Cultivation: But Not a Game-Chapter 230 - 141: Extra Challenge, Tier 7 Flying Sword
The vast starry sky, with streams of starlight like milky ways flowing through the cosmos, and millions of stars casting their brilliance onto the celestial platform.
After a moment, streams of light descended from the heavens, landing upon the platform.
When the starlight faded, there were 122 sharp and outstanding young men and women revealed.
As the contestants emerged, the numerous Sword Palace attendees gathered outside the Sword Palace perked up, with someone shouting:
"Come quickly, the first assessment of the second stage is starting."
"After waiting for hours, it’s finally starting. I’m curious to see what the quality of this batch of newcomers is like."
A light screen popped open in front of the crowd, clearly displaying the current swordsmanship realms of the 122 newcomers.
"Wow, 20 of them have mastered Sword Light Division, that’s not bad."
"Based on past experience, being able to re-master Sword Light Division in the first month generally ensures they make it past the second round."
"Just passing two rounds is useless. At the very least, one must enter the third round to qualify as second tier, and passing three rounds gets one into the top of second tier, qualifying to choose Sect-level Sword Formulas or a Tier Nine Flying Sword."
Someone shook their head and said:
"Your expectations are too high. Just getting into the third round is good enough. Outside, profound-level Sword Skills or Tier Eight Flying Swords are not commonly seen."
Others nodded:
"Indeed, it’s not bad. After all, the flying swords offered by the Sword Palace are rare treasures by default. A Tier Eight rare flying sword is not inferior to a typical Tier Nine Flying Sword."
Numerous sword cultivators examined the many contestants on the celestial platform through the light screen, commenting as they went, while the contestants being evaluated remained unaware that many were critiquing them at that moment, all of them wore solemn expressions as they looked at the elimination rules displayed on the light screen, with many unable to maintain their composure.
Elimination Rule One: Those who haven’t achieved the level of Sword Qi Thunder Sound mastery will face direct elimination.
Elimination Rule Two: Those who haven’t reached a basic proficiency in Condensing Sword into Silk will face direct elimination.
Additional Challenge One: Those eliminated have one chance to challenge a non-eliminated contestant, taking their place if they win.
Additional Challenge Two: ???
Even Su Yu couldn’t help but click his tongue at these elimination rules; it’s too exaggerative.
According to these rules, more than one-third will be eliminated in the first round; it’s unknown if 80 out of 122 will remain.
As he clicked his tongue, starlight descended from the firmament, enveloping everyone. Su Yu didn’t feel much, the starlight disappeared in less than three seconds, but when the starlight vanished, he looked around, noticing that nearly a third of the contestants now had a red marker above their heads, while the rest had green.
There was no need for explanation; everyone knew those with red markers were the ones about to be eliminated.
The contestants marked for elimination looked around with an unwilling expression.
"No, I can’t be eliminated so quickly."
"There’s still a chance."
Suddenly, one of the eliminated participants pointed at another male contestant, loudly declaring:
"I want to challenge you!"
The challenged contestant paused, revealing a confident smile:
"Alright!"
As those words fell, a light ball rose in the center of the platform, within which floated an arena, and an invisible force dragged both people into the arena.
"The battle has started."
The crowd eagerly gathered around to watch the match.
Su Yu and Luo Qingchan were no exceptions, standing side by side at the periphery, their actions and gazes tacitly coordinated, like a perfectly matched pair.
On the arena, as soon as the countdown ended, the two contestants clashed.
The challenger had no way out and could only go all out, launching a fierce offensive at the start, while his opponent was much more composed, not only with a relaxed expression but also with more composed movements, effortlessly blocking the opponent’s fierce offensives, looking in control.
After watching for less than ten seconds, nearly everyone had predicted the outcome.
Although swordsmanship realms do not completely represent strength, in most cases, a higher swordsmanship realm is bound to be stronger.
Especially within the Sword Palace, where all external factors are shielded, and everyone is on an equal footing, the one with a higher swordsmanship realm is definitely stronger.
This battle lasted less than forty seconds. The challenged contestant seized an opening in the opponent’s impatient fierce attacks to launch a counter-attack, decisively defeating the opponent, eliminating him entirely.
Next, many of the eliminated contestants issued challenges to other present participants, the result being a series of consecutive defeats. A total of 41 challengers were eliminated, with only one achieving a reversal of fate; the other 40 were all defeated.
Su Yu and Luo Qingchan watched the events unfold from the sidelines, undisturbed by any challengers.
The two of them were among the 20 contestants who had mastered Sword Light Division, with strength evidently a notch above others.
Once the elimination matches ended, the arena was withdrawn, but in the next second, the platform saw the rise of ten more arenas, each with a light ball suspended above it, and as everyone set their sights on the light ball, its attributes immediately appeared before all eyes.
Cyan Gang (Tier Seven): Immortal weapon, rare treasure, refined using the power of the Nine Heavens Gang Qi Layer Thunder Gang.
Attributes: Attack Power 1200-1400, Attack Speed 800-1000, Sword Control Speed 700-1000, Sword Formulas Bonus 70%, Traits: Armor Penetration +5, Slay Demon, True Gang.
Armor Penetration +5: Attacks ignore 50% of the target’s defense.
Slay Demon: The power of the Nine Heavens Thunder Gang inflicts 50% additional damage to demons.
Thunder Gang: Activates the power of the Nine Heavens Thunder Gang within the flying sword, increasing Attack Power and Attack Speed by 100% for 30 seconds, with a cooldown of 60 minutes.
"Tier Seven Flying Sword!"
Su Yu immediately turned his attention to the other items, a total of five Tier Seven Flying Swords, two potent Sword Dao Secret Skills, three special items, making a total of ten items.
"Is this Additional Challenge Two?"
"Indeed, it is Additional Challenge Two."
Su Yu had a sudden understanding, and the rules for the second additional challenge appeared out of nowhere in his mind.
As he had expected, these ten items were additional challenge rewards. All competitors who passed one round had a chance to challenge, choosing any desired flying sword or Secret Skill and going to the corresponding arena to accept challenges from other competitors who desired the same treasure. Defeat all challengers to win the treasure.
"Interesting!"
Su Yu smacked his lips, his eyes scanning the ten items, his mind racing with thoughts, feeling quite torn.
The items brought out by the Sword Palace were all excellent. The flying swords were all exquisite Tier Seven treasures, and many of the Sword Dao Secret Skills were very powerful. There were also several special items, each of which could be very useful to him.
But he could only choose one...
He hesitated for a moment, finally deciding to first acquire a Tier Seven Flying Sword.
The Tier Six Flying Sword was already nearly unable to match his strength, and a Tier Seven Flying Sword seemed a distant dream. He still did not know where he could get a high-quality Tier Seven Flying Sword.
"I’ll take this one."
If nothing unexpected happened, in the next rounds, they should offer ten items for them to compete for. He wasn’t greedy; he would aim to win two rounds in three, just enough to get a pair of exquisite Tier Seven Flying Swords.
Su Yu made up his mind.
At this point, someone had already eagerly taken the stage to become the arena master, accepting challenges from others.
Su Yu was in no hurry, instead he turned his head and asked softly:
"Qingchan, is there anything you want?"
She blinked her bright eyes and replied softly: 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
"Heaven-Sundering Sword Talisman!"
"What about you?"
"Cyan Gang Sword."
"Good luck!"
"Good luck."
The combat on the arena was extremely fierce, almost everyone was taking the stage to challenge. The Tier Seven exquisite flying swords were laid out there, even Luo Qingchan couldn’t ignore them.
Even if one had a better one, it could be kept as a spare, or at worst, sold. A Tier Seven exquisite flying sword could easily fetch several thousand gold.
Ten items divided among eighty people meant at most ten competitors per item.
Su Yu waited seven or eight minutes until the crowd thinned, and when the previous competitor stepped down, he softly said:
"I’ll be right back."
With a leap, he jumped onto the arena for the Cyan Gang Sword.
His opponent was also a competitor who had mastered Sword Light Division, named Wei Wei. He had already defeated five opponents in a row, his momentum at its peak. Seeing Su Yu take the stage, he grinned, his heart filled with fighting spirit.
"I can feel my will becoming more concentrated, my sword heart boiling!"
The connection between Sword Dao will and the sword heart relates to the condensation of Sword Intent. Before entering the Sword Palace, Wei Wei had been working hard to condense his Sword Intent, but had no clue.
This time, through relentless practice in the Sword Palace and countless battles, he suddenly realized that his seemingly clueless Sword Intent had begun to take shape.
"I can feel it; just defeating one more will advance my Sword Dao will and sword heart further!"
The opponent before him was also one of the twenty who had mastered Sword Light Division, but at this moment, Wei Wei’s confidence and state were at their peak, convinced that no one could defeat him in this state.
As the countdown ticked down, reaching zero, the moment the isolating light curtain disappeared, two flying swords that had been charged with power flashed and vanished.
The next instant, the two flying swords, like teleporting, appeared before Su Yu, with ten strands of Sword Qi rushing towards him.
Su Yu was prepared, and the two swords suspended in front of him similarly flickered, sending out ten strands of Sword Qi to meet the incoming attack. In an instant, sparks mixed with the dense sound of clashing swords filled the air.
The sound appeared then vanished, both reacting super fast and changing moves simultaneously. The four flying swords clashed and then separated, and with a flash, appeared entangled elsewhere, exploding into a dense cluster of starlight. Before the starlight faded, the four flying swords swiftly disappeared again.
"Clang, clang!"
The flying swords and sword lights continually flashed in and out of existence, and the sound of clashing swords came and went.
Both sides moved with incredible speed and reflexes, engaging and disengaging in an instant, constantly adjusting their attacks. The battle quickly reached an intense and heated state.
"These two are strong!"
A large number of competitors, having finished their battles, were drawn to their fight, gathering beneath the arena.
Luo Qingchan’s eyes sparkled, gazing intensively, watching Su Yu gradually gain the upper hand with his abilities. A subtle smile appeared on her flawless face.
"This is impossible!"
On the arena, Wei Wei, who had been fighting for a good twenty-two seconds, no longer had any confidence or smile on his face, only disbelief and a crisis of identity.
"The Sword Formulas and flying swords are the same, the Swordsmanship realm is on par, I am at my peak, even beyond, how could I not win?"
"Damn, is he cheating?"
No one could answer his question.
Not only the numerous competitors outside the arena but even the Loose Immortals and hidden Earth Immortals outside the Sword Palace could not answer his question.
"This kid is a bit strange."
Outside the Sword Palace, at least half of the Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals were filled with doubt after watching this battle.
"His opponent won five fights in a row, his mindset and state were at their peak, both had the same Sword Skill and realm, logically there’s no way he could lose, so how?"
"I don’t get it!"
