Shameless!

Everyone below was dumbfounded!

What kind of bandit behavior was this!

Hey, the one standing up there, are you Yashan’s Senior Sister?

Countless cultivators were stunned.

The few disciples under Fudao Shanren below had been expecting Jian Chou to make a great showing, but they never expected that with one bend of her waist, she would pick up someone else’s sword and just casually start using it!

Why…

Did they suddenly feel their Senior Sister was quite pitiful?

Shen Jiu held the sword in his arms, stroking his chin: “Senior Sister seems to lack a sword…”

“Yes.”

Jiang He agreed.

Chen Weishan still looked sturdy and simple-minded. After scratching the back of his head, he said: “But the Ink Mark Sword… is just so-so, right?”

“…”

Some cultivators standing around these Yashan cultivators pricked up their ears and heard this sentence.

Unbelievable!

The Ink Mark Sword!

That was a very famous sword!

The magical artifacts of Shijiu Zhou cultivators were generally divided into three types: Magical Artifacts, Spirit Treasures, and Profound Treasures, each divided into upper, middle, and lower grades. One level of artifact corresponded to one level of cultivator.

Although the current Xie Ding only had Golden Core stage cultivation, the sword in his hand wasn’t an upper-grade Magical Artifact matching his cultivation level, but a middle-grade Spirit Treasure two full realms higher.

Whether it was a gift from Kunwu’s side, no one was clear, but they knew this Magical Artifact was quite famous among artifacts of its category.

Even a Nascent Soul stage cultivator possessing this unique longsword wouldn’t feel ashamed.

Now listen, what were these Yashan fellows saying?

Just so-so?

Really…

Infuriating!

Comparing people kills you, comparing goods makes you throw them away. When artifacts were compared with artifacts, they wanted to kill someone.

Completely unaware that his single sentence had offended a whole area of cultivators around him, Chen Weishan only felt a chill down his back. He looked around strangely, but saw everyone seriously staring at the Heaven-Reaching Platform, feeling rather puzzled.

“Why did it suddenly get cold…”

“Sixth Brother, this is the first time I’ve discovered your words make quite a bit of sense.” Stroking his chin, Shen Jiu muttered, then put his gaze back on the Heaven-Reaching Platform, examining the Ink Mark Sword for a long time. “Flashy is flashy, it’s just that the attack power is lacking. Indeed, quite ordinary.”

“…”

The one who hadn’t spoken was Kou Qianzhi, who had his arms crossed over his chest, holding his sword.

He didn’t bother with his fellow disciples’ nonsense, only staring fixedly at that sword shrouded in ink qi, saying: “This sword also has some extraordinary aspects, but Xie Ding hasn’t made it recognize him as master, which is quite strange.”

“Senior Sister also hasn’t made this sword recognize her as a master.”

Jiang He looked up and added a sentence.

Jian Chou indeed hadn’t made this sword recognize her as a master.

A masterless sword, if its spiritual nature was ordinary, or if it had spirit but didn’t resist outsiders, could be driven by anyone at will.

For someone who had never had a sword, seeing a sword roll to her feet, how could she not pick it up?

A trail of ink qi meandered out from the sword hilt, crawling onto Jian Chou’s pale hand, then spiraling around her fingers before gradually reintegrating with the entire sword body.

Such a unique sword was truly the first of its kind she’d seen.

Shaking out the Ink Mark Sword, Jian Chou looked at it with satisfaction for a while, not hearing the uproar below at all.

She looked up at Xie Ding across from her, her smile undiminished.

Xie Ding’s face had already darkened by half: “What does Sister Jian Chou mean by this?”

No particular meaning, just that her hands and heart were itching now, and she didn’t want to return it to you at all.

Jian Chou said this in her heart, but her actual action was to unhesitantly pour all her spiritual power into the sword body, making a horizontal sword stance.

Hum.

The sword’s body trembled, one point, two points, three points…

On the snow-white blade, six or seven ink-colored round points appeared, clearly Dao Seals formed when the artifact was created by the refiner!

In that instant, Jian Chou’s eyes showed some delight.

Standing opposite Jian Chou in full battle readiness, Xie Ding suddenly sneered!

If this sword were so easy to use, how could he have been unable to make it his own all this time? He had tried that Dao Seal countless times and simply couldn’t use it. It was probably just a joke left by a master refiner on the sword.

Wiping his face with his hand, the previous bloodstains immediately disappeared cleanly. Xie Ding had realized that the female cultivator before him had cultivation far exceeding the hundredth rank. Earlier, he had already paid the price for his contempt.

As for now…

It was time to recover from his mistake and regain face!

His sleeve robe flew high, his garments billowing in the wind. Xie Ding’s aura suddenly changed. In the moment when a smile still lingered on Jian Chou’s face, he unhesitatingly gathered his strength and struck a palm toward Jian Chou!

The battle disc of one zhang and seven chi also spun madly at this time.

Dao Seals, after Dao Seals, impossible to distinguish which was which, were densely arranged together!

Seeing this, Jian Chou was simply somewhat dumbfounded.

Fudao Shanren had once said that cultivating Dao Seals should be done carefully, after all, the battle disc was only so big, and the Dao Seals it could accommodate were limited. Even though battle discs had room for expansion, refining ten Dao Seals was naturally much more difficult than refining one.

Dao Seal cultivation valued precision over quantity. How was this Xie Ding opposite?

Jian Chou’s confusion was also everyone’s confusion.

The densely packed Dao Seals on Xie Ding’s battle disc, even though they flashed by in an instant, were enough for everyone to get a glimpse.

However…

Now was not the time to wonder about this.

Xie Ding’s palm strike came with fierce momentum.

Completely different from the elegant feeling Xie Ding initially gave people, the palm he struck after losing his sword gave people a blazing, scorching sensation.

If this palm initially felt like warm water, by the time it was only six feet from Jian Chou, the palm wind it stirred up was already like burning wind, while the palm center seemed to be pushing a bay of blazing, boiling lava!

Crimson gold suddenly bloomed from Xie Ding’s palm!

Jian Chou’s eyes immediately showed a trace of amazement again.

Ranked third, there were indeed some reasons for it!

This palm was like holding molten rock, like holding a Golden Crow, like holding a red sun about to plunge straight into river water, about to scorch the entire earth dry!

Xie Ding’s eyes also reflected the color of this ball of firelight, reflecting the color of this palm, brilliant to the extreme.

The humiliation of being slapped to the ground by a mirror earlier seemed nonexistent. With this spirited palm, who could he lose to?!

One palm, suddenly, before her eyes!

Jian Chou’s slender body seemed like it would melt in the next blink under this blazing palm.

Everyone thought that facing such a sharp and angrily struck palm, Jian Chou should at least temporarily avoid its edge. But unexpectedly, she also—

One palm!

Palm against palm!

Xie Ding’s palm was fire, Jian Chou’s palm was also fire!

The Liwai Mirror flashed and disappeared from her left palm.

Jian Chou spread her fingers; her body’s acupoints instantly opened, countless winds were drawn to her, flowing through her body’s meridians as swiftly as lightning. Swish, swish, swish, swish—immediately, fire-red wind blades shot densely from Jian Chou’s palm, then were gathered loosely in her palm by her palm power!

One person, one palm, not yielding a step!

Jian Chou didn’t move an inch under her feet, directly raising her palm to meet Xie Ding head-on!

In that instant, Xie Ding thought this woman was seeking death!

Boom!

Two palms instantly collided!

The wind blades in Jian Chou’s hand immediately shot out, cutting wildly between Xie Ding’s five fingers!

The surging palm force in Xie Ding’s hand also burst forth the moment it contacted Jian Chou’s palm!

The instant he felt excruciating pain in his palm, Xie Ding opened his eyes wide in shock, while also seeing Jian Chou’s robes wildly dancing with this surging palm strike, as if swallowed by great fire!

With the point where their palms met as the center, flame waves suddenly rose, exploding outward in all directions!

Many cultivators floating in mid-air happened to be at the same height and were almost instantly shaken by this sudden flame wave, falling from the sky like dumplings!

Countless people showed expressions of shock!

What powerful palm strikes!

“Pff.”

A small mouthful of fresh blood was spat out.

Jian Chou stood firmly in place, motionless, but her garments already bore traces of blood, and her palm, still raised in mid-air, showed red, swollen burn marks.

In contrast, Xie Ding staggered back three steps uncontrollably!

“Thud!”

Finally, he forcibly stopped himself, one shoe sole sinking deep into the Heaven-Reaching Platform’s rock, before halting his retreat.

Drip, drip.

Fresh blood fell from his fingertips. In just this brief moment since he’d stopped, a small pool of blood had already formed beside him.

He looked at Jian Chou, and Jian Chou looked at him.

Everyone below was stunned.

Zhou Chengjiang was also stunned—

No one would know Jian Chou’s wind blades better than he.

That day on the river, she had used ice wind blades, but now fire wind blades had appeared!

She hadn’t used her full strength!

That battle on the river was still far from the full power of this female cultivator before him!

Zhou Chengjiang understood everything in an instant.

But thinking this way…

He couldn’t help but feel shocked.

Trump cards—how many trump cards did Jian Chou still have?

No one knew.

Perhaps this Small Gathering could reveal the truth?

Zhou Chengjiang’s gaze became increasingly complex.

Honestly speaking, in this battle, he didn’t hope Jian Chou would lose!

For ordinary people, whoever won or lost didn’t matter—they were just watching the fighting, the combat.

Just this single palm exchange was too brief, too fast.

However…

It was enough for them to see the temperaments of both combatants!

Xie Ding knew how to adapt, wouldn’t foolishly persist, but Jian Chou was different.

Even risking injury and spitting blood, she stood firmly in place, refusing to retreat even one step!

What temperament, what character!

Or rather, arrogant and mad!

But one had to admit, this pride buried in her bones truly made many cultivators feel a strange awe.

Who doesn’t admire heroes?

That was a dream in everyone’s heart, a dream of never retreating.

Even if thousands of troops and horses attacked, one should charge straight through, advancing courageously!

So what was one palm strike?

In Jian Chou’s heart, there was also a hero’s dream.

During her palm exchange with Xie Ding, the deductive light in her eyes never extinguished, always flickering.

The human body’s meridian and acupoint diagram almost instantly appeared complete in her mind. Appearing at the same time was the Dao Seal that had appeared on the Ink Mark Sword!

The first strand of spiritual power slowly flowed from her brow center to all parts of her body.

Standing not far opposite her, Xie Ding almost instantly perceived Jian Chou’s intention.

She was going to learn and apply it immediately, directly using the Dao Seal on his Ink Mark Sword?

“Hah!”

In this instant, Xie Ding couldn’t help but laugh loudly, extremely contemptuous.

“Do you think the innate Dao Seal on this sword is so easy to cultivate?”

What a joke!

After obtaining this sword through great hardship, he had spent a full half year pondering this Dao Seal!

But—

He got nothing!

No matter how he calculated, there wasn’t a single meridian in his body that could accommodate the formation of this Dao Seal.

This was simply an impossible Dao Seal to achieve!

Wasting time on such things, who did this Yashan Senior Sister think she was?

A genius?

A prodigy?

All impossible!

Xie Ding looked up and laughed loudly, his eyes already showing a fierce glint: He couldn’t hold back anymore—continuing to hide might lead to defeat.

If the first exchange of a mirror showed her meticulous calculation, then the second exchange of palms demonstrated absolute power and character!

For Xie Ding, this was a formidable and troublesome opponent!

This was only the first day of the entry selection, barely even begun. If he didn’t finish off Jian Chou quickly, what awaited Xie Ding was undoubtedly a bitter battle. After fighting Jian Chou to exhaustion, even if he won, it would probably be a pyrrhic victory.

At that time, plenty of people would want to pick up the pieces, delivering heavy blows while he was weak.

Very likely, he wouldn’t lose to Yashan’s Senior Sister, but would ultimately lose to some unknown small fry.

So he couldn’t drag this out!

The threat Jian Chou posed was far beyond what any hundredth-ranked cultivator could create.

Xie Ding cursed Zhilin Sou in his heart.

Having made up his mind, his hands weren’t hesitant. He directly shook his sleeve, and a bronze wine goblet floated out!

The palm-sized wine goblet bore azure rust stains, ancient and mottled. Bamboo joint patterns were cast on the goblet’s exterior, forming a beauty that combined solemnity and simplicity.

The moment this wine goblet appeared, the entire Heaven-Reaching Platform suddenly became solemn!

Jian Chou still stood quietly in place, her eyes calm, only from her brow center, bit by bit, stardust-like light scattered from her brow, flowing into the ink-wash longsword she held.

As if sinking into that ink painting, Jian Chou slightly narrowed her eyes, even her brows and eyes becoming gentle.

Extremely naturally, she turned her wrist, actually forming a sword flower.

The Ink Mark Sword traced an undulating ink mark in the air, like a drop of ink falling into clear spring water, full of charm.

Hmph.

Xie Ding couldn’t help but sneer, showing off!

The Dao Seal of the Ink Mark Sword was originally useless; nothing fancy could be figured out.

Something he’d spent two years unable to research, even if this Yashan Senior Sister was a genius, she couldn’t possibly make any breakthrough in such a short time.

Raising his hand, Xie Ding unhesitatingly grasped that bronze wine goblet!

Boom!

A sound like a great bell suddenly rang in the air!

In everyone’s sight, Xie Ding seemed to don a high crown, transforming into an unrestrained scholar in the mountains and forests.

Countless spiritual qi flowed through all parts of his body, converging into a mighty river, all pouring into this bottomless wine goblet!

“One goblet of emerald bamboo—I invite Fellow Daoist Jian Chou to drain this cup!”

The clear voice rang out distinctly under this heaven and earth.

Xie Ding seemed to transform into a noble scholar. In that instant when he was about to lose his grip on the wine goblet, he turned his wrist, and the bronze goblet filled with spiritual qi immediately tilted downward!

Splash!

Everyone seemed to hear the sound of countless fine wines and jade liquors rolling and pouring from the wine goblet!

However…

What fell into everyone’s eyes was a pool of azure!

That wasn’t a stream of poured jade liquid and fine wine, but a magnificent bamboo sea!

The entire Heaven-Reaching Platform suddenly became emerald green!

Bamboo stalk after bamboo stalk, bamboo leaf after bamboo leaf, swaying in the wind, connecting into a vast sea. As Xie Ding turned his wrist and tilted the wine goblet, it poured directly onto the Heaven-Reaching Platform!

Countless people stared wide-eyed, looking at the patch of green above, mouths agape—

What, what kind of technique was this?