Chapter 490: The Origin of Mingtai

"First match of the Golden Core early-stage group, the victor is the rogue cultivator, Zhuang Xuan."

The scrawny referee announced the end of the first match, and the winner was a completely obscure cultivator.

Whether they were disciples of grand sects or minor ones, cultivation resources were always provided by their sects.

Rogue cultivators were different; they lacked resources, found wealth, companions, methods, and sanctuaries scarce, and without the guidance of elders, a single misstep could lead their cultivation astray, making errors impossible to reverse.

Consequently, the realm and quality of a rogue cultivator's cultivation were far inferior to those of sect cultivators.

To defeat a multitude of sect cultivators, to emerge victorious from city and state levels to arrive at the Asking Sect, the difficulty could well be imagined.

"Take note of him, he is highly suspicious," Jiang Qun instructed the Luoshui Guard.

He flipped through Zhuang Xuan's past combat records; it could be said he had crushed his way to the finals, ending every match within five moves at most, and even here in the finals, his first match took a mere five moves to defeat his opponent.

Terrifyingly strong.

"Yes." The Luoshui Guard had already filled half a page of the list.

"In our next bout, I will surely win!" The defeated party was a highly energetic cultivator; though he had lost to Zhuang Xuan, he was not discouraged, but instead made a vow for a future match.

Zhuang Xuan cast a cold glance at his opponent and softly spat out two words.

"Boring."

"You!"

The defeated cultivator's expression shifted slightly; Zhuang Xuan was far too arrogant.

Ignoring the loser's reaction, Zhuang Xuan leapt down from the arena, his eyelids drooping as he let out a thoroughly bored yawn.

If not for the grand competition's bountiful rewards, he would never have been willing to come play house with a bunch of children.

Winning was meaningless, utterly devoid of challenge.

Soon, Zhuang Xuan faced his second match, his opponent a courteous, sword-wielding cultivator whose bearing suggested he was a Confucian cultivator, practicing the Sword of a Gentleman.

"I am Ming Tai of the Sword Pavilion, please guide me." Ming Tai held his sword with both hands, its tip pointed downward, as he bowed politely with a very shy smile.

Zhuang Xuan maintained his half-asleep demeanor.

He had no fondness for these overly polite cultivators, finding them completely lacking in raw grit; they were fine for casual sparring, but once on the battlefield in a clash of life and death, these were the ones who died fastest.

He had clashed with Unity-stage Confucian cultivators several times, and believed this sort of person belonged in the imperial court parsing words, rather than charging lines on a battlefield.

Sshh—

A flash of azure sword-light darted past, and Zhuang Xuan instinctively tilted his head back; the azure light swept past his neck, a cool breeze blew, and an instant later his neck realized what happened as a shallow sword wound appeared, quickly dyed red with blood.

"To have honed the sword to such a degree at this realm?" The competing cultivators cried out in surprise; some had not witnessed Ming Tai's first match, and seeing him strike now, they realized he was a formidable foe.

"To possess such attainment in the Dao of the sword at the early Golden Core stage, he could rival that old rogue Buyu." An elder of the cultivation world remarked in astonishment; the Central Continent had not seen a sword genius comparable to that old rogue Buyu in a very long time.

"This Zhuang Xuan is not simple either; he has yet to reveal his full strength from beginning to end." Another elder nodded; it was truly a clash of a grand era, as even the preliminary groups were an eye-opener, and in the early Golden Core group, geniuses from all paths were truly shining.

"It will be a fierce clash between dragon and tiger," a tall cultivator said slowly, his gaze cold as ice.

He had lost to Ming Tai in the first match and had also studied Zhuang Xuan's fighting style; if these two collided, they would surely strike brilliant sparks.

"A pity for my Turtle Breathing Technique, it has no place to be used!"

On the arena, a jade pendant slipped from Zhuang Xuan's neck.

The azure sword-light from moments ago had not only left a shallow bloody scratch on Zhuang Xuan's neck, but had also severed the cord of his jade pendant.

Zhuang Xuan bent down, solemnly picking up the piece of jade, his voice deep and raspy, stripped of his previous listlessness.

"Fellow Daoist Zhuang Xuan, are you finally going to get serious?" Ming Tai looked at Zhuang Xuan with burning eyes, eager to try.

Zhuang Xuan did not answer, talking to himself, yet seemingly to Ming Tai as well.

"This jade pendant holds extraordinary meaning; it was left to me by my master on his deathbed. Master said I was an orphan, and when he found me, I was clutching this very jade in my hand. It is the sole clue left by my parents, and I have kept it close to my body, never letting it fall to the ground."

"You are the first person to make this jade touch the ground."

"Do you know that a dragon has a reverse scale, and those who touch it... must die!"

A beast-like growl erupted from Zhuang Xuan's throat, sending a chill down the onlookers' spines; he snapped his head up, glaring deathly at Ming Tai, his eyes resembling a demonic beast that had lost all reason.

"His aura..."

The Sect Master of the Qi Refining Sect was slightly startled; at this moment, Zhuang Xuan's aura was nearly comparable to the early Nascent Soul stage.

One must remember, Zhuang Xuan was only at the early Golden Core stage.

Driven to frenzy, Zhuang Xuan lunged violently at Ming Tai, his entire body radiating a shivering black aura; it was unclear what technique this was, but the only certainty was that no one would wish to be his opponent!

Boom—

Zhuang Xuan was swept away by a blast of sword qi, crashing down beneath the arena.

"Phew, so dangerous, so dangerous." Ming Tai, his heart still pounding, patted his chest.

Once his emotions settled, he walked to the edge of the arena, looked down at the still-dazed Zhuang Xuan, and bowed with his sword.

"A grand aura does not equate to high cultivation; Ming Tai has learned much."

Zhuang Xuan blinked his eyes, failing to comprehend what had just transpired; shouldn't he have gone berserk and torn Ming Tai to shreds, so how was it he was the one who lost?

"Where did your Sword Pavilion recruit this disciple from?" Lu Baqian looked at Elder Sikong in astonishment.

Others might not see it, but he, a grand cultivator of the Tribulation Transmutation stage, saw it clearly; this single sword strike contained the universe within and reached the limits of transformation, hardly looking like something a Golden Core stage cultivator could unleash.

Even if a Nascent Soul sword cultivator could strike it, they would be hailed as a genius!

Seeing Lu Baqian, who had been flaunting his power all along the way, show such an expression was more refreshing to Elder Sikong than eating ice in the summer.

"Haha, as I said, Ming Tai is the only one in my Sword Pavilion to receive the Supreme Inheritance."

"This strike is quite something; even if I executed the Severing Formula, it would only be at this level." In the spiritual space, the imprisoned Lu Yang observed the battle on the arena through the small window left by the Immortal Fairy.

Ming Tai's moves were truly unexpected.

Were it not for Ming Tai, he would have almost forgotten he was a sword cultivator himself.

"This little fellow does not seem human." The Immortal Fairy stared at Ming Tai for a couple of glances, quickly losing interest.

She lacked interest, but Lu Yang did; he hurriedly asked what was going on.

"He seems like a sword spirit that developed true intelligence to become a living being, and someone created a body for him, inviting him to enter it, merging spirit and flesh into one, making him a true human."

Lu Yang grew thoughtful; he possessed the information of all the competing geniuses, and the records stated Ming Tai had gained the recognition of the Sword Pavilion's Supreme Being, inheriting his mantle.

"Could it be that he is the sword spirit of the Sword Pavilion's Supreme Being?"

In this light, everything made perfect sense.

The second update will be around eleven o'clock.

(End of chapter)