Chapter Thirteen: The Realm of Swordsmanship—Sword Qi and Thunderous Sound
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Although the loot system used random distribution, the basic rule was that whoever landed the final blow on a boss would receive at least twenty percent of its cultivation points and Dao attainment, along with one to three randomly selected pieces of loot.
A boss over level one hundred would drop at least a fifth- or sixth-grade flying sword or magical treasure. As long as he could get even one of those, he would make a fortune.
Of course, plenty of others had the same idea. Or rather, everyone wanted to land the final blow, so who ultimately succeeded would depend on personal ability.
115,200...
95,200...
65,800...
32,400...
As the Blackwater Profound Serpent’s health continued to fall, Su Yu grew increasingly focused.
12,030...
5,210...
“Now!”
At that instant, Su Yu’s consciousness suddenly entered a strange state. His thoughts became clear and transparent, and everything around him seemed laid bare before his eyes.
Like an AI, he instantly calculated how many people were attacking at that precise moment, how many more attacks would be needed to remove the boss’s final drop of health, and exactly when he should strike in order to seize the final blow.
“Take this!”
He pointed with two fingers. The Ice Soul, which had circled around to the Blackwater Profound Serpent’s head, flashed once and plunged into its eye amid faint sounds of wind and thunder.
-624
Blood spurted forth.
A critical hit.
The gray pallor of death rapidly spread from the Blackwater Profound Serpent’s eye throughout its body. Su Yu immediately felt a warm current surge into him, and knew that he had secured the final blow.
“Status panel!”
A luminous screen visible only to him appeared before his eyes. But he was not looking at the record of slaughter experience he had gained, nor at the two randomly selected pieces of loot. Instead, he was staring at—
“Notice: Your swordsmanship realm has broken through. You have comprehended the swordsmanship realm—Sword Qi Thunderclap!”
Swordsmanship Realm: Sword Qi Thunderclap. Swordsmanship refined to the utmost limit, granting mastery of transcendent sword techniques. Sword qi becomes more condensed, allowing every strike to unleash its maximum attack power, while increasing attack speed.
Realm Level: Initial Entry. Flying-sword damage +10%; attack speed +10%.
“Yes!”
Su Yu clenched his fist and punched the air, bursting with excitement—far more excited than he had been after securing the final blow and obtaining two pieces of loot.
A swordsmanship realm!
The true threshold of a master swordsman.
In Beyond, no matter how skilled one’s swordsmanship was, without unlocking a swordsmanship realm, no one would acknowledge one as a true expert.
Only a sword cultivator who had unlocked a swordsmanship realm could be called a Sword Immortal and be recognized as a master of the art.
Yet even that was not what made him happiest. What delighted him most was that unlocking a swordsmanship realm proved his extraordinary talent in this field, giving him a chance to enter an Immortal Sect through exceptional admission.
Even though his innate aptitude was merely average.
After all, innate aptitude only determined that his constitution and comprehension were ordinary. The fact that he had unlocked a swordsmanship realm so early meant that his talent for the sword was extraordinary. He could specialize in the Sword Dao and still have a chance to advance to Loose Immortal.
Normally, his constitution and comprehension would limit him to the realm of Loose Immortal, but that was hardly a problem.
Outside the Immortal Sects, a Loose Immortal was unquestionably a hegemon ruling over an entire region. Within the Thousand Feathers Guild, they stood at the very summit, on the level of honored elders. Even within the Immortal Sects, they formed a vital part of the sect’s strength.
As for Earth Immortals above Loose Immortals, they were exceedingly rare. Even top-tier geniuses with innate attributes exceeding forty points could not guarantee reaching that level. What more could he ask for?
This meant that Su Yu now possessed a ticket to enter an Immortal Sect.
“As expected, a person ultimately has to rely on himself!”
He had considered waiting until his second brother successfully survived the heavenly tribulation and advanced to Loose Immortal, then asking him to secure an opportunity. He had also thought about obtaining a place through the guild. But neither of those possibilities had even begun to take shape. Instead, he had gained an opportunity through his own abilities.
“Still, I can’t go yet. I’ll have to wait a while longer.”
Although he had never visited an Immortal Sect, he knew how fierce the competition there was and how intense the internal struggle would be. Rushing over with nothing to his name and seeking admission would certainly not be the wisest choice.
The best plan was to remain in the guild for another year or two, raise his strength to a certain level, and earn a sum of money before going.
After closing the panel, Su Yu finally began examining the rewards from the final blow.
By killing a monster seventy or eighty levels above him, even a twenty-percent share yielded as much as 210,000 slaughter experience and twenty-six points of Dao attainment.
Besides that, there were two pieces of loot: a page from an Anonymous Daoist Scripture and an accessory.
Anonymous Daoist Scripture, Page Seven: One page of the Anonymous Daoist Scripture. Collecting ten pages would allow them to be combined into a complete scripture.
Su Yu had heard of this item. Once ten pages of the Anonymous Daoist Scripture were gathered, they could be combined into a random complete Daoist art. It might be a qi-refining cultivation method, a basic or advanced sword formula, a thunder technique, a forbidden art, a divine ability, or something else entirely.
The level of the resulting Daoist art was uncertain. One might exhaust countless effort only to produce a basic Daoist art, or one might be blessed by extraordinary luck and combine the pages into a supreme-grade Daoist art.
However, the possibility of producing a supreme-grade Daoist art existed only in theory. In reality, human civilization had been in Beyond for over a hundred thousand years, and countless complete Anonymous Daoist Scriptures had been assembled throughout history. The vast majority had produced low-level Daoist arts—in other words, arts below the advanced grade.
The probability of producing one of exquisite grade or higher was less than one percent.
A supreme-grade Daoist art had appeared only once in all of history.
Something that depended purely on luck...
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Su Yu decided to keep it for now. If he ever had the chance to gather a complete set, he would combine them and enjoy a gamble.
The other piece of loot was an accessory: the Blackwater Profound Pearl.
Blackwater Profound Pearl, Grade Six: Accessory. Made from the eye of a Blackwater Profound Serpent, containing a trace of the serpent’s power.
Attribute: Maximum mana +300.
Trait: Water Avoidance. When entering water, it opens a waterless space, allowing the wearer to travel freely through rivers, lakes, and seas. Maximum diving depth: 10,000 meters.
Spell: Profound Serpent’s Protection. When the wearer suffers the preset amount of damage, a phantom of the Profound Serpent automatically appears to provide protection. The phantom has 5,000 defense and lasts for fifteen minutes. It may be activated once per day, and the damage threshold can be set.
“Hmm.”
After a brief moment of thought, Su Yu set the automatic activation threshold to five hundred.
That meant that whenever he suffered an attack dealing more than five hundred damage, a protective barrier with five thousand defense would automatically activate.
“A lifesaving treasure indeed.”
Without hesitation, he equipped the accessory.
With his strength improved, his realm advanced, and a means of entering an Immortal Sect now in hand, Su Yu raised his head toward the sky and felt as though the heavens were vast and the seas boundless.
He casually fixed his gaze on a fleeing monster and beckoned. The Ice Soul, trailing faint thunderous sounds, broke through the air and cleaved into the water. He clearly sensed the increase in the flying sword’s attack speed.
The improvement was not large, but he could feel it distinctly.
“This is only the initial stage. Once my swordsmanship improves and reaches the level of mastery—or even perfection—the bonus will be astonishing.”
“My future is limitless!”
With a thought, he slashed several times in rapid succession, cutting the fish demon into pieces before rising and flying toward the depths of the demon stronghold.
Five hours later, the tower at the center of the demon stronghold collapsed. A statue representing the Water God of the Yuan River rose once more, and an invisible wave exploded like lightning, sweeping across the entire Poison Mist Marsh.
This signified the complete destruction of the demon stronghold.
Afterward, the guild dispatched large numbers of craftsmen and supplies. Using the demon stronghold as a foundation, they began constructing a city.
According to several officials in the guild channel, a medium-sized spirit vein lay beneath the center of the stronghold. The guild planned to establish a large stronghold around that spirit vein, bring the entire Poison Mist Marsh under its sphere of influence, and radiate outward from there.
The guild’s Third Main Regiment would be stationed there permanently. In the future, the Poison Mist Marsh would become the headquarters of the Third Main Regiment.
But those were matters for the guild’s higher-ups to consider. What happened afterward had little to do with Su Yu.
He first returned to guild headquarters to settle the rewards from the operation.
Thanks to securing the final blow against the Blackwater Profound Serpent, he had received a total of 168 guild contribution points. With the guild’s one-hundred-percent cultivation subsidy, that became 336 guild contribution points.
He still had twenty-five contribution points left from before, bringing the total to 361.
That much guild contribution was enough to exchange directly for a fourth-grade flying sword or magical treasure.
Su Yu did not spend it, however. He decided to save it until he had accumulated enough to exchange for a truly fine treasure all at once.
After leaving the guild, he returned to the Poison Mist Marsh and reunited with Zhuang Zhuo and the other two.
Zhuang Zhuo took out an Azurewood Boat. The four of them boarded and flew northward across the Poison Mist Marsh as he said, “We found a pretty good place earlier. It has a small spirit eye, making it suitable for establishing a Gu pit. The boss that had been occupying the area was just cleared out, so let’s hurry over and claim it.”
More than an hour later, the flying boat reached the northern edge of the marsh. In the distance, they saw a small island two or three kilometers long rising from an endless expanse of water.
The island was covered in luxuriant vegetation. At its center, a faint pillar of spiritual energy rose into the sky. As the flying boat drew closer, they could see wisps of spiritual mist drifting among the dense trees, with indistinct shadows moving back and forth within it.
“This is the place.”
Zhuang Zhuo pointed toward the faint pillar of spiritual energy at the island’s center.
“Gu insects refined near a spirit eye are of somewhat higher quality, and there’s a certain chance of producing premium Gu insects. All of those can be sold for—”
His voice suddenly broke off. His expression changed, and he shouted, “Damn it, someone’s here to take the place!”
Su Yu also saw a Fire Spirit Boat flying in from the distance and stopping above the island.
The Azurewood Boat quickly moved to intercept it, stopping twenty meters away. More than twenty guild members could be seen aboard the Fire Spirit Boat.
Zhuang Zhuo stepped forward and cupped his hands.
“Brothers, we got here first.”
Several people leaped from the Fire Spirit Boat. The one standing in the center looked the four of them up and down before asking, “Newcomers?”
Zhuang Zhuo did not answer directly. With a solemn expression, he said, “According to guild regulations, newly opened areas belong to whoever arrives first. We got here first.”
At that moment, another person jumped down from the Fire Spirit Boat and said with a smile, “You arrived first, but you haven’t actually begun occupying the place. The guild’s first-come, first-served rule means that whoever arrives first and claims the area gets it. It can’t mean that you can run over, point at a location, and declare it yours. Otherwise, I could circle the entire Poison Mist Marsh once and claim every resource site for myself.”
Zhuang Zhuo froze for a moment, then turned to glance at his companions, silently asking their opinion.
Shi Ning stepped forward and asked, “Then what exactly are you suggesting? If it isn’t first come, first served, are you saying the stronger side gets it? That doesn’t seem to comply with guild regulations either.”
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Su Yu said nothing. He would decide what to do after seeing what these people intended.
If they truly meant to seize the place by force, they would certainly report the matter to the guild.
There was nothing inherently wrong with the law of the jungle. That was indeed how the outside world operated. But inside the guild, things were different. There were guild rules.
The two leaders of the opposing group exchanged a smile. One of them said, “First come, first served clearly won’t work. You haven’t even started, so claiming the place would not comply with the rules. But saying that the stronger side gets it doesn’t comply with guild regulations either. If I simply leave, I won’t be satisfied. I have a proposal: let’s settle it the old-fashioned way—with a fight.”
“We won’t bully you. There are several newcomers in our group who joined at the same time as you. Let them compete. Three matches, two victories. The winner takes the place. How about it?”
Zhuang Zhuo frowned.
“We’ll discuss it among ourselves.”
“By all means.”
The four returned to the Azurewood Boat. Zhuang Zhuo asked, “What do you think?”
Gu Zhiqiu immediately shook her head.
“I took a look just now. Among the newcomers aboard their flying boat, two are in the same second tier as Brother Su. We might not be able to win two out of three.”
Everyone frowned.
Seeing this, Su Yu said, “Ask them whether we can change it to a gauntlet match. I only need to defeat two of them.”
The others were taken aback. After a moment of thought, Meng Chen nodded.
“That might be worth trying.”
Gu Zhiqiu and Shi Ning nodded as well.
“We have no other choice. We can only do it that way.”
Once they had made their decision, Zhuang Zhuo immediately went over to negotiate with the other side. Li Hai agreed with a laugh.
“Of course.”
He waved a hand, and several newcomers flew down from the Fire Spirit Boat. One of them stepped forward, clasped his fists, and said, “Li Tianjie. Please enlighten me!”
The four exchanged glances and asked in low voices, “Who goes first?”
“I’ll go first,” Zhuang Zhuo said at once. “I’ll sound out their strength for everyone.”
“Besides, I have twenty-seven Redflame Flying Centipedes. It’s not certain that I’ll lose.”
With that, he stepped forward, raised his Hundred Gu Banner, and waved it. Twenty-seven level-twenty-seven Redflame Flying Centipedes streamed out one after another, circling around him.
His opponent smiled faintly. With a turn of his hand, he produced a silver banner—clearly another Hundred Gu Banner. With a gentle wave, a silver vortex appeared, and a swarm of centipedes with twin wings on their backs flew out and circled around him.
“Redflame Flying Centipedes!”
He was following the same Gu-refining path as Zhuang Zhuo. Even their Gu insects were identical. The only difference was that he had more of them—fifty-six in total—though their levels were slightly lower, at around twenty-four.
Zhuang Zhuo’s expression turned ugly. With twice as many insects on the opposing side, and only a three-level difference between them, he was certain to lose.
He wanted to concede, but if he retreated without fighting in front of his companions, they would surely look down on him afterward. Gritting his teeth, he waved the Hundred Gu Banner, and the two identical swarms of Gu insects collided in a chaotic battle.
“At worst, I’ll buy another batch.”
As the two swarms fought, both men summoned defensive treasures to protect themselves. Zhuang Zhuo took out a third-grade thunder talisman and released a thick bolt of lightning. Li Tianjie, meanwhile, summoned a black gourd and inverted it. Countless black threads flew from the gourd and pounced toward Zhuang Zhuo, pelting his defensive radiance like heavy rain and making it tremble incessantly.
Aside from that, neither side used any other techniques.
Those who followed the Gu-refining path clearly lacked talent in swordsmanship. Anyone with genuine talent for the sword would devote themselves to the Sword Dao, learning at most a few defensive Daoist arts for self-protection. It was impossible for them to take a side path such as Gu refinement.
Both sides were newcomers, and the battle was dull. Neither the thunder talisman nor the black gourd could break through the opponent’s defenses in a short time.
The battle between their Gu insects, however, quickly produced a victor. Relying on his overwhelming numerical advantage, Li Tianjie’s Gu insects soon gained the upper hand, biting Zhuang Zhuo’s Redflame Flying Centipedes to death one after another.
Each time one fell, Zhuang Zhuo’s heart bled.
Still, his flying centipedes possessed a level advantage. For every one of his insects that died, one and a half of his opponent’s had to perish as well.
In only two minutes, six of his twenty-seven Redflame Flying Centipedes had fallen, and the rest were wounded. His opponent had lost only three.
Su Yu narrowed his eyes and watched for a while before saying to Shi Ning and the others, “Tell Brother Zhuang to concede. It wasn’t easy for him to raise this batch of flying centipedes. Letting them all die would be a waste.”
“All right.”