"Not bad, your cultivation has really reached the peak of the eighth stage. Just nice." The eyes of the High Wind Academy lit up as he looked at Chu Mu and nodded, "If you break through to the ninth stage, then you will be included in the main hall as an elite disciple." "With this peak of the eighth stage, coupled with your sword arts and 20% Concept of Wind, you can even fight against a disciple at the peak of the ninth stage. You might even be able to win and fight for the top three."
"I will definitely be in the top three." Chu Mu said. His calm tone contained a sense of confidence.
"Good, haha." The Lingfeng Sect Master laughed very happily. "This time, we'll let those people in the main hall see that we, the three inner courtyards, don't just go through the motions every time. This time, we'll make their eyeballs pop out of their heads."
Chu Mu didn't say anything. Looking at the High Wind Academy, he could feel the excitement, joy, and … expectation that came from the bottom of his heart.
"Let's go. The three courtyards should gather. It's time to go to the main hall." After laughing loudly, the High Wind Academy regained his calm. He held his sword and smiled at Chu Mu.
"Every time the Qingfeng Sword Battle Gathering comes, our three courtyards will choose two people to participate." As they walked, the High Wind Academy said, "But this time, our High Wind Academy only needs you to participate." "One more or one less, there's no difference at all."
"Yes." Chu Mu nodded.
Not long after, Chu Mu and the High Wind Academy arrived at a small mountain gate. There were two disciples at the eighth stage of the Sword Qi Realm guarding the mountain gate. In addition, there were six other people.
"Academy Head Li, you're so slow." Among the six people, two of them were about the same age as the High Wind Academy. One was a man and the other was a woman. The one who spoke was a man. He had a dignified appearance, a bitter face, and a dull voice. The woman's appearance couldn't be said to be very beautiful, but she gave off a gentle feeling. She always had a faint smile on her face, making it easy for people to have a good impression of her.
"It's you guys who came too early." The Lingfeng sect master replied with a smile, his gaze sweeping across the faces of the other four disciples.
At the same time, the four disciples also saw Chu Mu. Their eyes lit up with joy, worship, awe, and other mixed emotions.
"Chu Mu. He's the headmaster of the Rumbling Thunder Academy, and she's the headmaster of the Clear Water Academy." The High Wind sect master introduced him to Chu Mu. Then, he looked at the Thunder sect master and the Clear Water sect master and said, "He is Chu Mu. This time, our High Wind sect will send Chu Mu."
"He is Chu Mu!" The gazes of Sect Master Minglei and Sect Master Bishui landed on Chu Mu. Their gazes flickered like lightning and water, causing Chu Mu to feel even more pressure. It was as if the air around him had solidified and his entire body was bound. Furthermore, it was as if he was being seen through.
However, Chu Mu's expression did not change. Instead, he saluted with his sword toward the two.
"You do have some ability. No wonder you were able to kill Wang Feng. I hope you can still fight against the elite disciples of the main palace. Don't lose face for the High Wind sect." Sect Master Minglei's tone was a bit harsh. His attitude was not friendly at all.
"Peak of the eighth level sword Qi. I heard that your sword arts are extremely exquisite, far surpassing the other disciples. I hope you can get a good ranking in this Qingfeng Sword Battle Gathering and give the main palace a surprise." The Clear Water sect master smiled from ear to ear. Her voice was soft like water, and her attitude was kind.
"Haha, you guys just wait and see. This time, Chu Mu will definitely give the main palace a big surprise." The High Wind sect master smiled. He was full of confidence in Chu Mu, because he knew about Chu Mu's strength.
Chu Mu's sword art was the High Wind Sword Art. The Clear Wind Sword Art he had comprehended was the concept of wind. Under twenty percent of the concept of wind, the power of his wind sword arts would increase by two times. Moreover, his attack speed would also increase.
Originally, the speed of Wind Sword Arts was already very fast. Under the amplification, it became even faster. Its power was doubled, making it even more powerful. Moreover, there was a very important point. For Swordsmen who cultivated the same Sword Arts, the difference between comprehending the same Sword Concept and not comprehending the same Sword Concept was even greater. It could form a kind of weakening and even suppression.
Just like in the Chu family, when Chu Mu had fought against Wang Qi, Wang Qi had also used wind sword arts. In the end, he had been completely suppressed by Chu Mu. Even if his cultivation base was one level higher than Chu Mu's, it was of no use.
"Hmph, I hope so." Sect master Minglei's attitude was still unfriendly. He coldly snorted.
"Let's go. We should go up." The Clear Water sect master's smile was still as gentle as before.
After passing through the small mountain gate and walking a hundred meters on a small path, there was a flight of stairs that led up to the main hall.
"This flight of stairs is called the Heavenly Stairs. There are a total of nine hundred and ninety-nine of them." The High Wind sect master smiled as he introduced them to Chu Mu. "Although the main hall and the three courtyards belong to the Azure Edge Sword Sect, to a certain extent, they can be considered two branches of the sword sect. The Heavenly Stairs are used for the main hall's disciple recruitment test every five years. Only those who pass through the Heavenly Stairs within a set time can enter the second test. "
"So that's how it is." Chu Mu suddenly understood. He was curious. Once a disciple of the three courtyards reached the ninth level of sword qi, they would immediately become an elite disciple of the main hall. Then, where did the main hall's disciples below the ninth level come from?
Now that he heard the High Wind sect master's words, Chu Mu finally understood.
"That's right, Chu Mu, you don't need to take Minglei's attitude to heart." The High Wind sect master's lips moved slightly, but there was no sound. However, Chu Mu directly heard his words. "The reason he is so unfriendly towards you is completely because of Wang Feng. Originally, Wang Feng was one of the candidates from the Thunder Academy to participate in the Qingfeng Sword Competition. The other candidate was He Kaiming. But now, He Kaiming has become an elite disciple and Wang Feng has died in your hands. Minglei has no one else he can use and can only pick two ordinary eighth level peak disciples to make up the numbers. Therefore, he must be very depressed in his heart. However, as long as you can rank among the top three in the Sword Battle Gathering, his attitude towards you will change one hundred and eighty degrees. "
"En, I don't care." Chu Mu said softly. He didn't have the ability to use sword aura to transmit sound. Suddenly, Chu Mu remembered that he had external sword aura. Could he control external sword aura and do something similar to sword aura transmission?
Chu Mu knew that normally, when speaking, sound relied on air to transmit. Thus, if he could control the external sword aura, would he be able to transmit his voice directly through the external sword aura into the opponent's ears without scattering and preventing others from hearing him?
Thinking of this, Chu Mu pondered and didn't say anything.
There were nine hundred and ninety-nine steps. Going up one step at a time would also take a considerable amount of time.
Finally, the eight of them reached the last step. What appeared in front of them was a large open space paved with green stone slabs. This was the sword training field outside the main hall. In the middle, there was a protruding circular platform with a diameter of twenty meters. This was the sword platform used by the inner disciples of the main hall to spar.
At the end of the path was a great hall. It was green in color and stood tall and lofty. It was surrounded by a sharp aura, as if it was a giant sword that pointed to the heavens, showing its sharpness.
"That is the Qingfeng Main Hall. This time, the Qingfeng Sword Battle Gathering will be held in the inner sword training field behind the main hall. Let's go." Lingfeng sect master said. The eight of them, each with different emotions and the same excitement, walked towards the majestic main hall with large strides.
The sunlight shone on the sword training field outside. It was like a glowing white veil falling on Chu Mu and the others, making them feel a trace of warmth. Walking towards them was the future and hope. Their hearts were even more fiery, like the sun in the sky shining on everything.