Chapter 206: Moderation
After the eighth person stepped down, a seductive figure took his place.
It was a gorgeous white-robed woman with an extremely alluring figure, but her expression was as cold as ice.
She began to chant an incantation while making a series of hand seals, and rays of white light began to spread from her body like flowing water, forming a ball of white light that began revolving on the spot.
In the next instant, she suddenly switched to a different hand seal, and the ball of white light around her split up into three before surging into three stone swords at once.
Everyone was quite surprised by this approach, and they were looking on intently to see whether she would be able to successfully raise three stone swords at once.
Dazzling white light was glowing around the white-robed woman as she chanted a rapid incantation while flashing through a string of lightning-fast hand seals.
A white halo appeared around each stone sword, wrapping around their blades before lifting them up from the ground.
The three stone swords shuddered in unison, and it appeared that they were about to rise up into the air at once.
However, immediately thereafter, the patterns on the surfaces of the stone swords began to radiate dazzling black light, which pierced into the surrounding white light like sharp swords themselves.
The three white halos flashed erratically, but were able to withstand the assault and slowly lift the three stone swords up from the ground, much to everyone's amazement.
Someone had finally managed to control three of the stone swords at once!
Han Li was also quite impressed.
He recognized this woman as one of the non-native elders, and as a result, all of the elders who were exclaiming in amazement and approval were all formerly itinerant cultivators, while the native elders were far from impressed.
Instead, they felt as if they were being outmatched by the opposing faction, and it was far from a good feeling.
Three swords was clearly already the white-robed woman's limit, but she still attempted to control a fourth sword.
However, as soon as a fourth white halo appeared around the fourth stone swords, all four stone swords began to resonate once again, releasing black light that was far brighter than before and tore the white halos apart with ease.
"Three stone swords," Xiong Shan announced with a slight nod.
The woman heaved a faint sigh of relief, then stepped away from the stone swords.
The trial continued, and with the example set by the white-robed woman, everyone seemed to have been inspired, with the subsequent elders putting up better and better results. Out of the next dozen or so elders, three of them were ultimately managed to control three swords, one of whom was a non-native elder, while the other two were both from the opposing faction of native elders.
Even though this was only a trial, both sides were still treating this as a competition, but they were more reserved than they otherwise would've been had Xiong Shan not been present, only extending some quiet words of praise and encouragement to members of their respective factions.
At the moment, the two factions were evenly matched.
Xiong Shan was aware of the competition that was taking place, but he had no interest in which side was going to come out on top.
All of a sudden, a thought occurred to Qi Liang, and he closed his eyes, seemingly having been struck by a moment of enlightenment.
A few moments later, his eyes abruptly sprang open again, and an excited look had appeared on his face.
Having observed the proceedings up to this point and taken Han Li's subtle pieces of advice onboard, he was now confident that he would be able to lift three stone swords.
Han Li took a meaningful glance at Qi Liang, then cautioned through voice transmission, "Three swords alone may not be able to guarantee your selection. If you want to ensure that you'll claim a spot, you'll have to go a step beyond that."
"I'm well aware of that, but controlling four stone swords is far too difficult. Given my current level of mastery in sword manipulation, I may not be able to pull off such a feat even if I cultivate arduously for another 1,000 years," Qi Liang replied with a wry smile.
"There's no need to truly lift the fourth sword. All you have to do is use some tricks to put up a performance that's better than the other three sword elders," Han Li said, giving Qi Liang another vital tip.
Qi Liang's eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this, and he fell into deep thought once again.
While the two of them were conversing with one another, most of the elders had already undertaken the trial. The number of three sword elders had reached seven at this point, four of which were native elders, while only three were non-native.
The native elders were naturally quite pleased with this, and they were looking at the opposing faction with a hint of derision in their eyes, while the non-native elders were clearly not so happy.
Up to this point, no one had been able to control four stone swords.
"It looks like there's far more to this set of Origin Defying Stone Swords than meets the eye, Deputy Dao Lord Xiong. Allow me to give it a go," Zhu Feng said as he suddenly stepped forward and cupped his fist in a salute toward Xiong Shan.
Xiong Shan was clearly displaying a different attitude toward Zhu Feng compared with the other elders, and there was a hint of anticipation in his voice as he said, "I wasn't the one who invented these Origin Defying Stone Swords. Instead, they're a type of special treasure formerly used by the vastly renowned Boundless Sword Sect of the Northern Glacial Immortal Region to examine the level of sword mastery of its members.
“I managed to obtain them by chance, and it took me a great deal of effort to refine them. It's said that only those who have reached the very pinnacle of sword mastery will be able to control all 10 swords at once. You possess a good level of sword mastery, try and see if you can reach the four sword level."
"I'll do my best," Zhu Feng replied in a respectful voice.
Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon hearing mention of the Boundless Sword Sect.
Through his past readings, he had learned that this was an ancient sword cultivating sect that championed the way of the sword above all else, and an avid proponent of the idea that a single sword was all that was required to defeat even the most formidable of foes.
What was quite special about this sect was that it had extremely few members, never exceeding 10 members at a time, thereby making it a very mysterious organization.
The reason why the sect was so renowned was because its sect master, the Boundless Daoist, had left behind countless stories of legendary victories across the entire Northern Glacial Immortal Region.
However, for some reason, the sect suddenly fell into obscurity over 1,000,000 years ago, and it had completely disappeared at this point.
As these thoughts were running through Han Li's mind, Zhu Feng had already sprung into action as bright blue light erupted out of his entire body.
Countless thin blue threads then shot forth from his body, while waves of blue light proliferated outward in all directions, and the entire Heavenly Sword Peak was instantly enveloped by an incredibly sharp burst of sword intent.
Everyone present felt as if there were countless tiny blades piercing and slicing to their skin, while a bone-chilling sensation reached straight into the deepest parts of their hearts.
This amount of sword intent naturally felt like nothing more than a gentle spring breeze to Han Li, but Qi Liang abruptly shuddered as he was snapped back to his senses, and a hint of anger flashed through his eyes.
He was on the verge of grasping onto something after receiving those tips from Han Li, but he had been cut off at the most crucial juncture.
Qi Liang took a glance at the situation unfolding before him, then gave a cold harrumph before closing his eyes again as he continued to meditate.
Meanwhile, Zhu Feng was making a string of hand seals, sending countless blue threads sweeping through the air before surging into three of the stone swords at once.
The three stone swords trembled in unison before slowly rising up into the air.
Bright black light erupted from the stone swords in an attempt to struggle free from the blue threads, but the threads were extremely resolute, remaining firmly intact despite the vehement resistance.
There was a serious look on Zhu Feng's face, but he didn't appear to have been under much strain, and he opened his mouth to release another plume of thin blue threads that wrapped themselves around a fourth stone sword.
The four stone swords lit up in unison as streaks of black sword qi were released, slicing viciously against the blue threads.
Most of the blue sword threads were instantly severed, and Zhu Feng's complexion instantly paled as he gave a muffled groan.
As opposed to just ordinary sword threads, these threads were formed by a combination of his essential energy and spiritual power. Hence, the damage inflicted upon them was reciprocated straight to his soul.
Even though most of the blue threads had been severed, there were still some that were clinging on stubbornly, and a sharp gleam flashed through Zhu Feng's eyes as he let loose a loud roar.
The remaining threads instantly began to radiate dazzling blue light before latching onto the fourth stone sword, lifting it out of the ground and into the air.
In the next instant, streaks of black sword qi that were even more formidable than the previous ones emerged, severing all of the remaining blue threads with ease.
Zhu Feng's complexion paled even further as he threw up a mouthful of blood, but an excited look had appeared on his face.
Even though it was only for a moment, he really had managed to control four stone swords.
"With each additional Origin Defying Stone Sword, the difficulty increases by tenfold. Even though it was quite forced, you have reached the four sword level, which is already quite impressive, given the amount of time that you've been cultivating for," Xiong Shan said with an approving nod.
"Thank you for your kind praise, Deputy Dao Lord Xiong," Zhu Feng said as he cupped his fist in a gleeful salute.
"Next," Xiong Shan said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
Zhu Feng stepped away before swallowing a pill, and his complexion quickly recovered.
As soon as he stepped away, he was immediately surrounded by all of the other native elders who showered him with praise.
In stark contrast, the non-native elders were looking far from pleased, feeling as if they were being outmatched by their competition.
The trial continued, and there were fewer than 10 elders left. However, having observed the proceedings for so long, all of the remaining elders had developed some insight into how best to conduct the trial, and it didn't take long before three more elders capable of controlling three swords emerged, two of which were from the non-native elders' camp.
Thus, each side had five three sword elders, but thanks to Zhu Feng's four sword performance, the native elders held a clear edge.
Qi Liang's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this. If he wanted to be selected, then he would have to go beyond just a three sword performance.
Right at this moment, Han Li's voice rang out from beside him. "I'll go take my turn now, Brother Qi."
"Given your powers, this trial is definitely no problem for you. If possible, please attempt a fourth sword to show those other elders what we're made of," Qi Liang replied through voice transmission.
"I'll do my best," Han Li said with a wry smile.
He then took a deep breath, seemingly to steel himself before striding toward the stone swords.
Having observed the proceedings up to this point, his concern wasn't that he wouldn't be able to control enough swords to be selected. Instead, he was worried about attracting too much attention if he were to control too many swords.
In the face of Xiong Shan, who was at the pinnacle of the True Immortal, he had to exercise moderation in order to not stand out excessively.
Xiong Shan faltered slightly at the sight of Han Li, following which a hint of recognition appeared in his eyes. Prior to this, he hadn't noticed Han Li in the crowd.
Thinking back to the pitiful aptitude that Han Li had displayed back at the Ostentatious Palace, Xiong Shan averted his gaze with a derisive look on his face.
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