"How terrifying, this Killing Intent!"
"I'm at the Seventh Layer of the Blood-Quenching Realm, yet when that bloody aura erupted, I could barely hold myself together..."
Several disciples trembled as they tried to stay as far away as possible.
When the Blood-Baleful Spirit Art erupted, it could temporarily enhance one's blood and qi.
At the same time, the Killing Intent accumulated before would also be exposed.
The gatekeeping elder felt nothing much, given the difference in his realm.
It was just that—
If he remembered correctly, Lin Feng had only cultivated for two days!
In two days, he had gone from beginner-level mastery of the Blood-Baleful Spirit Art to Great Perfection.
This was a sixth-rank martial art! Not a second- or third-rank one... Moreover, it required slaughter to accumulate Killing Intent before it could finally be refined.
The difficulty of cultivating this sixth-rank martial art was even greater than that of many seventh-rank martial arts!
Yet Lin Feng had mastered it in two days? The gatekeeping elder's thoughts flashed through countless outer sect disciples like lightning, but he found that none of them seemed capable of something so outrageous...
"You brat."
The gatekeeping elder gave Lin Feng several appraising looks. At first, he had only thought Lin Feng's comprehension was decent, that his entry into the outer sect was already set in stone, and that with further cultivation, he might even enter the inner sect. That was why he had formed a good connection in advance and given him some Origin Stones as aid.
Yet how could this merely be called decent comprehension?
"What realm are you at now?" the gatekeeping elder asked curiously.
"The Seventh Layer of the Blood-Quenching Realm." Lin Feng's tone was calm.
The gatekeeping elder's heart tightened. The Seventh Layer of the Blood-Quenching Realm was already considered quite outstanding among a million disciples. In only two short days, Lin Feng's minor realm had risen by so much.
In tomorrow's disciple assessment, Lin Feng would surely shine with dazzling brilliance.
No one could obstruct his radiance!
"You want to learn sword arts, yes? Then come with me."
The gatekeeping elder rose to his full height and led Lin Feng straight to the topmost floor of the Cultivation Arts Pavilion, as though they had crossed through space!
This Cultivation Arts Pavilion was shared by outer sect disciples and Registered Disciples. It had three underground floors and three floors above ground.
They were currently on the third floor above ground.
"Due to the limitations here, the strongest sword art available is seventh-rank."
"Once you cultivate a seventh-rank one, your chances of placing in the top ten of the disciple assessment will be quite high," said the gatekeeping elder.
Top ten?
Lin Feng frowned slightly.
What kind of joke was this? Would the top ten satisfy him? Many days ago, the Sacred Land had already announced the lavish rewards for the top three in the disciple assessment, especially the first-place winner.
Those rewards could only be described as vast as the sea. They included heavenly treasures, pills, weapons, and enormous amounts of cultivation resources! Any cultivator who saw them would be green with envy, unless they had reached a sufficiently high realm, such as the Venerable Realm, where they might no longer care.
And those in the Venerable Realm were already absolute great figures of the Limitless Sacred Land. Many lofty elders were at that realm.
Lin Feng's target was naturally first place! How could he let such abundant rewards slip away? Once he obtained them, his strength would soar at breakneck speed...
Yet from the gatekeeping elder's words, it seemed there were unexpected variables in the disciple assessment?
Otherwise, he would never have said that Lin Feng could only place in the top ten!
Lin Feng said in a deep voice, "Elder, could it be that even if I master this seventh-rank sword art, I can at most compete for a top-ten ranking? What about first place?"
"First place?" The gatekeeping elder immediately sneered upon hearing that!
"Kid, you're too greedy. It's true that you have some talent! But do you know what kind of people are participating in this disciple assessment?"
"Many descendants of inner sect elders have been sent here. They have never joined a sect before and have always trained within their respective Lineages. They are exceptionally talented and possess immensely powerful backgrounds. This disciple assessment is their home ground!"
"What background or status do you have? Compete with them? Getting into the top ten would already be quite good!" the gatekeeping elder said leisurely.
Lin Feng narrowed his eyes.
So what if all the participants were descendants of elders! So what if they were outstandingly talented and backed by immense power!
Would Lin Feng fear them? He possessed Heaven-Defying Comprehension! Whatever he learned, he would learn at extraordinary speed...
"Then may I ask, Elder, does this Cultivation Arts Pavilion have a sword art that can contend for first place? No matter how difficult it is, I want to learn it," Lin Feng said in a deep voice.
"Hm?"
The gatekeeping elder's sneering expression vanished upon hearing this!
He had already made it clear how fierce the competition in the disciple assessment would be, yet Lin Feng still wanted to fight for first place?
This kid's ambitions were not small!
The gatekeeping elder thought to himself. After pondering for a moment, he brought Lin Feng to a corner of the Cultivation Arts Pavilion!
The books here were covered in dust, as though few people had ever set foot in this place.
With one hand, the gatekeeping elder made a grasping motion, and an ancient black-covered book flew into his hand.
"If you truly have confidence in your comprehension, then this may perhaps help you."
Lin Feng looked over. On the book's cover, the words Yellow Springs Heaven-Severing Sword Art were strikingly displayed.
What an overbearing name! Lin Feng was shaken inwardly. It was actually called this? He wondered what rank it was...
"This is an incomplete sword art. It is said that its complete version far surpasses the ninth rank! It is extremely difficult to cultivate, and no one in the entire outer or inner sect has successfully reached beginner-level mastery..."
"A Core Disciple once came to cultivate it. He spent seven days just barely reaching beginner-level mastery, but he abandoned it immediately afterward! After all, it was an incomplete manual. One could only enter through its gate, with no road ahead..."
"That Core Disciple once said that even at beginner-level mastery, this sword art possessed the level of a ninth-rank martial art... As for the complete version, its limits could not be measured." The gatekeeping elder gave a lengthy introduction.
He had said so much because he wanted Lin Feng to retreat in the face of difficulty. After all, no one had succeeded in reaching beginner-level mastery of this sword art even within the inner sect, and only the most elite Core Disciples of the Limitless Sacred Land were qualified to attempt it.
You were merely a Registered Disciple. Wanting to cultivate it was simply overestimating yourself! It would be better to honestly cultivate a seventh-rank sword art, then secure a top-ten placement in the assessment... That alone would count as a fine tale!
"Thank you for recommending it, Elder. After I obtain first place, I will certainly come back and repay you," Lin Feng said.
The gatekeeping elder froze... Did that mean he intended to persist in cultivating it?
And he would repay him after taking first place! He was so confident, as though first place were already in the bag?
The gatekeeping elder frowned slightly... In the end, he said, "Fine. Take it and cultivate."
Lin Feng nodded in thanks, then turned around!
The gatekeeping elder shook his head. "Only one day to reach beginner-level mastery in a sword art comparable to the ninth rank? What kind of joke is that!"
The gatekeeping elder could not help recalling that Core Disciple from back then, who had spent an entire year just to reach beginner-level mastery.
That Core Disciple... was now one of the ten Sequence Disciples!
If Lin Feng could reach beginner-level mastery in one day, then such comprehension... would it not surpass that Sequence Disciple among the top ten!
Lin Feng arrived at an uninhabited cliff and took out the Yellow Springs Heaven-Severing Sword Art.
After looking through its contents, he found it truly obscure and difficult to understand, so profound that it made one's head feel as though it might split apart. If it were anyone else, they would likely cough up blood.
But after only thirty seconds of reading, Lin Feng revealed a faint smile.
In that short time, he had already understood how to cultivate it.
And... Lin Feng vaguely felt that it was as though he could deduce the continuation of this incomplete sword art!
Before you continue