Chapter 909: Chapter 77: So What If I Cut You Down?
“This Sky Sword Sect is merely a single sect, yet its disciples are equally numerous.”
Zhou Yan pondered silently, not in any rush, quietly waiting.
In front of Zhou Yan was a graceful young girl in a yellow dress, who was, while waiting, occasionally deriving the array patterns of a Tai Chu Rune Ancient Array, very focused.
In Zhou Yan’s view, these array patterns were actually quite simple, but he did not disturb her.
Behind Zhou Yan and on both sides were male cultivators, all young but with strong vitality. Although their soul energy was not very condensed, it did not exceed two soul energies.
However, their constitution was the enviable Chaos Sword Body in other Great Domains, yet it was the kind of Chaos Sword Body with untapped potential, containing various abilities and rule power within, which they needed to discover and comprehend themselves to unlock.
Their divine body hid a vast treasure trove.
This was true of nearly every cultivator in the Dark God Domain, and what they could extract from it was their true capability.
Zhou Yan himself was also a Chaos Sword Body, but he had extracted all the treasures and then buried them in the treasure mountain. He knew clearly what was inside the treasure mountain and how to mine it.
It was equivalent to saying that Zhou Yan’s Chaos Sword Body was already mined, piling up to form a treasure mountain.
This was the biggest difference between Zhou Yan’s constitution and the cultivators of this world.
Everyone has a treasure mountain; whoever can mine it to the extreme truly possesses wealth. Even those cultivators, when reaching the extreme, cannot compare to someone like Zhou Yan, who has piled up a mountain with all treasures.
However, in the Dark God Domain, Zhou Yan had yet to find someone who truly understood this point.
Perhaps Zhu Ge Tianchen understood, but probably not that much. Otherwise, the Sky Sword Sect would have strange cultivators with extremely poor talent but extraordinary combat power.
Unfortunately, Zhou Yan’s soul power sensed over a hundred thousand cultivators in the Sky Sword Sect but did not detect such an existence.
…
The dense crowd of cultivators continuously entered the Soul Token Hall, and after completing the information registration, left with a brand-new identity badge and entered the territory of the Sky Sword Sect’s Battle Hall.
The Battle Hall of the Sky Sword Sect was the place for disciples’ performance assessment, with no detailed divisions. Outer disciples had various recorded talents, soul energy, and realm records, with a corresponding Purgatory Refiner level classification to evaluate the initial information.
Based on this information, an assessment arrangement would be made.
Inner Sect Disciples needed to accept challenges from Outer Sect Disciples, just needing to maintain their position. Of course, the confident ones could also challenge Core Disciples.
Core Disciples were elite disciples.
True Disciples, above Core Disciples, were those recognized and personally taken as disciples by various Elders. They were beyond the Core Disciples’ identity yet not strictly restrained by the disciple’s gate regulations.
However, the number of True Disciples was very sparse, and the entire Sky Sword Sect never had more than a hundred True Disciples.
Such a number seems large, but in the context of nearly ten thousand Core Disciples, it becomes quite apparent.
Zhou Yan’s position was as an Inner Sect Disciple, outside of Core Disciples, considered to have entered the threshold of Core Disciples, recognized by the Sect, but not imparted with profound Tao.
To advance further, one must strive to become a Core Disciple or a True Disciple.
However, Zhou Yan was not very interested in these, as his cultivation in the Dark God Domain’s corresponding Tao was more about perception, understanding, and reference. He only needed to know the introductory Tao and corresponding methods, while the deeper ways of condensing rules or profound rules were not of concern to him.
Zhou Yan entered the Soul Token Hall with this indifferent attitude. His soul energy detected drew much attention from many cultivators, causing considerable discussion.
However, Zhou Yan’s Divine Level Three-star Purgatory Refiner status directly shocked these people, causing some ill-intentioned cultivators to fall silent.
In this world, while sect influences might provide some shortcuts, the rigorous hierarchy of the Purgatory Refiner status was fearfully unyielding, leaving no room for falsehood.
No matter how many soul energies Zhou Yan displayed, even thirteen, an unprecedentedly poor talent, would be completely overshadowed by his Divine Level Three-star Purgatory status.
In killing enemies, they would not care about your realm or strength, only how many enemies you can kill and how many Heavenly Demons you can slay.
Thus, despite Zhou Yan’s assessment attracting the attention of almost a billion disciples, and sparking discussions and curiosity among many cultivators, no one spoke more on it, nor did anyone express disdain or ridicule to his face.
…
Zhou Yan left the Soul Token Hall very calmly, and after obtaining the Divine Soul Soul Order, he followed many sect disciples to the Battle Hall’s territory.
The Sky Sword Battle Hall, like a small world, vast and boundless, was like a world crushed into a flat land, with no end in sight.
But at a glance, it was divided into various complex array patterns, deriving countless battle territories.
When Zhou Yan entered, due to the comprehensive evaluation of his Purgatory Refiner status, he was directly ranked thirteenth among the Inner Sect Disciples. After entering the corresponding Array Pattern Space, the space lit up with a pillar of light, revealing Zhou Yan’s physical constitution, soul energy, and Purgatory Refiner level.
In its activation mode, the Array Pattern Space would naturally draw cultivators into combat.
Previously, to avoid too much disturbance, Zhou Yan behaved very intensely with a cold, slightly ghastly aura, keeping people at a distance.
But after he stood still, for a long time, no cultivators flew onto the array platform to challenge him.
The challenges kept on unfolding.
As the sky gradually darkened, Zhou Yan’s status as a Divine Level Three Star Purgatory Refiner indeed saved him from a lot of trouble.
However, in this world, there are always some cultivators who refuse to believe in luck.
Roughly an hour later, Zhou Yan encountered his first challenger.
It was a woman in a light blue gauze dress, exuding strong vitality and a calm demeanor, her realm was at the Divine Spirit Third Transition, yet her Purgatory Refiner level was only at One Star Divine Level, far lower than Zhou Yan’s level.
As Zhou Yan examined the woman, she also gazed at him intently.
Above the array platform, Zhou Yan’s corresponding Purgatory Refiner identity and the information from the sect’s Soul Token Hall were already displayed, so for her to challenge him, she must have already known some details about him.
Nonetheless, she still scrutinized Zhou Yan closely, curious about how someone at such a low realm and with such poor talent could achieve such a high Purgatory Refiner level.
“Greetings, senior brother. I am Lin Hui, a Core Disciple. Seeing that your Purgatory Refiner identity has reached the Divine Level, enough to be a Core Disciple, yet you remain among the Inner Sect Disciples, I was quite intrigued and came to challenge you. I seek only to train, not provoke, and ask for your understanding, senior brother.”
Her words were polite, yet her stance already exuded an attacking aura.
Zhou Yan gazed at her, nodding with an indifferent demeanor.
She performed a traditional cultivator’s salute, then faced Zhou Yan directly, suddenly producing an Ancient Sword from her hand—a beautifully crafted, ancient jade sword radiating a dazzling light, possessing the divine majesty of a female emperor reigning over the world.
“Oh? Is it actually pressure through aura?”
Zhou Yan felt a slight movement in his heart, but it was only a hint of surprise.
However, Lin Hui perceived his reaction as shock and disbelief.
Feeling triumphant, she exerted her powerful pressure, attempting to subdue Zhou Yan with a female emperor’s will as if to forcibly make him submit.
Zhou Yan’s soul stirred as the Xuanyuan Sword shuddered slightly, unleashing an unprecedented regal pressure as Emperor Qi transformed into a dragon, manifesting with a gentle tremor.
“Buzz—”
The girl’s delicate body shuddered violently as if hit by an immense terrifying force, frozen in the void for a moment before being hurled backward at an even faster speed, not being Zhou Yan’s match in a single encounter.
“Pfft—”
Despite Zhou Yan’s restraint, a gentle tremor still inflicted damage upon her.
“Senior brother, you truly are ruthless!”
She remarked with feigned anger, her almond-shaped eyes widening, speaking with a sense of loss and reproach—not truly blaming him, just feeling that he seemed not to know how to appreciate beauty.
“Your aura is only superficial; if facing an enemy, a mere glance could kill you ten times. Your will is not firm, easily shaken by distractions.”
Zhou Yan glanced coolly at Lin Hui, bluntly pointing out her weaknesses before standing silently on the array platform, waiting for the next assessment to proceed.
“Hmph, so arrogant, just a Thirteen Soul Qi waste. I would like to see how you, a Divine Level Three Star Purgatory Refiner, achieved your status,”
A cold and proud voice resonated, followed by a young man in a gray robe, exuding a hint of wickedness, descending onto the array platform with a few sparkles of fervor in his eyes.
Seeing this gaze, Zhou Yan’s eyes narrowed slightly, sensing a different aura, instinctively gazing at this person more intently.
“You must be a True Disciple, Divine Spirit Fourth Transition. Do you not fear ridicule comparing your status to an Inner Sect Disciple at Divine Spirit First Transformation?”
Zhou Yan retorted icily.
Facing a Divine Spirit Fourth Transition was challenging for Zhou Yan, but if employing the Thunder-controlling Divine Soul technique from the Hidden God Fragment, it wasn’t as difficult as imagined.
Moreover, Zhou Yan, having weathered battles of life and death, perceived this person as delicate as a hothouse flower, with over a hundred means to instantly defeat him in combat.
Yet, he harbored no intent to kill at the moment, owing to his sentiment toward the Dark God Domain engendered by encounters with Lian Cheng, Han Ning, and Wei Qingqing and Wei Mumu.
“Ridicule? You’re a Divine Level Three Star Purgatory Refiner, as am I. Our battle isn’t a disciple’s battle but a Purgatory Refiner’s battle, devoid of ridicule. Besides, if ridicule ensues, what of it? I’m stronger and higher in status than you. If I wish to fight, you must acquiesce. Should I mistakenly slay you, that’s merely your deficiency in skill!”
This youth’s gaze bore disdain, seemingly aiming to stand up for the woman.
The woman watched Zhou Yan with a complex expression, not uttering a word to mediate despite his earlier restraint.
On the contrary, she added, “Brother Zhao Wu, you must be cautious. His pressure is formidable, impacting one’s mind. You must exert yourself fully, else victory might elude.”
Her voice carried a pitiful tone, yet it was these words that suddenly soured Zhou Yan’s perception of her.
Zhou Yan’s eyes took on a chilling glint as he coldly glared at the youth named Zhao Wu, saying, “You wish to defend her? Or are annoyed that my Thirteen Soul Qi Purgatory Refiner status matches yours? Name the disciple’s battle a Purgatory Refiner’s contest, implying a potential life-and-death struggle? Very well, I’ll slay you, this trouble-seeking True Disciple, and your trouble-making wench and see what Sky Sword Sect will do about it!”
[PS: I recommend an excellent novel: “Dragon Supreme,” here’s a summary: With the Evil Dragon Inheritance, strive for supremacy. Command Heaven and Earth, manipulate the universe! Gaining the Void Divine Eye of the Great Emperor of Xiu Luo, a young man rises monumentally, shaking the Desolate, renowned for eternity. Also seeking recommendations and monthly votes, many thanks~~]