Martial Skill Pavilion Exterior.
Having severed Wang Yuan's claws with a single sword stroke and crippled his cultivation, Ye Chen flicked his fine steel sword.
Hum!
With a gentle vibration of True Qi, the blood droplets on the fine steel sword immediately fell to the ground, and the blade's surface became clean and shining once more.
With a "swish," Ye Chen sheathed his sword and then looked calmly toward Wang Yuan, who lay unconscious on the ground.
If Wang Yuan had not repeatedly tried to drive him to his death, he would not have struck so ruthlessly. The usually cruel and brutal Wang Yuan had ultimately met such an end, truly embodying the notion "One reaps what one sows."
Ye Chen's expression was calm and indifferent, while all the registered disciples spectating were completely stunned.
They had never imagined that Wang Yuan, who used to be so highly esteemed, would be defeated so quickly and so miserably!
Both of his hands had been chopped off, and his Qi Sea had been pierced.
This Wang Yuan had no more prospects for cultivation, no more capital to be arrogant!
Thinking back to Wang Yuan boasting about crippling Ye Chen and now seeing him lying on the ground like a dead dog, this stark contrast resulted in a moment of dead silence outside the Martial Skill Pavilion.
Then, incredulous screams and murmurs burst forth among the crowd of spectators in an instant.
"Wang Yuan is defeated, truly defeated!"
"Ye Chen, he actually defeated Wang Yuan who was at the fourth level of the True Qi Realm!"
"His swordsmanship is so incredibly fast, it's unbelievable. I've never seen such a quick strike, like a bolt of lightning tearing through the void! What swordsmanship is this?!"
"A new powerhouse has emerged among us registered disciples, even stronger than Wang Yuan. It's him, Ye Chen!"
When the registered disciples looked at Ye Chen again, their eyes involuntarily carried a hint of awe.
It was an awe for the powerful.
They finally understood that the Ye Chen before them was no longer the same as before; he had truly become powerful!
"You… you!"
At that moment, Ma Jiu, who stood to the side, saw Wang Yuan crippled and lying unconscious on the ground. When he looked at Ye Chen, he was so frightened that his hands began to tremble uncontrollably, and he could not utter a complete sentence.
Even a mere glance from Ye Chen terrified him so much that he stumbled several steps backward and collapsed to the ground.
Shaking his head, Ye Chen paid Ma Jiu no further attention and turned to walk inside the Martial Skill Pavilion.
…
"Elder."
On the second floor of the Martial Skill Pavilion, Ye Chen returned to the Pavilion Guardian Elder.
The elder had previously asked him to demonstrate the "Torrential Rain Sword Skills." He was about to perform them when he was interrupted by Wang Yuan. Now that Wang Yuan's matter was settled, it was only polite for Ye Chen to make another visit.
"I saw what happened just now, and you did the right thing. Against someone that vicious and ruthless, you must resolve the matter thoroughly to prevent future troubles," said the Pavilion Guardian Elder.
"Ye Chen, your swordsmanship has truly opened my eyes. It seems I had misjudged you before."
The Pavilion Guardian Elder waved his hands slightly in embarrassment and spoke to Ye Chen with a smile.
"Elder, you are too kind," Ye Chen shook his head, "I have only cultivated an intermediate Yellow Class Martial Skill. There are still many in Qingyun Sect stronger than me; I must continue to train harder."
He was not arrogant in victory nor discouraged in defeat.
Seeing Ye Chen's sincere demeanor, the Pavilion Guardian Elder held him in even higher regard.
He rarely gave Ye Chen such earnest advice: "Ye Chen, there's no need to be too modest. Your comprehension power in the way of the sword is the highest I've seen in the many years I've been here in the registered disciple area."
"However, staying among registered disciples is indeed a waste of time. You must participate in the entrance examination in a little over four months, and strive to enter the Outer Sect."
"Once you become an official disciple of the Qingyun Sect, you'll find the environment vastly different from the registered disciple area. By then, not only advanced Yellow Class cultivation techniques but even Profound Class techniques will be within your reach. With more sophisticated techniques, aiming for higher levels in the True Qi Realm and even the Spirit Sea Realm becomes possible!"
Hearing the Pavilion Guardian Elder's words, Ye Chen nodded seriously.
Even though he had defeated Wang Yuan, Ye Chen would not become the slightest bit complacent; after all, he was merely at the fourth level of the True Qi Realm. His most powerful Martial Skill cultivated to date was just an intermediate Yellow Class technique, "Torrential Rain Sword Skills."
Even though this was quite impressive among registered disciples, compared to the strong ones among the Qingyun Sect's official disciples, he still had a long way to go.
Ye Chen remembered the various martial arts rumors he'd heard in the Mountain Gate Square.
He aspired to catch up to figures like Xiao Long, the Sect's number one Inner Sect disciple who had entered the Spirit Sea Realm, and Jiang Yao, the number one talent among the thirty-six sects in the Eastern Region, whose portrait he had once seen.
Becoming a powerful martial arts master capable of flying through the skies and roaming freely across the Heavenly Wind Kingdom and the Barbaric Wilderness Continent was his ambition for finding himself in this new world!
"Thank you for the advice, Elder. I will strive to enter the Outer Sect!" Ye Chen said solemnly.
Seeing that Ye Chen had taken his words to heart, the Pavilion Guardian Elder nodded in satisfaction, "Alright, I've seen your 'Torrential Rain Sword Skills.' There's no need to demonstrate it to me again."
"You go and cultivate. Once you have mastered the 'Torrential Rain Sword Skills,' I will introduce you to a new Martial Skill."
"Thank you, Elder."
"Then, Junior will take his leave now."
After bidding farewell to the Pavilion Guardian Elder, Ye Chen left the Martial Skill Pavilion.
At this moment, the registered disciples who had been watching outside the Martial Skill Pavilion, the majority had not yet dispersed.
When Ye Chen walked through the crowd, the registered disciples voluntarily cleared a path for him, with many even respectfully calling out: "Elder Brother Ye Chen!"
Elder Brother Ye Chen!
Being addressed as Elder Brother was something Ye Chen had never experienced before.
Glancing at Wang Yuan and Ma Jiu, who were both unconscious on the ground, and then smiling and nodding at the reverent registered disciples, Ye Chen left the Martial Skill Pavilion.
...
In the following days, as the news of Ye Chen defeating Wang Yuan spread amongst the registered disciples, Ye Chen clearly felt the change in circumstances that came with the improvement of his strength.
The courtyard that once was deserted now saw many registered disciples visiting every day.
First, it was those registered disciples who had been used as human punching bags by Wang Yuan, personally coming to thank him. With Wang Yuan incapacitated, they no longer had to live in fear of being picked on by him every day, and were naturally extremely grateful to Ye Chen.
Following this, those registered disciples who had initially bullied Ye Chen, also came one after another to apologize.
Eventually, even many beautiful female disciples of the Qingyun Sect sought opportunities to express their affection towards Ye Chen, with some fiery-tempered female disciples even running straight to his courtyard and refusing to leave, causing Ye Chen to be somewhat caught between laughter and tears.
Three days later, Ye Chen closed the door of his courtyard to visitors and once again entered a period of intense training.
Another seven days passed in this relentless training.
That day, having just finished his training, Ye Chen put away his fine steel treasured sword and looked towards the outside of the courtyard.
"These days, my True Qi has become even more robust; the fourth level of the True Qi Realm has now been firmly established."
"The 'Meridian Refining Art' of the first layer in the 'Primordial Star Scripture's Gang Yuan Chapter' has also been cultivated to the last step, the eighteenth meridian of the thirty-three Meridian Wheels; it's only a matter of time before all the Meridian Wheels are cultivated."
"However, the third move of the 'Torrential Rain Sword Skills', 'Torrential Rain Filling the Skies', still eludes my comprehension."
Ye Chen shook his head.
The third move of the 'Torrential Rain Sword Skills', "Torrential Rain Filling the Skies", was even more difficult to comprehend than the previous two, "Torrential Rainfall" and "Torrential Rain Splashing".
Even though he had reached the "Sword Follows the Heart" realm of swordsmanship, he still couldn't achieve the requirement of the third move, "Within ten feet, sword rain fills every inch of space."
Ye Chen even had the feeling that to achieve such a degree, he might need to at least comprehend a hint of Sword Intents.
Sword Intents, a concept deeper than "Sword Follows the Heart", is a realm of swordsmanship that many Spirit Sea Realm experts can't achieve. It's hard to believe such a requirement would appear in the incomplete manual of the 'Torrential Rain Sword Skills'.
"Perhaps, it is because the manual is incomplete that makes the third move harder to comprehend."
"It seems that to break through this sword technique, I must go out into the world. It's said that martial skills evolve from nature, and if I only train alone, I might never comprehend this third move."
Ye Chen had heard that many powerful cultivators trained their Martial Skills by venturing into nature, pushing themselves in real combat to deepen their understanding of their skills.
Real combat is the only way to truly transform thought into Combat Power!
"There are still over four months until the Qingyun Sect's entrance examination."
"These next four months I'll head to 'Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain' to train!"
Ye Chen made his decision.
Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain is a Giant Mountain over two hundred li from the Qingyun Sect. The mountain stretches across thousands of li and is the largest in the eastern region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom.
Named 'Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain' because it was home to countless Demon Beasts.
The thirty-six sects of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom's eastern region were all established around Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain. The disciples from these sects often entered the mountain to hunt Demon Beasts, honing their combat capabilities.
The Demon Beasts of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain were classified from First to Twelfth Order, corresponding precisely to the first to twelfth levels of the human True Qi Realm.
Demon Beasts of the same order were significantly more powerful than humans, but humans had a slight advantage in cunning, so all things considered, a First Order Demon Beast and a First Layer True Qi Realm cultivator could be evenly matched.
It was rumored that in the deep regions of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, there existed "Great Demons" that surpassed the Twelfth Order. Such Great Demons, not only roughly as intelligent as humans, but also immensely powerful, could match up against human "Spirit Sea Realm" experts without being at a disadvantage.
For an existence like that, a True Qi Realm disciple like Ye Chen wouldn't dare to provoke them. True Qi Realm disciples generally hunted Demon Beasts in the outer periphery of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain.
Having decided to go to "Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain" to polish his combat experience and strive to comprehend the third move of the Torrential Rain Sword Skills, Ye Chen began to prepare for his journey into the mountain.
After two days, with preparations complete, he set forth toward "Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain".
...
Woniu Town, a small town at the foot of the southern side of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain.
Owing to its proximity to the lower-order Demon Beast regions of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, disciples from several large sects would gather here before entering the mountain.
Having left the Qingyun Sect and traveled for half a day, Ye Chen finally arrived at Woniu Town.
"Precious herbs from within Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, the 'Purple Leaf Blue Bead Grass', eight hundred silver taels per plant, going cheap!"
"The pelt of the Third Order 'Golden Spotted Single-toothed Leopard', three thousand silver taels each, come take a look!"
"Maps of the outer regions of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, an essential item for entering the mountains, don't miss out as you pass by!"
Upon entering Woniu Town, Ye Chen saw the streets lined with stalls, passersby sifting through items at each vendor, pausing and moving along, the cries of hawkers, the haggling - all contributed to the bustling activity of the town.
Alongside the street, there were all kinds of taverns and tea houses, iron shops, herbal pharmacies, and even a building known as "Hua Yue Tower", where quite a few charmingly beautiful women, with their bosoms half-revealed, were standing by the door, waving their scented handkerchiefs to attract customers.
Indeed, it was a worldly small town, a veritable martial world!