Chapter 678: Senior Sister
Shengshu Cainü said, "Of course, up until now, Lin Yue only has a high chance. Whether he can ultimately become one of the nine Realm Sons still depends on the Empress's personal selection."
"If he can cultivate Sword Two to the Great Perfection realm within the Fish-Dragon Realm, then he will definitely become one of the nine Realm Sons. In the future, he will be a disciple before the Empress."
It is worth mentioning that since Empress Chi Yao is selecting Realm Sons, she naturally intends to cultivate them vigorously. The nine Realm Sons will undoubtedly become high-ranking and powerful figures in the future, bearing great responsibilities, much like the nine pillars supporting the Kunlun Realm.
Among them, the most outstanding Realm Son will inherit the Empress's throne and become the next ruler of the Kunlun Realm.
In other words, to become the future master of the Kunlun Realm, the first step is to become a Realm Son, and only then can one compete for the position of Emperor.
Hearing Shengshu Cainü's words, the several Half-Saints present all shook their heads and smiled.
In the Fish-Dragon Realm, achieving the Great Perfection of Sword One is already a remarkable accomplishment. To cultivate Sword Two to the Great Perfection realm—how easy could that be?
In the past thousand years, only two people in the entire Kunlun Realm have cultivated Sword Two to the Great Perfection in the Fish-Dragon Realm.
They are the Empress and the Sword Emperor.
No one denies that Lin Yue has extremely high talent in the Sword Dao, but no one believes he can reach the heights of the Empress and the Sword Emperor.
Shengshu Cainü's bright eyes darted around, observing the expressions of the five Half-Saints. She revealed her white teeth and smiled, saying, "Several seniors wouldn't think that I, the junior, am deliberately making things difficult for Lin Yue, would they?"
"To be honest, cultivating Sword Two to the Great Perfection in the Fish-Dragon Realm is already the minimum requirement for him. If he can't even achieve this, how can he compete with the other young sword masters of the Kunlun Realm?"
"The young city lord of Wanxiang City, Xue Wuye, has already cultivated Sword Two to the realm of 'Yin and Yang Divided.' Within a year, he should reach the Great Perfection of Sword Two, becoming the third person in a thousand years."
Jinglan Half-Saint sighed and said, "Xue Wuye is a descendant of the Sword Emperor, bearing the style of the former Sword Emperor. He can be called the number one Sword Dao prodigy of the Kunlun Realm in five hundred years. Lin Yue is still far from being able to compare with him."
Shengshu Cainü added, "Sui Han of the Confucian Dao Qin Sect reached the tenth level Great Perfection of Sword One four years ago and has now cultivated Sword Two to the realm of 'Yin and Yang Divided.' His Sword Dao realm is directly catching up to Xue Wuye."
Zixia Half-Saint nodded and said, "Sui Han has been an extraordinary hero since childhood. His qin art and Sword Dao can be called dual excellences. In the current world, there are very few who can compare with him."
Throughout the entire Kunlun Realm, there are countless sword users, naturally including many Sword Dao prodigies. Among them, Xue Wuye and Sui Han are the foremost.
When the five Half-Saints present heard Shengshu Cainü mention the names Xue Wuye and Sui Han, it was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over them. Their previously excited emotions immediately cooled down.
Lin Yue's Sword Dao talent is indeed very high, but compared to Xue Wuye and Sui Han, he instantly pales in comparison, like a firefly compared to the bright moon.
Shengshu Cainü smiled and said, "Lin Yue is only at the fifth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm. His future potential is still great. It's not necessarily impossible for him to catch up to their pace."
...
According to the rules of the finals, after each match, the arena master has one hour to recover the true qi they consumed.
Because Zhang Ruochen hadn't consumed much true qi in the previous battle, he quickly returned to his peak state and began to welcome the next fight.
The second challenger to step onto the battle stage was a green-robed elder. He was hunched over, with a face full of wrinkles, and was one hundred and twenty years old. Despite his age, he walked briskly without any signs of senility.
"Yuqing Palace, Liu An." The green-robed elder announced his name.
Zhang Ruochen clasped his hands together and said, "Elder Liu, please."
"In that case, I won't stand on ceremony."
Liu An used a battle sword with ice-cold attributes. As soon as his sword technique was unleashed, it froze the entire battle stage.
The two engaged in fierce combat. On the battle stage, only intersecting figures remained.
With Zhang Ruochen's strength, he could have defeated Liu An within three moves.
However, considering Liu An's advanced age and his status as a renowned elder of the Liangyi Sect, Zhang Ruochen gave him enough face. They fought for thirty moves before Zhang Ruochen used a move called "Heartbreak Plum Blossom" to defeat him.
"Chuanyuan Academy, Han Wu."
"Fire Thunder Academy, Feng Tianlu."
...
Subsequently, seven more challengers stepped onto the battle stage one after another, attacking in succession, but all were defeated by Zhang Ruochen one by one.
At this point, Zhang Ruochen had swept through nine consecutive victories with overwhelming momentum. With his superb Sword Dao realm, he had subdued all the inner disciples and sacred transmission disciples present.
Those contestants assigned to the tenth group had initially felt quite lucky, thinking they had encountered a soft target, but instead, they had hit an iron plate.
Now, they all wore bitter smiles and shook their heads helplessly.
To become an arena master, one truly must be a top-tier expert.
"No wonder Lin Yue was able to defeat Zhao Wuyan in the preliminary rounds. His strength is truly formidable. I, this old man, am far inferior to him." Liu An, who had been defeated by Zhang Ruochen earlier, sighed with a smile.
Liu An was well aware that Lin Yue had deliberately given him face by engaging in dozens more exchanges. Therefore, he had a very good impression of Lin Yue.
Previously, he had only regarded Lin Yue as an opponent, a junior. Now, he rather appreciated Lin Yue and even felt a hint of admiration.
As the sky gradually darkened, flames blazed atop the eighteen bronze pillars on Zhiyu Ling Mountain, forming eighteen giant torches that fully illuminated the four battle stages.
It wasn't until late at night that the battles of the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth groups all came to an end.
Among them, Zhao Wuyan and Lin Yue, with a record of nine wins and zero losses, became the first place in the seventh group and the first place in the tenth group, respectively.
The arena master of the eighth group, Mo Xin, became the first place in his group with a record of eight wins and one loss.
The arena master of the ninth group, Han Zhang, was not so fortunate. He only won seven matches and lost two, becoming the second place in his group.
In the ninth group, another powerful sacred transmission disciple emerged, named "Yang Qi," who became the first place in his group with a record of nine wins and zero losses.
With the finals for today concluded, the next two days would see the finals for the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth groups, ultimately selecting ten group champions.
Those who could become group champions were already top experts who had passed through layers of screening. Even with one final round of challenge matches, the top ten list wouldn't see major changes.
Therefore, today's four group champions—Zhao Wuyan, Mo Xin, Yang Qi, and Lin Yue—were pursued and surrounded by all the disciples. The crowd tightly encircled them, shouting their names.
Surrounded by a group of disciples from the Changsheng Academy, Zhang Ruochen left Zhiyu Ling Mountain.
Xu Changsheng stood on a higher vantage point, gazing at the noisy crowd in the distance. A cold expression appeared on his handsome face as he thought to himself, "Lin Yue's cultivation has improved by another large margin."
"If this person hasn't truly encountered some extraordinary opportunity, then he must be some evil person disguised as Lin Yue. Which situation is it?"
Then, Xu Changsheng's gaze shifted toward the direction where Qi Feiyu had left.
Qi Feiyu had always been extremely cold toward everyone, maintaining a demeanor of keeping people at a distance. But she had only explored the Ancient God Mountain with Lin Yue, and immediately afterward, she became very close with him.
Wasn't that too abnormal?
Could it be that Qi Feiyu also had a problem?
Should he start investigating her first?
Just the strength Lin Yue had displayed was enough to make Xu Changsheng quite wary. Moreover, there was Qi Feiyu, whose strength was even more unfathomable.
"Lin Yue and Qi Feiyu joining forces is quite troublesome. Throughout the entire Liangyi Sect, aside from the Half-Saint Patriarchs, I'm afraid only the Senior Sister, after emerging from seclusion, could suppress them both with certainty." Xu Changsheng's gaze turned sharp.
Even if Xu Changsheng was confident, he wouldn't dare to provoke both of them at the same time.
But without any evidence, Xu Changsheng also didn't dare to disturb the Half-Saint Patriarchs.
If Lin Yue and Qi Feiyu were both innocent, then he would certainly be accused of being jealous of talent and would suffer some degree of punishment.
"It seems I have to go to the Digu Valley to invite the Senior Sister out of seclusion. Once she emerges, even ten Lin Yues and ten Qi Feiyus combined wouldn't be a match for her."
"Shua!"
Xu Changsheng's body flickered, and he immediately disappeared from Zhiyu Ling Mountain. At top speed, he arrived outside a red valley.
Digu Valley was a barren valley where nothing grew. Within a radius of a hundred miles, everything was red sand and stones.
Because the ground was extremely hot, when Xu Changsheng's feet stepped on it, a "chi chi" sound immediately arose, as if his shoes were about to catch fire.
If one observed carefully, they would even notice wisps of flame rising from underground, making the temperature in the air higher than that of boiling water.
"Hua!"
Flames surged out from the valley like a torrent, continuously piling up and coalescing into a giant as tall as a mountain. It looked down at Xu Changsheng below and said, "Xu Changsheng, why do you disturb my secluded cultivation?"
The voice was extremely deep, like thunder exploding, indistinguishable between male and female.
Xu Changsheng stood beneath the flame giant. In comparison, his body was only the size of a grain of rice. The scene was like an ant standing before a giant.
Xu Changsheng knew that the flame giant before him was the Senior Sister's Dharma form, and he was naturally filled with awe. Sweat dripped down his face like raindrops.
He quickly bowed and paid his respects, then reported in detail the matters concerning Lin Yue and Qi Feiyu.
After a long while, the flame giant seemed to mutter to itself, "With the cultivation of the fourth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, to be able to ascend the second level of the Ancient God Mountain—this person's talent is quite remarkable."
"What's even more commendable is that he can cultivate Sword One to the ninth level, showing the potential of a Sword Saint. I didn't expect that after only a year of seclusion, such an outstanding talent would emerge within the sect."