Chapter 160 - 111: 400 Years of Cultivation

Chapter 160: Chapter 111: 400 Years of Cultivation

At the Shifeng Conference.

Just as Li Yinsheng had expected, his junior sister’s current cultivation and Sword Technique, combined with her Upper Grade Magical Artifact, the Cold Bright Sword, made her a completely unfair match for anyone in her group. While this setup might not be enough to guarantee an A Class evaluation in the Lesser Yang Field, she stood head and shoulders above the rest in the under-sixteen group of the Shifeng Conference. These sixteen-year-old boys and girls were the rising stars of their respective Daoist Temples, and the grades of their Cultivation Techniques were not much inferior to the Qingxuan Scripture. However, in terms of cultivation, very few had reached the twenty-year mark.

His junior sister’s cultivation, on the other hand, had already exceeded thirty years. Although her Qingxuan Scripture had yet to reach the Sixth Layer, she was only a hair’s breadth away. Furthermore, these slightly weaker rising stars could only control Middle Grade Magical Artifacts at best. Facing an Upper Grade Magical Artifact like the Cold Bright Sword, they were completely defenseless. Mu Xiaoyu slaughtered her way through the arena. Even the best performer only lasted two or three exchanges against her. The rest were forced off the arena by her endless Sword Light the moment they clashed. If Mu Xiaoyu hadn’t held back, they likely would have suffered severe injuries.

Li Yinsheng and Lan Xuan sat behind two long tables, each with two beautiful female disciples of the Cangfeng Temple pouring tea beside them. The long tables that previously belonged to the Temple Master and Stewards of the Cangfeng Temple had been moved to the back. However, they no longer needed them, as they were all acting as Directors of Justice in the arenas to maintain order. The Shifeng Conference used an elimination format. Each person only fought one or two matches a day in rotating brackets. Although the youngest group that his junior sister belonged to was the largest, it still only consisted of a little over thirty people. By the third day, the top four Cultivators in the group had already been decided, each earning a spot to use the Shifeng Spirit Charm on Washing Sword Mountain. The matches over the following two days were merely to determine the top three rankings within the group, which didn’t hold much significance.

Today was the final match. However, somewhat to Li Yinsheng’s surprise, the Cultivator competing with his junior sister for first place was not from the Cangfeng Temple, but a youth from the Huang Bamboo Temple. The youth possessed impressive cultivation and an exceedingly fierce Sword Technique. It was a rather rare Wind Attribute Sword Technique; though lacking in raw power, it was incredibly swift and impossible to guard against. Nevertheless, suppressed by Mu Xiaoyu’s continuous azure Sword Light, the youth from the Huang Bamboo Temple couldn’t utilize his Sword Technique at all. After only a few exchanges, he was forcefully driven off the stage just like her previous opponents.

Watching Mu Xiaoyu utterly dominate the arena, Li Yinsheng shook his head slightly. "This girl really doesn’t know how to save some face for her fellow Cultivators."

The one who took two or three moves to defeat was somewhat acceptable, but for the slightly weaker ones, they were sent packing right after stepping up and announcing their names. It was a bit too embarrassing for them. Those who could afford to spend tens of thousands of talismanic coins to register for the Shifeng Conference were all rising stars in Sword Dao from their respective Daoist Temples, yet they all lost to Mu Xiaoyu in increasingly miserable ways. Of course, he knew that Mu Xiaoyu had actually been holding back. Even when facing the youth from the Huang Bamboo Temple, while she had pushed her Yin Yang Light-Splitting Sword to seventy or eighty percent of its power, she had never once used a killing move like the Profound Evil Sword from beginning to end.

"With shallow cultivation and crude Sword Techniques, what right do they have to demand their opponents save them face?" Lan Xuan shook his head. Although he had been watching the Cultivators’ Magical Combat at the Shifeng Conference with Li Yinsheng every day, he actually couldn’t stand the sight of it since day one. Setting aside the fact that these juniors’ Sword Techniques appeared utterly crude from his current perspective, even his sixteen-year-old self would have triumphed over most of the people in the arena. Even against Mu Xiaoyu, he was confident that his sixteen-year-old self could have overpowered her in terms of Sword Technique alone. However, he didn’t possess such profound cultivation at that age. If they were to have a real fight, he most likely wouldn’t have been able to defeat her.

Beside him, Li Yinsheng was watching with keen interest. While these Sword Techniques were equally crude in his eyes, the biggest difference between him and Lan Xuan was that he had rarely seen Cultivators engage in Magical Combat before. Therefore, although this kind of competition—which was somewhat akin to a cricket fight—lacked technical value in his eyes, it was at least entertaining.

"Senior brother!" The victorious Mu Xiaoyu jumped off the arena and ran up to Li Yinsheng, her face flushed with excitement. "Senior brother, did you see that? I’m first!"

"Yeah! You’re amazing, junior sister!" Li Yinsheng rubbed her head. Although her taking first place was exactly what he had expected, he still made sure to praise her properly.

Standing off to the side, Lan Xuan’s eyes flickered slightly. He could tell that Mu Xiaoyu’s Root Device was quite poor and that her cultivation must have been elevated through means other than standard practice. However, since she hadn’t resorted to demonic or unorthodox methods, her foundation remained solid. Cultivation could be improved with external aids, but her Sword Technique—which wasn’t much worse than his own at her age—couldn’t possibly have been enhanced the same way. This was enough to prove that she was indeed a Sword Dao genius.

This naturally made Lan Xuan think of his own disciples. Among the Cultivators in Mu Xiaoyu’s group this time, only one person from the Cangfeng Temple had secured a spot for Washing Sword Mountain. Including the other four groups, they only had three spots in total. These juniors were becoming increasingly disappointing; each generation was worse than the last! He hadn’t focused his attention on the Daoist Temple for a long time, having been preparing to condense his Dharma Aspect within the Dharma Vein. However, after watching the Shifeng Conference for a few days, he suddenly felt that the Daoist Temple still needed proper management. The current Cangfeng Temple was truly a far cry from its former glory. He decided he would summon those juniors managing the Daoist Temple tonight and properly test their cultivation and Sword Techniques! Lan Xuan made up his mind.

Oblivious to Lan Xuan’s thoughts, Mu Xiaoyu looked up at Li Yinsheng beside her with an expectant gaze. "Senior brother, I got first place in my group. Is there any reward?"

"What kind of reward do you want? Tell me, and if it’s reasonable, I’ll grant it," Li Yinsheng said with a smile.

"I wasn’t asking for a reward from you," Mu Xiaoyu shook her head. "I was asking what the Shifeng Conference gives to the first-place winner."

"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you," Li Yinsheng said, his eyes curving into a smile. "As the first-place winner of the Shifeng Conference, you get a chance to use the Shifeng Spirit Charm for three months. Are you happy?"

"Shifeng Spirit Charm?" Mu Xiaoyu didn’t quite understand, but her instincts told her something was amiss. "What is that?"

"The Shifeng Spirit Charm can help Cultivators rapidly improve their Sword Techniques," Li Yinsheng explained. "This Shifeng Spirit Charm only appears once every nine years, and each time it only lasts for three months. It’s incredibly precious, so you absolutely mustn’t waste it."

Mu Xiaoyu froze for a few breaths before realizing the implication. "Wait! Senior brother, are you saying that the reward is that I have to spend the next three months constantly practicing my Sword Technique?!"

Seeing Li Yinsheng nod with a smile, Mu Xiaoyu’s eyes gradually widened, her pupils contracting. She thought, "I worked so hard to get first place in my group, and the reward is actually this? What kind of reward is this?! Why is everyone in the Cangfeng Temple so ruthless?!"

After the Shifeng Conference concluded, everyone who had secured a spot was issued a Magical Artifact Token.

The Shifeng Spirit Charm on Washing Sword Mountain appeared only once every nine years and was supremely precious. Although it didn’t require a Spirit Refining Array, there was a Spirit-Tuning Array deployed by the Qingyu Platform Temple to ensure that not a single trace of the Shifeng Spirit Charm would be stolen or wasted through dissipation. Therefore, even during the three months when the Shifeng Spirit Charm was generated, only Cultivators wearing the specially made Magical Artifact Token on Washing Sword Mountain could enjoy its benefits.

Another advantage this brought was that Cultivators with spots were allowed to bring an elder up the mountain with them to teach them Sword Techniques. Since the Shifeng Spirit Charm was distributed according to the Tokens anyway, bringing an elder wouldn’t thin out the Spirit Charm. On the contrary, having an elder guide them and answer their questions, combined with the effects of the Shifeng Spirit Charm, could allow the Cultivators to achieve even greater improvements within the three-month period. The Cangfeng Temple was very supportive of this arrangement. They had even built numerous wooden cabins across Washing Sword Mountain, the number of which far exceeded the available spots for each cycle. This was primarily to accommodate the Cultivators who brought their elders up the mountain to receive instruction.

Naturally, Li Yinsheng went up the mountain with Mu Xiaoyu. They found two secluded wooden cabins to stay in while he taught her Sword Techniques. However, to everyone’s surprise, Lan Xuan simply decided to temporarily live on Washing Sword Mountain as well, purely for the convenience of discussing the sword with Li Yinsheng. Yet once they arrived on Washing Sword Mountain, Li Yinsheng dedicated most of his energy to guiding his junior sister, having her practice the Yin Yang Light-Splitting Sword with the White Rainbow Sword. He spent very little time discussing the sword with Lan Xuan. As a result, the incredibly bored Lan Xuan, outside of his own cultivation, would wander the mountain to instruct the disciples of his Temple who were practicing Sword Techniques—and occasionally even correct the elders who were teaching those disciples.

Three months passed by in a flash.

During this time, Li Yinsheng had Mu Xiaoyu put her cultivation and all other miscellaneous tasks on hold so she could focus entirely on practicing her Sword Technique. After all, with her Root Device, even after Washing Marrow and Cleansing Veins, she wouldn’t have made much progress from cultivating on her own for three months anyway. However, with his close personal guidance, the direction of the White Rainbow Sword, and the assistance of the Shifeng Spirit Charm, the number of her Sword Lights increased by leaps and bounds—surging at a rate of nearly one new Sword Light per day. Although her pace slowed down slightly toward the end, this progress was still utterly terrifying. The one who played the most crucial role in this, however, was Li Yinsheng himself. As a Sword Cultivator who had personally groped his way to mastering five hundred and twelve Sword Lights, his familiarity with the Yin Yang Light-Splitting Sword far surpassed even its creator’s.

Moreover, he had prepared a massive amount of Upper Grade Elixirs to restore Magical Power in advance. While this cost him quite a few talismanic coins, it allowed his junior sister to practice her Sword Technique for several extra hours each day and saved her the time normally spent meditating to recover her Magical Power. With all these factors combined, less than ten days after going up the mountain, his junior sister’s Sword Lights had reached a total of sixty-four. Taking advantage of the situation, Li Yinsheng claimed his reward of thirty-two years of cultivation and then continued to teach his junior sister swordplay. It wasn’t until today, as the three months came to an end and the Shifeng Spirit Charm was about to dissipate, that when Mu Xiaoyu swung the White Rainbow Sword, one hundred and twenty-eight slender Sword Lights finally materialized simultaneously!

Unlike normal Sword Lights, the one hundred and twenty-eight Sword Lights Mu Xiaoyu swung were exceedingly slender, each one less than a quarter of the width of her original Sword Lights. After all, with her current cultivation and Magical Power, genuinely executing one hundred and twenty-eight full-strength Sword Lights was an impossible feat; she could only lower their destructive power. If she truly sought raw power, pouring her all into executing sixty-four Sword Lights would barely allow her to keep them from shrinking too much, and their might would actually be greater than that of forcing out one hundred and twenty-eight malnourished Sword Lights. Yet even so, executing sixty-four Sword Lights in a single breath would completely drain her Magical Power in an instant. However, there were no shortcuts for this issue—it simply required her to further improve her cultivation. Once her cultivation was sufficient, the Yin Yang Light-Splitting Sword would naturally display its proper might.

The moment the one hundred and twenty-eight Sword Lights flared to life, a familiar, resounding chime akin to a massive bell echoed within Li Yinsheng’s mind. Standing on the White Jade Platform of his Grotto Heaven, he let out a soft exhale and sat down cross-legged. This time, it was the highest tier of rewards—sixty-four years of cultivation. Combined with the few scattered rewards he had already claimed previously, his total cultivation would surpass four hundred years once this secluded meditation concluded.