First Level

"Defeat him, and you can enter the second level of the Sky-Reaching Bridge." The cloud of mist spoke. "He's also using a Dark Cloud Shuttle and the Yan Shen Blade, just like me?" Luo Feng's pupils contracted. With a thought, a hexagonal 'Juekong Shield' and a 'Yingjin Blade' styled like a Blood Shadow Battle Blade appeared in his hands. Simultaneously, the dark golden long staff behind him immediately shot out streams of golden light, a total of 54 streams. Every nine streams of golden light rapidly merged, forming a golden sword over a foot long, looking incredibly real! The second stage of the Yan Shen Blade—Sky-Stabbing Style—involved manifesting a single golden sword. Yet, Luo Feng unleashed six golden swords in one go. One reason was his spiritual force breaking through from Ninth-tier Star-level to First-tier Universe-level. More importantly, his strength had seen astonishing improvements during his three years of cosmic travel. "Kill!" The mysterious figure roared, descending on a Dark Cloud Shuttle. Behind him, three condensed, real golden swords rapidly formed. Both were Controllers! They both rapidly charged towards each other. One controlled six golden swords, the other controlled three. "I haven't relaxed for a moment these past three years. Compared to the Genius Battle, I'm much stronger now! Let me show you my current power!" Luo Feng's eyes blazed with endless fighting spirit. The six golden swords instantly moved with practiced ease, coordinating with each other to suppress and crush their opponent! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Mid-air, the six golden swords and the three golden swords unleashed by the mysterious figure engaged in a frenzied barrage of attacks. "What's going on?" Luo Feng was startled. Before coming to Chaos City, he could already manifest six golden swords. Controlling six golden swords was what he was most familiar and comfortable with. Precisely because of this familiarity, even though his comprehension of the Chaos Tablet in Chaos City for seven days had led to significant progress, he still chose to use only six golden swords, as he was well-versed in various combined attack strategies for them. "He actually blocked them? I don't believe it!" Luo Feng's eyes turned cold. The six golden swords were like six perfectly coordinated soldiers, advancing and retreating flawlessly, attacking repeatedly... each time attempting to break through the obstruction of the three golden swords and kill the enemy. But! Failure! Failure! Failure! Time and again, he failed. The three golden swords controlled by the mysterious figure possessed a unique artistic conception, as if they were not individual entities but a perfect whole! At times, the three golden swords gave the impression of an endless tsunami pressing down! At other times, they seemed like an unshakeable mountain reaching into the clouds! "How is this possible?" Luo Feng was shocked. "I have six golden swords, and he only controls three, yet I can't gain any advantage?" He tried! He tried every method, time and again, to make his six golden swords coordinate exquisitely, but his opponent remained suspended far away, easily defending with just three golden swords. "Foolish, you don't even understand this much." The eyes peering from the mysterious figure's black mask held a hint of mockery. "Still dreaming of passing the first level? Die!" Whoosh! The three golden swords controlled by the mysterious figure suddenly changed formation. They subtly drew closer, giving the faint impression of merging into one, as if transforming into a giant sword poised to cleave the sky. Luo Feng was secretly alarmed and quickly maneuvered his six golden swords to intercept. With a "Boom~~" a loud crash, all six of Luo Feng's golden swords were blasted backward. "How..." Luo Feng, suspended in the distance, was shocked. "Haha, foolish! Foolish! Foolish!" The mysterious figure roared. Facing the three golden swords that had transformed into three sword-rainbows and were charging at him, Luo Feng suddenly let out a low shout: "Rise!" Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Three golden swords rose behind Luo Feng, and the six golden swords that had been blasted back also rose. Simultaneously, dazzling golden light erupted from Luo Feng's body, spreading outwards like waves. It then rapidly coiled around the nine rising golden swords, which seemed like the foundation of a grand formation! Golden threads burst forth and intertwined, and golden sword energy erupted from the nine golden swords as its center. In an instant, a spherical space with a 300-meter radius centered on Luo Feng became a dazzling world of sword energy, with countless golden sword energies crisscrossing and swirling within this spherical space. It sounds slow. In reality, the nine golden swords rose and rapidly formed the spherical space. The third stage of the Yan Shen Blade—Heavenly Sword Style! Also known as the 'Sword Domain'! The Yan Shen Blade had nine stages. The second stage, Sky-Stabbing Style, merely involved nine great golden illusory swords merging to form a single golden sword. However, the third stage required the simultaneous manifestation of nine golden swords, which was equivalent to the combination of 81 golden illusory swords to succeed. Its difficulty was dozens, even hundreds, of times greater than the second stage! Luo Feng was able to successfully execute it. This was due to his immense increase in strength over the past three years and his spiritual force reaching First-tier Universe-level. Swoosh swoosh swoosh~~~ The three golden sword-rainbows seemed to have fallen into a swamp of sword energy within the spherical space, blocked and weakened by countless sword energies, their speed continuously slowing. "I admit you're strong, but before absolute power, you still have to lose!" Luo Feng stepped on his Dark Cloud Shuttle and charged like lightning towards the distant mysterious figure. The Sword Domain was centered on Luo Feng. As Luo Feng charged, the entire domain naturally moved rapidly with him. "Break!" The mysterious figure instantly fled, simultaneously letting out a sharp cry! Whoosh! The three golden swords he controlled instantly drew closer to each other. Countless golden threads intertwined around the periphery of these three golden swords, forming a hazy golden giant sword. This hazy golden giant sword rapidly cleaved through the obstructing sword energies, carrying a dreamlike rainbow light, and directly stabbed towards Luo Feng. "What kind of move is this?" Luo Feng was startled. He cultivated and researched the Yan Shen Blade, yet he had no understanding of this particular move. "Heavenly Sword!" Luo Feng roared. Pfft! The nine golden swords forming the 'Sword Domain' were now like a single entity. As Luo Feng willed it, one of the golden swords suddenly shot out like a hunting leopard, carrying the full might of the Sword Domain, and directly stabbed towards the golden giant sword. For a moment, countless sword energies throughout the Sword Domain seemed to receive a command, all striving to intercept, or following behind that golden sword. The golden sword carrying the power of the Sword Domain! The golden giant sword formed by the fusion of three golden swords! They collided instantly! "Boom!" The golden sword was instantly blasted back. The golden giant sword was like a massive ship charging head-on, directly overturning Luo Feng's golden sword, and then instantly appeared before Luo Feng. Luo Feng, with no time to dodge, held his battle blade and shield. "Boom!" As Luo Feng held his shield, attempting to deflect the impact, he felt as if the golden giant sword was a towering mountain crashing down. His entire body shook, and he immediately spat out blood. "No wonder even the Heavenly Sword Style couldn't block it; this impact force is unbelievable." Immediately, Luo Feng's consciousness reeled. ... When he regained consciousness, he was back in his manor in the Taichu District of 'Yuxiang Mountain' in the Virtual Universe. "Your Highness." The servants and guards bowed. "Mm." Luo Feng nodded. "How was your trip to the Sky-Reaching Bridge, Your Highness?" inquired Aoduolike, the manor's steward and leader of the guard squad, a Realm Lord. "A failure." Luo Feng shook his head. "The Sky-Reaching Bridge is difficult to challenge. It's normal to fail the first time; Your Highness shouldn't worry too much," Aoduolike said. Luo Feng's expression was calm as he returned to his study. Inside the study. "I lost." Luo Feng frowned slightly. "Among our batch of 1000, nearly 900 have been tested. Except for Bolan, who cleared two levels, everyone else failed to clear even the first. Failure... I'm not surprised, but the opponent I faced in the first level's assessment also used the Yan Shen Blade, and with only three golden swords, they managed to break my 'Heavenly Sword Style'." "Fundamentals!" "Luo Feng, I told you long ago that fundamentals are important. You used nine golden swords to form the Heavenly Sword Style, yet he won with only three golden swords. That's the importance of fundamentals," Babata, fist-sized, shouted from his shoulder. "It's different; his use of the Yan Shen Blade is different from mine." Luo Feng recalled the battle. "Whether I control six golden swords or nine golden swords... no matter what, they are individual entities, like six or nine soldiers cooperating. But when he used the Yan Shen Blade, he could achieve a true superposition of power, as if they were genuinely one, especially his final move... those three golden swords combined to form a single golden giant sword!" The third stage of the Yan Shen Blade, 'Heavenly Sword Style'. The fourth stage of the Yan Shen Blade, 'Great Skill Concealed'. This fourth stage was essentially a fusion of a large sword formation, becoming one entity, using absolute pressure to break through the opponent, and was named 'Great Skill Concealed'! "I feel like his move is somewhat similar to the fourth stage." Luo Feng frowned. "However, it's different from the fourth stage; the fourth stage is much more complex and powerful. His only involved three golden swords merging, yet the power after this fusion was incredibly outrageous." "This is the assessment of the 'Jiuyu Chaos Tablet'..." Luo Feng's mind flashed to the first image of the 'Jiuyu Chaos Tablet'—the Raindrop Diagram. There were nine raindrops on the Raindrop Diagram. After seven days of comprehension, Luo Feng had many insights in his mind. Recalling the battle scene now, and then the 'Raindrop Diagram', his mind seemed to recall a fusion of the artistic conceptions of three of the raindrops from the 'Raindrop Diagram'. "Could it be—" Luo Feng's eyes grew brighter and brighter. The insights from these seven days of comprehension in his mind continuously merged with his experience of comprehending laws and using the Yan Shen Blade over the past three years. This clash of thoughts sparked numerous ideas, and one concept after another kept emerging. Excitement! Anticipation! "I understand, I understand!" Luo Feng couldn't help but exclaim. "It's better to have no books than to completely believe in them!" Luo Feng burst into laughter. "The Yan Shen Blade is a weapon created by powerful beings. To rigidly use it according to the most basic methods is too inflexible, too foolish. No wonder he called me stupid; I truly was foolish! The 'Raindrop Diagram'—this is the true method to unleash the Yan Shen Blade's strongest power!" Jiuyu Chaos Tablet! It contained the true Great Dao; any weapon's usage method could find its most correct path through the Great Dao. Although this attempt was a failure, the impact and benefit to Luo Feng were far greater than success! "Let's begin." Luo Feng was already impatient.