Chapter 372: Pioneering the Yinghuang Prefecture

The earth was quiet, silent, with only the sound of breathing formed by agitated emotions rising and falling constantly.

All the humans here, most of them felt waves in their hearts after hearing this sentence.

Each of them had their own stories, and each of them had their own experiences.

Whether high above or in the mud, in fact, in this cruel world, in this miserable heaven and earth, in this miserable world where humans eat humans, the difference was not big.

All had suffering, all were in a bitter sea.

And the establishing of life for the Sword-Holders, like heavenly thunder, exploded with a bang, also allowing Xu Qing to truly understand the Sword-Holders.

Regardless of whether the current Sword-Holders could really do what the establishing of life said, at least, it had existed.

This was also the importance of the Sword-Holder ceremony.

The solemn atmosphere, the solemn words, the sacred rosy light, the deafening establishing of life, all of this was to continue the mission of the Sword-Holders.

At this moment, as all the humans felt waves in their hearts, the rosy light in the sky shone again, flowing toward the earth, constantly spreading, and reached the feet of Xu Qing and the ten others.

In front of them, this brilliant rosy light representing the mission of the Sword-Holders formed a long staircase ten thousand feet wide!

The staircase, ten thousand feet wide, appeared in front of everyone, appeared in this Taichu City, watched by countless humans, but only ten people could get close to this vast staircase!

This was a path to the sky that appeared for the ten of them.

It appeared between heaven and earth, and its end was the Great Emperor god statue.

Looking from afar, it seemed that by stepping on the staircase in front, one could walk all the way to the Great Emperor.

That kind of sacred intent became even stronger at this moment.

Especially since the seven-colored rosy light of the staircase was incomparably crystal clear, and counting carefully, this staircase had a full nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine steps, climbing step by step, rushing straight into the clouds.

Xu Qing gazed at all of this, and as his expression became more and more solemn, the extremely solemn voice of the Great Elder came to his ears.

"The Sword-Holding lineage opens the supreme glory of the human race, creates eternal prosperity and peace, hence the staircase is ten thousand feet wide."

"The Emperor is ten thousand, the Emperor lacks one, hence nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine steps, representing our Sword-Holding Department, all below the Emperor can be cut!"

The voice echoed in the world, and Xu Qing's eyes revealed strong light. If the previous paragraph was the soul of the Sword-Holding lineage, then these two sentences now were the backbone of the Sword-Holders!

The soul masters the establishing of life, the backbone masters the spine!

The spine of the Sword-Holders is that all below the Emperor can be cut!

The Captain's eyes revealed essence, exuding longing.

Qing Qiu was also the same, and within her eyes beneath the mask, bright light flickered.

Following closely, the Great Elder in the sky raised his head, looked at the Great Emperor god statue, seemed to take a deep breath, his expression serious, and bowed deeply with an even more solemn tone.

"Please Great Emperor, bestow the sword."

As soon as his voice came out, all the Sword-Holders in the double-wing formation in the sky clasped their fists in unison and bowed to the sky in unison.

Under this bow, the light of the Great Emperor god statue was like the red sun rising from the sea, spreading with the momentum of dispelling all the darkness of heaven and earth, and as this light swept across the world, three long rainbows flew out from the large sword carried on the back of the Great Emperor statue.

Their speed was so fast that they fell directly to the top of the ten-thousand-foot-wide staircase beneath the Great Emperor statue, on the nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-ninth step.

With a hum, three large swords pierced into it, a thousand feet apart from each other, emitting cyan light, flowing like water on the sword body, emitting a heavy sword sound, with extraordinary momentum.

One look, and they were definitely not ordinary objects.

These three swords were swords and also orders, the symbol of the Sword-Holders, and also the Sword-Holding Order of the Sword-Holders!

"Sword-Holders are also Order-Holders, using the sword as an order to protect the common people."

All the Sword-Holders in the sky spoke in unison at this moment, their voices like bells, shaking the world, surpassing heavenly thunder, suppressing the ages.

"The ten sons below, those who obtain the sword win, you all obey the order!" Following the lingering sound of all the Sword-Holders echoing, the vicissitudinous voice of the Great Elder emanated abruptly.

As soon as the voice rose, ten thousand hearts were suspended.

Xu Qing's eyes revealed sharp light; he was determined to obtain this Sword-Holder status.

The others were also the same; whether it was the Captain or Qing Qiu, or Zhang Siyun and the human youth who had offended Xu Qing, as well as several others, all had burning eyes at this moment.

Just the instant the ten of them were fully focused, the solemn voice from the sky spread throughout the world.

"Qing Qiu, forty battle marks in the body, step forward four hundred steps!"

Qing Qiu's body shook, and she flew forward, climbing all the way.

Under the gathering of countless gazes, she went directly to the height of four hundred steps, standing above the sky.

"Chen Erniu, one hundred twenty-seven battle marks in the body, step forward one thousand two hundred seventy steps!"

The Captain's speed was extremely fast, rushing out in an instant, and after constantly climbing, he reached one thousand two hundred seventy steps.

"Zhang Siyun, sixty-three battle marks in the body, step forward six hundred thirty steps"

"Xiang Ningyan..."

Following the echoing of the voice, everyone climbed onto different steps based on the battle marks in their own bodies amidst the transmission of that solemn voice.

Until it reached Xu Qing.

"Xu Qing, two hundred seventy-nine battle marks in the body, step forward two thousand seven hundred ninety steps."

The crowd below, even at this extremely solemn moment, could not help but emit a commotion; the Captain's steps before had already made their minds tremble, but they could still hold back, but now Xu Qing's battle marks... exceeded everyone's imagination, having reached an unprecedented degree.

Immediately, gazes carrying disbelief gathered on Xu Qing from all directions.

Whether it was the crowd of cultivators in Taichu City or Qing Qiu and the others standing at different heights, all trembled in their minds.

Xu Qing raised his head, his expression calm, and stepped forward.

Under the focus of all attention, he walked step by step, like a young king, walking toward the sky, walking toward the Great Emperor.

He surpassed the other few, surpassed the human youth Xiang Ningyan, surpassed Qing Qiu who revealed complexity in her eyes, surpassed Zhang Siyun with a cold expression, surpassed the Captain who had an expression of disbelief.

After surpassing everyone, he walked for a long time, until he reached two thousand seven hundred ninety steps, reached the peak of everyone, reached between heaven and earth.

Far ahead!

At this moment, he still had seven thousand two hundred and nine steps to go before reaching the Great Emperor!

Behind him were the other nine people, and further behind were the countless human cultivators on the earth.

Standing in this position, Xu Qing had thoroughly understood that after coming to the Eastern Wanggu Pillar, those places that added points were all meaningful.

Their meaning might not be the same every time, but this time, it was here.

The assessment was actually going on from the very beginning.

Because after he stood at this height, the vicissitudinous voice from the Great Elder in the sky emanated again with solemn intent.

"Xu Qing, Chen Erniu, Zhang Siyun, you three are ranked first in the Eastern Wanggu Pillar, three thousand feet high, step forward three thousand steps."

Following the calling of each name, Xu Qing and the ten others moved forward one after another; Xu Qing was still first, not changing in the slightest, nor could he be shaken by half a point.

At that higher position, he looked at the Great Emperor statue at the very top, looked at the three brilliant order swords beneath it; at this moment, he... still had four thousand two hundred and nine steps to go!

Following closely, the voice that shook the sky rose like gold and stone striking.

"Zhang Siyun, obtained forty-eight soldier essences from the ghost cave secret, step forward four hundred eighty steps!"

"Qing Qiu, obtained two hundred thirteen soldier essences, step forward two thousand one hundred thirty steps!"

"Chen Erniu, obtained three hundred one soldier essences, step forward three thousand ten steps!"

"Xu Qing, obtained four hundred twenty-one soldier essences, step forward four thousand two hundred ten steps!"

Under this heaven-shaking voice, the ten people on the staircase moved forward one after another, but except for the Captain, most of the others looked at Xu Qing's back with gazes that were complex to the extreme.

Especially Zhang Siyun, whose expression was extremely gloomy, his killing intent toward Xu Qing intense, because if it weren't for Xu Qing's strike, he wouldn't have been ninth this time.

It was truly because in order to escape, he had to unfold secret arts, sacrificing one of his physical bodies, shedding his shell like a cicada, but also losing his storage bag and the fragments inside.

In addition, he discovered that now, besides Xu Qing and Chen Erniu, there was also Qing Qiu in front of him, and the distance was not close.

Xu Qing had no interest in paying attention to Zhang Siyun's resentment; at this moment, he walked toward the staircase in front, step by step, walking toward the peak.

There was no one the same on his left or right.

As he moved forward, all the human cultivators on the earth were in an uproar, their eyes no longer having any other figures, only seeing Xu Qing alone.

Because... the steps Xu Qing had left before were four thousand two hundred and nine steps, less than the steps he had obtained!

And at this moment, in Xu Qing's forward movement, he walked to eight thousand steps, walked to nine thousand steps, walked to nine thousand nine hundred steps, walked to... the final nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine steps!

After stepping on it, he walked to the order sword in the center.

Behind him, the closest was the Captain, at the position of seven thousand plus steps, followed by Qing Qiu at five thousand plus steps, and then Zhang Siyun, at three thousand plus steps.

And at this moment, he had walked to the very peak, but he still had one step left to take.

At this instant, not only were countless gazes from the earth gathered, but even all the Sword-Holders in the sky lowered their heads and looked at Xu Qing.

This kind of thing had not appeared since ancient times, but the last time was thousands of years ago, and it was not in Yinghuang Prefecture.

Yinghuang Prefecture, this was the first time!

So even the nine Sword-Holding Elders had their gazes fall on Xu Qing.

Xu Qing's expression was calm; he stood at the peak, there were no more steps in front, only the Great Emperor statue.

So he turned the last step into a bow.

Under the gaze of all cultivators and Sword-Holders, he clasped his fists and bowed deeply to the Great Emperor of the human race.

"Great goodness." In the sky, the Great Elder nodded slightly, then issued the decree.

"Sons, hold the sword!"

As soon as these words came out, everyone on the staircase exploded with speed at this moment, unfolding to their own limits.

Various secret arts emerged one after another, rushing toward the nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-ninth step.

They were sprinting.

Xu Qing stood at the supreme height, raised his hand to pull out the order sword in front of him, turned around, and looked down at the crowd below.

He stood there, the order sword in his hand shining with brilliant light, illuminating himself, while behind him, the Great Emperor god statue was shrouded in rosy light.

For a moment, in the eyes of everyone below, Xu Qing at this moment seemed to overlap with the Great Emperor god statue.

His elegant temperament, his face like jade, in that rosy light, was like the Great Emperor returning. ===== CHAPTER 373 =====