This Sword Cultivator is Somewhat Dependable

Chapter 542: Chapter 42 Still a Bit Ugly_2

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“Hey, if that’s the case, given Lu Qingshan’s feat of slaying Gui Yuan True Venerable, he should have moved up dozens of places on the Yellow List, right? Why is it that when the Yellow List was updated, his ranking has not changed?” someone asked, puzzled.

“It must be because the specifics of Lu Qingshan slaying Gui Yuan True Venerable are unclear.

Just as with the origin of this battle, the Heavenly Secret Pavilion cannot confirm whether he killed Gui Yuan True Venerable using his own strength in a ‘proactive’ counterattack, or if he used certain methods to trap and kill Gui Yuan True Venerable and then threw the blame onto others.

Therefore, without clarity of the truth, the Heavenly Secret Pavilion cannot simply treat this matter as part of his battle achievements,” someone said, seeing through the reasons at a glance.

“However, have you noticed that this Lu Qingshan is the same person who was the leader of the Seven Domains Conclave debates?”

“Of course, we know. How could we forget such a grand event that took place just last year?”

“Don’t forget, what was his cultivation level last year, and what is it now…”

“Last year’s cultivation level? Wasn’t it just Golden Core Late Stage? And now it’s Nascent Soul Late Stage…

Holy shit! That’s…”

The discussion suddenly stopped at this point.

Because the onlookers began to doubt their lives.

This duel, which seemed so unreasonably matched, became a heated topic for more and more speculation with the purposeful campaigning by those with vested interests.

The hidden reasons behind it were also invariably revealed.

The outside world had begun to argue whether Lu Qingshan really slew Gui Yuan True Venerable with his own strength, and who would win between him and Luo Yi.

Some believed in Lu Qingshan’s strength, as after all, he emerged as an outstanding genius from the debates of the Seven Domains, and it was possible for his combat power to transcend others.

But more voices tended to believe that there was something dirty behind the demise of Gui Yuan True Venerable.

The reason is quite simple—Lu Qingshan’s progression in cultivation was too rapid!

From Golden Core Late Stage to Nascent Soul Late Stage in just one year.

If it wasn’t for the facts right in front of them, they would never believe such an absurd thing could happen in this world.

Since it’s already so outrageous, in the onlookers—those cultivators—a presumption formed that Lu Qingshan must have been wholly devoted to cultivation over the past year, with no time to spare for other pursuits, such as spells and sword techniques.

Thus, the skills he had now were the same ones he mastered when in the Golden Core Late Stage, namely the old trio: Heaven Suppressing Secret Sword, Slaughter Sword Intent, and the like.

This is exactly what formed the most powerful validation for their viewpoint.

Moreover, with Lu Qingshan’s recent entry into the Nascent Soul Late Stage, even if he could attend to other areas, how much could he have accumulated?

A very reasonable judgment.

No wonder Marquis Luotang took this as a flaw and aggressively pressed Lu Qingshan.

As for the outcome, without a doubt, Luo Yi held all the visible advantages on the surface.

The gap between Nascent Soul and Void Refining is well understood by everyone—it’s an undeniable truth.

…

Finally, three months had passed, and the day of the decisive battle arrived!

Central Heavenly Realm, Hidden Sun City’s Teleportation Array.

Two figures appeared, both with tall statures, and then one after the other, they stepped out of the Teleportation Array.

“The Martial Debate Hall, just like our Sword Sect, belongs to the Taoist Sect and highly values the cultivation of disciples’ combat power.

The Martial Hall was established with this very purpose,” Xia Daoyun glanced back at Lu Qingshan, who was following her, and gently explained.

Lu Qingshan nodded.

Xia Daoyun knew that he came from a small town in the Southern Territory’s Qing State, and believed he was not very familiar with many secrets of the Cultivation World, which was why she introduced it to him.

He did come from a small place, indeed.

However, as a player and a Seventh Realm Sword Cultivator in his previous life, his knowledge was not lacking.

The Martial Hall, adding up to thirty-six across the Seven Domains of the Human Race, is an ancient formation established even before the Martial Debate Hall was promoted to the status of a Taoist Sect.

The thirty-six Martial Halls, named after the thirty-six celestial generals, are mostly concentrated in the Central Martial Domain where the Martial Debate Hall is located.

In the Central Heavenly Realm, there is also one within this very Hidden Sun City.

When the Martial Hall was first built, it featured a challenging stage comparable to a Magic Artifact.

The Martial Debate Hall appointed its own disciples as Hall Masters and Guardians, and cultivators from all over the world could enter the hall to challenge the disciples of the Martial Debate Hall.

If the challenger was victorious, they could choose one Divine Ability Spell from the disciple they defeated and obtain its Secret Manual.

Of course, if the challenge was unsuccessful, the Martial Debate Hall’s disciple could also choose one from the spells performed by the challenger and demand the Secret Manual.

With this move, the Martial Debate Hall aimed to achieve two goals: first, to refine the fighting level of its disciples, and second, to fulfill the grand ambition of ‘integrating all spells under heaven into our sect’s domain.’

At that time, although the Martial Debate Hall was not yet a Taoist Sect, it was a prestigious and influential sect in its own right.

The spells practiced by the disciples of such a powerful sect were certainly powerful and precious.

Attracted by the lure of profit, countless cultivators flocked to challenge them.

Having the confidence to establish the Martial Hall, the Martial Debate Hall predominantly saw its disciples victorious.

This trend continued for hundreds to thousands of years, and through the Martial Hall, the Martial Debate Hall had amassed a massive collection of Spells, becoming the sect with the most abundant reserves of Spells in the world.

This indeed matched well with the name ‘Martial Debate Hall’ of their sect.

Of course, this approach was not without its drawbacks.

With victories came defeats; though the Martial Debate Hall’s disciples seldom lost, defeats did occur, leading to the inevitable exchange of their own Sect Secret Arts.

Other sects obtaining these Secret Arts could then devise ways to counter them.

For this issue, the Martial Debate Hall resolved it in a very ingenious way.

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