Chapter 567: Investigating the Coiling Dragon Wall
Liu Xiaoyun felt like he had stepped into an illusion. He had to face sword intent flying from all over the sky with every step he took. He had to crush everyone before he could proceed further.
However, he did not slow down at all. He did not leave deep footprints like Murong Chong did. Instead, he seemed to be at ease.
“Pa!”
When Liu Xiaoyun reached the wall, he stretched his palm out, placing it on the wall. Then, he closed his eyes.
One second…two seconds…three seconds…four seconds… Soon, ten seconds passed. Nothing happened to Liu Xiaoyun.
“Finally! Someone passed. I was starting to think that no one can endure touching the wall for ten seconds.”
“Liu Xiaoyun is pretty strong. It looks like he won’t have a problem getting into the top ten.”
While the crowd discussed, another ten seconds passed. The ambient temperature dropped, frost could clearly be seen covering Liu Xiaoyun’s clothes.
His aura erupted out as well. Although he had not moved, he was clearly fighting an intense battle; his aura strengthened continuously.
After thirty seconds had passed, Liu Xiao Yun had yet to move. His hand remained on that mysterious Coiling Dragon Wall.
Forty seconds…fifty seconds…Liu Xiaoyun still did not move. However, his clothes were now frozen and the tall Coiling Dragon Wall was covered in frost.
The ambient temperature plummeted even further. Everyone had to circulate their Essence in order to endure.
“What exactly is on that wall? To think that Liu Xiaoyun has to fully bring out his state of ice! I can’t endure this for much longer.”
“That’s right. It is cold, really cold. That’s it for me. I have to step back further.”
Liu Xiaoyun’s state of ice was very strange. It did not seem remarkable at first. However, after it silently built up, the crowd felt that even their bones and blood were starting to freeze; they had no choice but to move away.
Although it was clearly extremely cold, that wealthy merchant’s forehead was covered in sweat.
It was now fifty seconds. That meant that the merchant had to pay Liu Xiaoyun half a million Medial Grade Spirit Stones; this was one third of the profits he had made today. His heart could not help but ache over this loss.
Xiao Chen closed his eyes, carefully sensing the cold Qi in his body. This cold Qi was formless and traceless; once it entered the body, it merged with the blood and could not be separated.
“Strange, this is the first time I’ve seen a state of ice at this level,” Xiao Chen muttered to himself.
He infused his Spiritual Sense into his blood and had to search very long before he finally found that faintly discernible ice Qi.
After he expended a lot of effort, the lightning-attributed Essence in his body completely forced out the cold Qi.
“Bang!”
After sixty seconds passed, Liu Xiaoyun could no longer endure. The frost on his body exploded.
Unlike the others, Liu Xiaoyun did not get blasted out. His feet remained planted on the ground as he said indifferently, “The ancient Sages are indeed capable.”
Then, he pushed off the ground gently and flew away.
The state of ice in the air disappeared and the crowd came back closer. They saw the frost on the Coiling Dragon Wall turn into steam and rise into the air.
Covered in fog, the Coiling Dragon Wall looked even more mysterious.
Seeing Liu Xiaoyun disappear, the wealthy merchant smiled faintly and heaved a sigh of relief. He believed that Liu Xiaoyun did not care for the six hundred thousand Medial Grade Spirit Stones at all.
“Remember to send the six hundred thousand Medial Grade Spirit Stones to the Drifting Snow Sword Sect. Consider it as my contribution to the sect.”
Before the merchant’s smile could fade away, a clear voice came from the distance, making him very depressed.
Word of how the strange Coiling Dragon Wall defeated so many cultivators and how Liu Xiaoyun successfully touched it for sixty seconds quickly spread throughout Dragon Sealing City.
This news drew in many more cultivators. Several famed geniuses came forward, interested in giving it a try.
This Coiling Dragon Wall became like a tool for measuring a cultivator’s strength. Some people could endure for a long time, and some just a while. There were also people who could not even get close.
From a certain angle, this showed the gap between the various cultivators.
“The eight Noble Clans’ Qian Wen came as well. He also lasted for a full minute.”
“The Nangong Clan’s Nangong Ziyue came as well. She lasted for fifty seconds.”
“The Supreme Yi Palace’s disciple, Gong Yangyu, lasted for forty seconds.”
Many people from the ten great sects and eight Noble Clans came. This resulted in the Coiling Dragon Wall becoming even more famous. However, few could endure for a minute.
Sima Lingxuan did not come. Out of the other scions of the eight Noble Clans, only the Qian Clan’s Qian Wen lasted for a minute. The others only lasted for forty or fifty seconds.
Murong Chong looked a little sad when he stared at Qian Wen. It looked like when they fought yesterday, Qian Wen had only used half his strength.
Yun Kexin smiled and said, “Junior Brother Xiao Chen, why don’t you give it a try?”
Xiao Chen had already been interested for some time. Furthermore, the fee was just ten thousand Medial Grade Spirit Stones; he could easily afford that. After paying the fee, Xiao Chen stood at the starting line. He looked at the Coiling Dragon Wall five hundred meters in front and smiled faintly.
“Ka ca!”
Xiao Chen drew his Lunar Shadow Saber at lightning speed and a sharp saber intent spread out. Then, he threw the saber towards the Coiling Dragon Wall.
“Dang! Dang! Dang!”
Something strange happened. While in midair, the spinning Lunar Shadow Saber seemed to meet with another powerful weapon. When they clashed, there were clanging sounds.
Xiao Chen’s figure quickly flashed, not remaining at his previous spot. He flew rapidly towards the Coiling Dragon Wall together with the saber.
As saber light appeared and eliminated all the forces that was in the way, Xiao Chen moved unhindered until he arrived before the Coiling Dragon Wall.
Then, he sheathed the Lunar Shadow Saber with a ‘ka ca’ sound before pressing his palm against the mysterious Coiling Dragon Wall.
In that instant, Xiao Chen saw flashes. He looked around and found that the surrounding scenery had changed. He was now in a desolate grass plain.
Suddenly, figures flashed in the air. These people were holding sabers. Strong saber intents spread through the grass plain, creating strong winds.
A person materialized in the front from nowhere. After flickering awhile, he became solid. Without saying a word, he quickly rushed at Xiao Chen with his sabers.
Xiao Chen smiled faintly and placed his right hand on his saber’s hilt. He said softly, “Let me see how much strength you ancient Sages still have after several ten thousand years.”
A strong wind blew as his saber intent surged out, bending over all the grass.
When looking at the grass plain, all the grass was now flattened, as if lying in prostration.
That mysterious bladesman started to fight with Xiao Chen. After a hundred moves, that bladesman’s aura became unstable. Xiao Chen caught hold of the opening and destroyed him with one strike.
After that, another bladesman appeared. This continued to happen until he killed ten bladesmen and lost to the eleventh.
Xiao Chen’s consciousness returned to reality and his palm was already off the Coiling Dragon Wall. He looked at the hourglass beside him and discovered that two minutes had passed without him realizing it.
After Xiao Chen received 1.2 million Medial Grade Spirit Stones from the merchant, he returned to his friends. He said to Yun Kexin, “Let’s go. There is nothing much left to see.”
“How powerful. Unexpectedly, he endured for two minutes. Who is this person? Why have I never heard of him? Could he be more powerful than Liu Xiaoyun?”
The observing cultivators were all very astonished. They started trying to guess Xiao Chen’s identity.
Bai Qi, who had arrived at some point in time, watched as Xiao Chen left. He muttered, “What a strong saber intent. This person is equal to me.”
After looking away, Bai Qi also casually gave the Coiling Dragon Wall a try. Like Xiao Chen, his result was two minutes as well. After all, he was much stronger than the other scions of the eight Noble Clans.
When the sun set, the number of cultivators at the Coiling Dragon Wall dwindled; it was no longer as busy as it had been in the day.
However, someone arrived here, somewhat startling the wealthy merchant who was packing up. He asked in a slightly strained voice, “Young Master Sima, are you here to give it a try as well?”
Sima Lingxuan revealed a faint smile on his handsome face. “Just here to see what the excitement is about. Let’s see how long I can last.”
“Pa!”
Without Sima Lingxuan making any visible movement, his figure flickered and arrived before the Coiling Dragon Wall. Then, he pressed his palm to the wall.
After what seemed to be a long time, he pulled back his palm and looked at the hourglass. He had lasted for a full five minutes.
A strong self-confidence surged up in Sima Lingxuan’s heart as he smiled gently. Not bothering to ask for any Spirit Stones, he immediately disappeared.
——
Two days later, night fell, shrouding Dragon Sealing City in darkness.
In the Heavenly Saber Pavilion’s courtyard, Jiang Chi and the other elders gathered Xiao Chen, Yun Kexin, and Murong Chong together.
“We will be starting the arena battles tomorrow. The four hundred participants will be split into groups of twenty and proceed with two rounds of elimination. Each round of elimination will eliminate half the people.
“The elimination round will function on a point system. In each round, the participants will have to fight twenty matches. Victory equals gaining two points, a loss will deduct two points, and a draw will award one point. After that, the bottom ten people of each group will be eliminated.”
Jiang Chi explained the rules and format of the competition in great detail to the three. “After two rounds of elimination, the remaining hundred will proceed with the ranking battles. Only those ranking in the top fifty will be able to obtain Luck.”
After the three heard Jiang Chi explain the rules, they all had different expressions. Yun Kexin looked rather relaxed.
Although Yun Kexin cultivated a Heaven Ranked Cultivation Technique, she was limited by her talent. It was very hard for her to fully bring out the advantages of a Heaven Ranked Cultivation Technique. Furthermore, she had not cultivated it for a long time.
Yun Kexin was still a Superior Grade Martial King and had not broken through to half-step Martial Monarch yet. If she was fortunate, she might be able to clear the two rounds of elimination.
However, it would be impossible for Yun Kexin to enter the top fifty and win Luck.
Yun Kexin understood this very well. So she could look past it and did not mind it.
Murong Chong’s expression was rather grave. He was currently a Small Perfection half-step Martial Monarch, someone considered to be neither one of the strong nor one of the weak.
Originally, Murong Chong was quite confident in his strength. Even though he was weaker than Xiao Chen, he had expected it to be easy for him to enter the top fifty.
However, after entering Dragon Sealing City, he discovered that his worldview had been too narrow. When fighting for a seeded spot, he was forced back by Qian Wen in five moves.
He could not even last for ten seconds on the Coiling Dragon Wall. All these together gave him a clearer understanding of his strength.
Given his strength, he should not have any problems clearing the two elimination rounds—barring any accidents, of course, like being severely injured by someone in one of the matches.
