Load the game and return to the Shushan line.

The Shushan Competition is in full swing.

If we look at it from the perspective of modern sports competition system, the draw match in the early stage of the Shushan Competition is a typical "single-elimination system".

For example, 100 disciples are paired up to fight with swords.

The 50 victorious disciples will then compete in sword fighting among themselves, and so on, and finally the 1st to 50th place will be decided;

The 50 disciples who failed would also fight in the same way, and the final rankings of 51-100 would be determined... There were no messy rules like the loser group being resurrected.

The problem with single-elimination is that early wins are far more important than late wins.

For example, in the previous example, if you lose the first game, you will not be in the top 50. Even if you win every subsequent game, you will still be ranked 51st in the end.

And through random draws, there will always be people who will randomly meet the strong ones on the Fairy Sword List.

Therefore, there is the second half of the Shushan Competition: the seat challenge.

Now, the draw and sword-fighting session in the first half is almost coming to an end.

Ling Yunpo, An Zhisu, Lin Duanshan and others still maintain their undefeated record, and the rankings on the Immortal Sword Ranking have been narrowed to the top 20.

Duan Fenhai, who had been defeated once before, remained undefeated afterwards, but even if he won all the way, his final ranking would not be good, so he would definitely challenge for a seat in the second half.

Due to the continuous sword fighting for many days, the Foundation Establishment disciples were already mentally exhausted, so the Shushan high-level officials announced that they would give a day off today to allow everyone to rest and readjust.

Senior Sister An ran to the interior of Qingluo Peak again and reported the good news to the master.

Ling Yunpo planned to take this opportunity to go to the market at the foot of the mountain to buy some wine and food to celebrate with his senior sister.

Unlike Kunlun, the Shangqing Sect of Mount Shu lives together with mortal villages. Sword immortals live high on many peaks, and the common people live in the river valleys between the peaks.

Corresponding markets are also opened in these river valley villages, where mortals and cultivators live together.

In order to avoid being harassed by villagers (for example, asking for elixirs, etc.), disciples of Shushan often have to put away their flying swords and other items when entering the market town to avoid attracting the attention of outsiders.

Ling Yun broke into the wine shop and asked the shopkeeper for a pot of wine, the best monkey wine, and also bought some braised beef and century-old Polygonatum for later use.

I was waiting for the boss to cut the meat and Huangjing, when I suddenly heard a few disciples from Shushan chatting at the wine table opposite:

"...In this competition, those strong men need not be mentioned. The only one worth mentioning is the junior brother of the Sword Immortal Mowing Grass, who directly killed the Blue Iron Sword Immortal Duan Fenhai and snatched the second seat."

"Is he the one who was doing Qi training and marrow cleansing and killed the disciples of Ziyun Peak?" someone asked.

"That's right. Hey, what was that man's name? I only vaguely remember his last name was Ling..."

Everyone was silent.

"I remember now!" One of them suddenly slammed the table and said, "The day before yesterday, I just happened to hear someone mention this guy's name in the opening bet of this competition."

"The first seat will definitely go to the Sword Immortal, there is no other possibility. But who will take the second seat after the seat challenge is over is the biggest highlight of this bet."

"There are only four contenders, namely the three strongest men from the previous sessions, plus the junior brother of the Sword Immortal who suddenly showed up this time."

"These four are the 'Four Heavenly Kings' of this competition. Some people summarized them in four words: 'breaking mountains and dividing seas, shattering the moon and breaking clouds.'"

Hearing this, everyone said, "Oh!" and someone said:

"Broken Mountain is the Broken Mountain of Jingang Peak, Divided Sea is the Duan Fen Hai of Huanglong Peak, Broken Moon is the Guan Shan Yue of Cuizhu Peak, the sword is named 'Broken Moon', and Broken Cloud is..."

"I think it must be the junior brother of the Grass-Cutting Sword Immortal, whose name is Ling Poyun." The disciple next to him exclaimed, "Wow, does it mean that in order to become a strong man, one must first have a majestic and domineering name?"

"That's true. Hey, what do you think of me changing my name to 'Batian'?"

Ling Yunpo took the wine jug and snacks from the shopkeeper and turned away with an expressionless face.

My name is Ling Yunpo! Bastard!

Ling Yunpo returned to Qingluo Peak in a depressed mood and saw An Zhisu drinking in the pavilion behind.

"Senior Sister!" He lowered the sword light to the ground, picked up the wine and food in his hand, and said with a smile, "Why are you drinking by yourself here?"

An Zhisu sighed and said:

"Junior brother, do you know? It is said that the top three in this Shushan competition will receive gold-mercury elixir as a reward."

"Oh?" Ling Yunpo was surprised, but smiled and said, "Since Senior Sister specifically mentioned it, it seems to be an extremely valuable item."

"More than precious?" An Zhisu shook his head and said, "After entering the Huafu Stage, drinking one spoonful of it will be equivalent to a century of hard practice."

"That's great!" Ling Yunpo smiled in surprise, "Senior Sister is at the Huafu level, this item is just right for her."

"No." An Zhisu said seriously, "Senior Sister will leave it to you."

Lingyunpo: ...

Even though he had guessed it in his mind, he was still shocked when he heard Senior Sister An confirm it in person.

This is related to the grade of the elixir! It is your path and future, Senior Sister!

"I don't want it!" Ling Yunpo refused hastily, but An Zhisu held his hand and said firmly, "Junior brother, listen to me."

"Master has been in seclusion for too long. In recent years, Qingluo Peak has been increasingly targeted. We are now surrounded by enemies everywhere."

"The deduction of your monthly salary last time and the manipulation of your sword-fighting lottery this time are the best examples."

"In the final analysis, my Qingluo Peak not only has no Nascent Soul Elder, but also no Golden Core True Person. It all depends on you and me to support it."

"We can't go on like this."

An Zhisu said firmly, the resolute emotion in her eyes seemed to solidify into substance, almost piercing his chest:

"Junior brother."

"I have made up my mind. In order to protect the Qingluo Peak's Taoist tradition, I will form a pill within thirty years."

"The time for transformation is too short. Even if you drink the golden mercury elixir, it will be useless... It is better to leave it to you."

Ling Yunpo opened his mouth but couldn't say anything.

Thirty years sounds like a long time, but for a cultivator at the Huafu level, it is almost too short.

For an ordinary cultivator at the Huafu stage, if he starts practicing at the age of twenty, he will refine Qi for sixty years, cleanse his marrow for ten years, and often have to invest a hundred years in the Huafu stage. Only when there are only ten years left of his two hundred years of life will he begin to attempt the final Dan formation.

The purpose is to improve the quality of the elixir as much as possible. This is related to the future of the entire golden elixir stage of cultivation and must not be taken lightly.

An Zhisu has been in the Huafu stage for almost thirty years. If he cultivates for another thirty years, it will be a sixty-year Huafu process.

With her aptitude for cultivation, if she could form a pill in sixty years, it would at best be a fourth or fifth grade, and she would definitely not be able to reach the third grade.

When the elixir reaches the fourth or fifth grade, it means that the next step is to form the most perfect fetus, and the Nascent Soul will be capped at the middle grade.

Without a top-grade Nascent Soul, it would be impossible to become a Daluo Golden Immortal in the later stages of ascension.

The best he could do was to kill the three corpses and become a celestial being... He was falling behind step by step, without even a chance to make amends!

If it were Ling Yunpo himself, he would ask himself, even if he respected and loved Senior Sister An very much, he would never joke about such a thing.

But Senior Sister An was willing to give up her brighter future for her own sake, just to become a Golden Core True Person as soon as possible and protect her...

"Senior Sister..." His voice was a little suppressed.

"Um?"

"I'll find a way!" Ling Yunpo suddenly jumped up, grabbed An Zhisu's hands tightly, and said sternly:

"I will find a way to change the situation where Qingluo Peak is surrounded by enemies, starting with this Shushan Competition!"

[Unyielding character, synchronization value +1. ]

In the sea of ​​consciousness, the Kunlun Mirror's notification sound began to flash across the screen, but Ling Yunpo completely ignored it and just gritted his teeth and swore:

"Please stop saying such ridiculous things as '30 years to form a pill'! If you joke about your future again, I will go to the bottom of the Taoist temple and hit my head against the wall where Master is in seclusion!"

"Junior brother!" An Zhisu's eyes immediately turned red. She was about to angrily teach him a lesson not to swear such a vicious oath, but she noticed that there was also a stubbornness and persistence in Ling Yunpo's eyes that was as blue as iron.

When the master used his body to block the attack of Elder Shura Dao in order to protect himself, the cold expression on his face was almost identical to the resolute emotion in his junior brother's eyes at this moment.

She stared at her junior fellow apprentice in a daze, and suddenly a sense of sad mission arose in her heart:

Perhaps all of us in the Qingluo Peak lineage have sword bones that cannot be blunted by cutting or broken by hammering.

In order to protect the important people around you at all costs, you will shoot out without looking back like a flying sword with burning essence.

It’s just that, Junior Brother…

Now, it's my turn to protect you like my master did...

An Zhisu, heartbroken, suddenly stretched out her arms and hugged him tightly.

Lingyunpo:?

"Junior brother." An Zhisu leaned her head on his shoulder, unable to hold back tears, and said, "Don't say such things again in the future."

Her tears slid down her cheeks, but she hugged Ling Yunpo even tighter, her voice choked with sobs:

"You can't say such things. You must be well..."

"Even if it's for Senior Sister..."