Sword Sovereign of the Celestial Emperor-Chapter 87, First Hearing (Seeking Recommendations, Seeking Collections)

Watching the surrounding demon beasts retreat like the receding tide, the martial artists of Ironfire City displayed expressions of relief and survival. Every beast tide is a life-and-death test; some lose their lives, while others enhance their mental realm through the experience. However, such people are one in a thousand.

Chu Ming stood at a high point, looking around. Originally, Ironfire City had 1.5 million martial artists, but now only more than 800,000 remained, with an astonishing death toll of 700,000. This was just one city in the Great Yan Kingdom, a mere reflection. Across the entire kingdom, the daily death toll was likely in the millions.

Numerous martial artists returned to Ironfire City, and the city guard army would come to clean up the demon beast corpses in front of the city. Although most of the corpses were already shattered beyond recognition, they still represented a huge wealth.

On the streets of Ironfire City, Chu Ming and the disciples of the Cyan Yang Sect walked back to the inn, the air thick with the smell of blood.

"Yesterday, the sect sent news that the Second Elder and Third Elder are on their way to Ironfire City. It’s said that traces of the Demonic Organization have been found around Ironfire City."

As they walked, Liao Wu relayed the news he had just received. Chu Ming nodded. The visit by the Second and Third Elder to Ironfire City was also likely an investigation into the interception and killing of sect disciples.

After all, any of the top ten disciples on the Cyan Yang List were top-tier geniuses within the Cyan Yang Sect, and barring accidents, they would certainly become pinnacle True Dao martial artists in the future. The continuous interception and killing of such top-tier geniuses had attracted significant attention from the sect.

Soon, the group returned to the inn. Liao Wu and his five companions stayed at a different inn than Chu Ming and his companions, but the two inns were not far apart. Except for Chu Ming, the others were injured and returned to their rooms to recover.

Closing the door and sitting cross-legged on the bed, Chu Ming took out the "Thousand Leaves Swordsmanship" from his storage ring. Mastering multiple techniques never hurt anyone, and for Chu Ming, cultivating a sword technique only took two days—no big deal.

Opening the "Thousand Leaves Swordsmanship," he remembered most of the content after just one read. The technique emphasized unpredictability. When mastered, the sword light could drift like fallen leaves, killing unseen, with the spirit wandering beyond physical restraints. The Thousand Leaves Swordsmanship had three forms.

First Form: Thousand Leaves Drift.

Second Form: Thousand Leaves Strangulation.

Third Form: Thousand Leaves Annihilation.

Li Qing had likely mastered the third form, but underestimated Chu Ming and was killed by a single strike before he could even use it.

Exiting his room into the inn’s courtyard, Chu Ming took out the Silver Light Sword and placed it on a slant. He began practicing the first form of "Thousand Leaves Swordsmanship," following the incantations and energy routes recorded in the manual. Instantly, the courtyard was filled with sword light, sharp and fierce.

Chu Ming’s sword sometimes moved fast, sometimes slow, like a gentle breeze at times, a torrential rain at others, sometimes like a towering mountain, and sometimes like a flowing stream. Amidst the seeming chaos, there appeared to be some underlying pattern. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

After practicing once, Chu Ming had some insight. Cultivating the Thousand Leaves Swordsmanship seemed to help comprehend the concept of speed variation, which in turn enhanced the power of the swordsmanship—they complemented each other.

In fact, most martial techniques worked this way. For instance, Chu Ming cultivated Cyan Yang Swordsmanship to comprehend the Wind Realm, Rainfall Swordsmanship for the Rain Realm, and Starfire Swordsmanship for the Fire Realm. However, his comprehension of these three realms was very shallow, barely superficial.

In the competitions between disciples of the Cyan Yang Sect and the Celestial Star Sect, Yan Qingfeng and Liu Lin both comprehended the concept of speed variation. However, Liu Lin’s understanding was apparently deeper, his strikes creating a sense of spatial disarray with varying speeds, making it hard to defend against.

After practicing the swordsmanship once, Chu Ming had some ideas about the concept of speed variation. Without resting, he continued practicing.

Once, twice, three times...

In a guest room at the inn across the street, two middle-aged men drank tea while watching Chu Ming practice swordsmanship in the courtyard with keen interest. They were the same two who had discussed during the beast tide earlier.

"Chu Ming is quite perceptive. It’s a pity he hasn’t comprehended sword intent; otherwise, he might make a name for himself in the Celestial Realm." One of the men sighed, having once traveled the Celestial Realm, surviving countless life-and-death situations and witnessing numerous talents, including those who comprehended sword intent at the Transcendence Realm.

Only those who comprehended sword intent at the Transcendence Realm could be considered top talents in the Celestial Realm.

"I heard he’s currently only at the sixth layer of the Transcendence Realm. It’s not impossible for him to comprehend sword intent at the Transcendence Realm!" His companion retorted, noting that Chu Ming already had the deepest sword understanding among the talents he had seen.

If they were to discuss sword comprehension alone, not even True Dao martial artists could compare to him, far surpassing the two of them.

"I heard a few days ago that a genius in the Celestial River Kingdom has comprehended half-step sword intent. Don’t know if it’s true..." The man said enviously. Sword intent and sword intent were the same in terms of significance, each corresponding to blade masters and swordsmen respectively. Regardless of which, once comprehended, the boost in strength was enormous, making surpassing one’s realm in combat trivial.

"If the genius who comprehended half-step sword intent is under twenty, they have a good chance of joining the Celestial Travel Sect. It’s a pity they’re not from our Great Yan Kingdom."

His companion sighed lightly. The Great Yan Kingdom’s strength among small countries was only intermediate, and no one had joined the Celestial Travel Sect in the past three hundred years, while the Celestial River Kingdom, with its martial spirit and fierce populace, far surpassed the Great Yan Kingdom in martial strength.

"Indeed, what a pity..." The man also lamented.

The Celestial Travel Sect was the only cross-border faction in the Celestial Realm, ruling the entire realm. It alone had over 100,000 outer disciples, each one a genius selected from thousands. Even the top five geniuses of the Great Yan Kingdom had no qualification to enter; it wasn’t because they lacked strength.

On the contrary, their strength surpassed most outer disciples in the sect. The main limitation was age; the outer disciples of the Celestial Travel Sect were all under eighteen. Martial artists like the top five geniuses, nearing twenty, would have long since broken through to the True Dao Realm in the sect.

Moreover, among the Celestial Travel Sect were several Realm of Transcendence powerhouses and over a thousand Guiyuan Realm martial artists. Rumor had it that there was even a half-step Life and Death Realm king in the sect, allowing it to endure through the ages.

When a small country had a genius join the sect, it was akin to gaining an invisible protective charm.

Relying on his powerful soul power, Chu Ming had long sensed someone spying on him. However, without sensing malice, he chose to ignore it and focused on cultivating his swordsmanship.