Their eyes met, one with a deep gaze and the other with a clear gaze.
Both of their figures were tall and straight. As they faced one another, they were basically equally matched. There was an indescribable aura that flowed between them, like the mountain winds that whistled between the peaks.
“You can go,” said the palace master.
“Alright!” Li Qingshan thought, Doesn’t he want to strike here?
Li Qingshan arrived behind the main hall, and a metal chain extended up almost vertically, linking up with the Sword Collection peak in the sky.
Li Qingshan glanced up before leaping onto the chain and starting his vigorous climb upwards.
Everyone watched as Li Qingshan rapidly climbed higher. Between his leaps, he was like a vicious tiger. He climbed all the way until he reached right below the Sword Collection peak.
Li Qingshan glanced downwards. Everyone had already become tiny specks. When he looked up again, the Sword Collection peak basically seemed no different from a regular mountain from such a close distance. Lush vegetation grew between the rocks as the entire place was entwined with vines, except almost every single rock was planted with a sword, amounting to thousands in total. It was quite a sight.
However, the blades of the swords were all covered in a layer of rust, preventing anyone from making out their quality. They had to choose based on their gut feeling, and if the sword did not select them, they could forget about pulling it out.
Everyone wanted to know just what sword he would pull out.
I want the strongest sword!
Li Qingshan leapt onto the Sword Collection peak and had no doubts about that at all. Even though he had already given up on the path of the sword, weapons were always better if they were stronger. He could offer them up even if he did not use them himself.
Thinking up to there, he could not help but consider an idea. If he offered up all of the swords on the Sword Collection peak to the Asura Altar of Armaments, just what kind of asura armament could he receive?
But right now, all he could do was think about this idea. The Asura Altar of Armaments also tested the user’s strength. The Frenzy Flower of Path’s End was already the strongest weapon he could wield right now.
Casting these random thoughts aside, Li Qingshan began to search through the Sword Collection peak. The palace master had sealed up his demon heart, but he could not seal up his strength of the ox demon, so he was confident about pulling out any sword he wanted from the Sword Collection peak. The issue was just how was he supposed to find the strongest sword?
He climbed up and down as if he was devoting himself to finding a sword. He would grip the rusted hilts from time to time before letting go again. In reality, he silently circulated the Spirit Turtle’s Method of Sea Suppression to deduce and calculate which swords were better.
On a terrace at the foot of the Heaven Leaning peak, a group of outer disciples that were only Qi Practitioners raised their heads in awe too. Their eyes were filled with envy and hope as they discussed softly among themselves.
“Who is that? He’s so amazing!” “You really have been living under a rock. Haven’t you even heard of Li Qingshan?” “I heard he’s around the same age as us, and he’s already become a guest elder, and he’s a White Hawk commander of the Hawkwolf Guard too!”
During the discussion, only a single young man remained silent. His eyes were locked onto Li Qingshan’s figure the entire time, without budging at all. His bronze face was weathered and well-defined. If someone looked closely, they would discover that he bore some resemblance to Li Qingshan.
A short, plump man beside him smiled. “Senior brother Xiaoyao, why’re you solemn? You both share the surname Li, so don’t tell me you’re relatives?”
“How can that be possible?” Li Xiaoyao looked away and smiled. “I’d sure like a relative like that.”
“Sigh, now I’m the one who wants a relative like you. You already have senior uncle Hua covering your back, which is enough. You’ll probably undergo the heavenly tribulation too in the next two years and pull a sword from the Sword Collection palace. By then, we’ll need you to cover our backs!”
“I can’t cover your back.”
Li Xiaoyao shook his head with a smile. He knew this junior brother Tian was known for his straightforward and blunt nature, such that he was not particularly dishonourable or calculating. As for the assistance that Hua Chengzan had provided him with, there was no point in trying to deny it at all, as it would have been impossible for him to reach the tenth layer of Qi Practitioner at his current age.
“Whatever, whatever. I knew I can’t rely on you. I just have to rely on myself after all. Oh right, why haven’t I seen senior uncle Hua around lately?”
“He seems to be in secluded cultivation.”
“I heard senior uncle Hua and elder Li are good friends. Do you think that’s true?”
“I don’t know about that. You’ll have to ask senior brother Hua.”
Actually, Li Xiaoyao did know about this. The major reason for why Hua Chengzan treated him so specially was because of the man on the Sword Collection peak right now, his uncle!
Of course, he did not possess that kind of startling talent at the end of the day. After so many years, he had not even undergone the first heavenly tribulation.
However, he was satisfied with this. This was the swordsman’s path he wanted to walk. Even if he could not make it to the apex, he would still continue down it step by step.
He thought to himself, Uncle, Even if you don’t recognise me, I still treat you as my uncle.
Li Qingshan sensed something and glanced down. When he saw Li Xiaoyao, he obviously experienced a connection from his bloodline, which made him smile. The child of the past had already grown up into an adult.
By now, he had already eliminated most of the swords on the Sword Collection paek. They were all some spiritual artifacts and arcane artifacts. Only twenty-three true treasured swords remained. They seemed to be speckled with rust in the eyes of regular people, no different from the other swords, but they shone in his eyes.
Li Qingshan could not help but sigh to himself. The Sword Collection palace sure has quite a heritage. It’s a mystery where they collected all these treasured swords from. Coupled with the ones already in use down there, there are several dozen in total. The South Sea Sword pavilion also counts as a large sword cultivator sect, but they’ll probably bawl their eyes out if they see the Sword Collection palace.
However, what came next was a little more difficult. He could vaguely recall that two or three of the Ten Renowned Swords of the Sword Collection palace still had not been pulled out. Those were his targets, but how was he supposed to find these renowned swords among the twenty-three remaining swords?
By “Sword Collection”, they did not just collect swords. They also sealed them.
Li Qingshan’s knowledge of the Ten Renowned Swords was very limited. He did not even know the names or special characteristics of the remaining swords. When their quality were approximately the same, even the spirit turtle struggled to identify which was a renowned sword.
He felt a tinge of regret inside. If he had known earlier, he should have done some investigation first. He made up his mind and just began examining them one by one.
“He seems to have identified the levels of the swords!” The Light Queen frowned at the palace master.
“That’s fine. It counts as his skill.” The master of the Sword Collection palace was not particularly bothered over the fact that Li Qingshan was about to take away one of the Sword Collection palace’s treasured or even renowned swords.
“Fair enough.” The Light Queen sneered gently.
Hmm? The Soaring Dragon sword seems to have been planted here before!
Li Qingshan noticed a hole in a rock that was shaped like the Soaring Dragon sword. He peered into the depths of the hole, and the hole seemed to stare right back at him like a black eye, but at a closer glance, it only seemed normal.
Li Qingshan shook his head. Was it merely an illusion?
In the end, he eliminated another six or seven swords from the mix and was unable to distinguish between the rest anymore, so he simply gave up. So be it. They’re all treasured swords anyway. It’s not like I’ll be using it, so I’ll just pick one!
At this moment, to the west side of the Sword Collection palace, a treasured sword suddenly flashed.
