The preaching event soon resumed with great enthusiasm. An additional one hundred guests had joined the preaching participants in the middle of the meadow. These were the individual cultivators that had been selected by a wide lottery to participate in the Grand Dao Preaching Convention, to showcase their individual abilities and receive advice in return. They came from all kinds of backgrounds and all throughout the metropolis and nearby provinces. The only requirement to be chosen was that they were unrelated to an immortal sect.
These one hundred faces were all glowing with excitement and anticipation. It was amazing luck to be chosen. The chance was one in a billion if not more. Although they would not win any money or prizes, they had a chance to receive generous guidance from these young talents. That was far more precious than a few taels of gold.
In addition to the guests, an eye-catching contraption had been erected in the middle of the clearing between the two parties. It was a totem made out of a straight tree trunk. The color was dark red and it was carved with many fearsome faces of beasts and demons. It was over ten meters tall and gave off a strange mix of spiritual auras. This was the famous strength-testing totem, a specialty of the Forest District.
The announcer regained the crowd's attention and began the event. One of the guests was chosen at random to go first. He was a slender man in his late forties with wispy gray hair. He wielded dual sabers and had a strong martial aura like that of a killer.
According to the procedure, the guest would first test his saber against the strength-testing totem. Next, the young geniuses of the metropolis could offer whatever advice they could think of. The guest would then immediately test out those theories against the totem to see which one was the most effective.
"I am Two Moons, captain of the Two Moons Mercenary Group." The man stated and brandished two rather large crescent blades, "Please guide me!"
In response, the strength-testing totem glowed with spiritual power. The face of an eagle near the middle of totem suddenly surged forth, creating a phantom image of a soaring eagle using dull-red spiritual energy. This was the most suitable one for testing saber arts which focused on attack and cutting power above all else.
The mercenary named Two Moons furrowed his brow as he concentrated. He twirled his weapons around his body to gather energy and then leaped into the air. The might of a cultivator at the 5th Level of the Spirit Initiate Realm came crashing down.
"Kill!"
Ka!
There was a clash of spiritual energy and a flash of light.
The eagle shimmered by remained otherwise unperturbed.
Two Moons retreated several steps and breathed out heavily. This one attack was the culmination of his entire cultivation journey thus far, his lifetime of achievement. It would be accurate to say that he had put everything on the line.
The disturbed spiritual air calmed down and several glowing balls appeared above the eagle's head. The announcer counted five before a sixth blinked weakly. After a few seconds, the sixth ball of light failed to consolidate and disappeared.
Two Moons hung his head. The result was disappointing, his attack power was flatly average for his level. He had a long way to go to hope to reach the sixth level. He had killed many people with his saber and had been confident in his strength. But he wasn't anything based on the standards of the metropolis.
After this display, it only took a few breaths for one of the youngsters to leap up. They spoke rapidly, pointing out several flaws in Two Moons' saber art including their grip as well as their movement. They even offered some improvements to the saber art itself.
This person's words were filled with confidence. They came from one of the branch sects of the House of Armament named the House of Blades. It was their specialty and the mercenary couldn't help but listen with equal enthusiasm.
Zhou Ziyun carefully followed the exchange between the two people. She absorbed their words and silently applied the concepts to her own experiences. She could be considered somewhat of a saber cultivator due to the Flying Dragon Saber Art. So, the conclusion came naturally to her.
She had to disagree with the youth from the House of Blades. The result of her analysis had nothing to do with the basics such as form or footwork. Even the improvement to the saber art was inconsequential. She felt that there was something inherently wrong with that mercenary but she couldn't grasp what exactly. Even if his saber art improved by leaps and bounds, his attack power still might not reach the sixth level.
True to her guesses, when Two Moons attacked the strength-testing totem again, there was barely any difference. The sixth ball of light did flash for slightly longer but that was it. It was still a long way from lighting up permanently.
Seeing this result, the other participants all lost their confidence. They had various ideas they wanted to add on top of the person from the House of Blades but if it was the completely wrong direction to begin with, then their advice would also be ineffective.
Cultivation was cruel like that. What worked for most of the population might not work for someone. Each person's circumstance was different. It was just bad luck that someone like Two Moons who did have a talent for saber arts would be stuck at the fifth level for a whole decade.
Even someone like Tang Liang couldn't add anything helpful. She used her memory to specialize in things she had seen before. But Two Moons' saber art was something he created so there was nothing to compare it to. What Deng Lun had said was true, Tang Liang had so much knowledge but not enough comprehension.
Zhou Ziyun, on the other hand, was the polar opposite. She felt that she still lacked so much basic knowledge about the cultivation world but she had confidence in her comprehension. And she had an inkling that her comprehension ability was only getting better and better.
Throughout the entire morning, her spiritual energy limits were constantly being challenged as she used her mind. It was an almost addicting feeling. The more she used her mind, the better she felt.
In her spiritual sea, two saber blades had materialized and were fighting each other according to her will. On one side was the might of the Flying Dragon Saber Art while on the other was the mortal blade concocted by a mercenary out of their desperate imagination. The two seemed unequal but both attacked ferociously, with neither one winning out. They slashed apart the spiritual environment and created great shockwaves that washed over her. And with each clash, she could feel her strength slowly rising.
Nobody could see this scene except her. If they could, they would be astonished. Even Chen Wentian would have been left speechless. She was visualizing both sabers perfectly. Her recreation of that mercenary's saber art was flawless. It defied anything that could be understood by common sense or convention.
While Zhou Ziyun was lost in thought and cultivation, a participant finally stood up to the challenge to preach their Dao. The crowd roared to life as they realized who it was.
It was the prince, Prince Huang Yaoying!
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