Walking alone with a sword, slaying ghosts and gods

Chapter 39: Breaking the Sword Like a Bamboo (Please collect, read, reward, and recommend!!)
As spring comes and flowers bloom, the City That Never Sleeps welcomes the once-in-a-decade sword-fighting competition. This is an opportunity for countless young men from ordinary families to make a breakthrough, so of course the streets are deserted and there are many people paying attention.

The sword fighting competition was held at the Sword Fighting Hall in the City That Never Sleeps. Because there were too many sword fighting halls in the city, a snake would not be able to survive without a head, so a sword fighting hall was established to maintain the balance of all forces.

Look at the magnificent gate and the plaque of the sword hall.

Most of the children from common families who entered the venue were nervous and sinister, so the children from wealthy families were knowledgeable and experienced, which was an advantage.

The sword fighting competition is open to all young people under the age of 20 in the city. Just bring your magic sword and identity documents to the main library to register.

He Guo was a local with a good family background, so he successfully registered without any obstacles. Then he just had to wait and be called to the arena by the sword hall steward.

Today, nearly a hundred arenas were opened in the Sword Art Hall. This arena did not attract much attention. There were only friends and relatives of the boy opposite, and fellow students from the sword art hall around it.

As for He Guo, there was no one there.

"Bai Feiyu from Jinhong Sword Hall." On the stage, the young man opposite saluted and signed up.

"What's wrong?"

"Alas, why didn't he report the name of the sword hall? Could it be that he doesn't have a master? Senior Brother Bai is really too lucky."

"start."

Amid the whispers from all directions below, the swordsman on the ring announced the start of the sword fight.

"kill!"

Bai Feiyu had just unsheathed his sword when he heard a sharp roar coming from the opposite side.

Immediately afterwards, a dim sword light slashed diagonally, which was fast, accurate and ruthless in terms of the young man's swordsmanship.

Bai Feiyu hurriedly held down his sword to block it, but suddenly found that the dim yellow sword light was slightly rising.

He instinctively flew his sword upwards to intercept, but the sword light seemed to suddenly lose control, drawing a somewhat strange sword arc and passing by Bai Feiyu's sword light.

Snapped.

The swordsman on the ring blocked Bai Feiyu's throat with his sword, because He Guo's sword light had already pierced it.

Bai Feiyu felt that he lost for no apparent reason. But he had lost, so he could only walk off the stage step by step.

"He Guo withdrew his magic control midway, so the flight path of his sword changed, and you failed to block it. Humph, such a trick can only be used temporarily. Once others become familiar with it, their flying sword will be cut off directly."

The owner of Jinhong Sword Hall was a little indignant, but losing was losing.

He was poor. The flying sword he used was almost the worst quality among all the cultivators present in the sword competition. So even if he had enough magic power, his sword speed and strength were not as good as others. If he was not careful when using it, his sword light would be crushed by his opponent if he fought too hard.

Therefore, the sword path that Lu Cheng set for him was a path that was full of changes and twists.

He used the phantom sword to confuse the enemy and avoid the real one and attack the fake one. Relying on his ten years of hard-trained orthodox sword skills, plus the phantom sword routines taught by Master Lin, He Guo won one match after another, and won seven consecutive victories on the first day of the sword-fighting competition to the disbelief of all the onlookers.

It is not necessary to win consecutively. This sword-fighting competition will be held for seven consecutive days, and the one with the highest number of wins in random matches will enter the top 64.

However, He Guo had never encountered an opponent that he needed to use tactics to avoid.

After going through the three days of sword-fighting hell, He Guo went home and lay in bed for a few days to recover. Then he stepped onto the stage again. He felt that the people he saw and the swords he encountered were all vulnerable.

On the first day, we won all seven battles. On the second day, we won all fourteen battles.

This ordinary orphan, who had no sword school and no master, broke into the top 64 of the sword-fighting competition in an unreasonable manner.

This kind of swordsmanship has begun to enter the vision of some small sects or immortal cultivation families. At the very least, you can find a job as a housekeeper and change your life from then on...

But He Guo didn't think about these things. He only had one thought in his mind: "To stand out from the crowd!"

"Oh, our young master of the He family is back."

On the second day of the sword fighting competition, He Guo returned to his dilapidated old house. He heard such shouting from afar. When he looked up, he saw a middle-aged woman with rouge and powder on her face trotting towards him.

"Uh, Fourth Aunt."

He Guo's mind was now mostly immersed in swordsmanship, and he hardly heard what the fourth aunt was chattering in his ear. It seemed that she wanted to introduce him to a marriage, saying that he was already an adult and should leave descendants for the He family.

After finally sending Fourth Aunt out the door, He Guo was just about to lie down on the bed to rest for a while when there was another knock on the wooden door. When he opened the door, he saw a fat, dark old man carrying a pig's hind leg.

"Uncle Six."

"Hey, I heard that you participated in the sword fighting competition? You did pretty well? Your uncle has always thought that you are smart, and I was right. Come, let's stew this pig's hind leg to nourish your body today."

"Uncle Six, no need"

Before He Guo could say no, his Sixth Uncle put down the pork leg and left in a flash.

"call."

He Guo let out a sigh of relief and put down the pork leg. Just as he was about to lie down on the bed for a while, the door rang again.

After half a day, all the relatives and neighbors nearby came to visit. He Guo even had no impression of some of the relatives and didn't know how they came to visit.

At night, He Guo looked at the brightly lit room and the various gifts that filled an entire wooden table. The young man stared for a long while, then shook his head and chuckled.

Then he did not go into the house again, but closed the door and went to Yuelai Inn under the cover of night. He fell asleep outside Master Lin's room No. 2.

Fortunately, it is early spring now, and he is a qigong practitioner. Although he does not feel well, he is not afraid of getting sick.

Lu Cheng was practicing in the room. He did not concentrate his spiritual consciousness nor did he feel any malicious intent. Therefore, when he pushed the door open to go out the next day, he was startled by He Guo lying at the door.

However, Lu Cheng looked at the sleeping boy and did not wake him up. Instead, he waved his hand. With a flash of silver light, a silver-armored soldier walked out of the room, brought out a quilt, and carefully covered the boy with it.

“After you become successful, the whole world seems to be so gentle, reasonable, and full of kindness, but you have to remember that is not what the world really looks like.”

Lu Cheng ordered the waiter at Yuelai Inn not to chase him away and that he would pay for his room separately, but he did not let He Guo stay in the room.

So far, the relationship between the two parties is just a transaction. The long journey of life and the loneliness of cultivation do have their merits.

When there are too many human relationships and you get entangled with them, the disaster will increase tenfold.

The third day of the sword fighting competition.

The morning session will determine the top 64 places, while the afternoon session will decide the top 32.

The top 64 had already eliminated most of the lucky ones in the first two days. The young fencers who could make it here had all practiced hard for many years.

"Thank you, Bai Feier from Jinhong Sword Hall."

"What's wrong?"

On the stage, a poor young man with washed-out clothes and a pretty young girl in a white dress faced each other with swords.

"Begin." As the swordsman on the ring announced the start, the flying sword in the hand of the beautiful girl slashed towards the opponent in front of her like a flowing cloud.

Bai Feier is at the sixth level of Qi training and is the young master of Jinhong Sword Hall. Bai Feiyu is her younger brother.

From her brother and father, Bai Feier already knew that the sword light of the opponent in front of her was strange and changeable.

But there was a fatal weakness: he was using a first-grade, inferior flying sword.

It can be said that there is no flying sword weaker or worse than this one in the entire sword-fighting competition.

"As long as I use all my strength to launch the Golden Flying Cloud Sword Technique to attack him, and fight with his sword light, it won't take long for his flying sword to be unable to resist..."

The flying sword that Bai Fei'er was using was a second-level mid-grade sword. As long as the sword light was not completely broken by the opponent, the lack of sword power was not a flaw at all. Even if it was hit, the flying sword would not be damaged.

As soon as He Guo saw the golden geese all around him, he knew what his opponent was planning, and he began to use the defensive sword technique that Lu Cheng had improved for him.

Although there was a gap in the strength of the flying swords of both sides, there was no big difference in their magic power. At this moment, He Guo displayed an extremely dense defensive sword technique. He did not fight head-on with Bai Fei'er's flying sword. He just hit the edge of the sword and knocked away the sword light of Bai Fei'er's attack with a clang.

A low-grade first-order flying sword would hit the relatively blunt part of the sword with its tip. Although it could not destroy a medium-grade second-order flying sword, it would not be damaged either.

On the contrary, Bai Feier was flying the sword from a distance, while He Guo was controlling the sword at close range. The consumption of magic power by both parties was not at the same level as the control of the flying sword.

The sword fight between the two sides dragged on for a little while, and Bai Feier had to withdraw her flying sword several times to replenish her magic power before attacking again.

In order to improve her control over the flying sword, Bai Feier subconsciously kept moving closer and closer, shortening the distance between the two. Her actions indeed made He Guo's defensive sword circle smaller and smaller, and it seemed that it might collapse at any time.

But at this moment, the distance between the two sides had approached a dangerous range.

A sword light that had been suppressed to the extreme suddenly became bright!
"Meteor from the sky!"

The sword is ruthless and will kill.

With all the pain, anger, and humiliation he had experienced since childhood, he swung the sword with all his might.

The dim yellow sword light burst into astonishing brilliance, and pierced her throat at a speed that Bai Feier was completely unable to respond to.

"How dare he? My flying sword is away from him..."

Snapped.

Even though it was the first time that a meteor from outer space appeared, the swordsmen on the top 64 stage were already skilled swordsmen in their seventies who were in the late stage of Qi training.

He finally reacted and blocked with his sword, barely stopping the meteor from the sky in front of Bai Feier's throat.

But Bai Feier's flying sword still slashed towards He Guo.

If the two sides were really fighting to the death, Bai Feier would have been killed by a single sword as she had no defensive magic weapon or talisman, and the sword light and magic power she controlled would naturally dissipate.

However, because of the existence of the sword judge, Bai Feier did not die, and He Guo did not have enough buffer time to knock the opponent's flying sword away.

Even though he tried his best to resist, the sword light still cut He Guo's arm. The sword judge on the ring looked embarrassed, but he had indeed tried his best.

"Boy, are you okay?"

"fine."

"Okay, this battle, He Guo wins."

A spiritual doctor immediately came up to bandage He Guo's wound. However, because the wound was quite deep, even if the spiritual doctor took action, He Guo would not be able to exert any strength with one arm for a short period of time.

"That sword strike just now was so sharp!"

"Yes, I never thought that after so many years of the Sword Contest, there would still be such a gem! It really makes me appreciate talents."

After the sword fight ended, He Guo had already left.

Bai Fei'er stood there blankly, still distracted by the sword strike she had just made. For some reason, the image of the young man who had been stabbed by her sword, bleeding profusely but still with an unyielding look in his eyes, appeared in her mind.

He Guo didn't care at all about the woman who slashed him with a sword. Now the only thing on his mind was tomorrow's sword-fighting competition.

In addition, there are rewards for being promoted to the top 32. It’s not much, just one hundred spirit stones, but it is a huge fortune that He Guo has never received in his life.

"Master Lin!"

In Yuelai Inn, after listening to today's storytelling, Lu Cheng was returning to his room and walking towards the stairs. He Guo, who was hiding in the corner, rushed out, knelt beside Lu Cheng, and handed over a brocade-wrapped bag with both hands. The bag was round and bulging, obviously filled with spirit stones.

"Victory? You don't need to give me these spirit stones. You have already paid the tuition. The fate between you and me has ended."

"Master Lin, please accept it. No, please keep it for me. I am too young. If I make a mistake with such a large amount of money, it would be a waste of Master Lin's hard work in cultivating me."

"..." Hearing this, Lu Cheng didn't say anything else. He took the bag of spirit stones, went upstairs and walked into his room.

He would not use these spirit stones. Since He Guo asked to keep them for him, then he would keep them until he left.

The next day, early morning.

When Lu Cheng went out again, there were already several young men kneeling outside the door with spirit stones held high in their hands.

Some of the clothes they were wearing were coarse cloth, and some were silk, but they were probably not from immortal cultivation families, as the children of immortal cultivation families would not end up so easily.

"What are you doing?" Lu Cheng asked knowingly.

"Master Lin, please teach me swordsmanship."

"Master Lin, please accept me as your disciple!"

"I won't accept any disciples, but I can teach you swordsmanship for three days. You should line up in the order in which you arrived here."

After these young people lined up, Lu Cheng continued:
"The second person who joins my sect will pay two spirit stones, the third will pay four spirit stones, and so on. You can calculate how many spirit stones you should pay. All of them will receive three days of instruction. Those who cannot pay can go back. Those who are still willing can wait here."

After saying that, Lu Cheng went out to listen to storytelling. When he returned today, He Guo had also returned. He brought back another bag of spirit stones and knelt there, holding them up with both hands to offer.

On the fourth day of the sword-fighting competition, He Guo advanced to the top 16.

The sword-fighting competition lasts for seven days. The first two days are for selecting fencers, the top 64 are determined on the morning of the third day, the top 32 are decided in the afternoon, the top 16 are decided on the fourth day, the top 8 are decided on the fifth day, the top 4 are decided on the sixth day, the top two are decided during the day on the seventh day, and the winner of the sword-fighting competition is decided that evening.

The spiritual stone rewards for the first place in the Thirty-Two Strongest Swordsmanship Competition are 100, 300, 500, 800, 1,000, and 2,000 spiritual stones respectively. It has been like this for many years, so the package today contains 300 spiritual stones.

"Use these spirit stones to buy yourself a good sword, so that you can go further on your journey."

"Master Lin, I will use this sword to win first place in the sword fighting competition, so that my father and mother can see their son succeed in life in heaven."

In fact, ever since He Guo was promoted to the top 32 and performed the move Meteor from the Sky, all the sword halls in the City That Never Sleeps had already begun investigating him.

But the investigation stopped at Lucheng. A cultivator in the late stage of Qi training had such a sword technique, which was worthy of his position. Those sword halls did not dare to covet anything.

(End of this chapter)