Deep within the Sword Tomb.
Shen Yunhao stepped carefully on the cracked, grayish-brown earth.
The space was filled with a suffocating sense of oppression. The broken swords scattered around were no longer rusty, but instead gleamed with a cold, eerie light, like sleeping beasts that seemed ready to pounce and attack at any moment!
Wu Yun'er remained a dozen feet behind him, like a stubborn leech.
"This should be the deepest part of the Sword Tomb, but why haven't I seen a single person all this time..."
Shen Yunhao frowned and muttered to himself.
Looking back on the journey, the further in we went, the fewer participants we encountered.
"Hmph!" Wu Yun'er muttered to herself from behind, "Apart from those true sword geniuses, who dares to set foot in this area? It's more practical to rack up points in the outer circle..."
"Theoretically speaking, if the sword intent here can resonate even once, it would be more worthwhile than fighting ten of them in the outer circle..."
As he spoke, Shen Yunhao's gaze was drawn to a long sword stuck in a black stone tablet in front of him.
The sword was entirely crimson, its blade covered in spiderweb-like cracks, yet it emanated a chilling, scorching sword intent that even slightly distorted the surrounding air.
"Really? Why don't you give it a try?"
Seeing Wu Yun'er's cold smile, Shen Yunhao curled his lips, hesitated for a moment, and then touched the crimson sword.
However, the moment Shen Yunhao's fingertips touched the sword, a violent sword intent as fierce as burning the heavens and boiling the sea instantly rushed into his sea of consciousness through his fingertips!
Suddenly, a sea of fire appeared before him, with countless burning corpses wailing in the flames. A figure covered in flames, holding a crimson longsword, laughed wildly amidst the mountains of corpses and sea of blood.
The madness and destructive desire contained in that sword intent almost tore his consciousness apart!
"Ugh!" Yun Hao groaned, blood seeping from all seven orifices at the same time. Just as his consciousness was about to collapse, a cold spiritual force suddenly pulled him back to reality.
"Tsk tsk tsk, I didn't realize you were so daring to court death?"
Wu Yun'er grabbed him by the back of his collar and dragged him back more than ten steps. Her voice was mocking but also carried a hint of solemnity. "This is... the Burning Heart Sword! Back then, its master went mad and slaughtered three sects. In the end, it took the intervention of the Heavenly Peak Sword Saint to kill him... You think you can touch a sword intent of this level?"
Shen Yunhao slumped to the ground, panting heavily, his back covered in cold sweat.
He wiped the blood from his nose and retorted defiantly, "Tch! Mind your own business! What's wrong with me touching you?"
"You!" Wu Yun'er's chest heaved with rage, but she only managed a cold laugh in the end. "Fine! Next time, I'll watch you die!"
As the two were locked in a stalemate, a strange fluctuation of spiritual energy suddenly emanated from afar.
Shen Yunhao squinted and looked around. He saw a clearing several hundred feet away shrouded in sword energy, and he could vaguely see a figure sitting cross-legged in it.
"That's... a spirit array?"
Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that in the center of the open space stood an ancient sword, entirely black with purple lightning patterns swirling around its blade.
Within a three-zhang radius of the sword, the ground was covered with spiderweb-like sword marks, forming a natural barrier. Inside the formation, a white-clad swordsman closed his eyes and concentrated, surrounded by a pale blue sword intent.
"I actually found someone alive..."
Shen Yunhao quietly approached and hid behind a weathered rock to observe.
Wu Yun'er stared at the white-robed swordsman for a few moments, seemingly recognizing his identity, and remained silent.
Time passed second by second, until at a certain moment, the black sword suddenly burst forth with dazzling lightning!
Dozens of purple lightning bolts charged furiously toward the white-robed cultivator's true form!
At that moment, countless strands of green hair suddenly shot out from the top of the white-robed cultivator's head, like thousands of steel needles, which actually kept the lightning resistance away.
"This is... the materialization of sword intent?" Shen Yunhao's eyes widened!
“If it were him… it would be normal for him to do this…” Wu Yun’er said indifferently.
The lightning and the blue hair remained locked in a stalemate for about half an incense stick's time. The lightning of the black sword gradually weakened, while the blue sword intent of the white-robed swordsman became more and more solid.
Just then, something unexpected happened!
The black sword trembled violently, and a blurry phantom appeared on its blade. The phantom wielded the black sword and unleashed a strike with the force of splitting the heavens and earth!
The white-robed cultivator opened his eyes at that moment, stood up, and formed a sword with his fingers. A dazzling azure sword light burst forth from his fingertips!
"Zheng—!"
The two sword intents collided, producing a loud sound like metal clashing.
Shockingly, the cyan sword light was not shattered, but instead became even more dazzling, eventually transforming into a cyan dragon that devoured the black phantom along with the lightning!
"Buzz!"
The black sword trembled violently, emitting a mournful cry of resentment, before finally returning to stillness.
Shen Yunhao couldn't help but swallow hard. "It...it succeeded? Is this...resonance or defeat?"
The white-robed swordsman sheathed his sword, stood still, and after a moment of meditation, took out his identity jade token and glanced at it.
Shen Yunhao noticed with his sharp eyes that the number on the jade tablet had jumped directly from 13,000 points to 16,000 points!
"Holy crap! A whole three thousand, my god!"
He almost bit his tongue.
I worked myself to the bone for half a month and only managed to accumulate a little over 800 points, which is not even half the value of someone else's sword...
The white-robed swordsman seemed to sense something and suddenly turned to look in the direction where they were hiding.
In an instant, Shen Yunhao felt as if a sharp sword had been drawn and was pointed at his throat, and the hairs on his body stood on end.
Wu Yun'er frowned and subconsciously took a half step back.
"As expected of you, Xiao Luoyang..."
Upon hearing this, Shen Yunhao was startled.
Xiao Luoyang! The number one figure in the Chronicles of Wind and Cloud, the chief disciple of the Azure Sky Sword Pavilion! It's actually him?
Xiao Luoyang's gaze lingered on them for a moment, he nodded slightly as a greeting, and then drifted away without uttering a word.
Once the white figure disappeared into the horizon, Shen Yunhao finally breathed a sigh of relief, "Holy crap! I've met a real big shot..."
“He truly has the potential to be the number one among the younger generation!” Wu Yun’er stared in the direction Xiao Luoyang had left. “I reckon… only that guy is qualified to rival him…”
Shen Yunhao looked over curiously, wanting to know who this "guy" was.
"What are you looking at?" Wu Yun'er crossed her arms and sneered. "What's the use of having talent if it's still being wasted..."
"..."
For some reason, Shen Yunhao felt inexplicably offended.
Then he turned to look at the black sword, "But this time it reminded me of something!"
"Um?"
"The first stage of this sword tournament isn't about blindly conforming to sword intent and creating resonance! The real test of the Sword Tomb..." He paused, his eyes gleaming, "is transcendence! It's about how to elevate one's own sword intent!"
Wu Yun'er paused for a moment, then seemed to be deep in thought.
I have to admit, this guy has a point.
What Xiao Luoyang just demonstrated was that he suppressed and conquered the will of that evil sword with his own sword intent, thereby gaining greater benefits!
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