Dual Sword God - Chapter 69: Ten Thousand Cloudy Corpse Formation

The darkness descended, and the world grew gloomy.

The dark clouds blanketing the sky started to release clusters of ghostly auras that formed a massive green barrier cage, which covered all beings below the ancient golden door floating above the Chosen Battle Arena.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha!..." a mixture of sinister laughs echoed throughout the region, as beams upon beams of eerie green lights shot from within the dark clouds, quickly surrounding the practitioners and major influences. Looking closely, one would see thousands upon thousands of pale looking corpses inside of each beams of light giving off a ghostly aura.

The surrounded practitioners and influences who saw this scene became filled with fear, as they realized that all paths for escape had been cut off and the auras radiating from the Cloudy Ghostly Corpse Army was above that of standard practitioners.

"Damn! How could this go unnoticed? Where is Fei Tian?! Why haven't I been given any information regarding this scenario? Fei Tan! Where are ---" as Xuan Lie was about to lose his mind, he started to bark towards his subordinates as he searched for his right-hand man. However, his words instantly became halted as a voice came from within the sea of Cloudy Ghostly Corpses before him.

"He He He He! Your Excellency, Fei Tan is here!" as the voice said this, a skinny old figure could be seen making his way from within this sea of ghosts.

As he saw his subordinate a look of rage was on Xuan Lie's face. However, his expression soon became one filled with shock as the skinny old figure before him was pale, his body had strands of death qi and his eyes glowed with the same eerie green light as the gathered ghostly corpses, only, this light was even stronger compared to many of others.

"Fie Tan, what... what's going on here?" Xuan Lie said in a flustered voice as he started the now transformed Fei Tan.

Hearing this Fei Tan smiled eerily as he responded. "Lost your ability to reason? It's simple, I have been reborn into a new being. The Masters had seen my gifts and have blessed me with enlightened transformation. Xuan Lie, if you submit now I may be able to save your life just like I did with your beloved concubine, but the rest of you will be offered as sacrifices."

"What did you do to Yan'er?! " Xuan Lie shouted as he looked at Fei Tan in anger, but before he could do anything there was a commotion.

As the crowd heard Fie Tan's previous words they became filled with anger, as one practitioner rushed out like a ray of light traveling at high speeds leaving weaker practitioners unable to catch his trail.

"Bastard! I'd like to see how you're going to offer us as sacrificed when your dead!" said the blurry figure as he launched an attack with a powerful aura of True Foundation Realm.

Fei Tan sneered as he saw this individual assaulting him, he casually waved his hand and a few special looking corpses among the sea of ghost corpse quickly rushed out and surrounded him.

Bang!

The instant these Cloudy Ghost Corpses surrounded the practitioner, the powerful warrior battle qi of a Warrior Realm erupted from their bodies quickly crushing the True Foundation Realm expert.

"Argh!.." the practitioner cried out as his body was minced to pieces by the warrior battle qi of the Cloudy Ghost Corpses.

After a while, the ten Cloudy Ghostly Corpses made their way towards Fei Tan as they stood in a formation before the thousands of cloudy ghost corpses that now block out the sky. Strands of green chains could be seen on each of these corpses that attached to certain sections of the massive barrier cage.

"Shit! Ten!... Ten Warrior Realm corpses!" a fairly strong rogue practitioner exclaimed in shock as he looked at the ten special corpses that stood beside Fei Tan.

"This isn't good, what to do?" an individual said as he began to panic.

Xun Yanshan frowned as he saw this scene and spoke. "Dammit! Even with all of the influences gathered here, we'd only have a 40% chance. What's happening in Machen Town? Why did the group not send any messages?"

Xuan Lie looked at Fei Tan with anger, as he glanced around at the sea of corpses and then finally resting his gaze on Mistress Xuan Yan, seeing her among the group as an ordinary Cloudy Ghostly Corpse a gleam of sadness shone in his eyes.

"What are you doing? Hurry an kill the humans! Accomplish the task given to you or you will suffer a painful punishment!" Gui Sheng roared as he saw Fei Tan wasting time, his roar carried an oppressive power that shook everyone that was trapped below within the formation barrier.

Fei Tan hearing this had a look of fear in his eyes as he quickly commanded the entire Cloudy Ghostly Corpse Army. "Kill them all!"

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Like a tsunami, the sea of ghostly corpses descended in waves as they rushed towards all of the practitioners. As they saw this scene, each practitioners' eyes became red as they decided to fight an all or nothing battle.

"If we don't fight them now, all that awaits us is death, brothers with me!" said a valiant rogue practitioner as he rushed forwards launching an attack towards the nearest ghostly corpse.

"Kill!" said the remaining practitioners in unison that soon after followed by launching attacks of their own.

KABOOM! Terrifying energy fluctuations rang out as a bloody battle soon followed, the qi of the death began to fill the area as many of the practitioners became new corpses due to the assault, sadly, only a small amount of the ghostly corpses were destroyed due to their terrifying recovery ability or so it seemed...

Instantly, all of the small amount corpses that were broken to pieces glowed in an eerie light that came from the barrier chains connected to their bodies, quickly they floated in the air and started to reconstruct themselves.

The woman in white who was blocked by Gui Trio knitted her brows as she saw this scene, she looked at the two individual beside her and spoke.

"Jing Yi, Jing Er! We have to break that formation bellow quickly attack it together with me!" said the woman in white as she stretched her hand down towards the barrier to attack.

"Yes, Young Lady Mingyun!" replied Jing Yi and Jing Er as they also prepared to assault the barrier, sadly though, they would never be able to get that chance.

Sou! Sou! Sou!

Instantly, Gui Sheng launched an assault towards the woman in white interrupting her, Gui Sheng looked at the woman in white and licked his lips while speaking. "We can't have you interrupting our formation now, can we? Emm. Such a pity, a beauty of your standard has to die today, Mei, Zi, attack those two in white prevent them from reaching the barrier leave this woman to me!"

"He He! Fine! Fine!" said Gui Mei as she spookily assaulted one of the white guards pushing their battle towards a distant location, Gui Zi also followed after with the other white guard pushing him away from the barrier.

"Beauty, now it's just me and you, let's dance!" said Gui Sheng as he channeled his True Soul energies, the powers of the world started to gather around his form causing his ghostly aura to rise sharply.

Swoosh!

Within moments he flew to the distant part of the sky, as the woman in white left with no choice followed after him both standing in the air as if it was the ground beneath their feet.

"Hmph! While your race maybe special unaffected by most means, there are some techniques that no beings can resist." the woman in white snorted as she waved her hands causing the space before her to tremble, quickly a circular runic diagram formed before her that glowed with complex runes and a strange power began to fill air.

"Eternal Fate Wheel!" she said in an indifferent voice as the diagram of runes started to expand reaching a scale of 1000 meters, rays of bright white lights shot from the wheel that beamed towards Gui Sheng causing his ethereal body to congeal into a semi-real form. These rays were strange as they followed now pattern as if they were capable of breaking through all things.

"Fate Dao Truth Strands, how troublesome!" said Gui Sheng as he drew upon the power of his Ghostly Dao to counter-attack, quickly a large green skull covered his entire body which expanded to about the same size of the <Eternal Fate Wheel> before shooting towards the incoming white lights.

BOOM! Following the collision of two Dao's Truth strands, terrifying ripples of energies scattered about a distant area of the sky as clusters of clouds separated away from each other spanning for a few kilometers.

As they sensed the battles occurring far away from them, a feeling of even greater fear came upon the faces of trapped practitioners and major influences.

"Shit! If it continues like this we won't be able to survive, this formation must be destroyed, but how?..." Xun Yanshan said as he looked carefully around at the corpses and barrier, soon he noticed that all of the chains connected to a central section of the barrier that gave off an odd fluctuation when inspected with his spiritual sense.

As he saw this a light gleamed in his eyes as he shouted.

"Break the chains that bind these corpses at the central core of the formation barrier!" Xun Yanshan roared as his powerful warrior battle qi of high-level Warrior Realm erupted from his body, his feet pressed hard against the platform as he lunged towards the sea of corpses displaying a profound set of movement techniques.

Within a few meters of the approaching corpse horde, he then struck his palm out releasing a blast of warrior battle qi that decimated over a hundred different corpses quickly making his way through the gap created as he soared towards the core of the barrier.

The man from the Midnight Temple and the elder from the Southern Revolution Faction seeing his movements also launched attacks of their own, as the man from the Midnight Temple tuned onto a groups of leaves that shredded all corpses along their path and the man from Southern Revolution Faction became shrouded by semi-transparent golden armor radiating invisible might that broke apart all in its path.

The elders from the empire influences and affiliate kingdoms also made their moves, each destroying dozens of corpses as they also rushed towards the barrier core.

Fei Tan seeing this frowned as he commanded the ten Warrior Realms corpses that stood by his side. "The four of you will take down the four Warrior Realm practitioners from those four empire influences" as he said this he pointed towards the leaders of Seven Blade Mercenaries, Blood Rose Union, Dark Sky Pavilion, Rain Sword Sect.

Sou! Sou! Sou!

Promptly, four of the special ghostly corpses transformed into ghostly shades and intercepted those individuals, Fei Tan then looked towards the Tang Clan, Xin Clan, and Western Sheng Imperial Clan as he commanded. "You three! Kill those individuals as well!" following his voice, three more of the cloudy ghost corpse rushed and intercepted their targets.

Finally, he looked at the remaining three corpses with a profound gaze as he spoke softly. "You three will handle that 'task', remember, cannot fail the masters' plans. I will handle the tree high-level Warrior Realm nuisances." as he said this, the final three corpses slowly faded away into the void as they traveled to a different place. He then skimmed his vision over Xuan Lie who was glaring at him as if he was ready to fight the final battle.

"Fei Tan, do you know what you've done?" Xuan Lie said in an icy tone, his powerful low-level Warrior Realm battle qi erupted from his body.

"What's their not to do? I simply took the better bargain and have gained considerable benefits, as for you.." as Fei Tan said this, his powerful warrior battle qi also erupted shocking Xuan Lie once more.

"You're!--" as Xuan was about to exclaim with surprise, Fei Tan responded. "That's right! I am now peak-level Warrior Realm while I may not be as strong as the masters. I am more powerful than anyone gathered here, as such, I will not be wasting my time battling trash like you. He He He! There are others who can do that! Farewell now, Old King..." as Fei Tan said this, his figure blurred as he moved like a phantom to intercept Xun Yanshan, the man from the Midnight Temple and the Southern Revolution Faction Elder.

"Fei Tan! Even if you became a god I will still be the one to kill you!" as he said this he rushed after Fei Tan's form at maximum speed, a pity, however, a group of familiar looking individuals suddenly blocked his path.

As he saw these individuals Xuan Lie's eyes widened with disbelief...

True Martial World - Chapter 234: The Rookie competition’s last two days

The rookie ranking competition carried on over the next few days!

This rookie ranking competition was the most grand one seen in the past twenty years of the Tai Ah Divine City's history. It could be said that it was filled with experts!

Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran entered the top 3000 on the second day of the ranking matches. This was indeed a result to be proud of.

In addition, the man from a humble background, Gu Mu, managed to gather attention after suddenly surprising everyone in his first match, which ended with him entering the top 4500.

Although it was worse than Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran’s result, it was still a result that left many rookies in the dust.

Because of this new ranking, Gu Mu was ranked third amongst the rookies.

As for the Yi Yun who was more famous than Gu Mu, he had not appeared until today.

The rookie ranking competition lasted for ten days.

The first four days were for the rookies to challenge one another. It was mostly for the average rookies to rank themselves amongst each other; mainly for those ranked over 10,000.

From the fifth day onwards, elites like Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran began climbing up the Earth rankings.

According to the competition rules, a person could take part in up to twelve matches a day. But these twelve battles only referred to the limit of the number of challenges one could receive a day.

If one wanted to challenge others, one could only issue two challenges a day!

Typically, when rookies climbed up the Earth rankings, the common practice was to gradually move up, rising up the rankings bit by bit. After all, this was the first time the rookies were climbing up the Earth rankings. They had to slowly battle it out and compare their own strength to the veteran cultivators’ strength as they slowly made their way up.

Typically, rookies who aimed to enter the top 6000 would begin in the top 8000. By doing so, they got used to the battle styles of the veteran cultivators,while gaining experience at the same time..

In six days, one could challenge others twelve times. It was sufficient for deciding their overall ranking.

As for the final result for the rookie rankings, it was calculated through this method.

Every rookie would be ranked according to the Earth ranking they would get in their battle history. The higher one ranked, the higher they would be ranked amongst the rookies. If the rookies fought between themselves, then the victor would be ranked ahead.

The rules sounded complicated, but they were actually very simple.

If Qiuniu was ranked 2900 on the Earth rankings and Chu Xiaoran was ranked 2800. Even if Chu Xiaoran was to be defeated by someone else on the last day, Chu Xiaoran would still be ranked first amongst the rookies!

But if Qiuniu felt he was stronger than Chu Xiaoran, he could challenge Chu Xiaoran on the last day. If he won, then first place would go to Qiuniu.

These rules were extremely fair. They would also reflect the rookies' ranking in an impartial manner.

If the rookies were to take turns to fight their ranking matches, it would take a lot of time to rank 2000 people. But with the Divine City's ranking rules, a person only needed to partake in slightly more than ten matches.

It was the ninth day of the rookie rankings!

There were only two days left before the end.

The rookie rankings were basically set at this point. There were three rookies who entered the top 5000 of the Earth rankings. There were more than a hundred who entered the top 8000.

As for Yi Yun, he was absent! His ranking was still at 10,003.

Many could not comprehend why he was not present. What was Yi Yun doing?

"What's wrong with Yi Yun? We haven't seen him for days. Could he be set aback by Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran?"

Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran were monsters. After Yi Yun saw their match, he had been absent from the second day onwards. As such, many people made this assumption.

"How could he be this weak? Also, there's no need for Yi Yun to compete with Qiuniu or Chu Xiaoran. He can easily enter the top 5000 of the Earth rankings to vie for third place with Gu Mu. If he were to obtain third place, then the rookie awards he would receive would still make many envious."

People's tongues wagged. It was now the second to last day, yet Yi Yun had not participated in any challenge battles. He had only four challenge chances left. No one knew what he was thinking.

But at that moment, not many were concerned with Yi Yun.

Everyone's attention was focused on Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran. They were all thinking that it would not be surprising if Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran were to battle on the last day!

This battle would decide who was first amongst this batch's rookies!

Just thinking of this battle made many feel excited.

At that moment, in the central divine tower, Elder Jian Ge and the thin old man, who took Yi Yun to the saber tomb to gain insight on the primeval source saber truth, were playing chess.

Both of them were old friends. To people at that level, having a confidant was not easy. Due to their long lifespan, many of their friends and relatives had slowly died of age throughout their long lives. People who could go along with them were few and far between.

"Cang Yan, how's that kid Yi Yun?" Elder Jian Ge casually asked as he placed his chess piece. He had been secretly paying attention to the rookie competition over the past few days.

"Oh, he hasn't come out yet..." The thin old man answered without much thought.

Elder Jian Ge frowned. "He still hasn't come out? How many days has he been in there? For a Purple Blood realm junior to stay in the saber tomb for so long, is he planning to discover something?"

"He's been in there for the past 4-5 days..." The thin old man played with his chess piece and chuckled. "I have been paying attention to him for the past few days. He has been sitting quietly in front of the words bearing the saber truths. Seeing him in that state, I did not call out to him. Speaking of this, I told the kid that he had to pay one glory point per day in the saber tomb. Now that he has stayed in there for that long, I still haven't gotten the remaining glory points from him. He sure lucked out."

"You..." Elder Jian Ge was speechless. "To think that you are still in a mood for joking. This Yi Yun has been sitting in the saber tomb for so long. It's most likely that he has gone astray trying to gain insight. Back then, not even Qin Haotian stayed in the sword tomb for that long."

The words of the saber truth were too profound. For a Purple Blood realm warrior to try to understand them, it would not be a surprise if he gained an incorrect understanding of them.

If someone went too far on this incorrect path, it would adversely affect their future development.

"Cang Yan, quickly bring the kid out. If he has gone astray, correct him. Do not allow him to go astray any further."

Elder Jian Ge had always been concerned about the younger generation.

Many Elders in the Tai Ah Divine City were oblivious to the younger generation that came to the divine city to train. After all, a genius like Qin Haotian only had a 1% chance of becoming a sage.

In the long lives of these Elders, they had gotten accustomed to seeing geniuses. Slowly, they did not pay much attention to them. Only those that became a sage gained their attention.

"Hai, you really are long-winded, but… The rookie ranking competition is about to come to an end. This kid really should come out, if not he will miss it."

With this thought in mind, the thin old man let go of the chess piece and walked towards the saber tomb.

...

At this point, Yi Yun was fully immersed in a trance-like state in the saber tomb.

In Yi Yun's energy vision, line after line of energy light beams circulated. These flowing light beams were like saber beams moving.

In Yi Yun's vision, these words did not look like words, they looked like the slashing and dicing of a saber!

Each saber move's trajectory path was deeply branded in Yi Yun's iris.

In his soul, Yi Yun constantly demonstrated it and imitated it.

By using the words' strokes as saber moves, the energy flow within the words were, faintly, in conjunction with the energy flow within Yi Yun's meridians.

"Every word's stroke has an energy direction. And it's in the same direction as the energy flow in my meridians… It's really magical!" Yi Yun spoke to himself. The person who engraved these words could even inscribe the sutras, that controlled the energy within the meridians, within the words. This method was completely unheard of.

This person had clearly perfected his control over energy and laws. It was no wonder that the first city lord of the Tai Ah Divine City used this person's tomb as an array field for the foundation of the Tai Ah Divine City.

As Yi Yun was having these thoughts, he suddenly heard a "Zha Zha Zha" mechanism sound.

He turned his head, and saw the large bronze door open. Cang Yan was standing by the doorway.

This old man stroked his chin. He was looking at Yi Yun as if Yi Yun was an animal in a cage.

"Kid, do you know how many days you have been in here?" Cang Yan asked.

Yi Yun shook his head, "It can't be that short..."

Over the past few days, Yi Yun had been focused on cultivation. Whenever he was hungry, he ate a bone relic that he had. There was no way of telling the time of day in this ancient tomb; hence, Yi Yun did not know how much time had passed.

"Oh, it's been about four days, not more than five, so… You owe me three glory points. When it comes to it, you will need to pay me back." Cang Yan chuckled.

Yi Yun was shocked because it had been so long!

He really did not think he had been in here for so long!

But over the past few days, Yi Yun had gained a lot. Even if he had to pay the three glory points, it was worth it!

As for the rookie ranking competition, he had been absent for so long. There were only two more days left, which meant he had to rush back.

Yi Yun deeply craved the rewards for the rookie ranking competition.

"Thank you for the senior's reminder!" Yi Yun cupped his hands. The old man was stunned. This kid actually thanked him. Was he going to renegue on those glory points?

"Kid, let me tell you. The ancient tomb's saber truth words leads straight to the primeval source. If you gained any insight, it will let you skyrocket. Your first steps on the martial path will be in front of others. You will not take many detours and will have a great future."

"But… if your level is too low, it will not be easy to gain any insight. In all of these years, this old man has brought many young geniuses into the saber and sword tombs to learn the essence of the saber or sword. But only Qin Haotian was able to gain a tiny understanding of sword intent. Qin Haotian is a natural swordsman. He has extremely high perceptivity with the way of the sword!"

"Kid, you must decide where you stand in your abilities. The things you can understand, do your best in understanding it. If you cannot understand something, do not force it. The road ahead of you is still long. In the future, when you are at a higher level, it will be much easier to study it when you come again."

It was rare for the old man to say such words with such well meant intent.

After Yi Yun heard this, all he said was, "Thank you for the senior's guidance!"

This kid!

Cang Yan stroked his chin. He felt that Yi Yun had a hint of confidence within his eyes!

He was not set aback by the saber truth words, but he gained confidence from them!

For a person with a low level to understand a high level law and even managing to obtain confidence from it, it was not a good sign.

Because most of the time, they should find it very difficult to understand, so how could they have confidence?

Those who had confidence had most likely gone astray, so they thought it was simple!

"Could this kid gone on the wrong path? If he really took the wrong path, then the confidence he has will have the opposite effect later..."

For things that depended on perceptivity, it could only be understood and not explained. Cang Yan was powerless to render assistance. Yi Yun had to rely on himself.

"I can't have caused problems by taking this kid to the saber tomb, right?"

Seeing Yi Yun look so confident, the old man really turned worried. Such people usually were wrong without knowing it.

But Yi Yun had already bidden farewell and walked out of the tomb.

He was rushing to join the rookie ranking competition.

It was now noon of the ninth day of the ranking competition. If Yi Yun wanted to register a challenge battle, he had only four chances left!

"Four chances… It's enough!" With this thought, Yi Yun walked towards the arena...

True Martial World - Chapter 233: Straight to the Primeval Source

Yi Yun sat down cross-legged in front of the wall with the four sentences written on it.

He figured that the old man must have brought him here to take a look at the four lines of words.

This ancient tomb was already empty. Before there were battle sabers, treasures and inheritance buried here, but they were all gone now, and the only thing left behind was the tomb owner's words.

These words were filled with a relentless dominance that was shocking to behold!

"Oh? These words…"

After Yi Yun stared at the four lines for a while, he realized that they contained an inexplicable concept. Each word, each stroke, was shiny, like a saber beam that seemed to break out from the wall! It was as if these words were a display of saber techniques!

Upon discovering this, Yi Yun began focusing his spirit and stared unblinkingly at the four lines.

Each word had a different concept from the other. But when they were combined together, it gave one a consistent and natural feeling.

"I get it!" Yi Yun's eyes lit up. "The person who inscribed these words demonstrated his insight on the saber truths, which he obtained over his entire life!"

"These words may not be a saber technique formula. They are even better than that!"

There was a concept within these words, but Yi Yun could not comprehend it. He could only roughly feel it and try to fathom it. But he was weak when compared to the person who left behind these inscriptions. Although Yi Yun had extraordinary perceptivity, he was unable to gain enlightenment.

"It's so deep…"

Yi Yun knitted his eyebrows. These four lines were like four sets of saber techniques.

Each saber technique had its own saber truths. In Yi Yun's current state, it was just wishful thinking to hope that he could understand everything.

In fact, the old man who brought Yi Yun here did not expect Yi Yun to gain much insight.

But if Yi Yun could gain even a tiny amount of insight into the "truth", it would be extremely beneficial for him!

The road of martial arts was a long path.

This "truth" was the laws of the way. If at the beginning, one could point straight to the primeval source along the long path, then even if traversing the path was filled with difficulties, as long as one could endure it and fully understood it, one could skyrocket, achieving great things!

Of course, those who had no talent would not dare to take this arduous path.

This path was fraught with difficulties and there would be delayed achievements and breakthroughs. At one point in time, one would grow frail with age and they would lose their potential. One could die of old age without reaching the realm of a Human Lord. Then what was the point in cultivating martial arts?

"I guess this old man has high regards for me…" Yi Yun muttered to himself. It cost one glory point to stay in the ancient tomb for one day. It was possible for a person to not gain any insight. So an ordinary person would not risk it.

It was most likely that in every batch of rookies, only figures like Qin Haotian and Luo Huo'er would have the opportunity to enter the tomb!

"I don't think I'm the only person who has entered this ancient tomb. I wonder what people like Qin Haotian learned?"

Yi Yun did not believe that the old man had decided he was a future sage with a glance. It was most likely that he chose people, who were outstanding, to test them in the ancient tomb.

Those who could learn anything could stay behind.

Those who could not learn anything had no choice but to give up.

With this thought in mind, Yi Yun suddenly had an idea. He let his spiritual energy interface with Heaven's eyeball and the Purple Crystal, and then, he opened up his energy vision!

By now, Yi Yun's energy vision was almost perfect. Everything in the world was formed of energy; so in his vision, all the superficial appearances were ignored, leaving behind only the ultimate source!

When Yi Yun used his energy vision to look at the words, Yi Yun was surprised.

"Oh? This is…"

Yi Yun's breathing stagnated. Typically when one engraved words on stone, words were words. There was nothing special with marks on stone.

But these four lines were completely different. In his energy vision, these words were no longer static words, but flowing energy lights.

This astonished Yi Yun. This great person had left behind words that embodied within them laws and yet, the energy had not dissipated after tens of millions of years!

Yi Yun realized that this energy was totally different from the energy of the primordial strain or herbs.

He could control the energy from the primordial strain and herbs with the Purple Crystal and he could absorb them to raise his level.

But the energy within these four lines seemed to be an independent system.

The energy that these words contained was not strong, but it felt primeval.

Primeval energy…

Yi Yun felt that he had been exposed to a lot of things in the short period of the past two hours.

It was like a mysterious door had suddenly opened before him and it was sending a wave of all sorts of primeval truths. Each truth was extremely mysterious and it was coming straight from the primeval source.

It was a pity that he could not completely understand these truths at his current level. It made Yi Yun feel like he had many things to learn, but he was dazzled by it all.

"Take it slow. The road ahead of me is still long. There's no rush."

With this thought, he calmed his mind. He took whatever he could get. He had to start somewhere on that long journey.

As such, Yi Yun began maintaining his energy vision and he began pondering over the saber truths in the four lines.

From the perspective of the naked eye, these words seemed stationary. Although they gave off an illusion of jumping out of the wall, it was still an illusion.

But in the energy vision, it was completely different.

The words were all moving. As they had condensed primeval energy within themselves, they were slowly flowing!

The bright energy light contained an inexplicable philosophy within them. It was as if each flow contained a fundamental law.

Yi Yun soon immersed himself in this view. He fell into a trance and forgot the time of day.

From midnight to daybreak, till noon. The next day’s rookie ranking competition had begun and Yi Yun was absent.

"Oh? Yi Yun didn't come?"

Yi Yun was now a prominent figure. He was noticed everywhere he went. As an important cultivator, he had a special spot in the arena. As such, many people noticed that Yi Yun was absent from the rookie ranking competition.

"Today, Chu Xiaoran and Qiuniu will both be having their own battles. They are already planning to charge into the top 3000. Yet, Yi Yun doesn't want to watch their battles?"

As Chu Xiaoran and Qiuniu were challenging veteran cultivators who were ranked in the top 3000, the atmosphere at today's rookie competition was more intense. Many of the fourth and fifth-year cultivators in the Tai Ah Divine City had come to watch!

The arena which was usually empty due to its large area was now packed, giving off a crowded feeling.

"Yi Yun might not be planning to compete against Chu Xiaoran and Qiuniu. These two are monsters, but… even if Yi Yun doesn't plan on fighting them, he should still show up and watch…"

Many could not comprehend the situation. What was more important than watching Chu Xiaoran and Qiuniu challenge cultivators in the top 3000?

It could even be said that in a few days time, it would become a battle between Chu Xiaoran and Qiuniu!

When that happened, even the entire Tai Ah Divine City would scramble to watch it.

It was impressive that a battle between two rookies could reach such a level.

"The battles are starting soon. For a rookie to enter the Earth ranking's top 3000 in three months, and for there to be two of them, this is probably something that hasn't been seen in the Tai Ah Divine City for the past few decades!"

People were buzzing with activity. They were all looking forward to today's competition.

At that moment, in a spacious room above the 90th floor of the central divine tower, two old men were sitting on chairs. They were looking at a disk array which was depicting the battles happening in the arena. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

One of the two old men was Elder Jian Ge, and the other was the thin old man who brought Yi Yun into the ancient tomb.

"You took Yi Yun to the saber tomb?" Elder Jian Ge asked suddenly.

The old man nodded and said, "Yes… I find this kid a little interesting, he might gain some insights…"

"Might…" Elder Jian Ge knit his eyebrows. "Just because of the word "might", you took him there?"

Elder Jian Ge was obviously displeased with the old man's actions.

"So what? The ancient tomb may be a forbidden ground, but there are certain privileges that still allows one to access it. Besides, even if the kid doesn't gain any insight, he has nothing to lose…"

"Nothing to lose?" Elder Jian Ge shook his head helplessly. “Cang Yan, you always do as you please and do not think it over. It's not like you do not know that the primeval truths inscribed in the saber tomb are too difficult to comprehend. Once it is understood, it would be an excellent achievement!"

"But if one cannot gain any insight, it will be a waste of time! The way of the saber truth is too deep. It can easily cause obsession within a person. What I am afraid of, is that this kid might be too stubborn. Even after failing, he does not know when to stop. At that point, he would be wasting his time and energy."

Time was too precious for young talents.

As for these talents, they were mostly arrogant and determined. This was generally a good thing, but there were times where it could be a bad thing.

A determined young genius might be mesmerized by the truth of the primeval source.

Even if one stopped him, he would always think about those words as if he was possessed.

At that point, one could not stop him, but neither would stopping him be right. Based on a person's perceptivity, it would be a waste of precious time if one ended up not figuring out anything!

There were many cases like this in the Tai Ah Divine City. There were even some geniuses who spent their whole lives trying to figure it out, but they only ended up feeling more and more bitter about it. Eventually, their lives were wasted away. Hence, the Tai Ah Divine City took the ancient tomb very seriously. It was not easily opened so they could prevent accidental access.

But this Cang Yan was erratic. Whoever he found 'interesting', he would take him to the ancient tomb. He was practically harming them!

"Old freak, all sorts of geniuses come to the Tai Ah Divine City for training. It's normal to die, yet you are always so careful. How would you nurture a real expert, like a sage? You may object to my actions, but just a few years ago, I brought that little rascal, Qin Haotian in there, and he gained something."

Qin Haotian was a swordsman. The left of the two chambers in the Tai Ah ancient tomb was the chamber of saber truth, while the right chamber was the chamber of sword truth. Of course, Qin Haotian went into the sword truth chamber.

It was a mystery who left behind the words in both chambers.

Elder Jian Ge shook his head, "Qin Haotian was an exception. He was born for the sword. He is almost one with the sword. Qin Haotian almost cannot leave his sword and he can only use a sword. You cannot expect everyone to be like him. As for Yi Yun, he might not be a person who has to use a saber."

True Martial World - Chapter 232: The way of the saber

Yi Yun followed the old man down a dark passageway. After turning the corner around a staircase, he entered a dark walkway which led underground.

There were everlasting lamps hanging on both sides of the walkway, but the light from these lamps was not warm. On the contrary, gust after gust of cold wind blew through the depths of the walkway.

The old man's pace wasn't slow, but the walkway was extremely long. After walking for almost thirty minutes, they had covered a distance of almost four kilometers.

Finally, the old man stopped and said, "Here we are."

The wind was even more chilling here. With a blow of the cold wind, the everlasting lamps flickered, dimming and brightening.

The old man slowly turned his body. At the end of the passage, there were two large bronze doors. On their surfaces, there were carvings of an unknown primordial behemoth. The behemoth carvings contained an inexplicable abstraction within them that made one feel distraught when they looked at them.

"It's in here!" The old man said as he rolled up his sleeves. He pushed the left bronze door with all his strength.

"Zha Zha Zha…"

With the sound of contraptions being activated, the bronze door slowly opened.

The door was extremely heavy and thick. As the metal shaft rotated, the entire walkway began to tremor due to the sudden change in weight.

For some unknown reason, Yi Yun felt that the old man was not pushing a door, but a thick tombstone.

After the old man pushed the door open, he held the door open with one hand and said, "That was heavy! I've finally opened it. You can go in now…"

The old man pointed to the interior. Yi Yun hesitated and just as he was about to take a step, he suddenly felt a chill rush toward him, which caused his hair to stand up on end as he felt unease!

Killing intent!

Oh!?

Yi Yun was alarmed. It was as if there was a terrifying existence beyond this door.

What kind of door did this old man open?

"Kid, what are you standing around for? You do not dare enter?" the old man asked casually.

Yi Yun was surprised, "Senior, what is this place?"

"What place is this? Hehe…" The old man laughed sinisterly. "This is an ancient tomb."

"Tomb!?" Yi Yun was flabbergasted. "A grave!? Could this be the resting place of some forefather of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom?"

"You have so many questions," said the old man as he waved his hand impatiently. But with some deliberation, he said, "Actually…there is no harm in telling you this…Do you know why the Tai Ah Divine City was built here?"

The old man answered Yi Yun’s question with another question. Yi Yun began thinking. He originally believed that the reason behind building the Tai Ah Divine City at this location was by randomly choosing a spot in the Divine Wilderness that had a spiritual pulse thick in Heaven Earth Yuan Qi, which would allow the elites from the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom to train here.

But now, from the old man's words, it seemed like that that was not the case.

Yi Yun shook his head and confessed, "I do not know."

The old man patted the bronze door that was already opened and said, "The Tai Ah Divine City was built here because of this ancient tomb! The owner of this tomb is not a forefather of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, but someone else. In fact, this ancient tomb existed at least a few million years before the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom was established!"

The old man's answer took Yi Yun aback. This ancient tomb predated the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom by so many years!

The old man carried on, "As for who the owner of the tomb is, there's no way of verifying who it is. When the first city lord of the Tai Ah Divine City found this ancient tomb, it had already been opened. The funerary items, inheritance and the corpse had long disappeared!"

"But the ancient tomb's array field still existed! There were many ancient array inscriptions in the ancient tomb. The founding city lord of the Tai Ah Divine City used the ancient tomb's array field as a foundation to build up the Tai Ah Divine City's large array!"

"All these years, the Tai Ah Divine City has been gathering Heaven Earth Yuan Qi. A portion of it is used to nourish the ancient tomb's array field. If this array field is stabilized, the Tai Ah Divine City would be indestructible!"

After hearing the old man's words, Yi Yun finally understood. Having stood in the Divine Wilderness for tens of millions of years, the Tai Ah Divine City would inevitably suffer attacks from beast hordes!

A typical beast horde would be courting death if they attacked the Tai Ah Divine City. But if a large number of primordial strains attacked, then the Tai Ah Divine City would face tremendous pressure. With the ancient tomb's array field present, it allowed the Tai Ah Divine City to stand firmly!

"Go in. Kid, you sure lucked out!" The old man pushed Yi Yun towards the tomb.

Yi Yun had a strange feeling. According to the old man, this ancient tomb was an important spot in the Tai Ah Divine City; yet the old man could bring him here. It revealed how extraordinary the old man's status was.

"Senior…Since the tomb has been cleared by others, then what is there for me to do inside?"

Even before Yi Yun could finish, the old man had pushed him into the tomb. "Kid, in the ancient tomb, there are two chambers. The left chamber is related to sabers! Do well at comprehending the insight from it. It's a great opportunity! There are many treasures in the Tai Ah Divine City. It all depends if you have the ability to obtain it!"

After the old man finished his sentence, he pressed on the bronze door. With a "Zha Zha Zha" sound, he closed the tomb's door.

Yi Yun was now in a completely sealed space.

Seeing the door close, Yi Yun's heart thumped. Was this old man not afraid that the mechanisms would turn faulty? The door's weight was terrifying, there was absolutely no way that Yi Yun could push it open.

The tomb chamber was now completely isolated from the outside world.

Yi Yun sized up the tomb chamber. The tomb chamber was not large and it was about ten meters wide.

There were everlasting lamps on all four walls, allowing him to see clearly.

In the middle of the chamber, there was a sarcophagus. The sarcophagus was already opened, and the lid had already disappeared. It was obvious that the sarcophagus was empty.

Yi Yun took a look inside and gasped slightly.

The sarcophagus was not as empty as Yi Yun had expected. There was a thick metal plate with a long indentation through the middle. The indentation was about five foot long. It was as if something was embedded within it originally.

After Yi Yun sized it up, he was shocked.

It looked like the shape of a saber!

A saber was originally placed within the indentation!

Maybe this sarcophagus was not used to bury a person but a saber!

But now, the saber was gone, leaving behind a saber sarcophagus.

A pity!

Yi Yun sighed. If the saber was left behind, it was clearly a great treasure! If it was possible, he wanted to see how awesome the saber was!

"I really do not know what sort of person the tomb owner is. Back when the founding city lord built the Tai Ah Divine City, he had to use the tomb's array field to reinforce the divine city. This meant that the founding city lord of the Tai Ah Divine City could not set up such an array field!"

"With this hypothesis, then the owner of the tomb was even more capable than the Tai Ah Divine City's first city lord!" Yi Yun had mixed feelings upon reaching this conclusion. There were too many peerless experts in this world. There was no limit in the universe.

"What did the old man bring me here for…This sarcophagus is empty…" As Yi Yun knitted his eyebrows, he suddenly noticed something. With the light from the everlasting lamp, he found a few marks on the walls of the chamber!

Each mark was extremely sharp, as though they were carved by a saber!

It was a saber scar!

There were four saber scars!

And below each saber scar, there were words written on the wall!

Seeing these words, Yi Yun was momentarily overjoyed. Could this be some peerless saber technique's mantra formula?

Yi Yun rushed to see if there were anything else on the wall, but after searching, he was slightly disappointed. There were not enough words for it to be a mantra formula.

With a glance, the words underneath first saber scar said–

‘The saber truth, pressing forward with an indomitable will!’

The words underneath the second saber scar said–

‘The emperor amongst weapons, reigning supreme.’

The words underneath the third saber scar said–

‘The son of Heaven's aura, killing at its core.’’

And the words underneath the fourth saber scar said–

‘With an invincible mind, invincible in all other aspects!’

The four sentences were short, but there was an indescribable quality in each of them. Yi Yun felt his blood rush after reading them.

The saber truth?

Yi Yun had obtained the Thousand Army Saber early on. He had always been using this saber, but he only used it as a handy weapon. He had never considered what the way of the saber was.

The Thousand Army Saber actually looked like a sword. Its blade was long and nearly straight.

But, it had an essential difference from a sword.

A sword was nimble, elegant and mutable.

Lin Xintong's swordplay was biased towards nimbleness and elegance. When she stabbed with her sword, it was like a fairy was born. As for Chu Xiaoran, she was biased towards the mutability of sword moves. Her sword was soft like water and her swordplay was unpredictable.

However, a saber was different.

Nimbleness and mutability were not qualities of a saber.

The way of the saber was to be an absolute authority under the heavens with its sharpness!

The saber was the emperor among the weapons. With a slash of the saber, there was no end in sight, reigning supreme across the world!

The core of the saber was the reveling in killing.

Being decisive in killing, while killing all!

With such a stance, one's mind was invincible, causing one to be unmatchable in the whole world!

True Martial World - Chapter 231: Sword Scar Palace

A cold breeze blew through the Tai Ah Divine City deep into the night, covering the city in snow once again.

It had snowed twice during the past few days of the rookie ranking competition.

In a city like the Tai Ah Divine City, it had layers upon layers of arrays. Once the arrays were initiated, they would allow the whole city to experience the warmth of spring throughout the entire year. However, this was a great waste of energy and there was no reason to do so. The Yuan Qi gathered within the Tai Ah Divine City arrays were instead supplied to the warriors for cultivation.

Yi Yun walked along the streets. Every time he stepped onto the snow, the compacted snow would tremble and make a crunching sound.

There were rows of houses with unsophisticated ambiances on both sides of the street.

Yi Yun kept on recalling the battles that happened in the day.

There was no doubt that both Chu Xiaoran and Qiuniu possessed outstanding capabilities. Most importantly, each of them had their own characteristics and strengths.

Chu Xiaoran had gained insight into a law, while Qiuniu had his strong body…

Between the two of them, in their own respective aspects, they were so strong that they made others feel helpless to the point of losing confidence!

Of course, Yi Yun was not lacking in confidence. Chu Xiaoran and Qiuniu may be strong, but Yi Yun still had the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique'.

But the problem was…

The 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' could not be considered a strength of Yi Yun.

The 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' was strong and the warriors who mastered the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' could easily beat warriors with average cultivation techniques. They could even battle people who were a few levels above them and it would still be as easy as eating and drinking.

But… the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' could not be considered to be a 'specialty'!

The 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' could suppress others through its absolute power. But if they were to face someone who also cultivated the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique', or someone whose 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' level was higher than their own, such as Qin Haotian, then they would lose all the advantages that the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' gave them. What mattered then would be a competition amongst their other aspects.

The other aspects included competing in terms of strength, laws, speed or battle experience…

What was his competitive advantage? What did he have that allowed him to beat Qin Haotian?

He would most likely lose even at the same level!

Yi Yun suddenly realized that his battle power was far too weak. Besides the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' and the large success stage of Minute Subtlety, he had no other competitive advantages.

Yi Yun had great ambition. If a typical warrior were to master the legendary 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' in a short period of time, they would be so excited that they would lose themselves, but Yi Yun felt that it was still insufficient. He needed to strengthen every aspect of himself. He wanted to be an all-rounded person without any weaknesses!

Such as… saber techniques!

Yi Yun's saber techniques had always been weak. In fact, he had no saber techniques at all.

The saber moves that were derived from the 'Nine Mysterious Swords of Heaven' technique were nothing in front of an expert.

With this thought in mind, Yi Yun started walking towards a new direction. He stopped in front of a palace after walking down the street for fifteen minutes.

He looked up and saw the three-meter-wide plaque that was hanging on top of the palace entrance and on that plaque were three large words—Sword Scar Palace!

These three words were sharply written and they contained an aura. With just a glance, it was obvious that it was written by a master.

Yi Yun had long since heard about the Sword Scar Palace. He always wanted to pay a visit to it. This was the best place for the cultivators of the Tai Ah Divine City to increase their compatibility with their weapons.

It cost 1000 dragon scale runes, just like the Wilderness Divine hall, to enter the Sword Scar Palace for two hours.

To the present Yi Yun, a thousand dragon scale runes were nothing. After paying, Yi Yun entered the palace.

The palace was not large. There were large rectangular stones in it. These large stones were Immutable Ancient Rocks and they were produced in the Divine Wilderness. Whatever was carved on such rocks could not be erased, even if they were to be exposed to the elements of nature for millions of years.

On the walls around the Immutable Ancient Rocks, there was all sort of scar marks. These scars were left behind by the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom’s Sages. There were sword scars, saber scars, claw marks and even fist prints!

No matter what the weapon was, you could find the corresponding mark within the Sword Scar Palace. The assault abstraction* of the attackers were left behind within these scars.

One came to the Sword Scar Palace to gain insight into these concepts.

As Yi Yun was beginning to gain some insights, he caught sight of someone through the corner of his eye.

It was a thin, little old man. His hair and beard were messy, but the most amazing thing about him was the blood-red gem embedded in between his eyebrows. It sparkled under the everlasting lamps in the hall.

The old man was wearing a large gray robe. He was comfortably reclining on a lounge chair and his eyes were half-squinted as if he was almost falling asleep due to the comfort.

There was a plate containing crystal-like grapes on a table beside him.

The little old man would occasionally reach out to pick up a grape lazily and put it in his mouth. He looked like he was enjoying himself a lot.

"Senior, you are here too?" Yi Yun was surprised. He had seen this old man before. The blood-red gem in the middle of the old man's eyebrows had left a deep impression on Yi Yun.

Back when Yi Yun went to the Wilderness Divine Hall to absorb the primordial strain's energy, he had met this old man when he came out of the divine hall. He had attacked Yi Yun without any warning and he had defeated him with one move. He had even reprimanded Yi Yun, telling him how terrible his saber skills were.

Back then, this little old man had recommended Yi Yun to visit the Sword Scar Palace but Yi Yun had never expected that he would run into him when he really made the trip.

The old man opened his eyes and glanced at Yi Yun. He laughed and said, "Kid, you finally thought of my place?"

"Greetings, Senior." Yi Yun cupped his hands and bowed. "I'm here to gain insights from the Sage saber scars."

"Saber scars? Hehe!" The old man plucked another grape and threw it into his mouth. He shook his head and said, "Gaining insight from saber scars… Do you know where the deepest saber scar abstractions are in the Sword Scar Palace?"

Yi Yun shook his head after being questioned by the old man and said, "I do not."

The old man chuckled as if he had predicted Yi Yun's answer. He said, "Let me take you to a good place. I guarantee you that it will be extremely beneficial to you!"

Hearing the old man's words, Yi Yun was overjoyed. It could not get any better with someone giving him pointers.

"Thank you, Senior."

"Heh, it's no big deal!" The old man waved his hand, before suddenly remembering something, "Right…"

The old man stretched his right hand before Yi Yun and pinched his thumb and index finger. He gave a wretched-looking smile, "Did you bring enough dragon scale runes? The place I am taking you to will charge an additional fee."

Yi Yun hesitated for a while before smiling, "I have brought enough."

Charging more dragon scale runes? That was nothing!

Yi Yun had over a 100,000 dragon scale runes. There were not many places that he could not enter in the Tai Ah Divine City.

All Yi Yun cared about was the best cultivation resources. He paid no heed to the price.

"Oh… That's good!" The old man looked relieved and said, "The place I'm taking you to will need an additional 10,000 dragon scale runes, and at the same time… you will need to pay a glory point. You should still have a glory point left, right? By handing over the primordial herb, you must have received plenty of rewards?"

The old man grinned as he asked Yi Yun. When Yi Yun heard this, he froze up.

What!?

10,000 dragon scale runes… and an additional glory point!?

He could not have heard wrongly!

Although he paid no heed to price and only wanted the best, this fee was unreasonable.

This was robbery!

Looking at the old man with his wretched smile, Yi Yun felt a chill. This old bastard looked like an old swindler. Was he cheating him!?

"Senior, did you make a mistake?” Yi Yun asked tactfully, “This junior only needed two glory points to buy the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique'…"

The old man shook his head like a rattle, "How could I make a mistake? This price is because a kid like you knows me and it is charged this price on account of our friendship. If it were anyone else, they might not even enter with that price! That place is not an ordinary place. After entering it, you will definitely have great gains. As for buying the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' with two glory points, that was just the first three volumes. The fourth and fifth volume combined will need five glory points. The prices of the last few volumes even increase at an astonishing rate. Do you think that the entire 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' is cheap? So what about it? Are you going in? You can enter that place and stay there for a whole day. You will regret it if you don't go!"

The little old man began to tempt Yi Yun.

Yi Yun was in a dilemma. The old man looked like an old swindler. But as an administrator of the Tai Ah Divine City, even if he did not have any moral integrity, he still wouldn't cheat a rookie, right?

Was it really worth the price?

10,000 dragon scale runes were not much, but a glory point… That was a precious resource that the top-ranked experts in the Tai Ah Divine City particularly cherished!

By needing to pay a glory point to enter, that meant that 99% of the cultivators in the Tai Ah Divine City had absolutely no chance of entering it once in their six years here!

Even the cultivators who earned a glory point might not be willing to part with the glory point to gain entrance!

Yi Yun only had three glory points left. After breaking the herb-picking record, he had received two glory points and one glory point left from the primordial herb.

"To be able to enter this training ground for a day, that's considered quite long. As for the rookie ranking competition, there is still slightly more than seven days left. In the next two days, no one would challenge me. I won't miss much if I don't watch those matches…"

Yi Yun was tempted. He really wanted to take a look at such a place.

Even if he could not grasp anything, it was not like he could not afford the loss of this glory point.

So, Yi Yun nodded saying, "Senior, please lead the way!"

"Hehe, swift and decisive!" The old man laughed as he patted Yi Yun's shoulders and gave a thumbs up. "Young man, you are really promising!"

Seeing the old man look as if he had fallen into money, Yi Yun became increasingly skeptical. Did the old man get a cut from promoting this mysterious training ground?

There was no way the Tai Ah Divine City would have such immoral rules, right?

As the old man was about to leave, with a thought, he took the bunch of grapes from the plate and put it in his pocket. As he plucked it to eat, he said to Yi Yun, "Follow me and I guarantee you that you will not regret it!"

*Assault abstraction refers to the concepts behind the original creator’s attack and how he moved when performing it. This is learned by watching and contemplating on the marks left behind

True Martial World - Chapter 230: The one gathering of the elites

Bai Mingwu's face turned red. After all these years, taking part in numerous battles, big and small, he had never encountered such a situation. It was absolutely shameful.

This Qiuniu's methods were unpredictable!

Bai Mingwu grit his teeth. With an abrupt slip of his hands, he moved down the polearm's shaft towards Qiuniu!

By circulating the "Mystic Jade Heart Sutra", all of his Yuan Qi was now concentrated within his feet!

He aimed for Quiniu’s head as he kicked out with his feet!

Bai Mingwu had pretty good leg techniques.

However, all Qiuniu did was sneer before raising his shield.

"Dang!"

Bai Mingwu's feet landed heavily on the shield. The Yuan Qi from the "Mystic Jade Heart Sutra" burst out, causing Bai Mingwu's feet to turn numb. However, it did not affect Qiuniu at all. The thick and heavy shield was like a solid metal wall, warding off all sorts of attacks!

Bai Mingwu felt helpless. He had used his polearm to attack Qiuniu, but it was blocked by Qiuniu's shield. The same happened when he used his feet!

After blocking Bai Mingwu's strike, Qiuniu smiled. With his right hand pulling on the polearm, and his left hand holding his shield, his body suddenly jerked forward.

Shield bash!

"Peng!"

With a loud clang, Bai Mingwu's entire body was sent flying by Qiuniu's shield bash!

His body tumbled a few times in the air before he landed. The great impact had caused him to take more than ten steps backward before he managed to steady his body again. The blood flowing within his body was now in chaos.

He pressed his hand against his chest and looked over at Qiuniu. Qiuniu was still standing in his original spot. In fact, throughout the whole battle, Qiuniu had not moved more than just a few steps.

As Bai Mingwu was sent flying backward, his polearm was still in Qiuniu's hand.

His weapon had been taken away!

There was no way of describing what thoughts were going through Bai Mingwu’s mind. He had only used one move during this battle. After his weapon was grabbed by his opponent, he could not take it back and now he was in this embarrassing situation.

It was too aggravating.

There were still a lot of moves he did not get the chance to use. However, all of these moves required the polearm. Without his weapon, his battle prowess would drop greatly, leaving him with just his leg techniques!

He still had a low quality polearm in his interspatial ring.

But, not only was that polearm unable to bring out his greatest potential, the crux of the matter was that Qiuniu might take that polearm as well!

He did not have any methods of preventing Qiuniu from taking away his weapon. If he lost another one, it would be too embarrassing!

Standing before Qiuniu, Bai Mingwu was now in a dilemma.

Qiuniu was wearing a heavy armor and he had a huge shield. It was impossible for Bai Mingwu to break those apart with just his fists and feet!

"Your polearm… I'm returning it to you!" As Qiuniu said that, he casually weighed the polearm in his hand. Following that, he grabbed the polearm and slightly leaned back, his right foot on the ground, while lifting his left foot.

"Ha!" Qiuniu shouted out, and as his left foot landed, his right arm sent the polearm flying!

"Sou!"

The heavy polearm let out an ear-piercing screech that sounded like an explosion. The polearm flew through the air, flying straight at Bai Mingwu!

With Qiuniu's strength, the polearm’s speed was now completely terrifying!

Bai Mingwu constricted his pupils. Facing his weapon, which was now flying straight at him, he... did not dare to try and grab it!

At the moment the polearm was about to strike Bai Mingwu, he gritted his teeth and used his movement technique to dodge it.

"Dang!"

With a loud metallic clang, the polearm embedded itself into a purple tungsten protective wall beside the Divine Wilderness Stage.

The three foot thick purple tungsten wall tremored from this huge impact. Even the tiles on the ground trembled!

The polearm was also vibrating non stop!

Upon seeing this, many were at loss for words. Qiuniu's strength was too terrifying!

Bai Mingwu stood on the stage with a pale face. He really did not know what to do!

Did he really need to run down the stage to pick up his polearm?

Not only was it embarrassing, but even after retrieving the polearm, he was not confident in his ability of beating Qiuniu. Also, what if Qiuniu attacked him as he retrieved the polearm?

After his deliberating, Bai Mingwu had to admit that he had lost the moment Qiuniu grabbed his polearm.

He was inferior!

Gritting his teeth, Bai Mingwu shook his head and said, "I admit defeat..."

He was not a sore loser. There was no point in resisting on stage when it had already reached such a situation.

"Thank you!" Qiuniu cupped his hands.

Qiuniu won this battle!

People's moods were indescribable seeing Bai Mingwu sadly walking down the stage and him using all his strength to pull out his polearm.

This battle was quite ridiculous. Qiuniu's battle strategy was quite different from others, but it was extremely effective. Bai Mingwu had been defeated by Qiuniu to the point that he conceded the battle on his own accord.

"Bai Mingwu admitted defeat… A person ranked in the 3900s on the Earth roll was defeated by Qiuniu, just like that..."

"There's no other way. The difference in strength was too great. After his weapon was taken away, Bai Mingwu lost his confidence. If that did not happen, Bai Mingwu could have fought another few more rounds. In fact, upon reaching the Yuan Foundation realm, a warrior's connection with his weapon would greatly increase. It wouldn't reach the point of easily having the weapon stolen."

Once a warrior reached the Yuan Foundation, or a realm beyond the Yuan Foundation, they could use their Yuan Qi to grow their weapons. They could even keep their weapon inside of their dantian, slowly nourishing it.

As such, it would not be easy to take away another person's weapon.

But it was not impossible either. If someone was strong enough, they could erase the opponent's soul mark on a weapon and steal it.

"This Qiuniu sure is difficult to handle. Once he grabs your weapon, it's over!"

Seeing Qiuniu's attire, many felt powerless.

Qiuniu's glove was also armored. He could easily grab other weapons as well, such as sabers or swords!

If it was a low quality weapon, he could probably even snap it!

Not only that, Qiuniu's defense was extremely perverse. With his body covered in armor, together with that heavy shield, it was like he had a thick tortoise shell. A weak attack would only be equivalent to scratching an itch for Qiuniu!

As for Qiuniu's attack power, it was irrefutable. When Qiuniu threw the polearm at the end, Bai Mingwu did not even dare to grab it, even though he was its owner. How could Qiuniu's attack power be weak?

How could one handle him, when his defence and attacking power were that strong and he could grab their weapons easily?

He was too difficult to handle!

Many of the veteran cultivators, who had spent 2-3 years in the Tai Ah Divine City, placed themselves in Bai Mingwu’s shoes. If they had fought Qiuniu, they had to admit that they would also lose!

"This batch of rookies sure is crazy… Now, it seems there's an extremely high chance Qiuniu and that Chu Xiaoran can enter the top 1000 within a year!" A veteran cultivator said with mixed emotions.

But another veteran cultivator shook his head, "You are exaggerating by saying there is an extremely high chance. The top 1000 isn't easy to reach. It is basically the world of Yuan Foundation realm cultivators amongst the top 1000. Without being at the Yuan Foundation realm, it will be impossible to hold one's ground! And if a rookie were to rise up there, many veterans would pay close attention to him. Who would wish to be lorded over by a rookie? At that point, there would be numerous challengers wishing to pull you down. To establish yourself in the top 1000? It is difficult!"

Although this veteran cultivator was unwilling to admit that Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran could establish themselves in the top 1000 within a year, he was very well aware of the fact that Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran were absolute monsters amongst monsters. Their potentials were no weaker than Qin Haotian's!

It was extremely rare for two such figures to appear in a single batch of rookies!

...

The fifth day of the rookie rankings ended. Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran performed outstandingly. Soon, the news of it spread throughout the Tai Ah Divine City. Their names became famous, not only with the rookies, even amongst the veteran cultivators circles.

All of the major factions began to pay close attention to Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran. However, it was impossible to draw them in. The two of them had their own family clans and they were destined to serve their own families.

The cultivators in the Tai Ah Divine City debated about who amongst the two was the strongest one.

Both of them had their own supporters and they expressed their views based on inferences and conjectures. Their debates became very heated.

As such, some associations even opened up a betting pool, deciding who amongst the two would win first place amongst the rookies.

The odds between the two were very close. However, Chu Xiaoran had slightly more supporters. How could a beautiful girl be less popular than a stout man?

With the betting pools opened, many had also included Yi Yun into them.

Yi Yun was compared to Gu Mu, who had shocked everyone on the fifth day of the competition.

Yi Yun and Gu Mu were of similar backgrounds. They were both strong and were dark horses before appearing on stage. Many were interested to know who was the strongest one amongst the two.

...

"Haha, they are opening another betting pool! Brother Yi, I bought the bet that you would win." Zhou Kui said excitedly. During dinner time, he found Yi Yun at the cook house. He had complete confidence in Yi Yun and he felt that Yi Yun was sure to beat Gu Mu.

Yi Yun smiled without saying anything. He had watched all the matches in the past five days. Gu Mu was indeed a noteworthy opponent, but he was much worse than both Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran.

Yi Yun paid special attention only to Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran. Both of them had their own specialities. Chu Xiaoran had techniques, while Qiuniu had absolute strength. Both of them had powers that were on a completely different level than the other rookies.

"How is it? Brother Yi, did you bet on yourself?" Zhou Kui asked excitedly.

Yi Yun shook his head. He had previously heard about these betting pools. Ever since the Hongdao Association suffered a great loss due to Yi Yun, many of the associations learned their lesson. The bet limit was only up to 500 dragon scale runes.

The odds against him beating Gu Mu was not very high. Together with the high tax on gambling by the Tai Ah Divine City, there was nothing much to be earned. Yi Yun could not be bothered to bet. Only poor rookies like Zhou Kui would find interest in making a small gamble.

"Brother Yi, keep it up. Although the Tai Ah Divine City is only giving away glory points and other cultivation privileges to the person in first place, you will still be well rewarded at third place. Brother Yi, I look up to you!"

True Martial World - Chapter 229: Inborn Divine Strength

Today's ranking matches were destined to reach greater heights.

After Chu Xiaoran, three expert rookies, who were ranked in the top ten, went on stage. They challenged senior cultivators that were ranked around 5000.

The battleground became extremely intense. Although these rookies could not compare with Chu Xiaoran, who had gained insight on a hint of nomological truths, they obtained cheers from the crowd just from their Yuan Qi clashes.

Unfortunately, the three expert rookies failed to beat the veteran cultivators, who had been training for 2-3 years.

Just as other rookies were feeling regretful for these three people, a black horse appeared on stage. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

A rookie named Gu Mu, who was ranked twenty, challenged a senior cultivator who was ranked in the 4900s. Everyone originally thought that Gu Mu was going to lose, but the result surprised everyone. Gu Mu actually defeated his opponent, squeezing into the top 5000!

Gu Mu was an obscure name. As a rookie who was in 20th place amongst the rookies, he did not arouse much attention. But the rookie rankings were estimated based on their performance in the past three months in the Tai Ah Divine City. It could not accurately determine a person's real strength.

Gu Mu was a nobody who managed to quietly rise up to the top 5000, this astonished many people.

What made most people surprised was that Gu Mu did not come from any famous family clans. In terms of familial background, he was better than Yi Yun, but not by much. His paternal grandfather was a Kingdom Knight, but when it reached his father's generation, it deteriorated.

Such a family clan could not be considered a family clan, but it still produced a freak like Gu Mu.

Gu Mu must have had some fortuitous events to reach such a level.

When people thought about this, they sighed. The world was so large with an unknown number of people within it. There were so many elites. It was not surprising to them that some of these elites encountered fortuitous events.

In this batch of rookies, first it was Yi Yun, then it was Gu Mu. There was all sorts of hidden talent.

It became more intense as the battles went on during the fifth day of the competition. The last match pushed the excitement to a climax!

"Divine Wilderness Stage, 3960, Bai Mingwu! Challenger, 10,002, Qiuniu!"

Following the announcement by the referee, all the rookies were excited.

Qiuniu was up!

There was no one who doubted Chu Xiaoran's strength anymore.

As for Qiuniu, he was always placed on par with Chu Xiaoran. Due to Chu Xiaoran's outstanding performance earlier, many suspected if Qiuniu was at the same level as Chu Xiaoran. Now, they could see it for themselves!

"Hehe, finally it's my turn!" Beside Chu Xiaoran, a 1.9m tall man stood up suddenly. It was hard to believe that he was thirteen years old.

Qiuniu looked at his opponent. His opponent was also a tall and well-built person. He was 15 years old and 1.8m tall. He was well-matched with Qiuniu.

"Against this kid, my white metal armor should be enough!" Qiuniu said to himself. Beside him, Chu Xiaoran laughed, "Be careful not to fail such an easy task!"

"Fail? Hehe..." Qiuniu wiped the tip of his nose with his thumb, "Don't worry. Before fighting you, I won't lose!"

Qiuniu had not fought Chu Xiaoran in a long time. After seeing Chu Xiaoran beat Fang Jihai, Qiuniu also felt the pressure.

After not seeing her for so many years, despite being familiar in the past, he could no longer fathom her strength.

Bai Mingwu came on stage. He pulled out his weapon, which was a polearm.

As for Qiuniu’s weapon, it shocked many people when they saw it. Most of his body was covered in thick pale gold armor that included his legs, torso, and arms.

On his right hand, he had a huge glove that was as long as half a person and it was as thick as an adult's waist. This glove was like the barrel of a cannon. It was also pale gold in color. Behind the glove, there were three sharp blades!

Each blade was 1.5m long and they were half a palm's width wide. With the three blades side by side, it was like a giant claw!

On Qiuniu's left hand, there was a pale gold shield that was a meter in diameter!

Seeing Qiuniu in such an attire, many people were stunned. This was too ridiculous!

The armor and weapon made Qiuniu look like a moving castle!

"Boom!"

Qiuniu jumped onto the stage. With a metallic thud, the purple tungsten tiles trembled under Qiuniu's feet!

"Heavens! How heavy is that!?"

People were shocked. The purple tungsten tiles were three meters wide and a foot thick each and they were extremely heavy. With them lined up side by side, they were extremely solid. But Qiuniu could cause them to tremble just by jumping on them...

"This armor..." Bai Mingwu glanced at Qiuniu and raised his polearm. "How are you going to keep up with my speed in such an attire?"

Qiuniu grinned and said, "I'm not good at anything. I just have a bit more strength. Only by wearing this can I accentuate my advantage..."

"Heh!" Bai Mingwu smiled coldly, "Then let's try it!"

A soon as the match started, Bai Mingwu attacked. He used his movement skills to form a series of shadows!

He wanted to defeat Qiuniu using his speed!

In that attire, Qiuniu may have great physical strength, but he was slow.

Bai Mingwu moved like the wind, while Qiuniu stood motionless. Bai Mingwu did not belittle Qiuniu. With Chu Xiaoran defeating Fang Jihai, he had the perfect example. He did not want to follow in Fang Jihai's footsteps by being defeated by a rookie.

It would be too embarrassing!

"Whew!"

A polearm beam flew into the sky and it began moving around like a whip. Bai Mingwu's polarm had been infused with a lot of Yuan Qi, which turned it emerald in color.

"It's the Bai family's 'Mystic Jade Heart Sutra'!" Someone shouted.

In the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, many family clans had their own secret techniques. None of these secret techniques should be underestimated. A family had its own heritage, which allowed them to train up their future generations. Through inter-marriage and obtaining good bloodlines, a family clan would slowly flourish.

A good set of cultivation techniques was the cornerstone of a family clan.

A warrior with a weak cultivation technique compared to a someone with a strong cultivation technique would be crushed if everything else was equal!

The 'Mystic Jade Heart Sutra' was also a cultivation technique with a great reputation. It was not weaker than the Liu family's 'Star Picking Hand'!

And Liu Yuxing who had used the 'Star Picking Hand' was just a rookie. How could he be as well-versed in a cultivation technique compared to a senior cultivator like Bai Mingwu?

"Swish!"

Bai Mingwu instantaneously appeared in front of Qiuniu. With the polearm raised, he slashed at Qiuniu's neck. The pole arm's beam went from top to bottom, it looked like a emerald-green lightning blast was flying towards Qiuniu!

Everyone stared wide. This attack was extremely powerful!

Facing Bai Mingwu's deathblow, Qiuniu shouted out loudly. That tumultuous sound wave spread throughout the stage like thunder spreading across the sky!

With all his body's strength circulating, he lifted his left arm!

"Dang!"

A deafening rumble sounded out. Qiuniu's shield had blocked Bai Mingwu's attack!

With a deafening bang, the emerald-green beam exploded. The purple tungsten tiles under Qiuniu's feet trembled. The huge impact had caused two craters to form in the purple tungsten around Qiuniu’s feet!

But Qiuniu did not retreat even one step!

"This strength!"

Seeing Qiuniu use the shield on his left hand to block Bai Mingwu's strike, everyone was shocked and their jaws almost fell apart. Bai Mingwu had used both hands to move the polearm and together with the "Mystic Jade Heart Sutra", the power of the blow was imaginable.

Yet, Qiuniu managed to block it with his single left hand and he did not retreat once. What sort of strange strength was this?

If it was an average person, just using an arm shield to block a polearm infused with the "Mystic Jade Heart Sutra" would have broken the bones in his arm!

"You..."

Bai Mingwu contracted his pupils. The impact had caused his palm to feel numb from the tremor.

A polearm was a heavy weapon and it was very hard. He could not endure this for long, "This kid, I don't believe his arm is totally fine..."

Just as he was thinking this, Bai Mingwu suddenly realized that Qiuniu had grabbed his polearm.

After blocking the polearm with his left hand, Qiuniu had used his right hand to grab the polearm. He had lodged himself in position with the polearm's shaft.

"This weapon is now mine..." Qiuniu grinned. "If I grab any weapon, you can’t take them out of my hands!"

What!?

Hearing Qiuniu's words, a vein popped out on Bai Mingwu's forehead.

"You are too arrogant!" Bai Mingwu shouted and then he began circulating the "Mystic Jade Heart Sutra", which caused his Yuan Qi to burst out. With his hands on the polearm, he pulled back with force!

Peng!

The "Mystic Jade Heart Sutra"'s Yuan Qi burst out, but...the polearm was still in Qiuniu's hand. It was like the polearm was stuck in Qiuniu’s hand.

"You..." Bai Mingwu stared with widened eyes. Qiuniu’s strength was too terrifying!

He did not believe in heresy. As he madly powered up his "Mystic Jade Heart Sutra", his Yuan Qi roared out like a tsunami, but Qiuniu's hands were like a black iron casted vice. It refused to release its grapple on the polearm. No matter how much the polearm resisted, it was like a snake that was stuck in a hole, it was unable to move.

This...What happened?

Beads of sweat began forming on Bai Mingwu’s forehead.

It was the first time he could not pull his weapon back after it had been grabbed. It was also the first time he faced an opponent who had used such a technique!

Using his enormous strength, he grabbed the weapons of others! How was one to fight that?

At this point, Bai Mingwu suddenly felt a surge of strength flow through the polearm. The polearm was raised up high. Bai Mingwu, who held on to the polearm, suddenly felt his legs lift up.

His entire body had been lifted by Qiuniu!

Everyone was shocked when they saw this scene. They were speechless. They never expected that this match would end up this way.

From afar, all one could see was Qiuniu wearing heavy armor, with his body as immovable as a mountain. He had inclined his arm upwards, lifting Bai Mingwu and the polearm up. It was like he was holding a lollipop.