Chapter 396

Song Qingming picked up the wooden plaque in his hand, shook his head, and said, "I only know that I drew number twenty-nine. As for who my opponent is, I am not yet clear. I suppose I will have to wait until the fellow Daoists ahead of me finish their matches to find out."

Ever since the Old Ancestor Chen announced the holding of the Sword Discussion Assembly, the specific spiritual items to be awarded to the winners were quickly announced as well. Qi Refining stage cultivators who could enter the top twenty would each receive one first-grade high-tier elixir as a reward, and those who entered the top five would receive an additional first-grade high-tier magic treasure.

As for Foundation Establishment cultivators, those who could enter the top ten would be rewarded with one second-grade mid-tier Moon-Gazing Pill, and the top three would each receive one second-grade high-tier magic treasure.

The Moon-Gazing Pill has the effect of assisting Foundation Establishment cultivators in breaking through their cultivation realm. Song Qingming had previously bought two of them at the Yangshan Market. The value of just one Moon-Gazing Pill in the market is nearly five hundred spirit stones, and as for a second-grade high-tier magic treasure, it goes without saying that any single piece is worth nearly two thousand spirit stones.

Seeing that the Sword Discussion Assembly had such high rewards, the many Foundation Establishment cultivators who came to Mount Tuoyun, regardless of their cultivation level, basically all signed up. In any case, one only needed to sign up to participate in this Sword Discussion Assembly, and there was no need to pay extra spirit stones. Even if one failed to enter the top ten and receive a reward, there would not be any significant loss.

"Fellow Daoist Song, I heard that for this Sword Discussion Assembly, in addition to the surface rewards, the cultivators who enter the top ten will be able to stay on Mount Tuoyun after the trade fair ends to listen to Old Ancestor Chen preach. This is a rare opportunity for us."

"Haha! Fellow Daoist Huang is right, but there are over a hundred Foundation Establishment fellow Daoists who have come to Mount Tuoyun this time. It will likely be quite difficult for us to enter the top ten. We can only try our luck and see. I wonder into whose hands the rewards for the top three will eventually fall!" Song Qingming looked ahead and sighed with a smile.

Huang Shengxin nodded in approval upon hearing this: "Fellow Daoist Song is right to think so. There are no fewer than twenty experts at the late Foundation Establishment stage who have come to this Sword Discussion Assembly. We might just be here to join in the fun. However, having the opportunity to spar with so many cultivators of the same rank is a great pleasure in life. You and I just need to do our best."

As the few were talking, the sparring stage for Foundation Establishment cultivators at the Sword Discussion Assembly had officially begun its first bout.

The two cultivators who faced off first both only had early Foundation Establishment cultivation. After a fierce struggle, one of the young burly men relied on the superior quality of the magic treasure in his hand to narrowly win the match and enter the next round.

In the second match, as a young woman dressed in a light yellow palace gown appeared, a burst of exclamations suddenly erupted from outside the sparring stage. Song Qingming looked closely and discovered that the aura faintly revealed by this woman had actually reached the ninth level of Foundation Establishment.

"Fellow Daoist Huang, who is this woman? She has cultivated to the peak of Foundation Establishment at such a young age."

Seeing the confusion on Song Qingming's face, Huang Shengxin hurriedly explained: "This is Fairy Qiudie of the Iron Immortal Valley. She is the one with the best cultivation talent among the younger generation of the Ma family and has received the true teachings of Senior Ma. She should be able to rank in the top three in this Sword Discussion Assembly. To run into such a powerful opponent right at the start, that guy on the other side is truly unlucky."

The cultivator fighting against this Fairy Qiudie was an old man with slightly white whiskers. His cultivation was about the same as Song Qingming's, having reached the seventh level of Foundation Establishment. Although both were late Foundation Establishment cultivators and it seemed their strength was not that far apart, once the battle began, the seventh-level Foundation Establishment old man was quickly beaten into having no power to fight back by the secret techniques and divine abilities used by the other party.

Borrowing a silver lantern, the woman continuously summoned a swarm of white butterflies formed from spiritual power from within the lantern. Each of these butterflies was like a sharp hidden weapon, rapidly attacking the opponent from all directions. Even though the opponent had a decent defensive magic treasure in his hand, he could not hold on for long. In the end, the old man had no choice but to announce his surrender, ending the duel.

After seeing the divine abilities of this Fairy Qiudie, Song Qingming could only secretly rejoice that he did not encounter her at the very beginning. Otherwise, he feared he would be just like the old man just now, losing in the first round.

As one cultivator after another took the stage, it soon became the turn of Song Qingming and his two companions who were watching from the side. Fortunately, the luck of the three of them on the first day was quite good; the opponents they encountered were all ordinary Foundation Establishment rogue cultivators. Except for Huang Shengxin, who was entangled with his opponent for a while, both Song Qingming and Huang Shengxin managed to enter the second round easily without much effort.

Of the over one hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators, only half, about sixty, remained by the second day. This time, the opponent Song Qingming encountered was slightly stronger, a bald, burly man at the sixth level of Foundation Establishment.

This guy was a body-refining cultivator who relied on a set of iron-hard techniques and had few rivals among cultivators of the same rank. However, body-refining cultivators have one very obvious weakness: their internal spiritual sense is generally relatively weak.

After Song Qingming used a silver shield to block several close-range attacks from the bald, burly man, he took advantage of a gap in the opponent's movements to take a black banner directly from his storage bag, releasing a burst of black smoke to trap him in place.

This black banner was exactly the Soul-Bewildering Banner that Song Qingming had asked Huang Shengxin to help modify years ago. This banner was originally a demonic treasure best at attacking a cultivator's soul. The bald, burly man was trapped in place by the Soul-Bewildering Banner, and after a long struggle, he finally rushed out of the black smoke. Just as he raised his eyes to search for Song Qingming's tracks, a huge, transparent spike had already reached his front, directly knocking him off the stage.

Standing on the stone stage, Song Qingming wiped the sweat from his forehead and slowly walked to the side. To launch this powerful strike, he had already consumed a lot of his magic power. Fortunately, this strike, which he had been charging for a long time, did not disappoint him, directly knocking his opponent off the stone stage.

Because according to the Sword Discussion rules, forcing an opponent off the stone stage also counts as a victory. Although the bald, burly man who was knocked off the stone stage by him was not seriously injured and stood up immediately after falling, Song Qingming quickly heard the voice of a cultivator on the side announcing his victory, so he hurriedly put away the Soul-Bewildering Banner and walked down from the sparring stone stage.

Although this battle took some effort and consumed a lot of magic power, it did not exceed Song Qingming's expectations before the battle, nor did any major twists or troubles occur. After all, both his cultivation and his magic treasures were a cut above the opponent's. As long as he was not countered by the opponent's techniques or ambushed, winning was not a big problem.