Each contestant has a seat, which is surrounded by the four sides of the B-shaped platform and connected to form a circular circle.
Zhang Ruochen had just found his seat and sat down when a person on the left let out a deep laugh: "You dare to participate in the sword competition of the Eighth Transformation of Fish and Dragon at a young age. Do you think too highly of yourself, or do you think you look down too much on us?"
senior?"
Zhang Ruochen turned his head and glanced at the man, feeling a little familiar.
After thinking about it carefully, I immediately remembered that this person seemed to be one of Qi Feiyu's suitors, whom I had met at the foot of the ancient sacred mountain.
So Zhang Ruochen looked at the name on his seat and saw a wooden sign hanging on it with three words "Xie Yunfan" written on it.
Zhang Ruochen smiled and said: "It's just a sword fight, why should Senior Xie get so angry?"
Xie Yunfan was holding a green knife and shaving his beard. The light from the knife reflected on Zhang Ruochen's neck from time to time, leaving white marks.
He said: "Don't think that your talent in swordsmanship is good, so you dare not take the monks of the eighth fish-dragon transformation in your eyes. When you stand on the battlefield, you will understand the gap between you and the monks of the eighth fish-dragon transformation."
How big.”
For such a self-righteous person, Zhang Ruochen just shook his head, closed his eyes and said no more.
The sword competition of the Eighth Transformation of Fish and Dragon is already quite heavyweight. It can be said that anyone who dares to sign up to participate has the potential to challenge the semi-saints.
Therefore, the senior leaders of the Liangyi Sect attached great importance to this matter, and at the same time dispatched five semi-saint ancestors to sit at Zhiyuling Mountain to supervise the sword competition.
Lin Yue's master, Zixia Half-Saint, was also among them.
In fact, Half-Saint Zixia also heard that someone wanted to kill Lin Yue on the battlefield, so she took the initiative to apply to sit in the imperial mountain.
In any case, he was Lin Yue's master. Although he was quite disappointed with Lin Yue, he could not just watch Lin Yue being killed.
Five Half-Saints were sitting above. Among them, Zixia Semi-Saint was sitting on the left side. His whole body was emitting purple divine brilliance. With a pair of old eyes, he glanced at Lin Yue below and let out a long sigh again.
He had already known about the news that Lin Yue had ascended the second level of the Ancient God Mountain, and he couldn't tell whether he was happy or regretful.
Jinglan Half-Saint smiled and said: "Among the contestants participating in the fish-dragon eighth-level swordsmanship competition, a total of four people climbed to the top of the second mountain. Each of them is an extraordinary person. Among the four,
Lin Yue's qualifications should be the highest."
Zixia Semi-Saint shook his head and sighed: "If we can lead him to the right path, with his swordsmanship talent, he has every hope of becoming a generation of swordsman in the future. It's a pity that he is too ambitious and the higher the talent, the worse it will be for him."
It’s a disadvantage.”
"Young people! Who doesn't have a higher heart than the sky? What if Lin Yue is really strong and can compete with the monks in the eighth transformation of fish and dragon?" said Jinglan Half-Saint.
Zixia Semi-Saint showed a wry smile and said: "Have you ever seen anyone who has just broken through to the Fish-Dragon Realm and can fight with the monks who have reached the Eighth Transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm?"
The other half-saints also shook their heads slightly, understanding Zixia's mood.
Under the sect, a proud man finally emerged. He had the talent to become a sword master, but he went astray.
Any master would feel quite heartbroken when encountering such a disciple.
Semi-Saint Jinglan stood up, stepped on the void with his feet, walked step by step to the top of the fighting platform, and said loudly: "Today is the first day of the sword competition. Now, I will announce the rules of the competition."
Below, both the saint disciples and the inner disciples were all listening attentively.
"Three basic rules. First, a swordsmanship competition is a swordsmanship competition between fellow sects. You are not allowed to intentionally hurt others."
"Second, contestants can give up and give up. Once they give up, their opponents can no longer attack."
"Third, you are not allowed to use hidden weapons, poisons, or take pills that increase your cultivation."
"Anyone who violates the above three items will be severely punished."
"There are a total of 368 contestants who have signed up to participate in the fish-dragon eighth-level kendo competition. Today is the first round of competition. In the end, the top 100 monks will be determined in a two-on-one duel."
"Now, all contestants, draw your own order numbers first."
"Wow——"
Semi-Saint Jinglan waved her sleeves, and 368 light points flew out from her sleeves, like stars, suspended in the sky above the battle platform.
The contestants present took action one after another to collect the light spots.
Zhang Ruochen used his true energy to condense a big hand, pawed forward, and put a point of light into the palm of his hand.
When he opened the palm of his hand and looked at it, the light spots spread out and turned into a jade order the size of a fingernail, with an order number printed on it, number seventy-eight.
There are a total of four battle platforms set up in Zhiyuling Mountain. Following the order, Zhang Ruochen came to the bottom of the A-shaped battle platform and began to adjust his condition in preparation for the next kendo competition.
According to the rules, after the first competition, half of the people can be eliminated, and the top 184 people will be determined.
In the second competition, half of the people will be eliminated again, and the top ninety-two people will be determined.
As for the losers in the first two games, it does not mean that they will be eliminated directly. They can still compete in the third game to compete for the remaining eight places.
In the end, the top 100 monks can enter the second round of competition.
"You only need to win two games to pass the first round and enter the top 100." Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
Contestants No. 1 to No. 92 have all arrived below the A-shaped battle platform.
Zhang Ruochen observed carefully and soon saw the figure of Xu Changsheng under the battle platform. As for the other powerful and popular figures, they were nowhere to be seen.
Xu Changsheng's eyes were also fixed on Zhang Ruochen, and the expression on his face became strange, looking like a smile but not a smile.
The monks ranked No. 1 and No. 2 have already boarded the battle platform.
"Law Enforcement Court, Yanyunbei."
"Mo Kongyuan, Han Zhang."
The two monks each announced their names and began to fight.
Yan Yunbei is a disciple of the Holy Tradition with extraordinary talent. He is only about sixty years old. He is considered quite young among the monks who have undergone the Eighth Transformation of Fish and Dragon. He looks like he is only twenty-seven or eighty years old.
Han Zhang is an elder in green clothes, and he is now one hundred and twenty years old.
The two men were twice as old as each other, but they fought equally well.
In the end, Han Zhang displayed a set of ghost-level mid-level swordsmanship, and defeated Yan Yunbei with thirty-seven moves in a row.
"As expected of a strong man from the older generation, with hundreds of years of accumulation, whether it is combat experience or power control, Han Zhang has simply reached a level of perfection." Zixia Semi-Saint said with a smile.
Zixia Half-Saint is Han Zhang's senior brother, so when she saw Han Zhang win, she showed a look of relief.
"Yan Yunbei has also practiced a set of mid-grade ghost-level swordsmanship, and he has every chance of winning. Unfortunately, his use of swordsmanship is still lagging behind." Next to him, Half-Saint Jinglan shook his head gently.
After all, young people are not calm enough or sophisticated enough.
In the following battle, Zhang Ruochen has been observing attentively and humbly learning from the experience of dueling with masters.
Regardless of whether you are a person stronger than him or a person weaker than him, it is quite remarkable to be able to cultivate to the eighth fish-dragon transformation. There is always something worth learning from him.
Xu Changsheng was ranked No. 55, and the No. 56 he fought against was a hundred-year-old Tsing Yi elder.
With just one move, Xu Changsheng pierced the body-protecting holy sword of the elder in green and knocked him off the battlefield, winning a clean victory.
Xu Changsheng's display of strength certainly shocked everyone. For a moment, the entire A-shaped battle platform was silent.
Xu Changsheng walked down from the fighting platform and when he passed by Zhang Ruochen, he stopped, raised his eyelids slightly, stared at him, and said: "Now, do you understand what the strength of the eighth fish-dragon transformation is?
"
After saying that, Xu Changsheng left directly.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at Xu Changsheng's back, then smiled faintly and began to observe the kendo competition on the fighting stage again.
Every time he observes a competition, Zhang Ruochen's understanding of the way of swordsmanship will deepen.
"Master said that the essence of Jianyi is 'self'. Only by fully understanding the relationship between 'self' and the sword can Jianyi be cultivated to the tenth level of Dzogchen."
Unknowingly, in Zhang Ruochen's Qi sea, the silver core-shaped sword heart turned into a small figure and began to practice sword moves.
On the battlefield, every sword move performed by a monk will be followed by the sword intention, and the essence of the sword will be understood from it.
"Next game, No. 77 versus No. 78." Zixia Half-Saint announced.
Xie Yunfan held a one-foot-long white dagger in his hand, stepped onto the fighting platform, bowed in the direction of Zixia Semi-Saint, and then stood up straight, ready to fight.
He is number seventy-seven.
However, No. 78 did not board the battle platform for a long time, and a loud noise suddenly sounded from below the battle platform.
"Who is No. 78, and why hasn't he stepped onto the battlefield yet?"
"Xie Yunfan is the genius of Yuqing Palace and is quite powerful. He probably saw that No. 77 was him, so No. 78 was afraid and did not dare to step onto the battlefield."
"How is that possible? Everyone who dares to participate in the swordsmanship competition is a top-notch warrior. How can anyone shrink from the battle?"
…
Seeing that No. 78 had not been on the battlefield for a long time, Zixia Semi-Saint also frowned, injected holy energy into his voice, and said loudly: "Next game, No. 77 versus No. 78."
Finally, Zixia Semi-Saint's voice woke up Zhang Ruochen who was studying the sword.
Zhang Ruochen's eyes regained their vitality, he took a long breath, glanced at the white jade command number in his hand, and whispered: "No. 78, I am No. 78."
Under the gaze of everyone, Zhang Ruochen quickly took a few steps and walked up to the fighting platform.
"It turns out that No. 78 is Lin Yue."
The inner disciples present looked at Zhang Ruochen with strange eyes. If it were anyone else, they would not believe that they would retreat in the face of battle, but Lin Yue... it was possible.
After all, Lin Yue was just a newly promoted disciple of the Holy Tradition. A few months ago, he was still a warrior in the Tianji Realm.
He rashly signed up to participate in the kendo competition at the eighth level of fish-dragon transformation, which was incomprehensible to many people.
Now, he actually dared not step onto the battlefield. It must have been because he realized the gap between himself and the eighth fish-dragon monk after seeing the shocking battle ahead, and was frightened!
Under the fighting stage, boos immediately erupted.
Even the disappointment in Zixia Semi-Saint's eyes deepened.
If it is just arrogance, it may not be impossible to change with careful guidance and instruction.
However, if a person is too timid and shrinks back when encountering an opponent who is stronger than himself, and does not dare to face him head-on. Then, such a person, no matter how great an adventure he encounters, is ultimately just a waste.