Chapter 373: The Consequences of Provoking Xu Qing

The trial of the Sword-Holders was full of sacredness and solemnity.

This kind of human orthodox ceremony could not be compared to any sect; the difference in foundation made the specifications of the ceremony naturally different.

Ceremonies were even more important for troubled times.

The more one was in the dark night, the more one was in the cold winter, the more one needed a fire to form; this fire... was the inheritance of the human race's firewood, the blood fire of the human race, representing the spirit of the human race.

And the function of the ceremony was to pass on the spirit.

The more formal and sacred it was, the more impressive this inheritance would be, until it was imprinted in the soul and would not dissipate in this life.

This was the Sword-Holder ceremony, and also one of the human race's ceremonies.

At this moment, above the sky, the Sword-Holders were arranged in a double-wing formation, standing solemnly; the shape of the wings also had special meaning for the Sword-Holders, which was protection.

Using their own wings to protect the human race, and even more willing to become the wings of the human race, flying for the rise of the ethnic group!

The nine Sword-Holding Elders, with solemn expressions, were like witnesses; this was also part of the ceremony, four on the left and four on the right, one in the center, their heights different, becoming a mountain, becoming a sword.

Representing the sharpness of the Sword-Holders, the order sword of the Sword-Holders.

Behind them was the rosy light filling the sky and the Great Emperor god statue that seemed to be able to support heaven and earth. She looked down at the earth, guarding the inheritance for the human race.

Beneath the god statue was Xu Qing, standing ten thousand feet high, holding the order sword.

His clothes were blown by the wind, his long hair fluttered with the wind, but his body stood there without moving, and the momentum at this moment did not need aura to form; just the gaze, just the position, could rise naturally.

Because, on the supreme staircase, there was only Xu Qing alone.

But at the same time, the origin of this momentum was very heavy!

Heavy was the overlap of the Great Emperor statue, heavy was the mission of the Sword-Holders.

And originally, the Sword-Holder ceremony should not produce this kind of momentum and heaviness gathered on one person; after all, this was just the Sword-Holders' introductory ceremony, and it would only be like this in other higher-level occasions and promotions later.

But this time, there was a Xu Qing.

In the process of the assessment, he walked to a height that had never appeared in Yinghuang Prefecture since ancient times; while others still needed to sprint to compete for the Sword-Holder quota, he had already stood on the highest staircase.

All he needed to do was pick up the order sword.

The moment he held the order sword, he seemed to have changed from a participant to a witness.

Witnessing the figures rushing rapidly on the staircase below at this moment.

There were only two order swords left, and only two people could succeed.

And Xu Qing's personality was to repay every grievance; he did not want Zhang Siyun to succeed, and the rules did not say he could not interfere; clearly, as long as it was not excessive, it was probably allowed.

"Everyone, be careful of Zhang Siyun; he has a kind of displacement art that requires the gaze to look before it can be carried out. In the ghost cave, this person used this art on me, which was extremely sinister."

Xu Qing stood at the peak and spoke calmly.

As soon as the words came out, everyone on the staircase moved.

The Captain had no hesitation, his body shone with blue light, his body became blurry, making it impossible for others to see his figure clearly, and his own speed also erupted rapidly, leaping out a thousand feet in an instant, and then without any pause, rushed out again.

The target was the order sword a thousand feet to the left of Xu Qing.

Zhang Siyun was expressionless; due to the losses in the ghost cave, he had fallen too far behind, and his injuries were very heavy, so he indeed intended to use this art, targeting Chen Erniu or Qing Qiu.

After all, Xu Qing had broken his art before and had pioneered the Yinghuang Prefecture, and the Great Elder had said the word 'great goodness'; now that he was holding the order sword, he was already a Sword-Holder, and the risk of him swapping positions with Xu Qing was extremely high.

But Xu Qing's reminder was too fast, and he spoke out immediately; his displacement art had not been fully unfolded, but he had no waves in his heart, still casting the spell, targeting Qing Qiu.

At the same time, the Captain's figure arrived rapidly under that extreme speed, carrying the pressure formed by the staircase in the sprinting stage, grabbed the order sword, excitement revealed in his eyes, and turned to look at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing also looked at the Captain.

After the two smiled at each other, Xu Qing discovered that his previous words were not stopped by the Sword-Holders in the sky, so he spoke to the people below again.

"Zhang Siyun, you coveted the pentagonal wooden house in the ghost cave, wanted to destroy it, and knew everything about the ghost cave. If you say you didn't know in advance and didn't go there with a purpose, no one will believe it."

"With such careful planning, your behavior and thoughts are all suspicious!"

"Sword-Holder Xu Qing, I implore the Elders of our Sword-Holding Court to check Zhang Siyun!"

Zhang Siyun was galloping forward on the seven thousand plus steps, and at the same time, he was casting the spell to swap the target to Qing Qiu, who was at nine thousand steps. Hearing Xu Qing's words at this moment, his mind finally had waves; he could not care about the seed-planting method like Li Ziliang's, because they were all groundless, and he only needed to be firm.

But... Xu Qing's words not only pointed out his true secret but also directly implored the Elders to check; this kind of thing was no longer seed-planting, he was putting him in check!

"Nonsense!"

Zhang Siyun knew that this matter could not be explained in a long-winded way, and it was not suitable to explain it at this moment, but he could not say nothing, so he pretended to be calm and spoke, continuing to cast the spell, but the waves in his mind finally had a trace of influence on the technique.

And the moment the displacement was unfolded, the Red Woman's eyes flashed, and suddenly her body retreated rapidly backward.

There was pressure moving forward in this place, so the speed was naturally not fast, but moving backward with the trend was extremely easy, as if blessed, and her speed was fully unfolded, so in an instant, Qing Qiu's body actually retreated to the position of three thousand plus steps.

Displacement!

Zhang Siyun successfully swapped from seven thousand plus steps to three thousand plus steps, while Qing Qiu was moved by him to seven thousand plus steps.

Before the swap, they were two thousand steps apart; after the swap, they were four thousand steps apart.

And the moment the swap was successful, a huge evil ghost appeared on Qing Qiu's body; it had been accumulating power for a long time, and at this moment, it opened its mouth toward Zhang Siyun behind, swallowing from a distance.

Zhang Siyun's body shook, his internal energy backfired, his footsteps paused involuntarily, and his mind was even more anxious and angry to the extreme. Qing Qiu's method was very simple, but the simpler it was, the more unexpected it was.

The Red Woman Qing Qiu took advantage of this opportunity, red light shone all over her body, and she unfolded secret arts regardless of the cost, multiple afterimages appearing on her body, exchanging for extreme speed by spitting out seven mouthfuls of blood.

Under the circumstances of one rising and one falling, she finally rushed to the peak and grabbed the third order sword.

The moment she held the order sword, Qing Qiu spat out a large mouthful of blood again, and there were even fragments of internal organs inside; clearly, this secret art had a huge backlash on her.

At this moment, she was withered, as if she couldn't stand steadily, and could only support herself with the evil ghost sickle, barely standing there, incomparably weak, but her eyes revealed persistence.

This gaze made Xu Qing feel inexplicably that he seemed to have seen it before.

Just as Xu Qing was searching his memory, looking for the source of this familiarity, Zhang Siyun, seeing that he had failed, had anger burning in his heart, stared fixedly at Xu Qing, and then raised his head on the staircase, looking at the Sword-Holders in the sky, and spoke loudly.

"Xu Qing slandered me, interfered with my trial, this matter..."

"This matter, I will give you an explanation on behalf of my little junior brother. Zhang Siyun, sorry, it turned out to be a misunderstanding, you are a good person." The Captain blinked and took over Zhang Siyun's words, speaking with a serious expression, and after finishing, he transmitted words to the panting Qing Qiu.

"Fellow Daoist Qing Qiu, what do you think."

Qing Qiu hated the mad dog and the ghost hand, but she also knew that this matter concerned her ranking, so she spoke coldly.

"I also think it's a misunderstanding, Zhang Siyun, sorry, you are a good person."

Even though they both said sorry, the anger in Zhang Siyun's heart did not dissipate in the slightest, but instead turned into thick grievance; he was about to speak.

But in the left wing formation in the sky, the middle-aged man who had read the list before walked out.

He bowed to the Great Elder, and noticing that the Great Elder had no judgment on the matter below, as someone who had long followed the Great Elder, he naturally understood the Great Elder's thoughts; he was the one who went to check Xu Qing's identity before the Great Elder's Dao Altar that day, and at this moment, he thought of the gaze the Great Elder had looked at Xu Qing with that day.

So he turned to look at the staircase, and a solemn voice emanated from his mouth, echoing in the world.

"Sword-Holder assessment, ceremony concluded."

As soon as the voice came out, in an instant, on the seven-colored staircase of nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine steps, except for Xu Qing and the other two, everyone else's figures disappeared instantly, moved by a vast force, directly driven out of the staircase, and appeared on the earth.

Zhang Siyun was the same.

He clenched his fists tightly, bloodshot eyes, his heart full of strong resentment, while the little sect youth Xiang Ningyan beside him, who had struck Xu Qing at the Eastern Wanggu Pillar, had a pale expression, his face full of bitterness, but deep in his eyes, there was still a trace of longing.

Most of the others were the same, all bitterness existed with longing, because they still had one chance!

But no matter how unwilling these people were, and how their emotions fluctuated, at this moment, no one cared about them, and all gazes fell on that sacred staircase.

There, there were only Xu Qing, the Captain, and the Red Woman.

"This time, three Sword-Holders were selected, namely Xu Qing, Chen Erniu, and Qing Qiu, congratulations to you three."

After the middle-aged man finished speaking, he looked at the three of them, his gaze staying longest on Xu Qing, then clasped his fists and bowed to the three of them.

Following that, all the Sword-Holders around did the same, one by one with serious expressions, bowing in unison.

This was the bow of welcoming the Dao, regardless of age or status, and it was the respect enjoyed by every Sword-Holder upon entry.

The three of them had solemn expressions and returned the bow to the Sword-Holders in the sky.

"From today on, you three officially become Sword-Holders." The middle-aged man who read these out spoke calmly in the sky.

"According to the resolution of the Sword-Holding Court, human disciple Xiang Ningyan is granted the qualification of breaking the rules, becoming a quasi-Sword-Holder, allowed to go to the Upper County Sword-Holding Palace for sealing and tempering; if successful, he can obtain an order sword and become an official Sword-Holder."

"According to the decree of the Sword-Holding Palace, human disciple Zhang Siyun becomes a Sword-Holder without examination, but there are only three order swords in Yinghuang Prefecture, so you need to go to the Fenghai County Sword-Holding Palace to request an order sword yourself."

"Now, you two step forward."

As soon as the words came out, Xiang Ningyan's figure rushed out fiercely, leaping rapidly toward the staircase in front. While running, intense light revealed in his eyes, his breathing was rapid, and his body was trembling.

The crowd on the earth all had waves in their hearts, and as for the other trial-takers, they sighed helplessly.

What they were waiting for was this chance to break the rules; every time there was a Sword-Holder selection, there would be this kind of breaking the rules.

Although not all quasi-Sword-Holders could succeed in sealing in the Upper County in the end, at least this was a chance.

Only Zhang Siyun still had resentment in his heart; at this moment, he stepped forward, stepped on the staircase, and arrived at the peak height after Xiang Ningyan, but in terms of standing position, he was on the edge.

Xu Qing turned his head calmly and looked at Xiang Ningyan.

Under his gaze, Xiang Ningyan shrank his head, his mind trembled, and the previous ecstasy seemed to be poured with a basin of cold water at this moment; he did not dare to look at Xu Qing's eyes.

Xu Qing withdrew his gaze and looked at Zhang Siyun again, seeing the coldness deep in Zhang Siyun's eyes.

Xu Qing was expressionless, no waves in his eyes, withdrew his gaze, looked calmly at the sky, and waited for the end of this ceremony.

"Now, you five will walk toward the Great Emperor god statue under the witness of all the Sword-Holders, conduct the Sword-Holder heart-questioning oath, and obtain the Great Emperor's blessing." The middle-aged man's voice slowly emanated, and the solemn intent was even thicker at this moment.

It seemed that this part was extremely important for the Sword-Holders.

"This is the last and necessary part of becoming a Sword-Holder. Under the gaze of the Great Emperor, you all need to be focused, follow your own heart, and answer the Great Emperor's inquiry in your mind."

"We don't know your answers, only you and the Great Emperor know, and the Great Emperor god statue will also emit brilliant light based on your answers."

"The height of the brilliant light represents the Great Emperor's recognition of your answers. Since ancient times, the Sword-Holder with the least brilliant light in our Yinghuang Prefecture obtained sixty feet of light spreading, and the one with the most once reached a thousand feet."

Following the sound of the middle-aged cultivator in the sky spreading, the Captain blinked at Xu Qing, and in this solemn occasion, he still had the guts to transmit a voice to Xu Qing.

"Little Ah Qing, I know about this pass, they say it's a blessing, but in fact, it's all to fool people."

"Let me tell you, this pass has two purposes, one is the final check of whether it is really a human, and the other is like an oath; when the time comes, the Great Emperor god statue will ask us questions in our minds, and we just need to brag."

"This result doesn't affect our status as Sword-Holders, and there's no reward, at most it's just face."

"However, you have to think about how to brag, after all, although it doesn't affect it, I heard it needs to be recorded in our identity resume, which has some effect on future promotions."

"So you have to think carefully, but I am different."

"I have prepared for this for a long, long time. After coming to Yinghuang Prefecture, I spent a lot of money to buy all the questions the Great Emperor has asked in thousands of years, and I managed to get all the common questions from other prefectures, a total of one thousand seven hundred eighty-nine common questions."

"At that time, your eldest senior brother, I, had already started to ponder the answers with deep foresight, and I have memorized all the answers, each one is incomparably perfect!"

"Hmph hmph, you won this time, but this time, I can announce in advance, I will definitely have the highest light."

The Captain was smug, raised his eyebrows at Xu Qing, looking like he was planning and was incomparably wise.

Xu Qing ignored him.

He didn't care about the height of the light; since it didn't affect the Sword-Holder status and there was no reward, just a false name, then everything should be answered according to his heart.

Just as Xu Qing thought this, the solemn voice in the sky shook the sky.

"You all, step forward a hundred feet!"

Xu Qing raised his head, stepped forward, and the others were the same, stepping forward a hundred feet, closer to the Great Emperor god statue. ===== CHAPTER 374 =====