Chapter 276: Chapter 275: No One Could Make it Through More than 6 Levels
""I will surely pass this test."
In the second stone room that Shi Xiaole had passed through, a young boy with a wooden crown was soaked in sweat, frantically swinging his sword, the muscles on his face twitching continuously.
As the two-hour period was about to run out, the boy made ten swift sword strikes on the stone wall, and the stone door was pulled up.
"That was close."
The boy was somewhat scared. He had almost, just barely, failed. The difficulty of this test was far beyond his expectation.
"Does a swordsman at the bottom of the Qingxue State ranking list really need to set such a difficult test?"
At first, the boy had great confidence in himself, but now he admits that he miscalculated. Unless this test is the final one, but it didn’t seem like it.
Upon second thought, the boy started to laugh. What was there to worry about? If even he couldn’t pass, there was no way anyone from Qingxue State could.
The fourth stone room.
"You have a quarter of an hour to defeat the puppet swordsman."
The Sound Recording Stone echoed the instructions.
The puppet swordsman was performing all sorts of third-rate middle-grade sword techniques that Shi Xiaole hadn’t seen before. They attacked in pairs, attacking in rota, pressing down like a milling stone.
Show Xiaole discovered that his internal power was trapped by an invisible Array System. In other words, he had to defeat the enemy purely with his sword technique.
Clang, clang, clang.
The long sword was swung to its limit, sparks were born in the stone room, only to be immediately extinguished by the shadow of the sword.
The puppet swordsman’s strength and speed far exceeded that of ordinary people. Without using internal power, each was almost equivalent to ten peak-stage Human-Sword Integration swordsmen, and they never knew fatigue, their attack power was always kept at a constant level.
Of course, they didn’t have a human swordsman’s mindset and didn’t respond to attacks, overall, their merits and demerits were equal.
Shi Xiaole, whose realm was also at the peak of Human-Sword Integration, fought against ten puppet swordsmen. Various sword moves were layered and intertwined, making bystanders’ eyes dazzle.
Discounting the second-rate sword techniques, Shi Xiaole had learned dozens of third-rate techniques. Along with those learned in the stone chambers, the total number was close to one hundred. During his duel with the puppet swordsmen, he unconsciously displayed these sword techniques.
Clink, clink...
After ten consecutive light sounds, the puppet swordsman froze, and Shi Xiaole advanced to the next challenge.
Like a cycle, the fifth stone room. The sword techniques of the ten puppet swordsmen reached the upper-grade of third-class, and their attack power was twice as high as that of the puppet swordsmen in the fourth stone room. Shi Xiaole’s internal power still couldn’t be used.
The terrifying sword momentum whistled towards him, and it was only when Shi Xiaole raised his Sword Heart to 90% did he barely manage to pass this test.
"Are the tests of the Sword Marquis so difficult?"
Shi Xiaole was somewhat confused.
The era six hundred years ago saw the rise of many heroes, and the strength of the martial arts masters on the ranking list must have been higher than it is now. But could it be that even his current talent was barely sufficient, and even almost failed to meet the requirements of the Sword Marquis?
With doubts, Shi Xiaole entered the sixth stone chamber.
There was only one puppet swordsman.
But the speed and strength of this puppet swordsman were designed to be inconceivable. Shi Xiaole suspected that without using internal power, even swordsmen who had reached 80% Sword Heart would be easily defeated.
With 90% Sword Heart invoked, Shi Xiaole was still oppressed, several times nearly being hit.
The puppet swordsman’s sword technique blurred the concept of third and second-rate. There were no traces in the moves, and all the actions were whimsical, all just for winning and killing.
Shi Xiaole suspected that if his movements were a little slower, he would really be killed! In the face of life-and-death crisis, he was forced to keep up with his opponent’s rhythm.
Repeatedly scratched, blood oozing out again and again, Shi Xiaole’s mind became empty, his eyes contained no world, only the sword techniques he had learned.
Swish, swish, swish.
Shi Xiaole didn’t even realize it himself, his swordsmanship was getting faster and more exquisite. The variety of sword techniques in his hands flowed like clouds and running water, preceding his consciousness.
In the past, although Shi Xiaole had practiced various sword techniques to the highest realm, he lacked the connection and spirituality, like exquisite beads without string, which couldn’t form a bracelet.
But now, it was like he had broken through the shackles of the past. He had gained a brand-new understanding of sword techniques, and his combat skills had also risen to a brand-new realm.
Naturally, Shi Xiaole’s Sword Heart Realm was upgraded from 90% to 95%.
It must be known that when Sword Heart Realm reached 90%, it became extremely difficult to improve. Many talented swordsmen had to endure for decades to complete this last increment.
Ding!
Shi Xiaole’s sword touched the puppet swordsman’s throat, causing it to stop. He had successfully passed the test.
"Not bad, not bad."
A voice completely different from the previous ones came from the Sound Recording Stone.
"I accidentally came to this place and cleared six tests quite boringly, so I asked my servant to increase the difficulty. If you, my friend, can hear this recording, it means you have some ability."
The continuous speech made Shi Xiaole dumbfounded.
What did that mean? The tests he had passed weren’t set up by the Sword Marquis, but they were tampered with halfway through?
Who was this person, his tone so arrogant, who didn’t even value the Sword Marquis, and even seemed to regard Shi Xiaole’s success in his tests as trivial?
"Within the seventh stone chamber, you will find the host’s secret book, and there’s a little gift from me. Friend, please feel free to take them."
The arrogant voice disappeared, making Shi Xiaole smile bitterly several times. Actually, he should be thankful. If it wasn’t for this person increasing the difficulty, his Sword Heart wouldn’t have progressed so quickly.
Entering the passage and arriving in the seventh stone room, Shi Xiaole saw a stone table in the middle at a glance. On it were two bamboo slips covered with dust and a newer-looking iron plate.
The bamboo slips contained the Primordial Life Heart Sutra and Retaining Life Sword Technique.
The former was a second-rate top-grade internal power skill, the latter a second-rate top-grade sword technique. This combination was enough to set off a bloody storm in the martial world of Qingxue State.
According to the information left on the stone table by the Sword Marquis, this was his own martial arts compilation, created in his later years, and it had never been in public.
As for the iron plate, it was left by the person who had tampered with the test, and he also left an explanation on the table.
After careful examination, Shi Xiaole was overjoyed. Sweeping everything on the stone table into the system’s space, following the hint on the stone table, he opened another mechanism.
At the outer perimeter of the fifth level, the martial arts masters were anxiously waiting, while Master Lu and a few others were studying the Array System, trying to break it.
Crack.
Suddenly, the stone tablet in front of the tunnel shattered into pieces on the ground.
"What happened?"
Various martial artists stepped back.
After a brief observation, Master Lu exclaimed, "The Array System has been automatically deciphered."
"So, does it mean we wouldn’t be in danger if we enter?"
The Grand Elder of the Divine Fist Clan swiftly asked.
Master Lu and a few Array System experts inspected through special means once again. After a mutual exchange of gazes, they nodded.
An intense wind-breaking sound suddenly erupted, like a violent storm. Everyone rushed into the tunnel one after another. Luckily, all were of top-notch sects, hence, they restrained themselves, preventing a significant chaos.
"Why are you still here?"
A stone door was automatically pulled up. Inside the first stone chamber, a crowdsaw a number of swordsmen.
These swordsmen were disheartened and originally planned to leave, but they changed their minds after finding out that the Array System was broken. They decided to follow the crowd.
In the second stone chamber, Guan Fei, Xue Changqing, and Yue Tianlin were struggling.
The first to open his eyes was Yue Tianlin, his face showing defeat.
Then, Guan Fei and Xue Changqing also stopped practicing their sword moves one after another.
"Changqing, how did it go?"
Xue Yuanping asked.
"In one 2-hour period, I had to master ten different mid-class third-rate swordsmanship techniques to the level of Spirit Integration. I couldn’t make it."
Xue Changqing’s words stunned everyone.
Are you kidding me? Is this really a challenge any human can overcome?
"Hahahaha..."
The old man in black suddenly burst out laughing, "My young master is truly extraordinary, not something ordinary people can compare to."
Only then did people realize that they hadn’t seen the young man with the wooden crown. Had he already passed this level?
"Damn it!"
Guan Fei clenched his fists, his face turning pale. Today’s scene dealt another blow to his pride, no less severe than the strange battle in the bamboo forest.
Xue Changqing pursed his lips without uttering a word. His past arrogance had been worn away, and although he now knew the gap between himself and others, he wouldn’t give up.
Many people started to record ten sets of sword maneuvers displayed on the wall. Even though top powers don’t lack third-rate swordsmanship, no one would refuse having more. Accumulating resources is a slow process.
Finally, inside the third stone room, the young man with the wooden crown was discovered. He looked like he had barely survived, as if he had just been fished out of the water. When they discovered the challenge of that level, everyone was dumbfounded.
"Impossible, even the top martial artists of the Wind Dust List six hundred years ago couldn’t have designed such an insane level of difficulty. Obviously they didn’t want anyone to pass."
The Floating Rain Pavilion’s Grand Elder, an attractive woman like Xiao Yutong, gasped in shock.
"Yes, even if the Sword Marquis of the Tianbao period were to come himself, he might not be able to pass."
"I just don’t understand why the Array System broke down out of nowhere?"
The crowd murmured, paused for a while, and moved on to the next room.
The fourth level.
The fifth level.
The sixth level.
As there was no challenger, people could only see nothing but the puppet swordsmen. They couldn’t figure out the exact content of the test, but they could imagine that it was definitely more terrifying and insane than the first three levels.
Interestingly, the experts from the Mechanism Pavilion were fascinated by these puppets, and they were very excited, even more so than if they had seen peerless beauties.
"Hold on, look at the positions and movements of these puppet swordsmen, doesn’t it seem like they’ve been in a battle before?"
A middle-aged man standing in front of Xu Canghai startled the crowd with his comment. He was the leader of the Xu family this time, the cousin of Xu Beihe, the head of the family.
"Xu, are you joking? The swordsmen who entered here earlier only reached the third level at most. Were these puppet swordsmen fighting each other?"
The elder of the Bali family sneered, clearly not accepting his words.
"Could someone have gotten this far before?"
Xu Beihe’s cousin frowned.
"Impossible, at least not among those I know of. No one could have passed these consecutive six levels."
An old man with white beard responded while stroking his beard. He was the leader of the Nangong Aristocratic family. Well-traveled and experienced, his words held credibility.
Everyone nodded silently.
Considering the talent of the young man with the wooden crown, few in Qingxue State could compete with him. Even he failed the third level, it was hard to believe anyone could pass six consecutive levels.
In the crowd, Chou Wuji and Elder Rong exchanged glances, both seeing a kind of incredulous shock in each other’s eyes.
There was also a man and a woman, a man dressed in green clothes and a woman in a lily-pleated skirt, both showing shocked expressions as if they had thought of something.
They knew more than others. Before everybody else, one person had climbed to the fifth level.
Could it be...
"Let’s go check out the next stone chamber."
The Grand Elder of Divine Fist Clan motioned, and everyone set off together.
