Outside.
Everyone was still watching the latest progress.
Among those breaking the domain, Ma Yuanwu was still far in the lead. In less than a single day, he had already reached the fifth stage.
Based on past experiences, the next few stages would slow down significantly.
Each stage might take several days. To reach the end within ten days was extremely tight on time, so Ma Yuanwu scarcely dared to delay at all, pushing forward at full speed the entire way.
After Ma Yuanwu.
Were Yu Songnian and Feng Linglong at the fourth stage.
After the two of them passed the third stage at nearly the same time, their speed slowed down together at the fourth stage. They had yet to clear it, but it seemed they weren't far off.
As for the main group, they were all stuck at the third stage.
At this moment, Yun Jin had just barely passed the second stage and was heading toward the next one.
Mu Lan smiled and said, "National Preceptor Qin, your disciple's talent is roughly on par with Yu Songnian's, but compared to Yuanwu, there is still a certain gap."
Mu Lan felt quite pleased.
This was exactly the outcome he had anticipated.
Among the younger generation of Yuehua Sect, Ma Yuanwu possessed the strongest sword dao talent.
Moreover, although the sword tomb was opened to outsiders only once every ten years, internally, it was actually opened once a year.
Ma Yuanwu had already challenged this sword domain several times.
Although the contents of each trial differed slightly every time, overall they were largely the same.
For Ma Yuanwu, aside from the final stage, the earlier ones posed no problem at all.
Even for the final stage, this time he already had about an eighty percent chance of success.
Qin Ping personally bringing Feng Linglong here was simply delivering stepping stones for Ma Yuanwu right to his doorstep.
Qin Ping smiled, but didn't speak. He didn't seem particularly concerned about Feng Linglong's progress, his gaze instead drifting repeatedly toward Yun Jin.
Many years ago, he had served as the prime minister of Canglan Kingdom. Because he governed with benevolence and benefited the common people, the faith of the masses had gathered, and he himself carried great Qi Luck.
Qi Luck was something intangible and elusive, yet at critical moments, it often provided him with subtle guidance.
From the moment he first met Yun Jin, he had felt a vague sense of being guided by fate.
It was as if fate were telling him.
This Golden Core Stage girl before him would one day be able to change the plight of Canglan Kingdom.
Although fate's guidance was rarely wrong,
Qin Ping still found it hard to believe.
How could a cultivator at Golden Core Stage possibly bring change to the current world?
On what basis?
This feeling made Qin Ping neglect even Feng Linglong, focusing all his attention on observing Yun Jin.
He always felt like her current lag was only temporary, and that this Yun Jin would definitely bring him a surprise.
Noticing Qin Ping's gaze, Mu Lan couldn't help but mock, "Only just passed the second stage, this is already among the worst results. Once three days pass, this Yun Jin will be expelled from the sword domain along with the others."
"Perhaps," Qin Ping replied, not arguing with him, merely continuing to watch Yun Jin.
He also wanted to see.
Why fate would give him such guidance.
What exactly was special about this Yun Jin.
Yun Jin moved at an unhurried pace and soon arrived at the third stage.
Just as she was about to look at the tombstone.
Suddenly, a cultivator who was meditating let out a scream and was violently expelled from the space.
"Lin Yi, failed. Removed from the domain."
The cultivator named Lin Yi turned pale and vanished from the spot in an instant.
Yun Jin raised an eyebrow.
It seemed the third stage had increased in difficulty.
People were now being directly eliminated.
The first two stages didn't have this phenomenon.
She glanced over and saw that Yu Liangping was also still sitting at the third stage, frowning, as if he had encountered a difficult problem.
Yun Jin ignored him and focused on the tombstone herself.
"Cloud Mist Sword, upper Xuan-tier grade. Destroyed a thousand years ago."
Once again, it's an extremely simple description.
Yun Jin had basically confirmed that all the swords in the sword tomb were likely destroyed a thousand years ago.
What exactly happened a thousand years ago?
Perhaps only after obtaining the final supreme treasure would the reason be revealed.
Yun Jin sat down cross-legged and directly entered the Cloud Mist Sword's space.
This Cloud Mist Sword space was exactly like its name, filled with layers upon layers of mist.
Visibility was obstructed, though fortunately mental power could still be used normally. The moment Yun Jin extended her mental power outward, a sharp sword qi suddenly struck from within the mist.
Yun Jin narrowed her eyes and effortlessly dodged it.
Then another sword qi appeared without warning.
This sword qi was invisible and traceless, attacking from an extremely tricky angle.
However, its power didn't seem particularly strong, nor was it especially fast.
Yun Jin guessed that the obvious trial of this stage was to evade these hidden sword qi.
If one were struck a certain number of times, they would be eliminated like the person earlier.
If one could hold out for a set amount of time, they should be able to pass.
Dodging these sword qi posed no difficulty for Yun Jin at all.
But with the experience from the previous two stages, this time, she subconsciously began searching for a hidden challenge.
These invisible sword qi might present some obstacle to others, but for Yun Jin, they were easily avoided.
Within the layers of mist, she used her mental power to scout ahead, advancing slowly.
The mist seemed endless, no matter how long she walked, it all looked the same.
After a while, Yun Jin stopped. Perhaps the secret was not within the mist itself, but within the sword qi.
She sat down cross-legged.
Another sword qi attacked from a bizarre angle.
This time, Yun Jin didn't dodge. She held Tai'a Sword and directly met it with her own sword qi.
Sword qi against sword qi!
Bang.
Both sword qi vanished at the same time.
After Yun Jin chose this method of confrontation, in the next moment, two sword qi appeared simultaneously.
Yun Jin narrowed her eyes and countered again.
The next time, three sword qi appeared.
The number of sword qi increased again and again.
The more Yun Jin used sword qi to counter, the higher the difficulty of this stage became.
Yun Jin guessed.
There must've been others before who tried using sword qi to counter sword qi, but when the number of sword qi kept increasing, they assumed their approach was wrong. As long as they stopped countering with sword qi, the difficulty would return to its original state.
But.
Was sword qi against sword qi truly a dead end?
Yun Jin didn't believe it!
No matter how many sword qi came, she would meet them all!
Within the clouds and mist, more and more sword qi appeared, and the intervals between them grew shorter and shorter.
In the end, sword qi came from all directions.
Yun Jin stood at the center, her sword technique forming an impenetrable barrier.
No one knew how much time passed.
The sky full of sword qi vanished.
Was it over just like that?
Yun Jin lifted her gaze. The mist was still layered thickly, yet she seemed to glimpse something deep within it.
A final power was gathering.
Is that the final strike?
As long as she blocked this last attack, would she pass?
Or.
Were there other conditions still required?
Before Yun Jin could think further, the final sword qi had already formed, crashing down toward her with the force of splitting a mountain.
Yun Jin narrowed her eyes. The Tai'a Sword gleamed, sword qi erupting in an instant.
The final sword qi was tricky in angle.
At that very moment, Tai'a's sword qi also became tricky.
As Yun Jin met this final attack, her movement clearly carried a trace of the Cloud Mist Sword's strange sword technique.