Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Saint Lady had stirred up quite the commotion, so everybody looked at her and tried to guess her identity.
“This young lady may be from the Scroll Sect in the Central Region. Unexpectedly, she can mobilize the power of characters. I feel that any character from her folding fan can overwhelm the mountains.”
“Didn’t you know about her before? She is Saint Lady, one of Nine Goddesses of the Empyrean along with the Empress. Usually, she stays in the palaces in the Ninth Heaven and accompanies the Empress. The Sword Technique Conference is just around the corner, so she’s come to the Yin and Yang Sect.”
“What? She’s the legendary Saint Lady? It’s said that she knows everything and is called the most clever woman in the world. Furthermore, she became a Saint at such an early age. Even if we practiced for a lifetime, we still could not hold a candle to her.”
On the spot, numerous inner disciples kneeled on the ground and kowtowed to Saint Lady.
“Beyond expectation, Saint Lady has arrived to watch the contest. If she takes a fancy to somebody, that man will definitely have a great future.”
All the participants were so excited that they could not control their emotions.
Zhang Ruochen looked at the sixth floor of the Sunset Palace. He was not excited, but rather, became more cautious. He restrained his aura because he feared that Saint Lady would discover his flaws.
All the Half-Saints knew very well that Saint Lady had the right to select the Nine Kunlun Heirs.
If she felt satisfied with some disciple from the Yin and Yang Sect and selected him as an heir, it would be beneficial for the future development of the Yin and Yang Sect.
And as Half-Saints of the Yin and Yang Sect, they would naturally promote its development and do anything for the sect.
Half-Saint Zhiyu pointed to Qin Yufan and introduced him to Saint Lady. “This is Qin Yufan. He entered the top three on the Heaven Board and climbed to the Second Level Mountain of Ancient Gods Mountain. At 38 years old, he has reached the Eighth Change in the Fish-dragon Realm. He is a popular candidate to be the champion.”
Saint Lady turned her beautiful eyes and nodded lightly. She said with a smile, “Qin Yufan is really highly talented and has appeared on the Eastern Region Report more than once. He is a young man with great potential. It won’t be difficult for him to reach the Half-Saint Realm. Perhaps he can break through to the Sacred Realm.”
Half-Saint Zhiyu pointed to Qi Feiyu and continued to introduce the top talents of the Yin and Yang Sect to Saint Lady.
The 90 participants had now been divided into groups.
The 10 champions were all extremely powerful. Certainly, they were not equal in strength. Qin Yufan, Qi Feiyu, Can Dong, and Xu Changsheng were well-known talents in the Eastern Region. Dao Xuanqi and Yuchi Hong were elder celebrities in the Yin and Yang Sect. Their prestige and strength were unfathomable.
Zhao Wuyan was a surprise champion. He had a 27-match winning streak during the qualifying fights and had a strong momentum.
Besides them, the eighth-ranked Mo Xin, ninth-ranked Han Zhang, and 10th-ranked Lin Yue were relatively weaker.
“Fortunately, we are not in the same groups as Qin Yufan and Qi Feiyu. Otherwise, we wouldn’t stand a chance.”
Those who had been placed into Group Eight, Group Nine, and Group Ten were in rapture. Suddenly, they felt greatly relieved.
Those who had been placed into Group One and Group Two were sour-faced and extremely depressed.
Zhiyu Sacred Mountain had four coliseums, so Group Ten, Group Nine, Group Eight, and Group Seven would hold the finals today.
Group Ten had 10 people in it and they would fight in Coliseum D.
As the champion, Zhang Ruochen would naturally be the first to ascend the Coliseum. He stood in the center and began to meet the challenges from the other nine people.
Among them, a simple, honest man ascended the coliseum first and stood opposite Zhang Ruochen. He said calmly, “Tan Qingshan from Wind and Space Yard.”
If a man at the Fish-Dragon Realm was able to practice to the first realm of Sword One, he must have made great achievements and could be called a “sword practitioner”.
If a sword practitioner had the strongest attacking force within the same realm, many forces would compete to cozy up to him.
Tan Qingshan was a sword practitioner who had practiced to the second realm of Sword One. In the preliminary combat, he lost to Xu Changsheng after more than 100 strikes.
“Lin Yue from Long-living Yard,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Tan Qingshan said, “You can become one of the final champions based on your cultivation at the Fourth Change in the Fish-dragon Realm, so you’re highly superior to me in talent. “Even my Master said that no more than five talents from the Yin and Yang Sect were comparable to you in the past thousands of years. I feel very honored to fight against you.”
“You’re also quite powerful,” Zhang Ruochen said.
With intense fighting spirit, Tan Qingshan said, “If you’ve reached the Eighth Change in the Fish-dragon Realm, I’ll immediately give in. However, your current cultivation is relatively low. Therefore, I still stand a chance to win.”
Even though Tan Qingshan greatly admired Lin Yue, he was fully confident in himself.
He was confident that he could defeat Lin Yue—at least for now.
“Boom!”
A tough Martial Soul burst out of his body and turned into a seven-meter-high figure behind him. Two pythons, dozens of meters long, that made threatening gestures were wrapped around the human-shaped Martial Soul’s arms.
Tan Qingshan had refined the Half-Saint’s Light, so his Martial Soul was extremely powerful, surpassing that of any common monk at the Ninth Change in the Fish-dragon Realm.
However, he had pulled out the beast souls of two pythons at the Ninth Change in the Fish-dragon Realm and refined them into his own Martial Soul. Suddenly, his Martial Soul became quite powerful and was almost the same as a Half-Saint’s Divine Soul.
As the power of his Martial Soul burst out, the Spiritual Qi around the Coliseum flew toward Tan Qingshan. The aura he sent forth continued to steadily rise.
Under the Coliseum, Xu Changsheng saw the Martial Soul behind Tan Qingshan and squinted his eyes. “Tan Qingshan still kept such an amazing trump card. He indeed has great ability.
“If he isn’t able to enter the top 10, he will at least be able to get into the top 30, or even top 20.”
“Flying Dragon Hovering in the Sky.”
He held a 12th level Genuine Martial Arms combat sword in each hand. He unleashed two swords at the same time and displayed a mid-class Ghost Level sword technique.
The two python beast souls continued entwining and then they uttered earsplitting roars. They kept pace with the two swords and spiraled to form two powerful strengths, then rushed at Zhang Ruochen in the center of the Coliseum.
Each blast of Sword Qi flew over at and struck Zhang Ruochen’s Divine Body Shield to form circles of ripples.
“Swoosh!”
Zhang Ruochen rapidly drew his Valley-water Sword and injected Holy Qi into the blade. A white, 10-meter-high sword-light arose from the tip of the sword.
In the next moment, Zhang Ruochen directly dashed forward and passed through the two python beast souls. He spared no effort in attacking and his sword quickly collided with Tan Qingshan’s two swords, uttering a snapping sound.
Tan Qingshan displayed a mid-class Ghost Level sword technique but Zhang Ruochen did not display any sword technique.
His every sword movement was really powerful and changed unpredictably.
After fighting for 36 strikes in a row, they separated quickly and stood on either side of the Coliseum.
Lin Yue looked as calm as he did before. Tan Qingshan, however, had 12 sword marks on him. And although there were no blood stains on his clothes, they had been torn to shreds.
Tan Qingshan looked at the holes in his clothes and shook his head with a laugh. He withdrew his Martial Soul and saluted Zhang Ruochen with folded hands. “I’ve lost to you! Your cultivation in the Tao of the Sword is superior to mine. With the 24th strike, you were able to defeat me.”
After which, Tan Qingshan directly left the Coliseum, feeling somewhat disappointed.
It was not surprising that Lin Yue was able to defeat Tan Qingshan. But what was a surprise was that Tan Qingshan had lost so quickly.
With a look of amazement, a participant ranked in the top 100 said, “It took Xu Changsheng more than 100 moves to defeat Tan Qingshan, but Lin Yue fought with him for only 24 moves. Is Lin Yue more powerful than Xu Changsheng?”
Qi Feiyu squinted her eyes slightly and said, “He seems to have greatly improved. But did he progress too fast?”
Xu Changsheng looked somewhat ill because he never expected that Lin Yue would reach such a high level. If he were to confront Lin Yue and display his trump card, he was not certain that he would be able to win.
“Lin Yue has assumed formlessness, so he is not far from the Completion, the 10th realm of Sword One,” Half-saint Jing Lan said in amazement.
There were five Half-Saints present, but only two of them had realized the Completion.
The other three people remained in the ninth realm of Sword One.
Half-saint Zixia was very happy and said, “That he can assume formlessness implies that he may have gotten somewhere. As long as he takes some time, he will definitely realize the Completion.”
In other words, Lin Yue was certainly able to complete the practice of Sword One in the Fish-Dragon Realm.
“He’s able to complete the practice of Sword One in the Fish-Dragon Realm and become a sword hero. It’s really enviable,” the other Half-Saint said.
Sword practitioners had different titles. Anyone who practiced to the Completion was called “sword hero”.
A hero in the Tao of the Sword.
Half-saint Zixia glanced at Saint Lady nearby and immediately asked her, “Saint Lady, what do you think about this guy? And what about his talent in the Tao of the Sword?”
Saint Lady lightly rapped her palm with the folding fan. She said with a smile, “He is a ‘Genius’. He is already so powerful at the Fifth Change in the Fish-dragon Realm. If he reaches the Ninth Change in the Fish-dragon Realm, few people below the Half-Saint level will be able to withstand a single strike of his. This guy will probably become an Heir of Kunlun’s Field.”
All the Half-Saints present looked happy.
Previously, when they had introduced Qin Yufan and Qi Feiyu to her, she spoke highly of them, but she had only said that they were qualified to be candidates for the Heir of Kunlun’s Field.
For Lin Yue, however, it appeared that she really thought highly of him.
