Chapter 57: "Entry Name": Sword Bone.

Chapter 57: "Entry Name": Sword Bone.

Now it was Chen Qiu's turn to be stunned.

His face alternated between pale and flushed, rigid in place. His lips trembled slightly, but he couldn't utter a word for a long while. Chen Qiu had laid his cards on the table, and those five entries were right there. This panel, shrouded in mist, was formed by the Heavenly Dao.

No matter how precise your control over Spirit Energy might be, you couldn't create such a panel out of thin air.

You could only form words in the air, but not the panel enveloped in mist.

It was undeniably real, leaving no room for challenge.

The difficult question was now passed to him. Challenging was certainly impossible, so he could only grit his teeth and follow up with another sentence. However, Chen Qiu's previous opponent, who was sitting beside him, had already become impatient and shouted excitedly, "You're just bluffing!"

"Bang!"

The opponent was eliminated, leaving only two people on the arena.

Chen Qiu heaved a sigh of relief, playing with the jade fan in his hand and not saying much. He could only say that he was a bit lucky. If his opponent had been more serious or had had a few dozen breaths to think, they would have easily judged that his provocative tone when showing off the entry panel didn't quite match his character.

From the moment he sat there, he had maintained an extremely calm state.

Suddenly revealing his hand and provoking was a bit too abnormal.

And when things are abnormal, there's always a reason.

"It's just the two of us left."

Chen Qiu's opponent stared at him with a cold gaze and said word for word, "I didn't expect you to actually have five entries. I'm too lazy to waste time like the last round, talking nonsense. Let's just decide our fates!"

"I have six or more entries!"

"Do you dare to follow?"

Chen Qiu shook his head casually and said, "I have six or more entries, and I've eaten six steamed buns."

"Huh?"

The opponent stood frozen, a hint of bewilderment flashing in his eyes. Didn't he say that in the last round? Or was it an unconscious response, "I have six or more entries, and I've eaten six steamed buns, and I also have seven or more entries!"

Chen Qiu silently added, "I've eaten six bowls of rice."

He didn't need to challenge his opponent at all. His opponent had all that he claimed, and he was only speaking from his own experience. He just needed to wait for his opponent's blood to rush to his head.

"Eight."

"A meal with six dishes."

"Hey!"

When Chen Qiu added another fact, his opponent finally couldn't hold back his laughter. He stood up from the cushion, shook off the dust, and looked at Chen Qiu with a hint of pride in his eyes, "Do you think I've lost my mind? Will I keep adding more?"

"I'm just baiting you."

"Eight entries, and you dare to follow? I don't even have eight entries. How could you possibly have eight? Or are you certain I won't challenge you? Oh, right, I almost forgot, only the opponent can challenge the one above, the one above cannot challenge the one below."

"After so many rounds, you might have gotten used to it."

"But did you forget? There are only two of us left on the arena, and I'm your opponent!"

"Idiot."

The man sneered mockingly, "I don't believe it. Show me three more entries!"

As his words fell, accompanied by the surging Spirit Energy on the arena, the man who had just stood up was suddenly slapped off the arena by the Spirit Energy, falling several zhang away before struggling to get up from below the arena.

Chen Qiu sighed helplessly, stood up, and patted the nonexistent dust off his clothes. Without even glancing at the person below, he walked down the arena and headed towards Fat Dragon, who was waiting by the arena.

The Superior Foundation Establishment Earthfire Pill, which was on the arena, slowly rose from below when only Chen Qiu was left. He quickly picked it up and put it in his pocket.

This successful passage meant that he had officially become a candidate for the inner sect of the Mock Heaven Sect. Of course, this status was of no use; after all, it was just a form of checkpoint in the Celestial Path Secret Realm. The Superior Foundation Establishment Earthfire Pill was the real deal, a genuine item that could be exchanged for a large amount of Spirit Stones.

He didn't know what the fourth checkpoint would be, but he hoped it wouldn't be a checkpoint that relied heavily on luck. Although he had passed this time, no one's good luck would last forever.

At that moment, Fat Dragon was sulking near Chen Qiu's arena. When he saw Chen Qiu coming down, he immediately approached him.

"What's wrong? You look like you didn't pass."

"Just thinking about it makes me angry!"

Fat Dragon said angrily, "I was eliminated in the third round after going up to the arena. That beast of an opponent said he had eaten shit. At that moment, everyone's gaze turned to him. To be honest, I wanted to grit my teeth and continue, but my opponent clearly told me that if I dared to follow, he would definitely challenge me."

"His logic is simple."

"Although eating shit is a rare act, it's not impossible. But for two Foundation Establishment Cultivators who don't know each other and are sitting side by side to have both done this, the possibility is too low."

"Simple and crude logic."

"But I have to admit, he made sense."

"So I had to challenge my opponent, betting that he was bluffing, and then I was eliminated. That bastard really ate it!"

"I just don't understand!"

"A seemingly powerful ancient sword cultivation sect from ancient times, with a rather arrogant name, the Mock Heaven Sect. The name has a mocking tone, but the trials for selecting disciples are all these messy things. Allowing someone who has eaten shit to become an inner sect candidate is too insulting to sword cultivation, isn't it?

"!"

Chen Qiu sigled and patted Fat Dragon's shoulder. "Be careful, go and explore the buildings around the third gate first. If you encounter an opportunity, don't rush to seize it. Just remember the person's face."

"Don't worry, Brother Chen. I have my own understanding of survival," Fat Dragon said, his voice trailing off.

Chen Qiu smiled and comforted Fat Dragon for a while before heading towards the entrance of the fourth gate alone.

The fourth gate was located in a "Sword Pavilion" several hundred zhang away from the Martial Arena.

He was also puzzled by this, as the disciple selection process of such a major sect seemed rather playful. Perhaps these selection conditions were suitable for the Divine Path version at that time?

As the Divine Path version evolved, the Mock Heaven Sect might have fallen into decline and eventually perished because it couldn't keep up with the latest version.

Chen Qiu had learned about the Divine Path version from others' conversations at the third gate. They didn't seem to hide it, indicating that it wasn't considered a secret within sects and great clans, although mortals might be unaware of it.

The fourth gate, the Sword Pavilion.

Hundreds of people had already gathered here, all patiently waiting for the winners from the other arenas of the third gate. Only when everyone was present could they enter the fourth gate.

A majestic and imposing pavilion towered into the clouds, its entire structure resembling a long sword. The blade pierced the earth, reaching hundreds of zhang into the ground. Standing before this pavilion, one felt incredibly insignificant.

Even though it had been abandoned for a long time, one could still faintly sense the lingering sword intent in the air, causing a stinging sensation.

If one's cultivation was insufficient, they could even be severely injured by this sword intent that had remained for countless tens of thousands of years.

After this matter was settled, Chen Qiu planned to find a place to cultivate in seclusion.

Chen Qiu silently made plans in his mind for what to do next. After advancing to the Foundation Establishment Stage, he hadn't had time to cultivate. Aside from that, he now felt a bit rusty in controlling spiritual energy, only able to perform simple spiritual energy protection. He couldn't precisely adjust the defense strength of different body parts like others.

He only knew one spell, "Thunder Summoning Art," and two mediocre ones, "Earth Penetrating Art" and "Illusion Technique."

Moreover, he could only release them at full power. Normally, the upper limit of a spell's power was determined by various factors, including one's cultivation, but the lower limit could be controlled. However, after advancing to the Foundation Establishment Stage, he had immediately entered this secret realm, leaving him no extra time to cultivate, resulting in his weak control over spiritual energy.

At the entrance of the Sword Pavilion, a familiar barrier once again blocked everyone's path.

On a short stone pillar at the entrance, a human skeleton sat cross-legged, devoid of any flesh or blood. Over time, the bones had turned a translucent white-green color, appearing rather beautiful.

The fourth gate—

"Sever Self."

Below the skeleton, the short pillar was adorned with unique decorations, now somewhat dilapidated due to age. However, one could imagine that tens of thousands of years ago, the Mock Heaven Sect held this skeleton in great reverence.

On the pillar were several lines of words filled with dense sword intent.

A skeptical cultivator tentatively reached out to touch the skeleton, but he quickly retracted his hand, his fingers covered in countless tiny wounds. The man's face turned pale as he used spiritual energy to seal his fingers. The sword intent had already entered his body, and removing it would be troublesome.

If not removed from the body, the sword intent would continue to penetrate deeper as time passed, eventually leading to a painful death.

---

"Entry Name": Sword Bone.

"Entry Level": Gray.

"Entry Effect": Your understanding of sword techniques will be extremely slow, but after your death, everyone who touches your skeletal remains will gain a certain degree of understanding of the sword techniques they have learned, depending on their own innate talent.

---

"Not bad," Chen Qiu nodded silently to himself. To be honest, only with such a figure could a sword cultivation sect truly have a heritage, or perhaps it was because of this person's existence that the sect became purely focused on sword cultivation.

Unfortunately, he didn't cultivate the sword path, nor had he learned any sword techniques.

Otherwise, even if he was a spell cultivator, he wouldn't mind understanding an additional sword technique.

These words weren't visible only to him; all who approached the skeleton were repelled by an unknown force. Perhaps only inner sect disciples were qualified to touch the sword bone.

Just then—

All the cultivators who had passed the third gate arrived at the Sword Pavilion.

As the barrier at the entrance gradually dissipated, everyone saw the words carved on the ground at the entrance of the Sword Pavilion.

"Fourth Gate: Sever Self."

"To defeat the enemy, one must first defeat oneself. Only through countless life-and-death trials can one clearly identify and rectify one's weaknesses."

"Entering the Sword Pavilion is to enter an illusion. Inside, there are a thousand puppets of the same cultivation level as you, who will simultaneously attack you with swords."

"Killing ten puppets is considered passing the fourth gate."

"Killing a hundred puppets is considered passing the fifth gate."

"Killing a thousand puppets is considered passing the sixth gate."

"Although this gate is an illusion, it is still possible to die within it. If one's physical body is injured in the illusion, it will also be severely injured in reality. If one loses their heart and is killed in the illusion, they will truly die."

"Passing this gate will make one an inner sect disciple of the Mock Heaven Sect and grant them a Sword Enlightenment Stone."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end