Without the Returning Snow Sword, even the spiritual power within his body seemed to be completely frozen, unable to be mobilized in the slightest. He seemed to have suddenly become a... mortal?

Before Shen Yunhao could react, the phantom... moved!

Without any frills, the sword thrust straight in, swift as lightning, carrying a ruthless intent to freeze everything.

Shen Yunhao's pupils contracted, and he could only rely on his most instinctive reactions and basic swordsmanship to parry and dodge. Without the enhancement of spiritual power, without sword energy or magic, only the purest collision of speed, strength, angle, and will remained!

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The sound of metal clashing echoed fiercely in the void.

Shen Yunhao felt as if he were facing a block of ice that had never melted. His opponent's sword moves were cold and ruthless, filled with killing intent. Every sword strike was aimed at vital points, carrying a terrifying will to destroy emotions, leaving him in a very sorry state.

It only lasted for less than twenty moves!

Pfft!

A cold sword blade pierced his shoulder blade, sending a sharp pain through him. At the same time, a powerful repulsive force violently pushed him out of this void!

"Huff... huff..."

Shen Yunhao's consciousness returned to his body. He clutched his shoulder blade, which had no real wound but was throbbing with pain, and gasped for breath. His forehead was covered in cold sweat.

"It was just an illusion..."

"Unable to achieve resonance, I actually have to challenge the Sword Master..."

At that moment, a flash of realization crossed his eyes.

"I understand! If we can defeat this phantom, we can also gain points! Otherwise, everyone's swordsmanship is unique, and relying solely on sword intent resonance is far too limiting!"

He took out his identity jade token, which, in addition to the name "Superman Strong," also had the character "Zero" on it.

"No points for losing?" Shen Yunhao stroked his chin. "It seems the first stage is far more difficult than I imagined. There might be quite a few participants with zero points..."

Over the next three days, Shen Yunhao found a total of seven broken swords.

He tried to resonate with each sword, but without exception, he failed every time.

The owners of these swords were either pursuing the ultimate killing, or dedicated to protecting their sects, or yearning to reach the pinnacle... Their sword intent was either violent, profound, or aloof, but in any case, they showed no reaction to Shen Yunhao's sword intent.

This made him wonder what kind of sword intent he possessed, since nothing seemed to match it...

As for the seven battles in the void that resulted from the unsuccessful matchmaking.

The opponent's sword intent was varied and the sword moves were all different. Shen Yunhao could not use his spiritual power and could only rely on his most basic combat instincts to deal with it.

In the end, they lost more than they won. Of the seven battles, they only managed to win two with great difficulty, and were defeated in the other five after struggling to hold on.

Fortunately, the points on the identity jade token also climbed from zero to twenty points with difficulty.

Strangely, during these three days, Shen Yunhao did not encounter any other contestants. This ancient battlefield seemed boundless, and even with tens of thousands of people entering at the same time, not a single ripple was stirred.

Not long after, he encountered the eighth sword.

The sword was stuck diagonally next to a huge, cracked black rock. Its blade was long and slender, and its entire body had a strange dark blue color.

Although it is also covered with the marks of time, there seems to be a faint trace of sharpness remaining on the blade.

Shen Yunhao habitually reached out to touch it, wanting to understand its meaning.

This time, the fragments that flooded my mind were completely different.

Compared to the many battle scenes he had experienced before, this time he only saw a figure lying on horseback, with a long sword hanging at his waist, swaying and heading into the distance.

In him, there was no pursuit of the peak, nor any desire for power; what he possessed was simply unbridled freedom and a carefree spirit that had seen the world.

Shen Yunhao vaguely felt the Guixue Sword tremble very slightly!

"There's hope!"

He was greatly encouraged and immediately focused his mind, concentrating on feeling the other person's free and unrestrained spirit, and tried to put himself in that shoes and release similar thoughts.

After about half an incense stick's time, Shen Yunhao suddenly opened his eyes!

This time, what he was left with was no longer a cold, visceral shock, but a strange sensation, like the gentle plucking of a musical string.

The dark blue broken sword began to tremble slightly, emitting a deep and pleasant hum!

A sword intent imbued with a sense of magnanimity, freedom, and unrestrainedness flowed out slowly, swirling around Shen Yunhao.

Resonance achieved!

Shen Yunhao breathed a sigh of relief and took out his identity jade token. The number on it had jumped from 20 points to 70 points!

A single successful resonance added fifty points! That far exceeded the score for defeating the Sword Master's phantom!

"So... to truly achieve a high score, one still needs to find a sword that suits them? However, my sword intent is freedom and elegance? Something just doesn't feel right..."

Over the next five days, Shen Yunhao continued his exploration while verifying his conjectures.

Finally, he came to a conclusion.

It has absolutely nothing to do with being free and unrestrained... As long as the original owner of the sword has "contentment with one's lot" and "not forcing things" as core values, his sword intent can resonate with the user to some extent!

As it turns out, his sword intent... was inextricably linked to his "lying down and giving up" attitude...

Upon learning this, he didn't even know whether he should be happy that he had finally found a path of resonance, or mourn for his "unambitious" pursuit of swordsmanship.

In addition, during his continuous exploration, he also noticed another pattern.

As he continued forward, the broken swords he encountered showed that the original owner's strength was visibly increasing.

From initially reaching roughly the mid-to-late stage of the Soul Condensation Realm, he has now reached at least the early stage of the Soul Control Realm!

One can imagine that the broken swords in the sword tomb are distributed from the outside in according to the cultivation level and sword intent intensity of their owners before their death. The closer to the center, the more profound the sword intent contained in the broken sword!

The higher the score...

"I wonder if anyone can get to the very center, the core location..."

As he continued deeper into the area, he occasionally caught glimpses of other cultivators in the distance.

Some sat cross-legged in front of the broken sword, deep in thought, while others, like him before, closed their eyes and concentrated, clearly challenging the illusory figure of the sword master.

Everyone was in a hurry, focused on their own insights, maintaining a tacit distance from one another. No one spoke, and the atmosphere of competition permeated the silence.

...

The tenth day since entering the Sword Tomb has arrived...

Shen Yunhao stood in a relatively open area of ​​scattered rocks, looking at the number displayed on his identity jade token... five hundred points.

This is the score he accumulated after resonating with seven swords and defeating the phantoms of five swords. Although the exact ranking is unknown, it should not be too bad.

Just as they were about to continue deeper into the area, they suddenly stopped in their tracks.

Looking at the figure in green not far away, Shen Yunhao narrowed his eyes, his face revealing an undisguised look of disdain and speechlessness.

"Tsk... What bad luck! This place is so big, how did I have to run into this unlucky woman?"