Chapter 683: Sunlight at the Summit of the Third Mountain
Zhang Ruochen stood beneath the stone wall, holding the Gushui Sword in his hand. He pointed the blade at the "Heaven" character above and to his left, saying, "Let's fight! For this final attempt at the trial, we'll test our sword paths and see who is truly stronger."
That character flew out, transforming into a human silhouette. Holding a war sword with both hands, it descended from midair and slashed down toward Zhang Ruochen's head.
In an instant, the scenery around Zhang Ruochen seemed to vanish completely. All he could see were walls of wind rising on all sides, enveloping his body entirely.
Above his head, a massive war sword, carrying the momentum of splitting heaven and earth, came crashing down as if it intended to cleave the very ground in two.
"Just a mere wisp of sword intent, and you think you can suppress me?"
Zhang Ruochen swung his sword horizontally, unleashing a long streak of sword energy that shattered the wall of wind directly in front of him.
Immediately, the surrounding scene reappeared. He was still at the foot of the Third Mountain, and nothing had changed.
The only difference was that the guardian had already attacked, reaching just above his head.
"Sword One!"
Zhang Ruochen gripped his sword with both hands, his body and the blade merging as one, transforming into a white rainbow that shot upward. With a sharp, piercing momentum, he actively struck at the guardian.
With a thunderous crash, the two swords collided, unleashing a dense web of sword energy that surged in all directions.
Moments later, Zhang Ruochen plummeted rapidly toward the ground. His legs sank into the earth up to his knees, surrounded by a network of fine cracks.
Then, the guardian also fell.
But he fell horizontally, crashing to the ground with a heavy thud, smashing a human-shaped crater into the earth. At the center of the guardian's chest was a bowl-sized hole, from which a vast amount of holy light radiated.
Soon after, the guardian's body dissolved into specks of light, reforming into a single character that imprinted itself back onto the stone wall.
"Trial, passed."
A deep, resonant voice echoed from within the stone wall.
The burly man witnessing this was quite astonished. He had sensed that Lin Yue might win this time, but he hadn't expected Lin Yue to kill the guardian with a single sword strike.
He even began to suspect that when Lin Yue had first attempted the trial, he might have deliberately pretended to be weak.
Otherwise, how could anyone improve so dramatically in just a few hours?
"Clap! Clap!"
The burly man clapped his hands and said, "Truly a sword prodigy. You've opened my eyes. But I'm curious—since you could easily defeat the guardian, why did you fight three rounds?"
Zhang Ruochen sheathed the Gushui Sword, glanced at the burly man, and said, "All I can tell you is that I gave my all in every trial. But people can improve, while the guardian remains only as strong as it is."
In truth, it wasn't surprising that Zhang Ruochen could defeat the guardian with a single strike.
Although the guardian had cultivated Sword One to the ninth level, his sword path realm was only at the mid-stage of Sword Heart Illumination. Zhang Ruochen's sword path realm had already reached the high stage of Sword Heart Illumination.
When Zhang Ruochen first attempted the trial, he lacked experience fighting against top-tier sword cultivators, which put him at a disadvantage. As a result, he lost after just over a hundred exchanges.
During his second attempt, Zhang Ruochen fought the guardian for two thousand exchanges, accumulating combat experience while also searching for the guardian's weaknesses.
The guardian's weakness?
The guardian's greatest flaw was that it wasn't a real person—it was merely a wisp of sword intent. As such, it only knew how to attack and defend, lacking adaptability, or at least being very slow to adapt.
It was precisely because Zhang Ruochen had identified this weakness, combined with the fact that he was inherently stronger than the guardian, that he achieved a one-hit kill.
Zhang Ruochen had no intention of explaining the reasoning to the burly man. He simply uttered that casual remark before stepping onto the mountain path and beginning his ascent of the Third Mountain.
At the summit of the Third Mountain lay the Sword Pavilion, the sacred site revered and admired by sword cultivators across the world.
Zhang Ruochen naturally held great expectations for the Sword Pavilion as well.
"People can improve, while the guardian remains only as strong as it is. Hmm, that does make some sense."
The burly man glanced at Zhang Ruochen's retreating figure, smiled faintly, and then began climbing the Third Mountain himself, keeping a moderate distance behind Zhang Ruochen, curious to see how far he could go.
As expected, the second trial halfway up the mountain didn't pose a challenge for Zhang Ruochen.
After passing the second trial, he continued his ascent, needing only to withstand the "momentum" of the Third Mountain to reach the summit.
Like the first two mountains, the Third Mountain was also nine thousand meters tall, but the "momentum" it emitted was several times stronger than that of the Second Mountain.
Even with Zhang Ruochen's willpower, resisting it was incredibly difficult.
When Zhang Ruochen reached a height of seven thousand meters, he felt a sharp pain in his eardrums, and a constant buzzing sound echoed in his mind.
Now, every step upward felt like adding ten thousand jin of weight to his body. His bones emitted cracking sounds, and his spine kept bending as if it were about to snap.
Forced to stop, Zhang Ruochen sat cross-legged on the ground and began circulating the *Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture*, trying to neutralize the power of the "momentum."
Just then, Zhang Ruochen noticed that the burly man was still following behind, stopping about thirty zhang below him.
"This person can resist the momentum of the Third Mountain so easily. Could he be a Half-Saint?"
But then Zhang Ruochen shook his head.
The burly man's cultivation was indeed unfathomable, but he hadn't cultivated a holy soul, which meant he was still at the Fish-Dragon Realm.
What Zhang Ruochen didn't know was that the burly man was even more astonished.
"This kid is incredible. With only the fifth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, he can reach seven thousand meters on the Third Mountain. I think I only reached this height at the fifth transformation too. Could it be that at the same cultivation level, his willpower rivals mine?"
From childhood to adulthood, the burly man had always been the most outstanding among his peers, leaving the second-best far behind in the dust.
But now, someone had emerged who could compete with him at the same cultivation level, which naturally stirred his competitive spirit.
"Let's see just how far you can go." The burly man wore an ambiguous expression, then sat cross-legged as well, waiting patiently.
Over the next few hours, Zhang Ruochen would climb about a hundred meters, then stop to rest. Once he adapted to the pressure of the "momentum," he would continue upward.
After three hours, Zhang Ruochen finally reached the eight-thousand-meter mark.
The burly man's expression gradually grew serious.
From then on, every step Zhang Ruochen took upward made the burly man's face heavier. Because each step meant that, at the same cultivation level, the gap between him and Zhang Ruochen was widening.
The burly man was a proud and fiercely competitive individual, finding it hard to accept that someone could surpass him in any aspect.
"Is he really that good?" The burly man wanted to compete with Zhang Ruochen, but considering that his own cultivation had already reached the peak of the ninth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, he held back.
Winning with the ninth transformation would be meaningless.
From day to night.
From night to dawn, as the sun rose.
When the sun rose again, Zhang Ruochen finally took the last step and reached the summit of the Third Mountain.
At this moment, his Daoist robe was completely soaked with blood and sweat. Blood trickled from his ears, nose, eyes, and mouth, making him look quite ferocious.
It was hard to imagine the astonishing pain he had endured, using his extraordinary willpower to climb unwaveringly to the top, standing at a position that countless people could only look up to.
Climbing the Third Mountain was indeed agonizing, but if one didn't endure such pain, how could they be the first to see the rising sun?
Zhang Ruochen took a deep breath, spread his arms, and completely relaxed. He let the warm sunlight bathe him, savoring the moment. "What a wonderful feeling."
As he circulated his technique and absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the pain in his body gradually faded, replaced by an unprecedented sense of comfort.
"This guy..."
The burly man also reached the summit, looking at Zhang Ruochen not far away, unsure of what to say.
Zhang Ruochen suddenly opened his eyes, glanced at the burly man, and could no longer suppress his curiosity. He asked, "Who exactly are you?"
The burly man replied, "Can't you guess?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "As far as I know, only Gai Tianjiao in the entire Liangyi Sect has the ability to reach the summit of the Third Mountain at the Fish-Dragon Realm. But I know you can't possibly be Gai Tianjiao."
"Why can't I be Gai Tianjiao?" The burly man chuckled, looking quite relaxed and natural.
"Although I've never met Gai Tianjiao, I've heard many legends about her. I know she's a woman—and an exceptionally beautiful one at that," Zhang Ruochen said.
The burly man looked quite pleased, nodding. "Gai Tianjiao is the foremost of the Four Beauties of Liangyi Sect, naturally extremely beautiful. If you praised her a bit more, she might think highly of you."
Seeing that the burly man was unwilling to reveal his name, Zhang Ruochen stopped pressing and walked straight to the third sacred spring.
Since the burly man was standing nearby, if Zhang Ruochen used his space ring to collect the sacred spring, he would definitely be discovered.
But if he only collected a small gourd of the sacred spring, its help for his sword path would be limited.
In the end, Zhang Ruochen decided to cultivate by the third sacred spring, aiming to break through to the tenth level of Sword One's Great Perfection.
He sat cross-legged beside the spring and drank the first gourd of sacred spring water.
"Splash!"
In his Qi Sea, the three rivers of sword intent surged rapidly around the Sword Intent Heart, producing a thunderous roar like a mighty river in flood. But the sound only echoed inside Zhang Ruochen's body; cultivators outside couldn't hear it.
After absorbing the first gourd of sacred spring, Zhang Ruochen's injuries fully healed. The scabs on his body fell off, revealing skin as delicate as a newborn's, as if he had undergone a rebirth.
After drinking the second gourd of sacred spring, Zhang Ruochen began practicing his sword techniques on the summit of the Third Mountain.
As he digested the power of the sacred spring and honed his swordsmanship, he sought to comprehend the true essence of Sword One.
When he drank the third gourd of sacred spring, the speed of his sword techniques gradually slowed, but each move and stance became more exquisite. The trajectory of his sword seemed to align with some rule of heaven and earth, greatly increasing its power.
At that moment, a middle-aged Daoist priest walked out of the Sword Pavilion.
He had a green beard, a refined appearance, and held a purple clay teapot in his hand. Strolling leisurely, he approached the burly man.
His gaze fixed on Zhang Ruochen, who was practicing his sword techniques. Raising his eyebrows, he said, "Not bad. Another sword prodigy has emerged within the sect, reaching the summit of the Third Mountain on his own and arriving outside the Sword Pavilion. Tianjiao, who is this kid?"