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 swept up the remaining three.

Li Ye could more or less understand why, whenever this Genius Summit was mentioned, the faces of the family elders—including the Grand Elder—looked so grim. The other Inner Disciples, meanwhile, wore expressions that were equal parts excited, thrilled, and worried.

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

Li Yuan Jia spoke with some excitement, but Li Ye was even more excited by what he heard!

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 medicinal pill, the Biqi Dan, was merely a fairly ordinary Mid Yellow-Tier pill, consuming it could stimulate the power of the Blood Soul within one's body, accelerate cultivation, and replenish one's strength in battle. At the same time, if someone at Spirit Martial Tier Six Realm consumed it, their chances of breaking through to the seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm would increase by fifty percent!

Even those above the seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm could benefit from it. Increasing their strength and rising by 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!

Mystic Combat Techniques were so rare that Wuzhou City had barely seen a few! Even the elders of the entire Li Family only used High-Grade Yellow-Tier Combat Technique movement techniques.

"It seems that, to wash away their shame in one stroke this time, the family is prepared to bleed itself dry!"

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

"If I could obtain a Biqi Dan, I could speed up my advancement in a short time."

His realm being too low was Li Ye's greatest weakness right now.

Spirit Martial Tier Five was not considered weak in Wuzhou City, especially since he possessed combat strength close to 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 himself understood this clearly.

After bidding Li Yuan Jia farewell, he returned to his room in his own 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 red Blood Soul power.

"At my current speed, I'll reach the peak of Spirit Martial Tier Five in three days. After breaking through, facing anyone below the eighth level of the Spirit Martial Realm should not pose much of a problem. But a Martial Dao Master is at least ten times stronger than a Martial Master. On top of that, the Blood Soul power in my body is too limited. When the time comes, I won't be able to sustain combat for long after using Combat Techniques."

He now 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. To enter the top ten, without exception, one had to be an expert at the peak seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm or above—some were even Martial Dao Masters at the eighth level of the Spirit Martial Realm!

It would be no easy task for Li Ye to break into the top ten! Last year, even among Inner Disciples such as Li Yuan Jia who had reached the Martial Dao Master level, only Li Mo and Li Ji had successfully made it in!

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Li Ye successfully reached the peak of Spirit Martial Tier Five, only one step away from entering Spirit Martial Tier Six.

"Breaking through in a short time will be very difficult! Not to mention breaking through to the seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm and entering the ranks of Martial Masters."

Li Ye frowned slightly. With his current strength, breaking into the top thirty at the Genius Summit would be as easy as turning his hand over, 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 that he would have at least an eighty percent chance of competing 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 right 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 in the sky.

And the Biqi Dan was clearly his best choice 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 a Biqi Dan. If I want to buy one, the price is beyond what I can afford."

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

Thinking of this gave Li Ye a headache.

"Let's 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 time to calm down and cultivate it.

The moment he opened the Sword Control Technique, a faint stabbing pain immediately arose between his brows. Just like last time, line after line 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 this 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 that of ordinary people. This could be seen from how easily he could influence a Martial Master at the seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm and make him fall into the Illusion Realm Li Ye 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.

"It seems I imagined it too simply before. Since it is equivalent to the Sword-Flight Technique of legends, even though this Sword Control Technique is much simpler, it will still take a long time before I can truly control a sword through the air and wound people."

Even so, Li Ye was extremely delighted, as though he could already see a future not far away where Flying Swords filled the sky in a dazzling dance.

Unfortunately, being able to barely move a small porcelain bowl through the air was of little help for the Genius Summit just days away.

Suddenly, while he was quietly lamenting this, his eyes unconsciously fixed on the small porcelain bowl he had just moved from the table to the bed.

Instinctively, a trace of blood-red light appeared in his eyes.

Whoosh!

A sound tore through the air, followed by a crisp cracking noise!

"What was that?!"

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

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

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

Thinking of this, Li Ye was overjoyed and began experimenting. Sure enough, after activating Blood Eyes, controlling small objects through the air was effortless, and they moved with incredible speed. Even with his dynamic vision far surpassing that of ordinary people, he could not clearly catch their trajectories!

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

At this thought, 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 him to use!

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

The family had weapons specially provided 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 knew 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 saw that business was slow and there were not many customers.

With a glance, he saw quite a few weapons hanging on the walls.

Longswords, short sabers, iron spears, hand axes, and the like—all were relatively common, handy weapons.

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

An elderly man in the shop saw Li Ye enter and immediately came forward. Those in this trade needed sharp eyes, and with one look at Li Ye's attire, he knew that Li Ye was not comparable to those mercenaries and adventurers. His tone immediately changed. "Of course, these outside are only Mortal Weapons. With your status, young master, you naturally would not think much of them. Inside, we have some Fine-Grade Weapons crafted by our shop."

Li Ye nodded. He truly did not think much of these rather decent-looking weapons outside.

He walked deeper into the shop, where the surroundings were much better. However, there were not many weapons hanging on the walls—only twenty or thirty.

One longsword, a little over two feet and less than three feet long, caught his attention.

"Young master, you have a keen eye. This sword was personally forged by Master Tie of our shop. It was made from Hundred-Forged Steel and mixed 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 absorb a trace of a martial cultivator's Blood Soul power, making it incomparably sharp!"

Seeing where Li Ye's gaze had landed, 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, he had also made his living forging weapons and protective gear all his life.

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

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

Just like alchemists, Artifact Refiners were extremely rare on the Cloud Soaring Continent. Any one of them possessed an extraordinary status. Li Ye had also heard that even the Three Great Families treated Master Tie with great respect!

As for weapons, they were divided into the lowest-grade 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 lacked that ability!