Swallowing the Stars: Equipment Slots, Starting with a Genius Battle

Chapter 69 Genius in the Secret Realm

The Sword Palace is more than 1 million kilometers above the ground, and this is just the outermost and weakest ripple of sword energy.

"How does it feel?" Nine Swords Venerable stood to the side, his voice tinged with amusement. "This is only the outer edge. The closer we get to the secret continent below, the closer we get to the place where that overlord finally fell, the stronger and purer the sword energy becomes, and the more complete and terrifying the sword intent it contains."

It might even trigger the lingering battle imprints of that overlord, creating illusory images.

Ye Feng took a deep breath, his face showing eagerness. "That suits me perfectly. Master, I will go and find a suitable place to hone my skills."

"Go," the Nine Swords Venerable nodded. "Act according to your ability, and don't overexert yourself. If you feel you can't hold on, withdraw immediately. The sword aura invades the soul; once the will is completely shattered, the soul is severely injured, and recovery is extremely troublesome."

Ye Feng bowed respectfully, then his figure transformed into a streak of light, flying towards the area below the secret realm where the baleful aura was most intense and the space was almost entirely covered by a black sword curtain.

"Huh? There are other people here?"

Passing through a curtain of swords, Ye Feng arrived at a place 8000 million kilometers above the continent. To his surprise, he found thousands of figures hovering there.

Judging from the aura emanating from these people, none of them are weak; they are at the same level as his steward, Huo Ye.

The intensity of the ripples here is clearly two levels stronger than that at the Sword Palace, ten times stronger, posing a threat to those who have achieved the title of Marquis and Immortal.

It is purely an aggregation of "evil" and "intention," like a living metal fish, freely darting and colliding in the void, emitting a teeth-grinding "hissing" cutting sound.

Ye Feng's arrival did not cause much of a stir.

Those suspended figures, some standing, some sitting, eyes closed, were immersed in their own trials.

Waves of sword energy, ever-changing and ever-changing, swirled and slashed around them.

Clearly, these are all people from the Nine Swords Sect, cultivating here without interfering with each other.

Ye Feng glanced around without lingering, and continued his downward swooping towards the dark sword curtain below.

The further down you go, the fewer people you encounter, but the stronger their aura becomes.

They encountered more than a dozen more, each emanating a power significantly stronger than the previous group, vaguely reaching the level of the "Thirteen Divine Generals" under the Qianwu Kingdom's ruler.

Ye Feng's arrival attracted the attention of these powerful figures.

The reason is simple: his vibrant and surging life aura as a World Lord and the clear fluctuations of World Lord power were as conspicuous as a searchlight in the dark among this group of Marquis-level immortal powerhouses.

"This one—could he be His Highness Ye Feng, the Venerable One's newly accepted disciple? Indeed—he lives up to his reputation." An old man with thin eyebrows and flowing white hair opened his eyes in surprise, his gaze locking onto the white-robed figure that was still descending.

As a marquis under the Nine Swords, he naturally remembered the appearances of the Venerable One's disciples.

The intensity of the sword aura impact here has reached the peak of the Marquis level, approaching the King level.

Even a veteran Marquis like him, who has cultivated for tens of thousands of epochs, needs to be fully focused on dealing with it.

But this Prince Ye Feng, a mere Realm Lord, has only cultivated for a hundred years, yet he has managed to reach this place, and even—want to go deeper?

Not far from the old man, a young man carrying nine ancient-looking longswords on his back also suddenly opened his eyes. His sharp, star-like eyes were fixed on Ye Feng's figure, and deep in his pupils surged an undisguised intense resentment and intense envy. "Hmph! The lucky one who was chosen by the Venerable One in the Genius Battle."

He, "Sword Peak," has endured hardship here for tens of thousands of years, desperately honing his swordsmanship and will, all he seeks is to be noticed by the Nine Swords Venerable and taken in as a disciple.

What he longed for, Ye Feng obtained at a high level.

"Your Highness Ye Feng, please wait!" Seeing that Ye Feng's speed did not decrease, Jian Bo quickly transmitted his voice, his tone filled with concern, "The power of the sword energy below has surpassed that of an ordinary King-level cultivator; it is extremely dangerous. Please be careful!"

Upon hearing the sound from afar, Ye Feng paused slightly, nodded slightly in the direction of Jian Bo, and revealed a calm and confident smile. Then he accelerated again and disappeared into the deeper darkness of the sword aura.

"Uncle Jian, you mean well," Jian Qifeng said from the side, his tone tinged with obvious sourness and a hint of barely perceptible schadenfreude, "but I'm afraid this 'His Highness' is too arrogant to listen to advice."

Jian Qifeng paused, then lowered his voice, "But there's no need to worry too much—once he's hit a brick wall down there, he'll naturally know to come back obediently."

Jianbo simply shook his head slightly without replying.

Under the complex gazes of Jian Qifeng and Jian Bo, Ye Feng's figure disappeared into the dark sword curtain below, which seemed to devour everything, vanishing without a trace.

As time passed, the imagined figure of Ye Feng appearing in a disheveled state did not materialize.

"He—really withstood it?" Jian Qifeng's pupils contracted sharply, his face filled with disbelief. "The intensity of the sword aura below was a genuine King-level attack. How could a Realm Lord like him possibly do that?"

He had personally experienced the sudden surge of sword energy below.

The sword energy there was several times stronger than where he was now.

If Jianbo hadn't reminded him in time, he would have withdrawn immediately after making contact, and the consequences would have been unimaginable.

But Ye Feng just went down like that?

Even if Jian Qifeng were stupid, he wouldn't believe that Ye Feng was defeated and killed by Jian Sha.

This is the Nine Swords Secret Realm.

Would the personal disciple of the Nine Swords Venerable die in his own teacher's lair?

What kind of cosmic joke is this?

If Ye Feng really can't hold on, the Nine Swords Venerable will definitely teleport over to rescue him.

In other words—Ye Feng really endured it.

As a realm lord, he withstood the impact of a king-level will.

An indescribable sense of defeat, like an icy tide, instantly overwhelmed Jian Qifeng's heart.

"He's a Realm Lord—" he murmured absentmindedly, "His laws are strong enough, but his will—is it also so heaven-defying?"

The pride and expectations accumulated through ten thousand years of arduous cultivation crumbled instantly under Ye Feng's overwhelming performance. "No wonder—no wonder I've been guarding this place for ten thousand years, and the Venerable One hasn't even given me a second glance—is the gap really this vast?"

He was a swordsman of unparalleled skill, a self-proclaimed genius of the universe, who cultivated for decades and rose through the ranks to become a marquis.

But now, the realm of will has been ruthlessly trampled underfoot by a realm lord who has only cultivated for a hundred years.

"Qi Feng." Jian Bo noticed that Jian Qi Feng's will was wavering and his aura was disordered. He suddenly shouted, his voice as loud as a bell, which made the surrounding sword demons pause slightly.

"Wake up. People are different, and there's a world of difference between geniuses." Jian Bo's gaze was sharp as a sword. "You are indeed a genius, but never compare yourself to Prince Ye Feng. I learned from Prince Yunlan that Ye Feng's talent is overwhelming among all the geniuses in the secret realms of the entire Virtual Universe Company."

Because he was so dazzling, the mortality rate of his peers in Chaos City doubled.

"Be yourself and don't ruin your own life." Jianbo's voice was stern and earnest.

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