Longevity by Grinding Skills

Within the Sect, the True Disciples of each hall were already competitors, and Qi Huan had openly declared he would seize one of the Weapon Casting Hall’s seats.

Who could possibly accept that?

If they really let someone take a seat, the Weapon Casting Hall would become a complete laughingstock.

Seeing Xu Yunfan standing his ground, calmly shouldering the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer, Qi Huan hesitated no longer. The tendons in his back foot contracted, and spiderweb cracks exploded across the green brick floor.

He slapped the Sword Box, and the Fine Steel Sword Box instantly split open to reveal six Sword Artifacts of varying lengths.

With a casual press, Qi Huan shot forward like an arrow released from its string. His body shrieked as it tore through the air, the longsword he’d drawn transforming into a streak of light aimed straight at Xu Yunfan’s throat.

Before the blade even arrived, the air compressed before its edge sliced through a pagoda leaf drifting thirty feet away.

The emissary from the Jiuyao Sect watched with a hint of appreciation.

"When this Qi Huan competed for a spot to enter the mountain, he missed by two places, but his Swordsmanship was truly stunning."

He turned to the bored-looking youth standing beside him.

"Pay attention. The world is full of brilliant talents. Though the Celestial Craft Cave is known for its Mechanical Arts and Forged Soldiers, the Martial Arts they cultivate should not be underestimated. They have their own unique strengths."

The youth replied with a hint of resignation, "I know, Master."

In the arena, Xu Yunfan’s waist and hips suddenly twisted. His knotted trapezius muscles bulged, straining the clothes on his back to the point of tearing.

The impossibly heavy hammerhead scraped past the spine of the sword. As the handle slid through his palm, his vital energy flared, and tendrils of molten lava seemed to flow across its surface.

The nine Meteorite Iron Beads hidden inside the hammer were activated by the force of the Cloak Hammer technique. Spurred by the centrifugal force, they let out an explosive, tiger-like roar.

Qi Huan’s eyes blazed. He could feel the astonishing power in that Heavy Hammer’s blow.

He retracted his sword at the last possible second, the deltoids on his arms bulging with dark veins.

The signature high-frequency thrusts of his Thousand Layered Wave Swordsmanship became sixteen points of cold starlight. The spine of the blade glowed dark red from the friction, its tip landing precisely on a single point on the head of the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer.

Amid a shower of fierce sparks, he had completely neutralized the immense power of the hammer blow.

Xu Yunfan was taken aback. ’I hadn’t expected Qi Huan’s Swordsmanship to be this astonishing. Like waves piling on waves... he truly lives up to his name as the top disciple of the Hidden Blade Pavilion, a leader among the younger generation of the Celestial Craft Cave.’

They moved with lightning speed as hammer and sword clashed.

Naturally, Qi Huan didn’t dare to meet the Heavy Hammer head-on. Not only was the hammer a Treasure Artifact, but every move made with such a weapon was immensely powerful—hardly something his longsword could block directly.

That was why he primarily used the Thousand Layered Waves Form, relying on high-frequency swings to neutralize his opponent’s heavy attacks.

Xu Yunfan gave a low shout, the muscles in his forearms twisting like steel cables. He brought his weapon crashing down, unleashing the "Mountain-Splitting Form"—the third move of the Thirty-six Cloak Hammers—with the built-up momentum of the fifteen preceding strikes.

The instant the hammer and sword collided, sparks erupted between the blade and hammer face in a fan-shaped shower of light.

Blood rushed to Qi Huan’s face, turning it red. The skin between the thumb and forefinger of his sword hand instantly split open. Yet, he used the immense force of the blow to spin and dissipate the momentum, his deerskin boots carving a seven-foot trench in the ground.

Unable to withstand such a ferocious attack, the longsword in his hand shattered.

A large vein on Xu Yunfan’s right arm bulged like a python. As he swung the hammer back, the resulting gust of wind made a weapon rack thirty feet away wobble relentlessly.

The dark, gleaming surface of the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer began to glow with crimson threads, and faint arcs of electricity could be seen crackling across it.

Xu Yunfan shouldered the Heavy Hammer and looked at Qi Huan with a wide smile.

"Senior Brother Qi, thanks for going easy on me."

A smile suddenly appeared on Qi Huan’s face. "Junior Brother, do you know what our Celestial Craft Cave is best at?"

As he spoke, he drew from his waist. A Soft Sword that shimmered like a swimming Silver Dragon appeared in his hand. A faint dragon’s cry seemed to emanate from the blade’s spine, and its scaly pattern glinted with a cold, azure light.

On the high platform, Zhan Yan shot to his feet. A strange look on his face, he turned to the unperturbed Hall Master of the Hidden Blade Pavilion, Bao Yan.

"The Hidden Blade Pavilion’s Treasure Artifact, the Wandering Dragon Cyan Mirage Sword... Hall Master Bao, you’re certainly willing to part with your treasures."

Bao Yan grinned. "Qi Huan is a True Inheritor of my Hidden Blade Pavilion. It is only fitting that he has a Treasure Artifact at his side."

A series of gasps exploded from the viewing gallery. The sword, ranked fifth among the seven secret Treasure Artifacts of the Celestial Craft Cave’s Hidden Blade Pavilion, was now in Qi Huan’s hand, pulsing with a cold light.

Seeing this, Xu Yunfan was not just surprised, but exasperated.

"Senior Brother Qi, if you insist on going on, I’m afraid I might use too much force and be unable to keep from injuring you."

Who could stand such words? The taunt was exceptionally grating to Qi Huan, and he couldn’t help but grunt.

"Why don’t you try me?"

Xu Yunfan hesitated no longer. With a shake of the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer, it began to hum, and the Thunder Pattern on its face lit up in sequence.

His bones and tendons began to pop like roasting soybeans. His bronze skin took on a gilded sheen from deep within the muscles, and fine, blood-red lines—a sign of the Celestial Cicada Force—appeared on its surface.

"Golden Jade Knocking Pass! Skin Cultivation Perfection?!"

The sound of a shattering teacup came from the western viewing gallery.

The purple clay teapot in the green-robed elder’s hand fell to the ground and burst apart. His expression was one of utter disbelief. "The Celestial Craft Cave is certainly good at hiding its talents. To think they have someone at Skin Cultivation Perfection... no wonder they decided to hold a True Inheritance Ceremony."

Beside the Jiuyao Sect party, the formerly languid youth suddenly looked serious.

At the main table on the high platform, Hong Baichuan, who had been sitting calmly, suddenly straightened up and opened his eyes.

He glanced at Zhan Yan, whose face was about to crack from smiling so broadly.

"I never expected you, old fellow, to have hidden this so well."

At his side, Bao Yan of the Hidden Blade Pavilion stared with wide, furious eyes, repeatedly muttering, "Impossible!"

He didn’t even notice that he had crushed the porcelain cup in his hand, spilling tea all over the floor.

"How is this possible?!"

When Qi Huan saw the Anomaly on Xu Yunfan, he suddenly recalled the contest for the mountain entry spots. The top five masters had all reached First Level Perfection in either sinew, bone, or skin.

They had suppressed him with a single hand.

That profound sense of powerlessness transformed into a rage that churned in his chest.

"I don’t believe it!"

Qi Huan’s face twisted in a snarl as the Silver Dragon in his hand became a sky-filling shower of light.

The sword wind generated by "Hundred Rivers Return to the Sea," the ultimate form of the Thousand Layered Wave Swordsmanship, forced the torches in the four corners of the Martial Arts Arena so low their flames flickered against the ground.

The longsword fell like a shooting star, man and blade moving as one, appearing before Xu Yunfan in an instant.

But when the tip of the sword, which should have been able to pierce Iron Armor, struck Xu Yunfan’s throat, it rang out with the sound of metal hitting stone.

The golden light around Xu Yunfan exploded outward, and his knotted back muscles suddenly tore his linen shirt to pieces.

The Heavy Hammer had appeared before Xu Yunfan at some unknown moment. Qi Huan’s ultimate strike, his ace in the hole, landed on the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer, yet it failed to move the massive weapon by even a fraction of an inch.

In the instant Qi Huan was lost in a daze, the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer came crashing down, wrapped in a crimson vortex. Before the hammer even struck, the turbulent force it generated had already crushed the iron crown binding Qi Huan’s hair to dust.

CLANG!

The body of the Wandering Dragon Cyan Mirage Sword bent into an alarming arc. Spiderweb cracks appeared on its nine-times-forged tungsten steel spine, and the Sword Qi continuously erupting from the longsword shot out, peppering the surrounding green bricks with small holes.

The sleeves on Qi Huan’s arms exploded into tattered strips, and the muscles in his forearms spasmed uncontrollably.

A rumble like muffled thunder escaped Xu Yunfan’s throat. Just as the hammer’s momentum seemed to die, he abruptly switched to the killing move of the Thirty-six Cloak Hammers.

Reversed Celestial River.

CLANG!

The shriek of metal on metal suddenly exploded!