Rise of Humanity

by <unknown>

  Only now, after the “knowledge exchange” with Tan Zhen, had he wholly acquired the first 27 sword styles, it was then that he realized how terrifyingly strong the【Sixty Four Sword Styles】truly were!

  The【Sixty Four Sword Styles】required the Sword Cocoons sword silks to fully unleash its power; when Zhong Yue fought with the Shui Tu Clan disciples like Shui Qinghe, they had only wielded the normal Water Sword Qi, whether be it the power or the sword skill mutations they were able to display, it could only be considered an ordinary sword skill.

  But if it were to be cast through soul weapons like the Sword Cocoons Sword Silks, the prowess it could exhibit would skyrocket to at least tenfold, the transformations of the sword skill would be ever more nuanced and capricious, and it would ultimately be nigh impossible to effectively guard against.

  What made it even stronger was the fact that the number of sword silks follows an arithmetic progression; the 1st sword style required the manipulation of one sword silk, two sword silks for the 2nd style and so on. Thus, the complexity rapidly increases with every increment of the sword art. When it had reached to 27th sword style, the complexity of the sword array was so great to the point that even Zhong Yue’s Great Sun Yuan Shen was nearly unable to manipulate it!

  When it reaches to 64th style, the requirement on the user’s Yuan Shen would be exorbitantly high!

  No wonder Senior Martial Brother Tan Zhen said that the【Sixty Four Sword Styles】was incompatible with his path of cultivation. He walked the path of brutality and strength, while the 【Sixty Four Sword Styles】was an art that focused on finesse and subtlety, emphasizing its various permutations and transformations. It required an extraordinary ability for calculation and control; without such endowments, it would be useless despite how much one practices.

  Zhong Yue thought to himself, This【Sixty Four Sword Styles】is a waste of resources in the hands of Senior Martial Brother Tan Zhen, only in my hands can its power be fully unleashed.

  Tan Zhen, on the other hand, had also been enlightened on the defensive and combat techniques of the Martial Masters, he was proficient in the techniques of different clans, various kinds of totem carvings began to crawl over the surface of his skin, and even his psyche bonded onto his bones. He stomped in midair while casting all sorts of Martial Masters’ techniques, blasting the air in an imposing manner.

  Especially the fish-dragon totem and techniques of the You Yu Clan he had acquired, his body was surrounded with dragons scale shields while the immense strengths of the fish-dragon surged in his body, allowing him to be even stronger than Zhong Yue in close quarter combat!

  His cultivation base was already stronger than Zhong Yue, and now armed with the defensive and offensive techniques of the Martial Masters, it was like a tiger who suddenly got attached with wings!

  But the flaws in Tan Zhen were also evidently glaring – that was the lack of a profound physique-refining art. He was after all, increasing his body strength through the ways of a Qi Practitioner, which was not in the true sense strengthening his mortal body.

  Whereas Zhong Yue’s【Great Sun Prodigious Emanation Art】was a bona fide physique refining art, one that could strengthen his body to rival the Martial Masters’!

  “After learning the defensive and offensive techniques of the Martial Masters, I can raise my name in Dragon and Tiger Challenger Board by at least five rankings!”

  Tan Zhen laughed and landed down abruptly, he said, “Junior Martial Brother Zhong, I’m going to challenge the ones above me in the rankings of Challenger Board, do you want to come along? With your current prowess, you would be able to reach at least the top thirty of the board!”

  Zhong Yue shook his head and declined as he smiled, “The 27th sword style is quite hard, I still need some time to consolidate my understanding and master the 27th sword style. Furthermore, I wouldn’t be able to cast the 27 sword styles I learned from you in the duels. Otherwise, if the Shui Tu Clan were to see me casting it, they would suspect you and it will bring arise to troubles.”

  “Junior Martial Brother Zhong is so caring for me. I, your elder brother, am so grateful.”

  Tan Zhen walked out, smiled and said, “I’m going to challenge someone, you must wait for my good news!”

  Zhong Yue stood up and sent Tan Zhen off, he then returned back to the cave dwellings, his eyes flashed with a cold light as he mumbled lowly, “Also, I can’t let Xiao Chuqing know of the fact that I’ve learned the first 27 sword styles of the【Sixty Four Sword Styles】. Now, Xiao Chuqing must’ve noticed the tiny clues I’ve left behind? During the duel with Senior Martial Brother Tan Zhen, I’ve left no traces of my footprints and didn’t use any soul weapons; but the more measures I take to cover my tracks, the more suspicions I would incur. Then, when I leave the mountain, she would surely follow behind….”

  The corner of his mouth twitched upwards into a dark smile, “Xiao Chuqing, I’ve revealed a flaw that could ultimately reveal my identity, but at the same time, I’ve sown the seed that would allow me to reap your life. I only hope that you will not miss this fleeting opportunity to catch me!”

  He settled his mind and submerged himself into the transformations of the 27th sword styles. It was not easy to learn it, Elder Shui Zian’s talent was incredibly amazing, if the sword skill Shui Zian created could be mastered within a few days, then the Sword Cocoons would not be worthy enough to receive a designation as one of the Ten Malefic Weapons and Shui Zian will not be able to live up to his talent as well..

  Hua-laa——

  Zhong Yue’s psyche ocean surged vigorously. Suddenly, a strong tide billowed up into the air and turned into a few thousand feet long giant python, slithering and soaring in the skies, changing quickly, dreary and fearsome; it was him visualizing all of the mutations of the 1st sword style, and casting it in his psyche ocean.

  The giant python soared above in the air of the psyche ocean, casting all of the sword’s will and mutations out; after an unknown amount of time, another giant python suddenly gushed out from the psyche ocean, and the two pythons soared parallel to each other, forming an intricate and perennially changing sword array!

  After a long time, the third giant python gushed out and joined in the sword array, Zhong Yue submerged himself in casting the sword skill while at the same time gaining insights on the abstrusity of the first 27 sword styles, the number of giant pythons manifested from his psyche were also gradually increasing. Each time a new giant python entered the sword array would betoken mastery of another sword style, enabling him to move to the next one.

  Time continued flowing indifferently as day after day passed by, there were already twenty giant pythons soaring in Zhong Yue’s psyche ocean. He had cultivated the first twenty sword styles and had mastered all of them. But the changes and mutations in the sword array of the 20th sword styles imposed an immense burden on his brain; the myriad transformations in the sword slaughtering array were too intricate and complex, placing a tremendous strain on his control ability to the point where he was on the verge of breaking down!

  Although Zhong Yue had a bad impression of Shui Zian, to the point that he had even taken Shui Zian as a traitor to Swords Gate. But he still had to acknowledge and pay his respect towards this Swords Gate elder for creating such a formidable sword array, the【Sixty Four Sword Styles】!

  “The 20th sword style is more than enough!”

  Zhong Yue suddenly opened his eyes and whispered lowly. “Because I only have twenty rays of Sword Qi, eighteen Coral Tree Sword Qis, one Xiang Dragon Sword Qi and one Wooden Sword Qi!”

  All of a sudden, Xin Huo voiced out, “Brat Yue, if you want to kill that celestial heifer, the 20th sword style can’t do it, but 4th sword style might be able to.”

  Chapter 104: Junior Martial Sister Takes The Stage |

  “【Fourth Sword Style】?”

  Zhong Yue asked in confusion, “Xin Huo, the【Twentieth Sword Style】 is even stronger than the【Fourth Sword Style】, so how would
the【Twentieth Sword Style】be unable to kill her but the 【Fourth Sword Style】could?”

  “Among those twenty Sword Qi of yours, only the Xiang Dragon Sword Qi and the Wooden Sword Qi could breach through Xiao Chuqing, the little heifer’s defenses, but the one that could threaten her life would only be the Xiang Dragon Sword Qi alone.”

  Xin Huo said without hesitation, “Whereas for the other eighteen Sword Qi, they are just rubbish that could not even inflict any damage at all! She alone is already stronger than you, with the addition of her moon spirit, your 【Twentieth Sword Style】 could only be used as a surprise attack. However, the other eighteen coral Sword Qi would be easily crushed by her, causing your Twenty Sword Style Array to be destroyed and unable to immobilize her!”

  Zhong Yue brooded in silence as Xin Huo was right. The Coral Sword Qi was too weak, and he would only leave a huge opening to Xiao Chuqing if he were to forcibly use the 【Twentieth Sword Style】.

  “That is why I said that maybe the 【Fourth Sword Style】 could kill her.”

  Xin Huo laughed and said,” If you combined the eighteen coral Sword Qi together, their power would as strong as the Xiang Dragon Sword Qi, thus, slightly increasing your threat level.”

  Zhong Yue nodded and asked, “So this is the third Sword Qi, but where did the fourth Sword Qi come from?”

  “Visualize the Gold Qi used in the Xuan Wu Golden Shield, making it your fourth Sword Qi. However, this Sword Qi is extremely sharp, posing the most dangerous threat to that heifer.”

  A moment of clarity struck Zhong Yue and he let out a long breath and said, “Alright, I will use the 【Fourth Sword Style】 and cut down this celestial race… Hmmm, this little heifer!”

  The art of sculpting taught to him by the Swords Gate’s headmaster included the art of treasure refinement and the art of totem spirits, with the addition of the sword totem carvings of the【Great Boundless Sword Qi】,it would not be difficult for him to refine the eighteen Sword Qi in the Coral Tree.

  Without hesitation, Zhong Yue immediately began the process. He first extracted the eighteen Coral Sword Qi from the scarlet Coral Tree and reformed the Sword Qi with the totem of the sword totem carving, condensing the eighteen Sword Qi. The process was quite arduous as he only managed to reform one Sword Qi every few days.

  Whereas the gold Sword Qi that was used to form the Xuan Wu Golden Shield was also reformed into the Gold Sword Qi.

  He tested for a few times and found out that there was barely any latency in shifting between the Gold Sword Qi and the form of the Xuan Wu Golden Shield. Instead, he realized that after changing into the form of Xuan Wu Golden Shield, the defense of the shield had become even stronger than before and all he was left with was a sense of amazement.

  “The 【Great Boundless Sword Qi】 is indeed a Sword Qi worthy of bearing the name of ‘Great Boundless’, I never thought that it could do this.”

  He then remembered that the 【Great Boundless Sword Qi】 is actually a type of complicated and tiny totem which can be used to form the foundation of the other totem carvings. For example, as he reformed his Gold Qi into Sword Qi, the Sword Qi would be formed from the most rudimentary forms of sword totem carvings. Whereas when in the form of Xuan Wu Golden Shield, the Sword Qi would form 46 Xuan Wu totem carvings, generating strong defenses for the shield!

  If used on the dragon carving totem and the Great Sun totem, would it enhance the two totems?

  Without much further thought, he promptly put his conjecture into action. However, he soon found out that although the sword totem carvings could enhance the dragon carving totem in all aspects, it could not enhance the power of the Great Sun Totem.

  No wonder the headmaster said that the【Great Sun Prodigious Emanation Art】 is a kind of high graded physique refining technique. Seems like this 【Great Sun Prodigious Emanation Art】 is an art that is equivalent to the ultimate techniques like the 【Great Boundless Sword Qi】. I guess this is why the 【Great Boundless Sword Qi】 could not form the totem of Great Sun Prodigious Emanation Art.

  He then calculated carefully and thought, The three-legged Golden Crow Totem is also something I must learn, only by mastering a type of flying technique will I be able to have a better success rate for victory, preventing Xiao Chuqing from escaping!

  Zhong Yue then shot out a Sword Qi as he swung his hand, slicing down a mountain rock from the cliff walls in his cave dwelling. He then proceeded to carve the Sword Qi carefully while he observed and examined the amazing features hidden within the three-legged Golden Crow Totem.

  Half a month later, Zhong Yue walked out from his place and he saw a busy inner house. After knowing about the situation from someone else, he found out that Tan Zhen had been challenging the ranked disciples on the Dragon and Tiger Challenger Board, causing a ruckus among the inner house as he had now raised his rank to number 27 from number 32. Apparently, when Zhong Yue came out from his cultivation, Tan Zhen was challenging the 26th disciple on the Dragon and Tiger Challenger Board.

  “Those in the Dragon and Tiger Challenger Board are all maniacs, they are all one of the top characters that had already been in the inner house for quite some time and their cultivation bases are very strong. Senior Martial Brother Tan improved so fast in such a short period of time as he managed to continuously defeat five people in the list after entering the inner house for just two years!”

  “Too bad Zhong Shan Clan is not here. I am sure he would be able to grab a place on the list with his strength.”

  Upon hearing this, Zhong Yue’s mind shifted as it would not be difficult for him to get into the list but he might not be able to win Tan Zhen if he did not use the 【Fourth Sword Style】. However, he might have startled Xiao Chuqing and made her to be aware of the 【Fourth Sword Style】 if he were to use it to fight against Tan Zhen.

  “There were so many changes that had occurred on the Dragon and Tiger Challenger Board recently, but Senior Martial Brother Tan was not the most dazzling one. But both junior martial sister Shui Qingyan and Xiao Chuqing. Rumours said that when Junior Martial Sister Shui cast out her sword cocoon, nobody among the top twenty senior martial sisters of the Board were willing to challenge her! On the other hand, Junior Martial Sister Xiao had ascended the list with her very own strength, following tightly behind Senior Martial Brother Tan.”

  “Quickly get to the Starry Palace! Junior martial sister Xiao Chuqing is preparing to challenge Tian Xiangzhong, the twenty-eighth seat in the Dragon and Tiger Challenger Board! Tian Xiangzhong is the brother of Tian Yanzhong. He was recently defeated by senior martial brother Tan Zhen and I guess he will lose to Junior Martial Sister Xiao Chuqing this time, dropping to rank 29!”

  The inner hall was very lively as the majority of the inner house Qi Practitioner rushed to the Starry Palace, an arena for the inner house disciples to compete with each other. However, as the inner house disciples rarely challenged each other, there were not many Qi Practitioners who frequented the Starry Palace.

  However, the battle between Zhong Yue and Tan Zhen that threatened to destroy the Guest Palace had set a precedent that led to the inner house disciples now constantly challenging each other in the Starry Palace.

  Upon hearing what the others said, Zhong Yue rushed to the Starry Palace as he thought, Know thy self, know thy enemy and be rewarded with a thousand victories. Xiao Chuqing already knows what I am capable of, but I have completely no idea about what she is capable of and what kind of soul weapon she possesses. This situation needs to be corrected!

  “Senior Martial Brother Zhong!”

  Before he reached the Starry Palace, Zhong Yue suddenly heard someone calling for him happily. He turned and looked, only to find a girl in a wheelchair with an old lady behind her whose face held a starkly unhappy expression. Upon seeing Zhong Yue, the pretty girl on the wheelchair harried the old lady to push her quicker towards Zhong Yue.

  “Junior Martial Sister Jin’er?”

  Zhong Yue said surprisingly, “Junior
martial sister, your legs have yet to recover?”

  “The sword art you passed me is very good but the disease plaguing my legs is very serious. I would need time to fully neutralize the condensed Wood Qi in my body.”

  Qiu Jin’er sat in the wheelchair and edged towards Zhong Yue’s side. As she got closer, her heart pumped even faster and she said, “I heard that senior martial brother fought with someone in the inner house and I urged Grandmother Lu to take me to you to thank you. But she said that girls have to be more reserved, so I came to you….”

  Grandmother Lu said with an unhappy expression, “If you are not reserved, he will think that you are an easy target and he will toy with you before he dumps you.”

  Qiu Jin’er’s face blushed and she secretly took a look at Zhong Yue, but the man appeared to be a little bit distracted, which made her feel slightly disappointed.

  Zhong Yue then smiled and said, “Junior Martial Sister Jin’er, I’m planning to have a look at the battle of Xiao Chuqing and Tian Xiangzhong in the Starry Palace, wanna tag along?”

  Qiu Jin’er nodded and the three of them entered the Starry Palace. While they headed into the Starry Palace, Grandmother Lu whispered, “Miss, look at him, so worried about the battle, I think this Xiao Chuqing is probably the mistress of your little lover….”

  Qiu Jin’er lowered her head and said, “Senior Martial Brother Zhong has no relationship with me, it is fine if he loves another girl….”

  “Killing the other girls will do.”

  Grandmother Lu whispered again, “That is exactly what Madam did back then, each time our short-lived Sir had a mistress outside, Madam will just kill them one by one, then Sir dared not have a mistress anymore.”

  The Starry Palace was built at the side of the steep walls of the valley while surrounded by innumerable stone stages, resembling a galaxy. The valley itself was the arena where the battles would take place. Under the stone stages were rock columns with strange totem carvings that formed an array which could stabilize and enhance the endurance of the arena and the surrounding, making them nigh indestructible.