Above the Ninth Heaven, the Night Mist Sea was pitch-black.
On a wooden boat, someone murmured, "They claim they're asking for instruction, yet right off the bat, they call out Taiyi, One Sword Slashing Through the Thirty-Six Heavens, and the rest. Is this supreme confidence, or outright contempt?"
Many nodded in agreement, finding truth in his words. The adversaries across the way were arrogant, their posture carrying no small degree of disdain.
Amidst ink-washed banks of clouds, within the black pagoda standing tall like a peak piercing the sky, challenge calls rang out once more—and from more than just one or two beings.
"Friends of Yujing, we come seeking guidance in good faith. Naturally, we wish to spar with the strongest among you. What fault is there in choosing Taiyi?"
"I wield the sword, so naturally, I challenge 'One Sword.' I hope he will not withhold his guidance!"
...
Qin Ming stood quietly. With his name called repeatedly, it truly felt as though across all twelve scrolls of the muster roll, his name was written on every single one.
From Yujing's side, someone called back, "What standing do you people even have, barking out challenges to the leaders of every realm right away?"
Another immediately chimed in, "Taiyi stands atop the rankings, suppressing an entire realm with a single saber! His achievements are plain for all to see. If you possess such confidence, go to the sword-dueling platforms of the Divine City and witness the brilliance of that saber for yourselves."
Many nodded. Taiyi's dominance in the first realm was truly terrifying and unshakable.
"And then there is the leader, 'One Sword'! His Pure Yang sword baleful aura is peerless, and profound sword dao principles flow from his fingers with effortless grace. Ask yourselves: how many strands of sacred baleful aura can you refine into your bodies? Where do you find the nerve to think just anyone can compel that young sword immortal to take the field?"
On the Yujing side, several voices spoke up in succession, offering immense praise for Taiyi and One Sword.
Some spoke straight from the heart, while others believed the top rankers were mostly Earth Immortals; praising them in public was simply currying favor before ancient monsters of the seventh realm.
Qin Ming was first across three boards; whichever way they turned, he could not be bypassed.
Every one of his separate identities was being extolled—a rather strange and wondrous sensation.
He even noticed Cui Qi chiming in, loudly heaping praise on "One Sword."
Though both father and son of the Cui clan had fallen before that ancient Earth Immortal monster "One Sword," given enough time to ferment, the loss could well turn into a celebrated tale.
A strange look flickered across Qin Ming's face. When the truth was revealed in the future, what kind of expressions would Cui Qi and Cui Chonghe wear?
The towering pagoda stood sheer and upright like the blade of a sword, exuding an oppressive presence through the mist. Indistinct figures began walking out from within.
"We are all youthful of body. We can afford to lose and do not fear defeat. What is wrong with challenging those at the top? Who doesn't yearn to be number one in a chosen path? Without even that much fighting spirit, what right do you have to speak of youthful pride!"
"Or could it be that all of you are merely withered, twilight-bound old seniors?"
Most of these beings wore black or red robes that shrouded them from head to toe, and some were massive, bearing little resemblance to humanoid life.
Aboard the hundreds of wooden boats on the Yujing side, many were left speechless. They were genuinely cornered by the question. Quite a few old monsters were among them, and hearing this pricked at their pride.
An Earth Immortal ranked very high on the New Board spoke up: "Heh, you have the gall to talk like that? You—yes, you! The wrinkles on your face are deep enough to pinch mosquitoes to death, and you still dare babble about youthful pride?"
He had cultivated a kind of divine vision and saw through the concealed appearance of a certain black-robed figure.
Even so, his brow furrowed. There was indeed a contingent of young beings on the other side, each brimming with vitality.
On the Yujing side, many chuckled.
Someone jeered, "So that's how it is—a withered youth!"
Qin Ming felt a stir of relief. Fortunately, he had borrowed vessels like the scarecrow and the stone man; otherwise, someone might have spotted through him as well. The vessels provided by the New Board were truly remarkable.
"Since the rank leaders hold themselves in such lofty, unapproachable regard, we shall pick others. Is Heavenly Immortal present? Can Bodhi Saint accept our challenge? Would Changxi care to step forward?"
"I wish to spar with Tianzun, Giant Spirit God, and the like."
On the whole, the opposing beings possessed soaring arrogance, exclusively seeking out the formidable.
In the end, a voice rumbled from the grand black pagoda, quelling the commotion among them. A grey-robed figure was dispatched straight onto the field. He announced his own background: he had once ranked ninety-eighth in the third-realm contests.
"I'll take him!" a genuine youth from Yujing declared, radiant with high spirits. He stepped off his small wooden boat and climbed onto the floating ruins amidst the night mist.
High above the Ninth Heaven, shattered lands drifted amidst the clouds—the remains of ruined grotto-heavens from ages past.
Someone chuckled. "That lad ranks ninety-first in the third realm. He holds a solid edge over his opponent; he's looking to snatch the first victory!"
An elder recognized him and said, "Ah, a prodigy from Sky City. No wonder he holds such a high rank at so young an age."
However, the outcome defied everyone's expectations. The grey-robed man cleanly unleashed an art from the very start; an icy bank of black mist instantly submerged the spirited youth.
Within moments, a block of eerie black ice formed. The youth was frozen inside, his face etched with despair and unwillingness, while fine cracks had already webbed across his face and body.
The ice shattered, and the youth broke into pieces.
Silence fell over the scene. No one had anticipated such an outcome.
A moment later, someone voiced suspicion: "How could someone of lower rank defeat a higher-ranked prodigy, and even kill him on the spot? Was there external interference?"
The grey-robed man said impassively, "Friends, I advise you not to put blind faith in rankings. True, bloody battle is cruel; do not treat board positions as your reliance."
How could this be? Had he held back his true strength when fighting for his life on the sword-dueling platform?
For a time, the gathering fell quiet.
Someone attempted to resonate with the New Board, asking it for the truth.
"They come from beyond the realm, from places unimaginably distant where the dao rhymes differ from those radiating from Yujing. Earlier, when contending on the sword-dueling platforms, their hands and feet were bound."
The New Board responded. It was precisely because it gradually realized certain individuals did not harmonize with the local dao rhymes that it had steadily uncovered the presence of those outsiders.
Now, the black pagoda formed a unique domain that enabled them to harmonize with the local world.
Someone across the way smiled faintly. "Friends of Yujing, you shouldn't think us overly conceited or arrogant for challenging Taiyi, Tianzun, Changxi, and the others now, should you?"
Many felt their hearts sink, expressions turning grave.
Earlier, when they readily agreed to face the foreign foes, they held a certain psychological advantage because most of the top-ranking names on the New Board had not disappeared.
That implied they would hold every advantage in clashes of the same realm.
Yet now, they learned of such hidden circumstances.
Then they thought of the Lord of Yujing. Even when unharmonized with this world, he had once reached the pinnacle of the second realm—what an utterly terrifying being that must be.
Before the black pagoda, someone smiled faintly. "To be frank, many on our side have never set foot on the sword-dueling platforms. Consider this our first formal meeting with you all."
Aboard the hundreds of wooden boats, hearts grew heavy. The might of these adversaries might far surpass their estimates.
Crucially, the dao lineage behind the black pagoda did not fear Yujing. If these individuals were core prodigies nurtured by such a massive power, the implications were horrifying.
One had to understand: not a single person on their side had ever entered Yujing; they were all free-roaming practitioners cultivated outside.
The main issue was that a major disaster had struck Yujing. For countless years, even Sky City had lost contact with it, to say nothing of Night Province, the Eastern Lands, and beyond.
In an instant, many gazes shifted, stripped of their earlier confidence.
"If these people hail from that power's ancestral court, they're the equivalent of mysterious direct lineages nurtured inside Yujing. Can we hold them off?"
"Did any direct descendants survive within Yujing? It should be their turn to take the field at a time like this!"
Yet the harsh reality was that Yujing had once shattered. After all this time, not a single so-called direct descendant had appeared; in all likelihood, none remained alive.
A woman stepped out from the black pagoda, cloaked in black robes that parted to reveal a lock of fiery red hair drifting like a rising flame. Her voice transmitted across the void: "I once ranked eighty-ninth in the third realm. Now, I wish to take a risk and challenge an expert ranked roughly fifteen places above me."
She parted the black mist and alighted on the floating remnant of the grotto-heaven. After waiting a moment, she asked, "Does no one dare accept?"
A small wooden boat carrying a young-looking man crossed the Night Mist Sea, soon coming alongside the floating land. He climbed onto the drifting earth without waste of words and clashed directly with the woman.
Regrettably, after a fierce struggle, he was clearly outmatched.
The woman wielded a deathly scythe taller than a person with both hands. With a sharp swish, she severed the man's head, reaping and claiming the conscious soul radiance within.
During this, the New Board glowed, attempting to preserve the young man's life, but the black pagoda opposite pulsed with dark light, its fluctuations extraordinarily violent.
"Is this what you call a friendly exchange? You have killed two men in succession!" Blood-red characters surfaced on the New Board, its dao rhyme surging violently.
Resonating with dao rhymes, the several-dozen-tiered black pagoda replied, "Even in spars between fellow sect members, injury and death are inevitable. If everything requires intervention, how is the order of an entire realm to function?"
Two consecutive bouts had ended in defeat for the Yujing side, and both fallen fighters had held higher ranks on the New Board than their opponents.
Before the black pagoda, someone called out, "Everyone, if we challenge Realm Faction, One Sword, Withered Tree Greening in Spring, and the rest once more, do you still find us contemptuous?"
The first to fight, the grey-robed man, chimed in with a nod: "Truth be told, even I wish to test just how formidable Yujing's sword baleful aura really is."
Uttering such words in public carried far too much arrogance. After all, what was his ranking? Merely ninety-eighth.
Clearly, he did not believe One Sword would actually deign to fight him.
"I'll take the field," Qin Ming communicated with the New Board.
He had sensed it—the mysterious New Board had seemed hesitant, appearing eager for him to step forward. In that case, he might as well take the initiative.
Since this clash could not be avoided, he might as well draw his sword sooner rather than later!
"Good!" Indeed, when communicating privately with him, the New Board showed no restraint, agreeing with eager haste.
Qin Ming asked casually, "You know I hold three identities. If an opponent challenges Taiyi and Realm Faction at the same time, how am I to take the field?"
The New Board replied that after each duel, Qin Ming only needed to return; it would handle all arrangements properly.
Solemn to the extreme, Qin Ming made his final check with it: "Keep a close watch for me—don't let the terrifying spectacle of an Earth Immortal taking the field happen!"
...
The grey-robed man's pupils constricted. He had never expected "One Sword" to actually come and take the field in person.
The grotto-heaven ruins hung high above the Ninth Heaven, encircled by the black Night Mist Sea. Two distinct dao rhymes intertwined here: one from Yujing, and one from far away, radiated by the black pagoda.
Qin Ming pondered: Did the dao rhymes and rules of different territories carry slight distinctions?
"Please!"
Qin Ming spoke, then cleaved out with a sword. He would resolve the opponent before him first.
The grey-robed man was terrified. Even with the black pagoda providing dao rhymes that harmonized with him, his ranking could not possibly leap by a massive margin.
No matter what arts he exerted, no matter how the chilling black mist surged, it was all useless. Nothing could halt that incomparably brilliant sword light.
With a wet slash, the grey-robed man was decapitated. The sword baleful aura was terrifying, burning like a blistering sun as it tore his spiritual field to shreds, cutting through and extinguishing his conscious soul radiance entirely.
With just a single strike, Qin Ming brought the battle to an end.
Before the black pagoda, a stir rippled through the gathered beings. That the top-ranked young sword immortal was this formidable exceeded their expectations.
"As expected of One Sword Slashing Through the Thirty-Six Heavens! This must be a paramount figure of our sword cultivation lineage!"
On the Yujing side, many youths were immensely invigorated, easily stirred by such overwhelming, sweeping combat, unlike certain old men who merely narrowed their eyes.
Qin Ming's Pure Yang sword baleful aura swept out gently, hauling the headless corpse back. Ever since walking out of Black-White Mountain, his rustic, unadorned habits had never changed.
He swiftly looted the body. It was that simple and unpretentious; he rarely let external goods go to waste.
"Eh?!" Suddenly, Qin Ming was astonished. What had been a mere habit done in passing had actually turned up something extraordinary.
A wooden box carrying a fresh fragrance released a jade-green haze the moment he opened it, illuminating his palm until it appeared nearly translucent.
Inside lay a radiant leaf, crystalline and bright, as though condensed entirely of green mist. Its veins were clearly defined, and even its stem looked as though finely carved from green diamond, wafting with medicinal fragrance.
Snap! Qin Ming quickly closed the lid. He was certain this was a rare, grand medicine!
Someone whispered, "No way... Could that be a leaf from some kind of longevity tree? Even from this far away, I caught a faint, pure fragrance!"
The New Board glowed, characters surfacing to inform everyone that many among the opposing beings possessed such precious leaves.
"Most likely the tender leaves of an Earth Immortal-grade precious tree!" An old monster's eyes burned with greed.
Several elderly seniors grew excited. "The medicinal efficacy of a single leaf might be limited, but look at how many people there are across the way! If we can gather enough, they could prolong our lifespans!"
Qin Ming made an initial judgment: this precious leaf could aid his cultivation. If he could obtain ten or twenty of them, he might achieve a rebirth, elevating his strength to another level.
Moreover, an acquaintance who had taken great care of him in the past, the elderly grandmaster Yu Gensheng, was approaching the end of his lifespan and needed such precious leaves to prolong his life.
In an instant, Qin Ming's eyes shone brilliantly as he stared at the opponents across the way.
Before that, however, he wanted to deal with the black-robed woman on the grotto-heaven ruins whose fiery red hair trailed behind her. Qin Ming spoke: "Your turn."
The woman wielding the deathly scythe had domineeringly slain an opponent moments earlier, but now, facing "One Sword," her pupils shrank, and she retreated involuntarily.
She had not challenged this man, knowing full well she was no match for him.
"Slash!" Qin Ming barked. Since she had already taken the field and killed people from his camp, he naturally showed no mercy. Standing on the battlefield, no one in the opposing camp was exempt from death.
"No!" The woman swung her black scythe in a desperate struggle. Yet with a sharp clang, the man-sized weapon snapped, and the sword baleful aura pierced between her brows.
She toppled backward onto the barren, rubble-strewn ruins, dying on the spot.
From the rear, someone exclaimed in awe, "Sword cultivators kill with such satisfying efficiency! One strike, one kill—just watching is exhilarating!"
"Do you even realize who that is?" someone remarked, shaking his head. That was the young sword immortal who had climbed to the peak of the third realm.
Before the towering black pagoda, the experts from afar stared with cold light in their eyes. On opposing sides, this sword cultivator naturally looked like a vicious fiend to them.
Qin Ming had already reeled the woman's corpse back with his sword light, staying true to his original principles, thoroughly practical to the end as he searched through her belongings.
Soon, delight rose within him. She, too, carried a wooden box containing a jade-green leaf that shone with dazzling radiance.
Seeing this, a group of old fellows on the Yujing side grew restless, itching to take the field themselves.
"Who's next?" Qin Ming asked, looking across. It had to be said, the question carried an immense bite of provocation, immediately stirring unified indignation among many.
Qin Ming felt no guilt. The other side had shown no mercy from the outset, killing two people from his camp right away—what need was there for courtesy?
Besides, he was deeply fixated on those rare medicinal leaves.
A black-robed man floated up, rapidly crossing over to alight on the grotto-heaven ruins.
"One Sword, I am the Dark Wizard..." the man solemnly introduced himself.
"Sword cultivators don't waste words in battle. Slay!" Qin Ming cut him off. The Pure Yang flying sword swept through the sky, streaming with dazzling five-colored baleful aura.
The Dark Wizard was furious. He held this duel in high regard and had formally introduced himself, only for the opponent to ignore him completely. In an instant, the energy particles over his body boiled, howling as they blasted toward the young sword immortal opposite him.
With a thunderous crash, the five-colored sword baleful aura clove through the terrifying particle stream, plowing a path straight to the Dark Wizard's front.
Amidst spraying blood, the Pure Yang flying sword cut through the Dark Wizard's flesh with a wet tear.
Yet his body faded, reappearing off to the side as if reconstituting his form through mysterious particles.
"Oh? Quite capable!" Qin Ming was surprised. If one sword didn't suffice, he would erupt with a second. He slashed the black-robed man six consecutive times, even channeling a lightning-attribute sword baleful aura to pierce down through his skull from high above, finally slaying the opponent for good.
"No wonder you dared challenge me; you truly were a formidable one," Qin Ming praised him generously. Once the man was dead, there was no need to belittle him.
Soon, however, Qin Ming's expression darkened. He found no wooden box; among the remains, there was no priceless, mysterious green leaf.
Clearly, given the black-robed man's cultivation, his status was not low, and he ought to have carried such a precious leaf as well.
"We braved nine deaths and one life to struggle into the depths of the night mist world, yet even we could not approach that Tree of Immortality! We had to wait for divine magnetic storms to blow out fallen leaves, obtaining a mere few through untold hardship. How could we possibly toil only to enrich the likes of you!"
Before the towering black pagoda, several figures radiated murderous intent, their glares fixed upon the young sword cultivator.
Tianzun, Bodhi Saint, Ferocious Beast, and others could sit still no longer. One after another, they moved forward, eager to challenge the opposing beings.
Even so, the hostile gazes of the outsiders remained fixed primarily upon Qin Ming.
"This sword cultivator seeks defeat. Who else is willing to engage in a friendly spar?" Qin Ming asked.
He did not grow careless. Formidable adversaries certainly lurked on the other side; setting everyone else aside, that Lord of Yujing alone was terrifying, having once reached the summit of the board even before his dao rhymes harmonized.
"Roar!"
A terrifying dragon roar abruptly tore through the Ninth Heaven.
Before the high pagoda, a colossal beast resembling a black dragon charged out.
In Qin Ming's eyes, however, it looked more like a giant lizard bearing draconic majesty. Its scales gleamed, thoroughly ferocious.
Some murmured in the background, insisting it was indeed a dragon.
Qin Ming asked, "If you come to duel carrying a longevity leaf, I promise to spare your life."
The black dragon flew into a rage, roaring as it whipped up terrifying astral winds and charged.
Qin Ming drew a deep breath. Divine haze radiated from his entire body as he slowly rose from the ground, hovering in the night sky with an ethereal, vacant tranquility.
At this moment, light shone beneath his feet: a three-foot-long green leaf emerged, supporting him in midair. He was displaying the Longevity sword intent unrecorded in the text of the world-abiding scripture.
For hundreds and thousands of years, not one of the many ancient monsters had managed to master this sword intent.
Evidently, its might was extraordinary, even stronger than the fusion of several kinds of sword baleful auras.
Standing upon the green leaf in the void, Qin Ming transformed the flying sword condensed of Pure Yang power into a tree branch bearing tender sprouts, sword intent erupting forth.
Holding the fresh twig, he slashed gently across the night sky. The massive black dragon howled in agony and dodged frantically, yet in the end, a blood-drenched dragon wing was cleaved away.
"Brother One Sword, please show mercy!" The Great Red Dragon from Pugong called out, actually pleading on its behalf.
"Why?" Qin Ming asked.
The Great Red Dragon lowered its posture and said, "Our dragon kind is exceedingly rare. If you subdue it, please spare its life; I will owe you an enormous favor. Uh... wait, it's actually a male dragon? Forget I said anything, kill it!"
Once it drew near, it turned its face faster than flipping a page.
Qin Ming was left dumbfounded.
Seeing the Great Red Dragon that bore little resemblance to itself, the black dragon had initially felt grateful upon hearing the plea. But upon hearing the final words, its entire dragon face darkened with rage.
"If you have a longevity leaf on you, it can save your life!" Qin Ming reminded it.
"I haven't lost yet!" the black dragon roared.
Behind it, the beings from beyond the realm glared with divine radiance. Several grand experts were growing restless; losing any further would leave them with no face whatsoever.
At this moment, blazing sun-like brilliance surged from some of them, while others warped the surrounding void with streams of particles, and still others unleashed sword qi that pierced the sky.
"Hmm?" Qin Ming looked across. A few among them seemed to harbor sacred baleful aura, transformed into mysterious streams of particles.
He murmured, "Splendid. Longevity leaves and sacred baleful auras are both things I need. They will bolster my cultivation!"
Chapter 444