Great Immortal With Boundless Mana

Chapter 241: A Small Test of Skill

The Ministry of Water is divided into three institutions: the Institute of Scriptures, the Institute of Swordsmanship, and the Institute of Scriptures. The Institute of Scriptures is responsible for discussing scriptures and laws, as well as teaching and educating. The Institute of Swordsmanship is responsible for various internal competitions and sparring matches. The Swordsmanship Arena has always been under the management of the Institute of Swordsmanship.

The Azure Cloud Sect's Qingyun Conference, held once every century, is a crucial competition for recruiting disciples from the thirty-six sects.

The cultivators of the Institute of Swordsmanship have been preparing for this competition for several years in advance.

Selling tickets for spectators has also become a tradition over the years, providing a good opportunity for the Institute of Swordsmanship to make money.

The majority of the Azure Cloud Sect's competitions are internal, and no matter how intense and lively they are, they cannot be opened to the public.

Of course, the Institute of Swordsmanship would seize such a money-making opportunity.

They have divided the area around the Swordsmanship Arena into several zones, each with a different price.

To the south of the Swordsmanship Arena, they have built a spectator stand that is higher than the arena itself, allowing people to watch from a higher vantage point.

Except for the most important central position, all other positions are sold to the public. The high platform, which can accommodate two thousand people, has a minimum entry price of five hundred spirit stones.

Although Azure Cloud City is wealthy, there are not many people willing to spend hundreds of spirit stones to watch the excitement.

Almost everyone sitting on the high platform are participants from various sects and their friends and acquaintances.

Even though Yun Qiushui is Yun Qingxuan's younger brother, he still has to pay to sit on the platform.

Yun Qiushui threw a high-grade spirit stone and bought two of the best central seats.

Although Gao Xian considers himself wealthy, he feels a bit embarrassed compared to Yun Qiushui. He is truly a pauper compared to him!

"The Institute of Swordsmanship is under my sister's jurisdiction, so I'm just showing some support." Yun Qiushui explained redundantly, "I'm not usually this extravagant."

"Brother Yun has always been simple, I'm very sure of that." Gao Xian said with a smile.

In fact, although Yun Qiushui pays attention to his own appearance, he doesn't expect others to do the same.

For example, when Yun Qiushui visits someone's home, he never complains about the quality of the tea or the appearance of the maidservants... This is very good.

Yun Qiushui also laughed at Gao Xian's words. He has made so many friends, but no one dares to make fun of him.

Gao Xian is different from others. He truly treats him as a friend, and their interactions are quite casual. This casualness is exactly what Yun Qiushui likes. He dislikes others' deliberate flattery, which is exceptionally boring.

Li Feihuang, who was staring fiercely at Gao Xian, felt a bit uncomfortable at the moment.

As a Foundation Building cultivator, Li Feihuang is sensitive to perception. Gao Xian must have sensed her gaze, but he continued to chat and laugh with Yun Qiushui, completely ignoring her.

Compared to disdain and mockery, being coldly ignored is even more infuriating and uncomfortable.

While Li Feihuang was feeling angry, she saw Zhang Zhengxin and Lu Shidao approaching Yun Qiushui, and the group exchanged pleasantries.

Zhang Zhengxin and Lu Shidao are both naturally gifted with spiritual bodies, and Li Feihuang has always regarded them as formidable opponents.

Unfortunately, it seems that these two people don't seem to care much about her, which makes Li Feihuang feel even more frustrated.

Li Feihuang mentally marked these two people and waited for the opportunity to show them how capable she was at the Sword Arena.

"You don't need to care about them," Li Chengfeng said when he saw Li Feihuang's gloomy expression and the resentment in her eyes. He knew that this junior felt underestimated and had grievances against Gao Xian and the others.

He continued, "I've heard that Li Qingfeng from the Xuan Yuan Sect is skilled in flying swords and is extremely powerful. Luo Xiu from the Origin Returning Sect excels in the Five Elements spells, which are quite profound. Although these two are not naturally spiritual beings, they each have their own talents and should not be underestimated..."

For Li Feihuang's sake, Li Chengfeng had asked many friends for information and roughly understood the situation of the talented experts participating in the conference.

Being prepared in advance is always better than being unprepared.

For example, knowing that Li Qingfeng is skilled in flying swords allows them to formulate strategies in advance.

Li Feihuang remained silent. She didn't think there was anything worth discussing.

Li Chengfeng sighed, "Speaking of the Xuan Yuan Sect's Li family, they are from the same lineage as our Li family, but they split apart two thousand years ago and have had no contact since then, like strangers..."

The Li family's ancestor was a Nascent Soul True Immortal and the strongest in the Azure Cloud Sect, leaving behind a huge family.

After the ancestor's departure, the once first family naturally faced exclusion. The various branches of the Li family left the Azure Cloud Sect and spread their branches elsewhere.

Li Chengfeng pointed to a middle-aged man sitting in the middle and said, "This is Li Ye, the head of the Sword Arena, responsible for presiding over this conference. He is the direct descendant of our Li family and has refined the Golden Core with the 'Clear Wind Sword Scripture' left behind by the ancestor."

"With him present, he will definitely take care of you out of consideration for the Li family's bloodline."

Li Feihuang said impatiently, "What's the use of that? In the end, it all depends on one's own abilities on the Sword Arena!"

Then she felt that her tone was a bit off and explained, "Master, I don't know why, but whenever I see Gao Xian, I feel restless."

"Gao Xian's Flame Bomb, Ice Arrow Technique, and Clear Wind Sword Technique are all strong, but he ultimately lacks a good background. With your Rank Three Crimson Phoenix Heavenly Wing Sword that matches your spiritual body, Gao Xian is no match for you!"

Li Chengfeng gently comforted her. After all, Li Feihuang was only in her twenties and had little life experience, making it difficult for her to control her emotions.

The Qingyun Conference was too important, and she was under tremendous pressure, causing her to be overly anxious.

Li Chengfeng's gaze shifted and saw two black-clad beauties gracefully approaching Gao Xian. Both sides exchanged pleasantries, appearing quite familiar with each other.

One of the black-clad women was beautiful and charming, and she was actually a Golden Core cultivator.

He couldn't help but be surprised. Gao Xian had only recently arrived in Azure Cloud City, and he had already gotten involved with a Golden Core cultivator from the Azure Cloud Sect? It seemed that Yun Qiushui had played matchmaker and helped Gao Xian make connections!

Li Chengfeng was too far away to use his divine sense to eavesdrop, so he naturally didn't know what Shui Yuying and Gao Xian were talking about.

Both sides were smiling, but their words were filled with hidden threats.

"Xiao Gao, I've bet ten low-grade spirit stones on you to win. Don't disappoint me..."

Shui Yuying said with a smile.

Gao Xian has been in the workplace for a long time and is very experienced with this kind of ambiguous atmosphere. He exclaimed with admiration, "Shui Zhenren has great insight, I admire you."

Shui Yuying originally wanted to play a trick on Gao Xian, but Gao Xian's non-ambiguous words left her at a loss for what to say.

She lightly hummed and said, "I'll be watching you win the championship, don't disappoint me."

Shui Yuying walked away with a flick of her sleeve, and Yin Lihua silently followed suit.

Back at her seat, Shui Yuying said to Yin Lihua, "I have a Five Killings Soul-Burning Pill here. It stimulates the soul and burns mana with the five elements' killing energy, allowing your consciousness and mana to multiply in a short period of time."

"Although it will damage your foundation, it will be fine after a year or so of proper recuperation."

Yin Lihua didn't say anything. The better the effect of this pill, the greater the harm. She didn't want to risk her life for a moment of impulse.

With Gao Xian's abilities, even if she took the Five Killings Soul-Burning Pill, it would be difficult to win. Moreover, there were many strong opponents in the Qingyun Conference.

Even if she luckily defeated Gao Xian, how would she deal with Zhang Zhengxin and Lu Shidao, these strong enemies?

Shui Yuying knew Yin Lihua's thoughts and handed the pill to her, "Think about the humiliation you suffered at the hands of Gao Xian. Whether or not to use it is up to you."

This time, Yin Lihua didn't refuse and silently put away the pill.

Shui Yuying finally smiled. With Yin Lihua's gloomy personality, she must be petty and hold grudges.

How could she resist using the Five Killings Soul-Burning Pill when facing Gao Xian?

At this moment, a jade chime rang softly, and a clear and gentle voice spread throughout the surroundings, suppressing all other sounds.

Wearing an apricot-colored Daoist robe, Lu Jingxu gracefully landed on the sword-fighting platform. He raised his voice and said, "Today is the third day of the Qingyun Conference. Foundation Building cultivators from all sides will compete on stage."

"When the jade chime rings, both sides must immediately end the battle. The outcome will be decided by Li Zhenren and others. The order of appearance in this sword-fighting competition will be determined by drawing lots..."

Normally, these words should have been said by the head of the Sword-Fighting Academy, Li Ye, but Li Ye didn't like it, so Lu Jingxu had to do it on his behalf.

Lu Jingxu announced the rules of the conference, and then he took out a wooden barrel filled with bamboo sticks.

The Foundation Building cultivators who signed up for the conference each came up to draw a bamboo stick.

When Gao Xian went up, he saw a beautiful woman in the eastern spectator seats waving excitedly at him. Sitting next to the woman was a cold-looking, burly man.

It turned out to be their neighbors, Wei Shuangshuang and Wei Cheng. The other two neighbors, Tong Yan and Yuan Lin, were sitting on the side.

Gao Xian nodded slightly in acknowledgement. Wei Shuangshuang's enthusiastic appearance always gave people the illusion that this woman likes me!

In fact, Wei Shuangshuang is like this with all her friends.

Tong Yan and Yuan Lin, the two Foundation Building cultivators, also nodded at Gao Xian, with a friendly smile on their faces.

They could see the southern spectator seats from here, and they could see Gao Xian joking with Shui Yuying. This made them have even more respect for Gao Xian.

Moreover, Gao Xian had become famous in the city during this period of time. They all bought Gao Xian's books and thought his drawings were indeed good! They also had a few more genuine admiration for Gao Xian.

There were a total of 471 Foundation Building cultivators participating in the Qingyun Conference, which was more than Gao Xian had expected.

After careful calculation, adding the Independent Cultivator Foundation Building and the Foundation Building cultivators outside of the Qingyun Dao, the number is not exaggerated. After all, it only happens once every sixty years.

Gao Xian returned to the viewing platform and showed the bamboo stick in his hand to Yun Qiushui.

"Three hundred and one, I'm ranked towards the end."

Yun Qiushui said, "The first two rounds might be a bit boring, as there are many who are just filling the numbers. After the first two rounds, only the elites will remain, and the battles will be more exciting."

According to the rules, the cultivators who drew number one and number two would go on stage first.

The two Foundation Building cultivators, who knows where they came from, both appeared to be in their forties or fifties.

Just as Yun Qiushui said, the two Foundation Building cultivators had average cultivation, average spells, average Law Weapons, and average combat skills...

The two were evenly matched, and it took them fifteen minutes before one of them narrowly won with a move, ending the battle.

After that, Foundation Building cultivators from various sects took turns to go on stage. Li Feihuang was ranked towards the front, and as soon as she appeared, she overwhelmed her opponent with her Wind Blades and Fire Spears, winning in less than ten breaths.

This battle also made tens of thousands of spectators recognize Li Feihuang and know that she possessed the rare Phoenix Spirit Body, making her exceptionally powerful.

Zhang Zhengxin, Lu Shidao, and Li Qingfeng also took turns to go on stage, easily defeating their opponents and leaving a deep impression on the cultivators present.

Especially Li Qingfeng's Flying Sword, with its feather-like lightness, the battle would end as soon as it flashed.

It wasn't until noon the next day that Gao Xian finally went on stage.

Gao Xian's opponent was a rather beautiful female Foundation Building cultivator, and her eyes lit up when she saw Gao Xian.

"Isn't that Gao Xian, the esteemed Fellow Daoist? Your name is known far and wide..."

"I'm ashamed, I have a small reputation. I apologize for any inconvenience caused, Fellow Daoist."

The female cultivator wanted to chat a bit more, but Gao Xian didn't feel like talking. After all, it wasn't a fan meeting.

After bowing, he said, "Please."

The female cultivator quickly drew her long sword, activated her protective Qi, and prepared her golden light talisman.

Gao Xian's reputation had grown, but no one knew how skilled he actually was. The female cultivator thought that if she could defeat Gao Xian, she would gain a lot of attention.

A red light flashed out of nowhere and instantly struck the female cultivator's protective Qi.

The flames exploded, and before the female cultivator could react, her protective Qi and golden light talisman shattered and disintegrated in the flames. The violent impact sent her flying off the stage.

With half of her hair burnt, the female cultivator stumbled to the ground, her face full of astonishment as she looked at Gao Xian on the stage.

Gao Xian gracefully arched his hand and said, "I concede."

Luo Jingxu from the southern viewing platform said in a deep voice, "Gao Xian, victory."

It wasn't until this moment that the many cultivators watching around finally reacted, and there was an uproar...

(Seeking votes~ Seeking support~)

(End of this chapter)