In just one glance, he could replicate thirty percent of the original. Such talent was already considered top-tier. Even if it were his turn, he estimated he could only replicate forty percent.
Liu Ji Ya also made a similar judgment in her heart, thinking that she could replicate nearly fifty percent of the original martial skill.
"Alright, it's my turn."
Liu Fei's longsword trembled, creating blooming sword flowers. The sword's momentum was light and graceful like a flowing cloud; every move and stance was filled with a gentle essence.
"A Peerless-grade Mortal-tier martial skill, the Flowing Cloud Sword Art," someone said softly. This was a martial skill of the Liu family.
After completing his demonstration, Liu Fei said proudly, "If you can replicate thirty percent, I'll consider it my loss."
"Thirty percent?" Chu Hao did not comment. From his perspective, let alone thirty percent, he could easily replicate one hundred percent. Moreover, Liu Fei had only cultivated this martial skill to the level of "great accomplishment." If it were in Chu Hao's hands, it would instantly reach "perfect mastery."
However, doing so would be too shocking and unconventional.
Furthermore, if he performed too astonishingly and scared these people into not betting against him, how would he earn primordial stones?
"Watch carefully."
Chu Hao brandished his sword. His sword was like a flowing cloud, endlessly undulating and unpredictable.
"Eighty percent replication!" Liu Yun's mouth twitched. He couldn't believe it.
"Despicable! Liu Ji Ya, I remember you also cultivated this Flowing Cloud Sword Art when you were in the Qi Refining Realm! You must have performed it in front of this person before, and he was already familiar with it, which is why he could replicate eighty percent in one go!" Liu Feng roared furiously.
Many people present nodded. They, too, did not believe that Chu Hao could replicate eighty percent of the Flowing Cloud Sword Art by just watching it once.
"If you can't afford to lose, don't play."
Liu Ji Ya was too lazy to explain; she knew that even if she did, it would be useless.
Only she knew what replicating eighty percent of the Flowing Cloud Sword Art meant. Chu Hao had demonstrated the perfect mastery of the Cloud-Breaking Sword before. Although it was only one move, it was a martial skill of the Profound-tier!
"This round, I'll admit my loss."
Liu Fei glared coldly at Chu Hao, believing that his defeat was because of Liu Ji Ya.
"Don't get cocky. This time you were just lucky. There are still four more rounds." Liu Feng's expression was grim.
In this round, Chu Hao won one hundred thousand primordial stones, plus the more than two hundred thousand primordial stones wagered by others. This amount of primordial stones would be split between Chu Hao and Liu Ji Ya.
Soon, the second round began.
Liu Ji Ya still bet on Chu Hao. As for the others, their failure in the first round did not diminish their enthusiasm. Instead, they wanted to win back what they had lost. In the end, the total amount of primordial stones wagered reached two hundred fifty thousand.
The second round was a test of a cultivator's control over their weapon.
The person competing with Chu Hao was a small and thin man with pale skin named Liu Qi. He was an expert with the spear in the Liu family, and his weapon was a long spear.
The Liu family was not a family of sword cultivators; there were all kinds of skills in the family. For example, Liu Long's best skill was palm techniques.
Liu Ji Ya, on the other hand, had a special fondness for the sword, so she chose to cultivate swordplay.
This competition was very simple. A line of forty candles was set up. They had to use their weapon to extinguish the flames of the burning candles without damaging the candles themselves.
In three breaths, they would see who could extinguish more candles.
Liu Qi held his long spear, his body in a crouch, his stance firm, as if he were riding a horse. He took a deep breath, focused his mind, and held the long spear with one hand, his arm incredibly steady.
"Ha!"
With a sudden shout, Liu Qi's bent arm suddenly launched forward. The tip of his spear flashed with a cold light, its might fierce, as if it wanted to pierce through an enemy.
Within three breaths, his spear thrust continuously, so fast that it created afterimages. He thrust twenty-five times in a row.
Twenty-three of the candle flames were perfectly extinguished, while the other two had their wicks broken, which counted as a failure.
"Amazing."
"Extinguishing one candle is not difficult. The difficult part is continuously extinguishing them with precision. This requires precise control."
"With such spear technique, he is probably only a step away from the realm of the unity of man and spear."
The so-called unity of man and spear was similar to the second realm of swordmanship—the unity of man and sword, which Liu Ji Ya was in. This was why she was called a sword prodigy.
Cultivators who reached this realm had a significant increase in combat power. If they were both in the Great Grandmaster Realm, Liu Yun would definitely not be Liu Ji Ya's opponent.
As for this Liu Qi, his spear technique was just a step away from the realm of the unity of man and spear.
"This round, I don't believe he can win. Unless he can use his body to command his sword, his swordplay is subtle and meticulous," Liu Fei snorted lightly. He was still bitter about losing the first round to Chu Hao.
Meanwhile, Liu Ji Ya almost laughed out loud. Competing against Chu Hao in weapon control was simply overestimating oneself. With Chu Hao's realm of commanding the sword with his will, unless Chu Zi Ya were here, no one would be qualified to compete with Chu Hao.
After the candles were lit again, Chu Hao's expression was calm. As his longsword came out, he made thirty sword strikes in a row within three breaths.
He extinguished twenty-nine candles, with one failure!
He did this on purpose to entice them for the next round, holding back his true strength.
Even so, Chu Hao's performance still surprised everyone.
"Hmph, this round is a loss. If Liu Qi was only a step away from the unity of man and spear, then he is only half a step away from the unity of man and sword." Liu Yun snorted coldly.
Liu Ji Ya was not surprised. She guessed that Chu Hao would hold back his strength. Otherwise, if he revealed his ability to command the sword with his will, who would dare to compete with him? For a tiger to play with a flock of sheep, it must hide its fangs and don a sheepskin.
On the other side, Liu Shi Yi sighed softly. Up to this point, she still couldn't see anything extraordinary about Chu Hao. Even being half a step away from the second realm of swordmanship was not nearly enough.
Only if Chu Hao could truly achieve the unity of man and sword would she start to take him seriously.
The second round was still a win for Chu Hao.
The faces of the Liu family members were already a bit ugly. In just two rounds, they had lost a significant amount of primordial stones. Even for a big family, this was not a small sum.
The third round was a competition of True Qi control.
The wager was one hundred thousand primordial stones, plus the two hundred thirty thousand primordial stones already bet.
In the bamboo forest, a large jar was brought out.
The person competing with Chu Hao was a slender, small man with fair skin named Liu Li.
"Although I'm a ninth-stage Qi Refining Realm cultivator, my cultivation is higher than yours. But this competition is about True Qi control, and it's not heavily related to cultivation. You have no objections, right?" Liu Li said.
"No problem."
Chu Hao's response was brief. But to Liu Li, it sounded like he was being looked down upon.
Liu Li snorted coldly and walked to the large jar. He slowly extended his hands and stopped about three hand-spans from the surface of the water. In the next moment, the True Qi in his body surged toward his hands.
Instantly, the surface of the water, disturbed by the True Qi, began to ripple.
A shocking scene appeared. In the center of the water, the water currents surged and condensed. Slowly, it actually formed the character "Liu."
Condensing water into characters!
"Using True Qi to remotely disturb the water is not difficult, but to control every stream of water, turning the formless into something tangible, and condensing it into a character—this kind of control is something that even most Great Grandmaster Realm powerhouses cannot do!"
Everyone's astonishment had not yet subsided when they saw Liu Li's eyes widen, filled with blood vessels.
"Rise!"
He roared furiously, and the "Liu" character in the jar, as if guided by an invisible force, broke away from the water's surface and slowly rose.
At this moment, even exceptional talents like Liu Ji Ya, Liu Shi Yi, Liu Yun, and Liu Qian had shocked expressions on their faces.
"Marvelous!"
In an instant, everyone praised him endlessly.