Chapter 6: Chi Long Lou

amily; he was probably just a guest. It's a shame,” sighed the elder brother of the twin brothers, then instructed, “You go help Lord Liu deal with the Black Tendril Gang’s people. As for this Su fami...At night, the moonlight is bright.

“Young master, the news of your victory over Hong Fang today has spread throughout the family. Many of the Su family’s younger generations and even some elders have expressed their admiration for you. Some even say that although you were delayed in the Demon-Banishing Prison for three years, your talent has not fallen behind too much.” Hong Shan said excitedly.

Su Xin couldn't help but smile.

Defeating one Hong Fang, he didn't care at all; what mattered to him was his family's attitude towards him.

Three years ago, that incident made the whole family harbor a great deal of resentment towards him. Today's battle, though it may not completely dissipate this resentment, could at least allow the family members to have a slightly better impression of him.

After all, in this world, strength is respected.

And he was able to directly defeat Hong Fang, who was at the peak of the Eighth Stage of True Martial Arts, with his cultivation at the initial stage of the Eighth Stage. This alone would earn him the admiration of many Su family disciples.

"Just a Hong Fang, before this I didn't even know his name, he wasn't important at all. It was Zhao Ling..." Su Xin narrowed his eyes.

Zhao Ling, having reached the peak of the Tenth Heaven of True Martial Arts, while he had just entered the Eighth Heaven of True Martial Arts. The difference in cultivation between them was too great. Unless he disregarded the consequences and used the Divine Annihilation Secret Art, he would indeed not be Zhao Ling's opponent now.

If he wanted to win the Sword Order battle and even kill Zhao Ling, then his cultivation would have to reach at least the Ninth Layer of True Martial Realm, or perhaps even the peak of the Ninth Layer.

With only half a month to prepare for the Sword Order competition, even with his cultivation speed being tens or even hundreds of times faster than ordinary people thanks to his bloodline inheritance techniques, it would be incredibly difficult for him to reach that level of cultivation in such a short time.

"If there were pills to aid in cultivation, perhaps there would still be a possibility," Su Xin muttered.

The next morning, Su Xin went to the Su family's Treasure Pavilion. The pavilion was managed by an elder of the Su family.

"Young Master, I apologize profusely. If it were ordinary Gathering Spirit Pills, this old man could certainly give you a few. But top-grade Gathering Spirit Pills... our family only has a handful to begin with, and because the Sword Order competition is imminent, the patriarch had already ordered this old man to distribute these remaining top-grade Gathering Spirit Pills."

"Have you given it away" Su Xin frowned slightly, but she wasn't surprised.

Since the Su family's decline, the resources they possessed are already incomparable to those from three years ago.

Such a high-grade Gathering Spirit Pill, during the peak of the Su family's power, they could get quite a few every year. But now, even after a whole year, they can only manage to obtain a dozen or so.

And because the battle for the sword decree was approaching, the highest levels of the Su family, including his father, attached great importance to it. They had already distributed these top-grade Gathering Spirit Pills, giving them to the most powerful disciples of the Su family who had the greatest hope of competing with Zhao Ling. This was done to help them improve their cultivation as much as possible.

As for Su Xin...no one would think that someone who had just been released from the magic prison could challenge Zhao Ling on behalf of the Su family.

Even though he defeated Hong Fang yesterday, the latter was only at the peak of the True Martial Eightfold Realm. The family members only thought Su Xin was quite capable and had extraordinary talent, but no one believed that Su Xin could threaten Zhao Ling.

"Since the family doesn't have a top-grade Gathering Spirit Pill, then there's only one place left..." Su Xin pondered for a moment, and soon he left the mansion alone.

……

In the very center of Yongning County's county town, stood two towering black towers. They loomed like gigantic giants overlooking the entire city.

These two black towers are the renowned Chi-Long Building within the Heavenly Flame Imperial Dynasty.

The Chi Long Lou was personally built by the founding emperor of the Tian Yan Imperial Dynasty hundreds of years ago and is located throughout the country.

In the Tianyan Imperial Dynasty's thirty-six states, every state and every county would have a Red Dragon Building. The purpose of establishing the Red Dragon Building was twofold.

First: Supervision over the entire realm (the realm refers to the Tianyan Imperial Dynasty).

From the Heavenly Flame Dynasty's provinces and counties, to any corner, whenever there is a slight change, the Red Dragon Tower will know first and immediately report it to the Emperor.

Its second point: Gathering talents from all over the world.

Within the Chilong Building are the world-renowned Zhenwu Pavilion and Xilong Tower.

The Zhenwu Pavilion is mainly used to assess the martial arts skills of warriors at the True Martial Realm. It has a total of fifteen levels, and as long as one can pass the tenth level of the True Martial Realm, they would be considered a genius throughout the entire Heavenly Flame Empire.

The Dragon Seeking Tower is designed for Sea-Transformation Realm martial artists and tests their overall strength. Although it only has three floors, any Sea-Transformation Realm warrior who can pass the first floor is considered a first-class genius.

But if one can pass the second layer, then they are a top-tier genius. This kind of genius, in the same era, the entire empire might only have thirty or forty people, on average, one would appear in each state.

As for the third layer... Those who have passed through the third layer of the Dragon Seeking Tower, can be called peerless prodigies. Such prodigies appear in the Heavenly Flame Empire every few years, or even decades. Their rarity surpasses even those legendary bloodline awakeners.

In front of the two towering towers, the difficulty of the Xunlong Pagoda was too high, so few people dared to enter. However, the Zhenwu Pavilion was often visited by many people who came to challenge it.

At this moment, the tower of Zhenshu Pavilion is crowded with over a hundred people. Besides those who came to watch the excitement, most are Zhenwu Realm warriors with considerable confidence in their own strength. Currently, a Zhenwu Nineth-Heavens Realm warrior is challenging within Zhenshu Pavilion. He has successfully cleared seven floors, but on the eighth floor, he only lasted for a short while before being defeated and sent out.

Nine Realms cultivation, having passed the seventh layer, not bad.

Many True Martial Tenth Layers couldn't pass the seventh level.

People around were discussing.

The trials within the Zhenwugong are geared solely towards skill and have little to do with cultivation. A normal Zhenwu Realm practitioner clearing the fifth level is considered average, while clearing the sixth or seventh levels indicates a good degree of skill. To clear the eighth and ninth levels, however, signifies an exceptionally skilled individual.

Whew!

A graceful figure appeared beneath the tower of Zhenwu Pavilion.

Her tall and slender figure, coupled with her dashing attire, holding a long sword, looked graceful and heroic. With her stunningly beautiful yet cold and aloof face, she immediately drew the attention of everyone present upon her arrival.

It's her, Su Yunning.

"The arrogant young miss from the Su family has come to Zhenwugong again.

"This is her sixth time coming to challenge the Zhenwu Pavilion this year, isn't it The previous few times, she made it through the eighth layer but struggled for a long time on the ninth and failed. This time, she's here again, wanting to conquer the ninth layer"

Below the tower, many Zhenwu Realm experts had already recognized this woman and began to ridicule her.

To enter the Zhenwu Pavilion, you only need to have the cultivation of the Zhenwu realm, there are no other requirements. Therefore, many cultivators in the Zhenwu realm from Yongning County would come here to challenge themselves. Some even come multiple times a year to hone their skills or test their strength. Su Yuning is one such person.

Sister Ning

In a corner of the crowd, Su Xin wearing a wide-brimmed hat, concealed his face slightly raised his head, looking at the figure ahead.

Su Yuning is his cousin, two years older than him. When they were young, their relationship was very close. However, in recent years, under the pressure of the門客派 faction, Su Yuning has been training and improving her strength outside. Now, looking at her cultivation base alone, Su Yuning has clearly entered the tenth level of Zhenwu Realm.

Among the Su family's direct descendants, the only ones qualified to compete with Zhao Ling in the Sword Order Tournament were the recognized Su Qinghong and Su Yuning.

“The Zhenwu Pavilion…” Su Yuning gazed at the towering pagoda before her, “I’ve been training outside for a month, and my swordsmanship has improved. This time, no matter what, I must pass the ninth floor. Otherwise, if I can’t even pass the ninth floor of the Zhenwu Pavilion, how can I hope to defeat Zhao Ling in the Sword Order competition!”

Zhao Ling not only had cultivation that had already reached the peak of the True Martial Tenth Heaven, but also when he challenged the True Martial Pavilion a year ago, he directly cleared the tenth floor and was recognized by the Chi Long Lou. He received the 'Yellow Rank' token from the Chi Long Lou.

And she, although also at the Tenth Level of True Martial Realm, was still quite a distance from the peak. Her cultivation level was no match. If her skills weren't even enough to pass the ninth floor of True Martial Pavilion, then the gap between her and Zhao Ling would be too vast.

Su Yunning quickly entered the Zhenwu Pavilion. As in her previous five attempts, she easily passed through the first to seventh floors. When she reached the eighth floor, she spent some time and managed to pass it as well. Afterwards, she entered the ninth floor.

On the ninth layer, she used all her skills and fought for a long time, but in the end, she still failed.

When Su Yuning walked out of Zhenwu Pavilion, her body trembled slightly. Her red lips were pursed tightly, and her face was full of unwillingness. "I did my best, but I still failed. I couldn't even pass the ninth floor. How did Zhao Ling, that monster, get through the tenth floor!"

All the practitioners of the True Martial Realm gathered outside Zhenwugong saw that Su Yunning had lost on the ninth floor, and they were all sighing with regret.

Just as Su Yuning was about to leave, a figure walked past her.

"Hmm"

Su Yunning subconsciously glanced, but her heart skipped a beat.

This person, although wearing a wide-brimmed hat to conceal their face, gave her a sense of familiarity and closeness as they passed by. This feeling left Su Yuning puzzled.

"Who is this person He doesn't seem to have the cultivation of a True Martial Eighth Layer. Is he here to challenge the True Martial Pavilion too"

Su Yuning had originally planned to leave, but now she has decided to stay.

And that familiar figure, which he knew so well, had now entered the Zhenwu Pavilion.

The first floor of Zhenwugong.

Su Xin stood there, looking at the ten war puppets standing in the empty space in front of him, a smile playing on his lips.

Five years ago, I first entered Zhenwu Pavilion. At that time, I was only thirteen years old. Although I tried my best, I still lost at the tenth floor. In the following two years, my swordsmanship improved significantly. At that time, I estimated that it should be relatively easy for me to pass the tenth floor, but these three years... my bloodline awakened, and my comprehension increased dramatically. Even I could derive deeper sword techniques based on a single sword technique.

"Now, my swordsmanship has improved so much compared to before. If I go all out, I wonder how many floors I could clear"

Su Xin had a glimmer of anticipation in her heart.

The Zhenwu Pavilion examination doesn't look at cultivation, it only looks at skill.

And this skill, to put it plainly, is Su Xin's swordsmanship!

……, those who dared to venture into the Qingxuan Battlefield were all ruthless and decisive characters. Su Xin felt a slight sigh of relief in her heart, but the next one’s murderous intent burst forth....