Chapter 67: Passing the Preliminary Trial, Murder is Something I, Yang Le, Can Do Too

"What on earth is going on? Why has the Sword Sovereign Token trial started ahead of schedule?"

"I have no idea, but judging from this sudden summoning light, it seems to have been forcefully triggered by someone with formidable swordsmanship talent."

"Damn it! If I ever find out who triggered the summoning early, I'll kill him. My spirit sword is still in the middle of being tempered, and I'm afraid this inheritance will slip through my fingers."

"Hmph, as if you could ever find out who he is. The heavenly secrets have completely shielded all identities within this summoning light; no matter where one comes from, it's all shrouded in a layer of mist."

"There is no one in the Spirit Realm that I, Renault, cannot find!"

"The young master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion? They have branches in all four corners of the Spirit Realm—why would he come to this trial?"

"Where did you crawl out from, you bumpkin? Don't you know the young master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion was born with the sword bones? Isn't it completely natural for him to come to this Sword Sovereign trial?"

Just as he regained his senses, Yang Le was greeted by a flurry of noisy chatter from his surroundings. He looked around to see where he was.

To his surprise, for reasons unknown, he had arrived at the foot of a cloud-shrouded mountain. Before him, a flight of heavenly ladder paths soared into the clouds, bottomless and towering.

The surroundings were packed with arrivals, some holding longswords, heavy swords, soft swords, or wooden swords.

The varieties were bizarre and varied, but regardless of what kind of swords these people held, Yang Le knew one thing very clearly: all of these people were sword cultivators, and the faint, lingering sword intent emanating from them only served to corroborate his judgment.

"So many people, yet all their cultivation levels are masked. It seems this trial has nothing to do with cultivation."

Upon first arriving here, Yang Le immediately scanned his surroundings and found that he was not the only one participating in this trial; everyone was completely shrouded in mist.

Forget about cultivation levels—even their facial features were completely obscured.

Only a trace of vital, living aura proved their existence.

"It seems even Xu Ruyan is unaware of the true mysteries behind the Sword Sovereign Token. I refuse to believe that a mere Xiantian martial cultivator could leave behind such a legacy ground."

"One might even say that the people coming to participate in this Sword Sovereign Token trial are not limited to the Great Qian Dynasty alone."

Amidst the noisy crowd, Yang Le did not squeeze his way in, choosing instead to find a quiet corner to seriously analyze his current situation.

Before long, Yang Le had gained a rough understanding of the trial's scenario.

First, Xu Ruyan was mistaken about the origin of the Sword Sovereign Token.

The number of people who had come to participate in the trial was not just in the thousands, but at least several hundred.

Moreover, there were still many who had yet to awaken, meaning the number of participants would only be even higher.

Before he came here, what Xu Ruyan had told Yang Le was this:

Within the entire Great Qian territory, there were only ninety-nine Sword Sovereign Tokens in existence.

Judging from the current situation, either Xu Ruyan had lied to him, or she herself was unaware of the true number of Sword Sovereign Tokens.

However, based on Yang Le's understanding of Xu Ruyan,

it was highly unlikely that she would choose to deceive him at a time like this; rather, she simply had no idea there would be so many people in this trial.

"Everyone possesses sword intent. It seems highly probable that these people do not come from Great Qian, but rather from some much broader realm—the scope of testers chosen by the old Sword Sovereign."

After looking around more carefully, Yang Le grasped yet another fact.

The participants of this trial could not possibly be limited solely to the single nation of Great Qian; people from beyond its borders had also entered the trial.

Furthermore, judging from the words exchanged in their conversations, even if they were from different places, they were quite familiar with the place names mentioned by others or had at least heard of them.

This meant that the regions inhabited by the vast majority of these people were interconnected, whereas Great Qian seemed to be an isolated exception with closed-off information.

In an instant, Yang Le also understood:

Within this trial, keeping one's background confidential was of the utmost importance.

What was more...

If there were no other accidents, Yang Le knew very well that the person who had triggered the trial early seemed to be none other than himself.

Yet the others present appeared to harbor deep hostility toward the one who had started the trial ahead of time.

"With so many people here, it's all the better. Let me see how good the swords in your hands truly are."

"And by the way, let's see what this sword dao inheritance is really like."

Gripping the standard-issue Great Qian longsword at his waist tighter, Yang Le instantly calmed down, a spark of astonishing confidence flashing deep within his eyes.

There was no help for it—the sword was the aspect of himself in which Yang Le was most confident. If Yang Le were to show a lack of confidence in matters relating to the sword,

it simply wouldn't make sense.

***

"The preliminary trial of 'The Sword in the Heart' has ended. The second trial, the Heavenly Ladder, will open in three sticks of incense."

"Of the nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine participants in the preliminary trial, one thousand three hundred and eighty-seven have passed. Those who have awakened have cleared the stage!"

About the time it took for a stick of incense to burn, Yang Le had been standing quietly in the corner, holding his breath and concentrating.

Then, following the arrival of a completely emotionless voice, Yang Le opened his eyes once more.

Looking around, Yang Le noticed there were more people present.

Though not significantly more.

Combining this with the previous announcement, Yang Le realized that the elimination rate for this trial was close to ninety percent.

Yet he had somehow miraculously passed.

It even seemed he was the first one to clear it.

Well, the very moment he first arrived at the foot of the trial mountain, Yang Le had already woken up.

It was just that seeing others around him still waking up, a flicker of caution had arisen in his heart.

So he had simply feigned sleep for half an hour.

"There are still a thousand people left for this trial?"

"If they couldn't even get past 'The Sword in the Heart,' staying behind meant death anyway. Dropping out now at least lets them keep their lives."

"A thousand people? The second trial of the Heavenly Ladder hasn't even started yet. What will it be like when the numbers are culled down to a hundred?"

When Yang Le heard that there were still a thousand people remaining in the arena, he felt the number was a bit too small.

Yet the vast majority of people present felt that there were far too many people left.

In fact, some arrogant individuals had already drawn their swords, glaring at the others who had also passed the trial of 'The Sword in the Heart.'

The killing intent in their eyes was not concealed in the slightest.

In essence, every single person who had awakened now was a potential rival, and only a single person could ultimately claim the inheritance.

There were still three sticks of incense remaining before the second trial of the Heavenly Ladder.

What is not explicitly forbidden is permitted, especially in a trial ground like this...

which had no laws at all.

Instantly, everyone present understood a profound truth.

These three sticks of incense were not given to them as time to rest, but rather as...

time to thin out the competition.

"Killing people..."

"I didn't expect that I'd have to resort to such things in a trial ground like this. But as it happens, I, Yang Le, know how to kill as well."

The killing intent of a single individual might go unnoticed in a crowd.

But if a thousand people simultaneously released their killing intent, then...

In an instant, the previously serene surroundings were suffused with a palpable murderous aura.

Yet Yang Le...

at this very moment, simply stood up calmly.

Participating in trials and passing them—Yang Le could do that.

But if it came to killing people,

Yang Le could do that too.

Drawing his sword, Yang Le hoisted it directly onto his shoulder.

His eyes locked onto everything around him.