Chapter 15 – Mysterious Vortex

“Attention, attention! A Labor Disciple has challenged the 29th on the Outer Court Rankings, Liu Qingyu, to a battle on the Life and Death Arena three months from now. Everyone, remember to go watch it in three months….”

“A Labor Disciple challenged an expert on the Outer Court Rankings? Is something wrong with you…. Are you talking about that Labor Disciple who surmounted ranks of cultivation to defeat Duan Jun?”

“Of course it’s him. Is any other Labor Disciple besides him that formidable?”

“This Labor Disciple is really fucking formidable! He first challenged an Outer Court Disciple, not he challenged an expert on the Outer Court Rankings. Even though he’s courting death, we have no choice but to admire him for his courage!”

……

It wasn’t long before the news of Yang Ye challenging an Outer Court Disciple had spread throughout the Outer Court, and it was even to the extent that some experts on the Outer Court Rankings that were in Seven Refinement Peak had heard of it.

“A sixth rank Mortal Realm expert challenged a First Heaven Realm expert? The ignorant truly are fearless!” This was something an expert on the Outer Court Rankings said when he heard the news about Yang Ye challenging Liu Qingyu.

“Even though Liu Qingyu isn’t really strong, he isn’t someone a sixth rank Mortal Realm expert can challenge. I haven’t left the Seven Refinement Peak for a long time. Now, even Labor Disciples are already so arrogant?”

“Someone at the sixth rank of the Mortal Realm challenging a First Heaven Realm expert. Interesting….”

No matter if it was the Outer Court Peak or the Seven Refinement Peak, the news of Yang Ye’s challenge was spreading throughout both these places at this moment. At this moment, Yang Ye’s name had truly spread throughout the Outer Court.

Cool Breeze Gorge.

After he arrived at Cool Breeze Gorge, Yang Ye took out the high-grade Yellow Rank sword technique he’d obtained from one of the elders, the Energy Split Sword Technique, and he started looking through it carefully. Presently, he urgently needed to improve his strength!

“Energy Split Sword Technique, high-grade Yellow Rank. A technique created by a senior of the Sword Sect. It possesses 10 levels, and every level allows one to execute a strand of sword qi. When fully cultivated, 10 strands of sword qi can be executed simultaneously to sweep through everything before it!”

As he looked through the description of the Energy Split Sword Technique, Yang Ye felt lucky that when he fought Duan Jun on the Life and Death Arena earlier, Duan Jun had only learned the first level, and if Duan Jun had learned a few more levels, then it would be dangerous for him.

As he continued reading through it, Yang Ye’s expression became heavier. The Energy Split Sword Technique was extremely formidable, and it was even to the extent that it was slightly terrifying. It wasn’t really terrifying if it was only able to directly execute 10 strands of sword qi, yet the Energy Split Sword Technique was capable of ‘energy split’, and that meant the sword qi could appear at completely different directions.

The direction the sword qi moved towards could be changed!

When he imagined 10 strands of sword attacking an enemy from various directions, Yang Ye couldn’t help but feel slightly excited. But in next to no time, he calmed down because it was extremely difficult to change the direction the strands of sword qi moved towards. It required that one’s control of Profound Energy had arrived at an extremely shocking degree, and this sort of degree was something that even some Outer Court Elders were unable to attain!

Yang Ye took a deep breath and put the scroll away, and then he held the sword and slowly started training according to the circulation method in the Energy Split Sword Technique.

No matter if it was for his younger sister, mother, or for himself, he wouldn’t shrink back. Because in this world were strength was respected, one had no dignity or the right to speak without strength. Just like moments ago, Liu Qingyu’s strength was higher than his own, so Liu Qingyu could willfully kill him and disregard the rules of the sect.

In this world, strength was everything. He understood this principle when he was in Southpeace City, yet he obtained a deeper understanding of this principle after he arrived at the Sword Sect.

In the next few days, besides eating in the canteen, Yang Ye spent every single day cultivating bitterly in Cool Breeze Gorge, and he even slept in the gorge. With the Meridian Shield Pills given by the Outer Court Elders and the Energy Stones Bao’er had given him, he was fully able to cultivate without any restraints.

Crack! Crack!

Yang Ye stood on an enormous rock while he ceaselessly swung the Dark Iron Sword in his hand. If someone else was here, that person would definitely be astounded because every single time Yang Ye swung the Dark Iron Sword, it wasn’t just the resounding sound of air being torn apart that resounded, they even left behind a few sword images!

Exactly how much strength was required to emanate resounding sounds of the air being torn apart? Exactly how swift did the sword have to be to leave behind sword imagines?

After he finished practicing the Basic Sword Technique, Yang Ye’s sword pointed towards the ground at an angle, and his eyes closed slightly while his face remained composed. He was like a monk that had entered into a meditative state. Yang Ye’s face was slightly thin, his featured were handsome, and coupled with his graceful black hair, even though he couldn’t be said to be a pretty boy, he was rather handsome.

At this moment, Yang Ye was trying hard to control the scarce light golden Profound Energy in his body, and he guided them from his Dantian towards the Dark Iron Sword in his hand. However, those strings of Profound Energy within his body were like disobedient children, and no matter how Yang Ye urged them on, they refused to circulate along the circulation pathways of the Energy Split Sword Technique.

After a few more minutes, numerous droplets of sweat slowly flowed down from Yang Ye’s forehead. They flowed past his brows, flowed past his closed eyes, and flowed towards his lips.

A cool breeze blew by, and the leaves in the forest rustled. A few withered and yellow leaves descended slowly from the sky, whereas, the young man on the enormous rock was still standing ramrod straight like a status.

After around an hour of time, suddenly, the Dark Iron Sword in Yang Ye’s hand was suffused with a light golden glow, and it trembled slightly as if it had come to life.

After a moment of silence, Yang Ye’s eyes suddenly opened up, and they emanated an extremely clear cold glow. Yang Ye held the Dark Iron Sword in his hand as he suddenly swung it towards an enormous tree in the distance.

Energy Split Sword Technique! Yang Ye spoke lightly in his heart. After that, a light golden strand of sword qi flashed out from the tip of the Dark Iron Sword.

Bang!

An enormous tree that required a few people to embrace and was over 10m away from Yang Ye had been chopped into two along with this bang, and the point it was chopped was smooth like a mirror.

Rumble!

The upper half of the tree fell to the ground and caused countless dust and dirt to suffuse the air.

As he looked at the tree that fell to the ground, Yang Ye’s seemingly exhausted face wasn’t able to conceal the excitement he felt. After cultivating day and night for six days, he hadn’t just improved his Basic Sword Technique again, he’d even cultivated the Energy Split Sword Technique to the first level. How could he not be excited by this?

Suddenly, a feeling of emptiness surged from the bottom of Yang Ye’s heart. It was the feeling of completely exhausting one’s Profound Energy!

Looks like unless it’s a critical moment, otherwise, I can’t rashly utilize this Energy Split Sword Technique! Yang Ye couldn’t help but laugh bitterly as he looked at the Dark Iron Sword in his hand. Even though the Energy Split Sword Technique was formidable, its consumption of Profound Energy was too terrifying. Just like this moment, he’d merely executed a single strand of sword qi, yet the Profound Energy within his body had been exhausted.

Yang Ye withdrew an Energy Stone and held it in his hand before started to absorb the energy within it. The Profound Energy within the Energy Stone surged into his body and was instantly absorbed by the mysterious tiny vortex. Suddenly, Yang Ye frowned because the tiny vortex didn’t give him some light golden Profound Energy as it had in the past!

Has something happened again? When he thought up to here, Yang Ye couldn’t help but feel slightly panicked, and he immersed his mind into his body. However, he was actually unable to enter the tiny vortex this time. In the past, he was able to enter the tiny vortex with his Spiritual Energy, but this time, it seemed like there was something on the tiny vortex that was obstructing him, causing him to be unable to observe the situation within the tiny vortex.

When he noticed this, that feeling of panic spread completely from the bottom of Yang Ye’s heart, and he hurriedly withdrew over 10 Energy Stones and started absorbing them. However, it was still as it was before this. The Profound Energy was instantly absorbed by the tiny vortex, but the light golden Profound Energy still didn’t flow out.

“Brother, what’re you playing at now?” Yang Ye’s expression was slightly unsightly when he noticed the tiny vortex only took but didn’t give. Could it be that the tiny vortex intends to act like it did in the past?

In next to no time, Yang Ye denied these thoughts of his. He and the tiny vortex were a single whole. If he didn’t absorb Profound Energy, then the tiny vortex would be unable to absorb Profound Energy. They could be said to be bound together for good or bad, and he didn’t believe that the tiny vortex wouldn’t bite the hand that feeds it!

After going silent for a moment, Yang Ye withdrew an Energy Stone and started absorbing it because he wanted to see what the tiny vortex was doing.

After 15 minutes passed, 200 Energy Stones were gone, and the tiny vortex was still absorbing.

One hour later, 800 Energy Stones were gone, yet the tiny vortex was still absorbing, and it was absorbing at an even quicker rate.

Just like this, after six hours passed, the tiny vortex was still absorbing, and it didn’t show any signs of stopping or giving him some light golden Profound Energy. On the other hand, Yang Ye seemed as if he was going to fight the tiny vortex until the end, and he ceaselessly withdrew Energy Stone after Energy Stone. In these few hours of time, the tiny vortex had already absorbed a few thousands of Energy Stones.

As he watched the Energy Stones vanish, Yang Ye’s heart hurt slightly. Luckily, Bao’er had given him over 100,000 Energy Stones, otherwise, he wouldn’t allow the tiny vortex to absorb the Energy Stones like this no matter what.

Just like this, Yang Ye sat here from day until night, and numerous Energy Stones vanished. However, the tiny vortex seemed like a bottomless hole, and over 10,000 Energy Stones were still unable to satisfy the tiny vortex.

In the blink of an eye, Yang Ye had continued sitting here from the night until the day, and in this time of a day and night, 20,000 Energy Stones had vanished.

As he watched these Energy Stones vanish bit by bit, Yang Ye wanted to stop on many occasions, but he couldn’t. Because he had to figure the tiny vortex out. Otherwise, not to mention the battle on the Life and Death Arena with Liu Qingyu three months from now, he would even be eliminated from the Outer Court Exam that was being held over 20 days from now.

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed, and half of the Energy Stones Bao’er gave him had been consumed. At this moment, Yang Ye was already numbed to it, and it had aroused his ferocity. Because in any case, he was going to ‘fight’ the tiny vortex until the end!

At a certain moment at noon on the third day, Yang Ye’s hand that held the Energy Stones paused for a moment, and he immersed his mind into his body. When he saw the Dantian within his body, Yang Ye’s eyes instantly opened wide, and his face was covered in disbelief.