Volume One: The Emperor’s Sword Chapter 120: The Empty-Headed Fool

Once Sword Palace disciples enter the second floor of the Ten Thousand Blade Tower, they are randomly scattered across the perimeter of the Transformation Realm. Despite the large number of entrants, it is rare to encounter anyone at the starting point.

Meeting other disciples is rarely a fortunate event. In the struggle for the title of Sword Heir, there is no such thing as camaraderie; everyone competes for themselves, and every person is a potential enemy or rival. Unless one is exceptionally unlucky, encounters upon arrival are extremely rare.

Yun Que was clearly not very lucky, but the person opposite him was even less so. It was none other than Ning Ji, who had spent the better part of the day mocking the North Courtyard. Ning Ji had never imagined that not only would he run into someone immediately upon entering the realm, but that the person would be Yun Que, who was encased in a heavy suit of sword-qi armor.

Staring at the thick, tangible sword-qi armor on Yun Que, Ning Ji rubbed his eyes frantically, muttering, "Fake... it’s fake! It must be fake!"

"True or false, why not find out for yourself?" Yun Que said with a smirk.

"A mere sword-servant dares to be arrogant!" Ning Ji roared. "Today, I’ll show you the power of a sword-disciple! Ah!"

Before the word "power" had fully left his lips, Ning Ji felt the world go black. A fist slammed directly into his face. Blood spurted from his nose and mouth, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed stiffly to the ground. With a thud, he landed squarely on a rock, a large lump immediately rising on the back of his head as he fell into a deep unconsciousness.

"It is quite powerful—the way you fell, that is."

Against a guy like this who only knew how to talk big, there was no need to even draw a flying sword; fists and feet were enough. Yun Que dusted off his hands and began to loot the spoils, dumping everything out of the opponent's storage bag.

There were over thirty spirit stones, one high-grade flying sword, three medium-grade flying swords, a small bottle containing ten Qi-consolidating pills for recovery, and several miscellaneous items and cheap materials. Picking out the valuable items, Yun Que found some weeds nearby, rolled them into a ball, and left them inside the storage bag. The grass ball looked like a bun—a fitting symbol for a "straw bag."

In a nearby forest, flashes of sword light flickered, signaling that others were already engaged in battle. All the Sword Palace disciples had arrived in the Transformation Realm, and the battle for the Sword Heir had officially begun.

Yun Que oriented himself and headed toward a mountain range in the distance. He had seen this mountain on the map provided by Wu Dachuan, marked with a striking red cross, indicating danger. Since the map lacked details, he had no way of knowing exactly what that danger was. Yun Que didn't care much about the danger at the summit; he simply wanted to find a secluded place to digest the sword-qi heavy armor. What was a protective, life-saving suit for others was merely an unnecessary burden to him.

The sky of the Transformation Realm was gray, as if veiled by a thick layer of overcast clouds. Tiny droplets of rain fell constantly, yet they vanished upon touching the ground without ever wetting the earth.

Those were not raindrops, but sword-qi in the form of rain! The entire Sword Burial Land was shrouded in this sword-qi drizzle; the deeper one ventured, the denser and more intense the rain became. Like the heavy armor, these sword-qi droplets were a massive boon for Yun Que!

There was a special restriction in the air of the Sword Burial Land that prevented flying via swords. Forcing a flight would only allow one to reach the height of the treetops, making it easy to collide with trees and rocks—not to mention running into more sword rain—so practically no one flew in the Transformation Realm. Special circumstances only allowed for short-distance flight to evade danger.

The Transformation Realm remained open for only one day, from dawn until midnight. Yun Que did not delay. His agile figure darted through the forest, sometimes running and sometimes gliding just above the ground. Within a quarter of an hour, he reached his destination—a distance that would have taken others at least an hour to cover.

The journey was not peaceful; he encountered two types of ferocious beasts. The first were several foraging Bone Lizards, which were much larger than Yun Que had imagined, resembling giant crocodiles, with rings of bone along their backs that looked difficult to handle. The second was a charging Porcine Beast, which, despite its wild boar appearance, was more like a giant rhinoceros. Its wrinkled skin looked like stacked iron plates, incredibly tough. Its speed was particularly surprising; it looked bulky and clumsy, but it ran with terrifying velocity, smashing through any trees or rocks in its path. Yun Que witnessed the beast charge straight into a small hill and emerge from the other side shortly after. It truly was a simple-minded creature that only knew how to run in a straight line without ever turning.

Reaching the foot of the mountain range, Yun Que looked up. The mountain itself was normal, indistinguishable from mountains in the outside world, but the trees upon it were not. The trees were tall and straight, resembling countless long swords thrust into the mountainside, creating a visually stunning spectacle. These towering trees were at least thirty to fifty feet tall and thick enough for two men to embrace. Their leaves shimmered with a pale blue hue, and as the mountain wind swept through, the foliage rippled like a vast, deep sea.

Yun Que stood beneath a tree and knocked on the trunk, which emitted a metallic "ding" sound.

"Sword-Bone Trees!"

The giant trees covering the mountain were the famous Sword-Bone Trees. As hard as sword-bones, they were sharp and upright, like iron timber. The leaves of the Sword-Bone Trees were the favorite food of the Green-Silk Silkworm. One of the three treasures of the Sword Burial Land, the "Sword Leaf," came from these trees, though it was extremely rare. One might not find a single one on the entire mountain; finding them required both patience and luck.

Using a burst of sword-qi to knock down a leaf, Yun Que rubbed it between his fingers. It lacked the softness of a leaf, feeling more like a piece of iron that could almost serve as a dagger. It was sharp due to years of being infused with sword-qi; every leaf was like a tiny blade. While saying it could cut a person was an exaggeration, it could slice through paper and cloth with ease. If ordinary leaves were this magical, the actual "Sword Leaf" must be even sharper. As the exchange list from the Sword Palace showed, a single Sword Leaf could be exchanged for five sword tassels—it was truly a heavenly treasure.

Though the Sword Leaves were tempting, now was not the time to search for them. Yun Que found a hollowed-out Sword-Bone Tree within the range and cleared it out to serve as a hideout. Piling some weeds at the entrance, he sat cross-legged inside the tree trunk and began to refine the sword-qi heavy armor.

His sword-veins operated at full capacity! Yun Que felt like a bottomless black hole, rapidly absorbing the surrounding sword-qi.

During this time, the Sword Palace disciples had dispersed, each seeking their own opportunities. Some climbed mountains and trees, some searched along streams, and others wandered aimlessly like headless flies, hoping for a stroke of luck. Fights broke out constantly. Sometimes disciples clashed over the same material, sometimes old rivals encountered each other and fought on the spot, and other times, disciples ran into beasts and were forced to fight for their lives. The usually desolate Sword Burial Land had become remarkably lively.

Mu Qingyao hopped over a small stream, looked around, and set off in a chosen direction. Zhou Yuanliang strode into a forest, his expression resolute as he headed deep into the woods. Han Jiao ran through a gravelly area, moving cautiously while a Bone Lizard patrolled nearby. Wu Dachuan wandered about, shouting for teammates, and before long, he actually managed to gather a few. Luo Xiaoyu squatted before a mound of dirt, excitedly catching iron-wood ants in a small bottle, only to scream and flee when an Iron-Wood Beast suddenly burst out of the ant hole.

An hour later, Yun Que finally absorbed the sword-qi heavy armor. His cultivation realm broke through, leaping two levels to reach the eighth level of Qi Refining! It was a pity the Ten Thousand Blade Tower only opened once a year; otherwise, Yun Que would have loved to stay inside indefinitely. This confirmed to him that the tower was essentially a massive formation. He could directly absorb and convert the sword-qi refined by the tower's structure into his own cultivation, which was far more convenient than the sword-rain in the Transformation Realm.

Just as he was savoring the surge of spiritual energy from his breakthrough, he suddenly heard a strange, wheezing sound from outside the tree—like the heavy breath of some ferocious beast.