Meng Fan had been saving this reward for a special occasion.
He planned to finish reading all the sword scriptures in the first level of the Scripture Pavilion, accumulate enough mastery in sword techniques, and then comprehend the Sword God Stele.
By then, his sword cultivation would leap forward qualitatively!
***
Today, the summit of Shu Mountain was even busier than yesterday.
The area around the Heaven-Connecting Platform was packed with people, completely surrounded by a sea of heads.
Yesterday, only core disciples could participate in the swordsmanship competition, and everyone else was merely a spectator.
But today, regardless of realm or status, anyone confident in their sword technique could step up and challenge Jiang Poyue in a literary competition.
Even if they knew their swordsmanship was inferior, they could still make an appearance and experience the thrill of sparring with a master.
After all, for many, this might be the only chance in their lifetime to cross swords with such a top-notch expert.
Besides, this kind of literary competition was conducted with restraint, and Jiang Poyue wouldn't seriously injure anyone!
By the time Meng Fan finally squeezed through the crowd to the vicinity of the Heaven-Connecting Platform, today's literary competition had already begun.
Jiang Poyue stood on the platform, facing off against a young man dressed in the Inner Sect Disciple attire of the Shu Mountain Sword Sect.
The match started, and with a single stroke, Jiang Poyue forced the Inner Sect Disciple of the Shu Mountain Sword Sect off the platform.
Even without using his cultivation level, Jiang Poyue's sword technique was still far superior to the Inner Sect Disciple's, not even on the same level.
However, the defeat of this Inner Sect Disciple did not dampen the enthusiasm of others to take the stage.
Especially seeing that Jiang Poyue only forced the disciple to retreat without causing harm, the crowd's passion surged even more.
One after another, Inner Sect Disciples continuously took the stage, and occasionally even an overconfident Outer Sect Disciple would step up.
***
In just the half an hour, Jiang Poyue had already defeated dozens of Shu Mountain Sword Sect disciples.
At this point, an Elder of the Shu Mountain Sword Sect could no longer stand by and watch.
He stepped forward and said to the disciples of the Shu Mountain Sword Sect: "Below the core disciples of the Shu Mountain Sword Sect, anyone wishing to challenge Jiang Poyue must first pass Cheng Feiyu!"
Cheng Feiyu, who ranked first in the last Inner Sect Disciple assessment, was likely to be promoted to a core disciple before the next assessment.
This guy was practically the gatekeeper for the core disciples.
Now, having Cheng Feiyu step forward to select disciples for Jiang Poyue was a reasonable move.
Seeing Inner and even Outer Sect Disciples of the Shu Mountain Sword Sect foolishly challenging Jiang Poyue, the Sword Sect felt it was losing face.
Now, having Cheng Feiyu act as the gatekeeper was indeed a good choice. If you couldn't even handle Cheng Feiyu, you had no right to challenge Jiang Poyue.
On the Heaven-Connecting Platform, Jiang Poyue bowed to the Elder of the Shu Mountain Sword Sect who had spoken, expressing his gratitude.
After all, he was also quite annoyed at having to deal with so many novices.
He didn't mind sparring and exchanging sword techniques with others, but the premise was that it should be a real exchange, lasting more than a few moves.
Simply "one-shotting" opponents offered no thrill at all.
After reaching the Challenger rank, hardly anyone still enjoys playing against bots!
With Cheng Feiyu stepping up as the gatekeeper, Jiang Poyue indeed felt much more relaxed.
Now, those who came to challenge him were at least core disciples of the Shu Mountain Sword Sect.
However, without a doubt, one after another, the core disciples took the stage, and still, no one could defeat Jiang Poyue.
In fact, no one could last more than ten moves against him!
Meng Fan silently watched the matches. In fact, from his perspective, these people using only sword techniques without their cultivation made it easier for him to gain deeper insights into various sword techniques.
"Meng Fan, why are you here so early? It seems the charm of my future husband is indeed great!" Liu Yanping squeezed through the crowd to Meng Fan's side unexpectedly.
Her so-called future husband was naturally Jiang Poyue of the Kunlun Sword Sect.
As for the Senior Brother Nie Bing she had once been infatuated with, he was long forgotten in some corner.
No, perhaps not even a corner – completely abandoned.
At this moment, Meng Fan suddenly thought of Ye Feng, the young man who had pursued Liu Yanping in the Training Hall.
That poor fellow seemed to be the truly pitiable one.
"Does your future husband even know you?" Meng Fan asked mercilessly.
"I said 'future husband,' so of course he doesn't know me yet," Liu Yanping glared at Meng Fan.
"I think 'next life's husband' would be a more appropriate and fitting description."
"You little brat, how did you become so sarcastic!"
Liu Yanping glared at Meng Fan, fuming, but she didn't take his jab to heart, knowing full well it was an impossibility.
She was just talking for fun, without any real intention of getting to know Jiang Poyue.
"Eh, why has Senior Brother Cheng Feiyu gone up to the Heaven-Connecting Platform? It looks like he's also set up a challenge?" Liu Yanping asked in surprise.
She had arrived late, so she was unaware of the situation.
Meng Fan casually explained, then laughed, "Why don't you give it a try? With your sword technique, you have a chance of defeating Cheng Feiyu.
Then, you can get close to Jiang Poyue.
With your grace, after a match of swordsmanship, maybe Jiang Poyue will be struck blind and dumb and fall in love with you at first sight!"
Liu Yanping glared fiercely at Meng Fan: "I feel like you're insulting me."
"Sister Liu, you should have more confidence in yourself."
"Indeed, as if you'd dare!"
"I mean, you should have more confidence and drop the 'I feel like.'"
Liu Yanping was momentarily stunned, not understanding what he meant.
Drop the 'I feel like'?
After a few seconds, she reacted and cursed: "You little jerk, are you looking for death?!"
Meng Fan shrugged indifferently: "It seems like you can't beat me."
Liu Yanping's chest heaved with rage.
"Ah ah ah, I'm so angry!"
After venting, she changed the subject: "Meng Fan, do you think anyone among our Shu Mountain Sword Sect disciples can defeat Jiang Poyue in swordsmanship?"
"Actually, there is someone," Meng Fan said without hesitation.
"Who?" Liu Yanping looked at Meng Fan in surprise.
She thought that no one in the entire Shu Mountain Sword Sect, whether Inner or Core Disciples, could defeat Jiang Poyue in swordsmanship.
Only the enforcers might have a chance.
She even believed that ordinary enforcers might not be a match for Jiang Poyue.
In terms of strength, the enforcers should be able to trounce Jiang Poyue, but if it's just swordsmanship, it's really uncertain!
"The Guarding Sword Disciple from the Sword Pavilion counts as a disciple too," Meng Fan said casually.
Liu Yanping immediately rolled her eyes, understanding that Meng Fan was boasting about himself.
But to be fair, in terms of swordsmanship alone, she really thought Meng Fan had a chance.
After all, she had never seen anyone more monstrous in sword techniques than Meng Fan in the entire Shu Mountain Sword Sect!
Especially since Meng Fan had personally guided her more than once, so she did have some blind faith in him.
In fact, looking at the entire Shu Mountain Sword Sect, probably only Liu Yanping and Elder Lin had such inexplicable confidence in Meng Fan.
Any rational person would not entertain such an absurd idea.
"However, even if you really could defeat Jiang Poyue, I think you shouldn't take the stage," Liu Yanping suddenly whispered to Meng Fan.
Meng Fan looked at her in surprise, thinking she would have encouraged him to step up.
"Why?"
"If you were at the Heavenly Origin Realm, defeating Jiang Poyue would be acceptable to others.
But you're only at the True Martial Realm. If you really defeated Jiang Poyue, that level of monstrosity would be too exaggerated!
Now, on Shu Mountain, there are not only people from the Shu Mountain Sword Sect but also from the Limitless Sword Sect and the Kunlun Sword Sect.
If you show such outstanding performance, it's inevitable that you'll attract envy and even bring about fatal trouble!
Regardless of whether the saying 'Heaven envies the talented' is true, 'people envy the talented' is definitely normal."
Liu Yanping cautiously spoke a long string of words in a low voice, audible only to Meng Fan.
To be honest, Meng Fan was somewhat surprised.
This young lady usually acted carefree and quite silly.
Now, speaking so seriously, she did indeed make Meng Fan see her in a new light.
Indeed, there are no truly foolish people in this world, only those who choose to act foolishly.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," Meng Fan said with a smile.
This was also the reason he hadn't participated in the competition; after all, while it's good not to harbor ill will, it's necessary to be cautious.
In the end, his current cultivation was still too weak, and he needed to maintain a sufficient level of vigilance.
Being prudent is a trait many time travelers possess.
After all, someone who has lived in a peaceful era and suddenly finds themselves in a dangerous world of cultivation would instinctively be cautious and careful.
"Eh, someone has defeated Senior Brother Cheng Feiyu," Liu Yanping suddenly exclaimed.
Meng Fan looked up towards Cheng Feiyu's area; his attention had previously been on Jiang Poyue.
"Who is that?" Meng Fan asked Liu Yanping.
The person who defeated Cheng Feiyu was an Inner Sect Disciple of the Shu Mountain Sword Sect, dressed conspicuously in the sect's attire.
"It's Junior Brother He Ying!" Liu Yanping frowned, incredulous.
Meng Fan was also surprised because Liu Yanping referred to him as a junior brother, not a senior brother.
This meant that He Ying had become an Inner Sect Disciple later than Liu Yanping.
Most importantly, Meng Fan clearly saw that He Ying was only at the first layer of the True Martial Realm.
Far inferior to Liu Yanping!
And Cheng Feiyu was a cultivator at the ninth layer of the True Martial Realm.
One was just entering the True Martial Realm, and the other was at the peak, with a full eight minor realms between them.
Although the competition was about sword technique, unrelated to cultivation level, He Ying's victory over Cheng Feiyu was definitely the mark of an exceptional talent.
Such mastery in swordsmanship was terrifying!
"This is a genius, it's a pity I didn't pay attention to his swordsmanship," Meng Fan sighed, somewhat regretful.
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan
Recheck: Lotas