Chapter 10 - The Demon Ruins of Swords Gate (1/2)

The words of the old Qi Practitioner sparked a commotion between the disciples. The disciples gazed at each other, "Only one of us has truly grasped his teachings, who could that be?"

Although they were all disciples of the same teacher, they were still competitive. The old Qi Practitioner said that only one has genuinely grasped his teachings, but he did not specify who. This would, of course, make everyone believe that they were that exceptional individual.

"If you want to know, it's easy!"

Suddenly, a heroic-looking female disciple suggested, "Why don't we compete using our own [Spring Thunderbolt Sword Skill], whoever is superior to the others in the [Spring Thunderbolt Sword Skill] will surely be the one that had truly grasped the teachings!"

"Good idea!"

In the quiet room, the upper house disciples were excited; immediately, the disciples started competing with each other without casting any other skills. Without using any totem god pillars or soul weapons, they all competed with only the [Spring Thunderbolt Sword Skill].

All of a sudden, the quiet room became filled with dazzling sparks of lightning, flash after flash of lightning bolts was cast in the room. There were indeed talented ones among the disciples that were able to cast the sword skill bare-handedly; with their psyche, they envisioned the thunderbolt and as its clapping and rumbling reverberated throughout the room, their opponents began to concede defeat one by one. However, their versions of the skill still weren't very strong, and so it ultimately didn't inflict too much damage on their opponents!

After all, since they were all disciples of the same teacher, they would naturally hold back and refrain from fully unleashing their powers.

On the other side, the disciples were bustling with noise, busied with competing with each other. But in the corner of the room, Zhong Yue was still at his own pace practicing his own version of the [Spring Thunderbolt Sword Skill], seemingly oblivious to the competition.

The more he practiced, the more unwieldy and mundane his [Spring Thunderbolt Sword Skill] seemed to become. The thunderbolt he imagined with his psyche twisted and meandered like a crooked line. Within its recalcitrance was revealed an ancient and old force, the atmospheric air was simple and unsophisticated, much like a thunderbolt that struck an ancient pine tree or a sudden clap of thunder in the midst of a desolate mountain.

His [Spring Thunderbolt Sword Skill]… sometimes it seemed like a thunderbolt tree, shining and flashing with rays of lighting… sometimes it was dull and empty with only a piercing line of sword rays!

When the psyche was highly focused, it could manifest the visualizations. If one visualized the Jiao Dragon, a Jiao Dragon would be created. If one envisioned the thunderbolt, it would bear the immense power of lightning.

But the only thing was that the lightning that Zhong Yue imagined was not as magnificent and spectacular-looking as the other disciples, it wasn't anywhere close to their dazzling and conspicuous [Spring Thunderbolt Sword Skill] —sure enough, he wouldn't be spared any attention.

It was quite some time before the upper house disciples came out with the last two potential winners – the heroic-looking female disciple and another male disciple. Their psyches were strong enough to manifest their visualizations. A simple thought and they could give form to real lightning from their psyches, extracting a thunderbolt out of thin air!

They moved around the quiet room swiftly, fast like lighting as they cast the [Spring Thunderbolt Sword Skill]. The cacophony of the thunderclaps and the blinding flashes of light were as if they were really wielding swords of thunderous lightning. They dashed toward each other—the scene was astounding!

Moments later, rays of lightning crackled below the feet of the female disciple, and she was lifted four feet away from the ground, maneuvering through the air as she slashed the lightning sword into the male disciple's chest.

It was out of his expectation that she would be able to fly through the air atop the lightning. While lost in his surprise, he was hit by the ray of electricity; his chest became charred, and his hairs stood erect as he fell down onto the ground.

"Senior Martial Sister Ting, I lost!"

The male disciple was frank, he blurted out black fumes out of his mouth, and he placed his hand on his chest. He looked at her with a pair of eyes that flashed with admiration, "Senior martial sister is really better than I am and can actually use lightning to fly up in the air. No wonder Elder Pu says that only one disciple has truly grasped the quintessence of his teachings!"

"Is junior martial brother badly hurt?"

The female disciple landed down, she smiled and said, "I can only control the lightning rays for a short period, a hundred feet at most before I would have to land. I also can't fly too high either. It is still a far cry from what Elder Pu was describing ... riding the thunderbolts to travel a thousand miles."

The upper house disciples all stepped forward smiled and said, "Senior Martial Sister Ting has truly grasped the teachings of Elder Pu, this is beyond doubt. After Senior Martial Sister Ting becomes a Qi Practitioner, riding the thunderbolts and traveling a thousand miles will definitely not be a problem!"

Senior Martial Sister Ting also showed a face of content; suddenly, she looked at Zhong Yue who was practicing alone in the corner of the room, but his [Spring Thunderbolt Sword Skill] only seemed to become even more strange as she continued to focus on it. It was such a departure from what was described by Elder Pu, she frowned and thought to herself, Such a peculiar [Spring Thunderbolt Sword Skill], he should not be the one, it seems like I must be the one Elder Pu was talking about.

"Zhong Shan Clan, Junior Martial Brother Zhong Yue!"

Senior Martial Sister Ting came forward, and with a big smile, she asked straightforwardly, "I am from the Da Ting Clan, Ting Lanyue, I came into the upper house a year ago. Junior Martial Brother Zhong Yue, do you want to compete with me? You never know, you might be the one that Elder Pu was talking about!"

Zhong Yue shook his head, smiled and said, "Senior Martial Sister Ting, I am only here for four to five days, how could I be your match?"

"That's true."

Ting Lanyue didn't force him as she smiled, "All of us, the martial siblings, are going to train in the Swords Gate's Demon Ruins, we will fight with the demons and improve our [Spring Thunderbolt Sword Skill], I wonder if you are interested in tagging along?"

"Swords Gate Demon Ruins?"

"Don't you know about it?"

It suddenly dawned on Ting Lanyue, "Oh yes, you had just joined the upper house, you do not know much about the Swords Gate. Many years ago, the martial ancestors of the Swords Gate escorted and protected the human race to migrate from the Barren Wild to the Great Wilderness. Before that, the Great Wilderness was a land of demons, races of demons conquered and resided on this land. It was the martial ancestors of the Swords Gate that slashed and opened up a land for humanity to survive; the native demons were suppressed in the Demon Ruins of the Swords Gate. The Mantis Demon you met in the Cloudless Hall examination was only the weakest demon from the Demons Ruin."

Another disciple also smiled and continued, "The number of demons is countless in the Demon Ruins, and they are mostly weak minion-class demons such as the Mantis Demons and Spider Demons. We, the upper house disciples, can train in the Demon Ruins. The Mantis Demons and Spider Demons are just the perfect targets for us to practice on. We have just been introduced to the [Spring Thunderbolt Sword Skill]; we need some real combat experience to improve upon sword skill. Furthermore, only through a real battle can we come to understand the more profound aspects of the [Spring Thunderbolt Sword Skill]."

"Senior Martial Brother He is correct!"

The upper house disciples were enlivened; they all laughed and said, "But there is something Senior Martial Brother He left out, that is, we can be rewarded with Feather Spirit Pellets, totem pillars and soul weapons through killing the demons in the Demon Ruins."

"Feather Spirit Pellets? Totem pillars? Soul weapons?"