Guo Nanshan had just entered the State of Free Travel, so he couldn't control his sword properly from a mile away.
Guo's sword was destroyed at such a long distance, but the distance didn't mean his wounds were any less severe.
"Shameless!"
The disciples of Liangwang Peak were extremely angry as they took off upon their swords.
Dozens of sword lights illuminated the stone forest, making their way to the western end of the stone forest to fight Jing Jiu.
Chi Yan rode his sword to the top of the stone forest, waving his sleeves.
A swordsman of the State of Free Travel attacked, overpowering the young disciples.
A sudden gust of strong wind caused their sword lights to wobble and weaken, so the disciples had to retreat to the cliff.
"What are you doing?" Chi Yan bellowed sternly. "Do you want me to punish you in accordance with the rules of the sect?"
The disciples of Liangwang Peak were too angry to listen.
Guo Nanshan looked at these young brothers and sisters, wiping off the blood from the corners of his mouth. "I was careless. It's not his fault."
It was eerily quiet on the cliff.
Many people stared at Jing Jiu.
Their emotions were complicated. Some were hateful, and some were angry, but most of them felt shocked.
Jing Jiu had done something unimaginable.
He picked Liangwang Peak as his opponent, showed that he was now in the State of the Undefeated, and defeated Ma Hua with ease.
And then he defeated Gu Han, who was ranked third on Liangwang Peak.
The most shocking part was that he had broken Guo Nanshan's sword!
Jing Jiu's hands had been the crucial factor.
He had closed his palms together to squeeze Guo Nanshan's sword.
The reason Gu Han dared to use the Locking Autumn by Cold Well was that his Cultivation state was much higher than Jing Jiu's, so it was reasonable to use such a dominating fighting method.
But Jing Jiu's Cultivation state was much lower than Guo Nanshan's, so why did he dare do so?
It couldn't be explained by courage alone.
Regardless of the Locking Autumn by Cold Well or the Benevolent Hands of the Fruit Formation Temple, to lock a flying sword with two bare hands required the Sword Source to be activated beforehand.
Jing Jiu knew Guo Nanshan would send out his sword, and had predicted the exact time of his incoming sword, so he had been waiting for it!
This fighting method was unthinkable. After the disciples calmed down and recalled the details of the fight, they couldn't help but feel dreadful, though they couldn't pinpoint which part was actually dreadful.
The peak masters and Chi Yan saw the battles and also understood them very well. Jing Jiu had relied on his predictions of the battle conditions to defeat Gu Han.
He had taken Gu Han's personality and possible responses, the distances between the stone posts and the location of the cliff walls into account, and had even taken Guo Nanshan's reaction into consideration.
So Guo Nanshan was defeated even before he had even wielded his sword.
Such powers of prediction…
With the mountain breeze ruffling his white eyebrows, the Peak Master of Xilai pondered. Jing Jiu would actually be able to challenge Tong Yan on the chess board at next year's Plum Meeting.
All those who witnessed the sword fights had to admit that Jing Jiu demonstrated superior sword strength and Cultivation prowess, but many disciples were still not quite convinced.
Especially the disciples of Tianguang Peak and Liangwang Peak.
They felt it was unfair for Guo Nanshan.
Guo Nanshan was the principal disciple of the Sect Master and the top disciple of Liangwang Peak, and had a high reputation among his peers.
Today was the first time he demonstrated the power of his State of Free Travel.
Even if Jing Jiu had a rare talent for swordsmanship, how could he be an equal to Guo Nanshan in combat?
Many disciples believed that Jing Jiu would have been dead already if their Big Brother hadn't forcefully halted his sword, as he didn't want to hurt Jing Jiu.
Jing Jiu should have been grateful for it, but instead he took the advantage of the situation. He truly was shameless.
However, they didn't realize that it had become a battle of two against one when Guo Nanshan got involved, though he wanted to save Gu Han.
"Before I call 'stop', nobody is allowed to draw their sword. Otherwise, it's a violation of the rules. And worst of all, he attacked a senior master from behind."
Chi Yan looked at the angry disciples. "Shangde Peak will not charge him for offending a senior, considering his attempt to save a colleague," he said sternly.
Having heard this, many of the disciples realized the seriousness of the situation, but felt even more irritated.
Jing Jiu was not a regular disciple participating in the Sword Trial.
He was a senior master.
Though Gu Han was badly wounded, his life wasn't in any danger. After some simple treatments, he was brought back to the arena by his young brothers.
"If you think you are so invincible, you should have come out when Liu Shisui was in trouble," Gu Han said angrily to Jing Jiu.
"I came out at that time, but it looks like you were not quite prepared for the outcome," Jing Jiu retorted.
This remark received more angry gazes.
Zhao Layue stood up.
A glowing light-blue precious orb fell down from the sky, which came from the far end of the Green Mountain Formation, and arrived at Zhao Layue's side. She grabbed it and put it in her sleeve.
"Shenmo Peak wants one spot for the Plum Meeting."
Having said that, Zhao Layue and Jing Jiu took off, riding her sword.
The red sword light drew a pencil-like straight line, heading toward Shenmo Peak.
By dusk, the Sword Trial of Green Mountain was over.
Yao Songshan and other eight disciples were qualified to take part in next year's Plum Meeting.
The last remaining spot was of course Jing Jiu's, though he didn't stay till the end.
Zhao Layue had requested the spot as the Peak Master of Shenmo, and Jing Jiu had defeated Gu Han in a fair fight. Everyone had to admit that he was absolutely qualified to represent the Green Mountain Sect at next year's Plum Meeting.
The masters and disciples of the peaks gradually dispersed. All of a sudden, the sky was filled with rays of sword light. The sunset looked as if it were being sliced into countless red ribbons.
But a few peak masters stayed behind.
It was quiet on the stone platform, illuminated by the sunset.
As the principal disciple of the Sect Master and the top disciple of Liangwang Peak, Guo Nanshan had a high status in the Green Mountain Sect, even higher than the regular elders.
The methods that Jing Jiu had used to hurt Guo meant that he had to pay for what he had done, even though he had a status of senior master.
Currently only four young people and a bunch of monkeys were on Shenmo Peak, so they didn't have so much power in the Green Mountains.
The peak masters didn't express any opinions, and wanted to protect Jing Jiu. Earlier, Tianguang Peak had kept silent as well, not to mention Elder Me, who had appreciated Jing Jiu all along. Bai Rujing didn't say anything either.
There was only one explanation for it.
They realized that for the Green Mountain Sect, Jing Jiu was more important than Gu Han, and even more important than Guo Nanshan.
Though Jing Jiu was excellent at employing various sword methods and had superior powers of prediction, he had to have actual, tangible skills to achieve what he had done today, which was beyond everybody's expectation.
Even now, those peak masters still couldn't forget two scenes from the earlier battles.
One was Jing Jiu squeezing the sword with his two bare hands.
The other scene was when Jing Jiu suddenly disappeared from the stone post and reappeared in an instant in front of Gu Han while he was locking Jing Jiu's sword.
These peak masters were important figures of the Green Mountain Sect, and they had seen many geniuses and unimaginable things in their long Cultivation careers. But why were they so impressed by those two scenes and yet so cautious? Because they had noticed a detail in those scenes.
When Jing Jiu stepped on air and appeared in front of Gu Han, his fluttering clothes and even the strands of his hair emitted rays of sword light.
"Was it…the Sword Body?"
There was a hint of hesitation in the voice of the Peak Master of Yunxing, as he wasn't sure about his assessment.
There had been a conjecture in the Cultivation circle. If the Sword Pill in a practitioner didn't combine with the flying sword, but combined with the practitioner himself, what would happen?
This question had no answer but merely a conjecture: the result would be the Sword Body.