Chapter 79: Chapter 14: The Shushan Tournament, Mercurial Elixir Flower
Finally, the day arrived.

At the Emei Golden Summit, ten thousand swords were unsheathed, announcing the official start of the sect competition.

Normally, the opening ceremony of such a grand event would be described in at least several hundred words.

However, one needed a master’s guidance to participate in the opening ceremony.

Since Ling Yunpo and An Zhisu both lacked a master, there didn’t seem to be any point in them attending the ceremony, where they would just face disdain from others, so they simply didn’t bother going up.

The two of them found a shaded pavilion halfway up Mount Emei to take a rest and chat leisurely.

An Zhisu patiently explained to Ling Yunpo the various matters that needed attention for the Shushan tournament.

For example, one should not hold back, remember to establish one’s might, wield their sword as ruthlessly as possible, and if they cannot beat their opponent, to surrender right away instead of giving the opponent a chance to be fierce, and so on.

Ling Yunpo appeared to listen seriously on the surface, but in reality, he was constantly gazing at Senior Sister An’s tender face.

As for the matters that needed attention, he would let the Kunlun Mirror take note of them first and listen later when he had time.

Only after the opening ceremony concluded did the two ride their Sword Light to ascend to the summit of the clouds.

By then, the Shushan Cloud Summit had already been turned immensely vast, its space cleaved open by a high individual with Supreme Sword Intent.

Parting ways with An Zhisu, Ling Yunpo joined the queue of other disciples to draw lots, while concurrently having the Kunlun Mirror replay Senior Sister An’s earlier admonitions.

They say an elder sister is like a mother, but why is An Zhisu, as a senior sister, as nagging as someone else’s real sister?

After drawing the lot, Ling Yunpo went to find the corresponding arena indicated on his lot.

In the sword-fighting arena, his opponent had already been waiting there, dressed in the customary blue robe of the Shushan Sect Disciples, holding a Flying Sword.

He went up to salute, and the sword fight was declared officially underway.

As soon as it began, Ling Yunpo leaped into the air, propelling the Green Duckweed Sword in a “Rainbow Through the Sun” thrust straight toward his opponent’s chest!

The opponent, in utter shock and haste, released their Life-bound Sword Artifact to defend but was easily defeated by the Tenth Grade Green Duckweed Sword, which sent the Flying Sword Artifact flying and pierced him through the heart!

By the time Ling Yunpo retracted his Sword Light, that opponent had been transmitted out of the arena by the Restrictions, declaring his defeat.

The first battle was a victory, uneventful and without risk.

This was to be expected. During previous training sessions, Lin Duanshan had introduced him to the hundred elite disciples on the current Immortal Sword Ranking.

His first opponent was not included in his memory; he must have been a mere extra, so he finished him off with his aggressive move right away, saving quite some time and effort.

After leaving the arena, Ling Yunpo went to look for Senior Sister An.

And there, at another sword-fighting arena across from him, he saw Senior Sister An holding her sword with one hand while standing there, giving a graceful smile:

“Brother Yu, can we start now?”

The person opposite Ling Yunpo was also in his memory, supposed to be ranked sixty-seventh in the last Immortal Sword Ranking.

At that moment, the person’s face was pale as he said with trepidation,

“Senior Sister An, I, Yu, have never caused trouble for you or Qingluo Peak. Let’s agree before the fight that this time, you won’t chop down my Life-bound Sword Artifact, shall we?”

“Oh, you’re not planning to use your Life-bound Sword Artifact this time?” Senior Sister An asked with a laugh.

Instantly, the man opposite was drenched in sweat and lowered his head, saying dispiritedly,

“Forget it, forget it, I concede.”

The surrounding audience immediately burst into a torrent of abuse, accusing An Zhisu of being duplicitous with her smile, intimidating her opponent, and disdain the man surnamed Yu for conceding without a fight, lacking backbone.

High in the sky, three Nascent Soul Elders, seeing that the sword fight had ended, announced the victory of Qingluo Peak’s An Zhisu, then disappeared in Sword Light.

An Zhisu stepped down from the stage with grace, and upon seeing Ling Yunpo, she smiled and said,

“Junior Brother, finished so quickly?”

“Hmm,” Ling Yunpo nodded and expressed his astonishment, “Senior Sister, your entrance was truly majestic. To have three Nascent Soul Elders supervising!”

“When I had my sword fight just now, there was only a Golden Core True Person watching nearby.”

“Oh dear,” An Zhisu said softly with a smile, “The elders were just concerned about the security of the arena Restrictions, so they came to check for themselves.”

Ling Yunpo was taken aback:

“What do you mean? I thought the Restrictions of the arena are meant to transfer the loser out just in the moment before death. Can these Restrictions also fail?”

“I’m rather embarrassed,” An Zhisu said sheepishly, “The Restrictions of this arena were activated by a Magical Treasure called ‘Xuanguang Ruler’.”

“In a previous duel, I thought the Restrictions were secure enough and did not hold back my sword. Unfortunately, I accidentally broke the Restrictions, and that resulted in the death of my opponent.”

“After that, the elders no longer trusted the effectiveness of the Xuanguang Ruler, so they personally came over to watch over it.”

Ha-ha, it’s not that they don’t trust the magical treasure’s effectiveness—they’re clearly worried that you’re too ruthless, and that even these competition ground restrictions can’t stop you!

Ling Yunpo couldn’t help but feel both amused and helpless inside, but he said aloud,

“So that’s how it is. The elders really worry too much. Why not go to Yuqing View and buy some better restriction magical treasures? Our Shushan’s resources are great, we can certainly afford it.”

“The Xuanguang Ruler is also a famous magical treasure from the Ancient Clarify Cult,” An Zhisu explained. “If it’s used to place restrictions on a single person, it can even lock down immortals for a few breaths. It’s just that it’s difficult for the wielder of the magical treasure to divide their attention when trying to lock down several thousand martial arts competition grounds—at times, they can become careless by accident.”

The two of them joked and chatted as they walked, and the crowd automatically parted to make way for them.

Seeing the fearful and resentful expressions on the faces around him, Ling Yunpo sighed in his heart.

His reputation among his fellow Shushan disciples was probably not much different from Qiu Changtian’s in Kunlun, except his was the negative kind.

While he was absentmindedly thinking about this, he suddenly saw someone blocking the way ahead—it was Lin Duanshan, Brother Lin.

Seeing An Zhisu and Ling Yunpo approaching, he clasped his hands together and said,

“Senior Sister An, I have something to discuss with Ling Yunpo.”

“Hmm.” An Zhisu didn’t ask further and walked to the side.

Lin Duanshan pulled Ling Yunpo aside and made sure they were far enough that An Zhisu couldn’t hear them, then he asked in a low voice,

“Ling Yunpo, do you know what a ‘Refining Mansion Rank’ is?”

“I wish Brother Lin would enlighten me.” Ling Yunpo knew he had something to say, so he cut straight to the chase.

Seeing his willingness to listen, Lin Duanshan explained in detail,

“This Refining Mansion First Rank involves transforming the Dantian into Purple Mansion, to be the residence of the Golden Core.”

“The longer one stays at the Refining Mansion Rank, nurturing the True Yuan over an extended period, the more perfect the Purple Mansion that’s built, and thus the higher the grade of the Golden Core formed after Tribulation.”

“Pills are graded in nine ranks. If the Pill Formation is of the lowest three grades, the prospects for reaching the Nascent Soul Rank are almost nonexistent; if it is of the middle three grades, even with smooth Tribulation, it is difficult to form a high-grade Nascent Soul.”

“Only with a Pill Formation of the highest three grades, does one have the chance to form a high-grade Nascent Soul in the future.”

“Your Senior Sister An has high cultivation talents. In just a half-cycle, her Qi Sea was abundant, she performed Marrow Cleansing and directly cultivated to the Refining Mansion Rank.”

“However, because your master, Su Jian, wasn’t around, the cultivation resources for Qingluo Peak had almost dried up, causing her cultivation level to stagnate for a long time and resulted in less than ideal nurturing efficiency for her Purple Mansion.”

“But this Shushan martial arts competition is different. In order to encourage disciples to vie for places on the Immortal Sword Ranking, the higher-ups have prepared special rewards for those on the Immortal Sword Ranking!”

Hearing Lin Duanshan’s increasingly solemn tone, Ling Yunpo asked in surprise,

“What rewards?”

Lin Duanshan clenched his teeth and lowered his voice,

“It is said that among the rewards for the top three, there is Mercurial Elixir Liquid!”

Hearing “Mercurial Elixir Liquid,” Ling Yunpo also took a sharp breath.

This thing was mentioned in the “Nine Cauldrons Divine Pill Scripture” taught by Shi Liuli, touted as “the world’s number one divine pill.” When consumed by a cultivator at the Refining Mansion Rank, it can quickly perfect any imperfections in the Dantian’s Purple Mansion. One spoonful equates to the nurturing of True Yuan for a cycle.

In summary, it means there’s a high chance to make one’s final Pill Formation grade forcefully improve by one rank!

Knowing the gravity of the situation, Ling Yunpo tensed up inside but still puzzled, asked,

“I see, but there are no worthy opponents for my senior sister in the Immortal Sword Ranking. This Mercurial Elixir Liquid will naturally be hers; why do we need to worry for her?”

“Sigh.” Lin Duanshan let out a long sigh, his expression also turned somber, “If it were normal times, indeed there would be no need for us to bother.”

“But Ling Yunpo, you also understand Senior Sister An’s temperament.”

“If she obtains the Mercurial Elixir Liquid, do you think she would consume it herself, or would she think to keep it until you ascend to the Refining Mansion Rank, to then give it to you?”

Ling Yunpo: ……

Ah, could that be the case?

If it were something else, it would be one thing, but this concerns the path to greater achievement in the future. How could Senior Sister An possibly give it away so easily to me…

“Given your Senior Sister An’s nature, she would certainly think that way,” said the Kunlun Mirror leisurely in the Sea of Consciousness. “I’m not so lacking in the Mercurial Elixir Liquid that I won’t be able to form the pill in the future. It’s better to keep it for Ling Yunpo…”

Hearing this, cold sweat ran down Ling Yunpo’s back.

“You understand now, don’t you!” Seeing his fluctuating expression, Lin Duanshan spoke gravely, “In this Shushan competition, you must bring out all your strength and strive for the highest possible rank on the list to give Senior Sister An enough confidence in you!”

“Otherwise, if her confidence in you wanes even slightly, she will surely keep the Mercurial Elixir Liquid to herself. She’ll be willing to risk her own path for your future achievement!”