Chapter 103: Flowing Like an Empty Rainbow

  Li Ruo took out two iron ingots and carefully placed them on the stone table beside him, then closed the cave entrance.

  Now Li Ruo Dao's most eager wish is to let Xiao Jian evolve into a five-fold wave peak and trough, so that he can achieve a half-step sword intent leap. Li Ruo Dao vaguely knows that if he can break through the five-part sword intent, it will definitely be a qualitative leap in understanding the sword intent.

  Your own sword intent power will achieve rapid growth.

  With an infinitely expectant mood, the two thick iron ingots were cut into long strips and fed one by one to Xiao Jian's devouring mouth.

  The essence of Tie Jing's spiritual power kept flowing into the small sword, and the faint light inside the sword grew stronger bit by bit.

  More iron filings lost all their luster, twisted and shattered on the ground.

  Li Ran waved the small sword, playing with it gleefully. Gradually, the two iron essences were completely absorbed by the small sword, and the light on its body grew even brighter.

  His heart was excited, holding a small sword and sitting cross-legged in meditation, his primordial spirit entered the sword and stood still, a mysterious pattern flashed through, causing his primordial spirit to tremble. Li Ran couldn't help but let out a moan: It's too comfortable, just like the deepest part of his soul was being massaged by a nimble hand.

  He hastily concentrated his mind and looked at the mysterious pattern, but was shocked and stunned: the light golden mysterious pattern, five waves of peaks and troughs, still lacked a small piece that had not yet grown.

  Li Ran's knife suddenly let out a miserable cry.

  Just like his own strength card was at the peak of Jingyuan Jin's fourth heavy, compared to breaking through and entering Jingyuan Jin's fifth heavy, it was a qualitative change in strength. Since the secret pattern did not evolve into the fifth heavy, it meant that Li Ranno had not achieved that qualitative breakthrough yet.

  The mutation of energy required for Xiao Jian's evolution made Li Ruo's emotions uncontrollable and he couldn't help but click his tongue.

  Two pieces of iron essence, more than 2,000 points, all fed to it, but did not achieve the expected breakthrough of five-layer wave peak. Li Ran's body now has only a few dozen points left, what can be used to exchange for spiritual gold again?

  He let out a long sigh, allowing the secret mark to shake and transform his primordial spirit.

  Although the sword intent felt much stronger, there were still many regrets in his heart. After the primordial spirit's evolution was complete, he exited the small sword and carefully tied it to his waist, then Li Ruo found a place to decoct the Cang Erzi and Huo Lianpao into medicinal soup, drinking a large mouthful with force, sitting cross-legged to cultivate, refining the medicinal power to transform into pure yang.

  For five whole days, he remained motionless and silent, continuously refining the medicinal properties, his strength increasing at a visible rate, Li Ran's knife was making full use of every moment to increase its attacking power, he wanted to make himself stronger before the big comparison.

  In the blink of an eye, five days had passed and on this day, the entire Xuanji Mountain sect was in a state of excitement. All the gray-robed disciples from every peak poured out to attend this grand event that occurred once every two years.

  More than 600 gray-clothed cultivators of the Thirteen Peaks, each with a Golden Token tied to their wrist, were led by Fang Ziyuan in batches through the transmission array to the Thirty-Third Peak. As soon as Fang stepped out of the transmission tunnel, he could faintly hear the distant sound of waves like a tidal wave, two thousand gray-clothed cultivators gathered together, what a magnificent sight it was.

  Li Ranno walked out of the transmission hole, covering his eyes with his hand and looking forward. A majestic peak pierced through the clouds in the fog, occupying a vast area of tens of miles around. The lush greenery seemed to block the entire world. Tu Shun introduced Li Ranno and Qin Fengchuan to several newcomers with great enthusiasm:

  "Look, that's the Heaven Sword Peak, it's even bigger than our Thirteen Heavens' Connecting Peak. This Heaven Sword Peak has a vast and profound Chaos Thirteen Swords Formation laid out within it. Once activated, the sword intent will be overwhelming from the foot of the mountain to the peak, becoming more astonishing as one goes higher up. You haven't experienced what it's like to be in its midst, alas, it can crush people to death."

  Li Ruo and Qin Fengchuan exchanged a smile with each other.

  They knew that the pressure not only acted on the human body, but also on the human soul. Under the sword's oppressive might, a person's various potential would be vigorously stimulated, achieving effects that could not be achieved through individual cultivation. This was also the purpose of holding such a grand competition in the sect.

  More than 600 people surged to the foot of the mountain, and in a moment they arrived at the winding mountain road. The dense crowd surrounded the foot of the mountain, eagerly pointing and discussing the peak.

  Twenty thousand Grey Robes, when entering the Gate of Departure, were all geniuses who stood out from thousands or even tens of thousands. To be able to charge into the top ten among so many geniuses was something that Li Ruo thought was almost unbelievable. Fang Ziyuan saw that Li Ruo's attention had wandered and gently pushed him forward, pointing towards a distant mountain valley with his hand, saying in a low voice: "Ruo, over there is the waiting area for the Golden Sword disciples, go ahead."

  Li Ran's gaze rose, and at that place, the platform was about a zhang higher than the foot of the mountain. Several dozen gray-robed Golden Swordsmen stood proudly on top, several people chatting lightly together. Compared to those ordinary disciples who were emotionally agitated, these Golden Swordsmen had a more composed and calm demeanor.

  Li Ruo's smile nodded, stepped out of the crowd and walked in that direction. Along the way, the golden sword emblem made people glance sideways, and many people actively gave way. He arrived at the foot of the stage, his toes pointed to the ground, and he lightly flew up onto the stage. Many people on the stage were startled and turned around to look, shocked to discover that it was a new face.

  A Golden Sword disciple they didn't know, who else besides Li Ruo Dao, who has been in the limelight recently?

  A silvery laughter echoed among the disciples of the Golden Sword Sect, and Xiao Tingfeng's slender waist swayed as she walked out with a gentle smile. From afar, she waved at Li Ruo: "Ruo Knife junior brother, we meet again."

  A low murmur of discussion suddenly arose in the crowd.

  "It's indeed Li Ruo's knife."

  "I heard he's just thirteen this year and has been in the sect for less than half a year."

  "What a pity that I didn't get to see his battle with Xiao Tingfeng. At such a young age, what kind of methods does he have to make Xiao Tingfeng yield?"

  Xiao Tingfeng's face was full of charm as she stood opposite Li Ran, her voice low and gentle: "Junior brother, after our last fight, I returned and seriously reflected on it. I felt that I had taken a step closer to understanding the mysteries of the wind. If not for your strength, junior brother, I wouldn't have made this progress. So, thank you again for helping me improve."

  Li Ruo's smile: "Fighting with Shixiong, I also gained a lot."

  Xiao Tingfeng coquettishly glanced at Li Ruo, pouting and saying: "Junior brother, last time in front of you I broke my spear, although I didn't hold any grudges, but for several days I couldn't shake it off, many people laughed at me to my face, saying that I only focus on the elegance of swordsmanship, forgetting its sharpness. Hmph, this time at the mountain climbing competition, I will once again seriously compete with you, and won't be surpassed by you again."

  Many people in the distance looked at Li and Ran with a smile.

  Li Ruo's physique was quite robust, with a well-proportioned body and muscles that contained full power. Xiao Tingfeng's figure was slender and elegant, swaying gently.

  Li Ruo's sword bitterly smiled and said: "Senior brother, last time when we compared notes, I was just lucky to win one move against you. This time the big test is comprehensive strength, Li Ruo is really nervous, how dare he compare with senior brother again."

  Xiao Tingfeng pouted again and glanced at Li Ruo with a sideways glance: "You, this junior brother, are just sweet-talking. Come on, I'll introduce you to the other senior brothers and sisters on the Golden Sword List..."

  Before the words were finished, a loud and hearty laugh came from afar below the stage. A robust man in grey clothes with a golden sword proudly walked out of the crowd, his strides long and powerful, each step covering several feet. In just a few steps, he reached the top of the stage, without any fanfare, and lightly stepped forward, arriving at the edge of the stage in the blink of an eye.

  Li Ran's gaze swept across, and he saw that this Golden Sword disciple seemed to have an air of "I'm the only one who matters" arrogance, with a reckless pride that didn't put any heroes in his eyes.

  Li Ruo noticed that even the Golden Sword disciples' gazes towards this person were filled with fervor. Xiao Tingfeng seemed to be in a trance, his eyes shining with a dazzling brilliance.

  "That man burst out laughing and said: 'All of you junior brothers arrived early, but I came late this year. How have all of you been the past two years?'"

  A loud noise echoed from the stage, and many people rushed over to surround the person in the center.

  Li Ruo Knife secretly admired and nodded with a smile. Some people are born to be the protagonist of the entire stage, and they can easily attract all eyes and attention just by appearing on stage. This Jin Jian was bold and generous, open-minded and lively, and with just one appearance and one sentence, he had already stirred up the atmosphere of the whole scene. Li Ruo Knife couldn't help but feel that his own charm was no match for this kind of personality.

  Gently tugging on Xiao Tingfeng's sleeve, he woke him up from his daze. Li Ran asked in a low voice, "Shixiong, who is this person? He seems to have good people skills."

  Xiao Tingfeng's eyes widened in surprise as he turned his head to look at Li Ranno: "Younger brother, you don't even recognize him? Sigh, it's not your fault, you've only just entered the mountain gate for a few days. Remember, this person is called Liu Ruokong, our Grey Robe Golden Sword List's number one disciple."

  Li Ran Dao suddenly realized.

  Originally the first under Golden Sword, no wonder he's so arrogant.

  Xiao Tingfeng's eyes turned to that side again, and his charming eyes were curved in admiration. He sincerely exclaimed: "Alas, if Brother Ruokong said so, he is indeed an extraordinary person. Rengjian, you also know that among the Golden Sword disciples on the Golden Sword List, the difference in strength is not too great, and the ranking often changes. However, Brother Ruokong has been sitting in the first place of the Golden Sword for two and a half years, who can match this record?

  "Ran Jian, you haven't seen Wu Kong Shixiong's Rolling Thunder Swordsmanship, have you? Once it's unleashed, it's like thunder rolling across the sky, occupying the entire atmosphere between heaven and earth. That's what it means to be majestic and awe-inspiring, unstoppable wherever he goes! If you had witnessed that swordsmanship with your own eyes, you would know what a real man is, what it means to have heroic spirit soaring to the heavens!"

  Xiao Tingfeng was lavish with his praise, but Li Ruo's knife paused and he couldn't help but smile wryly. He really had some concerns about Xiao Shixiong's psychological tendencies.

  On the other side of the stage, the crowd was laughing and chatting about something interesting, with hearty laughter filling the air. At this moment, the other side of the stage suddenly fell silent, a stark contrast to the lively atmosphere on the other side. The people who were laughing couldn't help but turn their heads to look in that direction, where a beautiful woman with a clear and elegant appearance slowly stepped onto the stage.

  A lock of beautiful hair was lightly combed back behind her head, yet it had a unique charm, her eyes were like water, as if they could see through to the depths of another person's heart in an instant.

  Many people around couldn't help but disperse in all directions, some with a bitter smile, quietly withdrawing further back.

  No one around her dared to speak loudly, on the stage, this woman and Liu Ruokong formed two completely different auras for a while.

  Such a peculiar person naturally piqued Li Ruo's curiosity: "Listen, Brother Feng, who is this..."

  Xiao Tingfeng curled his lip in disdain and introduced in a low voice: "This is Changsun Hong, ranked third on the Golden Sword List. Humph, thinking he's elegant and refined, but in reality, he's just like that. He looks down on everything with an air of superiority, but in fact, he's only worthy of being third on the Golden Sword List."

  Li Ruo heard this introduction and couldn't help but laugh in surprise at the stark difference from the previous introduction of Liu Ruokong.