Chapter 676: Words Form a Bridge
"The top figures of the Fish-Dragon Eighth Transformation definitely all have trump cards. When the final battle comes, they will surely use them. I must also prepare one or two trump cards."
Originally, the Three Spirit Treasure Body and the ninth realm of Sword One were Zhang Ruochen's two trump cards, but during his match with Zhao Wuyan, both had already been exposed.
Other contestants would certainly be on guard and formulate counter-strategies.
In the end, Zhang Ruochen took out two golden sacred swords and handed them to Xiao Hei, asking him to re-refine them, slightly altering their form so that at least no one would recognize them.
"Having two sacred-artifact-level war swords as trump cards should be enough to handle unexpected situations."
Zhang Ruochen's six golden sacred swords had all been seized from the Yellow God Star Envoy.
Now, he took out the other four golden sacred swords, placing them on the ground and arranging them in a row.
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Ruochen's fingers brushed over his space ring, and the pitch-black Abyssal Ancient Sword appeared. He gripped the hilt with one hand while gently stroking the blade with the other.
The Abyssal Ancient Sword trembled, emitting a cheerful sword cry.
"Go!"
The Abyssal Ancient Sword flew out, charging toward the four golden sacred swords.
Sensing danger, the four golden sacred swords trembled, transforming into four golden beams of light as they shot toward the sky.
Since they had become sacred artifacts, they naturally possessed artifact spirits. When danger was detected, the sacred artifacts would flee.
The Abyssal Ancient Sword radiated a mass of black light and swiftly pursued them.
About half an hour later, the Abyssal Ancient Sword had refined the four sacred swords. It flew back, landing before Zhang Ruochen and embedding itself firmly into the ground, shattering the earth into pieces. Long cracks extended for a mile in every direction.
The Abyssal Ancient Sword had become even heavier, and its power had grown stronger.
It remained at the hundred-mark sacred artifact level, yet it could unleash power close to that of a thousand-mark sacred artifact. In a head-on clash, the Abyssal Ancient Sword could even destroy some lower-quality thousand-mark sacred artifacts.
Next, Zhang Ruochen handed Zhao Wuyan's twelfth-grade True Martial Treasure-level war sword to the Abyssal Ancient Sword, letting it refine that as well.
"Swords can devour swords, and people can devour people. If I'm not strong enough, one day, I too will be devoured by others."
Zhang Ruochen put the Abyssal Ancient Sword away and resumed his cultivation.
Over the next half month, Zhang Ruochen continuously refined the source of spiritual fire, cultivating the Fire Spirit Treasure Body.
If he could successfully cultivate the "Four Spirit Treasure Body," Zhang Ruochen's strength would become even greater. However, cultivating the "Four Spirit Treasure Body" was extremely difficult. He had not absorbed much of the spiritual fire source before his body reached a state of saturation and could no longer absorb any more.
Although he was still far from achieving the Four Spirit Treasure Body, absorbing the spiritual fire source had allowed Zhang Ruochen to fully consolidate his cultivation at the Fish-Dragon Fifth Transformation, slightly enhancing his strength.
After half a month, Xiao Hei had also re-refined the two golden sacred swords.
The form of the two golden sacred swords had undergone a noticeable change, developing seven curved arcs, like two golden spirit snakes. On the surface of the blades, faintly visible nail-sized snake scales could be seen rising and sinking, giving them a rather eerie appearance.
Zhang Ruochen asked, "What's going on? Why do the two sacred swords have the aura of snakes and pythons?"
Xiao Hei said, "You asked me to re-refine the two sacred swords and change their aura, so I had Xun Hualiu and Mu Jiji go to the Ten Thousand Snake Valley in the Fallen God Mountain Range. They caught two fifth-rank savage beasts, Golden Thread Flying Cloud Pythons, extracted their beast souls, and sealed them inside the sword bodies."
"That's fine. Even those who have seen the two golden sacred swords before probably won't be able to recognize them now. From now on, they shall be called the 'Golden Snake Sacred Swords.'"
Zhang Ruochen infused his true qi into the two sacred swords, refining them briefly, then lightly shouted, "Withdraw!"
The two sacred swords rapidly shrank, becoming the size of two golden needles. They flew into Zhang Ruochen's brow, suspended at the center of his qi sea, and began to revolve around his Sword Heart Intent.
...
...
After two days of intense competition, the Fish-Dragon Eighth Transformation-level sword dao tournament finally determined the top one hundred experts.
Next, they would undergo a new round of competition to ultimately decide the top ten.
Entering the top ten meant not only being able to enter the Sword Pavilion early but also representing the Liangyi Sect at the Ninth Day of the Ninth Month World Sword Discussion Assembly.
On the training ground outside the Shangqing Palace, many disciples had gathered, including outer disciples, inner disciples, and even quite a few sacred transmission disciples.
On the eighth jade tablet, only one hundred names remained; all other contestants had been eliminated.
The names of those who had performed best in the preliminary rounds were ranked higher.
First place was Qin Yufan.
Second place was Qi Feiyu.
Third place was Dao Xuanqi.
Fourth place was Can Dong.
...
Sixth place was Xu Changsheng.
...
Lin Yue's name was ranked tenth.
Zhao Wuyan, who had lost to Lin Yue in the preliminaries, was ranked seventh, a full three places higher than Lin Yue.
The disciples of the Longevity Institute were naturally very dissatisfied with this ranking.
"Zhao Wuyan clearly lost to Senior Brother Lin Yue in the first round of the preliminaries, so why is his ranking higher than Senior Brother Lin Yue's?" Zhao Han'er was quite furious, being the first to voice her objection.
Zhao Han'er knew that in terms of appearance and talent, she was far inferior to Senior Sister Qi Feiyu, so she naturally could not match up to Senior Brother Lin Yue.
But that did not affect her admiration for Senior Brother Lin Yue in the slightest, which was why she could not accept Senior Brother Lin Yue being ranked behind Zhao Wuyan.
Beside her, Pang Long stepped forward and sneered, "Everyone knows that Senior Brother Zhao lost to Lin Yue in the first round purely due to a momentary lapse in concentration. If they were to truly fight, Lin Yue would be no match for Senior Brother Zhao."
Suddenly, another person stepped forward and said, "Although Senior Brother Zhao made a slight mistake in the first round and lost to Lin Yue, in the subsequent qualification battles, he relied on his formidable strength to win twenty-seven consecutive matches, leaving everyone too afraid to challenge him."
"Lin Yue only won one match by luck. Who knows how strong he really is? But Senior Brother Zhao, with his record of twenty-seven consecutive wins, has conquered everyone. It's only natural that his ranking is higher than Lin Yue's."
Zhao Han'er showed a hint of fear when she saw Pang Long, but she quickly mustered her courage, stepped forward, and said, "That's not true at all. If it were Senior Brother Lin Yue, he would definitely have won twenty-seven consecutive matches too, and he would be even more impressive than Zhao Wuyan."
"Another ignorant woman." Pang Long chuckled and walked away.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
From the summit of Zhiyu Spirit Mountain, three long bell tones rang out, transforming into ripples of sound that spread across the thirty-six spirit mountains of the Shangqing Palace.
Hearing the bell, everyone knew that the first round of the finals for the Fish-Dragon Eighth Transformation level had begun and would be held today.
Thus, all the disciples rushed toward Zhiyu Spirit Mountain, including Zhao Han'er and the inner disciples of the Longevity Institute.
The Longevity Institute had two contestants in the top ten, which was a point of pride for all its inner disciples. Naturally, they wanted to support their idols, Senior Brother Lin Yue and Senior Brother Can Dong.
The Fish-Dragon Eighth Transformation-level sword dao tournament, having the fewest registrants, was the first to enter the first round of the finals. Sacred transmission disciples and azure-robed elders who were not competing also hurried to Zhiyu Spirit Mountain, as the battles in the finals were sure to be extremely intense.
At this moment, all one hundred Fish-Dragon Eighth Transformation cultivators who had entered the finals had gathered below the Yi-Character Battle Platform.
Jinglan Half-Saint once again announced the rules for the upcoming matches, saying, "The first round of the finals will be divided into ten groups, with ten people in each group."
"The ten contestants who performed best in the preliminaries will each be assigned to a different group as the group leaders."
"Qin Yufan, Group One."
"Qi Feiyu, Group Two."
"Dao Xuanqi, Group Three."
...
"Lin Yue, Group Ten."
"Aside from the ten group leaders, the remaining ninety must draw new tokens. Based on the tokens they draw, they will enter the ten different groups. Now, begin drawing tokens."
Jinglan Half-Saint waved his arm, and ninety white light dots shot out from his sleeve, flying in all directions.
Just as the ninety contestants were drawing their tokens—
"Whoosh!"
From the horizon, a patch of azure characters flew over.
Yes, individual characters flying through the sky, like a bridge of scriptures suspended in the void, extending all the way to above the Sunset Palace on Zhiyu Spirit Mountain.
Each character was about a meter long, emitting a faint sacred light.
A "white-clad young master" stepped on the characters, strolling over from the horizon.
On the sixth floor of the Sunset Palace, four half-saint patriarchs simultaneously stood up, cupping their hands in a slight bow toward the "white-clad young master."
Jinglan Half-Saint also turned around, cupping his hands in a bow, and said, "The Sacred Book Talented Woman graces Zhiyu Spirit Mountain. May we ask what advice you have?"
The Sacred Book Talented Woman wore clean men's clothing, holding a folding fan. Her hair was tied up in a young master's bun, making her appear fair-skinned, red-lipped, and elegant. She smiled slightly and said, "Seniors, no need for formalities. This junior has merely heard that the Fish-Dragon Eighth Transformation-level sword dao tournament has entered the finals, so I came to watch, hoping to witness the peerless grace of the Liangyi Sect's outstanding talents."
"Compared to the Talented Woman, any outstanding talent will pale in comparison," said Zixia Half-Saint.
Zixia Half-Saint's words were not flattery but a heartfelt sigh.
The Sacred Book Talented Woman was much younger than any half-saint present, yet she had already become a saint, her cultivation far surpassing theirs by an unknown margin.
Such a prodigy could probably only be compared to the few figures listed in the "Heroic Ode."
The Sacred Book Talented Woman did not look down on the five half-saints present just because she was a saint; instead, she remained very humble.
She ascended the Sunset Palace, closed her folding fan, and instantly, the myriad characters suspended in the sky returned to the fan, transforming into an article written in a delicate, graceful script.
Then, the Sacred Book Talented Woman sat side by side with the half-saints, her beautiful eyes beginning to survey the Fish-Dragon Eighth Transformation cultivators who had entered the top one hundred below.