Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Zhang Ruochen landed his eyes on the upper left stone wall, where a character “Tian” (heaven) was displayed.
Next, his own Sword Comprehension overlapped the character’s Sword Comprehension. Gradually, the word on the stone wall spun and flew out, transforming into a translucent gatekeeper.
Apparently, the gatekeeper of the first stage of the Third-level Mountain outmatched the gatekeepers of the previous two mountains; because this gatekeeper had been condensed by the sword saint’s thought of Tao of the sword.
The gatekeeper flew out and stood in front of him, casting an enormous pressure on Zhang Ruochen.
“Beat me and you can pass this stage.”
The gatekeeper clasped his hands as dazzling light radiated from his two palms.
A meter long sword flew from the light.
“Swoosh!”
Zhang Ruochen also drew out his Valley-water Sword, ran all of Sword Comprehension, and poured it into the blade with his Genuine Qi inside his body.
Immediately, hundreds of flashes of sword Qi formed in the surrounding 90-meter area and then revolved around Zhang Ruochen like a whirlpool.
The gatekeeper had practiced Sword One to the ninth realm, putting him on the same level as Zhang Ruochen.
However, the gatekeeper was formed by the sword saint’s thought of Tao of the sword. So the gatekeeper far exceeded Zhang Ruochen in some aspects.
Zhang Ruochen did not dare move but carefully stared at the gatekeeper to cope with any small movements. Zhang Ruochen was ready to deal with any moves.
The burly man folded his hand in front of his chest, exuding an air of calmness. He looked at Zhang Ruochen and said, “I hope you won’t let me down.”
“Swoosh!”
The gatekeeper took the lead in the fight. He thrust his long sword forward to attack Zhang Ruochen.
The man and the sword merged into a flux of white light, like flashing shooting star. The flash of light instantly reached Zhang Ruochen.
So fast.
It was the first time Zhang Ruochen had to confront such a powerful master of Tao of the sword. Due to his inexperience, he was unable to adapt quickly, so he didn’t have enough time to think about moves that could break the opponent’s attacks.
Zhang Ruochen just clutched his sword and shoved forward with his whole Holy Qi.
The sword body of Valley-water Sword collided with the gatekeeper’s sword, bent slightly and forcefully pushed Zhang Ruochen back.
Zhang Ruochen was thrown hundreds of meters away to the edge of a cliff, close to falling off of the Ancient Gods Mountain.
Suddenly, he mobilized the power of five elements––the Spiritual Qi of earth nature, water nature, and wood nature––and converged them toward Zhang Ruochen, forming a three-colored cloud of Spiritual Qi.
With his feet stamping on the cloud of Qi, he rushed back and fell on the foot of the Third-level Mountain again.
“What a powerful gatekeeper. It was only one stroke, but it was so strong.” Zhang Ruochen held his breath and became more cautious.
The battle with the gatekeeper made Zhang Ruochen realize that he lacked fighting experience, especially when it came to fighting against the best masters of Tao of the sword.
Qi Feiyu had solely practiced Sword One to the eighth realm and was able to fight against the gatekeeper with over two thousand moves. She failed only by one movement, because her Holy Qi could not sustain her any longer.
He had practiced Sword One to the ninth realm, higher than Qi Feiyu. But Zhang Ruochen was caught off guard by the gatekeeper’s attacks; he could barely escape the attacks.
After all, he did lack fighting experience.
It wasn’t that Qi Feiyu was not more competent than Zhang Ruochen, but it was because it was not Qi Feiyu’s first time battling the gatekeeper. Therefore, she had a better grasp of defensive strategies.
The burly man shook his head in disappointment when he saw the gatekeeper defeating Zhang Ruochen with only one move.
He thought that a Genius of Tao of the sword had really emerged in Suzerain. He could hardly wait to see him. He did not expect that this man’s Tao of the sword would collapse only after on attack.
Could it be that Li Yue became so powerful in such a short time only by adventures?
An adventure could boost a monk’s strength to amazing heights in a short period, but it was impossible to become the top superior only by adventures.
Even though the gatekeeper’s had caught him off guard, Zhang Ruochen was not discouraged.
So far, he has accumulated an understanding of the gatekeeper’s abilities. Now he knows how he could cope with him in the next battle.
“Swoosh!”
Zhang Ruochen controlled the Martial Soul and released it.
The aura of Martial Soul was so mighty that it manifested as a huge shadow. With the Martial Soul’s regulation, all of the Spiritual Qi in their surroundings converged toward Zhang Ruochen in a steady stream.
Instantly, Zhang Ruochen’s Qi, as well as his vital essence, started rising quickly.
Zhang Ruochen had not only refined Half-Saint’s Light, but also Qi of Saint Dragon in Dragon Pearl. With that, his Martial Soul became quite powerful.
The burly man was disappointed by Lin Yue and he was ready to leave. But when he caught sight of Lin Yue’s Martial Soul, he stopped himself and had a glint in his eyes.
“In the Fish-Dragon Realm, it is rare to find warriors with a Martial Soul is stronger than his.” He thought to himself. Moreover, he could clearly feel Lin Yue’s Sword Comprehension had increased significantly.
Or perhaps he hasn’t been showing his full strength at all.
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If so, the following battle was worth looking forward to.
The gatekeeper held the sword in one hand and drew a circle of sword Qi about ten meters in diameter in the air. Eighty-one streams of mighty sword Qi twirled in the circle, creating sounds of wind and thunder.
With a sweep of the gatekeeper’s sword, the circle of sword Qi stirred up a huge storm and enveloped Zhang Ruochen.
“Boom!”
Zhang Ruochen gripped the Valley-water Sword and suddenly struck the ground. The ground quaked violently and split, which created a long gully that stretched all the way to the gatekeeper.
“Defend the sword.”
The valley-water Sword passed through the gully and dashed from the ground with a burst of chilly Icing air. The gatekeeper tried to retreat quickly, but half of his body was still frozen by the Icing air of the sword.
To take this opportunity, Zhang Ruochen rushed out and pointed his finger forward to create a ripple of Sword wave. This wave hit the center of the circle of sword Qi.
Losing the gatekeeper’s control, the power in the circle of sword Qi was reduced significantly. He was attacked by Sword Wave and the circle instantly broke.
After disrupting the circle of sword Qi, Zhang Ruochen galloped forward to attack the gatekeeper.
“Bang!Bang!”
The movements in the battle were quick and they constantly exerted sword technique. It was a close and intense battle.
After 138 moves, the gatekeeper had the upper hand over Zhang Ruochen. His sword penetrated Zhang Ruochen’s Divine Body Shield and the sword tip punctured him on the chest, where the heart is, leaving a bloody spot.
Actually, if the gatekeeper continued to attack, there was nothing he could do to Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen’s heart was safeguarded by a Dragon Pearl. It was powerful enough to protect him from the gatekeeper’s sword.
But the gatekeeper did not know it. He thought that his sword would be able to rip through his heart.
The gatekeeper retracted the sword and said impassively, “You have failed the first breakthrough. You have a second chance to break through after two hours.”
Then, the gatekeeper drew back quickly and flew back to the stone wall, turning himself into a character again.
Zhang Ruochen looked at the blood spot in the position of his heart and smiled reluctantly. Although he was able to defend the sword, it was undeniable that he had been defeated by the gatekeeper.
On the first of every month, there was only one chance to break through the first stage of the First Level Mountain.
On the first day of every month, there were three chances to break through the first stage of the Third-level Mountain.
During the battle with the gatekeeper, Zhang Ruochen was not badly hurt but he consumed a part of his Genuine Qi.
Anyway, he had two chances left. Zhang Ruochen was not anxious at all. Instead, he took Blood of Wood Spirit, sat cross-legged on the ground and began restoring the Genuine Qi.
Meanwhile, he spared some Spiritual Power to guard the burly man.
After all, he had offended many people in the Yin and Yang Sect. Qi Feiyu and Xu Changsheng might invite some masters to go against him. There is no harm in being careful.
“Quite cautious.”
The burly man chuckled and lightly lifted his hand, surging Zhang Ruochen’s Spiritual Power back forward which forced him to retreat over ten meters away. There is no way he could get close to the man.
Zhang Ruochen spent two hours restoring his Genuine Qi to its peak and used up his time to reflect on his battle.
In Qi Sea, he used Heart of the Sword to break down the gatekeeper’s each move, understanding its subtlety and searched for the flaws.
In just a few hours, Zhang Ruochen significantly improved his comprehension of Tao of the sword.
“Try to break it through again.”
Zhang Ruochen rose to his feet and strode toward the stone wall with piercing eyes.
This time, he fixed his eyes on the character, “Tian.” The gatekeeper flew out from the stone wall again.
They went on to fight without talking.
Zhang Ruochen did not take the initiative to attack, but simply responded to each move and kept scanning how the gatekeeper made his moves.
Soon, they had fought a hundred moves. Zhang Ruochen could still take in all the attacks and showed no signs of losing.
Next, two hundred moves, three hundred moves, four hundred moves…
When they had fought for over a thousand moves, the burly man standing beside finally changed countenance with an approval look on his face and said to himself, “He made significant progress in just two hours. This man’s comprehension ability is too amazing. At this rate, even the second stage of the Third-level Mountain cannot stop him.”
The winner between Zhang Ruochen and the gatekeeper was still not clear, even after two thousand moves.
However, Zhang Ruochen gave in first.
Again, Zhang Ruochen quickly drank some Blood of Wood Spirit to restore his Genuine Qi.
It took Zhang Ruochen two solid hours to restore his Genuine Qi and regain his peak.
He cast his eyes in the direction of the mountaintop and stared at the location of the Sword Pavilion. He took a deep breath and muttered to himself, “This time, I will win!”
Even the burly man was looking forward to it.
He would like to know what stage Lin Yue could heighten his strength to after this practice.
Could he defeat the gatekeeper?