Below the Sword Pavilion, news of Chen Qing challenging the pavilion had already swept through all of Jiuli City like a hurricane.
"I heard someone has charged straight through to the seventieth floor!"
"Who is it? What master is this?"
"Not an elder Grandmaster—a young man! He uses a spear!"
"A spear? He's challenging the Sword Pavilion with a spear?"
"It's absolutely true! His name is Chen Qing, a true disciple of Tianbao Supreme Sect and Luo Zhixian's disciple!"
"Hiss—Luo Zhixian's disciple?! No wonder!"
In the streets and alleys, in taverns and tea houses, countless people gazed up at the Sword Pavilion towering into the clouds, their discussions churning like boiling water.
Charging through more than seventy floors in one breath was not merely a test of strength, but a complete tempering of stamina, willpower, and martial foundations.
Since the Sword Pavilion had been built, those who had passed the eightieth floor had been as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns. Those who had gone beyond the ninetieth floor could be counted on one hand.
Yet today, a young man was breaking swords with a spear, climbing upward one step, one tier at a time.
Luo Zhixian still followed three steps behind Chen Qing with his hands clasped behind his back, his gray robe swaying faintly in the biting wind high atop the Sword Pavilion.
His gaze was calm as water, yet it remained fixed upon his disciple's upright back.
"Xiao Jiuli, does this old man's disciple... catch your eye?"
The eightieth floor.
Chen Qing stepped onto the stone stairs.
A middle-aged man emerged from the wooden hut, holding a writing brush. He merely said calmly, "I am Zhao Wenyuan, the Book Sword Scholar. Allow me to witness Your Excellency's spear technique."
The instant his words fell, he brought