Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

This is truly a bunch of…

Such sword tests full of solemnity and in an ancient style were certainly not something that the messy fights of the local sects could compare to. This was the method of negotiation of the upper class of Cultivators!

Observing everything, Li Yao could not help but secretly sigh to himself.

… psychos!

Such matches were indeed fair and clean. They even entailed a certain solemn, moving beauty.

However, those who had Cultivated to the middle of the Building Foundation Stage were definitely one-in-ten-thousand elites in a society from whatever perspective.

If all the elites in a society killed themselves in such a boring way, how was the society going to progress?

Li Yao could not help but recall the Cultivators of the Star Glory Federation who sacrificed themselves valiantly in the beast tides.

Some deaths were lighter than feathers, and some were heavier than neutron stars. Compared to the preposterous deaths of the ancient Cultivators, Li Yao felt that the modern Cultivators perished in a way that more deserved their years of hard training!

After a sigh, he went on to the Bronze Censer Peak of the Hundred Blade Mountain, his destination.

The Bronze Censer Peak was a very weird mountain.

Almost a hundred spiky rocks that looked like spears stabbed into the sky at the edge, while there was a deep hollow in the center, making the peak look like both an enormous crater and a super furnace.

As long as a barrier was established on the top to block the spiritual energy from flowing out, nobody outside would be able to tell what was going on inside at all.

Therefore, the peak had been built into a top-secret sword test field of the Purple Pole Sword Sect after dozens of generations. The experiments to determine the power of confidential weapons or primeval treasures would all be conducted in the Bronze Censer Peak.

Today was one of the rare days when the Bronze Censer Peak was open to all the sects in the world because an unprecedented confrontation was going to be held in this place!

The battle between Sword Maniac Yan Liren and Iron Saint Qi Zhongdao was claimed to be the most fabulous battle after the two Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators vanished in their duel a hundred years ago.

The most important big shots in the world of Cultivators had all gathered, ready to watch the battle of the two top experts!

For Li Yao, if he meant to join the core circle of Cultivators in the Ancient Sages Sector and establish his brand as a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator from the Southland of Sorcerers so that he could be involved in the great events that would change the future of the Ancient Sages Sector, this was perfectly the best and only opportunity!

Qi Zhongdao, Yan Liren…

Li Yao’s eyes were glittering. The green spot on his forehead was simmering again, and the thorns made of his fighting will were spreading out.

He did not want to brag about himself, but he believed that he could represent the top combat ability of the Heaven’s Origin Sector, the Blood Demon Sector, and the Flying Star Sector, three worlds of modern Cultivation civilizations.

Qi Zhongdao and Yan Liren, on the other hand, stood for the top combat ability of the world of ancient Cultivators!

What kind of brilliant sparks would be raised in a battle of best versus best?

Li Yao swallowed. His saliva was vaporized by his boiling blood before it slid into his stomach.

Full of expectation and fighting will, he marched on to the Bronze Censer Peak.

The Burning Censer Peak was at the center of the mountains. Yet, it was not connected to them via roads or bridges. To arrive at the Bronze Censer Peak, one would have to ride a flying sword, a jade disc, or mounts such as cranes, eagles, and falcons.

The confrontation between Qi Zhongdao and Yan Liren was not open to any random person.

The disciples of the Purple Pole Sword Sect had long established arrays and barriers around the Bronze Censer Peak.

The colorful blade auras that were soaring up into the firmament surrounded the entire peak. Not a hair or a telepathic thought would fly in.

Only the celebrities among the Cultivators were permitted to observe the match. The unqualified leaders of the insignificant sects could only wait for the result at the bottom of the Bronze Censer Peak.

Of course, some Cultivators from the uncivilized and underdeveloped areas, partly because of their natural-born disobedience and partly because they had dominated their hometown for so long, were barging into the field despite the reprimands of the disciples of the Purple Pole Sword Sect.

Naturally, none of them succeeded. Some of them even lost an arm or a leg before they learned the toughness of the arrays.

When Li Yao arrived, thousands of Cultivators had already gathered below the Bronze Censer Peak, yelling and shouting boisterously.

On the opposite side, there were thousands of empyreal swordsmen of the Purple Pole Sword Sect. They were standing in midair, their longswords slowly swirling around them, like a silent forest of iron trees.

Screams that resembled those of pigs being butchered echoed from the crowd.

As it turned out, some ten unaffiliated Cultivators who had just returned from certain overseas natural paradises, considering themselves to be superior, broke into the Purple Pole Sword Sect’s array by force, only to be slapped back ruthlessly.

There was no telling what techniques were entailed in the Purple Pole Sword Sect’s array, but those trespassers were suffering the most excruciating pain after the sword auras invaded their body, although there was not the slightest wound on the surface of their body.

Unable to hold back the pain at all, they writhed on the ground and screamed, even though they knew that they were being watched by so many people.

After they had screamed for ten minutes, a few disciples of the Purple Pole Sword Sect stepped forward and bashed them with the hilts of their swords.

The ten or so foreign Cultivators vomited black blood, their faces pale. They could not even form a complete sentence and did not dare to go rogue anymore.

There were quite a few disobedient fellows among the audience who had been planning to test the power of the Purple Pole Sword Sect’s array. Even if they could not barge in, would they not earn enough fame for them to be known by everyone in the world if they lasted for a long time inside the array?

Seeing that the few unlucky guys were still as hunched as lobsters, those young fellows looked at each other in bewilderment, secretly relieved that they did not act recklessly.

His hands in his back, Li Yao walked to the crowd unhurriedly.

He seemed to be covered in an invisible, greasy membrane, which allowed him to squeeze through the crowd easily like a loach.

When he reached the place where the few unlucky guys were writhing, he stepped over them without bothering to look at them.

“You—”

All the Cultivators eyed Li Yao in astonishment.

The Master Spiritual Vulture that Li Yao played carried the features of the southeast barbarians, which looked different from the Cultivators from the central plateaus.

Also, when he explored the situations in the local towns all the way here, he had been wearing a gray robe that was devoid of any sigil. It was already ragged and well-worn.

Moreover, Li Yao concealed his spiritual energy and kept it at around the beginning level of the Building Foundation Stage, a good habit that he had learned in the modern Cultivation civilization.

This was sort of his ‘standby state’. In such a way, his combat ability duration in a battle would be maximized.

But it was not something that the Cultivators of the Ancient Sages Sector were used to.

Because of the intense spiritual energy in this world, except for the few eccentric fellows, such as ‘Weird Saint’ Ba Xiaoyu the Beggar of the ‘Three Saints’, normal Cultivators rarely concealed their level. They were often showing their power and strength blatantly.

It was especially so during such a highly competitive occasion. They were all demonstrating their capabilities like peacocks spreading their tails, fearing that others might covet and challenge them if they showed weakness.

Seeing that Li Yao, as a young, plain-looking Building Foundation Stage Cultivator, was swaggering toward the Purple Pole Sword Sect’s array, the audience all felt strange.

“Look. What’s the barbarian doing?”

“Haha. Another unruly and unintelligent man. He must intend to be taught a lesson by the array, too!”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. The guy is going up when we won’t? Is he too bold, or is he simply blind, unable to notice the few fellows lying on the ground?”

“Leave him alone. It’s just a barbarian. Let him be crushed and bleed. It will be fun!”

The Cultivators from the central plateaus of the Great Qian Dynasty often despised the barbarian Cultivators from the uncivilized places who knew nothing except how to play with snakes and venoms.

Besides, they heard that the barbarian Cultivators were mostly petty and narrowminded, with cruel, sordid approaches. Those people were tricky to deal with even if their Cultivation was not high.

It would be excellent to make the barbarian embarrass himself and therefore hate the Purple Pole Sword Sect.

Therefore, a lot of the bystanders were grimacing and whispering to each other by concentrating their soundwaves into a line through the ‘Secret Talk’ technique that they thought to be delicate.

But on the surface, they all nodded at Li Yao with a smile. They even cleared the way and made a ‘please’ gesture, welcoming Li Yao to walk forth.

Li Yao did not even bother to yawn at the small fries. He walked to the front of the Purple Pole Sword Sect’s array as if nobody were around and glanced at the leader of the sword Cultivators casually.

“Huh. The ignorant barbarian is provoking ‘Rampant Thunder Swordsman’ Wu Jiuxing? He truly doesn’t know what he’s doing!”

“Ha. A great show is coming on. Just what corner of the world is this freak from? Who is his master? Was he never taught to be humble after he reached the Great Qian Dynasty?”

Behind Li Yao, many Cultivators were still talking to each other secretly. They almost laughed out loud.

The ‘Rampant Thunder Swordsman’ Wu Jiuxing was a Cultivator in the Core Formation Stage. He was both tall and muscular, and his beard stabbed out like swords. His face was as giant as a mill, and his bloodshot eyes were like two burning charcoals embedded on the mill.

The giant sword on his back was the size of a plank. It was no different from an axe.

Seeing that Li Yao was strutting close, Wu Jiuxing immediately bulged his bull-like eyes. Even his breathing was heavy. The muscles in his body all tightened, too!

Naturally, the thousand empyreal swordsmen also noticed Li Yao. The previous flawless battle formation was suddenly more or less in disorder.

“The Rampant Thunder Swordsman is about to burst into fury. Good heavens. Is he going to break dozens of the guy’s bones, or will he simply cut off one of his arms?”

The Cultivators were all looking forward to the competition earnestly. Even the ten or so overseas Cultivators who were grunting on the ground could not help but hold their breath, waiting for Li Yao to be slapped back.

It was what people usually thought. When they were unlucky, they always hoped that somebody ten times unluckier would show up, which would be a comfort for them.

But Wu Jiuxing, whose brutality was well known, glanced at a regular, unadorned wooden badge on Li Yao’s waist and confirmed his identity.

Then, he raised his thick, hairy arm high and gestured at his subordinates. The thousand empyreal Cultivators in full armor bowed at Li Yao deeply at the same pace as if they were one person!