Chapter 9: Fierce Battle at Sword Altar

  His gaze swept over the many outer sect disciples, finally lingering on the inner sect disciples for a few breaths before Xuan Qing spoke up: "I won't mention the rules, this is the Mid-Year Grand Competition, it's to test whether you've made progress in these past six months, and at the same time, it's also a ranking battle between fellow disciples. It's still the same phrase, my Yangyang Peak, including the entire Purple Mist Peak, there are no eternal junior or senior brothers, everything depends on how you strive for it."

  "Also, I suppose you've all heard the news that this time our sect will select a total of 100 disciples from the top 20 of each peak to enter the Sword Pool for half a year. Whether or not you get a spot depends on your individual abilities. However, I must say one thing here: if anyone resorts to killing their fellow sect members in order to obtain this spot, they will be immediately expelled from the sect and exiled to the border regions."

  But obviously, everyone was attracted by Xuan Qing's previous sentence. Jian Chi, that is Jian Chi, the outer door disciples are mostly proficient in literature and history, they even understand the great role of Jian Chi more than the inner sect disciples. For swordsmen, it is a sacred place for cultivation.

  At this moment, the disciple standing in the second row of the inner sect disciples bit his teeth and spoke up: "Reporting to Master, I have something to say."

  The square was quiet at this moment, so the words of this disciple attracted everyone's attention. However, he still withstood everyone's gaze and said: "Now that Lu Shixiong has become a protector, why does he still want to compete with us for the quota of the Sword Pool?"

  As soon as the words fell, someone knew his mind. This disciple was called Hong Yu, now ranked twentieth. Apparently, he didn't have much confidence in whether he could keep his ranking smoothly and enter the top twenty this time. No wonder, people at the boundary of the sect's ranking were indeed at a disadvantage. He was able to say these words at this juncture, apparently also making up his mind with great determination.

  Xuan Qing heard the words and only slightly furrowed his brow, then said: "The inner sect disciples determined by our sect refer to the 16th generation of disciples. Lu Qing is now a guardian, but according to seniority, he is still a 16th generation disciple, so let's not mention this again."

  Upon hearing Xuan Qing's rebuttal, Hong Yu also knew that things couldn't be done and fell silent.

  Lu Qing, who was standing behind him, didn't mind either. Being ranked twentieth, having such thoughts is normal, it's human nature, so Lu Qing didn't blame him.

  This time's grand competition was presided over by Xuan Qing himself, who also served as the judge. Of course, it was also to avoid suspicion, after all, each of the six great protectors had disciples among them.

  He looked at the white jade thin board in his hand, and Xuan Qing said: "The first game, ranked fifty-fourth, Shu Yu, sword player small Tianwei, challenged the fifty-third, Huang Zongyue, sword player small Tianwei."

  As soon as the voice fell, two young disciples walked up from the back. Among them was Bao Yu, who was Lu Qing's opponent when he first participated in the Grand Competition half a year ago and also his first defeat. Now, after half a year had passed, Lu Qing felt that Bao Yu had grown a lot, with an aura on his body that was close to the peak of the Sword Master's Little Heavenly Realm. It was clear that his efforts over the past six months were not small.

  The two stood up and jumped onto the sword platform. Under Shi Yu's feet, the black iron sword swayed slightly a few times before returning to calmness, apparently, Shi Yu had also made significant progress in controlling his strength.

  Obviously, the two on the sword stage did not have much expectation for themselves to enter the top twenty. They knew it was impossible unless they could also make progress like Lu Qing. However, the two still went all out, and the Kokuryū jusan-ken drew countless purple sword shadows in their hands, from the first move "Ungetsu" to the eighth move "Kinyō Kō'u", compared with half a year ago, Saya's understanding of Kokuryū jusan-ken had made significant progress again, and he also gained a lot in terms of force control.

  Whoosh——

  Whoosh——

  The Rising Sun sword cut through the air, emitting a sharp sound. The two figures continued to intersect on the sword platform, with the hum of the black iron sword constantly coming from beneath their feet.

  Half a column of fragrance passed, the two men attacked each other, and the consumption of Sword Yuan was relatively huge. Both of them knew this point, and almost at the same time, after the sword blades touched, they both retreated several steps, and the long swords in their hands burst out with purple dazzling solar sword energy.

  "Flowing light threads——" A purple spark flashed in his eyes, and the long sword in Bundou's hand suddenly shot out nearly three inches of Xuanyuan sword energy. With a flick of his arm, his body rose more than ten feet high, and instantly, more than a dozen dazzling purple sword shadows appeared before everyone, enveloping Huang Zongyue's entire body.

  There was a bit of commotion under the sword platform, and everyone was slightly surprised that Shu Yu could use the ninth style of the Kokoro Thirteen Swords, because generally speaking, except for individual exceptions, they were all in the Sword Walker's Heavenly Rank before gradually grasping the tenth style. The small heavenly rank usually only reached around the seventh style.

  And seeing Shi Yu's performance, Xuan Qing and the six great protectors who followed him to the stage all nodded slightly. Shi Yu, now only eighteen years old, is also a promising talent.

  Huang Zongyue faced the sword with a calm expression, and a layer of dazzling purple aura spread over his refined black iron sword. He swung it forward in a perfect arc, and the purple sword curtain unfolded before him, with the swift slash of the sun sword energy producing a piercing sound.

  Rising Sun Thirteen Swords Eighth Style: Golden Yang Faces Rain

  Hūn

  The sword shadow and the sword curtain collided, the void between the two people, the blade collided and exploded with countless golden sparks, at the same time a strong wind spread out from the center of the two.

  But this degree of vigor had no effect on the crowd under the sword platform, and Nie Qingtian, who was standing in the front, let the strong wind blow on his body without moving a single hair.

  Sigh——

  On the sword platform, Bundou and Huang Zongyue were simultaneously blown away by the intersecting winds of their sword styles, quickly crossing over the platform and landing on the ground.

  They exchanged a glance, and simultaneously made a fist and smiled. A faint thread of blood seeped out from the corners of their mouths.

  Everyone nodded secretly, the strength of these two people is not much different, and such a result is also within everyone's expectation.

  However, since Suet Fei was the challenger, Wong Choong Hann's ranking position was still given up.

  This is just the first game, and it's already so exciting that many of the inner sect disciples in the audience can't help but hold back their excitement. The outer sect disciples surrounding them are all wide-eyed with wonder. In this grand competition, the progress made by the inner sect disciples is almost comparable to what they achieved in two years' time in previous competitions.

  The battle continued, with disciples occasionally surpassing each other in rank to challenge the same heavenly swordsmen. By noon, when the ranking had reached seventeenth place, the final three moves of the Rising Sun Thirteen Swords had already appeared five or six times. The one who had previously spoken out to stop Lu Qing's comparison, ranked twentieth, Hong Yu, also seemed to have some skills and managed to maintain his own ranking. However, after successfully challenging one more person, he was defeated due to his previous exhaustion, which made him feel extremely disheartened.

  Because in his view, Lu Qing has not been challenged so far. Even Qin Tianhua, who was previously defeated by him and is now ranked behind him, did not dare to challenge Lu Qing, but instead chose a disciple of the inner sect ranked 18th. With his current cultivation that had just broken through to the Sword Emperor's Great Heaven, he easily won with his obviously newly-broken-through swordsmanship realm that was as light as a feather.

  This has caused Hong Yu to slip back to 20th place again, and Lu Qing is definitely going to challenge him. So he will definitely slip one more place in the top 20, which means that even though Tai managed to keep his ranking and even advanced one place, he still won't be able to pair up with Jian Chi.

  It's just one vote difference!

  No one could understand Hong Yu's current mood, only to see him lowering his head, his hands clenched tightly, but no one noticed that at this moment, Hong Yu's eyes revealed a hint of hatred, and even the pupils had blood threads starting to spread towards the surrounding white of the eye. However, no one noticed because everyone's attention was drawn to the upcoming battle on stage.

  On the sword platform, Duan Qingyun stood on the hilt of two black iron swords, his right hand grasping the Flame Sword that emitted a faint red glow. His aura was as solid as a mountain, and compared to six months ago, everyone could see that Duan Qingyun's temperament had undergone a significant change. In the past, Duan Qingyun was a very gentle and somewhat lazy person who never practiced diligently and loved to meddle in other people's affairs, which was why he had a grudge against Tai Yun back then.

  It was such an extremely popular inner sect disciple among the outer sect disciples, yet now he gave them such a steady feeling. The change in half a year really made them somewhat unbelievable.

  Under the sword platform, including Lu Qing, Nie Qingtian, Yu Jihua and Zhao Qianye, all eyes were on Duan Qingyun. In the past six months, they had all clearly felt the change in Duan Qingyun, especially in the recent half year. Perhaps due to Lu Qing's stimulation, Duan Qingyun's words were more restrained than before, but at night, a faint aura fluctuation could often be felt in his room, which continued until dawn before slowly dissipating.

  This time, Duan Qingyun entered the Chaoyang Cave for a closed-door meditation of three months without any complaints. Even when he first closed his door to build his foundation, he only stayed for half a month. The four of them all recognized that Duan Qingyun now truly possessed the will of a strong cultivator.

  Then, Fatty, let's see the results of your three-month closed-door training! At this time, Yu Jihua's eyes revealed a hint of hope. PS: The recommendation votes are about to exceed 10,000, just a little bit more, about 100 votes or so, everyone please cast their recommendation votes heavily and let the recommendations exceed 10,000! Looking forward to it.