Yellow-Tier Low-Grade Longsword

At last year's Genius Summit, only two members of the Li Family entered the top ten. Of the other two great families, the Yu Family claimed five spots alone, while the Wu Family took the remaining three.

Li Ye could more or less understand why, whenever this Genius Summit was mentioned, the family elders—including the First Elder—looked so grim. The Inner Disciples, meanwhile, wore expressions of both excitement and anxiety.

"I heard that, to encourage us to achieve good results this time, the family will directly reward anyone who makes it into the final top ten of the Genius Summit with a Yellow-Tier medicinal pill, the Biqi Dan. If someone takes first place, they may even enter the Third Layer of the Martial Arts Pavilion and gain one opportunity to comprehend a Black-Tier Combat Technique!"

Li Yuan Jia spoke with growing excitement, but Li Ye was even more stirred.

A Yellow-Tier medicinal pill! There was not even a single alchemist in all of Wuzhou City. This was absolutely the family bleeding itself dry!

Through Li Yuan Jia's explanation, Li Ye learned even more. Although the Yellow-Tier Biqi Dan was merely a relatively ordinary Mid Yellow Tier pill, consuming it could stimulate the Blood Soul power within the body, accelerate cultivation, and replenish strength during battle. More importantly, once someone at Spirit Martial Tier Six Realm took it, their chances of breaking through to the seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm increased by fifty percent!

Even for those above the seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm, it could promote the growth of their strength. Raising one minor realm would not be a problem!

As for the chance to enter the Third Layer of the Martial Arts Pavilion and comprehend a Black-Tier Combat Technique, that was even harder to ignore!

Black-Tier Combat Techniques—there were not even a few of them in all of Wuzhou City! Within the entire Li Family, even the techniques used by the elders were merely High-Grade Yellow-Tier Combat Techniques and movement techniques.

"Looks like the family is prepared to bleed itself dry in order to wash away its humiliation this time!"

A single Yellow-Tier medicinal pill cost at least several thousand gold coins, while better ones could exceed tens of thousands! Something like the Biqi Dan could easily be auctioned off for over ten thousand gold coins!

"If I can obtain a Biqi Dan, I can accelerate the improvement of my realm in a short time."

His realm was too low. That was Li Ye's greatest weakness at present.

Spirit Martial Tier Five was not considered weak in Wuzhou City, let alone with his combat strength that was nearly at the peak seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm. But if he wanted to carve a bloody path through the countless geniuses of Wuzhou City, it would be difficult!

Li Ye understood this clearly himself.

After bidding farewell to Li Yuan Jia, he returned to his room in his courtyard.

Li Ye sat cross-legged and seized every moment to cultivate.

Countless strands of heaven and earth essence poured into his body, transforming into wisps of crimson Blood Soul power.

"At my current speed, I'll reach the limit of Spirit Martial Tier Five in three days. After breaking through, fighting anyone below the eighth level of the Spirit Martial Realm shouldn't be much of a problem. But compared to Martial Masters, Martial Dao Masters are at least ten times stronger. On top of that, the Blood Soul power in my body is too limited. If I use Combat Techniques then, I won't be able to sustain a prolonged battle."

Right now, he desperately wanted to raise his realm.

According to Li Yuan Jia, by the customs of previous years, those qualified to participate in the Genius Summit were at worst at Spirit Martial Tier Six or possessed combat strength equivalent to Spirit Martial Tier Six. As for entering the top ten, without exception, they were experts at the peak seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm or above. Some were even Martial Dao Masters directly at the eighth level of the Spirit Martial Realm!

For Li Ye to force his way into the top ten would be no easy task! Last year, even among Inner Disciples like Li Yuan Jia who had reached the Martial Dao Master level, only Li Mo and Li Ji had successfully made it in!

Three days flashed by, and Li Ye successfully reached the peak of Spirit Martial Tier Five. He was only one step away from entering Spirit Martial Tier Six.

"Breaking through in a short time will be very difficult! Let alone breaking through to the seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm and joining the ranks of Martial Masters."

Li Ye frowned slightly. With his current strength, charging into the top thirty at the Genius Summit would be as easy as turning over his hand, but any higher would be difficult.

Unless he broke through to Spirit Martial Tier Six, his chances of entering the top ten would only be twenty or thirty percent. If he could break through to the seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm, Li Ye felt at least eighty percent confident that he could contend with Li Mo, who had ranked third in the previous summit!

"Although the cultivation method in the Moon Dream Heart Sutra is very fast, it is still too slow for me now."

Since conventional methods would not work, Li Ye suddenly began considering other means.

"If only I had a Biqi Dan right now."

Li Ye was confident that he could break through to Spirit Martial Tier Six in less than the next seven days, but breaking through once more was clearly a fantasy spun in the heavens.

And the Biqi Dan was obviously his best option for breaking through to the seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm in a short time.

"Unfortunately, as a Yellow-Tier medicinal pill, no one in Wuzhou City can refine the Biqi Dan at all. If I want to buy one, the price is beyond what I can afford."

Over ten thousand gold coins—forget him, even Li Mo, the family's number one genius, might not be able to produce that amount immediately.

Thinking of this, Li Ye could not help but feel a headache coming on.

"I'll take a look at the Sword Control Technique first!"

Ever since finding that Sword Control Technique in the Martial Arts Pavilion, Li Ye had not had the time to settle down and cultivate it.

The moment he opened the Sword Control Technique, his brow began to sting faintly. Just like last time, lines of tiny words imprinted themselves directly into the depths of his mind.

"So that's how it is. The Sword Control Technique requires powerful Spiritual Power to control weapons and manipulate them in battle. Without powerful Spiritual Power, forcing its use will damage the soul. If it continues over time, it may even shorten one's lifespan or endanger one's life."

The so-called Sword Control Technique used powerful Spiritual Power as a form of guidance to control Flying Swords and other weapons for long-range attacks, making them impossible to guard against.

It sounded simple, but successfully using it was far from easy.

Li Ye's Spiritual Power was different from ordinary people's. This could be seen from how easily he had caused a Martial Master at the seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm to fall into the Illusion Realm he had woven.

Yet even so, it took him an entire day to use his Spiritual Power to move a small porcelain bowl through the air.

"Looks like I imagined it too simply before. Since it is equivalent to the Sword-Flight Technique of legends, although this Sword Control Technique is much simpler, it will still take a long time before I can truly wield a sword through the air to wound people."

Even so, Li Ye was delighted, as though he could already see the scene in the near future: Flying Swords dancing across the sky.

Unfortunately, all he could do now was barely move a small porcelain bowl through the air. It would not be much help in the Genius Summit a few days from now.

Suddenly, just as he was secretly lamenting this, his eyes unconsciously fixed on the little porcelain bowl he had moved from the table to the bed.

Instinctively, a faint crimson gleam appeared in his eyes.

Whoosh!

A sound of something slicing through the air rang out, followed immediately by a crisp shattering sound!

"This is!"

Li Ye jumped in fright. Looking closely, he saw that the porcelain bowl had slammed into the wall of the room, shattered into pieces, and fallen all over the floor.

What had happened in that instant? After carefully recalling it, Li Ye's eyes gradually brightened.

"Could it be that Blood Eyes can strengthen Spiritual Power?!"

At this thought, Li Ye was overjoyed and immediately began experimenting. Sure enough, after activating Blood Eyes, manipulating small objects through the air was effortless, and their speed was astonishing. Even with his dynamic vision far beyond that of ordinary people, he could not clearly catch their trajectory!

"Right now, I can control objects weighing up to twenty jin. Beyond that weight, the speed drops drastically!"

Thinking of this, Li Ye was overjoyed. An ordinary three-foot longsword weighed only a few jin. Even longswords forged from Hundred-Forged Steel would absolutely not exceed twenty jin! They were perfectly suited for his current use!

"Looks like I need to find a better Flying Sword!"

The family had weapons specifically for their use, but they were all ordinary arms. Li Ye simply did not think much of them.

After leaving the Li Family, Li Ye remembered that there was a rather famous blacksmith shop in Wuzhou City, where many mercenaries and adventurers bought weapons and protective gear.

Following his memories, Li Ye quickly found the blacksmith shop. Upon entering, he found its business sparse, with only a few people inside.

A glance revealed many weapons hanging on the walls.

Longswords, short blades, iron spears, hand axes, and more—these were all common weapons that were easy to wield.

"Young master, have you seen anything you like? Our blacksmith shop is the finest weapon shop in Wuzhou City. Our quality and prices will certainly satisfy you."

When an elderly man in the shop saw Li Ye enter, he immediately came forward. Those in their trade needed sharp eyes, and one look at Li Ye's attire told him that Li Ye was no ordinary mercenary or adventurer. His tone promptly shifted. "Of course, these outside are all merely Mortal Weapons. A person of your status naturally would not think much of them. Inside, we have several Fine-Grade Weapons forged by our shop."

Li Ye nodded. He truly did not think much of the weapons outside, however decent they appeared.

He walked farther into the shop, where the surroundings were much better. There were not many weapons hanging on the walls, only twenty or thirty.

Among them, a longsword slightly over two feet but less than three feet long caught his attention.

"Young master, you have an excellent eye. This sword was personally forged by Master Tie of our shop. It was made with Hundred-Forged Steel and fused with a small amount of Black Carbon, giving the blade the strength of ordinary Hundred-Forged Steel without making it excessively hard and prone to breaking. At the same time, it can incorporate a thread of the Blood Soul power within a martial cultivator's body, making it incomparably sharp!"

Seeing where Li Ye was looking, the old man immediately launched into an endless introduction.

"Personally forged by Master Tie?"

Li Ye was somewhat surprised. Master Tie was a renowned figure in Wuzhou City. Not only did he possess the cultivation of a Martial Dao Grandmaster, but he had also spent his entire life forging weapons and protective gear.

"That's right! It is indeed the work of Master Tie from our shop. You should know that in all of Wuzhou City, Master Tie is the only Artifact Refiner. This Clearwind Sword is also one of Master Tie's Fine-Grade Weapons from not long ago, having reached Yellow-Tier Low-Grade!"

Yellow-Tier Low-Grade! Li Ye was slightly moved!

Like alchemists, Artifact Refiners were extremely rare on the Cloud Soaring Continent. Any one of them stood in an extraordinary position. He had also heard that even the three great families treated Master Tie with considerable respect!

As for weapons, they too were divided into the lowest Mortal Weapons, then Fine-Grade Weapons generally forged from Hundred-Forged Steel, followed by the four tiers of Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow. Each tier was divided into upper, middle, and lower grades, just like medicinal pills.

An ordinary Mortal Weapon could usually be bought for one or two gold coins, while a Fine-Grade Weapon required several hundred gold coins! As for weapons beyond Fine-Grade Weapons, only Artifact Refiners could forge them. Ordinary blacksmiths simply did not possess such skill!