“Excellent!”
Qin Li saw Lin Xuanye use his Heart Sword, which had some similarities to the third sword move he had comprehended recently.
He did not dodge. Sword moves that used the mind or Divine Sense as a sword were extremely fast, almost always hitting their mark, making evasion impossible.
Qin Li condensed his Divine Sense, meeting offense with offense.
The third sword move, Soul Sever.
Condensing Divine Sense into a blade, it shatters the soul and severs the spirit; drawing the essence of moonlight as its edge, the Sea of Consciousness freezes.
When it strikes, silence reigns, and the Divine Soul collapses. This formless, shapeless move directly assaults the spiritual platform, severing illusion to reveal the true self.
Their swords cleverly crossed, each striking their opponent.
Qin Li felt a powerful force of heart-mind impact him like a surging tide. His mind was shaken, as if countless sharp swords were interrogating his Sword Heart.
Lin Xuanye was similarly unwell. Qin Li's “Soul Sever” sword move transformed into a chilling moonlit blade, piercing directly into his Sea of Consciousness.
In this life's re-cultivation, Lin Xuanye had not retained his Divine Sense strength or cultivation. It was fortunate that he had re-walked the path of cultivation, establishing a solid Foundation, and his Divine Sense far exceeded that of ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivators. Otherwise, he might have been killed by Qin Li's “Soul Sever.”
After his Divine Sense was injured, Lin Xuanye's Spiritual Qi instantly became chaotic, and he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. His aura became unstable, clearly indicating he was severely wounded.
Although Qin Li's face was also pale, he ultimately endured the torture of ten thousand swords piercing his heart. At the same time, his inner Sword Heart, having suffered this ordeal, became even more resilient and pure.
After understanding his true self, Qin Li finally saw himself clearly.
It turned out that his heart had long since lost the figures of others, containing only a sword and Zhou Dage's warm smile.
The surrounding Spiritual Qi was drawn in with Qin Li as the center. In a single breath, Qin Li broke through his Bottleneck. The Qing Ni Jue operated for the first time without him eavesdropping, and his cultivation quickly rose to the Core Formation Late Stage. However, the Spiritual Qi vortex around Qin Li did not stop spinning; his cultivation was still increasing.
Qin Li looked back at his journey over this year. Though brief, it was far more exciting than his previous twenty-plus years.
Nangong Wan, Ning Shuying, Xuanyuan Qingyu, Xiao Muqing.
One by one, figures flashed through his mind, finally settling on Zhou Fan, who had been accompanying and caring for him throughout this year.
His smile, his gentle and considerate words, his broad and reliable embrace...
Many memories surged into his heart. Qin Li's cultivation had already climbed to the Core Formation Peak, his Sword Dao Golden Core reaching the ninth revolution, just one step away from shattering the Core and forming a Nascent Soul.
Qin Li felt that his feminine side had awakened, but he chose not to Breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Stage at this moment.
Because Zhou Dage was not in front of him, Qin Li also did not want others to see his Yin and Yang reversal.
He voluntarily halted his cultivation's advancement, the tip of his long sword resting at Lin Xuanye's throat, who still refused to admit defeat.
Lin Xuanye sensed that the sharp and pure Sword Qi could take his life at any moment. Despite his myriad unwillingness, he could only acknowledge with a choked voice.
“I lost.”
Upon hearing this, Qin Li sheathed his long sword. With a light tap of his toe, he gracefully left the arena, eager to share his joy with Zhou Dage.
Lin Xuanye dejectedly walked off the arena. He still didn't understand why these people's cultivation speed could be faster than his, and by so much.
He vaguely sensed that he had lost many precious things again, but reality was simply that.
Defeated was defeated, and repeatedly defeated. Lin Xuanye even doubted if he could ever win again.
This spectacular duel could only be understood by Cultivators of the third rank and above. Most people were completely bewildered, not understanding why the two people on stage stood facing each other, and after one of them abandoned his sword and remained still, in the blink of an eye, that person was severely wounded.
The other person was even more outrageous; his true cultivation was at the Core Formation Middle Stage, and after standing for a while, his cultivation advanced further, directly breaking through to the Core Formation Late Stage.
This level of cultivation was already equivalent to the Great Elder of Joyous Chan Sect, the organizer of this Trial of the Dao Heroes Assembly.
However, when this person's age was checked during registration, he was less than thirty years old.
A Core Formation Late Stage at thirty years old had not appeared in Qingyun State for nearly a thousand years. Truly, heroes emerge from the young.
...
Qin Li didn't care about the outside world's evaluation of him. He quickly walked up to the third floor of the Luoning Inn. Looking at the barrier in front of him, Qin Li was about to “knock on the door” when the barrier dispersed on its own.
Zhou Fan appeared before Qin Li. He looked at Qin Li, whose Sword Intent was awe-inspiring and whose eyes held only him, feeling the atmosphere was a bit strange, so he spoke first.
“Congratulations, Li Di. Not only did you defeat that Disciple of Lingjian Peak again, but your cultivation has also advanced further. Once you Breakthrough to the fourth rank, our two brothers' cultivations will be nearly identical.”
“Zhou Dage, none of that is important.”
Qin Li said with anticipation and longing in his eyes: “After this Trial of the Dao Heroes Assembly ends, Zhou Dage, can you come with me to another place?”
“Of course, there’s no…”
Zhou Fan was about to agree when he heard Qin Li continue.
“Just the two of us.”
Zhou Fan was silent for a moment, then looked at Qin Li, who hadn't changed much in appearance but somehow felt more gentle and beautiful, and slowly said: “Of course, by the way, we haven't gone out to play together, have we? It just so happens that I plan to take a trip to Huangyan State in a while. We can go together then, brother.”
“Mm, it's a deal then, we'll go to Huangyan State together.”
Qin Li smiled very happily.
He left the Luoning Inn and returned to the Yin Yang Peak team, casually dismissing the Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters who greatly admired his strength.
Qin Li stood still, continuing to mentally practice his sword techniques, not wasting a single second that could make him stronger, striving to defeat Zhou Dage when he reached the fourth rank.
...
After Qin Li left, Zhou Fan reactivated the barrier. Silent Sword Fairy Luo Ningshuang was already asleep, but Xuanyuan Qingyu had recovered a lot of her stamina.
This Empress of the Xuanyuan Dynasty seemed like a dignified and ascetic goddess, but in reality, once she got excited, she particularly liked to play various tricks.
Her imperial robe, which symbolized supreme monarchical power, was worn in a flamboyant manner by her. This Empress also always liked to use Spells to construct props and backdrops like Dragon thrones and imperial palace halls. Every time Zhou Fan desecrated her on the Dragon throne, she would quickly become ecstatic.
After dealing with this wild Empress, Zhou Fan lay on the bed, embracing two women, checking the System messages.
“Ding! Congratulations to the Host for helping the Son of Destiny Qin Li defeat the Son of Destiny Lin Xuanye for the second time. Lin Xuanye's Luck has decreased again, with most flowing to Qin Li and a small portion dissipating.”
“This System has successfully intercepted the dissipated Luck value o(*￣︶￣*)o, now distributing 4000 points to the Host!”
Looking at his Luck value balance of 77800 points, Zhou Fan suddenly thought of a question.
“System, tell me, if I plunder all of a Son of Destiny's Luck value, but don't kill her, is that Son of Destiny still a Son of Destiny?”