Chapter 107: Cong Jing Cao

  Li Ruo and Xiao Tingfeng entered a stalemate.

  Two figures crossed paths at the height of the sea, sometimes Li Ran's knife went further, and sometimes Xiao Tingfeng countered back. Later on, both were exhausted, but their enthusiasm for fighting was still overflowing. In his heart, Xiao Tingfeng couldn't help but deeply admire this young junior brother.

  Xiao Baiyi and Fang Ziyuan in the distant mountains were worried and uneasy.

  It was just a narrow victory for Li, and everyone was overjoyed when he won. But if he took a step back, it would all be regretful. However, that Xiao Tingfeng was indeed extremely outstanding, with shocking strength, and his Wind Step technique was applied marvelously to the extreme. As for whether Li could ultimately win or not, no one could say for sure.

  But this kind of ups and downs suspense is the most heart-wrenching.

  Feng Zi Yan let out a bitter laugh and sighed, saying in a low voice: "Master, no matter what, Burning Knife has tried his best, he's done very well."

  Xiao Baiyi also nodded slowly.

  Climbing to such a height, almost everyone slowed down. Li Ruo and Xiao Tingfeng were panting, neither of them willing to give in, but under the pressure of the massive sword array, they also felt powerless, taking one step forward and needing to rest for a moment before being able to move another step.

  The night fell again on this mountain peak.

  Li Ran's eyes watched as Xiao Tingfeng took two more steps and left him behind, a surge of heroic spirit slowly rising in his heart. He had always had an unyielding personality, gritting his teeth and letting out a low shout, his shoulders shaking, taking two quick steps forward again. Suddenly, he felt the heavy pressure increase greatly, his knees could no longer bear it, and with a thud, he sat on the ground panting heavily.

  After all, he had only just entered the tenth level of the Essence Realm, while those people in front and back, which one hadn't been immersed in this realm for many years, their strength was much more solid than his.

  Can't help but smile wryly, it seems indeed tired is no trivial matter, eager to rush but none arrived, since sat down, then take a break.

  He leaned back against the edge of the bluestone, his hands weak and naturally hanging down. With a hiss, his hand was suddenly pierced by a hard, small plant under the mountain rock, and his palm was instantly covered in blood.

  "Ah!"

  Li Ran's knife cut through the underbrush, and he quickly withdrew his hand, not knowing what kind of plant had pricked him so badly. Under the cover of night, he looked down at the base of the mountain rocks and saw two clumps of grass that resembled withered wooden sticks, each one splitting into countless forks that stood stiffly upright.

  On the short grass, a faint metallic luster flashed and disappeared.

  "Huh?"

  Li Ran's eyes furrowed as he saw this, and his mind seemed to recall the data of this short grass. He thought deeply and felt that it was a bit unclear. He carefully stretched out his hand, grasped the grass stem tightly, and pulled upwards with force. The rocks under the grass rustled and shook, but surprisingly did not budge.

  His eyes lit up, and he suddenly remembered the name of this grass. "This... isn't this Cong Jin Cao? Its roots are as tough as metal and can deeply penetrate certain metal-rich ores to absorb energy, relying on the power of gold to mature and grow."

  Li Ruo clearly remembered that in his previous life, in a deep and secluded mountain valley, Su Su personally picked dozens of Jin Cao plants, used a tripod furnace to refine them into a few strands of fine metal silk, and wove them into an exquisite bracelet for him.

  Su Su said that was a marriage chain, worn on his wrist, tied to her heart. The hearts of the two people were forever connected from then on, never to be separated again.

  Li Ruo's heart suddenly felt a sharp and severe pain, throbbing violently in one spot.

  This life's loved one must still be in Gudingshan, thinking of SuSu's appearance and smile, thinking of the loved one's mischievous and cunning yet gentle smile like water, Li Ran's heart ached with sorrow, his eyes gazing into the distant night sky, as if he saw the loved one's eyes that seemed to speak.

  "Susu, wait until I rescue Father, I will definitely go find you. This life, no matter what, I won't let you leave me again."

  Taking a deep breath to suppress the pain in his heart, Li Ran Jian quietly moved his left hand behind him, hiding the Golden Order on his wrist, and carefully drew out the small sword from his waist. He looked around cautiously, and indeed, no one was seen in the thick fog. Slowly, he inserted the small sword into the Cong Jing Cao.

  With a crisp sound, the small sword and the Cong Jing Cao stuck together.

  In the blink of an eye, that short and small grass twisted and convulsed together, losing all its luster, all its essence energy rapidly flowing into the small sword, with a light "ka" sound, the Congjincao snapped into several segments, dull and gray, falling to the ground.

  Li Ran's heart was bittersweet with a hint of joy.

  He climbed up the mountain, staring at the rocks in front of him all the way up, but didn't notice the many plants hiding quietly among them, including this kind of Jin Cao.

  Each of the Condensed Gold Grass contains a small amount of spiritual power metal components, although not much, but on this mountain road, who knows how many such Condensed Gold Grass there are.

  With the small sword, he also swallowed the second Condensed Gold Grass. Li Ran Jian carefully put the small sword into his waist and looked at the Robe of Snatching Gold on his wrist. Xiao Ting Feng was already leading him by more than ten feet in height, standing still there, apparently also very tired.

  Li Ran clenched his teeth and got up from the ground, struggling to move forward. This time, he wasn't competing with Xiao Tingfeng, but instead wanted to climb higher and continue searching for the Congjincao.

  Above a mountain rock below, dark and somber all over, the mountain wind blows by, rustling the leaves with a "hua la la" sound.

  Li Ran's heart was racing, wondering if he could still find that plant rich in spiritual energy among the remaining plants.

  With both hands grasping a boulder, his arms strained, he pushed off the ground with one foot and took another step forward, laboriously inching his way up.

  Xiao Tingfeng was panting heavily, gazing at the movement of Li Ruo's knife in the Golden Command, stomping his foot in hatred, and resolutely gritted his teeth to climb up.

  He absolutely cannot lose to this junior again; this time in the Mount Tai competition, he must win Li Ruo's sword.

  Unbeknownst to Li Ruo Dao, he didn't notice his height at all. In Li Ruo Dao's eyes, there was only the boulder above him. After expending a great deal of effort, Li Ruo Dao finally climbed up to it and searched among the low-lying vegetation, and sure enough, he found three more stalks of Cong Jing Cao.

  Li Ruo's face lit up with joy, and he put his left hand behind his back, making it impossible for Xuan Jinling to see the movement of his right hand. His right hand slowly drew out a small sword and approached the Cong Jingcao.

  Ling Jin is rare and hard to find, each one is precious and astonishingly expensive. Although the content of Ling Jin in Jingjincao is low, it's better than nothing. This herb originally grew in the northwest, but Xuanji Mountain is located in the southeast of the mainland, so it should be difficult to find. Who would have thought that there are many such herbs on the 33rd Golden Sword Peak?

  The golden sword array laid out in the mountains by Bu seemed to have provided a suitable growth environment for this spiritual grass, but unexpectedly, it had also helped Li Ruo achieve his goal.

  With the three stalks of Congjincao absorbed by the small sword, Li Fenger could clearly feel that the light in the small sword had brightened a bit. Overjoyed, he lifted his head and looked up into the dark night sky, unable to see anything clearly. He gritted his teeth and took another step forward, inching his way ahead.

  Xiao Tingfeng was both shocked and amused, they were still far from the ninth place in front of them, and the twelfth place behind them was also a good distance away. Under the pressure of the sword array, they had been competing for so long, who wouldn't be exhausted? It's really hard to understand where Li Ran got his desperate spirit from.

  "No matter how hard you try, you still can't catch up with the ninth place?"

  Xiao Tingfeng stamped his foot again, Li Ranno knife was about to fight, so he would accompany him to fight once and for all. The Jin Jian disciples were all proud of their bones, none of them would admit defeat voluntarily.

  He climbed up another three zhang, and Li Ran's knife finally reached a protruding rock, where he was suddenly delighted to find a large patch of Cong Jin Cao growing densely together, with dozens of stems. In the night wind, the Cong Jin Cao swayed stiffly, like a wolf's tail that wouldn't bend, ugly and prickly.

  Li Ran's dagger almost pounced forward, and he drew out a small sword that greedily absorbed the energy from the Cong Jin Cao.

  A large patch of golden grass kept Li Ren busy for a while.

  Xiao Tingfeng saw from the Golden Order on his wrist that Li Ruo was sitting motionless under the mountain rock, and he couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

  "Hmm, this little scamp, finally can't hold on anymore."

  His body was also leaning softly against the mountain rock, and after this effort to exhaust his potential, Xiao Tingfeng was exhausted and nearly fainted. He quickly adjusted his breath, slowly recovering his strength bit by bit.

  Li Rendao finally absorbed the entire field of Congjin grass, and the whole plant turned into a dull gray color, losing its vitality. After cleaning up the scene, making it impossible for others to detect any clues, Li Rendao put down his guard, leaned against the rock, with his left hand behind his back, and his right hand holding a small sword, concentrating his mind. With a humming sound, his primordial spirit flew into the small sword.

  A vast and desolate expanse of sky and earth, with a faintly shimmering light in the distance, like a flowing cloud.

  Li Ran's flying knife lightly passed by, standing in the old place, a faint golden mysterious pattern pierced through his primordial spirit, shaking and flying far away.

  In an instant, Li Ran felt refreshed all over, and the fatigue of climbing the mountain with all his might for the past two days was greatly reduced. He became even more spirited and couldn't help but feel great joy.

  As for spiritual talent, Li Ruo Dao absolutely didn't have any. All of his cultivation qualifications were mediocre and ordinary. However, he had Xiao Jian, and by allowing Xiao Jian to evolve, he could also evolve his Yuan Shen. This was probably Li Ruo Dao's only unique "spiritual talent".

  That mysterious pattern passed through the yuan god and flew far away, Li Ran's knife quickly looked over and saw clearly that the small sword pattern had already grown into a complete five-wave wave valley, with five mysterious and wonderful waves filled with a kind of heavenly spirit, which was so touching.

  Li Ran's knife was overjoyed again.

  "It's done, it's finally done. The secret refinement has progressed to this point, I can finally comprehend the Five Percent Sword Intent, and I can finally let my own sword intent power undergo another qualitative transformation!"

  Li Ran's knife followed the secret pattern, weaving in and out of his primordial spirit again and again. The five waves of peaks and valleys continuously shook, causing his primordial spirit to slowly grow stronger. That profound and mysterious wave motion deeply imprinted itself into the deepest part of his life. With a single thought, sword intent was born.

  It's unknown how much time had passed, but the mysterious pattern no longer felt anything when it pierced through his primordial spirit. With a humming sound, his primordial spirit exited from the small sword and returned to its original place at his brow, and as he opened his eyes, the endless black night before him was filled with spiritual energy.

  The five-part sword intent flowed slowly in his heart, Li Ran's knife stood up from the ground, his heart was clear and empty, the secret pattern of the sword intent flowed into his body, and he suddenly felt the power of heaven and earth, as if he had taken a breath, he could absorb energy from heaven and earth to use it as his own strength.

  With a swing of his shoulders, Li Ran's knife moved forward once again.

  Xiao Tingfeng remained on the green stone, grasping every moment to adjust his breath. The energy in his body slowly flowed back into his body, and his strength gradually increased. At the same time, his eyes were fixed on the Golden Order on his wrist, when he suddenly saw Li Ran's knife move again, slowly approaching him.

  Xiao Tingfeng's lips tightened into a smile, he knew that Li Ran was a desperate three Lang, and once he recovered, he would not let go of the opportunity to fight him desperately.

  "Alright, Fu Xiaoshi, you want a fierce battle? I'll accompany you!"

  Waist slightly twisted, Xiao Tingfeng listened to the wind bearing the pressure of a huge sword array, turned around and moved forward, taking a difficult step, subconsciously looking at his wrist, and in that instant, Xiao Tingfeng's eyes widened, gasping for air, unable to come back to his senses.

  Li Ruo Dao's speed had increased by more than double, in the Golden Command, Xiao Ting Feng watched with his eyes wide open as Li Ruo Dao's grey dot formed a straight line, passing him by at an unbeatable speed, advancing all the way forward.

  At that speed, it would be considered slow in normal times, like a person strolling leisurely. However, at such heights and under the pressure of such sword arrays, this speed seemed incredibly astonishing.

  Xiao Tingfeng was crawling step by step, while Li Ruo Dao directly walked past him from his side, walking with a resolute and unyielding attitude. In just a short moment, he had surpassed Xiao Tingfeng by several zhangs of distance, and Xiao Tingfeng could no longer catch up.

  "How did he do it?"

  Xiao Tingfeng's face turned white, and he let out a mouthful of air, feeling as if he had lost all his will to fight. It seemed like taking another step would be difficult, and every joint in his body was aching unbearably. He fell to the ground with a thud, panting heavily, and looked up at the Golden Token again, unable to believe what he was seeing was real.