Chen Yan slowly raised his hand, waving the half-length gleaming blade before Shen Feiyang.
Then, he released his fingertips.
"Clang!"
The crisp, piercing sound of metal striking stone crashed onto the blue bricks, shattering the deathly silence of the Training Grounds.
The Demon-Slaying Sword Sect disciples watching from the sidelines were all dumbfounded.
They had certainly considered the possibility that their eldest senior brother might be defeated when facing a Kongshan Sect disciple.
But they never expected that, after just one encounter, Senior Brother Shen's sword would be easily snapped by the opponent.
Without even drawing his own sword.
Yet the person most shocked and bewildered by this was undoubtedly Shen Feiyang himself.
"Using a finger as a sword, is that not also swordsmanship?" Chen Yan said with a smile.
As previously agreed, Chen Yan had restricted his true qi fluctuations to the level of the Qi Circulation Realm.
But as a Myriad Transformations Realm cultivator, whether in terms of physical body strength or the precision and efficiency of his true qi control and application, he far exceeded the standards of a Qi Circulation Realm cultivator.
Snapping Shen Feiyang's sword was, to Chen Yan, countless times simpler than snapping a toothpick.
Shen Feiyang fell silent, then suddenly laughed out loud. He tossed the broken sword in his hand aside and, facing Chen Yan's direction, clasped his hands and bowed, saying, "Your swordsmanship connects to the divine. Today, you have opened the eyes of Feiyang and the entire Demon-Slaying Sword Sect. I admit defeat, wholeheartedly and sincerely!"
"You are too gracious."
Chen Yan also twirled the Mystic Steel Sword in his hand in a flourish, but having never formally studied swordsmanship, where had he ever practiced such fancy moves? Before the Mystic Steel Sword nearly fell to the ground, he swiftly stored it away in his storage treasure.
Then he secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.
Thus, Chen Yan once again gave Shen Feiyang a calm, unruffled smile, turned around, and began walking away from the Training Grounds.
Outside the arena, all eyes were fixed on this Kongyuan Mountain disciple. The emotions revealed in their gazes were not worship or admiration, but awe and profound shock.
"Senior Brother Shen!"
Ji Wan ran up to Shen Feiyang, her face full of concern as she looked at the young man staring at the half-length broken sword on the ground.
"Are you alright, Senior Brother Shen?"
Shen Feiyang lifted his head, gave a light smile, then raised his hand to gently ruffle Ji Wan's small head.
"I'm fine. It's just that today, I finally learned what it means that beyond every person is another, and beyond every sky is a higher heaven."
In an unnoticed corner.
Xiao Chen had been tightly watching the back of that handsome young man in white daoist robes, his eyes blazing with intensity.
Then, he clenched his own fist and made a firm decision.
...
On the second-floor viewing platform.
Li Haowen and Shen Mao stood side by side before the railing, both silent.
Especially Shen Mao, who furrowed his brow tightly, then said, "Manager Li, this esteemed disciple of Kongyuan Mountain, his cultivation level is probably far beyond the Qi Circulation Realm, isn't it?"
The young disciples on the Training Grounds couldn't discern any clues, but Shen Mao, as a Qi Sea Realm cultivator, could see it.
That level of control over true qi was absolutely unattainable for a Qi Circulation Realm cultivator.
It was simply too outrageous.
If there truly existed an immortal cultivator in the Qi Circulation Realm who had achieved such precision in true qi control, forget having the potential to ascend to immortality, even Immortal Venerable Fusheng wouldn't be worthy of carrying his shoes.
"No."
Li Haowen said.
Hearing this, Shen Mao nodded, his expression easing somewhat.
"So that's it. Well, today's sparring can also serve to teach my grandson a lesson against arrogance and impetuosity... But may I ask, is this esteemed disciple of Kongyuan Mountain at the peak of the Martial Spring Realm, or has he just entered the Qi Sea Realm?"
"......"
Li Haowen remained silent.
Shen Mao's expression changed slightly, then he asked again, "Is this Fellow Daoist's current cultivation realm at the mid-stage, late-stage, or even the peak of the Qi Sea Realm?"
"......"
Li Haowen still didn't utter a word.
"So that senior is also in the Passable God Realm..."
Shen Mao's face began to turn extremely unpleasant. Just what had he done?
He actually had a great power of the Passable God Realm spar with his grandson!
And a Passable God Realm cultivator from the Kongshan Sect at that!
"Actually, it's not the Passable God Realm, it's the Myriad Transformations Realm..."
Li Haowen slowly spoke up.
Shen Mao's face instantly paled several shades further.
"And also, the full name of the Kongshan Pivot Court is actually the Kongshan Supreme Pivot Court."
Li Haowen continued.
Upon hearing these words, Shen Mao completely froze in place, as if turned to withered stone.
The sound of footsteps ascending the stairs came from below the second-floor viewing platform.
This white-haired Sect Leader of the Demon-Slaying Sword Sect hurriedly strode towards the direction of the stairs.
Then, Shen Mao bowed deeply towards the handsome young man in Kongyuan Mountain daoist robes who had just stepped onto the second-floor platform, his waist bending so low it almost looked like he was kneeling on the ground.
"This junior Shen Mao, today was blind and ignorant. My actions deserve ten thousand deaths. I beg the Supreme Elder to punish me!"
A thoroughly bewildered Chen Yan first looked down at the old man before him, then looked up at Li Haowen. He pointed at himself and silently mouthed the words towards Li Haowen:
Me, a Supreme Elder?
...
The purpose of Chen Yan and Li Haowen's visit to the Demon-Slaying Sword Sect was simple: to borrow a map of Shengyuan Mountain.
Ten thousand years ago, the founding ancestor of the Demon-Slaying Sword Sect had once followed True Person Caiyun, Kong Yang, traversing the entire Shengyuan Mountain. That swordsman had taken the opportunity to draw a map of Shengyuan Mountain.
And this map also recorded the location where Kong Yang had slain that peak seventh-realm great demon within Shengyuan Mountain back then.
It was also the final destination of Chen Yan's current journey.
Kong Yang had told him that when he suppressed Shengyuan Mountain back then, he placed True Person Minghua's Dao Basis within Shengyuan Mountain as the formation's core.
If True Person Minghua's Dao Basis were taken away, Shengyuan Mountain would soon give rise to great demons causing chaos again.
It didn't matter. Let it be chaotic.
How much worse could Shengyuan Mountain possibly become?
For ten thousand years, among the many immortal cultivation sects in the western borderlands of the Qingque Kingdom, aside from the founding ancestor of the Demon-Slaying Sword Sect, no one had ever truly set foot in the deepest parts of Shengyuan Mountain.
Seas change into mulberry fields. What the deepest parts of Shengyuan Mountain look like after ten thousand years, no one knows.
However, the map drawn by the Demon-Slaying Sword Sect's founding ancestor would certainly still hold some reference value.
Shen Mao originally wanted to host a banquet for Chen Yan and Li Haowen in the evening, but both of them refused.
Chen Yan and Li Haowen spent only half an hour total within the Demon-Slaying Sword Sect. They had no more time to linger.
Time was pressing.
Now that the two Ascenders of Heavenly Summit Mountain had already destroyed the Mirage Palace, no one could predict what Gu Jing and Qiu Siruo would do next.
And just as Chen Yan and Li Haowen had bid farewell to the Demon-Slaying Sword Sect's sect leader and left the sect not far behind, suddenly a Demon-Slaying Sword Sect disciple with slightly dark skin and ordinary appearance blocked Chen Yan and Li Haowen's path. Then, with a "thump," he knelt before Chen Yan.
"Xiao Chen earnestly requests Senior to give this junior some guidance!"