Chapter 85
Translator: T_Fan
Lee Hyun returned to the beginning of the jade slip.
There was no cultivation formula for converting Heaven-Origin Qi into Heaven-Origin Force.
It contained only records examining the energy within the fruit, the spirit tree’s growth process, and the soil conditions and concentration of spiritual qi required for cultivation.
‘Hmm… Still, if I can at least obtain the energy itself, I might be able to get a feel for it.’
The situation was different from when he had created Earth-Origin Force.
Back then, while looking through formation texts, he had discovered that the method used to generate Earth-Origin Force in a Tier 2 Grand Flight-Suppressing Formation was an application of the Foundation Establishment Section of the Primordial One-Qi Art. Afterward, he had applied the mnemonic formula for Materialization, which he found in materials on the Tier 1 Flight-Suppressing Formation, to his Primordial True Qi.
Its principle was to first use Return to Unity to revert postcelestial Five-Element spiritual qi to the state of primordial unity, then imitate the transformation described by the Five Precelestial Stages in which form acquired substance and condensed. For Lee Hyun, who already used Primordial True Qi, even the Return to Unity process was unnecessary.
In other words, what he had found back then was not some form of energy like Earth-Origin Qi, but the method for generating Earth-Origin Force itself.
What he had found this time, however, was not a method for refining heaven-and-earth spiritual qi into Heaven-Origin Force, but merely clues about Heaven-Origin Qi. There was still a missing link before he could make that power his own.
If he could only use Heaven-Origin Force by consuming Heaven-Origin Qi obtained from the fruit, it would be of limited use. He could hardly expect the tree to produce an abundance of fruit.
For Lee Hyun to use Heaven-Origin Force in actual combat, he needed a mnemonic formula that could transform Primordial True Qi into Heaven-Origin Force. Only then could he turn his vast spiritual power directly into Heaven-Origin Force.
Even with Earth-Origin Force, a cultivator without as much spiritual power as Lee Hyun would find it difficult to produce an attractive force strong enough to pull in another cultivator of the same realm.
‘Could the Nascent Soul Section or Spirit Transformation Section of the Primordial One-Qi Art contain a related mnemonic formula?’
But he had no way of knowing whether any of them could actually produce Heaven-Origin Force.
He could understand how Earth-Origin Force arose through Return to Unity and Materialization based on the theory of the Five Precelestial Stages. It was analogous to mass generating gravity.
But what, exactly, was repulsive force?
‘Wait. It said the fruit of the Heaven-Origin Divine Tree already repels matter. Then doesn’t that mean the Heaven-Origin Qi inside the fruit is actually producing repulsive force? If I examine its structure closely enough, I might find a clue to creating Heaven-Origin Force. Either way, I should get this divine tree.’
If he could gain the power to repel in addition to the power to attract, there would be plenty of ways to use them.
Slightly excited by the thought that he might eventually wield Heaven-and-Earth-Origin Force beyond mere Earth-Origin Force, Lee Hyun lowered the jade slip.
“Where did you obtain this tree?”
The steward turned his head toward the glass case.
“It was brought in by a merchant group that trades with the Qianyuan Empire. Our sect purchased it along with other spirit materials.”
The Qianyuan Empire was the Tier 5 cultivation nation Yin Cailing had told him about not long ago.
‘Hm? “Qianyuan” in the empire’s name and “Heaven-Origin” in the divine tree’s name are both written 乾元. Are they related somehow?’
The jade slip did not explain the origin of the name.
Lee Hyun examined the records again.
It said that when grown in a suitable environment, the tree would bear its first fruit at around a medicine age of one thousand years. Even after the fruit appeared, however, it would take some additional time for enough Heaven-Origin Qi to accumulate within it.
Fortunately, once it began bearing fruit, the tree’s medicine age would continue to affect the fruit’s grade, just as with the Stone Honey Peach.
When Lee Hyun removed the jade slip from his forehead, the steward added,
“To be frank… if it were me, I would choose something else. It takes an extremely long time… and I have yet to hear of anyone in Yunzhou obtaining fruit from this divine tree. Even the specimens that came into our sect haven’t been cultivated long enough to bear fruit. More importantly, even if one obtains Heaven-Origin Qi, very little is known about what it can actually be used for. At least, not in Yunzhou.”
Lee Hyun nodded, but his eyes remained fixed on the glass case.
The sapling was not even two chi (about 66 cm) tall.
Lee Hyun read through the cultivation conditions once more.
A lack of heaven-and-earth spiritual qi would not harm the tree, but it would slow its growth.
‘Unlike the Ringless Divine Tree, it probably won’t simply accumulate age at the full rate. Will it grow at one-third the normal rate, like other spirit plants? If I have to wait three thousand years instead of one thousand…’
Even so, it did not matter all that much if the tree took a long time to bear fruit.
‘If I really need to, I can install a Qi-Gathering Formation in Tunnel No. 3. As long as I raise the spiritual qi concentration around the Heaven-Origin Divine Tree, I can afford the spirit stones it would consume. With some research, I should even be able to set up a Tier 2 Qi-Gathering Formation myself…’
Lee Hyun asked again,
“Is there no way to purchase this with spirit stones right now?”
“It has been offered as a reward for these matches, so it is not for sale here.”
“I see.”
…
Lu Hongyan, who had been waiting outside the hall, spoke when she saw Lee Hyun.
“There was a material in there that would be useful for refining my spear. It’s normally quite difficult to obtain.”
“Senior Sister, are you planning to participate?”
“No.”
Lu Hongyan’s hand touched the small booklet at her waist.
“I told you about the problem with my vow before, didn’t I? How it makes me want to take part in fights too often. But if I fight Foundation Establishment cultivators selected by the Nanming Twelve-Sect Alliance, there’s a real chance I could die. If my opponent pulls out a talisman treasure or something… This is exactly the kind of time when I shouldn’t participate.”
Lee Hyun nodded.
“That is wise.”
“Then why were you in there for so long, Junior Brother?”
After a brief silence, Lee Hyun answered.
“I intend to participate.”
Lu Hongyan’s expression changed.
“…Even after everything I just said?”
“Yes. There’s something I truly want to obtain.”
“I know you’re strong. But this is a life-and-death duel. If you die, how am I supposed to face Shulin?”
“I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.”
…
Huijing was preparing to return to the detached residence.
When Lee Hyun told him that he intended to participate, the old monk lowered the jade slip in his hand.
“You intend to enter?”
“Yes.”
“Just because they asked our temple to provide three participants doesn’t mean I intend to fill every place by force.”
“This is my own decision.”
“Then I’ll put your name on the list.”
…
Baoguang Temple’s three participants were decided.
Yuanshi of the Vajra Court.
Liu Jingdao of the Demon-Subduing Court.
Li Dongsi of the Lotus Court.
Yuanshi was a monk with a broad forehead and thick eyebrows. Liu Jingdao was a middle-aged cultivator with a scar beside one eye and a long sword sheath hanging from his waist.
Huijing took the three of them back to the reward hall.
When Lee Hyun chose the Heaven-Origin Divine Tree, the steward wrote his name on a wooden token. Fortunately, no one else had selected it.
“If you win, you will receive the sapling together with its cultivation records.”
“Will I still receive it even if Yunzhou loses the overall contest?”
“Of course. Rewards for individual victories are separate.”
…
That evening.
The rosters for both sides were finalized.
Under the joint supervision of Nascent Soul cultivators from Taiyue Sect and Nanming, the names floating above two formation plates were paired off one by one.
Lee Hyun’s match was seventeenth.
His opponent was Yan Bai of the Yin Bird Sect.
Beside his name, his realm was listed as Foundation Establishment Stage 9.
‘The Yin Bird Sect….’
It was the sect to which the Haigu Island branch belonged.
After the matchups were confirmed, they were given instructions regarding the entry procedure.
A Qingxiao Palace steward said,
“Leave inheritance jade slips and any items unnecessary for combat with your respective sects. You may not touch the possessions of anyone who surrenders and withdraws. Corpses will be retrieved by their original sects. Attacking after a match has ended is strictly forbidden.”
…
After returning to the detached residence, Lee Hyun sorted through his belongings.
The possibility of him losing was almost nonexistent anyway, so the storage pouch he left with Huijing contained only things that posed no risk of exposing his identity, such as a few jade slips from Baoguang Temple.
This way, even if Martial Uncle Huijing secretly opened the storage pouch, he would have no reason to suspect Li Dongsi’s identity.
***
The fourteenth day of the Dao symposium.
People had gathered at the training ground from early morning.
The atmosphere was different from the sparring matches held up until the previous day.
People were still discussing the matchups and predicting winners, but the participants and those close to them all wore solemn expressions.
Restrictions had been set up around the broad martial platform at the center, while Golden Core cultivators from Yunzhou and Nanming stood facing one another outside it.
Lee Hyun sat in the stands with his fellow disciples.
The Nascent Soul cultivators were seated on a raised platform to the north.
A short while later, the first participants stepped onto the stone platform.
‘Han Jingxiu of Qingxiao Palace?’
He had fought Lee Hyun in the preliminaries, placed second in their group, and advanced to the main tournament. Apparently, he had also entered this special contest.
Opposite him stood a Nanming cultivator in a brown robe. Several layers of cords were tied around the ends of his sleeves, and two spirit-insect pouches hung from his waist.
A moment later, the formation inscriptions lit up.
Hummm–
A black curtain rose around the stone platform, quickly obscuring the interior completely.
Beside him, Senior Brother Yuanjing’s eyes briefly glowed blue before he shook his head.
“I truly can’t see anything.”
…
Only the faint movements of those waiting remained in the stands.
Not even sound escaped from within the curtain.
The people who had been appraising the participants’ magic tools moments earlier gradually fell silent.
Before long, the curtain lightened and opened.
Han Jingxiu stood alone.
The ring in his left hand was half-shattered, and his right sleeve had been torn away below the shoulder. Black spots were spreading across his exposed arm.
The Nanming cultivator lay collapsed at the edge of the stone platform, surrounded by the corpses of tiny insects.
“Qingxiao Palace, Han Jingxiu wins.”
…
The matches continued.
When the restriction was lifted once more, the first thing revealed was a foot clad in a black boot.
It belonged to a Nanming cultivator.
Dark red blood dripped one drop at a time from the short axe in his right hand.
Opposite him, a Yunzhou cultivator lay collapsed.
He was the young man whose unusually ornate golden enchanted robe had drawn attention when he entered. Now the chest of that robe had been torn open by a deep gash.
Two Golden Core cultivators below the stone platform climbed up at the same time.
One examined the fallen young man while the other briefly declared the victor.
A section of the stands erupted into commotion. His fellow disciples, dressed in similar golden enchanted robes, murmured among themselves in disbelief.
In the third match, both participants walked off the platform.
One had both ends of his sleeves burned away, while the other had a long wound across his forehead. The injured cultivator handed a shattered jade token to the supervising steward and admitted defeat.
When the curtain lifted after the fourth match, the floor was littered with shattered magic tools.
Even the victorious Yunzhou cultivator suddenly doubled over and vomited blood.
The fighting continued. Each time a match ended, the supervising cultivators cleaned the platform and inspected the formation inscriptions.
Even the places where corpses had lain were quickly wiped clean.
The spectators, who had initially watched as though enjoying a spectacle, gradually grew solemn or grim.
Every participant was an exceptional talent recognized even within a great sect.
Yet each time the curtain darkened and brightened again, cultivators of such caliber emerged maimed. It inevitably left the impression that even Foundation Establishment cultivators were little more than expendable pawns to the great sects.
Each time the spectators witnessed another miserable outcome, they were reminded that such a fate could just as easily befall them.
The spectacle unfolding on the martial platform was both merciless and riveting.
The matches were also decided quickly enough that even normally dispassionate cultivators could not tear their eyes away.
After roughly eight matches, the wooden scoreboard at the center read Yunzhou 3, Nanming 5.
…
The matches that followed also produced some unexpected results.
A Yunzhou cultivator whom Lu Hongyan had singled out as strong was defeated.
He was the man who had stood with his eyes closed, leaning against the railing of a jade-colored flying boat on the day they entered the immortal city.
Lee Hyun also remembered his deep, steady aura.
When the curtain lifted, the man lay at the edge of the stone platform. Broken magic tools were scattered around him, and one leg was bent at an unnatural angle.
The victorious Nanming cultivator’s hand was also trembling violently. The last charred fragment of a talisman fell from his fingertips.
A mark remained on the stone floor as though some enormous bladed weapon had smashed down upon it.
“A talisman treasure…”
…
By the end of the sixteenth match, Yunzhou had won six times and Nanming ten.
Senior Brother Yuanshi of Baoguang Temple’s Vajra Court was staring up at the wooden board displaying the names of the next participants. Senior Brother Liu Jingdao of the Demon-Subduing Court had yet to remove his hand from the sword resting across his knees.
Martial Uncle Huijing looked at Lee Hyun.
“It’s your turn.”
As Lee Hyun rose, Lu Hongyan lightly caught his sleeve, then let go.
“You have to come back alive.”
“Yes.”
Lee Hyun descended the stone steps.
Below the stone platform, the supervising steward checked his jade token.
“Li Dongsi of Baoguang Temple.”
“Correct.”
On the opposite side, another steward was checking the identity of the Nanming cultivator.
Lee Hyun looked at him.
It was the man who had stood on the deck when Nanming’s flying boats arrived, a coffin strapped to his back.
He was tall, with dark circles beneath his eyes, but the flow of his qi and blood was deep and stable.
The man studied Lee Hyun in return.
His gaze swept over the storage pouch at Lee Hyun’s waist, then over his wrist and down to his feet, before a sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Soon, the two stepped onto the stone platform.
“Yan Bai.”
“Li Dongsi.”
“……”
Yan Bai shifted his shoulder, releasing the coffin from his back and letting it drop onto the stone platform.
Thud.
The coffin was large enough to hold a person.
Its surface was engraved with a pattern resembling a bird feeding on a corpse, and black nails had been driven into all four corners of the lid.
Lee Hyun examined the markings on the coffin.
Corpse qi was leaking all the way through to the outside, and from within came the faint sound of something scratching.
Yan Bai placed a finger on the coffin.
A voice came from outside the stone platform.
“Ready.”
Hummm–
Black curtains rose on every side.
The stands vanished from sight. The place where Lu Hongyan sat, along with the Nascent Soul cultivators, soon disappeared as well.
Once the restriction closed, all sound from outside was cut off.
A beat later, one of the formation inscriptions on the floor turned red, and Yan Bai moved first.
Boom!
The coffin lid flew upward, and a hideous figure burst out from beneath it.
Its desiccated face had no lips. Both arms hung nearly to its knees, and several layers of cloth were wrapped around its chest and abdomen.
As it planted a foot, its toes gouged marks into the surface of the stone platform.
Whoosh!
A long arm tore through the air.
One of the Six-Leaf Shield’s blue-green shield plates rose in front of Lee Hyun.
Screech!
Its nails scraped across the shield plate, sending a long spray of sparks through the air.
The corpse puppet immediately thrust out its other arm.
Lee Hyun shifted sideways and raised his palm.
A golden palm imprint flew toward the corpse puppet’s chest.
Demon-Subduing Seal.
Just before the palm imprint struck, a shrill cry burst from the corpse puppet’s mouth, and red smoke billowed from between the layers of cloth wrapped around its chest.
The golden palm imprint plunged into the smoke, but rather than dispersing, the smoke wrapped itself around the palm imprint instead.
Yan Bai curled his fingers, and the golden light trapped within the smoke split into several tiny points.
‘Hm?’
Boom!
The red smoke exploded.
Three shield plates were driven backward, and the corpse puppet’s claws shot out from the smoke toward Lee Hyun’s throat.
Almost simultaneously, a flying blade shot from Yan Bai’s sleeve.
Lee Hyun’s feet slid across the ground.
A fourth shield plate knocked away the flying blade, while the corpse puppet’s claws swept past Lee Hyun’s cheek as he twisted aside.
‘A technique that can swallow the Demon-Subduing Seal… Interesting.’
It seemed to be something prepared in advance specifically to counter Baoguang Temple’s techniques.
The corpse puppet spread both arms and charged again.
The flying blade used the recoil from striking the shield plate to dart backward before flying low toward Lee Hyun’s legs.
Meanwhile, a small bone token floated up from Yan Bai’s hand.
Even while attacking, his movements as he positioned a defensive magic tool in front of himself were smooth and practiced.
At that moment, Lee Hyun suddenly withdrew his Buddha-Light True Qi.
‘Enough time has passed. No one outside should find it strange if I finish this now.’
Click, click.
The six blue-green shield plates interlocked at different heights.
The corpse puppet’s hand struck the shield again.
Boom!
The six shield plates distributed the impact between them. Rather than being pushed back, they knocked the corpse puppet’s arm outward instead.
Startled, Yan Bai changed his hand seal, and dense corpse qi surged from the corpse puppet’s body.
With a sharp crack from its joints, the arm that had been knocked away bent back at an unnatural angle.
Just as Yan Bai reached into his storage pouch for something, the sword in Lee Hyun’s hand moved like lightning.
Flash!
Sword light engulfed the corpse puppet’s neck and shoulder. Its head fell away, and its body crashed to the floor.
Yan Bai recoiled in shock and immediately retreated.
‘Dammit, there’s something wrong with this bastard!’
The instant he reached out to shatter his jade token, a razor-sharp wave of divine sense surged toward him.
Yan Bai hurriedly raised a barrier with his own divine sense. But the absurdly powerful divine sense smashed straight through it.
His mind went completely blank.
When his briefly severed consciousness returned, Lee Hyun was already standing before him.
‘Wh…en?’
Yan Bai realized that foreign true qi was blocking his meridians at multiple points. Lee Hyun had even sealed his acupoints while he was unconscious, leaving him unable to move so much as a finger.
Even his jade token for surrender was now in his opponent’s hand.
The face of the bastard called Li Dongsi showed none of the tension one would expect from someone who had supposedly just fought a desperate battle.
“It would be a little troublesome if it looked as though I’d cut you in two with a single sword strike… I hope you’ll understand.”
Lee Hyun took an old Black Scale Inner Armor from his storage pouch, lifted one of the immobilized corpse puppet’s hands, and ruthlessly drove its claws into the armor.
Thunk, thunk.
Ragged holes appeared in the inner armor.
Next, he threw one plate of the Threefold Shield onto the floor, picked up the flying blade Yan Bai had used, and slashed a long split across its surface.
He put away the Six-Leaf Shield and left the split shield plate somewhere clearly visible.
Then, using the sharp tips of the corpse puppet’s claws, he roughly tore the sleeve and shoulder of his outer robe.
When he put the punctured inner armor on beneath the robe, its damaged scales showed through the torn fabric.
Watching the entire process, Yan Bai felt a chill run down his spine.
‘Monster…….’
As the truth dawned on him, Yan Bai’s eyes became bloodshot and filled with terror.
The man before him was not merely another Foundation Establishment cultivator like himself. He was a terrifying existence on an entirely different level.
From the very beginning, all this man had wanted was to fabricate the traces of a desperate battle to deceive those outside. Yan Bai had never posed the slightest threat to him!
‘Why would someone like this…… I have to tell the others……!’
With all his strength, he tried to send his spiritual power toward the jade token in his opponent’s hand, but his blocked meridians refused to respond at all.
“I can’t leave a witness alive. Farewell.”
At those words, Yan Bai was seized by overwhelming terror. Yet before he even realized what had happened, a huge gash had already opened from his side to his chest.
Shhk!
Lee Hyun withdrew the Azure Steel Sword.
Yan Bai’s knees buckled, and he collapsed.
Thud.
Lee Hyun carefully examined his opponent and confirmed that even his primordial spirit had been extinguished.
He then shattered Yan Bai’s jade token in his hand, and the curtains surrounding them began to dissolve.
The sounds from outside gradually returned.
Someone let out a low exclamation.
Two Golden Core cultivators climbed onto the stone platform and examined Yan Bai’s corpse and Lee Hyun.
“Baoguang Temple, Li Dongsi wins.”
“Well done!”
His fellow disciples from Baoguang Temple were waving at him.
…
Lu Hongyan quickly looked Lee Hyun over from his face to his hands and clothes.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No.”
She let out a breath.
Zhang Taishan also came over and patted Lee Hyun on the shoulder.
“So he was a cultivator who controlled a corpse puppet. That must have made him a difficult opponent.”
“I was fortunate.”
Martial Uncle Huijing approached.
“Your complexion looks fine. Still, corpse poison may have entered your body, so circulate your qi and check yourself carefully.”
…
While the other matches continued, Lee Hyun left the stands and headed for the reward hall.
The hall was nearly empty. Most of the cultivators had gathered at the training ground.
When Lee Hyun presented the jade token confirming his victory, the steward examined it, rose from his seat, and walked over to the glass case.
As his palm touched the restriction, the transparent wall faded, and the flowerpot within slowly floated out.
“Here is the Heaven-Origin Divine Tree you reserved. These are the cultivation records and the observation records for the mature tree as well.”
…
After putting everything into his storage pouch and leaving the hall, Lee Hyun heard a murmur of voices coming from the training ground.
By the time he returned to the stands, another curtain was lifting from the martial platform.
The score showed Yunzhou 10, Nanming 14. Several cultivators sighed.
“Those Nanming bastards are every bit as formidable as expected.”
“We chose our people based on sparring matches rather than life-and-death duels. Of course there’s going to be a difference….”
…
It was Yuanshi’s turn, representing Baoguang Temple’s Vajra Court.
As the monk slowly rose from his seat, Zhang Taishan approached and gave his shoulders a firm squeeze.
“Senior Brother, make sure you win.”
Yuanshi nodded, pressed his palms together in salute to Huijing, and descended the stone steps.
His opponent was a cultivator from Dongming Sect.
The man was short and narrow-shouldered. Every time he walked, something beneath the back of his neck slowly writhed, causing the collar of his enchanted robe to shift slightly with the movement.
The two briefly exchanged greetings before the curtain rose.
A short while later, the curtain dissolved.
Yuanshi was kneeling in the middle of the stone platform, both hands braced against the floor.
Almost nothing remained of the front of his monk’s robe, and fine black specks were densely embedded across his exposed chest and shoulders.
The golden radiance flowing over his skin was broken in several places.
Opposite him, the Dongming Sect cultivator lay collapsed.
Dark red liquid slowly spread beneath his body.
All around him lay broken, slender fragments resembling insect legs.
“Senior Brother Yuanshi!”
As Zhang Taishan moved toward the stone steps, Martial Uncle Huijing hurried down as well.
While the Golden Core cultivators confirmed the outcome, blood poured from Yuanshi’s mouth.
Huijing placed a palm against his back.
Hummm–
A gentle golden radiance enveloped Yuanshi’s body.
“Do not move.”
With his other hand, the old monk took out a jade bottle.
When Yuanshi barely managed to open his mouth, Huijing placed a pill inside.
As Huijing touched Yuanshi’s shoulder and chest in turn, several black specks were forced out through his skin.
They were fragments as thin as needles.
As they writhed in midair, a tiny flame appeared between Huijing’s fingers.
Sizzle.
The smoke dispersed.
…
Yuanshi was moved to a small hall behind the stone platform that had been prepared for treating injuries.
While Huijing examined him inside, Lee Hyun and Zhang Taishan waited outside the door.
A short while later, the old monk emerged.
“His life is not in danger. His internal injuries are fairly serious, but with proper rest, he’ll recover.”
…
By the time the sun began sinking toward the west, it was Senior Brother Liu Jingdao’s turn, representing the Demon-Subduing Court.
His opponent was a female cultivator carrying a long sword case in her arms.
She was the woman who had stood on the deck beside the young man wearing several spirit-insect pouches when Nanming’s flying boats arrived. Apparently, she belonged to the Heishui Sect.
The woman set her sword case upright at one side of the stone platform and brought her hands together.
Liu Jingdao also drew a broad sword from the sheath at his waist.
The blade was unusually thick, like the spine of a saber, and dark blue patterns ran along it.
A long, slender sword slid out of the female cultivator’s sword case.
The curtain rose.
A short while later, it vanished.
Both of them were still standing.
Liu Jingdao’s right arm hung limply at his side, while his left hand held the fragments of a shattered jade token.
The female cultivator was sheathing her sword.
As the slender blade slid back into its case, the dark blue-black energy lingering in the air was drawn in along with it.
The supervising steward declared Nanming the winner.
Liu Jingdao’s sword had been broken into two pieces.
…
Lu Hongyan waited below the stone steps.
“Senior Brother.”
“I lost.”
Lu Hongyan looked at his right arm.
“Are you badly hurt?”
“I think some of my meridians were damaged.”
Liu Jingdao swallowed a pill and steadied his breathing for a moment before looking back toward the martial platform.
The Heishui Sect woman had already returned to her fellow disciples.
“She was surprisingly restrained. To think she spared my life…”
“Was she that strong?”
At Lu Hongyan’s question, Liu Jingdao nodded.
“Her sword intent was far stronger than I could have imagined. Frankly, I’m shaken… I had no idea how vast the world truly was.”
…
The score continued to change.
By the end of the fortieth match, Yunzhou had 18 points and Nanming 22…
Then the female cultivator Lee Hyun had seen playing with a droplet of water aboard a jade-colored flying boat when he first came to Huiyun Immortal City also appeared.
She belonged to Qingheng Sect of the Jin Kingdom, one of the Nine Kingdoms of Yunzhou.
The Nanming cultivator opposite her had a thick iron ring floating in the air.
Soon, the curtain closed.
…
When they came back into view, the iron ring lay on the floor, severed in several places.
The Nanming cultivator was kneeling on one knee with a hand raised. The shattered jade token in his palm was losing its light.
A tiny droplet of water rolled between the Qingheng Sect woman’s fingers.
Lee Hyun looked at the severed iron ring. The cut surfaces were remarkably smooth.
‘Did she cut it with that droplet? Interesting.’
…
By the end of the forty-eighth match, Yunzhou had won twenty-three times and Nanming twenty-five.
As the gap narrowed, voices gradually began to rise in the stands again.
Someone spread out the list of remaining participants and pointed to one of the names.
“They still have that cultivator left.”
“Don’t we still have Zheng Yubai of Qingheng Sect?”
…
Before long, the sixty-fourth match had ended.
Yunzhou, 32 points.
Nanming, 32 points.
The stands stirred.
The Nascent Soul cultivators of Yunzhou and Nanming conferred briefly. At last, a Golden Core steward stepped forward and announced that, as agreed beforehand, each side would send out one representative for a tiebreaker.
A short while later, the representatives from both sides were chosen. After separately confirming the willingness of both participants, the steward spoke again.
“With the consent of the sects and participants on both sides, this final match will be conducted with the battle inside visible to everyone!”
The stands erupted!
Yunzhou’s final representative was Zheng Yubai of Qingheng Sect in the Jin Kingdom. The young man with three sword sheaths strapped to his back, who had already won an earlier match, was rising from his seat.
Beside Lee Hyun, Lu Hongyan spoke excitedly.
“We’ll finally get to see it! We’ll see how a heaven’s prodigy counted among the strongest at this Dao symposium actually fights!”
Yuanjing nodded.
Lee Hyun asked,
“Is he really that strong?”
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