Chapter 110: Chapter 45: Ranking in the Competition, Receiving Rewards
The Immortal Sword Ranking of Shushan is, in fact, not officially established.
Officially, it’s referred to as the “Results of the Shushan Great Competition,” whose purpose is to issue awards based on the results.
However, as soon as the ranking results come out, they quickly spread throughout the Various Peaks of Shushan, with everyone judging the strength of the Sword Immortals based on the list.
For example, the three powerhouses of Shushan—Lin Duanshan, Duan Fenhai, Guan Shanyue—are called “strong people” because they’ve dominated the top four spots for years without any changes, hence it’s a popular topic of conversation.
As for the leader of the list, the Frostfall Sword Immortal, people generally do not mention her name.
If they really must, they don’t call her “Frostfall Sword Immortal” or “An Zhisu,” but rather “Weed-Cutting Sword Immortal,” implying “she’s the knife, and I’m the leek”—she’s simply no longer in the same category of beings; therefore, there is no sense in comparison.
Now, with Ling Yunpo’s meteoric rise, he reached the second rank with his Marrow Cleansing Rank strength, showing no mercy as he defeated Duan Fenhai and Lin Duanshan, naturally causing a sensation across the Various Peaks of Shushan.
Initially, people hadn’t even remembered his name and simply referred to him as “Little Weed-Cutting,” distinguishing him from the “Weed-Cutting Sword Immortal.”
Before they got used to that, Jinguang Peak came out with a statement that the eldest brother Lin Duanshan saw the other as someone with “the demeanor of a gentleman.”
Green Bamboo Peak was not to be outdone, with another statement saying that Senior Sister Guan Shanyue also spoke, that “Ling Poyun has the appearance of a strong person.”
The former could be considered as Lin Duanshan trying to save face after losing to a junior of the Marrow Cleansing Rank, praising him so as not to look too bad.
The latter, however, caused a small wave of public opinion because if Guan Shanyue expressed such a view, it meant she did not intend to challenge Ling Yunpo in the upcoming ranking challenge match.
The message released by these two was quite clear: “He’s in the same league as us.”
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When the eldest brother of Yulong Peak, Duan Fenhai, also commented, looking forward to “the next time he would compete with him,” the Shushan disciples gradually unified their view: the usual three powerhouses had now become four.
It wasn’t that the mighty Weed-Cutting Sword Immortal had brought up a “Little Weed-Cutting Sword Immortal” but rather that a Shushan disciple had become one of the four powerhouses.
The former has a connotation of disdain and intimidation, but the latter is more positive, marking the point where Ling Yunpo himself had shed the negative influence of An Zhisu’s bad reputation, beginning to enter the Shushan public’s view with a comparatively more positive impression.
“Breaking mountains and parting seas, shattering moons and cleaving clouds,” the titles of the four great Sword Immortals also began to spread, leaving many people confused, thinking that one of the four strong was called “Ling Poyun”…
But let’s not dwell on that for now; the drawing of lots has ended, with the Weed-Cutting Sword Immortal in first place, and Po Yun Sword Immortal second, while neither Lin Duanshan, Duan Fenhai, nor Guan Shanyue made it into the top ten.
Therefore, everyone is looking forward to these three powerhouses boldly attacking during the seat challenge portion, and battling Po Yun Sword Immortal for a spot in the top five, fighting fiercely in a cloud of woe and a downpour of blood.
True to form, as soon as the seat challenges began, Duan Fenhai was the first to call out Sima Changyan, the third-ranked in the great competition, to a sword fight.
Sima Changyan struggled to hold on but was soon defeated in swordsmanship, with neither side using their Sword Dao Techniques.
In the spectator stands, An Zhisu and Ling Yunpo stood side by side, with Senior Sister An offering insights on the match:
“Junior Brother, what do you think is Duan Fenhai’s strength?” she asked.
Ling Yunpo concentrated for a moment before responding,
“I can’t tell; it seems Brother Duan has no weaknesses.”
“Indeed,” An Zhisu affirmed. “Duan Fenhai’s true strength lies in his ample experience in combat before he pursued cultivation.”
“Therefore, when you face him, don’t think about looking for his weaknesses. Because of his rich experience, he’s likely already covered all of his vulnerabilities.”
“Sima Changyan didn’t use any Sword Dao Techniques in his sword fight because his Flying Sword Rank is inferior to Duan Fenhai’s. He definitely can’t beat him in Daoist Magic and had a better chance in swordsmanship.”
“And Duan Fenhai didn’t use Daoist Magic to conceal his own strength. You should know that during a sword duel, every move you make is being watched by others…”
As she spoke, she suddenly realized something and laughed awkwardly,
“But with your Green Duckweed Sword, capable of releasing a fog to cover the whole field, you don’t have to worry about that aspect.”
Ling Yunpo nodded at her words, unable to deny that what Senior Sister An said made sense.
Even though he had “Green Mist Veil Over the Mountains” to conceal his form, both Lin Duanshan and the Kunlun brother who had lain in wait at the Pavilion had come up with strategies to counter it.
There are no absolutely unsolvable winning tactics.
“`
It’s still the same principle, the battles between cultivators come down to one’s “Rank” and “hidden cards.”
Either your rank is higher, overpowering your opponent with superior strength, or it comes down to who has the deeper hidden cards, revealing them at the critical moment to clinch the victory.
As he pondered this, he saw that Lin Duanshan and Guan Shanyue had also chosen their challengers and emerged victorious.
Thus, aside from Senior Sister An’s top position, the remaining spots in the top five were successively filled by Po Yun, Fenhai, Duan Shan, and Sui Yue.
And then… there was no more.
With the last sword fight concluded, the top one hundred rankings of the competition were set in stone.
Ling Yunpo thought he would be challenged, but ended up being completely overlooked, which made him heave a sigh of relief, though he also couldn’t help but feel puzzled about it.
However, his confusion was quickly resolved.
It turned out that for this Shushan competition, the reward for the top five seats was the same:
They could each select any item they wished from the third level of the Shushan Fire Element Cave’s inventory to take away.
As soon as the rankings were decided, a Golden Core True Person came forward to lead An Zhisu, Ling Yunpo, Duan Fenhai, Lin Duanshan, and Guan Shanyue—five people in total—toward the Emei Golden Summit via controlled sword flight.
Detouring to the east above the main hall atop the golden peak was a suspended cliff known as “Sacrifice Cliff.”
The Sword Immortals rode their sword light downwards, passing through layers of clouds, and descended into a large hollow at the valley’s bottom.
Continuing down, they saw flames rising from beneath them.
“This is the Fire Element True Qi,” the Golden Core True Person stated indifferently, “Hold your breath and concentrate, and do not inhale the Qi.”
Everyone quickly held their breath and saw the Golden Core True Person take out a ruler, gently spinning it in hand, conjuring several blossoms of light that enveloped everyone within them.
From behind, Ling Yunpo could clearly see that this was the Shushan Shangqing Faction’s acquired Spiritual Treasure “Xuanguang Ruler.”
Once covered by these blossoms of light, the fiery red glow was completely kept at bay, unable to advance an inch.
After putting away the Xuanguang Ruler, the Golden Core True Person continued:
“The Fire Element Cave below is vast and deep, beyond even immortals to fully explore.”
“The deeper you go, the more intense the Fire Element True Qi becomes, thus giving rise to the saying ‘The Fire Element Cave leads directly to the heart of the Earth.’”
“Furthermore, the deeper you go, the more winding and complicated the pathways become, with numerous intersections, constantly changing and difficult to remember.”
“The Fire Element True Qi melts the rock walls and then they solidify again in an instant, making the routes uncertain and easy to get lost within.”
“From here on, you must not act recklessly, as if we become separated, even deities would struggle to save you.”
Everyone promptly acknowledged and followed closely behind the True Person’s sword light.
The Golden Core True Person’s expression remained unchanged as he led the way ahead.
After an indeterminate amount of time, they finally reached a vast subterranean chamber.
The floor was a sea of magma, churning and bubbling, with endless vapors rising up.
The surroundings were cylindrical walls, and every thirty feet there was a small cave, about the length of a forearm, with a treasure inside, glowing and brightening the entire cave.
The Golden Core True Person stopped his sword light, gestured with his hand, and said:
“You have a quarter of an hour, make your selections, I will not wait for stragglers!”
Thus, the five of them quickly propelled their sword light, spiraling down along the walls, while scanning the nearby caves for treasures using their Divine Sense.