Sword Dao Genius?

"Who is Qin Huaian? He's never even made the top two hundred before, never once appeared on the Qi Refinement Rankings. Truly, he either said nothing at all—or shocked the world with a single cry."

"Is East Dawn Peak about to produce another sword dao genius?"

"Yeah. This generation of East Dawn Peak newcomers has so many outstanding talents. In just over a year, two of them have already broken into the top twenty."

"Producing one Chen Yuan was already monstrous enough, and now another Qin Huaian has appeared."

"They should both be sword cultivators raised by their clans from childhood."

"Not necessarily sword cultivators. Maybe their cultivation realms are high. Perhaps they didn't rely on swordsmanship, but forced their way through the arena with sheer strength."

"Which of those who can enter the top twenty isn't at least at the ninth level of Qi Refinement? To break through, their cultivation must be high, and their swordsmanship realm must be high as well."

Beneath the Trial Tower's formation display, countless disciples chattered away in heated discussion.

Lin Qingxuan and Duanmu Zhiqin had already turned toward the display the moment they heard that cultivator shout.

A slight change came over Duanmu Zhiqin's cool face. She knew Qin Huaian's cultivation level; like her, he was at the eighth level of Qi Refinement.

Her spiritual root aptitude was ordinary, but her talent in the sword dao was exceptionally high, and she had begun practicing the sword from childhood. Though her cultivation advanced more slowly than those cultivators with high-grade spiritual roots, she was confident that her talent in the sword dao surpassed that of most people.

The puppet she had encountered on the sixth-floor arena was at the ninth level of Qi Refinement. After exchanging only a few moves with it, she had been forced to crush her jade token and leave the Trial Tower.

Yet Qin Huaian was also at the eighth level, but had already reached eleventh place. That meant he had at least cleared the sixth-floor arena, and perhaps even the seventh.

Duanmu Zhiqin stared blankly at Qin Huaian's name on the formation display.

"Ah?! It's Senior Brother Qin!" After a brief moment of stunned silence, Lin Qingxuan clenched her fists and cried out excitedly.

Then she looked all around, searching for Qin Huaian.

The moment Qin Huaian was teleported out of the Trial Tower, he already knew his ranking. Even he was a little surprised that it was so high.

The Trial Tower teleported people to random locations on Trial Plaza, and he was rather far from the tower entrance.

But with the strength of an eighth-level Qi Refinement cultivator, he could still hear the discussions around the formation display.

Me? A sword dao genius? Isn't that a little too high-profile? Qin Huaian thought to himself.

He then pretended nothing had happened and walked toward a less crowded area. He was not someone who liked drawing attention.

But apparently, he had worried too much. Even if someone saw him, very few recognized him.

Although Qin Huaian had entered the sect over a year ago, he had spent most of his time outside. There truly were not many disciples in the sect who knew him.

Once there are fewer people in Trial Plaza, I'll go find Junior Sister Lin and the others so we can head back together, Qin Huaian thought as he walked toward the edge of the plaza.

"Big Brother Qin! So it really was you who reached eleventh place!" At that moment, an excited voice interrupted Qin Huaian's thoughts.

Damn, Fatty, does it have to be this much of a coincidence? Qin Huaian watched Little Fatty Wang Baole run over with an excited look on his face.

"Big Brother Qin, I also just came out after taking a trial. I saw your ranking suddenly jump to eleventh place and figured you must have just left the Trial Tower, so you'd be in the plaza."

"Haha, and sure enough, I found you. Big Brother Qin, where have you been lately? I went looking for you several times this past year, but you were never at your cave residence." Little Fatty said with a cheerful grin.

"Greetings, Senior Brother Qin!" At this moment, the other two inner sect disciples beside Fatty also cupped their fists in greeting. They were the same two who had followed Little Fatty last time, and they were far more courteous toward Qin Huaian now.

"Baole, we'll talk later." Qin Huaian gestured behind him.

Wang Baole turned around and saw many people gathering around them. They must have heard what he said and realized that this was Qin Huaian.

"Greetings, Senior Brother Qin."

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Qin."

The people behind them all greeted Qin Huaian in turn.

Qin Huaian returned each greeting one by one and exchanged a few pleasantries. Then everyone dispersed.

Though Qin Huaian's rise to eleventh place might become a topic of conversation among the outer sect disciples, within the sect as a whole, it could not stir even the slightest ripple.

The sky gradually darkened, and fewer and fewer people remained in the plaza.

Since he had already been recognized anyway, Qin Huaian openly walked to the entrance of the Trial Tower.

"Junior Sister Lin, Junior Sister Duanmu, let's go." Qin Huaian found Lin Qingxuan and the other girl and called out to them.

"Mm, Senior Brother Qin!" Seeing Qin Huaian approach, Lin Qingxuan happily walked toward him as well.

"Big Brother Qin, you go back first. I'll come find you tomorrow." Little Fatty winked and grinned at Qin Huaian.

Qin Huaian ignored Little Fatty's teasing and headed toward East Dawn Peak with Lin Qingxuan and the others.

Along the way, Lin Qingxuan excitedly chatted with Qin Huaian about the trial process. She had reached a rank somewhere above four hundred, and her improvement was quite considerable as well.

After returning to the cave residence area, the night passed without incident.

Early the next morning, Little Fatty knocked on Qin Huaian's door.

Beneath the gazebo.

"Big Brother Qin, have you reached the ninth level of Qi Refinement?" Little Fatty asked as soon as he sat down.

"No, Qi Refining eighth level. I can see you've reached the eighth level too, so you should be able to tell my cultivation."

"I just can't believe it. I heard that those who make it into the top twenty of the Trial Tower not only have high attainments in swordsmanship, but are also at the ninth level of Qi Refining or Qi Refining Great Perfection."

"Big Brother Qin, you nearly made it into the top ten."

"My swordsmanship has recently made a slight breakthrough, so my Trial Tower ranking was relatively high. To be honest, I never expected it to be this high."

Qin Huaian truly had not expected his ranking to be so high. After all, the Yellow Mountain Sword Sect's inner and outer sects combined had over forty thousand Qi Refining disciples, and every one of those forty thousand was an elite among elites.

Qin Huaian noticed that the little fatty had actually reached the eighth level of Qi Refining as well. Moreover, the spiritual power in his body felt even more abundant than Qin Huaian's. Thinking it over carefully, he should not even be twenty yet, right? Were Inner Sect disciples all this wild?

Qin Huaian asked doubtfully, "By the way, Fatty, you reached the eighth level of Qi Refining in such a short time. Do all Inner Sect disciples cultivate this quickly?"

"Inner Sect disciples all have high-grade spiritual roots, and their cultivation resources are plentiful, so they do indeed cultivate fairly quickly. But not all of them are as fast as me. Among this batch of disciples, I'm one of the fastest cultivators." The little fatty scratched his head with a hint of pride.

The little fatty suddenly paused, then added, "Big Brother Qin, the Outer Sect doesn't have as many resources as the Inner Sect, yet you've reached the eighth level of Qi Refining too. You aren't any slower than someone with an ordinary high-grade spiritual root."

Qin Huaian waved a hand. "I'm different. I know alchemy, and the cultivation resources I can earn may even exceed yours. I spent this entire past year in New Peace City refining pills."

"Fatty, I have a question. Outer Sect disciples challenge the Trial Tower partly to gain insights into swordsmanship, and partly to break into the top ten among Qi Refining cultivators and enter the Inner Sect. So why do so many Inner Sect disciples challenge the Trial Tower too? Especially those at the ninth level of Qi Refining and Qi Refining Great Perfection—they have no need to challenge it every year, do they?"

Qin Huaian was deeply puzzled. By all rights, those Inner Sect disciples did not need to fight over this ranking.