True Martial World - Chapter 245: Rushing Up the Earth Roll

Hearing this voice, Yi Yun turned his head. He saw Cang Yan waving at him from the seats of honor. At that moment, the old man was smiling happily, revealing a row of bright white teeth.

This old man.

Yi Yun groaned in his mind. However, he was still very grateful towards Cang Yan. Although Cang Yan did not have any real intentions of grooming him and it was all the result of an unintentional fluke, it was still a significant event for Yi Yun.

It could be said that Cang Yan had pointed out a new path on the road of martial arts for Yi Yun!

The path of martial arts was extensive and profound, abstruse and complicated. There were too many things a martial artist could chose between. If one had the skill, one could choose everything!

But without skill, focusing on a single aspect and doing well in it, would be the best choice.

Yi Yun’s contact with martials arts had so far been very short. There were many things he did not know. Things like the Saber Truth's 32 Words, Aspect Totems and nomological truths, were all realms that Yi Yun had no previous contact with.

He was like a dried up sponge that had been thrown into an ocean of martial arts. Now, he was greedily absorbing all of it.

Yi Yun walked towards Cang Yan and Jian Ge.

At that moment, the vast majority of the audience had yet to stand up to show respect for the Elders, so when they saw Yi Yun walking towards the Elders, they were shocked.

"The Elder called Yi Yun over!"

Everyone saw Cang Yan waving his hand. Many turned envious when they saw that an Elder of the Tai Ah Divine City was calling over a newcomer with such a friendly expression.

"Yi Yun greets Elder Jian Ge, and greets senior."

Yi Yun still did not know Cang Yan's name.

"What you just used was a saber technique learned from the Saber Truth's 32 Words, correct?" Elder Jian Ge asked as he looked at Yi Yun.

"Yes!"

Yi Yun nodded. Just as he said this, he felt his heart go cold. Once again, Yi Yun felt that his body was being seen through! He felt that Elder Jian Ge's eyes were seeing through every inch of his flesh and blood, all the way into his bones! Even the Heaven's eyeball he had formed was now being carefully examined by Elder Jian Ge.

Of course… Jian Ge did not find anything in particular. The Purple Crystal in Yi Yun's chest carried on pulsating within Yi Yun's heart. It did not deliberately hide itself, as if it completely ignored Jian Ge’s action. It was as if it was a god that treated mortal beings with indifference.

"Old man Jian, what are you checking? Could it be that you think this junior has had a fortuitous chance that has caught your interest?"

Cang Yan noticed Jian Ge's actions and teased him with a Yuan Qi voice transmission.

Jian Ge slightly frowned and replied with a Yuan Qi transmission, "Don't frivolously joke around. How can I covet what belongs to a junior? I am merely curious. But it seems that he does not possess some amazing chance. His constitution is average. Maybe he ate some treasure, opening up his meridians, allowing him to complete the beginning steps of martial arts. As for his perceptivity, it should be inborn..."

Yi Yun's constitution was average. As a sage, that much was obvious at a glance. Besides, Yi Yun's cultivation level was not too ridiculous. It had not even reached the late stages of Purple Blood yet. Relative to other aspects of him, this Purple Blood cultivation level was not much.

"Did you read any top saber manuals before you entered the saber tomb?"

Jian Ge asked again. If Yi Yun had some fortuitous event by being able to read some saber truth mystic techniques, then Jian Ge could comprehend this situation better. Of course, this was very unlikely.

However, Yi Yun shook his head.

Elder Jian Ge nodded slightly, "I understand. In the future, if you want to enter the saber tomb again, you can just go through me or Cang Yan. We will not require you to pay anything. As for other resources, if you want to use those, you will still have to pay the usual price. That is the rule of the Tai Ah Divine City."

Nothing could be accomplished without rules. Naturally, the survival of the fittest rules that the Tai Ah Divine City enforced on the cultivators had to be followed.

The saber tomb was not used by anyone, so there was no point in leaving it idle. There was no problem in letting Yi Yun freely use it.

But other resources were not the same. Many of them were vied for by other cultivators, risking their lives for them. If the Elders practiced favoritism, and directly gave them to Yi Yun, it would be hard to placate the masses.

Upon hearing this, Yi Yun was overjoyed. He really wanted to enter the saber tomb again. But one glory point a day was far too expensive. He could not afford to enter it even if he was rich.

"Kid, you lucked out." Cang Yan chuckled. "Practice well. It is unknown which amazing person passed down the Saber Truth's 32 Words. Even sages who entered the tomb were unable to gain a lot of insight from those words..."

"What? Even sages were unable to understand it!?"

Hearing Cang Yan's words shocked Yi Yun. Sages were omnipotent figures to Yi Yun, but now Cang Yan said that even sages were helpless against the Saber Truth's 32 Words.

"There is little common ground for understanding between people of differing principles. The saber and sword tomb have been sleeping underneath the Tai Ah Divine City for tens of millions of years. Sages can enter them freely, but not every sage is proficient with saber or sword truths. Even those accomplished in the way of the sword or saber may not be able to adapt to the laws hidden within the saber and sword tomb." Cang Yan said and glanced at Jian Ge. "Old man Jian uses a sword. He has the most authority on this."

Elder Jian Ge was famous for his sword. His sword was always held behind his back. He never kept it within an interspatial ring. This was to allow him to subtly transform, to slowly become one with the sword.

The Tai Ah Divine City's cultivators had never seen Elder Jian Ge's swordplay. But just from his title, "The sage famous for his sword", that was more than sufficient to explain Jian Ge's achievement in the way of the sword.

Hearing Cang Yan mention his experience in learning from the sword tomb, Jian Ge filled with mixed emotions. He said, "When I was young, I indeed entered the sword tomb. After trying to gain insights for several months, I finally got some results. But after I learned a few of the sword moves, I slowly reached a bottleneck. I was stumped by some of the sword truths. I could not understand them… or grasp them. Later on, I continued to constantly make new attempts. These attempts took me a thousand years. Within this period, I tried many different methods which I thought was the correct path to take, but I was still unable to go any further..."

"A thousand years!?"

Yi Yun was alarmed. In this alternate world, it seemed like a thousand years was nothing. Being a person who had lived for about two decades in his previous life, he clearly knew the concept of a thousand years. A mortal dynasty would last for just about 300 years.

Jian Ge said, "It might be that the understandings of the sword truths I gained at the very beginning may have already been leading me astray, without my knowledge. Although I might have gone astray, the things I gained from the tomb were still useful."

"The sword tomb's way of the sword is a large path. It's realm is extremely high, so high that I cannot fathom it. It is like a gigantic maze. By being in it, I did not know which path would be the correct one. I could only walk through it haphazardly. Maybe when I eventually reach the exit, will I finally know that I was walking on the correct path, but… that is too far away for me..."

"Large path?"

Yi Yun was slightly stunned. A large path that even made a sage feel despair, and even to the point of going astray. Furthermore, he could not even verify if he had done so...

"Yes, it is a large path. In the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, people have always weighed cultivation techniques over attack moves. This is understandable. After all, a cultivation technique can allow a person to breakthrough to different realms, while attack moves cannot. But in fact, attack moves and paths are two different things. Saber moves are saber moves, while the saber truths are the way of the saber. They are fundamentally different. If you can understand the essence of the way of the saber, then it will be the same as understanding nomological truths. It can assist you in becoming a peak-sage, and maybe even reach a higher realm, but that is too difficult..."

Elder Jian Ge sighed. He had only said this casually. Although he appreciated Yi Yun, he had never thought of the possibility that Yi Yun would one day be able to reach such a point.

Peak-sage was a realm reached by the founding emperor of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom and the first City Lord of the Tai Ah Divine City. As for exceeding a sage, this was not worth mentioning. In the entire history, ever since the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom was founded, there had never been a person who exceeded a sage.

Due to the arduous path of martial arts, the words casually spoken by Elder Jian Ge's might have been due to some regrets he felt, but this greatly benefited Yi Yun.

Saber moves… Saber truths...

Since the words in the saber tomb were something Jian Ge described as a large path, then it was certain that it would allow him to go far in the future.

Yi Yun had the Purple Crystal Origins. The vision the Purple Crystal Origins gave Yi Yun allowed him to see the origins of energy. With this qualification, and him being able to freely enter the saber tomb, he had everything aligned in his favor. If he still could not gain something out of it, Yi Yun’s inability to comprehend it could no longer be justified.

Let's understand it. Let's see how far I can walk on this path!

Jian Ge and Cang Yan left, leaving behind Yi Yun, who was still ruminating over the words spoken to him by the two Elders. As for the others there, they were looking enviously at Yi Yun.

As the two Elders had isolated their voices by generating an invisible Yuan Qi forcefield, all the other cultivators present did not know the contents of the conversation between Yi Yun and the two Elders. But from the pleasant expression the Elder had, it was obvious that they appreciated Yi Yun.

If they could be called over by an Elder to receive guidance.. it was something worth losing a decade of their lives over.

As people were admiring Yi Yun, they saw Yi Yun walking down from the seats of honor, towards the referee.

"Oh? What's the matter?"

The referee made the initiative to ask as he saw Yi Yun walking over. Previously, this referee had seen Yi Yun talking to the two Elders.

For a junior to be paid attention to by Elders, it was insufficient from being the number one rookie. The referee also thought highly of Yi Yun because of the Elders' appreciation.

"Oh… It's this. I want to declare the opponent I want to challenge tomorrow."

After Yi Yun against won Chu Xiaoran, he had clinched the title of being number one amongst the rookies. It created a premature end to the rookie ranking competition. But, he could still battle to rush up the Earth roll tomorrow.

"Oh? Tomorrow’s opponents? You can tell me tomorrow. There's no hurry." The referee looked at Yi Yun in an amiable manner. It was good that Yi Yun wanted to carry on rushing upwards.

"I think it's best to say it now, so that the person has some time to prepare." Yi Yun grinned with a bright smile.

For some unknown reason, the referee hesitated for a moment when he saw Yi Yun's smile. It felt like there was something malevolence hidden within that smile.

"Prepare?" The referee was curious. It was just a match, not a training excursion outside. What was there to prepare?

True Martial World - Chapter 244: Victory and Defeat

Those who watched the match between Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran were at a loss for words on how to describe it.

The arena, that could hold thousands of people, had become so silent that one could hear a pin drop.

Although they were also elites, when they compared themselves with Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran, they felt that there was a huge gap between them and this duo. In front of this duo, they did not dare to refer to themselves as elites. They felt more like they were ordinary people.

"Chu Xiaoran is frightening. It is a surprise that she hid so much of her power. Not only does she have extraordinary perceptivity, she has even formed Aspect before Yuan. Even her battle tactics were well-planned. She almost managed to corner Yi Yun!"

"That Yi Yun is also ridiculously strong. After receiving such a combo attack, he was still able to handle Chu Xiaoran's final attack, though he did receive injuries..."

Yi Yun was now in the middle of the stage, his body covered with plenty of bloody wounds. One could see that Yi Yun's blood was in chaos, it was most likely due to Chu Xiaoran's frost Qi entering his body!

In contrast, besides some messy hair and a bit of damage to her clothes, Chu Xiaoran was not injured at all. Yi Yun’s final attack, Killing At Its Core, had been suppressed by Chu Xiaoran's "Azure Blue Frost Sea, Ephemeral Beauty"!

Chu Xiaoran held the absolute upper hand in the final blow!

The Saber Truth's 32 Words were profound, allowing Yi Yun to touch the genius of the saber truths, but… Yi Yun did not have enough time to gain further insights into the saber truths.

No matter how heaven-defying the Saber Truth's 32 Words were, Yi Yun had gained far too little insight in them until now. His saber attack was not as powerful as Chu Xiaoran's final sword attack. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

"Will Yi Yun… lose to Chu Xiaoran?"

Seeing this situation, Chu Xiaoran clearly had the advantage. Yi Yun was already injured and he was still standing inside Chu Xiaoran's ice array!

People looked forward to seeing either Chu Xiaoran's unstoppable stance, where she would use her advantage to defeat Yi Yun or Yi Yun reversing the situation and obtaining victory with a counterattack.

As for what people were hoping for, no one expected what was to happen next. Chu Xiaoran suddenly turned to the referee and sighed, "I admit defeat!"

What!?

When Chu Xiaoran said this, the entire audience became stupefied.

Chu Xiaoran admitted defeat!?

She clearly had the upper hand. She had completely overwhelmed Yi Yun with her final blow. Why did she admit defeat?!

Chu Xiaoran did not bother to explain and merely began walking off the stage. Just as she was about to step off the stage, she turned around and looked at Yi Yun.

"My loss to you today was due to my unrefined skills. In the future… when I have consolidated my Aspect Totem, and when I am able to fully control the ice forest array, I will battle you once more!" After having said that, Chu Xiaoran walked straight to the arena's exit.

She was leaving just like that!

People were shocked. What was going on? In what aspect did Chu Xiaoran lose? Why did she admit defeat?

Was there something in the last move that they did not understand? For example, did Yi Yun have the opportunity to take Chu Xiaoran's life, but because of the no killing rule, or because he had tender feelings for women, he deliberately stayed his blade?

People began speculating.

Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran's strengths were stronger than a vast majority of them. It was normal for them not to understand certain aspects of the battle.

But amongst these speculations, someone disagreed.

The person who disagreed was a veteran cultivator, who was ranked in the top 1000 of the Earth roll.

"It is none of those..." The person shook his head, "It's stamina! Chu Xiaoran had injected all of her Yuan Qi into her final attack. It was her killing blow and her only attack. By not defeating her opponent, she lost! The attack's power may have been very strong, and it had great understanding of the laws contained within it, but… as a Purple Blood realm warrior, she had used the Aspect Totem that Yuan Foundation realm warriors use. This had already caused a great strain on her Yuan Qi consumption. Not only that, she also formed the ice forest array, which further increased her strength, but it also used more of her Yuan Qi."

"After using those techniques, it was already a miracle that Chu Xiaoran could attack twice. But that was her limit. Chu Xiaoran must have learned this move recently, so there would be many limitations to using it..." Hearing the person's explanation, people were dumbfounded.

Stamina! So that was it!

It made sense. That type of terrifying attack was definitely not one that someone could use again and again.

"But… Yi Yun should also have been greatly drained! Chu Xiaoran spent so much of her stamina, so there's no reason why Yi Yun should have that much more left..."

"Actually, there is a reason." The person looked at Yi Yun and, after some thought, he explained, "From the beginning of the match, Yi Yun had been dodging most of the time. Thus, his energy consumption was far less than Chu Xiaoran's. Furthermore, Yi Yun did not use any moves that greatly increased his battle power, so he would have more Yuan Qi than Chu Xiaoran. Chu Xiaoran must have seen through this and felt that she could no longer win if it dragged on, so she admitted defeat..."

Hearing this person's explanation, everyone felt enlightened.

It was stamina that allowed Yi Yun to win!

He may have lost the final clash, but he had won in terms of stamina!

After all, stamina was a part of one’s strength. But compared to the understanding of laws and concepts, as well as the cultivation techniques one learned, stamina was secondary.

This was because, as a warrior’s cultivation level became higher, their Yuan Qi would grow thicker, which would naturally increase their stamina.

As for cultivation levels, those were just a matter of time for the elites present.

But the understanding of laws and concepts, as well as the cultivation techniques one learned, they were all different. This was a person's foundation. They determined a person's martial arts attainment in the future.

The degree of a person's talent was comprehensively determined by these factors!

The talent Chu Xiaoran had with laws and totems, was the reason why many found her terrifying.

"Chu Xiaoran, having just learned this move, was at a disadvantage for not having it well-honed. In the future, when Chu Xiaoran ranks up, solidifying her foundations and improving her understanding of the laws, the result will be completely different when she then battles Yi Yun again..." Someone said.

"It is possible. But Yi Yun is also not bad himself. Although he does not have much in the understandings of laws, and cannot form an Aspect before Yuan, his saber is still really terrifying! Just with that saber, he could slash through anything!"

In this rookie ranking competition, Yi Yun had only slashed his saber a few times. But each slash he produced shocked the hearts of many!

When the saber beam flared, even at tens of meters away, they would feel as if the beam was close by!

Everyone agreed to what was said. But someone still shook his head, "Saber truths are just killing moves. It may be strong, and it could kill someone mercilessly, but just killing moves aren’t much compared to a person's cultivation techniques and concepts! It is not the foundation of a warrior!"

"If Yi Yun is not impressive in other aspects, many cultivators will slowly catch up with him! Just his saber moves alone will not allow him to last long in the Tai Ah Divine City. "

"Amongst the veteran cultivators, Qin Haotian, who is excellent in the way of the sword, doesn't fully rely on his sword alone." The person who said this was a veteran cultivator. In the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, people had always weighed cultivation techniques over attack moves.

This was because a person's cultivation technique could allow one to go far. Attack moves however, just allowed one to shine amongst people of the same level. If one could not raise one’s level in the future and then not become a sage, then no matter how strong their attack moves were, their lifespan would be shorter than others. So what was the point to it then?

This was something that most people present understood.

Yi Yun's saber moves were strong, while Chu Xiaoran was good at laws and aspects. But, relatively speaking, people were more optimistic about Chu Xiaoran's future.

Perhaps, in four years time, the number one person on the Heaven and Earth rolls would be Chu Xiaoran.

Even in her last battle against Yi Yun, many people felt that Chu Xiaoran did not deserve to lose. After all, in the final attack, Chu Xiaoran held the absolute advantage. Also, Chu Xiaoran's combo attack and the ice forest array were stunning. She had only lost due to her lack of stamina.

...

The second last day of the rookie ranking competition had ended. Many people were prepared to leave, but seeing the two Elders present, they felt that it would be more polite to let the Elders leave first.

But on the seats of honor, Jian Ge and Cang Yan had no intentions of leaving.

Jian Ge had his head slightly bowed as if deep in thought, while Cang Yan was stroking his beard. His eyes were moving around, with no way of guessing what he was thinking about.

Although the last move Yi Yun made had been suppressed by Chu Xiaoran's sword, it still shocked them greatly.

The rookies and veteran cultivators in the arena did not know the significance of this attack. Even some of the law-enforcers only had a vague understanding.

But the two old men, Jian Ge and Cang Yan, knew it well. In no exaggerating terms, that one move had opened up the path of Yi Yun's martial arts!

The law-enforcers beside Cang Yan and Jian Ge did not move and stood still as they saw that the Elders had no intentions of leaving.

Many cultivators glanced at the seats of honor. They did not know why the two Elders were still sitting there. Would they review the battle?

But even after waiting for a long while, the two Elders still did nothing. They could only decide whether they should leave or not.

"It is unexpected that the rookie ranking competition would end prematurely. This year's rookie ranking competition sure was exciting!"

"It may have ended, but there is still tomorrow. Do you plan on watching?"

"I don't think so. Chu Xiaoran and Yi Yun have already fought, and there is no more suspense left in the rankings. But… Chu Xiaoran and Yi Yun might carry on challenging the higher ranking veteran cultivators?"

According to the rules of the rookie ranking competition, once the rookies competed against one another, as long as one beat the other, the winner would be ranked ahead of the loser. Even if Chu Xiaoran were to exceed Yi Yun's ranking on the Earth roll tomorrow, Yi Yun would still be ranked first amongst the rookies.

There was no more suspense.

"Challenging veteran cultivators? It should also be an exciting match, but… I can probably guess. As Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran have similar strengths, they should both rank somewhere around the top 2000!"

"2000? Probably. They might even enter 1900. I plan on watching tomorrow’s matches. I want to see if they can enter the top 2000!"

People began discussing, they were secretly horrified. It was terrifying to think that people could enter the top 2000 from the rookie ranking competition alone!

After all, the people ranked there were already trying to form their Yuan Foundation.

People began to stand up as they planned to leave the arena. Yi Yun had sheathed his Thousand Army Saber and he was also prepared to leave. He had a lot to digest after today's battle.

Chu Xiaoran may have lost to him, but she had still given him a lesson.

Chu Xiaoran taught Yi Yun that a battle could be fought in such a way. The path of martial arts could be trained in this manner!

As Yi Yun was preparing to leave, he suddenly heard a familiar, but wretched, Yuan Qi voice transmission, "Rotten rascal, aren't you going to say hello before you leave? Don't you know courtesy, or how to show your elders respect!?"

True Martial World - Chapter 243: Emperor Saber, Sovereign Sword

After Chu Xiaoran summoned her Aspect Totem, her aura was completely different. A pure chill now covered her entire body.

Seeing Chu Xiaoran in this state, the audience became secretly horrified. It was as if the person on stage was a snow lotus, growing on an icy divine mountain. The Glacier Snow Wolf behind her boosted this strong visual impact!

Chu Xiaoran's blade faced the ground. What was once a soft ‘like water’ sword was now suddenly turning hard and sharp. This cold blade then stabbed into the purple tungsten stage.

Phew~

A cold wind blew out from the stage! frost Qi began to emanate, with Chu Xiaoran's sword as its center.

Ka-cha! Ka-cha!

Column after column of ice pillars formed on the stage's platform. The entire Divine Wilderness Stage had now turned into a forest of ice, with Chu Xiaoran at the center.

Yi Yun stood inside the the ice forest, facing Chu Xiaoran's sword, experiencing the bone-chilling coldness around him.

Seeing this scene, the audience became shocked. These ice pillars were formed from Chu Xiaoran's Yuan Qi. A Purple Blood realm warrior could actually form a ice forest using her body's Yuan Qi? How much Yuan Qi was that!?

A Purple Blood warrior's body had limited amount of Yuan Qi. If typical warriors were to do the same as Chu Xiaoran, they would be drained of all their body's Yuan Qi, making them unable to battle anymore.

"Oh… This ice forest..."

Yi Yun looked around and frowned slightly. He could feel that each ice column had a spiritual connection with Chu Xiaoran.

Interfacing with his Purple Crystal, he opened his energy vision. Now, Yi Yun could see that each ice column contained extremely pure energy. And this energy had thousands of connections with Chu Xiaoran.

The ice column's energies came from Chu Xiaoran's body, but at the same time, these ice columns also gathered Yuan Qi from the surroundings to supply Chu Xiaoran.

"This is an array technique!"Yi Yun suddenly realized.

The ice forest may seem to consume a great portion of Chu Xiaoran's energy, but once it was set up, Chu Xiaoran would be supplied with energy from this array technique, while fighting within the ice forest’s boundary. As a result, she would have an absolute advantage in it.

"Is this how the ice laws are used...?"

Yi Yun knew that by controlling ice elemental energy, one could only use frost Qi to attack enemies. It could definitely not be used to create such an exquisite array setup with magical effects.

Laws are the fundamental principles behind energy. By grasping the understanding of laws, one would be able to wield their methods for using energy.

The higher the realm of laws, then the application of energy would be closer to perfection!

At that moment, Chu Xiaoran attacked!

When she stabbed out, if was as if all the frost Qi on the stage was drawn out. The energy within the ice column array was driven by Chu Xiaoran's attack, now sweeping towards Yi Yun!

"Peak Frost Lotus!"

Chu Xiaoran twisted her blade and the surge of frost Qi formed a huge ice lotus in the air which shot towards Yi Yun.

This unrestrained sword Qi did not break through the ice columns when it entered the ice column inside the array, instead it moved through it unimpeded.

Just from this move alone, one could see the level Chu Xiaoran had attained in her ice laws.

Facing this attack, Yi Yun charged forward with pure Yang Yuan Qi injected into the Thousand Army Saber. With a slash of his blade, the saber Qi laws appeared once again

"Cha!"

The saber beam shot into the sky, and Yi Yun's saber Qi had a fierce collision with Chu Xiaoran's sword Qi.

The two aimed to better the other. Boom!

When the aftershock of the immense explosion approached, both Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran were pushed back. When Yi Yun was retreating, his eyes suddenly focused and he abruptly lifted his head. Just above him, the huge Glacier Snow Wolf was attacking him!

Its white killer fangs flashed. Although it was a phantom image formed from the Power of Desolates, it could still fight like a real beast!

The Glacier Snow Wolf attacked downwards with both claws!

Its seven meters long body possessed claws that were like a row of sharp swords. These swords slashed at him, right at Yi Yun's throat!

At that moment, Yi Yun had just finished his move, and having used up his energy, he could not muster any more at that moment. Facing the Glacier Snow Wolf's attack, Yi Yun forcefully twisted his body in midair.

Minute Subtlety!

Although Yi Yun could not fly, he could use his Minute Subtlety movement technique to be in one with his surroundings. He did not need to touch anything to control his movements!

His body moved to the side and at the same time, he slashed out with his saber!

"Dang!"

The Thousand Army Saber clashed with the wolf's claws. Yi Yun felt his chest go numb. Having received this strong blow, he retreated backward. With his feet on the ground, he used the Thousand Army Saber to cut through the ground. Due to the strong impact, Yi Yun had slid backward a distance of seven meters. The Thousand Army Saber had caused a series of sparks on the purple tungsten metal!

Before Yi Yun could recover his breath, he suddenly had a change in expression.

He realized that he had landed in the middle of six ice columns!

And in his energy vision, he could clearly see that these six ice columns were brighter than other ice columns. They had gathered a lot of energy and seemed like a volcano about to erupt.

That's bad!

Without any further thought, Yi Yun leaped upwards. And just before he leaped up, the six ice columns exploded simultaneously!

The flying ice fragments, which were like tiny ice swords, charged towards Yi Yun!

"Cha! Cha! Cha!"

Yi Yun waved his Thousand Army Saber and covered his entire body with saber beams. Each icicle was destroyed by the Thousand Army Saber, but there were still some tiny icicles that pierced Yi Yun's protective Qi, cutting open Yi Yun's flesh!

Suddenly, blood started to fly everywhere!

Yi Yun had been injured!

The audience were shocked. This was the first time Yi Yun was injured in the competition!

Chu Xiaoran's attack was too terrifying. Her continuous attacks were dazzling!

Previously, Chu Xiaoran did not reveal her real strength. Against Long Li, she had achieved victory with her weakest abilities. This was not because Chu Xiaoran wanted to appear weak on purpose. The reason was that if she was to use her ice laws and Aspect Totem, her attacks would be like a storm! A person like Long Li would have no way of handling it!

At that moment, before people could react, they saw Chu Xiaoran flying through the air like a snow spirit.

Chu Xiaoran was now making her second move!

Without stopping, she sent out attack after attack. Even the audience, who were watching the battle from the sidelines, had no chance to take a break, Yi Yun even less so as he was on stage!

Chu Xiaoran slashed her sword, making sword beams appear like a torrential ocean!

At that moment, the color of Chu Xiaoran's eyes turned icy-blue. It was as if her pupils contained endless glaciers within them!

Chu Xiaoran slashed with her sword, behind her, another six ice columns simultaneously exploded. The fragmented ice crystals were then guided by Chu Xiaoran's sword, flying towards Yi Yun!

At the same time, the Glacier Snow Wolf behind Chu Xiaoran howled. It then entered the sword and became the sword’s soul! This, together with the fragmented ice crystals, was Chu Xiaoran’s strongest attack! This was the extreme power of her attack!

"Azure Blue Frost Sea, Ephemeral Beauty!" Chu Xiaoran softly said those words, as if they were a poem with a picturesque sword beam!

If Chu Xiaoran was said to be a snow lotus, then the beauty she had been accumulating for a millennium was now being released in an instant!

This attack seemed to stop time. Everyone's expression seemed to have frozen.

Chu Xiaoran's strength was too terrifying, and it was deeply profound. It was heaven-shaking once it was revealed!

How could one block such an attack!?

Seeing this torrential tide of blue sword beams shooting towards him, Yi Yun constricted his pupils. His irises reflected the approaching sword beams. The cold frost Qi and killing intent was going to destroy everything!

At that moment, Yi Yun's mind was as still as water.

With his right hand gripping the Thousand Army Saber's hilt, he injected all of his spirit energy into the saber's blade.

Saber Truth's 32 Words – Killing At Its Core!

In a split second, a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood seemed to appeared behind Yi Yun. Shura Hell!

The color of blood started to spread as cold killing intent sealed their surroundings!

Back when the saber tomb's owner gained his insight into the saber truths, he had gone through numerous battles and killed a countless amounts of people!

The real saber truths were not something one could write in any book, it was something that had to be forged in the Shura Hell's sea of blood!

The way of the saber was to press forward with indomitable will to kill everything!

This attack was the strongest saber move Yi Yun learned in the saber tomb!

When he slashed his saber, it was as if everything in the world disappeared, leaving only a blood-red blade beam. It looked as if it would slice through the arena!

What? This is!?

At the moment Yi Yun slashed out, Cang Yan and Jian Ge became deeply shocked. Cang Yan even stood up from his seat.

This kid!

Cang Yan's eyes lit up. Previously when Chu Xiaoran condensed the Aspect before Yuan phenomenon and displayed her ice laws, Cang Yan and Jian Ge were only appreciative. They were not as shocked as they were now!

Yi Yun's saber and Chu Xiaoran's sword collided once again!

The saber was like an emperor!

The sword was like a sovereign!

Boom!

The ice crystals shattered, the white wolf howled and the sea of blood swelled!

There was a terrifying explosion, which caused a shockwave to materialise and spread throughout the arena

Cha! Cha! Cha!

Pieces of ice crystals pierced Yi Yun's protective Yuan Qi!

The Power of Desolates, which formed the Glacier Snow Wolf, also surged through Yi Yun's body and meridians in a rampant manner.

Yi Yun even felt his blood momentarily freeze. Although he quickly circulated his Pure Yang Qi to melt the frost Qi, it still left Yi Yun pale, and his blood flow chaotic.

He was once again injured. He could deeply feel the scariness of Chu Xiaoran. She was strong, not only in her strength, but also in her battle tactics, techniques and in her understanding of the laws!

When Yi Yun gained insight into the killer moves of the Saber Truth's 32 Words, he was in no way weaker than Chu Xiaoran in terms of attack power. But with her techniques, she managed to overwhelm him with her attacks. Chu Xiaoran had even estimated where he would land after blocking the Glacier Snow Wolf's attack. She had gathered the energy within the six ice columns ahead of time to explode the moment Yi Yun landed on the ground!

From the first attack and the Glacier Snow Wolf's attack combo, followed up by the ice columns' explosion, these three attacks were the foundation of Chu Xiaoran's final attack. This attack was Chu Xiaoran's real deathblow!

These type of calculations for this one attack was unbelievable, and Chu Xiaoran was just a thirteen year old girl!

True Martial World - Chapter 242: Aspect Totem

On stage, Yi Yun's Yuan Qi was circulating. His aura continued to rise, while his Thousand Army Saber began to emit a light sound as his saber truth screamed out.

Yi Yun's strength was constantly condensing like a surging tidal wave!

Seeing Yi Yun in such a state, Chu Xiaoran wiped away the hair that was cut by the saber Qi and took a light breath.

"Your saber is very strong… but I will defeat you!" Chu Xiaoran said seriously.

She held her soft sword in both of her hands and she stretched it out. A bluish-white glow circulated on the sword's edges.

Her Yuan Qi condensed and very soon, a layer of frost formed on her sword which grew exceedingly thicker. Soon, it covered her sword, hand, and it eventually spread throughout her entire body.

A chill that penetrated into one’s bones had permeated in all directions. Even the audience, who were far away, could feel this bone-chilling coldness.

"Is this frost Qi? She has ice-elemental Yuan Qi!?"

Many people in the audience hesitated for a moment. A warrior's Yuan Qi could have many types of elemental properties. It was not odd for some of them to have ice-elemental Yuan Qi. This was not enough to be Chu Xiaoran's hidden strength, as Yuan Qi with elemental properties were not that much stronger…

Ice-elemental Yuan Qi was no sensation. Fang Jihai, who Chu Xiaoran had previously defeated, was a fire-elemental warrior.

Yuan Qi with an elemental property was easier to convert into an attack than non-elemental Yuan Qi, but it was not that much stronger!

Just as the audience was in a confused state, Heaven Earth Yuan Qi slowly began to condense behind Chu Xiaoran, forming a phantom image. It was the phantom image of a white wolf.

It was large in size, about 4 meters in height and seven meters long. It stood majestically behind Chu Xiaoran and it gave a strong visual impact.

"Glacier Snow Wolf! An ice elemental desolate beast… This is… the manifestation of Yuan Qi?"

The manifestation of Yuan Qi was the phenomenon of coalescing the Yuan Qi emitted by one's body into a physical form. This was something almost any Purple Blood warrior in the Tai Ah Divine City could do.

Qiuniu's final attack, Sky Ox Tyrannous Blood, also used the manifestation of Yuan Qi. It had unleashed the phantom image of an ox, but it was still slashed through by Yi Yun.

It was not rare to have a manifestation of Yuan Qi in the Tai Ah Divine City.

But… some rookies realized that the white wolf behind Chu Xiaoran was different. It had an inexplicable spirit to it. It appeared to have a telepathic connection with Chu Xiaoran, it was as if it was formed from Chu Xiaoran's soul, containing a part of Chu Xiaoran's life force.

Besides, this huge white wolf contained a surging Power of Desolates within it. This was the strength only desolate beasts could have, but it was present in the Yuan Qi phantom image behind Chu Xiaoran. What was even more surprising was that the white wolf did not seem to be formed from Chu Xiaoran's Yuan Qi, but seemed as if it was a real desolate beast!

Could it be…

The rookies were uncertain, but the veteran cultivators had long since identified it. It was not the manifestation of Yuan Qi, it was something of a higher level. It was something that only Yuan Foundation realm warriors could do, Aspect Totem!

"Is it really an Aspect Totem? How is this possible!?" People were astonished.

In the Divine Wilderness, humans and desolate beasts were enemies. Desolate beasts would often eat humans and there would be beasts horde from time to time. A large city of a million households could be destroyed in a beast horde, which would lead to utter misery.

Even so, there were times when human warriors could not separate themselves from desolate beasts, as they could borrow the powers of the desolate beasts. This could be explained, starting with an Aspect Totem.

Aspect Totem was the symbol of a Yuan Foundation realm warrior.

When a warrior was at the peak of the Purple Blood realm, they would condense all of their blood essences into their dantian, forging their Qi and their blood foundation. This was the beginning of the Yuan Foundation!

To build a lofty tower, one had to build a stable foundation. The Yuan Foundation was the foundation of the path of martial arts and it was an extremely important step.

After condensing one’s Yuan Foundation, a warrior could absorb the energies of Heaven Earth Yuan Qi and rank up. It was something that no Purple Blood warrior could match.

Just from this ability to gather energy, a warrior could gather the souls and Power of Desolates that escaped from a dead desolate beast that they had hunted in the wilderness. In the Yuan Foundation, they would be able to gather and condense a summon entity that belonged only to them.

When in a battle with others, they could then summon it, which would create a huge phantom image to strengthen their powers.

This summon entity was known as the Aspect Totem.

Once the Aspect Totem was formed, it would always accompany the warrior. As a trademark, it was an important part of a warrior's fighting ability.

Everyone's Aspect Totem had a difference. They could grow continually, evolve and even morph.

Warriors above the Yuan Foundation realm would often have to resort to using the Aspect Totem when in a deathmatch with a difficult opponent, to increase their strength. This was the mark of a Yuan Foundation realm warrior going all out in battle.

In the Tai Ah Divine City, there was a Heaven roll of honor which was more important than the Earth roll of honor. The way that the Heaven roll was ranked depended on the number of desolate beasts one kills. The Heaven roll's rewards were also the highest amongst the three rolls.

The warriors who charged up the Heaven roll would spend large amounts of time in the Divine Wilderness killing desolate beasts. One of the reasons was to gain glory points, the second reason was to condense and strengthen their Aspect Totem.

The Aspect Totem could only be done by absorbing a desolate beast that one killed with their own hands. And it had to be done in a short timespan after the death of the desolate beast because the desolate beast's Power of Desolates and lifeblood would dissipate if they were not absorbed.

Before the Aspect Totem reached a bottleneck, one could form and strengthen their Aspect Totem by killing more desolate beasts!

Hence, the cultivation method of the veteran cultivators of the Tai Ah Divine City was to continuously hunt desolate beasts. It could increase their strength and also, it would earn them resources. It was like killing two birds with one stone.

As for Chu Xiaoran, having arrived in the Tai Ah Divine City three months ago, she never took part in the rookie jobs due to her outstanding strength. She only went into the Divine Wilderness to hunt desolate beasts!

This meant that she had a head start on all the other rookies.

People originally thought Chu Xiaoran would, at most, earn more dragon scale runes; no one expected that she would condense an Aspect Totem!

"She… can't be a Yuan Foundation realm warrior, right?"

"Impossible! Even many of the cultivators who have been in the Tai Ah Divine City for 3-4 years have yet to break through to the Yuan Foundation realm. Chu Xiaoran may be extremely gifted, but it can not be to the point where she can break through so early. Besides, if you reach the Yuan Foundation realm too early, you might not be able to accumulate enough energy. And this is actually not beneficial."

Many people discussed this. In the seats of honor, Elder Jian Ge stroked his beard and looked at Chu Xiaoran with surprise. "This is 'Aspect before Yuan'… The Tai Ah Divine City has not had a junior like this in a long time…"

An Aspect Totem was something that warriors in the Yuan Foundation realm could perform. But in this world, there were always some exceptions. Some people had a close affinity with Heaven Earth Yuan Qi or Power of Desolates. With excellent perceptivity, they could coalesce an Aspect Totem that belonged to them in the Purple Blood realm!

This sort of Aspect Totem was known as Aspect nefore Yuan.

By being able to demonstrate a small portion of the strength of a Yuan Foundation realm warrior, without being a Yuan Foundation realm warrior, it was obvious how strong their battle power would be.

There were all sorts of specializations. Many geniuses had their own forte, but it was not easy to be good at everything. For example, Qin Haotian was an extraordinary swordsman, but even he could not form Aspect Before Yuan!

This meant that Chu Xiaoran had an extraordinary talent in using Aspect Totem!

The Aspect Totem was an important part of a Divine Wilderness warrior’s battle power, it was really important for those of the Yuan Foundation realm or above.

Obviously, the Aspect Totem had different strengths. The same Aspect Totem formed from the same type of desolate beast might have different powers, depending on the different warriors' absorption of the Power of Desolates. This was related to a person's talent and intelligence.

And there was no doubt that Chu Xiaoran was one of the best.

In the future, when she reached a higher realm, she would hold the upper hand against warriors of the same level. It was equivalent to her using a higher level Aspect Totem against others.

Cang Yan said, "To be precise, it is not a complete Aspect before Yuan. It is just Embryonic Aspect, but that is still pretty impressive! I think there is a need to take this little maiden to the sword tomb."

Cang Yan's eyes glowed with excitement. His expression looked like a grave robber who had just seen a rare treasure.

Elder Jian Ge simply gave a deep sigh. Surprisingly, he did not oppose it. That was because none of the people who were able to create an Aspect before Yuan lacked perceptivity. Indeed, she should enter the sword tomb once.

Jian Ge said, "This little maiden is also very sensitive to frost laws. Her Aspect Totem is also an ice elemental… She must have gained some insight into a portion of the ice elemental nomological truths. If not, it would not be that easy to form the embryonic form of Aspect Totem in the Purple Blood realm."

The Aspect Totem could increase the strength of warriors, but it wasn’t just a mere increase in a warrior’s energy intensity.

Another very important point was that it allowed warriors to gain further insight into laws related to energy.

For example, Chu Xiaoran had a deep understanding of the hard-soft and frost ice laws.

The Aspect Totem she chose was ice-elemental in nature.

She had been continuously hunting ice elemental desolate beasts. The Power of Desolates that escaped from these ice elemental desolate beasts was also ice-elemental in nature.

After Chu Xiaoran absorbed all of these ice-elemental Power of Desolates, she merged them together into her Aspect Totem. Hence, her Aspect Totem was also ice-elemental.

As a result, when Chu Xiaoran enters a battle, just from the help from the Aspect Totem, she would gain bonus effects when she used ice-elemental Yuan Qi.

It could be imagined as if Chu Xiaoran had brought a real ice-elemental desolate beast, which had a telepathic connection with her, into battle against Yi Yun.

It was equivalent to fighting two against one.

"Is this Aspect Totem…? This is my first time seeing this… So that's what it looks like…"

Yi Yun had no systematic study of martial arts. Even before leaving the Lian tribal clan, Yi Yun did not know what the realm above the Purple Blood realm was.

Although he later learned about the Yuan Foundation, he did not know the hallmark of the Yuan Foundation realm warriors, nor what special abilities they possessed. Yi Yun did not even know how to go from the Purple Blood realm to the Yuan Foundation realm.

Yi Yun had not seen many Yuan Foundation realm warriors before coming to the Tai Ah Divine City. Besides Lin Xintong, Yi Yun had never seen them fight.

And when he sparred with Lin Xintong, due to the great difference in ability, Lin Xintong naturally did not need to use her Aspect Totem.

…

True Martial World - Chapter 241: Coming Together

At this point in the rookie ranking competition, the entire arena seemed to belong to Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran. Everyone else was playing second fiddle.

When people looked at other battles, they only had one thought in their mind, and that was: “Hurry up and finish your battle. Let Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran go on stage.”

All the rookies that could still go on stage were the best amongst the rookies. All of them grew up with a halo around their heads, but now they were just supporting characters on the stage. This made them feel helpless, but they had to admit that Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran were on a completely different level from them.

The referee intentionally scheduled Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran's battle at the end of the day. This was to ensure that Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran would be able to recover to their optimal states, so their battle could be a showdown at the highest levels.

The Sun slowly set in the west and dusk set in. People were all waiting for the beginning of this big battle. All the other rookies had finished their battles, so all they were waiting for was for Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran to go on stage.

Suddenly, near the arena's main entrance, a commotion in the crowd happened. The tightly-packed crowd suddenly began to disperse.

The people who dispersed had faces of confusion or shock.

"Oh? What's wrong?"

People began to look over and all they saw was a number of men in black cloaks at the entrance. And in between these black-cloaked men, there were two elderly men who strolled in leisurely.

They are...

Everyone was shocked, especially the rookies. They had never seen these two old men before, so it was natural they did not recognize them.

But the rookies vaguely knew about these black-cloaked men. The only people who wore black cloaks in the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom were law-enforcers.

Law-enforcers? Why are there so many law-enforcers here?

The rookies were dumbfounded, and at that moment, some of the stronger veteran cultivators recognized the two old men after a momentary pause.

"Elder Jian Ge! Elder Cang Yan! Why did they come to the arena!?"

All of the rookies were dumbstruck when they heard this.

Elder...These two old men are Elders!?

To all the cultivators present, the Divine City's Elders were legendary figures. In the entire Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, there might not even be one in 500 years.

What were they doing here in the arena?

The rookie ranking competition...was not something worth the attention of the Elders. Ignoring the rookie ranking competition, even Qin Haotian, who was ranked number one in the arena, would not receive such treatment by the Elders when he was challenged by those ranked second or third. At most, the Elders would just watch a video disk array.

There were firsts every year in the Divine City. Every year, the person ranked first on the Earth roll of honor would be challenged numerous times in a short period of time. The Elders were not so free to watch it every time.

Typically, the Elders never appeared in the arena. Instead, it should be said that cultivators typically did not have the chance to meet the Elders.

Rookie cultivators might have a chance of meeting Elder Cang Yan when he did his occasional guest appearance as the door-manning old man; however, they did not know he was an Elder.

Seeing Cang Yan and Jian Ge sit in the seats of honor, everyone was still in a daze, "Could they be...here to watch Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran's match?"

Upon thinking of this possibility, people were in disbelief. But thinking further, Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran's match was indeed a notable event!

"Amazing! This rookie ranking competition is getting the attention of the Elders?"

People looked at each other with puzzled faces. No matter how impressive Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran were, they were not at Qin Haotian's level. They managed to get two Elders to watch them as rookies? This was really unbelievable.

At that moment, Cang Yan and Jian Ge calmly sat in the seats. It was indeed something that had never happened before, for some Elders to come in person to the arena.

They came here to see Yi Yun's understanding of the Saber Truth's 32 Words in person.

Although the Tai Ah Divine City's video disk array could be used to record video, it was not enough to record laws that cultivators had insights into.

The unclear video images were unable to reflect the charm of the saber truths.

"Yi Yun! Chu Xiaoran! Divine Wilderness Stage!" The referee announced. With the two Elders here, the referee also felt pressure.

With his Thousand Army Saber in his hand, Yi Yun walked up onto the Divine Wilderness Stage. And his opponent, Chu Xiaoran held a soft sword in her hand. She had a quiet demeanor and she seemed to lack the sharpness of an expert.

As she walked, Chu Xiaoran glanced at the two elderly men in the seats of honor, "They are the Divine City's Elders...The real pillars of support for the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom. They are stronger than my grandfather, my father and master..."

Chu Xiaoran came from the Chu family, which was a family clan with a deep heritage, but there was never a human Sage in the family.

Even the current head of the Chu family was only a peak-Human Lord.

Chu Xiaoran had her own ambitions. She was determined to be the first sage in the Chu family. She wanted to start a new glorious chapter in the Chu family's annals. However, this ambition had always been buried deep in Chu Xiaoran's heart. She had never mentioned this to anyone.

Now, having seen two sages at once, it struck a nerve.

In the future, she also wanted to reach that level!

A sage appeared once in 500 years. She wanted to be the strongest expert in the past 500 years! She could not fail here!

Chu Xiaoran drew out her sword. She was silent and her breaths were well tempered; however, her beautiful eyes could not hide her fighting spirit!

Yi Yun slowly drew out his Thousand Army Saber, "Chu Xiaoran, I know you are hiding your strength…And from the strength you have shown up to now, it is not enough to defeat me. If you do not use your trump card early on, you might not have the opportunity to use it."

"Thank you for your advice! Make your move." Chu Xiaoran was very calm. She was never more serious for this battle than before. It might be because of the appearance of the two sages that had ignited the fighting spirit in Chu Xiaoran!

She wanted to win!

At that moment, Yi Yun started to move.

His body moved like a gust of wind and the terrifying saber beam, which condensed into one that could shatter all kinds of blade beams, slashed down at Chu Xiaoran!

This move flooded the vision of everyone. Even at a distance, people felt that a long saber was hanging by their neck with a murderous intent!

A terrifying saber!

Chu Xiaoran contracted her pupils and she flew backward to dodge the beam. Then, she stabbed her soft sword towards the beam.

All her body's Yuan Qi also surged into the sword. This Yuan Qi was accompanied with an indescribable softness in it to meet the saber beam!

However, Yi Yun's saber was much sharper than Chu Xiaoran's sword!

With a "Chi Chi Chi" sound, the beam sliced through Chu Xiaoran's sword Qi. All people could see was that the beam was travelling towards her face.

People could not help but exclaim!

Chu Xiaoran was a beautiful, young girl. If Qiuniu was slashed by the saber, it was alright. But no one could bear seeing Chu Xiaoran being slashed!

In a split second, just as Chu Xiaoran was about to be slashed by the saber, Yi Yun's saber beam mysteriously shifted to the side.

Cha!

This slash eventually went parallel to Chu Xiaoran's face, and it hit the purple tungsten ground heavily.

The solid purple tungsten stage quaked and a deep four feet long saber mark appeared on it!

Chu Xiaoran's body fluttered a hundred feet in the air before she landed softly on the ground, but...there were a few strands of hair that dropped down onto her cheeks...

What...happened just now?

The audience stared with their eyes wide open.

They were completely focused on the beam and they were afraid that they would miss an exciting moment. But even so, they could not clearly see what had happened during Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran's clash.

It was too fast and in a split second, the two were separated apart. Following that, the stage was slashed open by the saber beam. It made people breathless.

"I clearly saw Yi Yun's saber beam in front of Chu Xiaoran. Why did he not fully slash downwards. Did Yi Yun feel tenderness towards women at the last moment and held back?" Someone asked.

"Don't be silly" A veteran cultivator shook his head. "You think she is a frail maiden? This is the Hard-Soft concept. Chu Xiaoran used the Hard-Soft concept at the last moment to dissipate Yi Yun's force, but...she did not manage to dissipate all of it..."

Some of the veteran cultivators, who were ranked around 2000 on the Earth ranking, could clearly see Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran's battle.

The Hard-Soft concept could dissipate many attacks, but if the difference in strength was too great, it still could not reverse the tide.

Many people noticed that a few strands of Chu Xiaoran's hair had fallen off. It was Yi Yun who held the upper hand in their first engagement.

Yi Yun looked at his own saber and thought about the power from before. He was amazed that his saber could change directions against his will.

Yi Yun said, "Hard-Soft...It's indeed amazing to use a weaker force to overcome a stronger force! But it is not enough to obtain victory with that. My first slash was just a probe. Following up, I will use all my strength!"

Probe!?

Hearing this, people turned speechless. Such a strong saber attack was just Yi Yun's probe.

Many amongst them knew that they could not even resist this saber attack, nor did they know how to do so!

Previously, they knew Yi Yun was very strong. But they did not know how big the difference was. Now, they had an intuitive feel of the difference!

Now, it was no surprise that Qiuniu was defeated. They were not Qiuniu and did not know the pressure Qiuniu experienced when fighting Yi Yun. They would probably know the feeling if they were the one standing on stage.

True Martial World - Chapter 240: The Weak overcoming the Strong

After Yi Yun beat Qiuniu, he quickly submitted the name of the person he wanted to challenge next. Some people began to peek at the challenge form when the referee received it.

There were a few people standing near the referee’s table and they began to probe into the name that Yi Yun wrote and the person he chose was Chu Xiaoran!

Yi Yun versus Chu Xiaoran!

No one was surprised that this was going to happen. The rookie ranking competition needed someone to stand on top. Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran were destined to have a final showdown.

In fact, it was an experience a person like Yi Yun needed to have by battling against the experts amongst the rookies. He had to accumulate combat experience to train his martial arts!

"Yi Yun wants to battle Chu Xiaoran!" Someone spread the news.

"He wants to battle Chu Xiaoran? Chu Xiaoran is going to feel the pressure now!"

In the past, Chu Xiaoran's performance had always subtly exceeded Qiuniu’s, but not by much. Everyone knew that Chu Xiaoran had held back a trick or two. But even so, it didn't seem like she could do much when she faced Yi Yun!

"Yi Yun is a freak, even when Qiuniu gave it his all at the end, he could also break it in one shot. With his extraordinary movement techniques, his attack and speed leaves others in the dust. Can Chu Xiaoran defeat him? It is going to be difficult!"

"It may seem like that now, but who knows how much hidden strength Chu Xiaoran has not used. When Qiuniu and Yi Yun fought, he too had his trump card. So wouldn’t Chu Xiaoran have one either? Don't forget that Chu Xiaoran is a person who had gained insight into nomological truths..."

People debated on this topic but in the end, most people believed Yi Yun had a higher chance of winning.

At that moment, the referee announced, "Divine Wilderness Stage, 2600, Long Li. Challenger, Chu Xiaoran!"

Before battling Yi Yun, Chu Xiaoran had already set up a match, she was challenging the 2600th person on the Earth roll of honor.

This was Chu Xiaoran's third to last battle. Tomorrow, she still had two opportunities to challenge someone. No one knew how high Chu Xiaoran could rise up.

Chu Xiaoran held a sword that was soft as water and she walked up onto the Divine Wilderness Stage.

No matter who she faced in this battle or if Yi Yun was going to face her in her next battle, they were all strong rivals. But even so, Chu Xiaoran was still very calm.

Many people admired her for having such bearing.

"She's indeed worthy to be an expert by not panicking. She did not react at all, even when she saw Qiuniu being defeated..."

People were secretly horrified. They did not know the limit to Chu Xiaoran's strength.

Chu Xiaoran's opponent Long Li held a spear in his hand. With the spear in his hand, he gave an impressive pose.

He took his opponent very seriously and he did not dare to treat her lightly.

"Chu Xiaoran..." On the participant benches, Yi Yun, who was meditating, opened his eyes. He too wanted to see the impressive style of the current number one rookie.

The battle had begun .

Many people focused their eyes on the stage. They were waiting to see Chu Xiaoran's hidden strength. Qiuniu had plenty of hidden strength, so Chu Xiaoran definitely had hidden strength too.

Everyone imagined that in this battle, Long Li would slowly suppress Chu Xiaoran until she had to use her hidden strength to turn the tables.

But, this battle was different from what they imagined.

Long Li was indeed very fierce in his opening attacks. His spear shot out spear beams!

The spear was known as the best weapon among soldiers. Long Li was more than 1.8 meters tall; hence, he had an impressive aggressiveness while attacking with the spear.

But Chu Xiaoran was using a soft sword.

When a sword exchanged blows with a spear, it was usually at a disadvantage. Chu Xiaoran was quickly suppressed by Long Li!

Long Li's spear was fast and he also injected his surging Yuan Qi into it.

Long Li attacked with one move after another like billowing waves that would not stop. As for Chu Xiaoran, she was like a small boat in the ocean. She was moving around like she was being rocked around by the waves and wind.

It seemed like Chu Xiaoran was in a dangerous situation, but...no matter how forceful Long Li's attacks were, Chu Xiaoran remained undefeated.

After being unable to take her down for a long while, Long Li began feeling anxious. It seemed like he was just a tiny step away from defeating Chu Xiaoran.

If Long Li was a rock, then Chu Xiaoran was like a blade of grass. No matter how hard the rock pressed on it, the blade of grass would just bend and it would not snap!

This made many rookies frown. They wished for Chu Xiaoran to win her matches beautifully, but in reality, Chu Xiaoran was being suppressed.

The rookies did not feel good about this.

Did Chu Xiaoran not have any hidden strength? If she was being suppressed by Long Li like this, how was she going to fight Yi Yun?

People knew that Long Li was very strong. Being ranked at 2600 in the Earth rankings and even amongst the third years, he was considered one of the top experts. In past years, whichever rookie could battle a cultivator ranked 2600 to such state would be a freak. It was practically guaranteed for them to get first place in the rookie competition.

But this year, it was different. There was the incredibly powerful Yi Yun here. By fighting like that, she was not enough to pose a threat to Yi Yun!

Although the audience was anxious, Chu Xiaoran was not anxious at all. Chu Xiaoran carried on following a prescribed order and she parried every attack from Long Li. It looked dangerous, but she was doing it with such ease.

In the arena, Long Li's heart sank. He knew that if this carried on, his energy would be depleted faster than Chu Xiaoran’s. In the end, he would end up losing.

He had to accumulate his strength to win in one hit!

He could only use his trump card now. Long Li had just recently learned this move and he was not skillful using it. But now, he only had this move to clinch victory.

As Long Li attacked Chu Xiaoran, he began preparing his best move. After he finished preparing it, he forced Chu Xiaoran to retreat and with his whole body's Yuan Qi exploding, a surge of energy appeared in front of him!

Just as Long Li was prepared to use his trump card, something unexpected occurred.

Chu Xiaoran, who was sent retreating by him, suddenly seemed to borrow the energy from his attack and flew back at him, sending out an attack!

This attack looked unexciting and it did not seem like it was going to threaten Long Li's energy wave.

But this attack shot out a sword beam, which destroyed a portion of Long Li's energy wave!

This was because it had hit a weak spot in Long Li's attack!

"Peng!"

Long Li's Yuan Qi was broken, so, even though Long Li was able to react at that moment and try to protect his body while he retreated, it...was too late!

Chu Xiaoran was too fast and her sword was too precise!

Her body charged into Long Li's spear beams like a ghost and she broke through Long Li's protective barrier with her sword!

This attack was like a venomous snake coming out of a cave and it seemed to twist around Long Li's neck.

The cold blade beam sank Long Li's heart and all his Yuan Qi stopped circulating.

Wh...What?

Long Li was dumbfounded. He stood motionless as if he had been petrified.

"You have lost." Chu Xiaoran withdrew her soft sword and quietly took a step back.

Long Li dazed as he saw Chu Xiaoran retreat. He could not believe what had just happened.

From the beginning, he constantly had the upper hand. It was because he could not take her down after prolonged attacks that he had to use the killing blow he had just learned. But before he could use it, Chu Xiaoran suddenly turned the tables and beat him. An ordinary looking move was able to break his defenses to secure victory in one move.

This huge reversal from defeat to victory happened almost in an instant!

Long Li felt that he was stronger than Chu Xiaoran, but in the end, he still lost!

This feeling was like in chess. When one was suppressing their opponent by removing a large portion of their opponent’s pieces, they had victory in hand. But suddenly, the opponent made a move that ended up checkmating their King...

The whole match was lost!

Long Li felt aggrieved at his loss. He could not imagine how Chu Xiaoran managed to break through his move.

The audience was also confused at this battle outcome. It seemed like Chu Xiaoran had won easily and not easily at the same time. Some people even thought that Chu Xiaoran had won by a fluke.

How did this happen? They were waiting for Chu Xiaoran to reveal her hidden strength, but from the beginning to the end, all Chu Xiaoran did was that one move. And just the strength of that one move allowed her to defeat Long Li in an unknown way.

"Does Chu Xiaoran not have any hidden strength? Is that all she has? Then, how is she going to fight Yi Yun? Isn't she sure to lose?"

People inevitably had such thoughts. By struggling to beat Long Li, it was difficult for her to beat Yi Yun.

At that moment, someone said, "On the contrary...I think Chu Xiaoran's performance in this battle is terrifying. The strength she used was weaker than Long Li’s, but the final result was unexpected! By defeating Long Li with a weaker strength, that is skill. How would you know that the strength Chu Xiaoran used was her limit?"

When this person returned with a question, it stunned the audience.

"If she can win with 60% strength, why didn't she use 100%? Instead, by beating a 70% opponent with 60% strength, that shows skill. Maybe, Chu Xiaoran was training and honing her skills!" The person who said this was a veteran cultivator.

Now, many veteran cultivators had to admit that Chu Xiaoran was terrifying, even though it was embarrassing to admit that a rookie was stronger than them.

Upon hearing this, no one said anything. To hone oneself using the rookie ranking competition?

Recalling this battle, Chu Xiaoran was very calm from beginning to end. She never panicked, it was as if everything was under her control.

If she really could not beat Long Li, it was unlikely she could be that calm.

And in the final attack, it looked simple, but was it really that simple?

A simple attack had broken through Long Li's forceful killing blow?

Upon realizing this, people found Chu Xiaoran unfathomable.

In this rookie ranking competition, Qiuniu was always ranked behind Chu Xiaoran. When one thought about it, it was probably Qiuniu's intention to challenge Chu Xiaoran on the final day!

Although it was likely that, deep down, Qiuniu did not believe that he would lose to Chu Xiaoran, but this indicated that Qiuniu was previously weaker than Chu Xiaoran. If not, he would not have positioned himself as a challenger.

Unfortunately, now it was no longer Qiuniu challenging Chu Xiaoran, but Yi Yun...

True Martial World - Chapter 239: Disk Array Video

Yi Yun walked back to his seat with everyone in the arena looking at him.

At that moment, a weak voice came from the stage, "Yi...Yi Yun..."

Yi Yun paused and turned around. It was Qiuniu. He could no longer speak loudly as Yi Yun's saber had cut open his chest, causing him to have trouble breathing.

"That move...Where did you learn it...?" Qiuniu said every word with difficulty. Even though the doctors advised Qiuniu not to speak, it fell on deaf ears.

"A few days ago, an elderly person took me somewhere to learn it." Yi Yun did not hide the fact. However, he did not mention the ancient tomb as it was a secret that there was an ancient tomb under the Tai Ah Divine City and many people did not know this secret.

"A few days..." Qiuniu suddenly recalled Yi Yun's disappearance for the past few days and gave a wry smile, "I see...You disappeared for a few days...to gain understandings about the saber..."

It only took him a few days to learn such a horrifying saber technique?

It was unimaginable...

"What is the saber move's name…?" Qiuniu asked again. When Yi Yun had used the move, he did not shout out the move's name like Qiuniu.

Yi Yun faltered slightly before replying, "Reigning Supreme!"

This was Yi Yun's naming of the saber move. This was because this move was created from understanding the Saber Truth's 32 Words' "Reigning Supreme".

Be it Qiuniu or the many cultivators in the divine city audience, no one recognized the move. All they knew was Yi Yun's saber move was terrifying. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

"Reigning Supreme...Good move!"

Qiuniu did not say anything else as he was carried out of the arena by the doctors on a stretcher.

Qiuniu's defeat and his serious injury meant he could no longer battle the veteran cultivator who was ranked 2800. As for Qiuniu's ranking, it had dropped to 10,003 due to his defeat against Yi Yun.

But this did not affect Qiuniu's rookie ranking as the rookie ranking competition ranked every rookie according to the highest ranking they achieved throughout all their matches.

So, Qiuniu would end up being ranked third and now, Yi Yun was ranked second amongst the rookies!

And he still had three more challenges remaining!

Who was he going to challenge next? Would he be challenging a high-ranking veteran cultivator or Chu Xiaoran?

After thinking about this, many people's hearts started to race. No matter who Yi Yun challenged, it would no doubt be an interesting match!

...

At that moment, in the central divine tower...

Cang Yan and Elder Jian Ge were playing chess once again. These two old men had brewed a pot of tea. They played chess and at the same time, they enjoyed the tea. It was not easy for the two of them to progress any further, so they began leading an idle life. The two of them would end up playing chess for many days at a time.

As for the rookie ranking competition, they would only occasionally pay attention to it, while they played chess. The rookie ranking competition was not a big deal to people of their level.

Jian Ge and Cang Yan were considered the Divine City's Elders who were the most concerned about the rookies. As for people like the Tai Ah Divine City’s City Lord, they would usually enter reclusive training for decades. If someone were to ask them who Qin Haotian was, they would say that they had never heard of the name before.

"I say, old man Jian, you recently went to the Southern Island and got two pounds of Jing Luo Chun, right? Why aren't you brewing it? It is such a waste of a heavenly treasure to not drink it!"

Cang Yan was taking a sip of the tea. He was currently drinking a top-grade tea which could nourish the meridians and the dantian. A pot of this tea was priceless. But, he still yearned for Elder Jian Ge's Jin Luo Chun.

Jian Ge rolled his eyes and could not be bothered to answer him. He said, "Didn't you take Yi Yun out of the saber tomb today? How is he?"

Cang Yan stroked his chin when he heard Jian Ge ask this. It seemed like he did not know what to say.

"This...it is hard to say! When I asked the kid to come out, he looked very confident, it was as if he had actually learned something. But thinking about it, he only went in for a short amount of time, so it is quite unlikely that he had actually learned anything. So I am thinking of letting him go into the saber tomb again, so that he can try to gain more insights over a few days. Then, I'll prepare an opponent of passable caliber to fight with him to see the results of his training!"

Elder Jian Ge was speechless when he heard this. He smacked the chess piece in his hand on the table and snapped, "You want to take him in there again? Do you think the saber tomb is the Tai Ah Divine City's cook house!?"

"For a cultivator of the Purple Blood realm to enter the saber tomb for the first time, and after a few days, gain some confidence from it like he has learned something, what he learned is most likely wrong. Don't tell me you didn't realize this would happen. Are you planning to take Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran to the sword and saber tombs in the next few days to see if they can gain some insight!?"

Upon being questioned by Elder Jian Ge, Cang Yan did not say a word. He also thought that Yi Yun must have gone astray in his learning.

He said softly, "Forget Qiuniu, but I think Chu Xiaoran has potential, so it is worth a try. She managed to gain some insights on truths at a young age and she has great perceptivity. Besides, she also uses a sword."

Hearing Cang Yan's words, Jian Ge hesitated. Cang Yan had a point about Chu Xiaoran, it was indeed worth a try.

Elder Jian Ge said, "Old man Cang, we need to be careful. Although these geniuses have a very low probability of becoming sages, we should not ruin their futures. In the past year, there have been a series of phenomena in the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, such as the Purple Clouds' Birth in the Cloud Wilderness and the beast horde migration in the Divine Wilderness last year. Who knows if something big has happened...To be able to nurture the younger generation, it is always good..."

As Jian Ge said this, he heard a Yuan Qi transmission from outside the door, "Subordinate Gui Bai seeks an audience with Elder Jian Ge"

"Gui Bai?" Jian Ge thought for a while. Gui Bai, as a law-enforcer, was in charge of this year's rookie ranking competition. He should still be at the arena now.

"Come in. What's the matter?" Jian Ge said lightly.

Gui Bai, who wore a black cloak, pushed the door open and entered the room. He unveiled his cowl and cupped his hands in a salute, "This subordinate was presiding over this year's rookie ranking competition and something special happened in one of the battles. This subordinate could not be sure of what it was and I brought a video disk array for the two Elders to confirm it!"

With that said, Gui Bai handed over the disk array.

Jian Ge looked at Gui Bai with some uncertainty. What sort of rookie battle needed him and Cang Yan to confirm?

At that moment, Gui Bai had placed the disk array on the table and by circulating his body's Yuan Qi into the disk array, a light flashed from the disk array and video began emerging from it.

This was Qiuniu and Yi Yun's battle!

"Oh? This little rascal immediately challenged Qiuniu? He sure is confident!"

After all, Yi Yun was of a normal background. To reach the point of challenging a reclusive family's genius, Qiuniu, in three months after coming to the Tai Ah Divine City, it was not easy.

Gui Bai did not say anything and stood nearby with his hands by his side. Just the disk array's video was enough to show Jian Ge and Cang Yan what was special about this battle without him saying another word.

Qiuniu and Yi Yun's fierce battle appeared in the disk array's footage. Seeing Yi Yun break through Qiuniu's armor defenses, Jian Ge nodded his head.

Following that, Qiuniu took off his armor to battle Yi Yun again. Jian Ge gave a rare appreciative smile.

"This little rascal is not bad!"

"I know! He is not bad. Look at his battle with Qiuniu, he was never in a disadvantageous position in the first place. I had reason to take him into the saber tomb. Maybe with a few more days, he might really learn something!"

Cang Yan began boasting; but at that moment, Yi Yun was trapped by Qiuniu's Trapped Ox Lock. Cang Yan's happy expression froze. How could this kid be so unworthy of praise, I just praised him and now, he got trapped by his opponent. Yi Yun could only face the battle head on and he was bound to suffer as a result.

At that moment, Qiuniu launched his killing blow and Yi Yun took it head on with his saber.

It seemed as if time came to a stop. When they saw Yi Yun's blade beam slice through the Sky Ox phantom image and then slash through Qiuniu's strong body, both Cang Yan and Jian Ge expression’s froze!

Just now...

How could that be!?

The two elders looked at each other and saw an incredulous look within the other's eyes.

"Replay!" Cang Yan said in a hurry.

Gui Bai did not say a word and injected some more Yuan Qi into the disk array to show Yi Yun's slash again.

This slash had hit Qiuniu's body and it was reflected in their eyes. That blade beam lingered in their irises for a long time.

"The realm of the Saber Truth's 32 Words!" Elder Jian Ge said in a deep voice.

"This kid!" Cang Yan was completely at a loss for words. At that moment, according to his temperament, he would have jumped up to boast and say how good his foresight was.

But Yi Yun was a freak. For Yi Yun to manage to gain insight from the Saber Truth's 32 Words in just a few days, even he could not say anything.

He had originally taken Yi Yun to the saber tomb on a whim. He wanted to test Yi Yun. He felt that he could take Yi Yun to the tomb a few times for him to gain a tiny insight and it would benefit him for life.

Under normal circumstances, if Yi Yun could gain some insight in a few months, it would be an extraordinary feat. But now, in just 4-5 days, he had gained such insight? This was too great of an exaggeration!

Even Qin Haotian, who was a natural swordsman, could not be compared to Yi Yun in terms of his understanding of the sword!

"Impressive! Could this kid be a natural saber user?"

Some people were naturally compatible with a certain type of weapon. It was as if they were born for the weapon. When they used the weapon, their powers would greatly increase and they could not use any other weapon at all.

These people could easily reach the pinnacle in one aspect. It was also easier for them to gain insights on the weapon of their choice.

Jian Ge shook his head and said, "No, he isn't...He also has a bow. His bow skills are not bad either. I heard that he managed to capture the primordial herb using that bow from the herb-picking administrator."

"To not be a natural saber user, but to have such perceptivity that exceeds a natural saber user...It's incredible!"