Chapter 97 Half a year is unbearable

  In a grand ancient cave on the waist of the Thirteen Peaks Mountain, Fang Ziyuan respectfully bid farewell to his master, but couldn't help laughing and saying: "Master, these two golden swords of the Thirteen Peaks, I give them out in one moment, and then take them back in another, it's quite lively."

  Xiao Baiyi couldn't help but burst into loud laughter, sighing: "This is great, let Shan Zhi and Reng Jian compete with each other, hurry up and make progress, this is the original intention of the Golden Sword List. Our thirteen peaks have two talents with great potential."

  Fang Ziyuan also smiled and nodded: "Ran Jian has fallen off the Golden Sword List again, it seems that he will be even more diligent in his cultivation. He still has five months before he has another chance to enter the Fantasy Spirit Cave. These five months are enough for him to cultivate diligently. Let's see if he can seize the opportunity to make a stunning leap forward after May."

  Xiao Baiyi's face suddenly revealed a playful smile, and he nodded slightly: "After May, if Reng Jian can retake the Golden Sword List, maybe I'll give him a surprise."

  Fang Ziyuan suddenly lifted his head, hearing Master say so, he was both surprised and delighted. He saw that Master truly liked Li Ruo's knife, and taking this disciple was only a matter of time.

  Under the waterfall, Li Ran's knife technique became more and more exquisite, his wrist lightly turning, as if competing with the entire waterfall.

  At this moment, he suddenly felt a severe contraction in his dantian, all the energy violently shrinking, and for a moment the sword emitted an even stronger gust of wind. He thought of a possibility in his heart and couldn't help but feel great joy. Suddenly, he retracted the sword light and plunged into the water, sitting cross-legged on the familiar green stone at the bottom, letting the rushing water crash down, and he didn't move again.

  In the void of the lower abdomen, a crystal clear light shines, with countless energies swirling like boiling mist, as if being pulled by an inexplicable force towards the center, compressing fiercely towards a single point.

  The power grew stronger and stronger, Li Ran's knife watched as his energy evolved, and his heart was also increasingly joyful. Just at the next moment, a light tick sounded, like a drop of water dripping into the vast and quiet universe, the clear sound was clearly audible. The essence of the universe in the dantian had already condensed into the first drop of **energy.

  Li Ran's knife was slightly excited, knowing that after such a long time of underwater sword practice, the crazy refining of the gourd's dan liquid, his own power had been upgraded again, and the energy had been liquefied. Wasn't this the sign of entering the ninth level of Jingyuan Jin?

  Sitting still in the water, the external water pressure causes Li Fung's internal energy to circulate rapidly, drawing more energy into his dantian. His entire body enters a state of prenatal embryonic breathing, without inhalation or exhalation, without thought or consciousness, with a clear and empty mind.

  Tick-tock.

  The second drop condensed out.

  Li Rendao sat motionless in the water, with more and more energy condensing within him, his internal energy growing stronger by the minute. The sense of fullness from this energy made Li Rendao want to unleash a sword strike that could shatter all things.

  "Burning knife, burning knife..."

  In the distance, Qin Fengchuan searched for a long time without seeing anyone. He finally thought of Li Ruo's dripping wet appearance when he returned to the cave last time and searched around until he reached the waterfall, opening his throat to shout loudly.

  The thunderous sound of the waterfall drowned out his voice.

  "Burning knife, burning knife..."

  Standing beside the waterfall, shouting for a while, no one was seen, and there was no reaction. Qin Fengchuan felt disappointed in his heart, knowing that he was not here. He looked at the half-submerged nail pillar in the water, slowly mobilizing his vital energy, and suddenly jumped up, lightly falling on it, and then leaped towards the next nail pillar mountain stone...

  Just then, there was a sudden splash in the water, and a black shadow shot out from the bottom of the water like a meteor.

  Qin Feng's expression changed suddenly as he encountered danger, and his body instinctively shivered with a chill. His face turned pale, and he quickly spun around to gather all his strength. With a loud whoosh, a concentrated gust of palm wind shot out towards the black shadow. But just as he got a clear look at the shadow, he almost let out an exclamation: "Ran Jian..."

  Li Ran's body rapidly rose from the bottom of the water, and as soon as he broke through the surface, he felt a powerful palm force coming towards him like an avalanche. Hastily, he swung his hand forward, and with a loud crash, the two palms collided.

  Qin Fengchuan was like being kicked by a mammoth elephant, his entire body involuntarily flying far away, and with a splash, he fell into the deep water in the distance.

  A burst of water, both feet pedaling rapidly in the water, body using the momentum to rise up, head popping out, a loud "plop" sound as he spits out the water from his mouth, staring at Li Ruo Dao and Qin Feng Chuan who were both stunned: "Ruo Dao, you..."

  Li Ran wiped the water droplets from his forehead and burst out laughing at Qin Shui's disheveled appearance, saying: "Fengchuan, which sister fell into the water that you're in such a hurry to jump in..."

  Qin Feng's nose was crooked, and he stepped on the water to borrow its power. With a single movement, he leaped out of the water, soaring high into the air. In mid-air, he made a light and agile turn, landing back onto the stone pillar of Dingzizhu Mountain. He asked in shock: "Ran Jian, what just happened? That one palm... that one palm... did you break through to the ninth level of Jingyuan Jin's power?"

  Li Ran Dao smiled and nodded: "Exactly, you just broke through, and then came to attack me. It's just right to use you to test my strength."

  Qin Fengchuan was both shocked and amused to tears.

  Just now, Li Ran's knife was swung out with a casual palm, and he himself was thrown so far away by his full strength. Now, relying solely on pure skill, Li Ran's knife is about to surpass him. The speed of Li Ran's power growth is simply giving him a blood-spitting impulse.

  Qin Feng chuckled bitterly and said, "Ha! Xiang, Reng Jian, you can still laugh? Shan Zhi Shixiong has entered the fourth layer of the Huan Ling Cave and beheaded 299 spiritual beasts. He is now ranked 79th on the Golden Sword List, and will soon surpass you. Humph, let's see if you can still laugh then."

  Li Ran Dao was taken aback: "Really?"

  Qin Fengchuan finally found the point to counterattack, and nodded with a smile: "Of course it's true, our Xian Tang was the first to hear the news, I rushed over to tell you. Master Ma Kong asked us to find you and hurry back, maybe Master Fang Ziyuan is also almost here, Master Fang wants to find you to retrieve the Golden Sword emblem, let's go quickly."

  Qin Fengchuan deliberately looked at Li Rengdao's embarrassed expression, smiling and looking over, just to see Li Rengdao listening to those words suddenly smiled and nodded: "Shan Zhi Shixiong is indeed very broad-minded, Rengdao admires."

  Two people rushed to the Xuanhuo Cave, opened the door and were shocked to see Fang Ziyi, Ma Kong and Tu Shun all there. When they saw Li Ranno enter, the cave fell silent for a moment, the atmosphere was quite awkward. Ma Kong glanced at Fang Ziyi, then looked at the golden sword emblem on Li Ranno's chest, and secretly sighed.

  Fang Ziyuan turned his head to see that it was Li Rengdao and Qin Fengchuan, and he couldn't help but laugh awkwardly, with a teasing look in his eyes: "What? The two of you ran into the water to fight? Rengdao, I suppose Fengchuan has told you everything?"

  Li Ran walked over and nodded silently.

  "Fang Ziyuan let out a soft sigh and said, 'Feng Ruo, more than a month ago I happily awarded you the Golden Sword. Now, however, I have no choice but to personally take it back from you. My heart is also reluctant, but the Golden Sword rankings only have eighty spots, there's absolutely no way to increase them out of thin air...'"

  The atmosphere in the cave became gloomy once again at this point.

  Fang Ziyuan continued, "The loss of the Golden Sword might be a good thing for you. With your incredible cultivation speed, after this setback and tempering, I believe you will surely work even harder, dedicate yourself to diligent cultivation, and achieve a rapid breakthrough in your abilities in a short period of time."

  "Occasional failure and setback are nothing, as long as your heart is still filled with fighting spirit, you will definitely regain the glory that belongs to you. Brother looks at you and believes that after half a year, you will stand up again."

  Everyone's eyes were fixed on Li Ruo Knife, waiting for his statement.

  Suddenly, everyone saw Li Ran's knife faintly smile and slowly shake his head: "Master brother, I can't wait for half a year. I still have one chance to challenge the Jin Jian Bang disciples. Please help me arrange it. I want to challenge the 50th ranked Xiao Tingfeng Master brother on the Jin Jian Bang. I want to immediately take back the Jin Jian marker..."

  "What..."

  Fang Ziyuan suddenly stood up from his seat, looking at Li Rengdao with a surprised expression. Li Rengdao's decision was completely unexpected by him. Suddenly wanting to surpass thirty ranks, Li Rengdao actually directly challenged Xiao Tingfeng, who ranked 50th on the Golden Sword List?

  Li Ran Dao actually didn't put Shan Zhi's return in his heart at all?

  "Fang Ziyuan was shocked and asked, "Ran Jian, are you telling the truth? Are you really going to challenge Xiao Tingfeng? It's said that Xiao Tingfeng has a deep understanding of wind swordsmanship and although his ranking isn't high, he's one of the most troublesome guys. How confident are you in challenging him?"

  Li Ruo thought for a moment and nodded: "I haven't fought before, I don't dare to say, but there's still a 60% chance."

  "Six-tenths confident?"

  Fang Ziyuan was shocked again, and Xie Tingfeng fought against Li Ruo's knife with 60% confidence. So, Shan Zhi's counter-snatching of the Golden Sword List this time, wouldn't it be completely pressure-free for Li Ruo's knife? Fang Ziyuan had not expected that Li Ruo's strength would have such a breakthrough. He thought he had overestimated his junior brother's cultivation potential, but compared to reality, his estimate was still too conservative.

  Several people behind were speechless, not knowing what to say. Qin Fengchuan furrowed his brow and suddenly remembered something. He took a step forward and asked: "Ran Jian, more than a month ago, Master Fang and Master Shan Zhi explained the state of body-sword unity in the Performing Immortal Hall for us. At that time, Master Shan Zhi challenged you to a ten-move duel, but you didn't agree. I and Lieyang were very puzzled. Logically, you should have been confident enough to take on Master Shan Zhi's ten moves and win those 100 points. Did you...

  Li Ran Dao nodded slowly: "Right, each of the disciples has only one chance to fight against a disciple from the Golden Sword List within six months. I won't give up this opportunity just for 100 points."

  "You..."

  Qin Fengchuan was stunned and stood still, who would have thought that when they had just entered the mountain gate and were still unfamiliar with everything, Li Ran's knife had already been ambitious, wanting to make full use of every opportunity, and was already eyeing the position of the Golden Sword List.

  ……

  There is still one more chapter in the early morning.