In that instant, the world fell silent.
A blazing white sword light shot into the sky, stunning many cultivators in the Daoyan Arena. The vast majority of young cultivators had no idea what sword intent even was, let alone Innate Sword Intent. After all, throughout history, only seven cultivators in all of Chenping Continent's recorded history had possessed Innate Sword Intent.
Of those seven, only two had truly left their mark on the world through Ascending to Immortality—Realman Cangyue and Realman Bai Shang.
Moreover, that had been tens of thousands of years ago.
Perhaps these young cultivators, who didn't understand what sword intent was, were merely awed by that blazing white sword light piercing the heavens—a display that should have been nearly impossible for a cultivator at the Martial Spring Realm.
But the swordsmen present and the elders of the various great sects had an entirely different perspective.
This was Innate Sword Intent!
Chenping Continent was about to undergo a massive shift!
This man's cultivation talent already surpassed the present era—some might even say it surpassed all eras past and present. Yet that wasn't all.
Seated in the viewing stand, the True Dharma Elder of Mirage Palace's Time-Stealing Tower, who also served as the Imperial Envoy Elder of the Mirage Palace delegation, Realman Lin Mo—a great power of the Myriad Transformations Realm—found his hands trembling uncontrollably.
A genius like this had nearly died yesterday at the hands of that heretic from the Unmoving Sword Sect.
Then, Lin Mo's gaze shifted toward Zhou Jinyun, who sat nearby. He noticed no surprise or shock on the Daomen Xingzou's face regarding Su Hongzhen's Innate Sword Intent.
It was as if everything was perfectly natural.
Zhou Jinyun had known about Su Hongzhen's talent from the very beginning.
If that was the case, then it likely meant that Imperial Law Elder Shang, a figure in Mirage Palace whose status was almost equal to the Supreme Pivot Elder, was also aware of this matter.
That was probably why Su Hongzhen had been recommended to participate in the Heavenly Summit Mountain Dao Inquiry.
Prodigies like Zhou Jinyun and Li Haoran, whose cultivation talents had already left their contemporaries in the dust by an entire tier, were often called "possessing the aptitude for Ascending to Immortality."
But possessing the aptitude for Ascending to Immortality didn't guarantee actually reaching that realm. If every genius in Chenping Continent's history who had been praised as having such aptitude had actually ascended to immortality, then the total number of Immortal Ascension Realm cultivators on the continent would have been three thousand, not thirty.
But Su Hongzhen was different.
The moment he stood on the arena platform, unleashing overwhelming strength against every opponent and cutting through with that Innate Sword Intent, no one doubted that this young man was destined to ascend to immortality.
Something was wrong with the current situation.
Lin Mo's thoughts churned.
He had to contact the Palace Lord as soon as possible—or even the Grand Elder Council directly—and let them decide what should be done.
Preferably, a Grand Elder of the Divine Ability Realm should rush to Heavenly Summit Mountain, carrying the Abyssal Tower or the Thousand Clouds Blade.
After all, as long as they could maintain a good relationship with this young man named Su Hongzhen, the Mirage Palace's future would surely be bright.
Sitting to the left of Elder Lin Mo was a young woman who was not conventionally beautiful. Instead, she possessed a quiet, lonely elegance with a hazy, mist-like beauty. Unlike Lin Mo, she showed no signs of tension.
Of course, she wasn't worried about Su Hongzhen's safety—Senior Chen and that gentleman were around.
There was no one in this world who could stop Su Hongzhen's growth.
Everyone in the Daoyan Arena was shaken by Su Hongzhen's Innate Sword Intent. Even the elders of the Five Great Sects had begun comparing him to Realman Cangyue and Realman Bai Shang of the past.
But no one noticed that the extremely thin, blazing white sword scar lingering in the air was slowly healing.
"Innate Sword Intent..."
Watching the blazing white sword light pierce the sky, He An murmured softly, his eyes dazed.
His hand, hanging at his side, was still dripping blood onto the ground, but at this moment, he felt no pain at all.
Then, He An raised the Mingxue Sword in his hand—still wailing, its blade crimson and vivid after bathing in blood.
His gaze lingered on the sword for only a moment before he hurled it to the ground three feet in front of him.
The Mingxue Sword sliced through the bluestone bricks of the arena platform like a knife cutting through tofu, embedding itself more than two inches deep.
"From this day forward, I, He An, hereby break my sword. I will never touch a blade's edge again, nor study any sword manual."
Saying this, He An turned around and began walking off the platform. As he went, he tore a strip of cloth from his dark black daoist robes and started bandaging his cut palm.
Su Hongzhen remained silent, watching He An's retreating figure.
There was no ripple in his heart. From the moment He An had sworn the Oath of the Broken Sword to him, he had already understood the outcome He An would have to face.
...
On the other side of the viewing stand.
A gentle young man in pure white daoist robes, with gilded cloud crane patterns embroidered on his sleeves, sat upright in his chair. His fingers lightly rubbed the delicate jade plaque hanging at his waist, engraved with the four characters: "Chief Disciple of Kongyuan Mountain"—the title of the Chief Disciple of Kongyuan Mountain.
He had witnessed everything that had just happened on the arena platform.
In fact, from the moment Su Hongzhen had defeated Jia Hongtao of the Lightning-Severing Sect yesterday using only footwork, Li Haoran had already sensed something was off.
He might not be a match for that cyan-robed swordsman.
But if he could seriously study his opponent's footwork and habits, he might still have a chance.
Now, however, he realized he had been overthinking.
Li Haoran was an absolutely orthodox genius. From the day he had embarked on the path of cultivation, whether in training or learning techniques, he had never encountered a single bottleneck.
He did everything flawlessly, leaving no room for criticism.
Naturally, he had been accepted as a personal disciple by the current Sect Leader of Kongshan Sect; naturally, he had become the Chief Disciple of Kongyuan Mountain; and naturally, he had become the Heavenly Summit Mountain Dao Inquirer for Kongshan Sect.
But doing everything perfectly was still far from enough when facing a monster capable of changing an era.
"Well, didn't I tell you?"
A somewhat familiar voice suddenly came from beside Li Haoran.
Li Haoran was momentarily stunned. Before the voice had reached him, he hadn't sensed anyone standing next to him at all.
But he didn't show any surprise. He simply turned his head slowly to look at the young cultivator in plain-colored daoist robes who had just sat down beside him.
"I am indeed no match for him, Senior."
Then, Li Haoran smiled bitterly and spoke to Mr. You, who had taken the seat next to him.
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