Chapter 677: The Final Battle
The commotion caused by Shengshu Cainü earlier was not small. Everyone had seen her arrival and was speculating about her identity.
"That young gentleman, could he be from the Central Domain's Book Sect? He can actually mobilize the power of words. I feel that any single character from the folding fan in her hand could crush a mountain to rubble."
"What gentleman? Do you have any discernment at all? She is one of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maidens by the Empress's side, Shengshu Cainü. Normally, she stays in the Nine Heavens Palace, always accompanying the Empress. She only came to Liangyi Sect because the Sword Discussion Conference is about to begin."
"What? She is the legendary Shengshu Cainü? It is said she knows everything and is considered the smartest woman under heaven. Moreover, she became a Saint at a young age. Even if we cultivate for a lifetime, our achievements wouldn't match a single strand of her hair."
On the scene, countless inner disciples, upon hearing that Shengshu Cainü had arrived, all knelt on the ground to pay respects to the Saint.
"Shengshu Cainü personally came to watch the battle. This is wonderful! If I can catch her eye, my future will surely be bright."
Even the contestants were extremely excited, finding it hard to control their emotions.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at the sixth floor of the Sunset Cloud Palace, feeling no excitement at all. Instead, he became more cautious, restraining his aura, afraid that Shengshu Cainü might see through his disguise.
The Half-Saints present all knew that Shengshu Cainü had the right to select nine Realm Sons.
If a disciple of Liangyi Sect could be favored by her and become a Realm Son, it would bring tremendous benefits to the sect's development over the next few hundred years.
As Half-Saints of Liangyi Sect, they naturally wanted to push things forward and do something for the sect.
Half-Saint Zhiyu pointed in the direction of Qin Yufan and introduced him to Shengshu Cainü: "This young man is named Qin Yufan. He once ranked in the top three of the Heaven Ranking and even ascended the second mountain of the Ancient God Mountain. At only thirty-eight years old, he has already reached the eighth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm. He is a top contender for first place."
Shengshu Cainü's beautiful eyes twinkled as she nodded lightly and smiled. "Qin Yufan's talent is indeed extremely high. He has appeared on the Eastern Domain Wind and Cloud Report more than once. He is a young man with considerable potential. Reaching the Half-Saint Realm should not be difficult for him, and he even has a chance to impact the Saint Realm."
Half-Saint Zhiyu then pointed toward Qi Feiyu and continued introducing the most outstanding talents of Liangyi Sect to Shengshu Cainü one by one.
Below, the ninety contestants had already been divided into groups.
The strength of the ten platform masters was all quite formidable. Of course, there were still differences among them. Qin Yufan, Qi Feiyu, Candong, and Xu Changsheng were all renowned figures in the Eastern Domain. Dao Xuanqi and Yuchi Hong were old, famous veterans who had shaken Liangyi Sect, their prestige and strength unfathomable.
Zhao Wuyan was a dark horse, winning twenty-seven consecutive matches during the qualification battles, showing strong momentum.
Apart from them, the eighth-ranked Mo Xin, the ninth-ranked Han Zhang, and the tenth-ranked Lin Yue were relatively weaker.
"Fortunately, I wasn't grouped with Qin Yufan or Qi Feiyu. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had any chance at all."
All the contestants assigned to the eighth, ninth, and tenth groups showed delighted expressions, letting out long sighs of relief.
Those assigned to the first and second groups, however, all had bitter faces, extremely depressed.
Since Zhiyu Spirit Mountain only had four battle platforms, only the finals for the tenth, ninth, eighth, and seventh groups were held today.
The ten people of the tenth group were assigned to the Ding Character Battle Platform.
As the platform master, Zhang Ruochen was naturally the first to ascend the battle platform. He stood in the center and began to receive challenges from the other nine.
Among the nine, a rather honest-looking man was the first to step onto the platform. He stood opposite Zhang Ruochen, his aura steady. "Wind Void Courtyard, Tan Qingshan."
In the Fish-Dragon Realm, reaching the first level of Sword One was already a remarkable achievement, allowing one to be called a "Sword Cultivator."
A Sword Cultivator possessed the most powerful attack power at the same cultivation level, and any force would vie to recruit them.
Tan Qingshan was also a Sword Cultivator, having already reached the second level of Sword One. During the preliminary rounds, he had fought over a hundred moves against Xu Changsheng before losing.
"Longevity Courtyard, Lin Yue," Zhang Ruochen said.
Tan Qingshan said, "To become one of the platform masters in the final battle with only the fourth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, your talent far surpasses mine. Even my master said that in the past thousand years, among the outstanding talents born in Liangyi Sect, no more than five can compare to you. I feel honored to fight you."
"Your strength is also quite good," Zhang Ruochen said.
A fierce battle intent surged in Tan Qingshan's eyes. "If your cultivation were at the eighth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, I would concede immediately. However, your current cultivation is still too low. I still have a great chance of winning."
Although Tan Qingshan admired Lin Yue, he was also confident in his own strength.
At least for now, he was fully confident he could defeat Lin Yue.
"Boom!"
From within Tan Qingshan's body, a powerful Martial Soul surged out, transforming into a seven-meter-tall figure standing behind him. The arms of this humanoid Martial Soul were entwined with two dozens-of-meters-long flood dragons, baring fangs and brandishing claws, looking extremely ferocious.
Tan Qingshan had refined Half-Saint Light, so his Martial Soul was already very powerful, far surpassing that of ordinary ninth-transformation Fish-Dragon cultivators.
But he had also extracted the beast souls of two ninth-transformation Fish-Dragon flood dragons and refined them into his Martial Soul, making it even stronger, nearly matching the Saint Soul of a Half-Saint.
As the power of the Martial Soul erupted, all the spiritual energy on the battle platform converged toward Tan Qingshan. The aura emanating from his body also rose steadily.
Below the platform, Xu Changsheng saw the Martial Soul behind Tan Qingshan and squinted his eyes. "Tan Qingshan actually had such a powerful trump card hidden away. He's quite capable."
"With Tan Qingshan's strength, even if he can't make it into the top ten, he can at least break into the top thirty, or even the top twenty."
"Flying Dragon Coiling the Sky."
Tan Qingshan held a twelfth-grade True Martial Treasure-level war sword in each hand. He used both swords simultaneously, executing a Ghost-grade mid-rank sword technique.
The two flood dragon beast souls continuously coiled around, emitting ear-splitting roars. They advanced side by side with the two swords, spinning and rotating, forming two powerful forces that charged toward Zhang Ruochen, who stood in the center of the battle platform.
Every time a sword qi flew over and struck Zhang Ruochen's protective Saint Gang, it created ripples.
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Ruochen quickly drew the Gushui Sword and infused Saint Qi into the blade. Instantly, a three-zhang-tall white sword light shot up from the tip of the Gushui Sword.
The next moment, Zhang Ruochen charged forward, piercing through the two flood dragon beast souls. He struck out with all his strength, rapidly clashing with Tan Qingshan's twin swords, producing a "crackling" sound of swords.
Tan Qingshan was using the Ghost-grade mid-rank Flying Dragon Sword Technique, but Zhang Ruochen did not use any sword technique at all.
Yet, every sword strike he delivered was infinitely powerful, giving a sense of unpredictability.
After a series of thirty-six moves, the two quickly separated, each standing on one side of the battle platform.
Lin Yue still appeared calm and composed, but Tan Qingshan's body bore twelve sword marks, all of which had only cut through his clothes without leaving any bloodstains.
Tan Qingshan looked at the tears in his clothes, shook his head with a wry smile, withdrew his Martial Soul back into his body, and bowed to Zhang Ruochen. "I have lost. Your sword path cultivation surpasses mine tenfold. You could have defeated me on the twenty-fourth move."
Then, with a hint of disappointment, Tan Qingshan left the battle platform directly.
That Lin Yue could defeat Tan Qingshan was not too surprising. But no one had expected Tan Qingshan to lose so quickly.
A contestant who had made it into the top hundred showed an incredulous expression. "Xu Changsheng took over a hundred moves to defeat Tan Qingshan, but Lin Yue defeated him in just twenty-four moves. Could Lin Yue's strength actually surpass Xu Changsheng's?"
Qi Feiyu's eyes narrowed slightly. "His strength seems to have increased again. Isn't his progress a bit too fast?"
Xu Changsheng's expression turned somewhat unnatural. He had never imagined that Lin Yue's strength would reach such a height. If he were to face Lin Yue, even if he used his trump cards, he might not be able to secure a sure victory.
"Lin Yue has already reached the state of 'winning without moves.' It seems he is not far from the tenth level of Great Perfection in Sword One," Half-Saint Jinglan said with considerable amazement.
Even among the five Half-Saints present, only two had cultivated Sword One to the tenth level of Great Perfection.
The other three were still stuck at the ninth level of Sword One.
Half-Saint Zixia was naturally very pleased. "Being able to reach 'winning without moves' shows that he has already touched a bit of the threshold. Given time, he will surely reach the tenth level of Great Perfection."
In other words, Lin Yue would definitely succeed in cultivating Sword One within the Fish-Dragon Realm.
"To be able to cultivate Sword One and become a Sword Master in the Fish-Dragon Realm is truly enviable," another Half-Saint said.
In the world of Sword Cultivators, there were different titles. Those who cultivated Sword One to the tenth level of Great Perfection could be called "Sword Masters."
Sword Path Heroes.
Half-Saint Zixia glanced at Shengshu Cainü beside her and then asked, "Talented Woman, what do you think of Lin Yue's sword path talent?"
Shengshu Cainü tapped her palm lightly with her folding fan, smiled, and said, "He can be called a 'prodigy.' With only the fifth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, he possesses such formidable strength. If he reaches the ninth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, I'm afraid there won't be many below the Half-Saint Realm who can withstand a single move from him. This young man has a great chance of becoming a Realm Son."
Not only Half-Saint Zixia, but all the Half-Saints present showed delighted expressions.
Earlier, when they introduced Qin Yufan and Qi Feiyu to Shengshu Cainü, although she praised them, she only said they were qualified to be candidates for Realm Sons.
But for Lin Yue, she seemed to hold him in particularly high regard.
(Monday, Xiaoyu shamelessly begs for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets.)