Chapter 692: Chapter 131: Fishing Saint Heir, Battle of the Top 100 Saint Heirs (Two-in-One)_3
Li Hao stared at Ao Jie, quickly debating whether to throw him back into the Dragon Pool.
Ao Jie, startled by Li Hao’s gaze, immediately realized Li Hao’s thoughts and hurriedly begged,
“Saint Heir, spare my life, I promise I won’t make any more moves, I’ll just collapse inside, I won’t budge even if the sky falls!”
Li Hao heard this and after thinking about it, decided to release him again.
As time passed, quite a while later, on the fourth try, Li Hao and the Sword Master simultaneously lifted their rods.
Seeing Feyran’s Fishing Experience, Li Hao instantly knew he hadn’t caught Ao Jie again.
However, when the two Dragon Demons were pulled up, Li Hao still heard Ao Jie’s voice, but this time it was on the Sword Master’s hook.
“Sword Master, spare my life…”
Ao Jie’s face was a picture of misery; just a sneeze, and how did the hook get sucked into his mouth!
Li Hao glanced at Ao Jie, somewhat at a loss for words, this Dragon Demon was quite fortunate to have lived until now.
The Sword Master said nothing, removed Ao Jie, and then threw him back into the Dragon Pool, casting his line once more.
Li Hao did the same, not choosing to slay the Dragon Demon.
Not long after, the Sword Master caught fish after fish, at one point even catching a double-dragon in one go.
In front of Sword Cliff, the mournful cries of Dragon Demons occasionally echoed, while in front of Saint Mountain, the intense battles of the ten platforms continued fiercely.
As the sun set in the west, the Sword Master also packed up his fishing rod, his catches still narrowly beating Li Hao, Fishing seven times to Li Hao’s six.
“It’s getting late today, let’s come back tomorrow.”
The Sword Master said to Li Hao, a rare smile on his face.
Today this young fellow actually made him feel a sense of urgency, a feeling he hadn’t had in a long time.
“Mm.”
Li Hao nodded.
Over the next few days, battles continued on the ten platforms, while Li Hao came to Sword Cliff each day to accompany the Sword Master in Fishing.
He had almost become old friends with the few Dragon Demons in the Dragon Pool.
On this day, while Li Hao was Fishing, another young man arrived.
Sword Master saw him and lightly chuckled, “You’ve come, have a seat.”
This young man stood tall and straight, yet dressed plainly, with a rusty broken sword at his waist and a sword scar on his forehead, his aura inwardly concealed.
The man caught sight of Li Hao, and a hint of surprise flashed through his calm, indifferent eyes, obviously not expecting someone else to be there apart from himself.
He didn’t say anything, simply walked to the edge of Sword Cliff, took out a fishing rod from the Heaven and Earth Space, and immediately began to bait and cast his line, engaging in Fishing as well.
“This is Wuheng Saint Son, and he is Qingfeng.”
As the Sword Master continued Fishing, he casually introduced the two to each other.
Li Hao and Qiu Wuhen exchanged glances, Qiu Wuhen’s eyes shifted slightly, finding the name Qingfeng somewhat familiar. Quickly, he remembered who it was, nodded slightly to Li Hao as a greeting.
Li Hao also nodded in response, and the three of them continued Fishing quietly on their own.
No one spoke, all immersed in their own enjoyment.
As the catches continued, Li Hao noticed that the Wuheng Saint Son’s fishing line revealed a trace of Sword Intent.
This Sword Intent was flexible and spontaneous, with a feeling both soft and sharp.
The softness differed from Lin Qingyue’s supreme softness, indicating two different swordsmanship schools.
Li Hao thought of a Sword technique within the Nine-layer Sword Tower, the Thousand Thread Sword Rain Skill. It seemed the other party cultivated this technique.
Cultivated to the top tier, it could condense thousands of threads of Sword Intent, interweaving like rain, capable of splitting space.
“Wuheng uses Fishing to comprehend Sword Dao; in the future, you can also try this,” said the Sword Master to Li Hao: “All things in heaven and earth can be used to understand one’s own Martial Arts.”
He knew Li Hao had extremely high Perception, and exceptional talent, so this was also a form of Cultivation guidance.
“Mm.” Li Hao nodded.
Upon hearing their conversation, Qiu Wuhen, who had been frowning and looking down, had his eyes flutter slightly, a trace of surprise arose in his heart. The Sword Master actually said this to an Alchemist?
Could it be that besides Alchemy, the other also intended to make a showing in Martial Arts?
But spreading oneself too thin could lead to achieving nothing in either field, as most geniuses were already struggling to reach the pinnacle in a single Martial Arts domain, let alone being distracted with other pursuits.
He withdrew his thoughts, deciding not to ponder further, and focused on his own fishing line.
…
After the Second-choice battles ended, the Third-choice ones began, which would last nearly half a month.
With pairs dueling without defending platforms, battles thus became much slower-paced.
Li Hao still came to Sword Cliff to Fish every day, and occasionally when the Sword Master was absent, it was just Li Hao and Qiu Wuhen at the spot.
On the tenth day after obtaining the Daoist Sword technique, Li Hao arrived at Yaochi Peak.
Seeing Li Hao ascending the mountain, Jiang Yingyue hurried over, leading Li Hao to the Yao Ancestor.
“Ten days are up, how is your Sword Dao practice? Perform it for me to see.” Yao Ancestor was seated on the Saint Platform, radiating a misty and sacred light, and spoke softly to Li Hao.
Li Hao nodded, casually taking a sword from the nearby stand and began to perform the Daoist Sword technique.
However, he restrained his Sword Intent and Sword Momentum, including the Charm of Sword Dao, not displaying the True State Level Daoist Sword technique, otherwise, it would have caused too much disturbance, extremely shocking to the world.
Even so, his Swordsmanship was fluid and as he wished, skilled and Agile, still attaining the Agility Level.
Surprise emerged in the tranquil eyes of Yao Ancestor; such a difficult and esoteric Sword technique, mastered to this extent in just a mere ten days, indicated an exceptional swordsmanship talent!
Beside him, Jiang Yingyue was astonished to see Li Hao perform the Agile Level Daoist Sword technique, her mouth agape. But recalling Li Hao’s Seven-layer Dao Domain, her heart eased.
It seemed Li Hao’s talent was even higher than she had imagined; aside from Cultivation, his innate gift in Sword Dao was seemingly no less remarkable than hers!
To think, within ten days, even she wouldn’t be confident in cultivating the Sword technique to such a dexterous and skilled level, unless there was Semi-Saint guidance.
Chapter 693: Chapter 131 Fishing Saint Heir, Top Hundred Saint Heir Battle (Two in One)_4
But for the past ten days, Li Hao had not ascended the mountain.
“Did you come to this realization on your own, or did someone guide you?”
After Li Hao had finished his demonstration, Yao Ancestor fixed her gaze on him and asked.
Li Hao noticed the shock in Jiang Yingyue’s eyes nearby and wondered if his performance had been too grand?
He immediately said with an honest face, “Qing Ying gave me a few pointers.”
Yao Ancestor understood and said, “Even if you received guidance, achieving such progress on your own is extremely rare. Your talent in the Sword Dao can definitely qualify you for the Inner Sect. Would you wish to accept me as your master?”
“This is a significant proposition; I would like to consider it further.”
Li Hao said the refusal he had already prepared.
Yao Ancestor’s eyes flickered, sensing the evasion in Li Hao’s words, feeling somewhat surprised. Accepting a disciple was a rare occurrence for her, and combined with the environment of Yaochi Peak, many male disciples dreamed of being accepted there.
However, Li Hao’s polite refusal made her recall the gaze he held while drawing her, clear and pure, devoid of carnal dispersals.
Her lips slightly curved, appreciating Li Hao even more, and said:
“No matter, whenever you are ready to decide, you can give me your answer. I can wait for you!”
Her last few words carried a slightly heavier tone, letting Li Hao understand her seriousness.
Li Hao felt guilty; he originally borrowed her hand token to go to the Sword Tower and collect cultivation techniques, never intending to take her as his master.
“Okay.”
Li Hao nodded, realizing he would have to find another way to repay her in the future.
Jiang Yingyue, hearing Li Hao actually refuse her own master, was somewhat astonished, but soon considered Li Hao’s exceptional talent, coupled with a 97-layer Dao Domain—it was very likely he had a significant background, perhaps already had a master?
She suddenly understood, feeling that the identity of Qingfeng Pill Master seemed somewhat suspect.
However, since even the Sword Master had realized but not questioned, it wasn’t her place to pry into these matters.
…
After leaving Yaochi Peak, Li Hao continued his daily fishing at Sword Cliff.
Half a month quickly passed, and after a total of twenty days of selection, the top hundred list finally came out. The entire Holy Land was extremely lively, causing an uproar among countless disciples.
To be among the top hundred in the presence of many exceptional talents was already being cream of the crop; placed in any first-rate force outside, one would receive the treatment of a Direct Disciple.
Each person who made the list quickly became well-known, and their fame spread far and wide.
As the top hundred battle list emerged, the battle platforms on the top of Saint Mountain were also erected high.
The upcoming battles would involve the participation of both Saint Heirs, with immediate pairings, potentially featuring a clash between two strong Saint Heirs on the very first day!
The loser would still have the opportunity to challenge again, with a points system determining the top sixteen.
As the top hundred battles commenced, Lin Qingyue, who had spent many days meditating on the sword in the courtyard, also stood up and headed to Saint Mountain.
This time, Li Hao followed Lin Shanhai and other Alchemists, still having a floating seat available.
Below, in the spectator area aside from the million Outer Sect disciples, the defeated Inner Sect disciples also came to watch the battles, a rare opportunity to glimpse the gap with the Saint Heirs.
“Look, there is Sword Saint, the Sword Saint himself has come.”
Atop Saint Mountain, three battle platforms were erected high, surrounded by Arrays.
As everyone arrived, a middle-aged man in a brilliant white snow robe, hands behind his back, slowly descended above the battle platform.
His stature was towering, the space around him seemed to slightly crack, with countless flickers of Sword Qi shadows.
His sleeves alone projected a piercingly sharp sensation, too intense to look at directly.
Li Hao’s eyes slightly narrowed; this was the Sword Ancestor Holy Land’s strongest, Sword Saint!
No other prefixes, just a simple two-word title, yet it exuded singularity and supremacy!
Besides Sword Saint personally attending, Yao Ancestor and three other Semi-Saints also appeared, situated mid-air, not concealing their auras, each displaying various phenomena influenced by their Saint’s Will.
Behind Mountain Ancestor appeared a towering, heavenly giant peak-like phantom.
Behind Yao Ancestor, however, was a faintly ethereal Turquoise Pool Saint Platform.
Other Semi-Saints displayed bursts of lightning or gathered flames, reddening the void.
Such a powerful oppressive aura made the top hundred talents hold their breath slightly; the Saint Heirs also gathered here, their gazes no longer indifferent and scattered as before, but particularly solemn.
Chapter 694: Chapter 132: Proposal? Guiding Lin Qingyue (Two in One)
The Sword Saint personally graced the battlefield, pushing the atmosphere of the event to its climax.
Millions of outer sect disciples were boiling with excitement. Given their status, it was extremely difficult to witness the strongest side of the Sword Ancestor Holy Land on a regular day, and they only occasionally had the chance to listen to a Saint preaching.
Many inner sect geniuses also had serious and focused expressions, filled with eagerness and excitement. If they could demonstrate their own talents and gain the favor of the Sword Saint, it was not impossible for them to receive his teachings.
However, at this moment, the most dazzling presence by the sword saint’s side was a saintess.
Bian Ruxue.
As the youngest among the saintesses, she had been the center of attention ever since she arrived at the Sword Ancestor Holy Land. Standing obediently beside the Sword Saint, her beautiful and delicate face revealed a sense of detachment and liveliness, invoking envy in many.
Being able to directly take the Sword Saint as a mentor put her in the highest echelon among all the saint heirs and saintesses in terms of background!
At this moment, with the rules announced and the selection of the top one hundred underway, three pairs of chosen combatants for the first fights soon took to the stage.
Two of the matchups were duels between inner sect geniuses, while the third was an inner sect genius against a saint heir.
This saint heir was none other than Wuheng Saint Son, whom Li Hao had met.
Back when Li Hao encountered Qiu Wuhen while fishing at Sword Cliff, they had made acquaintance with a few idle words exchanged, hardly profound.
Li Hao knew that the other party, through meditating on sword intent while fishing, had impressive strength.
With the saint heir stepping onto the stage, the majority of gazes were drawn to him.
After twenty consecutive days of battles, this was the first time the saint heirs and saintesses were taking part, giving everyone a glimpse of the saint heirs’ combat prowess.
The inner sect genius facing Qiu Wuhen, who previously emerged victorious in the arena defense challenge, was a well-known figure among the inner sect disciples named Luo Cheng.
Now, as the arena’s array coalesced, the fight erupted instantaneously.
Compared to Qiu Wuhen’s indifference, Luo Cheng’s eyes were filled with arrogance, but he did not take his opponent lightly and immediately harnessed the power of heaven and earth, also unveiling a realm he had not shown before.
“It’s the Divine Power Extreme Realm, and that vortex, it’s the Heaven and Earth Vein!”
The millions of outer sect disciples below the stage exclaimed in surprise, as attaining the Extreme Realm was their aspiration.
After storing up power in his physical body and the geo-pulse, Luo Cheng exploded with force and vanished in an instant like teleportation!
Returning Ruins Extreme Realm!
This scene caused even the six Semi-Saints watching from the sidelines to narrow their eyes in concentration.
Mastering the Returning Ruins Extreme Realm meant, at the very least, an abundance of life-saving ability. For the time being, it was rare to find anyone below a Semi-Saint who could detect tactics involving the Returning Ruins Extreme Realm!
Now was a test of calculation and prediction between the combatants.
Thwack!
The moment Luo Cheng instantaneously teleported with the Returning Ruin Movement to Qiu Wuhen’s side, not behind him, he slashed out suddenly, tearing open Qiu Wuhen’s shoulder. This was only because Qiu Wuhen had reacted extremely quickly and dodged in time, or else he would have lost half his body!
The first exchange left the saint heir injured, causing millions of disciples to cry out in surprise.
Luo Cheng paused only briefly before disappearing with another Returning Ruin Instant Teleportation, reappearing in front of Qiu Wuhen with another fierce and piercing sword strike.
The sword light aimed straight at Qiu Wuhen’s head, but he reacted with lightning speed, tilting his head just enough to let the sword light graze his cheek.
Luo Cheng’s face turned colder as he performed the third Returning Ruin Instant Teleportation, unexpectedly appearing above Qiu Wuhen’s head, with every angle of attack cunning and tricky.
This sword seemed powerful enough to split the earth, but, surprisingly, Qiu Wuhen dodged it by shifting his body to the side.
Luo Cheng’s eyes widened in shock.
He suddenly retreated, putting some distance between them.
From the sidelines, Li Hao watched the Thousand Strands Sword intent congealing on the platform and shook his head, knowing Luo Cheng was about to lose unless he had other tricks up his sleeve.
“Wuheng, this child, has attained great accomplishment in his sword intent!”
“Thousand Strands Sword, Luo Cheng still doesn’t realize that he’s already entangled by the sword intent.”
“To think he used that sword intent to barely capture the trajectory of the Returning Ruin Instantaneous Movement, other saint heirs will have to be cautious when fighting him from now on!”
Yao Ancestor and the other Semi-Saints were also paying attention to the battle, their eyes revealing solemnity and feeling of awe.
It was frightening to be able to just barely capture an Extreme Realm with sword intent.
At this moment, millions of outer sect disciples outside the arena were loudly chanting Luo Cheng’s name.
Dominating over a saint heir like this was too impressive.
Swoosh!
Luo Cheng’s fourth attempt at Returning Ruin Instant Teleportation aimed again at Qiu Wuhen’s front.
But as he reappeared, Qiu Wuhen suddenly drew his sword, the rusty, scabbard-less Tetanus Sword by his waist was abruptly unsheathed, rust shaking off. With a bang, it pierced straight through Luo Cheng’s body.
With a single sword strike, he skewered him on the blade!
The cheering audience fell silent as cutting a throat, all staring wide-eyed, their faces filled with disbelief.
The aggressively attacking Luo Cheng had been impaled suddenly!
“You…”
Luo Cheng realized the faint lines on his body and thought of his opponent’s name, his complexion turning unsightly.
Qiu Wuhen vibrated his arm, retracting the sword, his expression as indifferent as when he first entered the arena, unflustered.
Luo Cheng knew that the other party had shown mercy, otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to fend off the continuous strikes after being hit by the first sword.
“I’ve lost.”
Luo Cheng bowed his head, his expression somewhat uncomfortable. Was this the strength of a saint heir?
What made him feel choked was that the opponent had beaten him without even revealing his Extreme Realm, defeating him solely with sword intent!
As the winner was determined, the millions of disciples below the stage slowly came back to their senses, all in shock.
It was then realized that Qiu Wuhen hadn’t even used his Extreme Realm, not truly exerting his full strength!
“How powerful, is this the strength of a saint heir?”
Chapter 695: Chapter 132: Proposal? Guiding Lin Qingyue (Combined)_2
“Defeating the Extreme Realm in a normal state, that’s just too exaggerated, I didn’t understand it at all!”
“I realized something was off early on, Wuheng Saint Son didn’t even use Returning Ruin to dodge, it’s very likely he didn’t intend to unveil it.”
“Wuheng Saint Son is so strong, why didn’t he use Returning Ruin Instantaneous Movement to dodge and then counterattack? He got injured continuously earlier, it was too rough.”
“Rough? What does getting injured have to do with being rough, haven’t you seen that Wuheng Saint Son’s injuries have already healed up?”
“But winning like this isn’t stylish at all, clearly there was a chance to win unscathed.”
“Can stylishness be eaten as food? What do you think a Saint Heir is? Using his own power just to show off? Saint Heirs have all been honed through countless battles, they will resort to any means to win, and a win is stylish enough!”
The audience below was abuzz, all of them sensing the terror of a Saint Heir in this fight.
Qiu Wuheng turned and stepped off the stage, and on another side, the dozen or so Saint Heirs and Saintesses all wore solemn expressions.
Only a few remained calm and unperturbed.
Lin Qingyue’s eyes shimmered as she revealed a hint of contemplation. The opponent’s Sword Intent had some similarities to her own ultimate soft Sword Intent, but there were significant differences too. Should she face him, she wasn’t sure whether she could be victorious.
In this fight, Qiu Wuheng only showed his swordsmanship, giving many people a sense of oppression.
As the battle stage was vacated, another new duel quickly commenced.
After several consecutive fights, another Saint Heir was picked, clashing with the elite of the Inner Sect.
However, this time, the Inner Sect Disciple did not possess the Returning Ruins Extreme Realm, but had Divine Power, Heaven and Earth Vein, and Primordial Spirit—the three Extreme Realms. Once all of them burst forth, the Saint Heir simply used Returning Ruin Instant Teleportation and effortlessly defeated him with a single strike.
The ease of this battle made many realize that in front of mastery over the Returning Ruins Extreme Realm, other Extreme Realms appeared somewhat weak.
After all, there was no way to track, coming and going without a shadow, only able to passively take hits, unable to counterattack or keep up, it was too unresolved.
Li Hao watched these exchanges, comparing them to those six individuals from the Dao Law Realm that he had slain earlier in the Dayu Imperial Palace; one of them also possessed the Returning Ruins Extreme Realm, and should be considered among the top talents of the Inner Sect.
Back then, he was still in the Grand Tao of Peace Realm and used enormous effort, finally relying on Celestial Venerable’s will to slay them. But now, he wouldn’t need to go through such trouble.
The fervent fighting continued, over twenty matches in succession, where Saint Heirs and Saintesses all took their turns, and without exception, they all emerged victorious.
Some won with a single easy move, others encountered tough top talents from the Inner Sect with Returning Ruins Extreme Realm and had to expend considerable effort to win, which could be seen as quite a struggle.
Soon, Lin Qingyue made her move, though her luck seemed a bit poor, as her opponent turned out to be a Saint Heir!
As the competition neared its halfway point, the first clash between a Saint Heir and a Saintess level fighter occurred. The drawing of this battle immediately heated up the atmosphere at the venue.
In previous clashes, they had hardly seen the Saint Heirs and Saintesses pushed to their limits, and now, with this dragon and phoenix struggle, there seemed to be hope to witness it.
Everyone at the Sword Ancestor Holy Land was extremely curious about the limits of these top talents, wondering just how far they could go.
Lin Qingyue slightly furrowed her brows, not expecting to have to exert her True Force so soon.
Revealing it in advance made it easy for others to probe her, which could be detrimental to later battles, but there was no helping it now.
“Ah, why is Qingyue so unlucky?”
“Qingyue must win!”
Beside Li Hao, Lin Shanhai and other Alchemists were so angry they slapped their thighs—drawing a Saint Heir in the scoring battle was just too unlucky!
At this moment, Lin Qingyue and the Dragon Slayer Saint Son she had drawn both descended onto the battle stage.
Gazing at each other from afar, both were aware of the other’s situation. The Dragon Slayer Saint Son, with a look of regret, said,
“I didn’t expect to have to face you so soon, but it’s fine. Before I fight Haoyue, let me warm up in advance.”
As these words came out, the audience below exclaimed in surprise, shocked by such a bold statement towards a Saintess. This Dragon Slayer Saint Son was too domineering.
Lin Qingyue’s expression remained indifferent, and she didn’t speak, but slowly drew the sword in her hand and held it quietly.
As the Array sealed the area, the fight began.
The Dragon Slayer Saint Son’s eyes were sharp as he drew his sword, not charging, but stepping toward Lin Qingyue.
Such a posture seemed like what a mortal would assume, but the disciples below knew that at this moment, even a feather falling on the stage would instantly cause a thunderous explosion.
Lin Qingyue and the Dragon Slayer Saint Son were both brewing their own momentum, but as the Dragon Slayer Saint Son stepped within ten zhang, Lin Qingyue’s eyes slightly narrowed.
At the same time, just as she narrowed her eyes, the Dragon Slayer Saint Son suddenly teleported away, disappearing—Returning Ruins Extreme Realm!
Boom!
Suddenly, a roar akin to a dragon’s cry erupted, and the Dragon Slayer Saint Son’s reddish-gold Divine Sword exploded with a deafening howl, appearing above Lin Qingyue’s head and ferociously striking down!
Lin Qingyue, the next second after the opponent disappeared, also teleported away, so when the Dragon Slayer Saint Son reappeared, her body had just vanished, only to reappear behind him. Her hand holding the Green Sword gently swung down like tossing up a sleeve of clouds.
But the energy around them instantly transformed into sword light, viciously piercing through.
The Dragon Slayer Saint Son quickly turned around, swinging his sword light as if he had also predicted Lin Qingyue’s flash position.
The clash of green and gold sword lights didn’t cause the violent shocks one would expect. The reddish-gold sword light seemed to be hitting a cloud of cotton, with a sinking sensation, as Lin Qingyue’s body burst forth with golden Divine Power, her arm strength erupting.
Yet the power she released was like golden radiant clouds, soft and dissipating, turning into firefly-like light that surrounded the Dragon Slayer Saint Son.
