The two disciples stood on top of the stone posts that were about one thousand feet apart.
The younger disciple was from Bihu Peak in the upper State of Inherited Will.
The middle-aged disciple was from Tianguang Peak, the second disciple of Elder Me one who had entered the Undefeated State a long time ago.
The state disparity was hard to make up for; it was a very rare event when Jing Jiu defeated Gu Qing at the Stream of Sword Washing three years ago.
The flying swords of the disciples who had entered the State of Inherited Will could move around freely within one hundred yards, but the killing range for the disciples of the Undefeated State was many times greater.
As a rule, the disciple of Bihu Peak had no chance of winning, but he couldn’t just give up.
A bright flash of sword light arrived at his side, having moved over three hundred yards.
The disciple of Bihu Peak couldn’t counterattack, so he had no choice but to ride his sword, dodging the incoming sword by a mere inch as he flew toward his opponent as fast as he could, his Sword Source spinning just as fast.
He had to get close to his opponent so his flying sword would be able to use its potential power.
The bright flash of sword light returned, heading toward him again.
The disciple of Bihu Peak rode his sword into the clouds beneath the stone forest, once again barely dodging the thrusting flying sword.
That bright sword light traveled against the stone post, scratching it as chips of stone fell down like the raindrops.
Seeing this, many surprised cries rang out from the bottom of the stone forest.
The crowd appreciated the courage of this Bihu Peak disciple, but also was worried about his safety.
It was very dangerous to travel among the stone posts while riding the sword with almost no visibility caused the enshrouding clouds, meaning he could collide with a stone post any time.
"He’s coming!" someone yelled suddenly.
A budge appeared in the clouds.
The Bihu Peak disciple came out from the clouds, riding his sword. He was about thirty yards away from the Big Brother of Tianguang Peak, with some shreds of clouds and even vague lightning blanketing him.
He had concentrated all his Sword Source while he was in the clouds, ready to exert the last lethal attack!
The Tianguang Peak disciple knew of his intention, a sign of appreciation flickering in his eyes; however, he wasn’t worried. By closing his two fingers, his sword attacked again.
The bright sword light suddenly appeared above the clouds, as if it had been there the whole time.
The Bihu Peak disciple didn’t have enough time to react, so he turned his flying sword around forcefully, ultimately colliding into a stone post.
There was a thud, though the stone post didn’t move a tiny bit, but the collision left the disciple with a bloody face as he fell to the ground, unconscious.
Before his master could come to his rescue, the disciple of Tianguang Peak rode his sword downward and caught him before dropping into the clouds.
The cheers rang out in the peaks.
The Sword Trial was now in the middle sages. So far, the disciples of Tianguang Peak and Bihu Peak performed the best. Similar to the past trials, the performance of Yunxing Peak was acceptable; the disciples of Xilai Peak and Shiyue Peak were not very good at sword fighting, so they had only won three fights. It was a bit surprising that Qingrong Peak didn’t perform so well this year, as the seven disciples all lost to their opponents.
The masters of Shiyue Peak were treating the wounded disciples. Though the wounded felt somewhat disappointed, their expressions were mostly upbeat. The winners didn’t display any proud emotions, as it was a fight between the disciples of the same sect. Besides, the disciples of Liangwang Peak hadn’t come out yet, except for Yao Songshan.
Next, a tal
l figure stepped into the stone forest, causing some discussion around the stone forest.
This tall disciple was Jian Ruoshan, ranked forty-sixth on Liangwang Peak, the younger brother of a more famous figure on Liangwang Peak, Jian Ruoyun.
Jian Ruoyun was ranked fourth on Liangwang Peak, a strong swordsman of the third generation who had a high Cultivation state in sword word and who was respected by his peers.
Two years ago, Liu Shisui had fallen unconscious by the Muddy River and sent back to the Green Mountain. Jian Ruoyun, as the leader of the team, was punished by Shangde Peak for his insufficient supervision, locked up in the stone room for half a year. Many people thought it was unwarranted to punish him so severely. Liu Shisui was suspected to have eaten the Dace Devil’s Pill secretly, since he had woken up from the coma. So the disciples felt Jian Ruoyun shouldn’t be punished at all, feeling indignant.
Jian Ruoshan’s Cultivation state was not as high as his big brother, but he shouldn’t be underestimated, as he had a position in Liangwang Peak’s ranking.
Many disciples thought who was so unfortunate to draw an opponent from Liangwang Peak.
But Jian Ruoshan announced suddenly, "I’d like to pick an opponent."
The disciples were surprised to hear this.
The Sword Trial of Green Mountain usually proceeded according to the drawings, but there were exceptional cases where one could challenge a certain opponent.
Though one could challenge any opponent, it would be unfair to pick someone who was weaker than you, so you had to choose someone considered to be stronger than you in the Cultivation state or other aspects.
Whom would Jian Ruoshan challenge?
The crowd noticed his gaze fall on the nine stone platforms in the cliffs as they wondered if he was basically challenging his own Big Brother on the same peak?!
Besides the masters of the peaks sitting on the stone platforms, the only ones who could be picked for combat on the stone platforms were the disciples of Liangwang Peak.
Looking at the farthest stone platform, Jian Ruoshan said emotionlessly, "I’d like to challenge Jing Jiu…Senior Master."
The crowd was in an uproar
There was a long intentional pause between "Jing Jiu" and "Senior Master", so the hostility was obvious to everyone.
Many disciples recalled the rumor that Jing Jiu and Liu Shisui were the former pair of master and servant, so Jian Ruoshan intended to take revenge for his big brother?!
Innumerable gazes were fixed on Jing Jiu.
Jing Jiu didn’t respond, still staring at the mountain path in the distance.
Jian Ruoshan sneered, "What? Senior Master Jing dares not accept the challenge?"
Chi Yan came up and scolded sternly, "Do you want to offend an elder?"
As an elder of Shangde Peak, he was qualified to veto the challenge according to the sect rules.
The disciples were not convinced.
At the moment, nobody could tell what Cultivation state Jing Jiu was in, but he was considered to be an exceptionally talented swordsman, and more importantly, he was…a Senior Master.
So it was fair for Jian Ruoshan to challenge him!
Jing Jiu still didn’t respond, merely staring at the mountain path in the distance.
Jian Ruoshan was getting angry for being ignored, and he thought it was even more shameful if Jing Jiu intended to bypass the challenge, yelling, "You…"
His sentence was interrupted after the first word.
A strange sound could be heard coming from the distant mountain path.
That sound was ear-splitting, like two swords colliding and scratching each other.
The disciples looked in the direction of the sound.
A figure appeared on the mountain path.
That person was very thin, and his sword robe was old and ragged as it flapped in the wind.
The disciples recognized his face as he came closer.
His face was ashen, his eye sockets sank, and his hair was like wild weeds.
The weird thing was the sound of scratching metal would come out from between the soles of his shoes and the green stones on the ground as he walked on the stone path…even though it was obvious that he didn’t have shackles on his feet.
The surprising screams blurted out around the stone forest.
"Liu Shisui!"
"Why is he here?!"
It had been two years.
He had stayed in the stone room behind the cliff on Tianguang Peak all this time, and never showed up again.
He had been someone with natural Dao quality, but was gradually forgotten.
Today, he suddenly appeared in front of everybody.
Like a ghost.
Zhao Layue felt somewhat astonished.
The expressions on the elders’ faces changed slightly.
They perceived one thing from the sound.
The sword sound arose from walking.
This was the initial sign of the Tempered Will of the Sword!
Zhao Layue gained the Tempered Will of the Sword after many years of practicing on Sword Peak.
Liu Shisui was imprisoned in the stone room on Tianguang Peak, so how did he achieve it?
Looking at Jing Jiu, Zhao Layue wanted to see his reaction and to get an answer.
Jing Jiu was concerned about something else at this moment, muttering, "That dark face has grown so white; how long has he stayed in the sunless room?"