Yuan accepted the silver key shortly after. Although the reward may seem insignificant at glance, it obviously had a significance behind it.
Of course, Yuan saw the Nine Supreme Swords as the real reward for this trial, so he didn't think too much about it.
Once the spectators were certain that the trial had ended, they started crowding around Yuan.
"Young Lord, can you please tell me your name?!"
"Which family do you belong to, Young Master?!"
"Please get away from my friend! Can't you see that he's tried?! Shoo! Shoo!" Tian Yanyu rushed over and started chasing away the crowd.
"Are you okay?" She then asked him.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He nodded.
"Really? Your injuries don't seem to be healing anymore…" Tian Yanyu said as she stared at his half naked bloodied body.
<Due to the lingering Sword Qi in your wounds, your regeneration has slowed down greatly>
"It'll eventually heal itself, and it isn't as bad as it seems— I promise." Yuan smiled.
"Hey! There's something wrong with the Nine Swords Trial! It's not restoring the damage! It should've started by now!" Someone there suddenly shouted.
Normally, even if the entire platform disappeared, the Nine Swords Trial would restore all damage dealt to the land after every challenger.
"Maybe it's slowed down because of the severe destruction? The damage this time around is incomparably large." Someone said.
"That makes sense. Let's give it some time."
Unbeknownst to these people and the world, Yuan would become the last person to partake in the Nine Swords Trial because it never repaired itself no matter how long passed, as it no longer had a reason to exist.
"Alright, let's head to our next destination— the Sword Pagoda." Yuan said.
"Seriously? You should at least clean yourself before you go anywhere." Tian Suyin said with a slight frown on her face.
"I'll clean myself when we come across some water as we go there."
Thus, Yuan left the scene shortly after with Tian Yanyu and Tian Suyin following him from behind.
Some of the people there tried to follow him, but they quickly gave up after receiving a threatening glare from Yuan.
On their way to the Sword Pagoda, Yuan stopped at a river to quickly wash his blood-stained body.
"Are you really peeking at a man washing himself? When did you become this pervert?" Tian Suyin scolded Tian Yanyu when she noticed her daughter was taking peeks at Yuan in the river.
"S-Shut up! Who's peeking at him?! I looked for a second because I noticed that his body had healed from the sword cuts!" She stuttered while defending her honor.
Tian Suyin couldn't help but also take a look after hearing her daughter's words.
"You're right. Although there are still a few sword cuts left, the majority of them are gone. It's only been two days since then, and I didn't see him consume any recovery treasures during this time either. Either he has a powerful technique or he has a heavenly constitution."
"It's probably a heavenly constitution. After all, it would actually be weird for someone as talented as him to not have a unique physique…" Tian Yanyu said.
"He said he's not from the upper heavens. Do you believe him?" Tian Suyin suddenly asked.
"Does it matter where he came from?" Tian Yanyu raised an eyebrow.
"..." Tian Suyin could't answer her question.
"I understand why you doubt him, but he should've proven himself to be trustworthy by now, especially after everything he's done for us."
"Actually, that only makes him more suspicious. I cannot understand his intentions for the life of me… The more I think about it, the more I question it and the more suspicious I get."
"Then stop thinking about it. The moment you do, you'll feel much better, just like I did." Tian Yanyu shrugged.
She also doubted Yuan's intentions before, but she has since stopped caring about it.
"Sorry for the wait. I'm ready to continue." Yuan approached them a moment later.
The ladies turned around to see Yuan wearing a fresh new set of robes, and their eyes widened with surprise after seeing how flashy his new clothes were compared to his old clothes.
"A-Are you actually royalty?" Tian Yanyu couldn't help but ask him after seeing his Golden Dragon Robe, her face blushing nonstop.
"No, this pair of robes was gifted to me by a friend. I don't normally wear them due to how flashy they appear, but since they're very durable and not easily torn, I have decided to wear them. I don't want to change into new clothes after every challenge, after all." Yuan smiled.
"Hm? Are you okay, Senior?" Yuan looked at Tian Suyin, who was biting down her lips, looking like she was enduring something.
'Don't blush. Don't blush. Don't blush. I'm a married woman. I'm a married woman. I'm a…' Tian Suyin repeatedly cried inwardly as she silently nodded her head.
"Then let's go."
After another three days, they arrived at the Sword Pagoda.
The Sword Pagoda looked like a massive sword stabbing the ground from far, but if one got close enough, they would be able to see that it was actually a pagoda with a large sword stabbed in the center of it, almost like a skewer.
There were hundreds if not thousands of people gathered outside the Sword Pagoda at this moment.
"There's a lot of people here…" Tian Yanyu mumbled when she saw the crowd there.
"Well, only 10 people can challenge the Sword Pagoda at a time, and each person takes on average thirty minutes to finish, so you can imagine why there are so many people here." Tian Suyin said.
"Wait… So everyone here is waiting to enter the Sword Pagoda? This will take forever if we wait for our turn. Is there any way to enter earlier?" Yuan asked.
"There are two ways to skip the line. Either you pay the people in the front of the line to take their spot or you can force your way through it with your strength. After all, there is no real queue here. The strongest will go first while the weakest will go last. It's just how this place works." Tian Suyin explained.