Chapter 694: Preliminary Round Begins! (1/2, Autumn Subscription)

Not to mention the terrifying effects of the Frozen Heart Method, just its cultivation effect—refining internal force and purifying it of impurities—is enough to qualify as a top-tier Heart Method!

Any martial cultivator who has taken a wrong path can still find redemption by practicing the 【Frozen Heart Method】.

Fang Yue once again felt just how powerful the legacy left by Lord Han truly was.

A legacy Heart Method that corrects past mistakes and restores the Martial Dao path to smoothness is incredibly vital, critically essential.

It's like building a house: if the foundation is crooked, ordinary people can only build on that crooked foundation, causing the house to tilt further until, after reaching a certain height, no more stories can be added—or the entire structure will collapse.

But the 【Frozen Heart Method】 forcibly straightens the crooked foundation, completely realigns the entire house into perfect verticality, and builds upward from that corrected base.

In this way, the Martial Dao path naturally becomes broad, flat, and completely unobstructed!

Open the attribute list. (Please click open the chapter comments here.)

Vast internal force flowed through his body.

The massive attribute boost pushed Fang Yue's strength to a new level.

Though he was only at the Human Grade Low Stage, his true strength likely equaled that of a Human Grade High Stage cultivator!

Especially after successfully cultivating the 【Frozen Heart Method】, Fang Yue gained deeper insight into his own power.

Confidence gradually welled up within him.

"Lord Han… I've done it… I've successfully inherited your legacy!"

Fang Yue clenched his fists.

If Lord Han were still alive, he would surely be even more excited and delighted than Fang Yue himself…

Fang Yue took a deep breath and suppressed his emotions.

He had just finished cultivating the 【Frozen Heart Method】; he needed to solidify it thoroughly and must not rush forward.

The path of cultivation isn't without shortcuts, but every shortcut must eventually be repaid.

Just as Fang Yue had previously practiced many Heart Methods, his internal force had become chaotic and conflicted, causing even basic use of internal force to increase its consumption—perhaps requiring 1.25 units of internal force to activate just 1 unit properly.

Don't underestimate such a small difference; in practice, it meant drastically increased internal force consumption, making him unable to outlast his opponents.

Right now, even just from its name and effects, the 【Frozen Heart Method】 was already immensely powerful—a first-rate Heart Method that, if revealed outside, would be enough to spark chaos.

Yet this was not the limit of the 【Frozen Heart Method】.

As its cultivation level advanced, it could grow even stronger.

Moreover, this was merely the effect of the Heart Method alone.

The legacy left by Lord Han… his core Martial Arts consisted of three disciplines.

Heart Method, Footwork, Sword Art!

Only when all three were united could one truly inherit Lord Han's legacy and unleash the full power of this Rain Grade legacy!

Once Fang Yue thoroughly studied, understood, and mastered the other two Martial Arts, and linked them with the 【Frozen Heart Method】, their combined power could rise yet another level!

Through the inheritance of the 【Frozen Heart Method】, Fang Yue caught a glimpse of Lord Han's greatness.

The more he cultivated, the more he felt the vast gulf between himself and Lord Han.

The higher he climbed toward the peak, the more he realized how unattainable Lord Han truly was.

No wonder he had once reached Rain Grade Peak, stood atop the mortal world, and stood just one step away from the Immortal Grade—yet was trapped at that level by his Spirit Root limitation.

Had Lord Han not suffered a mid-life collapse, his injuries having shattered his foundation and caused his power to drop to half a step below Rain Grade, Fang Yue could not even imagine how powerful Lord Han had been in his prime!

Before Fang Yue's eyes, a towering silhouette seemed to appear—it was Lord Han's back.

Though slowly, he was indeed walking, step by step, along the path Lord Han had once tread, advancing gradually!

"One day, I too will reach Lord Han's strength, ascend to the peak, and even surpass him!"

"Then… find the 【Bianhua Flower】, and fulfill my vow!"

As Fang Yue thought this, a voice from outside suddenly rang out.

"Lord Ye, everyone is nearly assembled. The young mistress asks you to come down and join her to listen to the Heaven Commerce Alliance's leader speak."

Every 【Martial Duel】 follows nearly identical rules.

There may be minor variations, but the overall structure remains the same.

Yet as a merchant caravan under the Heaven Commerce Alliance, who would dare not show respect when the Alliance's leader takes the stage?

Fang Yue, publicly serving as Guest of the Great Sun Merchant Caravan, couldn't possibly act more arrogant than the caravan itself.

Moreover, 【Chunuan City】 was essentially under the Heaven Commerce Alliance's control; Fang Yue had no desire to draw their attention over something so trivial.

As Fang Yue descended from the carriage with Mang Liuzi, all eyes around him instantly turned toward him.

Being alone in the same carriage with Yang Hongxia was already too conspicuous, especially after Dou Hongyi had visited once before—making it even more attention-grabbing.

Fortunately, most of these were minor merchant caravans outside the rankings, direct competitors of the Great Sun Merchant Caravan, so the situation wasn't problematic.

Aside from… Yang Diandian of the Blue Shan Caravan and Tai Yuema of the Eagle Merchant Caravan, who gave Fang Yue pause, none of those currently observing him required special concern.

"Lord Tian arrives!"

Amid a burst of drumbeats, Tian Wangchuan was the first to enter Fang Yue's sight.

He left no particularly striking impression—just the image of a calm, middle-aged man.

He delivered a polite opening speech, thanking the merchant caravans under his banner for their support, then began explaining the rules of the preliminary round.

As previously stated, there were one hundred fighting platforms, all operating simultaneously, with a time limit of half a day.

After half a day, any defender who faced no challengers would be declared the winner of that platform.

Only those who won their platforms would gain the right to challenge the current top one hundred merchant caravans of the 【Heaven Commerce Alliance】!

This was the advantage of last year's winners—the current top one hundred merchant caravans were exempt from the preliminary round entirely!

Even so, the atmosphere on-site was already electric.

Everyone was eager to compete immediately, ready to fight.

Because the winner of each platform would have the greatest chance to break into this year's top one hundred rankings of the 【Heaven Commerce Alliance】.

In addition to these one hundred people who will steadily advance to the next round of the competition, the Tianshang Alliance will also provide extra slots for defeated merchant caravans to enter the repechage.

These extra slots are determined by a comprehensive evaluation considering each merchant caravan's commercial ability, overall strength, assets, and ranking from the previous edition, with the highest-scoring caravans selected by lottery.

The Dayang Merchant Caravan was eliminated first from this good fortune.

Although their ranking in the previous 【Wu Jue】 was decent, placing outside the top hundred, they are now severely weakened, suffering heavy losses, and must start over— their comprehensive score simply cannot rise.

Therefore, the Dayang Merchant Caravan must win a fighting platform!

"The preliminary round of the Wu Jue now begins!"

Night's Breath, activate!

(End of Chapter)