On the first day of the third month, at Luoyun Temple, Lingjian Peak.
Lin Xuanye, his Senior Brother, and Senior Sister anxiously waited outside the Peak Lord's Immortal Cave. Today was the day for the Trial of the Dao Heroes Assembly's draw, and the first half of the first round of competitions would commence in the afternoon.
The Trial of the Dao Heroes Assembly is held every ten years, hosted by the Joyous Chan Sect, a newly promoted Nascent Soul Stage power within the Xuanyuan Dynasty. This is already the sixth assembly.
In the past two assemblies, Lingjian Peak had sent Disciples to participate. At that time, Lingjian Peak still had over a dozen Disciples, unlike its current state of lacking successors.
The rewards offered by the Trial of the Dao Heroes Assembly are generous. As long as one participates and passes the first three days of competitions, entering the top 128, they will receive a large number of rewards.
The current Great Master of Lingjian Peak, Sun Nian, has already reached the Foundation Establishment Stage, early stage. The age limit for the Trial of the Dao Heroes Assembly is within 50 years old. Sun Nian is 45 this year, meeting the requirement.
He did not participate in the previous two Trial of the Dao Heroes Assemblies because Qi Cultivators rarely made it into the top 128.
Now that he has achieved a Foundation Establishment Breakthrough, his Master had long ago promised to take him to this Trial of the Dao Heroes Assembly.
However, his Master has been in seclusion for a long time, causing Sun Nian to be incredibly anxious.
Lingjian Peak's second Senior Sister, Yu Xiaotang, is 26 years old and only at the Middle Stage of Qi Cultivation.
She originally did not plan to participate in this Trial of the Dao Heroes Assembly, but the new Junior Brother taught her an exceptionally powerful sword move.
According to her Junior Brother, with this sword move, she could defeat Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators, allowing Yu Xiaotang to advance to the second round of the Trial of the Dao Heroes Assembly and obtain a considerable amount of Cultivation resources.
Therefore, she also prepared to participate in this Trial of the Dao Heroes Assembly, but participation requires their Master's lead. Yu Xiaotang could only stand with Sun Nian outside her Master's Immortal Cave, anxiously awaiting her Master's emergence from seclusion.
Lin Xuanye also intended to participate in the Trial of the Dao Heroes Assembly, though not for the Cultivation resources.
Mainly, he heard that the first-place winner of this Trial of the Dao Heroes Assembly would not only receive a fourth-tier Legacy from the Joyous Chan Sect but also be able to become Dao Companions with the Palace Master of Chenxi Palace and engage in joyous acts in public.
The Palace Master of Chenxi Palace is named Lu Wan Ning. Over three hundred years ago, when Lin Xuanye was Ye Xianyu, he once traveled the world and, by chance, met Lu Wan Ning.
The two accompanied each other, traveling throughout Qingyun State. At that time, many people believed Lu Wan Ning was his, Ye Xianyu's, Dao Companion.
However, Ye Xianyu was solely devoted to the Great Dao back then, with no personal feelings for a man or woman in his heart. Therefore, after his travels, he bid farewell to Lu Wan Ning and had no further contact with her.
Now, Lin Xuanye, relying on the creation tree branch, had been in seclusion for two hundred years within Chao Duan Peak, returning to his youthful period.
Upon emerging from seclusion, he immediately heard that the Young Peak Lord of Yin Yang Peak, under the threat of Lingjian Peak's Legacy, forced his former chief Disciple, Luo Ningshuang, to engage in the heinous act of Yin and Yang intercourse with him.
This greatly shocked Lin Xuanye. Amidst his resentment, he also developed an interest in romantic relationships.
He recalled his past travels with the Palace Master of Chenxi Palace, Lu Wan Ning, their seamless coordination when slaying demons together, and Palace Master Lu's gentle and considerate words in daily life.
Most importantly, Lu Wan Ning was once the Xuanyuan Dynasty's number one beauty, with a captivating appearance that could topple kingdoms and an extremely voluptuous figure, even to the point of being scandalous.
How could he have been so foolish in the past? With such a great beauty by his side, he remained unmoved, immersing himself daily in the utterly boring Dao of the Sword.
Ever since Lin Xuanye developed a yearning for romantic relationships, every night he would recall the beautiful memories of traveling the world with Lu Wan Ning. Occasionally, he would also think of the sounds of Zhou Fan and Luo Ningshuang he heard that night.
That Young Peak Lord of Yin Yang Peak was truly an old hand, frequently uttering words and phrases during their Yin and Yang intercourse that made his chief Disciple blush and filled him with jealousy and resentment.
And Luo Ningshuang's performance was truly disgraceful. At first, she could maintain her bottom line, trying her best not to make a sound, but the deeper they went, the more she increased her volume, with a melodious tone.
In the end, she blurted out everything, disgracing her former status as his chief Disciple, the Peak Master of Lingjian Peak, and the Sword Immortal Bu Yu, who killed without speaking and severed karma without emotion.
Whenever Lin Xuanye thought of this, he wished he could return to that night and replace Zhou Fan.
At this moment, he would recall Lu Wan Ning's figure, which was even more exquisite than Luo Ningshuang's, and the sacred Aura unique to the Palace Master of Chenxi Palace.
It has been one year since he re-entered the world.
With diligent Cultivation and having been only one step away from the Soul Transformation Realm, Lin Xuanye's Cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds. His current Realm has reached the Foundation Establishment Stage, early stage.
He was confident that no one could surpass him in the speed of Cultivation from Qi Cultivation to Foundation Establishment.
Moreover, his Foundation Establishment Stage was not the same as ordinary Foundation Establishment. Even when facing a strong Core Formation Stage, early stage Cultivator, Lin Xuanye dared to fight them.
Perhaps due to the creation tree branch, the bone age of his youthful body was far from 50 years old, so he could also participate in the Trial of the Dao Heroes Assembly.
The first-place winner of previous Trial of the Dao Heroes Assemblies usually had a Cultivation at the Core Formation Stage, early stage. Lin Xuanye mused, as long as he could successfully participate in this Trial of the Dao Heroes Assembly, wouldn't the first place be within his grasp?
By then, he would not only receive a large sum of Cultivation resources, but the Palace Master of Chenxi Palace, Lu Wan Ning, would also become his Dao Companion.
He believed that with their past experience of traveling together, Lu Wan Ning would surely accept him with great joy.
Lin Xuanye had already imagined how pleasant it would be to be with the Palace Master of Chenxi Palace every night until dawn after successfully saving the beauty.
Of course, before that, two issues needed to be resolved.
First, he needed to find a Heaven And Earth Treasure that could regrow limbs for Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators to restore his empty stumps.
Second, Master, why are you still in seclusion? If we don't go to the Trial of the Dao Heroes Assembly draw now, I won't be able to participate in this assembly and won't be able to save the beauty!
Lin Xuanye was the most anxious of the three. He took two steps forward, just about to knock on his Master Luo Ningshuang's Immortal Cave door, when the long-sealed door suddenly opened from within.
There were no earth-shattering phenomena; Luo Ningshuang, who had successfully achieved a Breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Stage, had returned to simplicity, gaining a deeper understanding of the Clear Bright Sword Heart.
She wore a black and white cross-collared sword robe on her upper body and an elegant dark green long skirt below, with a High Grade Magical Artifact sword-shaped ornament hanging from her waist.
The waist garment tightened itself under the effect of the sword ornament, revealing Luo Ningshuang's slender and supple waist.
Her cold gaze swept over the three Disciples anxiously waiting outside the Immortal Cave. With a slight lift of her fair hand, the three Disciples soared into the sky with her, transforming into four streaks of light and flying towards Shuntian City in the Xuanyuan Dynasty.
...
Xuanyuan Dynasty, Shuntian City.
By noon, all participating Disciples from the various Schools near the Xuanyuan Dynasty had registered and received their wooden tokens.
The Grand Elder of the Joyous Chan Sect, seeing no one else ascend the stage, put away the wooden tokens and prepared to announce the official start of the Sixth Trial of the Dao Heroes Assembly.
Suddenly, a Nascent Soul Stage Aura arrived from across the void, and a woman's calm voice resounded throughout the venue.
"Wait, three Disciples from my Luoyun Temple's Lingjian Peak also wish to participate."