Seeking the Flying Sword Path

Green Touring Palace.

Qin Yun headed for Dao Exchange Platform the moment he arrived in Green Touring Palace. On the way, he encountered many of his senior brothers and sisters.

"Junior Brother Qin, you actually dared to accept that Bear Mountain’s challenge. Impressive."

"Junior Brother Qin, you have to teach that bear demon a good lesson this time."

Many senior brothers and sisters said such things ardently. There were quite a number of them that stood on Qin Yun’s side.

Firstly, most of Green Touring Palace disciples knew how to differentiate between right and wrong.

Secondly, Qin Yun had a bright future ahead of him. Even if he was not Bear Mountain’s match this time, they believed that he would ultimately be able to suppress Bear Mountain in the future.

"Whoosh."

Deep along a trail among the Green Touring Palace’s clouds, there was a spatial void. Floating in it was an ancient and unadorned combat platform. It was the Dao Exchange Platform.

With a whoosh, Qin Yun flew directly onto it and waited silently.

He scanned his surroundings, and beyond the Dao Exchange Platform were hundreds of Green Touring Palace disciples. They were watching while standing on clouds in groups of twos or threes. There were still many Green Touring Palace disciples flying over on clouds of their own.

"Junior Brother Qin is here."

"This Qin Yun sure came early."

There were all sorts of discussions.

Everyone was feeling carefree and relaxed. To these spectating disciples, the battle was just one of the interesting matters of their long lifespans.

"This Junior Brother Qin of ours is the only one who has carved a new sword immortal lineage other than the Grand Supreme Dao Ancestor. He hasn’t cultivated for long, but his strength is already no less than a ninth firmament Skyimmortal’s. Say, who do you think will win today’s battle?" commented a white-browed Daoist.

"Hahaha... Junior Brother Qin does have a bright future ahead of him. However, he agreed to this battle a little too readily. That Bear Mountain cultivates in the Physical Establishing Sage Dharmic formulation after all. Even a strike from a mighty figure would just leave him injured. Of those with strength less than mighty figures... few people can kill Bear Mountain," said a hunchbacked elder with a crutch.

"This is Dao Exchange Platform, not a fight to the death. They just need to end with a victor," said another young Daoist.

"Demon King Bear Mountain can stand there and allow Junior Brother Qin to attack him as he wishes, but it is unlikely he will be injured. How can Junior Brother Qin win like that?" said the hunchbacked elder with a smile.

"We shall know in a while," said the young Daoist.

...

Qin Yun stood on Dao Exchange Platform and waited silently.

The senior brothers and sisters that surrounded the platform increased. There were many who were curious about their junior brother. Of course, Ancestral Master Zhang, Dragon King Ao Fang, the three pig demon brothers, and others familiar with Qin Yun had arrived. All of them stood on clouds while discussing on the sidelines.

"Junior Brother Divine Firmament. Your fellow native sure is gutsy. Do you think he has any chances of winning?"

"Qin Yun’s perceptivity is indeed high. You will know in a while." Ancestral Master Zhang was chatting with his fellow disciples as well.

******

Qin Yun waited for nearly an hour on Dao Exchange Platform before he suddenly sensed something. He turned his head as the stout Bear Mountain and several demons flew over. Following that, Bear Mountain exchanged a few words with the demons before flying to Dao Exchange Platform alone. He gradually descended and landed silently.

Bear Mountain looked at Qin Yun and grinned. "Hahaha, I thought you would be too afraid to come. I never expected you to come even earlier than me. At the very least, I’m impressed by your guts."

"Senior Brother Bear Mountain, since you are here, go ahead and make your move," said Qin Yun.

"There’s no rush," Bear Mountain said, his voice resounding.

It reached the two thousand Green Touring Palace disciples around them. "Everyone, I will be having a Dao exchange with Junior Brother Qin. We will each offer a treasure. I will be offering the supreme-grade Numinous Treasure Mountain, Five Fires Calabash. As for Junior Brother Qin, he will offer the supreme-grade Numinous treasure, Yin Water Chains. Junior Brother Qin, am I right?"

"Yes." Qin Yun nodded.

Bear Mountain nodded. He had confirmed it publicly because he was afraid Qin Yun would go back on his word after being defeated.

By establishing the terms of the bet ahead of time, it prevented Qin Yun from being dishonest.

"Junior Brother Qin, this should be your first time on the Dao Exchange Platform. Let me explain the rules," said Bear Mountain. "Beat your opponent until they admit defeat, capture your opponent alive, or send your opponent out of the Dao Exchange Platform’s area. All of these will result in victory."

"I understand." Qin Yun nodded.

Capturing alive was in no way less difficult than directly killing one’s opponent.

This was because there were many fellow disciples watching. If one was completely overpowered, one would usually take the initiative to admit defeat before facing utter embarrassment.

Admitting defeat and being captured alive typically only happened when the difference in strength was extremely large.

At the ninth firmament Skyimmortal realm, these Green Touring Palace disciples cultivated in extremely brilliant Dharmic formulations. It was common for their strength to be similar!

When strength was similar, sending one’s opponent out of the Dao Exchange Platform was, in fact, the more common outcome.

"Since Junior Brother Qin is now aware of it," Bear Mountain smiled with his eyes narrowed, looking somewhat genial. "Then, watch your front."

"Senior Brother, you have to be careful too." The moment Qin Yun said that—

Boom!

Blurry starlight was immediately released from Qin Yun’s body. The starlight naturally caused boundless stellar forces from the external world to descend, forming the Heavenly Cycle Stellar Realm. The vast stellar realm blanketed the entire Dao Exchange Platform.

360 Swords of Stellar Light floated around Qin Yun.

Qin Yun watched Bear Mountain from the center of the starry realm like a stellar god.

"Try a taste of this Five Fires Calabash." Bear Mountain casually waved his hand as a red calabash floated in midair. It immediately spewed five columns of flames, each different in color. They were like five flaming dragons that streaked across the sky as they attacked Qin Yun.

With a thought, the 360 Swords of Stellar Light formed a Heavenly Cycle sword array.

"Chi! Chi! Chi!"

The five fiery columns blazed, turning the world around them into an inferno.

However, the Heavenly Cycle sword array was unfazed by the attack.

"I never expected Senior Brother Bear Mountain to be good at controlling flames, to the point of drawing out so much might from the Five Fires Calabash," praised a relaxed Qin Yun.

Bear Mountain waved his hand again as a pouch flew up.

"Hu! Hu! Hu!"

The pouch immediately sent out a gust of gray wind.

The wind stoked the flames.

It was a combination of wind and fire!

Instantly, the inferno around the Heavenly Cycle sword array increased drastically in strength. Even the Heavenly Cycle sword array began having a hard time resisting the deadly inferno. A shocked Qin Yun thought to himself, "Thankfully my Intrinsic Flying Sword has broken through. I gained inspiration from the baffling Chaos contained in my Intrinsic Flying Sword. It benefited my Five Elemental Sword Sutra, raising my Heavenly Cycle sword array’s strength as well. If not, just this fire and wind array... would be enough to force me to use my Heavenly Cycle Stellar Robes to resist it."

"This isn’t the first time Bear Mountain is using his Wind Howling Pouch. I never expected his fire control to reach such a formidable state. I also never expected the combined forces of wind and fire to have such potency."

"Yea, his fire control is indeed brilliant. If not, even the combination of wind and fire would not be this powerful."

The spectators included humans, demons, and even dragons.

All of them were commenting on the battle.

"Oh?" Bear Mountain was astonished seeing the outcome of his attack. He laughed and said, "Haha, Junior Brother, you sure have some tricks up your sleeve. You are actually able to easily withstand this bit of wind and fire. Alright, I shall stop using these minor attacks."

As he said this, he waved his hand and put away the two supreme-grade Numinous treasures, Wind Howling Pouch and Five Fires Calabash.

Following that, Bear Mountain phased away.

Boom!

He immediately grew to a thousand feet high, like a small mountain. His terrifying aura radiated as each of his bear paws held a huge hammer.

Although the dense stellar forces descended and pressed down on his body, he thought nothing of it. This bit of pressure? With his strength, he could ignore it completely.

"Boom!" Bear Mountain brandished the hammers in his hands as his arms suddenly bulged. The hammers also expanded! Instantly, the hammerheads were nearly five kilometers wide. When they streaked across the void, they made the void warp slightly, as though a star had descended and was coming smashing down at Qin Yun. The pure might was truly terrifying. If it landed in the mortal world, just this strike alone would send quakes for thousands of miles, instantly flattening a mortal empire.

"Go."

Qin Yun waved his hand.

A wisp of misty rain flew out of his fingertip. It flashed in midair and was extremely odd. It silently dodged Bear Mountain’s terrifying smite! The flying sword seemed to violate causality as it stabbed straight into Bear Mountain’s chest.

Qin Yun’s strike had been silent, but the moment it stabbed Bear Mountain’s chest, it produced black ripples. It made Bear Mountain’s expression change slightly.

Netherfiend Records—Venomous Stinger!

The intrinsic supreme-grade Numinous treasure had delivered the extremely odd Netherfiend Records’s sword move against its first enemy after its breakthrough. He was bent on using the first move to teach Bear Mountain a lesson.

"The might of an intrinsic supreme-grade Numinous treasure is in no way weaker than a Connate Numinous treasure. Will you... be able to withstand this strike?" Qin Yun had a look of anticipation in his eyes.

"Boom!"

Upon feeling the sword pierce his chest, Bear Mountain saw the black ripples emanate. He could not help but take many steps back in retreat. The original swing of his hammers also slammed heavily into empty ground.

There was a lot of fur at his chest that was damaged; however, all that was left was a white mark on his skin. The white mark had barely tore open the skin, but with Bear Mountain’s thick skin, it was still the epidermal level... not one drop of blood came out.

"What?" Qin Yun was somewhat astonished.

"Oh?" Bear Mountain looked down at his chest. Following that, he grinned hideously at Qin Yun. "Junior Brother Qin, it looks like I have underestimated you."