saber soul, it could only be formed as a subsidiary to a soul skill. Ye Xinglan's sword soul was a subsidiary of her sixth soul skill, while his saber soul was a subsidiary of his seventh soul skill, his Dragonslaying True Body.

A burst of anguished cries that sounded akin to dragon's roars erupted around Sima Jinchi's body, and a massive saber projection appeared in front of his Dragonslaying Saber. In the instant that it appeared, everyone felt as if they were witnessing the imagery of a giant dragon being sliced in half by that saber projection. The saber projection was around 30 meters in length with the Dragonslaying Saber as its origin point, and in the instant that it appeared, a massive rift emerged on the competition platform. The rift had no bottom in sight, as if it were a miniature abyss.

Even the earth and the air were being sliced apart, and that was a testament to just how powerful his saber soul was.

However, Ye Xinglan seemed to be completely oblivious to the transformation that her opponent was undergoing. A faint layer of light had appeared over her face, and her eyes were glowing as brightly as stars.

She had already raised her Stargod Sword above her head, and at the tip of the sword, a sword projection that was around 10 meters tall had already taken shape. It was no longer flickering and wavering, and it was giving off an aura of peerless sharpness.

"Sword! Star! Soul!"