Chapter 397

By the second day, the number of people sparring had already been reduced by half compared to the previous day, and the battles ended relatively early. Both Song Qingming and Huang Shengxin successfully defeated their opponents. Only Huang Shengxin had worse luck, encountering an opponent at the eighth level of Foundation Establishment, and after a bitter struggle, he was defeated as expected.

By the final day, the remaining thirty-plus cultivators had to go through two more battles to decide the final top ten, and then select the top three powerhouses of this Sword Discussion Assembly.

Among these thirty cultivators who entered the final round, late Foundation Establishment cultivators already occupied more than half. Although the remaining cultivators had lower cultivation, most were Foundation Establishment powerhouses who possessed one or two powerful magic treasures and extraordinary divine abilities. There were few left who could rely on their own luck to pass two rounds in a row.

At the start of this round, Song Qingming's luck was still good; he was matched against a disciple of the Carefree Sect at the peak of the sixth level of Foundation Establishment. Although this person had a second-grade high-tier flying sword, he did not have much experience in dueling, and his strength was only slightly stronger than the bald, burly man Song Qingming had taken down yesterday. Although Song Qingming spent more time fighting this time, he still took this person down without any danger.

Next, he only needed to win one more match to enter the top ten. However, this time Song Qingming also encountered a truly powerful opponent: an old man in a yellow robe whose cultivation had already reached the peak of the eighth level of Foundation Establishment.

After this person took the stage and saw that Song Qingming's cultivation was only at the seventh level of Foundation Establishment, a flash of joy quickly crossed his eyes. Now that everyone only had one last opponent left to enter the top ten, and among the remaining less than twenty people, Song Qingming's seventh-level Foundation Establishment cultivation was clearly ranked towards the back.

As soon as this yellow-robed old man came up, he chose to attack first. With a wave of his hand, he directly released a white jade bottle. Under the yellow-robed old man's spell manipulation, the mouth of the white jade bottle suddenly emitted a burst of intense red light, and a scorching flame, like a long, sharp arrow, shot directly toward Song Qingming.

"This old man, what a powerful fire-control technique!" Seeing the yellow-robed old man use the white jade bottle in his hand to increase the power of an ordinary Fire Arrow Technique by several times, Song Qingming could not help but sigh in admiration.

Just as Song Qingming had finished casting a spell to summon a protective barrier to block this strike, he unexpectedly felt several more waves of hot spiritual energy attacking his body from all around. Looking up, the yellow-robed old man had already summoned several more fire arrows of similar power to the previous one from the white jade bottle. These fire arrows were not only powerful, but they were also continuously flying out from the jade bottle, quickly forming a rain of arrows.

Seeing this, Song Qingming had no choice but to take out the Azure Water Bell to block in front of him, stopping the rain of arrows.

But before Song Qingming could catch his breath, the yellow-robed old man in the distance suddenly cast a spell again, throwing two identical white jade bottles into the air. As fire arrows began to shoot from these two jade bottles, the number of arrows raining down on Song Qingming suddenly increased by several times.

"To be able to operate three identical magic treasures at the same time, this guy's spiritual sense seems to be quite extraordinary."

Facing the rain of fire falling from the sky, Song Qingming could only cast a spell to control the Azure Water Bell to cover himself entirely, which finally blocked the rain of fire released by the yellow-robed old man.

Fortunately, the quality of the Azure Water Bell, a second-grade high-tier defensive magic treasure, was very good. It was difficult for the spell attacks of ordinary cultivators of the same rank to break its defense. Song Qingming relied on the powerful defensive power of the Azure Water Bell to patiently block this wave of attacks.

After the fire arrows from the yellow-robed old man's bottles stopped shooting, Song Qingming lifted the Azure Water Bell, which had become nearly a zhang tall, and smashed it directly toward the top of the yellow-robed old man's head.

Just as the Azure Water Bell flew into mid-air, the yellow-robed old man had already made a response, directly taking out a black bronze mirror and placing it in front of his chest.

Unexpectedly, just as the Azure Water Bell flew in front of the yellow-robed old man, it suddenly stopped. Immediately after, Song Qingming's figure suddenly appeared beneath the Azure Water Bell. A black long saber in his hand slashed directly toward the yellow-robed old man's feet, while another smaller short blade had already turned into a sharp edge and shot toward the opponent's head.

The yellow-robed old man was not flustered upon seeing this; he jumped up to dodge Song Qingming's slash. As he flew into mid-air, the black bronze mirror in his hand flashed with spiritual light, instantly turning into a bronze mirror three feet in diameter, which he held in front of him to block the incoming short blade.

Seeing the yellow-robed old man dodge his strike so easily, Song Qingming's expression did not change. Instead, he took out the Soul-Bewildering Banner and released a burst of black smoke to hide his figure.

"Hmph! Do you think I can't find you just by hiding?" After the yellow-robed old man chuckled, he once again controlled the three white jade bottles in his hand to merge into one, casting a spell from the air to release another rain of fire onto the ground.

At this point, Song Qingming, hiding in the smoke, seemed to have no other choice but to release the Azure Water Bell again to avoid this sharp attack. Soon, the yellow-robed old man discovered the location of the Azure Water Bell in the smoke and concentrated all his attacks around it.

Following a sharp shout from the yellow-robed old man, a flame spear as thick as a water bucket appeared in his hand. Holding the sharp weapon, the yellow-robed old man charged directly toward Song Qingming's location, wanting to use this strike to pierce through the defense of the Azure Water Bell on Song Qingming.

However, the yellow-robed old man's strike still failed to break the defense of the Azure Water Bell covering the ground, which inevitably made the yellow-robed old man's face reveal a trace of surprise. He had originally thought that this Azure Water Bell was just an ordinary second-grade high-tier defensive magic treasure, but he did not expect that the magic treasure in Song Qingming's hand had been forged by Long Feng and had silver sand stone added to it, making it far beyond what ordinary second-grade magic treasures could compare to.

Seeing that his strike failed, the yellow-robed old man was just about to retreat when the Azure Water Bell in front of him suddenly shot out several water arrows. The yellow-robed old man could only stop his figure, wanting to use the black bronze mirror in his hand to block this attack. Just at this moment, a sound of breaking air suddenly came from the side of the yellow-robed old man, and a black silver saber had already appeared beside him.

The yellow-robed old man had not expected this sudden strike at all. Following a cry of surprise, the yellow-robed old man was knocked flying several zhang away by Song Qingming's saber, and even the black bronze mirror he had been holding in his hand fell off the stone stage.

"Weren't you hiding inside the bronze bell all this time? How did you suddenly run outside?" The yellow-robed old man, lying on the ground, looked at Song Qingming with a face full of surprise, still unable to figure out how he, who had been hiding inside the Azure Water Bell, had appeared outside the magic treasure.

"Haha! Which eye of yours saw me hiding inside the whole time?"