Chapter 349: Taichu Life Lamp

Hearing this, Xu Qing raised his head, looking at the blurry heaven and earth in the distance.

"Little Ah Qing, the Taichu Liyou Pillar is the weapon of the Southern Mountain Ghost Emperor. Many people in Yinghuang Prefecture know this, but according to the Alliance's intelligence, this weapon seems to have been thrown out by the Ghost Emperor himself before he died in that era."

"So there has always been a rumor that the Ghost Emperor back then was suppressing something mysterious with his own weapon."

"In fact, the Taichu Liyou Pillar has also shaken many times over the years. Some speculate that it is the suppressed thing making trouble, and some speculate that the Ghost Emperor is about to revive. And looking at the Sword-Holding Court's action against the Three Spirits Town Dao Mountain before, I think the latter is likely true."

Xu Qing was lost in thought.

"Big Brother, did the Sword-Holding Court choose the headquarters of Yinghuang Prefecture here because of the suppression?"

"Exactly so. After all, that Ghost Emperor... is too formidable. The Sword-Holding Court naturally attaches great importance to it. However, these currently have nothing to do with us. What we are considering now is that we must become Sword-Holders." The Captain's expression was full of anticipation.

"The date for this Sword-Holder selection is coming soon. I have already inquired very clearly. As long as you are a human under twenty-five years old, without cultivation base restrictions, you can participate."

"And after arriving at the range of the Taichu Liyou Pillar, we don't need to hide our identities. The Sword-Holding Court has a rule: within the range of the Taichu Liyou Pillar, non-humans are forbidden to step in. In addition, humans can spar here, but cannot kill."

Xu Qing nodded.

"As for the process of the assessment, I have searched many files of the Alliance and have explored it thoroughly. The assessments in previous years were divided into two stages."

"The first stage is to get the quota to participate in the Sword-Holder trial. This quota needs to be competed for. Generally, only one-tenth of the total number is given, so the competition is very fierce."

"The second stage is the real Sword-Holder trial. The number of Sword-Holders recruited each time, when it is many, does not exceed ten people, and when it is few, there are only three or five."

"So every Sword-Holder is not simple."

"So few?" Xu Qing was somewhat surprised. On the day of the Three Spirits Town Dao Mountain, he saw many Sword-Holders and originally thought there were many people who passed the assessment trial each time.

Guessing what Xu Qing was thinking, the Captain explained.

"Most of the Sword-Holders actually come from outer prefectures, and only a portion are local cultivators. This is the rule for Sword-Holders."

"If we succeed in the assessment and become Sword-Holders, we will also face the possibility of being transferred to outer prefectures, but that is relatively far away, because every newly promoted Sword-Holder must go to the Sword-Holding Palace of Fenghai County within the specified time to obtain the secret techniques and inheritance of Sword-Holders."

"Finally, the place of appointment will be competed for according to the Sword-Holder's own situation, and as a Sword-Holder, one has the right to take the human ferry."

"The seven prefectures of the human race are separated by multiple large domains. Ordinary people cannot walk through them in a lifetime, unless those great powers and great cultivators, otherwise they can only rely on that kind of super ferry between domains."

"And sect disciples rarely have this qualification."

Xu Qing listened very seriously. He felt that becoming a Sword-Holder would be of great help to his future outings.

Amidst Yan Yan was also like this on the side. She also wanted to become a Sword-Holder, because if that was the case, she could stay by Brother Xu Qing's side forever.

Just like this, a month passed.

Under the Captain's introduction, their dharma ship whistled in the sky, flying toward the north continuously, getting closer and closer to the Taichu Liyou Pillar.

And during this month, Xu Qing also finally figured out the abilities after the shadow and the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor promoted.

The Jin Gang Sect Ancestor's ability was an all-around improvement. Comprehensively, it had reached the level of a Tiangong Golden Core.

This was because its promotion was not completely finished. Xu Qing felt that after the other party slowly completely transformed into an artifact soul, there should be more manifestations.

At the same time, the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor's mastery of thunder was also very different from before. The thunder he emanated and his own speed had advanced by leaps and bounds. In addition, he also had an extra trump card.

That was the heavenly tribulation red thunder.

The sense of extinction contained in this thunder was very astonishing. Once it exploded, it possessed the power to kill across palaces, and looking at its domineering degree, this kind of killing was likely a one-hit kill.

As for the shadow, after the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor's translation, Xu Qing understood everything smoothly.

Besides the secret technique that could transform Xu Qing into body-tempering, the shadow still had its previous abilities, being able to devour other people's shadows to control them, and the speed of devouring was faster.

Besides this, its countless eyes also had new abilities.

This ability was shattering.

In fact, the shadow had this ability before, but it was too weak, so Xu Qing didn't pay attention to it. Now that it had promoted, this shattering method had become obvious due to the great increase in power.

The shadow could form a shattering force through the blinking of its countless eyes. After it exploded with all its might, Xu Qing felt somewhat heavy after experiencing it.

All of this made him clearly realize that his current combat power was already a world of difference from before, and his means of fighting were also much more than before.

This allowed him to form more tactics to face more complex situations and more cunning and eerie enemies.

"Without using poison and shadow secret techniques, below the Fifth Palace, I can kill them all!"

"Using the shadow secret technique, below the Liugong, I can suppress them."

"If I use poison again, even if it is the Liugong... I can fight with it. Although the gap of one palace is very large in the Golden Core Realm, and I will definitely be seriously injured fighting it, the other party will definitely die under my poison!"

"If all secrets are fully opened..." Xu Qing pondered. He didn't want to have a day to try, because this meant the enemy he encountered must be incomparably formidable.

While Xu Qing was measuring his own combat power, the wind and snow that had lasted for a month finally ended. The heaven and earth in the distance became transparent, the light of the firmament sprinkled down, and the earth was bright and crystal clear.

Here, it was not just snow, but also ice plains and snow-capped mountains.

Snow-capped mountains of varying heights entered Xu Qing's eyes. Faintly, one could see some black embellishments on the mountains from time to time; those were protruding rocks scattered on the mountains.

The wind was even colder, blowing on Xu Qing's outstretched hand, as if it were about to freeze his flesh and blood.

There were no ordinary small countries here. In the harsh climate, except for cultivators who could resist, ordinary people would freeze to death instantly in this place.

"Comfortable." In front of the dharma ship, the Captain's high call came.

Xu Qing looked over.

The Captain stood at the bow of the ship, his body outside the protection, his arms stretched out in the cold wind blowing on his face, his face full of comfort, seeming that the cold here was nothing to him.

After all, all the techniques he emanated were cold intent, and here, his ability would obviously get better blessing.

"Little Ah Qing, I have long wanted to come here. This place is much more comfortable than the sect."

The Captain laughed loudly. Just as he was looking comfortable, suddenly his eyes narrowed, and he turned to look at the horizon in another direction.

At the same time, Xu Qing also sensed it and turned his head to gaze.

Amidst Yan Yan didn't sense anything, but also instinctively looked over. Just in her eyes, there was nothing on the horizon in the distance, but in Xu Qing and the Captain's eyes, further away, dozens of huge flying boats were whistling over.

The appearance of these flying boats was like willow leaves. While slender, the bow and stern were both curved upward, looking very peculiar, and the whole body was made of crystal, formed by spirit stones, shining in the sun, full of brilliance.

Among them, there was one boat, located among the group of boats, as if all other flying boats were guarding it.

This boat was deep blue, different from the others, and there were long streamers on it, like flags in the wind, very eye-catching, with the word "Taisi" embroidered on it.

Such boats, Xu Qing and the Captain had seen on the Youxian Wangu River before; they were precisely the boats of the Taisi Immortal Sect.

At this moment, on these dozens of large and small boats, there were also some figures wearing white clothes standing. There were men and women inside, each exuding a sense of being out of the ordinary, especially the clouds and mist rising under their boats, making them like immortals.

And on that blue flying boat, there was also a person standing.

This person was a young man, wearing a blue long robe different from the others, making his slender body look like a green pine.

The fair skin color was like jade, sword eyebrows like peaks, and his entire appearance was dignified.

He stood at the bow of the deep blue boat with his hands behind his back, his expression calm, as if his noble status and peerless aptitude had made him reach the peak of his life.

Thus, there were naturally not many things in this world that could move him. At this moment, in calmness, their group of flying boats whistled past Xu Qing's dharma ship, and their speed did not pause at all from beginning to end.

Because they represented the Taisi Immortal Sect, and because the Taisi Immortal Sect was the first sect in Yinghuang Prefecture besides the Sword-Holding Court, the orthodox human race.

So when the Taisi Immortal Sect traveled, the ten thousand sects naturally had to avoid them on their own.

Flying over at this moment, the air waves raised by this group of flying boats spread in all directions, impacting Xu Qing's dharma ship, causing the dharma ship to sway, having to retreat and avoid.

Xu Qing and the Captain narrowed their eyes respectively.

And that group of Taisi Immortal Sect flying boats and all the disciples on them did not look back at them once. The coldness was even stronger. Following the echoing whistling sound, they flew further and further away.

The target was obviously also the Taichu Liyou Pillar.

"What great prestige!" The Captain raised his eyebrows and looked at the Taisi Immortal Sect flying boats in the distance.

"I'll go find some intelligence later to see what good things the Taisi Immortal Sect has."

The Captain was obviously somewhat dissatisfied with the domineering nature of these people.

"That person is very strong." Xu Qing spoke slowly. He was talking about the young man wearing the blue Daoist robe. From the glance just now, he faintly felt the fluctuation of a life lamp on the other party.

This was the second person he had seen suspected of possessing a life lamp in many years, besides Sheng Yunzi.

"Taisi Immortal Sect Daoist Zhang Siyun. This person once steadily suppressed Sheng Yunzi in Yinghuang Prefecture back then, and can be considered the first heaven's pride of this generation in the entire Yinghuang Prefecture."

"He threw Sheng Yunzi far behind when he was Foundation Establishment, and after Golden Core, he made Sheng Yunzi even more unreachable."

"It is said that he not only possesses a life lamp but also has imperial-level techniques, and even the Taicang Blade was mastered by him for nine blades, cultivating into an imperial-level seed."

"According to the Alliance's intelligence, although this Zhang Siyun has four Heavenly Palaces, his combat power should have reached the Liugong level, or perhaps even higher."

"Little Ah Qing, did you take a fancy to his life lamp? Shall we find an opportunity to do him in?"

Xu Qing shook his head, and the Captain blinked and chuckled.

"However, he is not comparable to Sheng Yunzi. If he falls, the Taisi Immortal Sect will definitely be extremely furious, and the old man probably won't be able to hold it." ===== CHAPTER 350 =====