Chapter 67: Chapter 65: The Saber-Bearing Youth
At the far end of Ice Dragon Valley, snow blanketed the ground and the wind was biting cold.
It was surrounded by a forest of icy peaks, with a towering Dragon Blood Altar in the center.
The Dragon Blood Altar was formed from blood-red ice. It was hundreds of yards high, circular in shape, and dozens of miles in diameter.
From its summit, one could overlook the countless icy peaks of Ice Dragon Valley.
The surface of the Dragon Blood Altar was not empty and flat; instead, an ancient, majestic Ice Palace stood at its center.
A straight, snow-covered road led to the Ice Palace, flanked by rows of tall ice trees. It was the season for the ice flowers to be in full bloom, and they hung from the branches in beautiful, dreamlike clusters.
Faint Ice Dragon Spiritual Power swirled around these blooming flowers. Cultivating under the ice trees for an extended period would be immensely beneficial for one’s Cultivation.
However, Ice Dragon Valley was only open for four days, making it impossible to cultivate here for long.
The Dragon Blood Altar had been peaceful for countless years, but today, that peace was shattered.
A young man with an Ancient Saber strapped to his back strode along the path lined with ice-flower trees. He kept his back hunched, seemingly struggling under the great weight of the saber. Even in this world of ice, beads of sweat dotted his brow.
At a glance, the young man appeared plain and ordinary, utterly inconspicuous among the crowd of powerful young geniuses around him.
"Kid, you can barely even carry that Ancient Saber. I’d say you should just give up. The Ice Dragon Flower isn’t something a commoner can obtain. With a scrawny frame like yours, if you actually got into a fight, I bet you’d be hacked to pieces before you could even draw your blade."
A young man at the Innate First Realm remarked, prompting a wave of ridicule from the crowd.
A burly, fleshy-faced man swaggered up to the boy and boomed, "A little pipsqueak who’s still wet behind the ears dares to come here and compete for the Ice Dragon Flower? How young and foolish. That Ancient Saber of yours looks pretty nice. Why don’t you let Master Li here hold onto it for you?"
Master Li’s words were dripping with malice, inciting another round of boisterous laughter from the crowd. But the boy remained hunched over, dragging his heavy feet forward as if he hadn’t heard a thing.
Seeing this scrawny bumpkin dare to ignore him, Master Li felt utterly humiliated.
Just then, another young man jeered, "Master Li, looks like your words don’t carry much weight! Even a kid who’s still wet behind the ears can just ignore you!"
The group continued along the path between the ice trees, heckling all the while, clearly eager to stir up some chaos.
Everyone knew the youth was deliberately goading him, but Master Li fell for it hook, line, and sinker. With a sinister grin, his large hand shot out to grab the Ancient Saber from the boy’s back.
"Give it here!"
Master Li bellowed, fully expecting the Ancient Saber to slide from its sheath. To his shock, however, the weapon didn’t move an inch, remaining firmly on the boy’s back.
The boy had stopped walking, but he remained hunched over, still looking as if he were in great distress. He said nothing.
"Master Li, you can’t even draw an Ancient Saber? What’s wrong, did you skip breakfast? How pathetic!"
Seeing that Master Li was actually unable to draw the Ancient Saber, everyone began to jeer.
At that moment, however, Master Li didn’t hear the crowd’s taunts at all. He had truly used all his strength, but the Ancient Saber hadn’t budged in the slightest.
"I don’t believe this!"
At this, Master Li flew into a rage. Unleashing his full Cultivation, he yanked with all his might at the Ancient Saber on the boy’s back.
SNAP!
The Ancient Saber still hadn’t been drawn, but Master Li had ripped the entire weapon, scabbard included, off the boy’s back.
But then, the color drained from Master Li’s face. He suddenly felt the Ancient Saber in his hands become as heavy as a mountain. He couldn’t hold it at all, and it slipped from his grasp to the ground.
BOOM!
The ground trembled. Then, the crowd witnessed an astonishing sight: the fallen Ancient Saber, still sheathed, had sunk deep into the hard ice, burying itself all the way to the hilt.
’What just happened? That saber...!’
People on the path exchanged sideways glances. Master Li’s face was ashen. The boy remained hunched over, staring at the ground...
The world fell silent, the atmosphere strange. But just at that moment, the surrounding ice trees began to tremble. The ice flowers hanging from their branches rained down, shattering and withering away.
"When my flower blooms, all others perish... The Ice Dragon Flower is about to bloom!"
It’s unclear who shouted, but everyone raised their heads to look toward the distant Ice Hall.
In that instant, the boy suddenly straightened his back. A shocking aura erupted from him, and an invisible Sword Qi blasted everyone within five meters away.
Master Li’s body, as if struck by lightning, was sent flying by the invisible Sword Qi. He coughed up a torrent of blood before landing dozens of yards away, his fate unknown.
At that moment, the crowd finally got a clear look at the boy’s face. It was an ordinary, pale face, and he looked drained of energy. But his eyes... they were like an unsharpened Ancient Saber: archaic, heavy, their sharp edge hidden beneath a dull surface!
"The Ice Dragon Flower... it’s finally blooming? I’ll cut down anyone who dares to challenge me for it!"
In that moment, where was the plain and ordinary boy from before? Who would dare to laugh at him now? Who would dare say he was still wet behind the ears?
Master Li’s fate was a perfect example!
As the crowd stared in terror and shock, the boy stood tall, exuding the invincible aura of an Ancient Saber about to be drawn. He beckoned with a single hand.
WHOOSH!
The Ancient Saber buried in the ice shot skyward and into his grasp. The next moment, his figure appeared a hundred yards away, arriving before the Ice Palace...
At the same time, all along the paths between the ice trees, powerful auras erupted, their owners rushing rapidly toward the Ice Palace.
"The Ice Dragon Flower blooms with seven petals once a millennium! It belongs to me! I’ll kill anyone who dares block my path to the Grandmaster realm!"
"I’m at the Innate Fourth Realm Perfect Realm! Who here is qualified to challenge me for it?"
"I’ll get my hands on an Ice Spirit Flower this time, even if it costs me my life!"
...
On the Dragon Blood Altar, declarations from the powerful rang out as everyone charged toward the Ice Palace at top speed.
The other Spirit Cultivators were not to be outdone, using their Spirit Cultivation Step Technique to advance.
Although they had no hope of competing for the Ice Dragon Flower, there were bound to be other treasures inside the Ice Palace, and they certainly weren’t going to miss the opportunity.
After everyone else had entered the Ice Palace, a lone figure finally arrived. The Dragon Blood Altar was now deserted, but as he moved forward, he spotted Master Li, who had been wounded by the Sword Qi.
He was sitting cross-legged under an ice tree, his face deathly pale, circulating his energy to heal himself.
In the end, the saber-wielding boy had not dealt a fatal blow, sparing his life. But a sliver of Sword Qi remained inside his body, one that would likely plague him for the rest of his life, never to be erased.
As Jiang Jichen passed by, he could feel an astonishing, ancient Sword Intent rippling through the air.
’This kind of Sword Qi has appeared as well. First, it was the aura of the Azure Heaven Skill, and now the Celestial Blade Intent... Could it be that a great age is dawning?’
Jiang Jichen did not linger, quickly rushing toward the Ice Palace.
And just at that moment, a draconic shadow suddenly burst forth from the distant Ice Palace. It soared into the sky, its roar shaking the world!
One petal blooms, one dragon soars—this was the sign that the Ice Dragon Flower had finished unfurling its first petal.
