The Birthday Banquet Begins

While heroes gathered in Tai'a Divine City, Yi Yun was in the Sword Tomb, diligently studying the Dao of the Sword day and night.

Yi Yun originally thought that since he had entered the Blade Tomb, which was connected to the origin of the Sword Tomb, entering the Sword Tomb again now should make comprehending the sword path here a piece of cake.

However, once Yi Yun arrived at the Sword Tomb, he discovered that it was completely different from the Blade Tomb.

Inside the Blade Tomb are numerous sword marks and the Thirty-two Sword Dao Characters, each character containing the true meaning of the Dao of the Sword.

However, there are none of these in the Sword Tomb. Instead, there is a strange stone wall. Sitting quietly in front of the stone wall and closing your eyes, you feel as if you are falling into layers of illusions.

In the illusion, there are surging rivers, cascading waterfalls, phantoms of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and the flashing Sword Light of swords.

It seems that the person who left the Sword Tomb cast the scenes he had witnessed in his life into this stone wall, and later generations can perceive these scenes by sitting quietly in front of the stone wall.

"This is what the Sword Tomb saw when he was comprehending the sword!"

Yi Yun activated the Energy Vision of the Purple Crystal, and this flash of inspiration crossed his mind.

The owner of the Sword Tomb, upon seeing these scenes, comprehended his Sword Intent. Thus, he left his Sword Intent within these scenes for future generations to study and understand.

Yi Yun spent ten months in the Pure Yang Sword Palace. Although he failed to comprehend the Sword Intent of the Chunyang Sword Palace Master, it gave him a profound understanding of the way of the Yi Yun.

Once you've tried the most difficult and fundamental form of swordsmanship, it will be easier to comprehend this relatively simpler form.

If the Sword Intent left behind in the Pure Yang Sword Palace is an insurmountable mountain, then the sword path in this Sword Tomb is like the stone steps to climb that mountain.

Yi Yun climbed the steps one by one...

Time passed. Yi Yun didn't know how much time had gone by; he had been sitting quietly in the Sword Tomb, entering a state of complete emptiness, Divine Self-Forgetfulness.

The shocking sword mark in the Pure Yang Sword Palace kept echoing in Yi Yun's mind.

This enormous sword mark seemed to be etched into Yi Yun's sea of consciousness, slowly overlapping with the illusory image in the Sword Tomb...

Without Yi Yun noticing, a rusty broken sword appeared in his hand. The sword, cool to the touch, brought a sense of clarity to his mind...

He swung his sword gently, his movements slow, as if cutting an invisible spiderweb.

Sword after sword strike, seemingly without any pattern, yet in the world of illusion, Yi Yun seemed to cleave waterfalls and part rivers, intertwining with the illusory flashes of sword light...

While Yi Yun was absorbed in comprehending the sword, the Tai'a Divine City was already bustling with activity.

In the Central Divine Tower, there is a reception area called the Brocade Pavilion, where the birthday banquet of the Lord of Tai'a Divine City begins.

Although this brocade pavilion is a large hall located inside the Central Divine Tower, once inside, one can see lush bamboo and spiritual flowers everywhere. These flowers, bamboo, grass and trees are all rare treasures of the world. Among the plants and trees, there is also a stream of emerald green water flowing quietly, like a jade ribbon.

If guests are drinking in this green bamboo grove, they can place their wine cups into the flowing water, and everyone can take them to drink at any time. This is called "Floating Wine Cups on Winding Streams".

Outside the bamboo forest, there were rows of exquisite small tables, no more than a foot high, only suitable for kneeling. On the tables were various kinds of exquisite spiritual food, all of which were the most precious of treasures and extremely valuable. The food contained abundant vital energy, which would greatly benefit one's cultivation after consumption.

At the Lord of Tai'a Divine City banquet, those qualified to sit at this small table were all important figures from various powerful forces.

The positions of figures such as the Lord of Tai'a Divine City and the Lord of Seven Stars Tower are located near the central stream, which is also the central area of the entire hall.

Around the small table were pavilions.

Inside each pavilion, there is a large table where young talents from various countries sit.

Apart from the Tai'a Divine Kingdom, which was the landlord, other forces were basically only allocated a pavilion.

Those who can sit here are all young people who have reached the pinnacle of their respective forces.

The pavilions in the Tai'a Divine Kingdom are selected from the most outstanding trial participants in Tai'a Divine City, such as the top thirty geniuses on the Heaven, Earth, and Human Lists, as well as the leading figures of each grade.

Among them were Li Hong, who had been a three-year trial participant; Qiu Niu and Chu Xiaoran, who had been two-year trial participants; and the top three newcomers this time, Lu Jie, Wen Yu, and a short, chubby boy.

"Huh? Why isn't Yi Yun here?"

The younger generation of the Tai'a Divine Kingdom were assigned to six pavilions. Wen Yu, Lu Jie, Qiu Niu Lu Jie, and Chu Xiaoran sat together. Lu Jie looked around and noticed that Yi Yun was not there.

This surprised Lu Jie somewhat, as Yi Yun, given his status, was more than qualified to sit here.

"I don't know, maybe he's in seclusion..."

Chu Xiaoran said casually, not caring. In fact, attending this kind of banquet was meaningless to her. She was not a noisy person. She came here to see the young talents from various forces.

"Hmm? They're from the Cloud Dragon Divine Kingdom!"

At this time, the important figures from the various factions had not yet arrived; those in the hall were all junior members of their respective factions.

Chu Xiaoran saw about ten young people walking over. The leader was a fat man in yellow. This fat man had a friendly smile on his face, but his eyes contained an arrogance.

His gaze swept over, completely ignoring Chu Xiaoran pausing for a moment, before turning to the pavilion next to her.

Seated in that pavilion were two of the most influential figures in Tai'a Divine City — Demon Blade and Yang Gan!

When Yi Yun first arrived in Tai'a Divine City, Demon Blade and Yang Gan were fifteen years old, and they were already ranked among the top 100 on the Earth Ranking.

Now, a year has passed, and Demon Blade and Yang Gan have been training in Tai'a Divine City for four years, becoming five-year trial participants. Their cultivation level had already reached the mid-stage of the Origin Foundation Realm half a year ago.

In addition, Qin Haotian's group completed their training period and left Tai'a Divine City, Demon Blade and Yang Gan have already entered the top five of the Earth Ranking.

Without Qin Haotian, Li Xiao, and others, the Tai'a Divine City now has no other outstanding geniuses among the six-year trial participants, except for Luo Huo'er.

However, Luo Huo'er never attempts to challenge the Heaven Ranking or the Earthly Ranking, so no one knows what her strength is in other aspects besides the Savage Heaven Technique.

Therefore, Demon Blade and Yang Gan, who were among the five-year trial participants, have already become the most powerful. People believe that Demon Blade and Yang Gan will replace Qin Haotian and others, and soon dominate both the Heaven and Earth Rankings.

As for Yang Haoran, Yang Dingkun, and others, although they were outstanding, they were far inferior to Demon Blade and Yang Gan.

Below that, those who complete the four-year trial and those who complete the three-year trial are even worse off.

Of the three years of trials, only Li Hong remained, and this lone survivor was actually defeated by Yi Yun, who was one level younger than them, in the previous rookie ranking competition.

This is a disgrace to those who have undergone three years of trials.

Before the birthday banquet began, the fat man in yellow from the Cloud Dragon Divine Kingdom had already learned about the powerful figures in the Tai'a Divine City.

So as soon as he arrived, he noticed the Demon Blade and Yang Gan.

Feeling the fat man in yellow's unabashedly scrutinizing gaze, Yang Gan frowned. "This fat guy, wanna fight?"

Yang Gan was arrogant and had a bad temper. He sensed the hostility of the fat man in yellow and became angry.

"This fat guy is no simpleton. He's assessing your strength, and his gaze is truly unpleasant, like a merchant inspecting goods."

Beside Yang Gan, Demon Blade spoke calmly, his hand involuntarily reaching for the short sword he carried.

"Yang Gan, the city lord's birthday banquet will likely feature some impromptu performances, a chance for the elites from various factions to compete. Now that Martial Brother Qin and the others have left the Divine City, the only ones who can hold their own are probably you and me. That's why that fat man was eyeing you!"

Demon Blade quickly guessed what the fat man was thinking.

Yang Gan snorted coldly, "I see, that's good!"

Yang Gan was not afraid of challenges. He was eager for this kind of competition among the younger generation, especially the opportunity to compete with young talents from outside the Tai'a Divine Kingdom. He was really looking forward to it!

At this moment, the doors of the Brocade Pavilion opened, and under the guidance of some servants, important figures from various factions finally arrived.

The two leading figures were a tall man wearing a heavy fur cloak and bone-soled military boots; he was the Lord of Seven Stars Tower of the Cloud Dragon Divine Kingdom.

The other person was a middle-aged Scholar dressed in a blue long robe. He looked kind and gentle, but his eyebrows were like sword blades, revealing a sharp and imposing aura.

This person didn't seem intimidating at all; instead, he seemed like a scholar or graduate from the mortal world, well-versed in classical texts but powerless to even kill a chicken.

He is the Lord of Tai'a Divine City!

...(To be continued~^~)