Long Qingyang’s entrance was incredibly flamboyant. For a grown man like him, he still loved to show off.
Really!
The Sword Forging Sect elder was stunned for a moment, then said, “So you’re Brother Long’s disciple! No wonder you’re so outstanding at such a young age!”
“You brat, trying to pull strings again!” Long Qingyang said, smiling at me.
I smiled. “What do you mean by pulling strings? Who was the one teaching me your ‘Dragon Battles the Eight Desolations’?”
Long Qingyang shook his head and smiled, then stood with his hands behind his back and said, “The exchange meeting is now over. It’s time for the young people to take the stage!”
After Long Qingyang finished speaking, all the leaders of the various sects stood up and followed him out.
The competition venue was an open space, surrounded by seats and stands. Each area had a sign. Although Yue Qianxun was the owner of the Mount Hua Secret Realm, it seemed he would have to follow Long Qingyang’s lead.
“Even with my current early-stage Lunar Reflection cultivation, I can’t discern Old Man Long’s cultivation level. It seems his cultivation is truly high.”
“However, Wuming gives off a very ordinary feeling. ‘Ordinary’ refers to his usual state. During my battle with the Heavenly Thunder, Wuming felt like a drawn sword; anything that stood in his way would be snapped in two!”
“There’s a large dueling platform in the center of the open space. I can’t say exactly how big it is because my math skills are terrible, but it’s more than enough for two people to fight.”
“Brother-in-law! Senior Long is here, shouldn’t you…” Wang Haoming said, winking at me.
“I shook my head helplessly: ‘He seems quite busy right now, let’s talk about it later! He’s not going to run away anyway!'”
“Alright then…” Wang Haoming shook his head helplessly and said nothing more.
Long Qingyang exchanged a few polite words and stepped down from the platform.
The young men from the two sects went up to begin their duel. They were exchanging punches and kicks, all hand-to-hand combat, but like me, they lacked practical fighting skills. In fact, their combat experience was even less than mine.
Back then, Lu Tongxiao was weaker than me, but his self-destruction left me helpless. Although I have considerable cultivation, my combat ability is still too poor.
That’s why I brought Liu Zhanqian along. He fought many battles in his youth, practically invincible in one-on-one combat. His fighting experience is undoubtedly far richer than the average person.
Moreover, Liu Zhanqian is older and more experienced than me; there are some lessons I still need to learn from him.
This trip to Mount Hua wasn’t in vain for me, because I found another bead. The two beads are exactly the same; there must be some connection between them.
However, I also deduced some bad news: the person who killed my parents is likely a cultivator, not a practitioner of ancient martial arts.
Because today, a whole bunch of ancient martial arts masters are sitting here, yet not a single one recognizes this bead.
So, the only ones interested in this bead are those who cultivate immortality!
The problem is thorny. Although my current cultivation level is somewhat advanced in ancient martial arts, immortal cultivation is different.
With my Lunar Reflection level cultivation, I can easily kill ancient martial arts Earth-rank experts. If I reach the Sun Corona level, wouldn’t even ancient martial arts Heaven-rank experts be no match for me?
Furthermore, I’ve noticed that although many who initially intended to kill and steal the treasure have abandoned their plans due to Long Qingyang’s arrival, some still covet the treasure I possess.
It seems that as soon as I leave Mount Hua, a fierce battle is inevitable.
Although Elder Tan’s cultivation is not low, he probably can’t handle so many Earth-rank experts.
However, I will never let that effeminate man go! I must kill him!
While I was pondering, several matches had already concluded on the arena. Most of the victories were by the younger generation of renowned sects, while the young, independent martial artists were mostly defeated.
“It’s my turn!” Wang Haoming sighed and walked directly onto the arena.
His opponent was a peak Yellow Rank martial artist, posing no threat.
Full of energy, Wang Haoming defeated his opponent in a few moves.
“When can we go down the mountain?” I asked Wang Haoming, who had just sat down, out of sheer boredom.
Before Wang Haoming could answer, Wang Ziyan said, “Boring! I knew I shouldn’t have come!”
“Nobody asked you to come…” I said, pouting.
This remark infuriated Wang Ziyan, who yelled at me, “I did it all for you!”
“Well, watch the match, it’s exciting!” I tried to distract her.
My head was spinning. This Wang Ziyan, who was initially domineering and unreasonable, had now become completely unruly!
Suddenly, I realized how awful my method of unbuttoning my shirt had been! How had I gotten myself into this mess?
“There aren’t many ancient martial arts families here this time. Each person will probably have to compete three times. It should be over by the afternoon!” Wang Haoming told me.
Hearing this, I felt a little disheartened. I had to wait until the afternoon; how tragic…
“And after the competition, we’ll rest here for the night. We’ll return to the capital after the awards ceremony the next day,” Wang Haoming added.
Hearing this made me want to vomit. We couldn’t leave until the next morning! Good heavens!
After about an hour or two, it was Wang Haoming’s turn again. This time, his opponent was also a mid-stage Profound-rank, but seemed a bit older, as his messy yet stylish stubble gave him away.
Wait, this guy is wearing the same clothes as that effeminate man. They must be from the same sect!
Sure enough, this stubble-faced guy attacked, each move aimed at killing Wang Haoming. Moreover, the stubble-faced guy was wielding two daggers, while Wang Haoming was unarmed. Since their cultivation levels weren’t too different, Wang Haoming could only retreat and dodge.
“Hah!” Wang Haoming suddenly roared, switching from defense to offense and attacking the stubble-faced man.
But the stubble-faced man was agile, dodging Wang Haoming’s attack with a slight turn, while simultaneously slashing Wang Haoming’s chest with his dagger.
A cut from the blade left a gash on Wang Haoming’s chest, from which blood oozed.
Their strengths were roughly equal, one possessing a weapon while the other did not—this was completely unfair.
So I directly retrieved Lu Tongxiao’s longsword from my storage ring and threw it at Wang Haoming, saying, “Brother Ming, catch!”
“Thanks!” Wang Haoming responded, leaping up to catch the sword, then turning again and launching a counter-attack! The sword pierced the stubble-faced man’s arm.
The wounded stubble-faced man quickly retreated, but Wang Haoming gave him no chance, thrusting his sword forward again.
The stubble-faced guy reacted quickly, hastily raising his dagger to defend himself, but due to the haste, the dagger was knocked away.
When he regained his senses, Wang Haoming already had his longsword at his neck.
“I lost…” the stubble-faced guy immediately admitted defeat.
I smiled and said loudly, “Good!”
“I have to thank your sword for that!” Wang Haoming said, throwing the sword at me. Just as I was about to catch it, a figure beat me to it, catching the longsword.
This person looked at the longsword, his eyes widening, then frowned, looking at me and saying, “Why is my Senior Brother Lu’s sword in your hands?!”
This was the person who wanted the Earth-rank sword technique manual from Elder Tan. Now I finally understood why he felt so familiar.
Because Lu Tongxiao had said he was an outer sect elder of Wanren Mountain!