Chapter 312 - The Heavy Sword with a Sharp Edge[1]
“Cough cough, I think there’s no point for the competition, right?” Fang Jian let out a cough.
“Why is that?” The envoy of the Feiyang Sacred Area turned cocky after seeing Fang Jian had the intention to back off, “It’s just a friendly competition; are you scared of losing?”
Scared of losing?
Fang Jian’s expression turned cold as he said, “I’m afraid there’s a misunderstanding here. In my eyes, Leng Aotian is a great talent with a bright future ahead of him. Thus, I would not want him to suffer again after being defeated, which would be a greater shock to him compared to last year!”
After hearing the words, both Jianghuang and the envoy of the Qinglong Sacred Area were stunned.
Suffering a greater shock?
Did Fang Jian seriously think that Leng Aotian would surely lose in the competition?
The envoy of the Feiyang Sacred Area could feel his heart being ignited with flames of fury as he said, “Fang Jian, don’t be so cocky; Leng Aotian would definitely win in the third round! If he ends up losing, I will pay you fifty thousand Arcane Realm Stones! If we win, you will pay me fifty thousand Arcane Realm Stones, sound good?”
The authorities close to them were astonished. That’s fifty thousand Arcane Realm Stones right there, an incredible fortune.
“Whatever.”
Fang Jian glanced at Qin Nan beside him, and was aware that his aura had now stabilized, before he had spoken in a calm tone.
What the hell is wrong with this guy; I tried to convince him for his sake, and he ended up stirring more trouble instead of being grateful!
That being said, Qin Nan was not aware of the conflict taking place, as he was fully focused on stabilizing his Inner Core.
A golden glow suddenly appeared from the inside of the Inner Core, which became alive and encapsulated the entire Core. After a while, three golden lines could be seen on the greyish-white Inner Core, resulting in a mysterious aura.
“What’s going on? Where did these three golden lines come from all of a sudden?”
Qin Nan could not help but frown his eyebrows.
……
……
Meanwhile, at the square-shaped dojo, the first round soon came to an end.
There were a total of one thousand one hundred and twenty three disciples participating in the selection. Just over three hundred disciples were disqualified in the first round, leaving more than eight hundred disciples remaining, resulting in a spectacular sight.
“Let’s move onto the second round.” Jianghuang rose from his seat and declared in a loud tone, “According to the standards set by the two Sacred Areas, only those with a Martial Spirit greater than the ninth-grade Huang rank are allowed to advance to the next round!”
Upon hearing this, the crowd of disciples was startled.
The standard of the selection was different each year—sometimes it would be eighth-grade Huang ranked, or even seventh-grade Huang ranked. However, to their surprise, the standard was relatively higher this year, which turned out to be ninth-grade Huang ranked.
In other words, even with a ninth-grade Huang ranked or tenth-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit, one would find himself to be at the bottom of the ladder, with no chance to capture the attention of the experts of the two Sacred Areas.
“The round begins now!”
After being organized by the twenty assessing officers, each genius took turns to unleash their Martial Spirits.
At that instant, Qin Nan had finally recovered.
After a prolonged ponder, he had still failed to discover the significance of the three golden lines on his Inner Core. He was going to ask the copper mirror about it, but gave up after remembering the price of five streams of Chaos Qi for each question. Either way, it seemed like the three golden lines would not pose any threat to him.
“Hmm? These Martial Spirits are quite interesting!”
Qin Nan’s eyes flickered after glancing at the dojo.
He could see various types of Martial Spirits, including a scroll, a brush, a helmet, a demonic beast, etc. Despite the difference between their ranks, each Martial Spirit also possessed different abilities, which could not be overlooked.
The second round of the trial ended swiftly, with just over three hundred disciples remaining, and the rest were disqualified.
These three hundred plus disciples could be considered to be super geniuses, as most of them possessed a tenth-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit, granting them powerful auras.
“Congratulations on passing the second round.” A smile appeared on Jianghuang’s face as he spoke, “Let’s move on to the third round of the trial. I believe most of you already know what the last round is about, but just in case, I’ll explain it again. The third round of the trial is known as ‘sword drawing’! What sword will it be? It’s a broadsword, known as the ‘Heavy Sword with a Sharp Edge’!”
“The Heavy Sword with a Sharp Edge?”
Qin Nan was startled.
He had heard of the ‘Heavy Sword with no Sharp Edge’, but it was his first time hearing the name ‘Heavy Sword with a Sharp Edge’.
“You may ask, why is it named the Heavy Sword with a Sharp Edge? As a matter of fact, it does not actually have a sharp edge, but within it lies a powerful presence. Although it’s not classified as a magical weapon, if the presence were to be awakened, its real strength could then be unleashed!” As soon as Jianghuang finished his speech, with a flick, a twelve-foot-long and six-foot-wide broadsword descended from above and crushed firmly into the dojo, attracting the attention of the crowd.
“As for now, the presence inside the broadsword is deep asleep. Your task is to try and wake it up; any method is allowed. The more awakened it is, the higher the distance you can draw the sword out from the ground. If it is not awakened, even a Martial Ancestor Realm expert would not be able to draw the sword out!”
A sense of pride could be detected in Jianghuang’s tone.
This Heavy Sword with a Sharp Edge was an extremely unique treasure that he had found coincidentally, which was also one of his proudest discoveries. After all, no one below the Martial Dominator Realm had managed to draw it out completely from the ground!
“This sword drawing thing is quite interesting!” Qin Nan’s eyes flickered.
“Let’s begin, shall we!”
Jianghuang uttered a roar.
“I’ll be the first contestant!”
Among the crowd of disciples, a muscular disciple with a stocky and imposing build stepped forward and leapt onto the hilt of the broadsword, with a confident look on his face.
The disciple possessed a tenth-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit and a cultivation of the third-layer of the Martial Emperor Realm. Besides that, he also appeared to have practiced some sort of body-technique, which caused his flesh’s strength to be somehow terrifying.
He had no doubt that with his strength, drawing the broadsword out from the ground would be a simple task for him!
“Rise!”
The genius uttered a roar as he grabbed the hilt of the broadsword with both hands. His muscles emitted a dull groan as he exhorted a huge force while pulling the sword upward.
The broadsword stood firmly on the ground. It did not even sway despite being pulled with a great force.
“How is this possible!’
The expression on the disciple’s face utterly changed as he uttered another roar and exhorted all his strength to draw the sword out from the ground. However, the sword remained calm as always, causing his face to turn pale at that instant.
“Fail! Next one!”
The assessing officer declared in a cold tone. While dealing with the Heavy Sword with a Sharp Edge, which was extremely well-known among the cultivators of Jianghuang City, trying to draw it out with mere flesh was an absolute joke.
Many among the geniuses were astonished; although they had heard of the broadsword before, they never believed it to be this difficult. It was their first time witnessing it in person too.
Drawing out this Heavy Sword with a Sharp Edge was nothing simple!
“Allow me to have a go!”
Following a roar, a young man wearing armored plates walked out from the crowd.
The person was none other than Leng Jianxiong!
Translator: XephiZ
Editor: DOCuinn
[1] TL Note: This is a reference to the term ‘Heavy Sword with no sharp edge’ （重剑无锋）which is referring to a famous quote from Dugu Qiubai (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dugu_Qiubai). Basically, it means that his mastery of the Sword Art had reached a stage where even using a sword with blunt edges, he’s able to outmatch his opponents with ease using his skills alone.