Cultivation: But Not a Game

Chapter 314 - 223: Fire Domain Sword Duel

A few days isn’t enough to do much, so over the next few days Su Yu stayed in Longwan City, gathering intelligence through the Taixu Divine Net and leisurely browsing the local trading channels.

Three days later, he received a private message notification from Cheng Shayu:

"Come to the division headquarters!"

Yes, they had become friends.

Su Yu immediately went to the military division headquarters, and from a distance saw a giant warship hovering above the division, measuring over six thousand meters long, twice the length of the Celestial God Association’s Celestial Strike Ship.

Hundreds of contestants had already gathered inside the division courtyard, each exuding a presence far surpassing the norm, most being at the level of Loose Immortal, with only seventy to eighty having Qi Refining cultivation below Loose Immortal.

Probably aside from the fifty selected individuals, there are twenty or thirty who are reserves.

Su Yu didn’t recognize anyone and stood alone at the side waiting.

After more than ten minutes, a group of people emerged from the division, among them three officers, including Cheng Shayu, who waved his hand boldly and shouted:

"Prepare to depart!"

The crowd gradually boarded the warship, Su Yu flew on as well, and once everyone was onboard, the warship activated its shield and slowly started flying towards the distance.

This warship is very high-grade, not only extremely large in size but also very fast; after leaving Longwan City and speeding up, it reached a top speed of fifteen thousand kilometers per hour, which is considered very fast for such a warship.

More than three hours later, the warship entered the Ancient Battlefield, racing through the densely packed space rifts.

Su Yu stood at the ship’s bow, able to see the thick shield colliding with the countless space rifts within the Ancient Battlefield, generating ripples, probably hitting dozens or hundreds of space rifts every second.

With the environmental damage from these space rifts at least over ten thousand, a regular Flying Ship would be torn apart in a short time.

But the barrier strength of this immortal warship is extremely high, small space rifts cannot even break the shield’s strength; only larger space rifts can damage the shield.

However, the number of large space rifts is too few, posing no threat compared to the warship’s defense in the billions.

"I remember seeing before that the military division has schematics for constructing such super warships, but it requires several major accomplishments to exchange for them."

Su Yu thinks that if he has extra merits in the future, he can exchange for one of these schematics.

The current Thousand Star Hall only has regular warships, which doesn’t fit the style of a dominant force; he needs to acquire one.

While the warship’s flying speed is still quite rapid inside the Ancient Battlefield, upon entering deeper into the battlefield, where the space rifts grow larger, the speed begins to slow.

A day later, the warship arrives at a region that is both familiar and unfamiliar to Su Yu.

Familiar because he had been here before.

Unfamiliar because the environment has changed drastically from before.

The once towering pillar of fire is long gone, the Fire Domain’s exit is sealed, and the once surrounding giant space rifts are now forcibly sealed along with all the space rifts within a thousand kilometers around, stabilizing the space immensely.

Near the Fire Domain’s seal, several giant warships are anchored, one of which is incredibly large, reaching twenty to thirty kilometers, resembling a floating celestial palace.

The warship decelerates here, slowly approaching the floating celestial palace.

With a gentle tremor, the warship stops; the group follows the officers off the ship and enters the floating celestial palace.

"Wow, the spiritual energy density?"

Upon entering the floating celestial palace, Su Yu immediately feels an overwhelming density of spiritual energy, far beyond his imagination, although it doesn’t surpass that within the Sea-Suppressing Pearl, it exceeds the fairy mansion Wan Yu had acquired earlier.

"Could this be a mobile fairy mansion? Or perhaps a mobile Grotto Heaven?"

Su Yu smacks his lips, silently following the group into the floating celestial palace, soon being led to a hall waiting area.

The hall is already stocked with plenty of food; tables are laden with various spirit fruits and spirit wines, unlimited in quantity for the taking.

At this point, everyone relaxes, some drinking alone or a few gathering for casual chat.

Su Yu didn’t recognize any of these contestants, nor did he have the intent to proactively meet them; he drank alone, occasionally glancing at the crowd.

Most here he feels aren’t his rivals, yet there are a few who seem different, likely high-level experts.

Two appear difficult to discern, but one, a cold-faced man clutching a sword, stands out; the faint sword intent surrounding him visible only to the like-minded.

As he looked over, the man reciprocated the gaze, his rigid expression softened, nodding in acknowledgment.

Su Yu nodded back, then looked away.

After nearly two hours, having eaten well and rested, Su Yu already settled in a corner meditating when suddenly a sense draws his eyes open, seeing a group of people entering.

Sixteen in total, all top experts above level one hundred seventy, among them a celebrated Earth Immortal held by the crowd.

Without needing reminders, everyone awakens and quickly assembles.

The Earth Immortal smiled and said:

"I am Han Zhuofei, the host for this Fire Domain sword duel."

"You have been specially invited here, the reason needs no elaboration, after reaching an agreement with the Horned Demon People, the specific rules for this sword duel are as follows."

"Prohibited to use items, prohibited to use elixirs, the arena will not be reset; each contestant, regardless of win or loss, can participate in up to three matches, choosing when to enter the arena, after winning a bout may opt to rest or continue for consecutive battles counting as one participation."

Having said this, he paused and added:

"We don’t recommend continuous duels without rest; it’s best to recover completely before taking the stage again. However, we won’t stop you from consecutive matches. If you have enough strength to stand out, you’ll receive bonus rewards from the military. So, whether or not to have consecutive matches, decide based on your own strength."

After saying this, Han Zhuofei waved his large sleeve, the Power of Space resonated, and everyone felt a sudden lightness followed by a solid grounding within seconds. They had arrived on a semi-transparent platform suspended in the air, dozens of kilometers in diameter. Through the platform, one could see the broken entrance to the Fire Domain below.

Several warships were docked around the platform, with one side from humans and the other distinctly styled differently, belonging to the Horned Demon People’s battleships.

A large number of Flying Ships were docked outside the warships, crowded with both humans and Horned Demon People, who were the spectators.

There weren’t too many spectators, roughly hundreds of thousands combined from both sides, but the quality was high. There were likely over a thousand Loose Immortal-level experts among them.

"This can be considered a much-anticipated event."

Su Yu couldn’t help but click his tongue:

"If you perform exceptionally here, your reputation will surely soar."

At this moment, a flash of light shot up into the sky from both the human side and the Horned Demon People’s side, meeting in the center of the arena. The arena formation was activated, and a dazzling Spiritual Light quickly sketched out to form a closed arena.

The arena was divided into two levels, with the lower level being the battlefield for Qi Refining stage participants and the upper level for Foundation Establishment Loose Immortal participants.

Theoretically, Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment participants were separate, but if a Qi Refining participant was confident in their strength, they could challenge Foundation Establishment participants, but not vice versa.

As soon as the arena unfolded, a light screen appeared before Su Yu, displaying a sword duel interface.

The interface was simple, with only two options: take the stage or establish a duel.

Taking the stage needs no explanation; anyone could choose this option to challenge, irrespective of whether or not someone was on the arena already.

To establish a duel meant staying on the stage after winning a match, without stepping down to recover state, and continuing to battle consecutively.

Winning consecutive battles didn’t earn extra points, but it could boost morale.

"Dang!"

A clear bell rang, and everyone felt an enlightenment in their heart; the sword duel had begun, and from now on, anyone could take the stage at any time.

Su Yu decisively chose to take the stage, and then he saw a figure from both the human side and the Horned Demon People shoot up into the sky and jump onto the arena.

"That fast...."

He looked down at the panel, and couldn’t help but tug at the corner of his mouth when he saw he was 21st in line.

"Is everyone this eager?"

But this also reflected one’s strength and confidence; if you weren’t confident in your strength, you wouldn’t dare to go up so early.

The ones on stage were two Qi Refining participants, who began launching fierce attacks with their Defense Treasures as soon as they got on stage, enjoying themselves immensely.

The lowest tier of their treasures was eight, with one even holding a Tier Nine Treasure, all practicing sect-level cultivation methods, and more than one forbidden technique, all cultivated to extremely high levels.

Su Yu watched with great interest, these cultivation skills and forbidden techniques practiced by many elite disciples from outside Blue Mountain Island were eye-opening for him.

Each was very strong; whether human or Horned Demon, anyone who took the stage was a top-tier elite. Their cultivation methods, treasures, talent, experience, and so on were all powerful, but Su Yu felt none matched up to himself.

The double talent was too fierce, coupled with having recently filled the gap in treasures compared to those with better backgrounds, Su Yu was now brimming with confidence, feeling that everyone around was rubbish.

Time passed, and each person ahead of him took the stage, each with their own victories and defeats.

They all chose elite opponents, and the Horned Demon People weren’t lacking either; both sides were equally matched in cultivation and combat levels, and victory mostly depended on luck.

If their opponent’s treasure was a bit lacking, or their treasure or cultivation method was countered by one’s own, there was a good chance of winning.

Out of the 20 people ahead of Su Yu, six chose consecutive duels, but the best performer won only three times consecutively, knocked off on the fourth.

About more than forty minutes later, it was finally Su Yu’s turn.

He soared onto the arena, glanced at the mere fifteen-second countdown, first summoned the Cyan Cloud Cover, then flicked his fingers to embed streams of Sword Qi into the void.

Unlike the usual sixty-second countdown for arenas, the fifteen-second countdown prevents some people from preparing big moves in advance, making it relatively fairer.

Inside the grand hall of the Celestial Palace, a dozen military bigwigs were watching.

Upon seeing Su Yu take the stage, Cheng Shayue suddenly introduced to Han Zhuofei, who was sitting in the center:

"General, this young man has quite a formidable strength, with the potential to make it into the Wind and Cloud Ranking."

"Oh!"

Han Zhuofei raised an eyebrow, turned his gaze from the upper arena to the lower, scrutinized Su Yu who was preparing, and nodded slightly:

"His accumulation is indeed extraordinary, far beyond others, but whether he can make it into the Wind and Cloud Ranking depends on his mental state and talent for combat techniques, and of course, some luck."

Cheng Shayue nodded:

"That’s indeed the case, but at least he has a chance."

"Hmm, true."

"Keep a close eye on him, and if he performs well, recruit him into the military department, hmm, as a reserve seed."

"I’ll keep an eye on it."