Chapter 526: Chapter 515: The Sword Cultivator Father
"So? You want me to detain Ye Qiu along with your great-grandmaster in order to force out Ye Sheng?" Master Wu’an’s sharp eyes stared at his own disciple.
"That’s right." Lin Shen lowered his eyes somberly.
"Are you so certain that Ye Sheng is still alive?"
"I am certain, this time I must resolve him once and for all, I must break through the Heart Demon."
Master Wu’an looked deeply at his disciple: "As long as you’re clear on your own thoughts, there’s no need for me to elaborate on the path of cultivation. Follow your own path."
He knew his disciple had strayed, his disposition changed, but he didn’t say much. What he cultivated was the Heartless Dao, even if Lin Shen was his Direct Disciple, it was only a responsibility; to say he cared, there really wasn’t much of that.
And precisely because he cultivated the Heartless Dao, he had even less emotional connection with Ye Qiu and Ye Sheng. In fact, this branch of theirs had hardly any interaction with the others in the Tianyan Sect. If not for the deep relationship between the founders of the sect and their own, they might have been expelled by the Tianyan Sect long ago.
So when Lin Shen asked his Master and great-grandmaster to make a move to retain Ye Qiu, people from other peaks of the Tianyan Sect had no interest in watching. Therefore, the ancestors of Hidden Sword Peak didn’t even know their grandson almost got bullied.
After Ye Qiu left the Tianyan Sect’s residency, he found a secluded inn to stay in until the Thousand-Year Ranking began.
The Thousand-Year Ranking has one hundred arenas, where the initial defenders are selected from major families, sects, and the Loose Cultivation Alliance. All comers may challenge, but this battle does not permit taking another’s life. Those who triumph over ten arenas can directly enter the next competition. Of course, if you’re capable, you can also win all one hundred continually to catch everyone’s attention—nearly every session has such domineering cultivators arise.
Despite it seeming easy to win ten out of the hundred arenas, it is actually not. Defenders actually number more than a hundred; whenever a defender is defeated, a new champion from the major families or the sects will replace them, and those who are newly replaced are even stronger. Would major families and sects allow their faces to be beaten by others? This is actually a way for them to cultivate their disciples, so none of the individuals who win a hundred battles in a row is simple.
After winning ten arenas, competitors will enter the subsequent challenge match, which is not against ordinary opponents, but against the cultivators of the previous session’s Thousand-Year Ranking. In the end, one hundred individuals are still chosen based on their records to become the geniuses of this session’s Thousand-Year-Old Genius List.
But it doesn’t end there. After becoming part of the Thousand-Year Ranking, there is also a Life and Death Arena where cultivators with grievances can resolve their issues.
No matter the level of cultivation, strength of background, or number of trump cards, once you step onto this arena, you must show all your skills because as long as you are on it, one party must die for the battle to end.
Lin Shen silently recited the rules as he stepped onto one of the arenas.
And Ye Qiu also stepped onto another arena. What he didn’t know was that just a few arenas away, his son Ye Sheng was also eager to try, but due to the multitude of onlookers and challengers, he did not notice him.
"Sword Cultivator Ye Qiu, please enlighten me." Since Ye Qiu had not formally returned to the Tianyan Sect to acknowledge his ancestry, he registered as a Loose Cultivator.
He was at the Early-stage of Integration, and also a Loose Cultivator, while the arena’s Defender was from the Mid stage of Integration, a scion of a major family. Almost all the spectators thought he was doomed to lose.
However, Ye Qiu would demonstrate his strength to the cultivators of the Canglan World. Once upon a time, he was able to make his son the most envied Second Generation of Cultivators in the Xuanyuan Realm under the identity of the Lonely Swallow Sword Lord. And in the future, he still wanted to make his son an object of envy for others. To start with, let others witness the prowess of the Lonely Swallow Sword Lord.
"Please!" The Defender from the major family did not show any contempt. He was a cultivator in the Late-stage of Integration, and his weapon was the folded fan in his hand.
Ye Qiu drew his long sword, its blade glinting coldly, and the fierce battle began in an instant.
The dense and numerous sword shadows captivated the eyes of the spectators, and as the battle intensified, they too drew sharp breaths.
"Hiss... Loose Cultivators can be this powerful?"
"Isn’t that a Sword Cultivator? Isn’t it quite normal for them to challenge across levels?"
"Normal my ass, that’s a Disciple of the Ji Family. Though not a direct descendant, rumor has it that their talent is no less than that of the direct lineage. The so-called cross-level challenges don’t work against these major families and Major Sect Disciples; their Cultivation Techniques are more than just a little stronger than ours."
"So you’re saying this Sword Cultivator doesn’t stand a chance?"
"Don’t know yet, it’s still hard to tell who’s stronger at this point."
Although the fight involving Ye Qiu was fierce, such occurrences are common in competitions and did not attract the attention of other families or sects. Instead, it was Lin Shen who became the center of attention for defeating a Body Integration Realm cultivator while being in the Void Refining Stage.
This was a major realm difference, and moreover, no one had heard of Lin Shen before this.
"The Tianyan Sect is truly blessed!" An elder of the Wuji Sect remarked with a sigh.
People from the Jiang Family next to him smiled enigmatically: "I’ve heard that Lin Shen is from Four Seasons Peak, and it seems that the people from the other peaks of the Tianyan Sect are not very delighted."
"Another Heartless Dao?" the person who raised this question frowned deeply, clearly disapproving of this Taoist Sect.
"Doesn’t seem like it, but his attacks are pretty ruthless."
The crowd discussed briefly and then no longer dwelled on it. No matter how formidable Lin Shen was, he was still in the Void Refining Stage. Could someone who has overcome a Body Integration opponent really defeat someone from the Mahayana Realm? In history, those who made it onto the Thousand-Year Ranking were all cultivators of the Mahayana Realm. Lin Shen might have to wait another five hundred years to make it onto the list, but achieving such a feat at a mere hundred years old is already quite rare.
However, tradition is meant to be broken, and there are quite a few stunning talents among the cultivators challenging the Thousand-Year Ranking this time.
"Three consecutive wins, that Sword Cultivator is really impressive!"
"Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go check it out."
"I heard he’s a Loose Cultivator, and he’s from the Lower Realm. Are the cultivators from the Lower Realm all this powerful now?"
Ye Sheng had just finished a fight and was about to rest when he heard this conversation. For some reason, he felt somewhat stirred inside—perhaps because his father was also a Sword Cultivator?
Forget it, there’s nothing much to do now, so might as well go have a look.
There were so many people at the scene, Ye Qiu’s three consecutive wins within a day had drawn a lot of attention. There were plenty of spectators, and Ye Sheng took a great deal of effort to find a spot where he could barely see the arena.
"Dad?" When he saw who the challenger was, Ye Sheng’s eyes widened in shock.
"Ye Qiu." Across the crowd, Lin Shen also took notice, his gaze suddenly turning gloomy.
Among the cheers of the many spectators, Ye Qiu officially commenced his fourth challenge of the day, like the previous three, still battling across levels, against a Sword Cultivator in the Mid stage of Integration.
Although this person was only a minor realm higher than Ye Qiu, his swordsmanship was exceedingly refined. Since the morning, not a single person had defeated him, creating an extremely tense atmosphere.
With two Sword Cultivators in the duel, the cheer from the spectators grew even louder.