Chapter 628: Falling Leaf Sword Dao
While Zhou Ziyun chatted with Little Devil Tang Liang, the rest of the participants of this morning's session of the Great Dao Preaching Convention arrived before the starting time. There were forty-two of them in total, all striving to provide their knowledge of cultivation and understanding of Dao. They were all youthful, in their twenties, and eager to display their talent.
The last of the four geniuses had made it as well. Brilliant Blue Ming Yuqi, she matched every bit of her reputation and even more. She was exceedingly beautiful and elegant, a queen among princesses. There was an aura about her, even though she was sitting down. It was as if she was blessed with a heavenly halo at birth.
Zhou Ziyun instantly disliked her. She wasn't usually the jealous type but she felt a sense of inferiority because the two of them had similar stature and figure. They carried themselves in the same way and gave others a familiar feeling. If one squinted from a distance, they could be confused as twins. But up close, the superior one was immediately obvious because Ming Yuqi had the face of a beauty capable of toppling whole provinces, perhaps even a subcontinent.
She was this generation's Long Yifei. Perhaps fewer people knew about her because she was still young and had not left her sect or the metropolis to make a name for herself. But at the age of twenty-four and already at the 8th Level of the Spirit Initiate Realm, she was well on her way.
After the commotion of Ming Yuqi's arrival, the competition formally began. An announcer utilizing a powerful voice modification art started hyping up the crowd for this morning's events. At the same time, each participant was given a booklet that contained the first test.
Zhou Ziyun opened to the first page. Everyone else did so as well in silence. Participants were not allowed to talk or help each other.
The booklet contained a sword art called the Falling Leaf Sword Dao. There was little chance of any of the participants having encountered it before. The art came from a province that was chosen at random. And within that province, one was chosen at random from the countless mortal sects that populated the vast land.
Zhou Ziyun flipped through the booklet and tried to understand its contents. There were fifty or so pages of diagrams that depicted how one should carry out the ten sword stances and various offensive and defensive routines. There were also another fifty pages of meditative chants for one to cultivate their sword Dao.
In terms of depth, it was about average. In terms of strength, it was also about average. It was about as generic of a sword art as one could find. It was comparable to the Six Meridians Demon Blight sword style that she had concocted a while ago. If one said improving such a sword art like Fallen Leaf Sword Dao was difficult, then it would be a lie. However, if one said it was easy, then it would also be a lie. All in all, it was the perfect test for young cultivators and budding geniuses.
Zhou Ziyun glanced up and around at her competition. A few had relaxed expressions like her. Huang Yaoying and Ming Yuqi had already closed their booklets, fully confident in their abilities. Deng Lun was still studying seriously while the impish Tang Liang was drawing funny faces on the ground with her shoes, not taking this seriously at all.
The study period of half an hour ended. The crowd was still buzzing from the expert storytelling ability of the host. As the gong sounded, the participants all looked up as the arena roared in approval.
They all watched as ten sword cultivators arrived in the center of the meadow. They wore the same outfits and carried slender, long swords. They came from the Falling Leaf Sect, the one that created the sword style being examined.
The ten, a mix of men and women of a variety of ages formed a straight line and faced the participants. Their cultivations were also a mix that varied from the high Mind Focusing Realm levels to the lower Spirit Initiate Realm levels.
The oldest among them took a half step forward and spoke, "The Falling Leaf Sect thanks the Immortal Association and the Eastern Sanmu Metropolis for hosting this Great Dao Preaching Convention. We feel a thousand fortunes at the opportunity to present our sect's prime sword art. I hope we will not let these young geniuses down with our crude swordplay."
The bearded man then nodded to his compatriots and rejoined the line. All ten then drew their swords at the same time and formed the first stance.
"Hei!" With a unified shout, they began the demonstration.
Like a choreographed dance, polished steel blades flicked and twirled as they fought invisible enemies. After the first offensive routine, they immediately transitioned into a defensive one before moving on to the next stance.
These people were the elders and senior disciples of the sect. They had practiced the Falling Leaf Sword Dao to perfect, or what they thought it was. All ten had nearly identical movements. Only those at the Mind Focusing Realm lacked the sword energy of the rest but they still exuded ample sword intent.
Zhou Ziyun watched the display with great interest. Her eyes darted from one person to the next, catching every detail. She called upon her understanding of sword Dao, recalling spars she had with Wu Qianyu in the past and even Peng Lingxi recently. She melded her experiences and those of her sisters with what she was seeing before her.
She then added the text and diagrams of the Falling Leaf Sword Dao to the mix, creating a mighty swirl of knowledge in her mind. Mental energy surged through her. Time seemed to slow as images of countless swords appeared in her inner eye. Somehow, she fell into a state akin to a trance.
Eventually, the demonstration came to an end. The ten sword cultivators recovered their breath and bowed respectfully. After a few polite words, the announcer's voice came back with booming might.
"What a wonderful display of the sword. Now, ladies and gentlemen, cultivators of the metropolis and guests from the provinces, let's listen to these talented youths preach the Great Dao!" There was another round of cheering and applause before the host continued, "Now, who will be brave enough to be first? Will it be Prince Huang Yaoying or Brilliant Blue Ming Yuqi, two of the brightest the metropolis has to offer and future candidates to lead their sects? Or will it be Deng Lun, the Gentle Scholar, and Little Devil Tang Liang that will awe us with their impeccable minds? Let us find out now!"
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