Huang Yicun passed through the bustling streets and arrived at a mansion located in the central area of God’s Terrace City, stopping his steps and walking towards the gate.
The mansion, was quite ornate.
On each side of the gate, there stood a mansion-protecting savage beast, the Vajra Fury Lion, with a very large body, its whole body fur emitting a piercing golden light.
At the same time, there were also six guards in armour, standing next to the Vajra Fury Lion, guarding the gate. The aura emanating from their bodies was very strong, and they were clearly all first-rate experts.
“Greetings to Miss Smokey.”
The six guards obviously knew Huang Yichen’s identity and bowed to her at the same time.
Afterwards, two of the guards walked over and opened the door to the mansion for her.
“To be able to live in the central area of Divine Terrace City, one must be a powerful big shot.”
Zhang Ruochen stood at a distance and carefully observed the six guards, noticing that the armour they wore, all of which were at the level of 10th rank True Martial Treasure Weapons, belonged to the Law Enforcement Hall of the Martial City Academy Palace.
Moreover, their cultivation levels, all of them were at the Fish Dragon Realm, and it was obvious that they were the top experts selected from the Law Enforcement Hall.
To be able to have cultivators of the Fish Dragon Realm guarding the gates, then the person in the mansion was at least a Half-Saint, and most likely even a Saint.
The corner of Zhang Ruochen’s mouth ticked, and he was already able to guess what kind of person lived in the mansion.
With that, Zhang Ruochen no longer hid his figure and walked forwards.
“Ow!”
The Vajra Fury Lions that stood on both sides of the mansion opened their eyes at the same time and stared towards Zhang Ruochen, revealing thick hostility.
Two golden waves of Qi emanated from their bodies.
The six guards of course saw Zhang Ruochen who was walking towards them, only that they recognised the Dao robes on Zhang Ruochen and knew that the other party was a Sacred Transmission Disciple of the Two Elemental Sect, so they immediately drank back the two Vajra Fury Lions.
After all, they were now in the territory of the Two Yi Sect, so of course, they had to be polite to the Holy Transmission Disciples of the Two Yi Sect.
Among the six guards, the one with the highest cultivation, who appeared to be in his forties and had a pair of bushel-sized ears, held a long spear and took two steps forward, arching his hand and saying, “May I ask who the visitor is?”
Zhang Ruochen smiled faintly and took out his sect token to show his identity, saying, “Lin Yue of the Two Element Sect, I’m here to pay my respects to Senior Xuan Gui Sword Saint.”
Hearing Lin Yue’s name, the six people were all quite moved.
After all, Lin Yue was a first-class heavenly pride of the Two Yi Sect, and even one of the stormy figures of the Sword Discussion Conference, causing them to treat him with caution.
“So it’s the Two Yi Sect’s Sword Dao wizard.”
All six of the guards had respectful looks on their faces.
The guard with the highest cultivation level had a difficult look on his face as he said, “Although the Sword Saint is temporarily residing in the mansion, however, his old man is a god who doesn’t see the end of the world, and even we find it hard to see him, and I don’t know if he’s already gone out now.”
Obviously, they felt that Lin Yue was too young, even if he had a notable reputation in the younger generation, yet, he was not yet qualified to be received by the Xuan Gui Sword Saint.
“Master Teacher is indeed in this mansion.”
Zhang Ruochen revealed a joyful expression as he said, “You guys just need to go in and report, if, however, Senior Sword Saint does not wish to see me, I will leave.”
Just as the six guards were in great difficulty, Feng Han walked out from the gate.
Feng Han was the fourth disciple of the Xuan Gui Sword Saint, tall and thin, looking twenty-five or six years old, his face was rather pale and looked very sickly.
“Wow!”
The six guards simultaneously half-kneeled on the ground and saluted Feng Han, looking very respectful as they said in unison, “Greetings to the Feng Han Half-Saint.”
Zhang Ruochen had naturally heard of the name “Feng Han” before, but it was the first time he had seen him, and he secretly said in his heart, “So he is the Fourth Senior Brother, Feng Han. Third Senior Brother once said that Fourth Senior Brother’s talent in the Dao of the Sword is the highest amongst all his brothers.”
For some reason, Zhang Ruochen vaguely felt a very dangerous aura from Feng Han’s body, i.e. it was very familiar and very strange.
Compared to the other three senior brothers, Qing Xiao Sage, Zhu Hongtao, and Wan Ke, this fourth senior brother actually had a hidden, chilly and hostile aura on his body.
Feng Han had a sickly look on his face as he gently raised a hand, signalling the six guards to get up.
“Cough.”
He coughed twice before looking over towards Zhang Ruochen, his voice dry as he said, “Junior friend Lin Yue, Master has already known that you have come to pay your respects, and has specially instructed me to come and receive you in. Please!”
Zhang Ruochen bowed to Feng Han, then, following behind him, he travelled towards the mansion.
This mansion, which covered roughly one hundred and fifty acres of land, wasn’t big, but it wasn’t small either.
In the mansion, there were not many people, and it appeared to be very quiet.
In the centre area, there was a white misty lotus pond. At this moment, the Xuan Gui Sword Saint was sitting by the water’s edge, holding a green-coloured bamboo pole and fishing.
“Disciple has already brought little friend Lin Yue, I wonder if Master has any other orders?”Feng Han bowed and asked.
A smile hung on Sword Saint Xuan Gui’s face as he waved his hand and said, “Feng Han, you retreat first, Master wants to talk to Lin Yue alone.”
Feng Han was quite surprised and turned his face, glancing towards Lin Yue, revealing a puzzled expression.
He really didn’t understand a little, why would his master personally receive a cultivator of the Fish Dragon Realm?
Gently shaking his head, Feng Han then retreated.
After Feng Han left, Zhang Ruochen could no longer suppress the excitement in his heart and was immediately about to salute his Master.
However, the Xuan Gui Sword Saint intentionally wanted to test his cultivation, and with a shake of his arm, the bamboo pole immediately lifted up, and the fishing line hanging on the pole, detached itself from the water surface, emitting a piercing wind-breaking sound, and transformed into a ray of silver light, chopping towards Zhang Ruochen’s neck.
Zhang Ruochen was slightly startled and hurriedly released his Body Protecting Holy Deity, then, revolving his entire body’s Holy Qi, he slapped his palm forward.
“Swish swish!”
The fish line was originally very soft, but there was a layer of holy qi wrapping it, and it instantly became extremely sharp, transforming into nine wave-shaped sword qi, one after another.
The fish line pierced through the palm force and wrapped towards Zhang Ruochen’s legs, hands, waist and stomach, it was simply pervasive.
For a Sword Saint, every blade of grass and every piece of wood could be a sword, and could even explode with infinite power.
With the cultivation level of the Xuan Gui Sword Saint, if he were to strike out with all his might, even if he were to just hold a blade of grass and swing it down, he would be able to split a city into two halves.
At this moment, he was using a fish line as a sword, and he wasn’t using much Saint Qi, but the sword technique he displayed was incomparably subtle, making it impossible to defend against.
Zhang Ruochen wanted to retreat, but realised that there was actually a loop of fish line wrapped around his body, sealing off his path of retreat.
The Xuan Gui Sword Saint glanced towards Zhang Ruochen and saw that he was trapped by the fish line, revealing a hint of a smile as he said, “A sword can be rigid or soft, it is only when rigidity and softness are combined that it is an unbreakable sword.”
The Xuan Gui Sword Saint’s understanding of sword two was “rigid” and “soft”, with relatively more emphasis on sword strokes.
Zhang Ruochen smiled faintly, and with both hands simultaneously reaching out into the void, he coalesced a four-foot long sword respectively, and lightly shouted, “Sword Two.”
Both swords swung up at the same time, forming a field of sword qi that extended outwards. Hundreds of sword qi rapidly rotated in the field, transforming into an alternating black and white vortex that swept up the slender fishing line.
“Break!”
Zhang Ruochen charged upwards and struck his sword on top of the fish hook with a “ding” sound.
The fish hook, lost its direction, and the fish line followed suit and became messy.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhang Ruochen immediately dashed forward, passing through the entanglement of the fish line and appeared behind the Xuan Gui Sword Saint.
The swords in Zhang Ruochen’s hands immediately dispersed, turning into two strands of holy qi that dissipated inside the air.
Afterwards, he knelt down on one knee and said, “Disciple, greetings to Master.”
The Xuan Gui Sword Saint narrowed his eyes and nodded in satisfaction, saying, “Not bad, quite good. To have actually reached the second level of the Sword Two realm, Ruochen, you haven’t let your master down.”
In the Fish Dragon Realm, one only needed to cultivate to the tenth level of the great circle of Sword One to be considered a Sword Saint.
Zhang Ruochen was clearly even better, cultivating both Sword Two to such a high level, how could the Xuan Gui Sword Saint not be happy?
The Xuan Gui Sword Saint’s mood was so great that he laughed loudly and hastily stretched out his hands, gently lifting them. Zhang Ruochen was instantly lifted up by an invisible force and stood straight again.
Zhang Ruochen asked, “There is one thing that I don’t understand, how did Master Teacher recognise my true identity?”
The Xuan Gui Sword Saint carefully looked over towards him and said, “Your Formless and Phaseless Thirty-Six Transformations are still a bit short of the mark in terms of cultivation, fooling others but not Master.”
Zhang Ruochen smiled faintly, indeed feeling that he was showing off his skills.
After all, this kind of martial skill was all passed down to him from his master, if others could not see the cracks, would his master not see them?
The Xuan Gui Sword Saint stood up and paced with his hands behind his back, saying, ”With your current attainments, once you ascend to the Sword Discussion Assembly, you will surely be recognised by some of the old guys. For the next few days, you will stay in the mansion, and my master will personally help you cultivate the Formless and Phaseless Thirty-Six Transformations to a more complete realm.”
“Master knows that I’m going to participate in the Sword Discussion Conference?”Zhang Ruochen said.
The eyes of the Xuan Gui Sword Saint glared as he said, “With your current attainments in the Dao of the Sword, even if you don’t make it into the top three in the Sword Discussion Conference, it would be easy for you to make it into the top ten. Such a chance to compete with all the sword dao wizards in the world, if you don’t participate, aren’t you going to be angry with your master?”
“Master is a Sword Saint, of course he wants to save face. If you are able to make a name for yourself at the Sword Discussion Conference, my master will naturally be quite pleased, and when the time comes, in a life and death duel with the Nine Spectres Sword Saint, mentally, you will have an advantage. With this advantage, it will be able to increase my master’s chances of winning by at least 10%.”
The cultivation levels of the Xuan Gui Sword Saint and the Nine Spectres Sword Saint were in between, so it was difficult to tell who was stronger.
However, the mentality on the day of the duel would definitely have a great impact on them.
Whoever had a better mindset would have a somewhat greater chance of winning.
Thinking of a life and death duel, a wave of worry naturally arose in Zhang Ruochen’s heart as he said, “Master, what you have done for your disciple is more than enough, so there is absolutely no need, to risk so much to have a life and death duel with the Nine Spectres Sword Saint. In case of an accident ……”
Immediately, the Xuan Gui Sword Saint shook his hand, appearing calm as he said, “In fact, the reason why my master gave the Nine Spectres Sword Saint a battle order is not entirely because of you.”
“More importantly, my master’s cultivation has already reached a critical point, and it is impossible to break through this limit simply by virtue of cultivation.”
“Only with the help of an evenly matched life and death duel can one stimulate one’s potential, thus breaking through to that realm that Master has dreamed of.”
“The state of the Nine Spectres Sword Saint should be similar to mine, and he also wants to use this battle to break through the final bottleneck. Therefore, he obviously didn’t kill you, yet he still accepted the battle.”
“For him, this is a rare opportunity.”
