Excalibur Appears
The next morning, after breakfast, Qiao Xiaoqiao and Gu Hanshuang were invited by the villa's servants to the lobby of the villa.
It is called a lobby, but it is actually a rather spacious martial arts arena, but it is covered by a ceiling, giving the illusion of being indoors.
The hospitality of Zhujian Villa was quite good. Not only did they arrange seats for each swordsman on both sides of the lobby, but they also took into account the identities of the two women, Qiao Xiaoqiao and Gu Hanshuang, and prepared a separate compartment for them.
After the three tests yesterday, out of the hundred thousand people, only a hundred or so people were left.
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Qiao Xiaoqiao couldn't help but feel a little strange. Although the first two levels were indeed difficult, it shouldn't be enough to eliminate 99.9% of the people. It seemed that the one who was really strict was the owner of the manor, Jian Jiu Ming, who was in charge of the third level.
After all the swordsmen were in place, Jian Jiuming led the invited guests slowly to the main seat in the martial arts arena.
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Qiao Xiaoqiao glanced at the group of people and saw a familiar face among them. The man walking side by side with the manor owner Jian Jiuming and the state governor Tie Qingfeng was the coachman Wu Jiu whom she had sent out. He came here as an imperial envoy to watch the sword meeting.
As usual, an old swordsman from Qingjianzhou was invited to speak as a representative. The content of the speech was nothing more than tracing the past and present and praising swordsmanship.
"It turns out that there are also such boring pre-conference speeches in the world of cultivation." Qiao Xiaoqiao couldn't help but complain, "I hate this kind of thing the most. It's really useless and a waste of time."
Gu Hanshuang asked with a smile: "Don't you hold meetings when you run your company?"
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"Yes, but we must make it quick and decisive. The speeches must be concise and to the point, and avoid empty talk." Qiao Xiaoqiao couldn't help but sigh and said, "Time is money. There is no time to waste on such meaningless nonsense."
Gu Hanshuang deeply agreed with this. As a cultivator, she basically didn't need to attend any meetings. However, one of the reasons why the catastrophe more than a hundred years ago caused heavy losses was that some independent cultivators insisted on holding meetings to decide on everything, which led to the missed best opportunity to counterattack and save themselves.
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"The one who is speaking is Patriarch Mu Jian, one of the three elders of Qingjian state. Could you please be more respectful? If you say another nonsense, ask the sword in my hand whether it agrees or not." Someone nearby shouted at Qiao Xiaoqiao and Gu Hanshuang in dissatisfaction.
Qiao Xiaoqiao said calmly, "We were just talking quietly in private. Not only did you eavesdrop on other people's conversations, but you also yelled so loudly. Who on earth is disrespecting the senior?"
The man noticed that many people around him were looking at him, and his face turned red, but he didn't say anything else.
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Fortunately, the old man didn't notice this and just finished his words. Then he shouted, "Next, let the Sword Master of the Sword Forging Villa say a few words."
After Jian Jiuming said a few words, Tie Qingfeng, as the governor of the state, naturally had to say a few words as well, and finally it was the turn of the imperial envoy Wu Jiu.
Wu Jiu was only appointed by Qiao Xiaoqiao as the imperial envoy, so he naturally didn't bother to say anything nonsense: "I don't have much to say, let's get started."
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"Since the imperial envoy is so humble, we will not waste time." Jian Jiuming chuckled twice, then gave a look to the tall butler, indicating that they could begin.
"Please bring the magic sword!" After receiving instructions from the owner of the manor, the tall butler immediately shouted loudly.
These three words really aroused the emotions of everyone present. Why did hundreds of swordsmen come to participate in the sword test conference? Wasn't it to get this peerless sword? The other guests who attended the conference naturally came to see the magic sword. How could they not be excited?
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“Crack!”
After a few crisp sounds, the ground of the martial arts arena slowly cracked to both sides, revealing a burst of bright fire that splashed everywhere. Several swordsmen were not careful and were burned and screamed.
Next came a furnace, and dozens of excellent sword blanks were inserted on the edge of the furnace. These sword blanks were naturally discarded during the forging of the divine sword, but their quality was still better than ordinary weapons. If they were taken back and modified, they would still be a good sword. Most people knew that they had no hope of winning the sword championship, and these sword blanks were one of the prizes they were competing for.
In the furnace, flames rolled and boiled, and a surge of fire instantly filled the entire martial arts arena. Fortunately, the participants were all very skilled. If ordinary people were to be infected by this fire, they would probably be burned to ashes.
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"Is this the sword-making furnace?" Qiao Xiaoqiao looked at the boiling fire and muttered to herself, "It is indeed very hot, but it is far from enough."
Gu Hanshuang knew what Qiao Xiaoqiao was thinking, so she naturally understood what she meant. But before she could say anything, a burst of screams rang out from the side, and the volume and excitement were no less than those of the girls watching idol concerts on Earth.
“It’s coming out! It’s coming out!”
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"Such anger, such brilliance, such..."
"It's the magic sword, it really is the magic sword!"
“…”
Qiao Xiaoqiao and Gu Hanshuang turned their gaze to the sword-refining furnace again, and sure enough, they saw a hilt of a sword slowly rising out of it, accompanied by bursts of high and boiling flames.
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However, the sword only showed about three inches of its blade before it stopped.
"What's going on? Is it stuck?"
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"Why don't you show all the swords?"
"We want to see the sword!"
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“…”
Those swordsmen immediately became unhappy and started shouting at the host, becoming very angry.
"Silence!" The tall butler glanced at them and shouted, "This is a restricted area of the sword hall. Anyone who dares to make a noise will be kicked out immediately! All members of your sects and clans will never be allowed to participate in the sword meeting again!"
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The hall immediately fell silent. The dissatisfied swordsmen had to hold back the crude words they were about to blurt out, but their expressions were still resentful, and there was a hint of impending storm.
"The sword has not been sharpened yet, so it is not convenient to show it all." Seeing that the situation was not good, the owner of the manor, Jian Jiuming, began to explain, "Today, we will select eight sword masters. When the sword champion is decided tomorrow, the sword champion will sharpen the sword himself. Then everyone will be able to see the sword."
After hearing what Jian Jiuming said, the swordsmen present felt relieved and their anger gradually subsided.
At this time, Jian Jiuming raised his hand and summoned a transparent barrier to cover the sword-refining furnace, serving as a arena for sword fighting.
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"Before the sword contest begins, let me tell you the rules of today's sword contest." Seeing that everyone had quieted down, the tall butler stopped talking and said directly: "First, the sword contest is a matter of life and death. The contract has been sent to you. Those who are afraid of death can refuse to sign it, which is equivalent to withdrawing from the competition; second, there is no specific schedule for the sword contest. Anyone can go on stage at any time. As long as they win more than three games, they can go to the side and wait. Of course, the loser can continue to compete until they win three games; third, you can go downstairs and directly challenge others. Those who are named cannot refuse, but the loser of the named challenge will be eliminated directly. Fourth, the competition will end until eight swordsmen are selected. Fifth, the competition can only use swords, but it is not limited to swords, sword techniques, or sword energy."
Qiao Xiaoqiao was speechless about this competition system. It seemed like there were no rules, but in fact there were many restrictions, and there were many hidden traps. Since life and death could be seen, then during the competition, killer moves would definitely be used to reduce the number of competitors in the later stages.
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While the butler was talking, a farmhand actually delivered a life and death contract to each swordsman. Most people signed it without even looking at it. However, Qiao Xiaoqiao read it carefully word by word. She never dared to be careless about contracts.
While Qiao Xiaoqiao was still reading the contract, someone jumped onto the stage and shouted, "I am He Yunfei from the White Crane Sword Sect, and I have come to see the best moves of you fellow practitioners!"
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When someone shouts, there will naturally be someone who responds, and there will be more than one person.
"I, Zheng Yishan from the Iron Sword Sect, am here to meet you!"
"I am the gold rush of Pinjianfang, let me open your eyes!"
"I am..."
“…”
At the beginning, the real masters were still watching from the sidelines, and most of the people who came on the field were just cannon fodder. As expected, Qiao Xiaoqiao and Gu Hanshuang watched a few rounds and suddenly felt that this level of sword fighting was really boring.
However, the situation in the ring really matched what Qiao Xiaoqiao had expected before the match. Almost all the contestants had no intention of stopping. In order to eliminate as many opponents as possible for themselves or their fellow disciples, they used all their killing moves right from the start. Several swordsmen had already died in the ring.
More than two hours later, there were only about thirty swordsmen left out of the more than one hundred. Half of them were dead, half were injured, and half pretended to be half-dead. They were all carried away on stretchers by several dark-faced farmhands.
These thirty or so people should be the real masters of this sword competition, and the next step is to see the real test. Especially the four hot candidates who can win the sword championship, they are now the focus of everyone's attention, and everyone is waiting for them to make a move.
At this moment, a figure suddenly landed on the stage, looked at everyone with cold eyes, and said loudly: "Since you are so cowardly, let me accept your challenge."
This person was none other than Tie Ziyang, the son of the governor of the state and a member of the Iron Sword Sect. At this moment, he was full of high spirits and looked down upon the whole audience, and he was truly very impressive.
However, his arrogance annoyed the other three popular candidates. They were all at the same level, so why did you have to act so pretentiously?
Huoyun State Crown Prince Yun Qilie said in a cold voice: "Tie Ziyang, if you were not the son of a governor, you would not even be able to pass the three levels, and you are still bragging here."
"Mr. Tiejian, you are too self-righteous." Xiao Tingyu was quite dissatisfied, but he had no intention of taking action.
"You overestimate your own abilities and bring disgrace upon yourself!" The speaker was a two-meter-tall burly man, none other than Ji Lingshen, who wielded the heavy sword in the Qingtian Sword Field.
Tie Ziyang ignored their sarcasm and suddenly raised his hand and pointed in a direction: "Before I kill you, I have something I must solve first. Yesterday, two people insulted the way of the sword in front of me. It is the greatest shame of my life. Today, I must kill them to rectify the way of the sword."
Everyone looked in the direction Tie Ziyang pointed, and were shocked to see Qiao Xiaoqiao and Gu Hanshuang.
"Tie Ziyang, you are a man, but you actually want to bully two weak women." Xiao Tingyu couldn't help but sneer, "It seems that you are not one of my generation, but a coward who bullies the weak and fears the strong."
Tie Ziyang was too lazy to explain, he just looked at Qiao Xiaoqiao and Gu Hanshuang coldly and shouted: "You women shouldn't have been involved in the sword test competition, and you even dared to insult the sword. You are simply courting death. However, this young master is not unreasonable. As long as you apologize to me and repent to the sword, this young master can spare your lives!"
Gu Hanshuang jumped onto the ring with her toes, raised her hand and drew out her sword from its sheath, and said calmly, "Stop talking nonsense and get started."