Hiss of drawing breath. "Ah!" A sound of shock. Eyes widened further. Mouth agape. This... The thirteen ultimate techniques of the Great Fahua Temple, actually defeated by the strange swordsmanship of this odd Jin Dynasty man? Could this be the legendary Tai Chi Swordplay of Wudang? If so, it would be understandable; the renown of Tai Chi Swordplay surpasses that of most common ultimate techniques, and among the seventy-three peerless skills, only the Yi Jin Hua Xian Jing can truly compare. Once mastered, the Yi Jin Hua Xian Jing allows one to ascend almost instantly, truly a singular art.

Fundamentally, Wudang’s Tai Chi Swordplay, Great Fahua Temple’s Yi Jin Hua Xian Jing, Carefree Immortal Sect’s Southern Nether Great Art, No-Sword Immortal Sect’s Nine Strings Formless Sword, and the Crimson Dragon Immortal Sect’s true foundational doctrine, the Emperor’s Swordplay, are all extraordinary. The former several have been discussed; this latter Emperor’s Swordplay is, in its own right, a phenomenal sword art.

The Emperor’s Swordplay, this sect-protecting art, is as notoriously difficult to master as Tai Chi. Or perhaps, every cultivation technique of this supreme tier is intensely difficult to practice. The Emperor’s Swordplay comprises ten forms: Fire Dragon Rises to the Nine Heavens, Azure Dragon Ascends the Earth, White Dragon Overturns the Ocean, Black Dragon Swallows the Sun and Moon, Golden Dragon Shakes Heaven and Earth, Purple Dragon Ascends as Sovereign, Divine Dragon Spits Pearl, Dragon Leaps a Thousand Peaks, Dragon Roams the Firmament, and the final stance—Ten Thousand Dragons Return to the Source. Every move displays the subtle presence of a dragon, testifying to the might of this swordsmanship.

Wudang’s Tai Chi Swordplay, Great Fahua Temple’s Yi Jin Hua Xian Jing, Carefree Immortal Sect’s Southern Nether Great Art, No-Sword Immortal Sect’s Nine Strings Formless Sword, and Crimson Dragon Immortal Sect’s Emperor’s Swordplay—these five are actually distinct from ordinary sect-protecting arts; they should be termed World-Suppressing Disciplines.

Disciplines capable of suppressing all things under heaven. Generally, only the largest Immortal Sects possess such World-Suppressing Disciplines. Wudang Immortal Sect possesses one only because it was once a major Immortal Sect. The other four Upper-Tier Immortal Sects of the Jin Kingdom do not hold a single World-Suppressing Discipline.

A flash of clarity crossed Lu Yuan's mind. Perhaps Patriarch Yan created the Five Emperors and Five Sovereigns Reincarnation Sword Dao with the very goal of forging a World-Suppressing Discipline. Now, he had imparted this sword art to Lu Yuan, leaving it to him to prove whether this technique truly merits the rank of a World-Suppressing Discipline. Alas, this Master Jifa only knew general arts among the seventy-three peerless skills, not one of the World-Suppressing Disciplines, making it impossible to verify definitively whether his technique or the Yi Jin Hua Xian Jing held superiority.

"That broke too." "Too terrifying, too unbelievable." "Indeed." "Great Fahua Temple’s thirteen ultimate techniques—" "Great Fahua Temple is the foremost Immortal Sect in our Great Qin Kingdom!" Such a claim naturally would not sit well with the Carefree Immortal Sect, which vied with Fahua for the top spot; the other two, No-Sword and Crimson Dragon, were considered a tier below.

Amidst the chaotic murmuring, Master Jifa, whose conviction had nearly shattered moments ago, now composed his features: "Benefactor, my defeat today is not that the ultimate techniques of Great Fahua Temple were beaten by you, but rather that my own learning was insufficient. When I resume my cultivation, I shall seek your guidance again." Lu Yuan merely waved the wine gourd in his hand, taking a long swallow of wine.

What about the final reward? The final reward, in fact, was the aggregation of the rewards from the last few rounds. This time’s payout was explosive. Three Giant Beast-grade Spirit Beasts—naturally, they couldn't all be Cloud-type Cloud Whales. These three were one Golden Whale, one Wood Whale of Azure hue, and one Cloud Whale of White. The former two could be traded in the Cultivator Marketplace for Cloud-type Giant Beast-grade Spirit Beasts; the last Cloud Whale could be used immediately.

He instantly inducted the spirit beast into his Spirit Sealing Tablet. Spirit beasts, being semi-sentient beings, remain untamed even at higher levels. During their large spirit beast stage, creatures like the Cloud Tiger paid little heed to humans, but at the Giant Beast stage, they commanded significant presence. The Cloud Whale, upon entering, let out a resonant whale call that caused the nearby Cloud Tigers and Cloud Lions to startle and slightly give way. A magnificent Giant Beast-grade Cloud Beast, now sealed, Lu Yuan felt the Cloud elemental yuanqi surrounding him surge like a vast tide descending upon his body, accelerating his magical power cultivation speed considerably. If the other two Giant Beasts were exchanged for Cloud-types, his cultivation speed would undoubtedly increase even further.

Lu Yuan stepped into the crowd of the Wudang Immortal Sect. Their cultivators were almost beside themselves with excitement. Most of their Elders were relatively young, and their personal competition performance meant they wouldn't finish at the bottom; the True Martial Grotto-Heaven could be secured. "Well done, Lu Liu." "The foremost figure of the tenth generation of Great Jin, truly not an empty title."

In stark contrast to the elation of Wudang, the faces of the Great Qin contingent were far from cheerful. They had never imagined that the first place in this individual contest would be taken by a man from Jin. A significant portion of Great Qin's pride had been shattered, leaving them with a singular, humiliating feeling.

The individual competition had now concluded. Next was the team competition. The rules for the team competition were simple: in the latter half of the True Martial Grotto-Heaven, a vast area encompassing a small forest, teams would engage each other. The earlier a team was defeated, the lower its ranking; the last standing team naturally took first place. These were straightforward rules.

However, the current situation was not particularly favorable for Wudang. Lu Yuan’s strength had secured him the individual crown, but one must not forget that most other Immortal Sects boasted two or three cultivators at the fifth level of Longevity, with a far greater number at the fourth level than Wudang. Wudang had their Sword Formations, while Great Fahua Temple had the Eighteen Arhat Formation, which held greater renown than Wudang’s various sword formations. No-Sword Immortal Sect lacked such powerful formations, but their thirty members—right, forgetting the main point, each sect entered thirty people, while Wudang only had twenty. Turning back to No-Sword, their Formless Sword Qi, one or two strands were already terrifying; thirty people, each unleashing a strand of Formless Sword Qi—how could one possibly fight that? It seemed almost unwinnable.

The Carefree Immortal Sect lacked specialized combined attack techniques, putting them at a disadvantage in this area. The Crimson Dragon Immortal Sect did possess corresponding joint techniques, namely the Grand Art of the Ziwei Heavenly Emperor. This art of the Crimson Dragon Sect was profoundly mystical; each member considered themselves an Emperor or Sovereign, imbued with Imperial knowledge. The North Star’s Central Heaven Ziwei Heavenly Emperor was the Immortal among Immortals, the Emperor among Emperors, the Great Emperor Ziwei, capable of commanding all emperors. This Grand Art of the Ziwei Heavenly Emperor allowed the strongest member of the Crimson Dragon Sect to unify and combine the efforts of the others, unleashing truly terrifying power.

Thus, Wudang’s situation was far from advantageous. Furthermore, one of Wudang’s key figures, Hong Ri, the one presiding over the sword formation core, had been severely wounded and was currently incapable of performing at full strength.

Regardless, the team competition was about to commence. Just as it was about to start, a referee flew over from the rear on a sword: "The team competition is halted. No need to fight." This caused a surprise among the many cultivators eager to display their prowess. The referee landed his flying sword on the ground: "I just checked the spirit tray in the rear area. The spiritual object manifested by the teams back there this time is actually a Taisui."

The ten Great Grotto-Heavens and thirty-six Small Grotto-Heavens all produce spiritual items of heaven and earth. But for some reason, sometimes a place that should yield a spiritual item instead harbors a Taisui. The Taisui is a mass of flesh that continuously generates more flesh, having no eyes or nose. Meat can be sliced off its body intermittently; its flesh is almost inexhaustible. For an ordinary person, such a Taisui would be a treasure—an endless source of meat. But for a cultivator, it holds zero utility.

However, sometimes, the definitions of 'heaven and earth' differ from the definitions held by cultivators. For reasons unknown, the various Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands of the cosmos often define the Taisui as an extremely high-tier treasure. This has led to some utterly absurd situations. A treasure manifesting in a location, its divine light piercing the clouds, resulting in a fierce battle among claimants. The final victor, after enduring immense struggle, finally claims the treasure, only to be struck dumb upon seeing the final prize—a Taisui. There are also instances where a Grotto-Heaven is expected to produce its regular spiritual items after a certain interval, only to yield a Taisui in the end—a truly disheartening situation.

Within the True Martial Grotto-Heaven, there were two spirit trays formed from condensed spiritual energy; one was here, the other far in the distance behind them. Everyone was accustomed to spiritual objects appearing on both trays. Who could have anticipated that the rear tray would produce a Taisui? It was enough to make one laugh or weep. This Taisui simply keeps producing meat. In light of this, there was no point in continuing the fight. Everyone came here not to vie for supremacy, but for resources and spiritual objects. The Taisui is defined as a spiritual object by the Grotto-Heavens, but it is useless to cultivators.

Of course, if Wudang had failed the individual competition and placed last, they would have had to fight the team competition even without resources. In that scenario, everyone’s goal would likely shift to beating Wudang into the last place. This would result in Wudang being ranked last overall, forfeiting 20% of their ownership rights to the True Martial Grotto-Heaven, allowing the four major Immortal Sects to reap greater benefits next time. But regrettably, due to Lu Yuan’s performance, even if Wudang were to rank last in the team competition, their overall standing could not possibly be the very bottom. Consequently, Wudang could not lose their ownership rights to the True Martial Grotto-Heaven now. Therefore, there was simply no need to proceed. The definitions of heaven, earth, and man—they are certainly worth pondering.