Cultivation: But Not a Game-Chapter 225 - 136: Swordsmanship Realm Elevated Again
On their first day here, they basically just watched others sparring and dueling with swords.
By the second day, after understanding the situation, Su Yu felt a bit eager. It was rare to encounter so many swordsmanship experts of the same age; it would be a waste not to spar a bit. He specially took out two flying swords, placed them into their scabbards, and carried them on his back, signaling that he was willing to accept challenges from others.
As soon as the swords were on his back, a young man quickly flew over to him, cupped his hands, and loudly asked:
"Chen Qi, may I ask for guidance?"
Su Yu cupped his hands and responded:
"Su Yu, please enlighten me!"
"Please!"
Su Yu said to Luo Qingchan beside him:
"I’ll be right back!"
The two ascended into a deserted part of the sky. Without a referee, they cupped hands in salute to each other, and then both summoned their flying swords to fight.
Chen Qi’s two flying swords emitted a brightness indicative of tier seven flying swords, but Su Yu showed no fear, activating Thunderbolt to confront him. In the blink of an eye, the four flying swords interlocked, creating a dense clanging sound like firecrackers going off in rapid succession.
Unconsciously, both only used two flying swords to tangle and spar, merely testing their swordsmanship skills. Swordsmanship levels complemented each other, and they refrained from using any other techniques outside swordsmanship.
The four flying swords crossed back and forth, colliding with each other at incredible speed. Swordsmanship skills merged into the flying swords, constantly changing.
Both parties exhausted their sword moves to try and overpower their opponent with technique, with no less than ten variations of moves occurring every second.
In terms of flying sword grade, Chen Qi had the advantage.
In terms of sword skill grade, Chen Qi also had the edge.
But Su Yu had double talent, and under the double boost, the attributes of his fundamental Sword Formulas surpassed those of Chen Qi, making them evenly matched in this aspect.
When it came to Sword Dao level and swordsmanship skills, Su Yu had the upper hand.
The most crucial factor was that his skills, influenced by talent solidification, were not affected by any external factors, maintaining a very stable state.
Su Yu methodically showcased his swordsmanship techniques, without emotions, just pure skill. He slowly gained the upper hand by leveraging his advantages in technique and Sword Dao level, and with talent solidification, made no mistakes, successfully expanding his advantage until achieving an absolute lead to defeat Chen Qi.
"Thank you for letting me win!"
Facing Chen Qi head-on and defeating him, Su Yu cupped his hands in respect.
However, Chen Qi was not disheartened by the defeat and instead excitedly said:
"Mr. Su, your swordsmanship is exquisite, without a single mistake from beginning to end. I am sincerely convinced of my loss."
Following the notion that everyone lifts each other up, Su Yu also praised:
"Mr. Chen’s swordsmanship is also exquisite. I believe it won’t take long for you to reach a higher level again."
"Haha, thank you for your kind words."
After exchanging pleasantries, they returned to find Luo Qingchan watching with surprise, as if meeting him for the first time.
Su Yu paused for a moment, then immediately realized why she was surprised and smiled, saying:
"Since he praised me, I must praise him back, right?" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶
She covered her mouth with a light laugh, her eyes curved like crescent moons.
After only a few words, another person came to challenge him, and Su Yu readily accepted.
The fact proved that indeed, battling peers of similar skill levels provided numerous advantages. After several fights, he could clearly feel the progress in his swordsmanship.
Each progression was permanent and would not regress or deteriorate due to a long period without practice.
Seeing how much he was enjoying himself, Luo Qingchan also drew her flying sword and joined in the dueling.
Here, every day consisted of dozens of sword duels. Opponents varied in strength, with weaker ones being far from his match, defeated within a minute.
Stronger ones were far more powerful, making it impossible for him to match even with all his might, watching as he was overpowered until defeated.
However, after a week of continuous dueling, with nearly a hundred matches fought, he hadn’t encountered anyone who could rival Luo Qingchan.
It wasn’t a matter of swordsman factors; in swordsmanship, several could match her, and there were even two with sword skills superior to hers, but no second opponent had comprehended the True Sword Intent as she had; she was one of a kind.
After dueling with other players each day and feeling slight progress, he would invite Luo Qingchan for a sword match to share and verify each other’s progress during this period.
This exchange had always existed between them, occurring often when training or traveling with idle time; it was just not as frequent as now.
While they practiced their swordsmanship, every day numerous flying ships came from all directions. With hundreds arriving each day, more and more people gathered here.
The growing crowd did not affect them, instead, it meant new opponents to choose from every day.
After a week of sword duels, Su Yu witnessed the diversity of people.
Most were like Chen Qi, with stable personalities; however, there were also quite a few with eccentric or fiery tempers.
Some could afford to lose; a loss was a loss, and they would fight again next time.
But some people felt they couldn’t afford to lose; after losing, they would sulk immediately, and some would insist on fighting another match right away, leaving him quite speechless.
Apart from these, there are also some arrogant and domineering competitors, all young people, who were probably used to being arrogant in their local areas and didn’t hold back here, which is very annoying.
Su Yu kept his distance from these competitors, unwilling to get close to them.
He preferred to engage with those competitors who had normal personalities. After a week, he really got to know a lot of competitors he could talk to and formed a small group.
These friends were from different places, some from the Blue Mountain Archipelago, some from the Wanxiang Islands, some from the Three Mountains Archipelago, and there were even two from farther away.
They traveled from over a billion kilometers away via a long-distance teleportation array to the nearby Three Mountains Archipelago, and then flew over from the Three Mountains Archipelago.
Given the distance between them, they may never meet again after leaving the Sword Palace, but it didn’t prevent them from gathering every day to compete in swordsmanship and improve together.
Occasionally, when they were tired, they would anchor the Flying Ship over the sea, grilling meat and drinking wine on the deck.
They ate what was readily available, directly diving to the seabed to fetch some lobsters, crabs, squids, and shellfish.
Lobsters over ten meters long, crabs with shells covering hundreds of square meters, and shellfish dozens of meters long, these magical creatures absorbed Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, making their flesh extremely delicate and delicious, paired with various wines he brewed, it was simply a top-notch enjoyment.
Every time the two returned, the second brother would look at the two of them going out as a pair every day, always with a smiling face.
Su Yu didn’t mind, but the girl’s face was thin, and later on... she would wait for him to leave before going out.
After hundreds of consecutive matches at the same or even higher levels over half a month, Su Yu’s long-accumulated swordsmanship realm finally progressed further.
The previously "Slightly Achieved" Condensing Sword into Silk advanced further, reaching the level of "Entering the Hall."
The Sword Light Division also went further, advancing from "Beginner" to "Slightly Achieved."
The Sword Qi Thunder Sound did not progress, remaining at "Masterful," still lacking some skill to reach the next step of "Marvelous."
The further you go in the swordsmanship realm, the greater the difference and the harder the enhancement.
For instance, the power bonus of the "Beginner" Sword Qi Thunder Sound is 10%, for "Slightly Achieved" it’s 20%, for "Entering the Hall" it’s 30%, and for "Masterful" it’s 50%. If one could advance to "Marvelous," the bonus would leap to an outrageous 100%, making it extremely difficult to enhance.
The "Entering the Hall" Condensing Sword into Silk has an armor-piercing of +3.
The "Slightly Achieved" Sword Light Division allows the division of Sword Qi into ten rays at once.
Of course, these are just numerical representations. In practice, the enhancement of the swordsmanship realm makes the Sword Qi more compressed and solid, greatly augmenting the intensity of Sword Qi and the Flying Sword.
Furthermore, as the Sword Qi condenses and shrinks with the enhancement of the Condensing Sword into Silk realm, the finger-thick Sword Qi can be highly concealed in certain environments, having uncanny effects in assassination and ambush.
The Sword Qi continues to shrink as the Condensing Sword into Silk realm advances, and if it could reach the "Marvelous" stage, the Sword Qi could compress to the thickness of a fine iron wire. Coupled with its exceedingly fast speed, if one’s reaction is a bit slow, they might not even see the Sword Qi before being hit.
"Not bad!"
Su Yu pinched his chin and said to Luo Qingchan:
"I just had a breakthrough in my swordsmanship. Want to spar a bit?"
"Sure!"
She agreed happily.
Time passed, and before they knew it, the day for the opening of the Sword Palace had arrived.
One morning, Su Yu, who normally went out early, stayed honestly on the Jade Sinking Ship, while Su Huan solemnly said to the two of them:
"The Sword Palace has opened, you can enter anytime using the Sword Talisman. Remember to abide by the rules inside the Sword Palace."
"Additionally, don’t leave immediately after the assessment. There are many Sword Immortals inside the Sword Palace, with plenty of Earth Immortal figures and even two hidden Celestial Immortal figures. If your assessment result is unsatisfactory, don’t give up, you might wander around these Sword Immortals to see if any mighty Sword Immortal wishes to take a disciple. If you can apprentice under one, you’ll also gain access to advanced Sword Formulas."
"Alright!"
After giving the advice, the second brother waved his hand and said:
"You guys prepare to leave. I’ll be waiting outside."
Su Yu nodded, took out the Sword Talisman, and activated it. An invisible force expanded to envelop him, space twisted, and with a turn, the view changed, and he appeared before a vast palace.
It was a majestic palace suspended above rolling clouds and mist, entirely carved from flawless white jade, resembling a palatial building formed from the Kunlun Snow Peak. The jade walls shimmered with a luminous Treasure Light, casting colorful rays in the sunlight.
The palace eaves stretched out into nine layers, with bells of treasure hanging from each eave corner, surrounded by ancient seal scripts. Whenever a breeze passed by, faint purple electrical light and golden brilliance danced, dispelling the eight directions of foulness.
The base of the Immortal Palace was a bottomless abyss, with endless clouds and mist rolling and supporting the Immortal Palace.
Above the clouds and mist, a thousand-step jade staircase led directly to the main gate of the Immortal Palace, with its steps etched with ancient engravings. On each side of the main gate stood a row of glaring giant gods holding weapons, their cold pressure spreading like tidal waves.
Su Yu’s gaze fell upon these glaring giant gods, revealing their attributes.
Giant Spirit Divine Soldier (Legendary): Divine General, Level 260, guardian of the Immortal Palace left by Ancient Immortals.
Attributes: Qi and Blood 300 million, Mana 2 million, Attack Power 1.5 million, Speed 2000 km/h, Skills: Mountain Shifting and Mountain Changing Divine Skill, Vajra Body Protection Skill, Nine Heavens Giant Spirit Refining Form Skill, Law of Heaven and Earth, Celestial Thunder Refining Demon Divine Gang, Celestial Furnace Refining Gold True Skill.
Magical Treasures: Giant Spirit Divine Halberd (Tier Nine), Giant Spirit Divine Armor (Tier Nine).
"Ridiculous!"
Twelve such divine soldiers stood on each side, totaling twenty-four, and combined, even a Celestial Immortal might be stopped.
The main gate of the Immortal Palace was already open, and gazing through the gate, only a vast starry river vortex could be seen, unable to discern what lay within.
