Jadewood Peak.
The man with a scar on his left cheek, dressed in a registered disciple's robes, could not help asking, "Elder, didn't you say earlier that we could advance to the outer sect once we reached the third layer of Qi Refining?"
At this, Elder Sun smiled and shook his head. "What we said all along was that reaching the third layer of Qi Refining gave you a chance to advance to the outer sect. This has been the Dao Sect's rule for many years. I'm afraid you misunderstood."
As he spoke, Elder Sun deliberately emphasized the word "chance."
"..."
The scarred man was struck speechless and froze.
He turned to look at Chen Yu and Yun Miaozhen beside him, only to find both of them expressionless.
His gaze shifted again, settling on the Dao Sect Outer Disciples nearby. Seeing the swords strapped to their backs, his heart tightened.
"Elder, we are only registered disciples. In our three years here, we've practiced nothing but the Qi Guiding Art. How could we defeat outer sect senior brothers who have learned Martial Skills and carry weapons? Isn't this requirement..."
The scarred man wanted to continue.
But,
just as the words reached his throat,
a fiercely sharp gleam of spiritual power suddenly appeared in his pupils!
Elder Wu had abruptly struck!
Powerful Spiritual Power enveloped the scarred man completely, lifting his body slowly into the air. Then... the same scene as during the elder's lecture played out.
Spiritual power surged,
and the scarred man's body blazed with light before exploding the next instant.
His pulverized flesh and blood were restrained by an invisible force. Then a complete white skeleton fell to the ground, leaving a red spirit essence of middling quality suspended in the air.
"Noisy fool!"
Elder Wu snorted coldly and casually collected the spirit essence.
Seeing the scarred man refined into spirit essence in this manner, Elders Sun and Song showed a flicker of regret in their eyes. But Elder Wu was an inner sect elder of higher standing, so naturally, they dared not say anything.
Elder Sun turned his gaze toward the remaining two, Chen Yu and Yun Miaozhen, and calmly announced:
"The rules are simple. Whoever touches their opponent's chest or throat with their sword tip first wins. Do either of you have any questions?"
"No."
The two answered in unison.
"Very good." Elder Sun nodded slightly, swept his gaze over them, and finally pointed at Yun Miaozhen. "Then we'll start with you."
With a casual wave of his hand, a weapon rack appeared out of thin air beside him.
Sabers, spears, swords, halberds... it had everything.
But they were all made of wood.
"Choose someone to challenge."
"Yes."
Yun Miaozhen stepped forward.
Then she took a wooden sword from the rack and calmly studied the three outer sect disciples in white robes around her. Finally, her gaze settled on one whose face looked relatively youthful and whose aura clearly indicated that he had only just broken through to the third layer of Qi Refining.
Holding the wooden sword, Yun Miaozhen slowly approached that outer sect disciple and bowed.
"Senior Brother, please instruct me."
"Oh... all right!"
The outer sect disciple immediately drew the longsword from his back, its blade scraping against the sheath with a metallic hiss.
Yun Miaozhen frowned slightly. Looking at the sword in his hand, she lowered her eyes to her own crude wooden sword, then glanced back at Elder Sun.
Elder Sun looked straight ahead without a word.
Clearly,
he had tacitly approved.
Hah, the Dao Sect! Yun Miaozhen cursed inwardly. Her opponent held an iron sword while she had a Wooden Sword. With such a vast disparity in weapons, she could only proceed carefully.
Just then, the disciple opposite her suddenly shouted:
"Cloud Soaring Sword!"
As he spoke, he poured spiritual power into his sword. The blade clearly was not made from mundane materials; once infused with spiritual power, it radiated light, its edge growing even more intimidatingly keen!
Her opponent had actually used a Martial Skill right from the start.
Feeling that fierce killing intent, Yun Miaozhen would have been confident in countering with Basic Sword Forms if she had a weapon like his.
Unfortunately, all she held was a wooden sword.
Yun Miaozhen could only dodge frantically.
"Junior Brother Xu, don't overuse Martial Skills. Conserve your Spiritual Power," an outer sect disciple nearby reminded him.
"Oh..."
Junior Brother Xu's movements paused.
Sure enough, he stopped using martial techniques and instead pressed toward Yun Miaozhen with his sword.
Yun Miaozhen had originally intended to exploit her opponent's hotheaded nature, waiting for him to exhaust his spiritual power before counterattacking. But the bystander's reminder caused her plan to fall through.
With no other choice, she could only steel herself and take the initiative.
Chop,
thrust,
lift,
sweep...
Yun Miaozhen executed each move with her wooden sword, doing her utmost to avoid direct contact with her opponent's sharp blade.
Though these moves were basic, when strung together smoothly, they still caused the disciple surnamed Xu considerable trouble, leaving him scrambling to respond.
An opening!
A sharp gleam flashed in Yun Miaozhen's eyes!
Her opponent was severely lacking in actual combat experience. If she maintained her offensive pressure and forced an opening, she could win with a single strike!
Meanwhile, seeing the disciple surnamed Xu falling into a disadvantage, Elder Sun glanced at Elder Song beside him. The latter's hand, concealed within his sleeve, was already forming a seal.
But just then,
"Earth Collapse!"
The disciple surnamed Xu shouted.
The ground around them shook in an instant. Caught off guard, Yun Miaozhen, who had been holding the upper hand, was immediately sent flying, and the wooden sword in her hand snapped into irregular pieces.
Yun Miaozhen froze for a moment. Seeing her opponent press his advantage and pursue her, she could no longer worry about anything else in this critical instant.
She was just about to use her hidden means, but for some unknown reason, the spiritual power within her had become like a pool of dead water, utterly impossible to mobilize. In those few short breaths, her opponent's sword tip came to rest against her throat.
"Don't move!"
"You've lost!"
Drenched in sweat, the disciple surnamed Xu pointed his sword at Yun Miaozhen.
Yun Miaozhen stood frozen in place.
She raised her hand slightly.
Now that the outcome had been decided, the spiritual power within her inexplicably returned to normal.
Yun Miaozhen immediately realized something. She looked blankly at the three elders beside them, but she did not know which one had intervened just now.
"The challenge has failed."
"Next."
Elder Sun's voice remained utterly flat.
Yun Miaozhen was not immediately refined into spirit essence. Instead, she was taken aside. Presumably, they intended to wait for the other result before refining both of them together.
Next,
it was Chen Yu's turn.
Chen Yu had watched the entire exchange between Yun Miaozhen and the disciple surnamed Xu.
A wooden sword against a sharp blade. The damned Dao Sect really would pull something like this. Luckily, my methods aren't exactly clean either.
By now,
night had fallen.
Though the mountaintop was not as dark as the woods, it was dark enough.
Chen Yu took a wooden sword from the weapon rack and surveyed the disciples, his gaze finally settling on the one with an arrogant expression.
"Senior Brother, please," Chen Yu said calmly.
Seeing that Chen Yu actually dared to choose him, the arrogant outer sect disciple scoffed. "Courting death."
With that, he drew the longsword from his back with a ringing clang.
He walked over.
Meanwhile, Chen Yu gripped his wooden sword, drew a deep breath, and touched the gleaming jade concealed in his hand...