Demon Slaying, Gaining 60 Years of Cultivation From the Start

Soon, under the loud announcement by a disciple of the Sunset Sword Sect, the Martial Arts Tournament officially began.

The rules of the Martial Arts Tournament were simple, any martial artist who wished to participate would stand in the center and challenge others one by one until no one else stepped onto the stage. The remaining person would be the victor of the Martial Arts Tournament, earning the title of Sword Champion and a reward prepared by the Sunset Sword Sect.

The first two young martial artists to take the stage, one from the Guangping Sect and one from the Liuhe Sect, were both second-rate sects within the Qiongtian Mansion. Both were at the early stage of the Meridian Opening Realm, attending the Martial Arts Tournament purely to make themselves known and to see the world.

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Whoosh!

Swiftly, the two exchanged blows, and after dozens of moves, it was clear that the disciple from the Liuhe Sect had the upper hand, forcing the Guangping Sect's disciple to drop his longsword.

The young disciple from the Guangping Sect's face turned red with shame as he picked up his weapon and hurried off the stage. The victor, the disciple from the Liuhe Sect, gave a courteous bow to the surroundings but chose not to continue the challenge and instead returned to his fellow sect members.

Following this, more martial artists took to the stage in succession, but these were just appetizers; what people were really interested in was the struggle between the ranked warriors on the Star Ranking List.

Suddenly, a martial artist dressed in green stepped to the center of the stage. He was tall and straight, with handsome features, and carried a long sword on his back.

"Look, look, a Star Ranking List martial artist has taken the stage."

"That's Yang Hun, the Swift Sword, ranked thirty-eighth on the Star Ranking List. Who is he challenging?"

"If nothing unexpected happens, it should be Xu Pingzhi, ranked thirty-fifth. The two of them have held a grudge for a long time, but in their past encounters, Yang Hun often came out on the losing end."

In a corner, a group of wandering martial artists quietly discussed the situation, and as expected, Yang Hun, clad in tight-fitting attire, stood there and called out Xu Pingzhi for a challenge.

Xu Pingzhi snorted coldly and stepped out of the crowd. The two commenced fighting without further words. Their battle was far more intense than any that had occurred before, full of ingenious moves and surging power. After all, both were listed on the Star Ranking List, and rather high at that. Naturally, their fight drew much attention.

Song Yu and Wang Yan, sitting beside Gu Chen, watched the battling pair and remarked, "The reputation of the Star Ranking List is well deserved; these listed warriors indeed possess remarkable strength."

Wang Yan also nodded his head. Their own strength was not weak, but since the Jing Tian Department had not clashed with the martial world for a long time, and because the Star Ranking List was geared towards martial artists from that world, the Diancang Pavilion's primary considerations when compiling the list were the martial forces and warriors.

In truth, given their strength, it wasn't impossible for either of them to be ranked within the top thirty of the Star Ranking List, but since court officials usually paid little attention to the list, they didn't feel the urge to compete for a place on it.

Gu Chen sat calmly on the side, feeling that the confrontations he witnessed were somewhat boring. With the level of skill demonstrated, if he were to take the stage, he estimated these combatants wouldn't even be able to withstand a single move from him.

Soon, a victor emerged between Yang Hun and Xu Pingzhi. Surprisingly, it was Yang Hun who won. It was evident that he had made great progress in his cultivation over time, managing to leapfrog three ranks and defeat Xu Pingzhi.

The victorious Yang Hun wore an air of triumph, whereas Xu Pingzhi, having lost the bout, had a dark expression and left in a huff.

After winning, Yang Hun amazingly did not choose to step down. Instead, he consumed several elixirs, rested briefly to regulate his breath, and then prepared to accept another challenge, clearly very confident in his abilities.

All attending observed Yang Hun's strength. Those who were weaker naturally did not dare to step onto the stage, and the stronger ones were not interested in him. For a moment, the scene actually grew somewhat deserted.

But at that moment, a sudden sound of a sword ringing out pierced the air. From the very front, next to the Sunset Sword Sect's Qin Mu, a young disciple with a youthful face and clear, handsome features lightly leapt up like a great roc, arriving in front of Yang Hun.

"I will challenge you," the young disciple said with an expression full of pride.

"Who are you?" Yang Hun frowned. After all, he was now ranked thirty-fifth on the Star Ranking List, not someone anyone could casually challenge, even if this young disciple was from the Sunset Sword Sect.

"Long Chen," the young disciple reported his name.

"So that's Long Chen, the Sunset Sword Sect's most talented rising star."

"I heard he's only seventeen this year, yet he's already reached the later stages of the Meridian Opening Realm, clearing over thirty meridians in his body," people murmured among themselves.

Recognizing the name after hearing the chatter of the assembled martial artists, Yang Hun suddenly understood. He certainly had heard of Long Chen before.

Although the opponent was three or four years his junior, Yang Hun did not dare underestimate him and went all out right from the start.

Long Chen's countenance was proud. He waited until Yang Hun was nearly upon him before leisurely drawing his long sword and shouting, "Die!"

With a clang, Yang Hun's expression changed. His sword was deftly deflected by Long Chen's clever move. Just as Long Chen's sword was about to pierce Yang Hun's chest, Yang Hun used his vast combat experience to dodge the lethal blow.

Afterward, the two engaged in intense combat. But from the start, Yang Hun was at a disadvantage. After nearly a hundred moves, unsurprisingly, he was defeated by Long Chen.

Long Chen looked arrogantly triumphant and didn't even glance at Yang Hun. This time, it was Yang Hun's turn to taste defeat as he walked down with a dark expression.

Long Chen stood in the center, continuously accepting challenges. One opponent after another was defeated by him—even a young prodigy ranked twenty-eighth on the Star Rankings was no match for Long Chen.

People knew that the champion of this martial arts tournament was likely to be Long Chen.

Soon, only Long Chen was left in the center of the arena. No one else stepped forward to challenge him.

After this martial arts tournament, everyone witnessed the strength of Sunset Sword Sect. They knew the strength of a sect was not just based on its leadership but also depended on the performance of its young disciples. Both were indispensable.

Otherwise, there was a high risk of generational gaps. But Sunset Sword Sect needn't worry about this issue. At the middle and upper levels, there were the Supreme Sect Leader, the Sect Leader, and various Elders of Sunset Sword Sect. Among the younger generation, there were Qin Mu and Long Chen. Looking at the current situation, Sunset Sword Sect could prosper for at least another hundred years.

Just when everyone thought that Sunset Sword Sect was about to declare Long Chen the winner, suddenly the young martial artist with a youthful face turned his gaze to Gu Chen.

"Do you dare to come up and fight me?" His consecutive victories had inflated Long Chen's confidence, and he directly issued a challenge to Gu Chen.

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes turned to Gu Chen. They all knew that Gu Chen's rise on the Star Rankings was achieved by stepping over Zheng Yan of Sunset Sword Sect, which naturally displeased the domineering and aggressive sect.

If Gu Chen had not been a man of the imperial court, Sunset Sword Sect would have killed him already. Gu Chen wouldn't be alive today.

Hearing this, Gu Chen chuckled and said, "Kid, go play on your own."

Long Chen was immediately enraged by these words. Gu Chen was only twenty years old, just three years older than him. They were essentially peers, but now Gu Chen was speaking to him in the tone of an adult reprimanding a child, which Long Chen couldn't tolerate.

In Sunset Sword Sect, even those older disciples who were much older than he respected him greatly. Even Qin Mu treated him slightly warmer. Now that Gu Chen dared to speak to him in such a manner, Long Chen's anger was uncontainable.

Hisss!

With a low-grade treasure weapon in hand, Long Chen disregarded everything and charged directly towards Gu Chen in the crowd.

"Hmph!"

Seeing this, Song Yu let out a cold snort. He drew his sword from his waist and engaged with Long Chen in combat without waiting for Gu Chen to make a move.

The surrounding warriors quickly moved away, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire.

Sword light flashed between the two, and energy surged. Song Yu was not weak. In fact, he seemed to even be suppressing Long Chen. After taking a glance, Gu Chen stopped paying attention.

Since the fight had already started, Gu Chen didn't wait any longer. He found the whole martial arts tournament utterly boring, having watched the entire event.

He had thought it would be like the wuxia fantasy novels he'd read in his previous life, with grand scenes and various heroes competing on stage. But now, he was extremely disappointed.

These people were too weak, and he had no interest in fighting them.

At that moment, Gu Chen's gaze shifted toward where Canghai Sect was situated.

Yu Qiushi, seeing Gu Chen's gaze, narrowed his eyes, and his hand subconsciously rested on his long sword at his waist.

He thought Gu Chen wanted to challenge him. But to his surprise, Gu Chen merely glanced at him before moving his gaze on to Qi Changyun behind him.

"Qi Changyun, for some matters, would you rather I speak out here in front of everyone, or would you like to admit your fault and confess willingly?"