A man stood before an ancient stele decorating the otherwise empty grassy plain. His hair was long and black, tied up into a high ponytail. His eyes were equally black, having a sort of unknown attraction that sucked one’s soul.

A large sword decorated his side as he walked. Even though keeping weapons in spatial rings or artifacts was common, and sometimes made it far easier to draw them in battle, the man didn’t believe in this custom at all.

‘A sword cultivator should never be apart from his sword.’

If his sword wasn’t by his side, then he failed as a Swordmaster. Even if the world acknowledged him as such, he would no longer have the right to possess such status.

‘Never mind that, it seems that all parties are slowly gathering. If this stele didn’t need 40 people to gather before opening, I’d have already rushed in.’

He thought of the ancient sword that was said to be slumbering below this stele. He almost began drooling as he pictured its body.

“Brother Chen!”

However, an endearing voice pulled him out of his thoughts, saving his dignity. Seeing who called out to him, he smiled gently.

“Ling’er! Did you find what you were looking for?” His tone was completely unlike what he showed to others. Compared to the indifference he used towards outsiders, his treatment of this Ling’er character was like heaven and earth.

It was to the point where some of the women in the crowd immediately went green with envy when they saw his smile.

“Mm, I couldn’t find them. I thought they’d come, but I guess they have something more important to do.” Ling’er pouted.

Long Chen smiled gently and patted her head. “Relax. I don’t think they would forget about you that easily. Didn’t you save their lives back then? Perhaps, they are just a bit busy at the moment.”

Ling’er’s pout deepened. “What could be more important than the Empyrean Dragon Sword?”

Long Chen smirked. “Ling’er, what’s more important to you: me, or the Empyrean Dragon Sword?”

Ling’er furrowed her brows. “Of course, it’s you. But why did you…don’t tell me…!”

Long Chen nodded with a grin. “Yeah, that guy I told you about is finally back. There’s no way they’d choose some random sword over their husband, right?”

Ling’er nodded in agreement, some of her disappointment clearing up. Seeing that she was appeased, Long Chen finally looked away.

‘Including those from the Long Clan, three major clans have sent their geniuses. And I assume the Xue Clan’s geniuses will arrive soon. As for the sects…’

His gaze turned in a specific direction. There, a handsome man with cool blue hair stood with a half-smile on his face.

‘Hao Lingtian.’

One of the top geniuses of the Jade Heavenly Palace’s younger generation. However, he was the only one representing them. But it wasn’t like Long Chen was any different. Of the Celestial Star Palace, only he was sent to this important location.

‘Hmm, he will be a difficult enemy. I’m not sure yet whether or not I can beat him, but it should be a close battle.’

As he thought, he suddenly felt a burning gaze directed at him. His head turned instantly and matched it.

‘Xue Feng.’

Long Chen’s indifferent face twisted into a wild grin. After all, the man who was looking down at him from above also had a sword strapped to his hip.

Boom!

Two auras flared, one bright golden and the other icy blue. Even though the distance between them was substantial, it almost felt like they were standing right next to each other.

Clang!

A sound as if metal was clashing against metal. In the midline where their eyes met, an invisible clash had taken place.

‘Sword Aura!’

Both of them realized at the same time. Their raging battle intent seemed to become far fiercer.

Sword Qi, the energy unlocked when one was still leveling their Sword Mastery skill to the max, was actually only the basic level a sword cultivator would reach.

If they couldn’t even unlock Sword Qi, it was better if they just put down the sword and never picked it up again. Doing so would be a disgrace to the weapon.

The level after Sword Qi was Sword Intent. This was the level Damien reached, and one that would qualify someone as a beginner in the path of the sword.

However, the difficulty of graduating from Sword Intent and achieving Sword Aura was insane. It wasn’t a level that any common practitioner would be able to reach within their lifetimes.

But for swordsmen, it was a level that signified their ascent to being a true swordmaster, one who diligently pursues the path of the sword.

Since Damien only used a sword for the sake of convenience and survival, since he was never truly dedicated to his sword, he could never achieve Sword Aura. He would never even make progress in Sword Intent with that mentality.

But his path was different from swordsmen. In fact, having to create one’s own Sword Art to evolve the skill was already a divergent path. Creating a Sword Art was supposed to be a far more grueling and sacred process, where a swordsman put everything he had ever comprehended into his sword to create a style.

But this didn’t matter. The fact of the matter was, the two men who were currently clashing with their gazes walked the path of true swordmasters.

“Brother Chen!”

Ling’er’s call woke him up from his battle-ready state. Xue Yue did the same for Xue Feng. The two men retracted their auras, but didn’t stop their staring contest.

Then, they both nodded simultaneously.

‘We shall meet again at the end.’

They both acknowledged the message. Among the geniuses here, the two of them would be the final contenders for the sword. Only then would they have the fight they were yearning for.

“It seems that everyone has arrived.” Long Chen looked around once more, ignoring how many people were avoiding his gaze. Once he counted that the necessary number of people had gathered, he turned to the ancient stele.

“We must jointly pour our mana into this until it opens a path for us. If you don’t wish to enter that place, do not step up to the stele.” He announced.

Without waiting for any responses, he walked up to the stele and did as he said. And after he did so, many others began to follow his lead.

Voom!

The ancient stele pulsated with power, sending off waves of mana as if to declare its location to everyone in the realm. As more and more mana was poured into its body, it began shining with a stellar blue light.

Whoosh!

A heavy wind raced through the atmosphere, but by the time it arrived at the stele, all those geniuses who had been pouring their mana into it had disappeared.

“Dammit! Too late!” The wind lamented. Within seconds, it coagulated in one place, turning green with the light of mana and then forming the outline of a woman.

“What a shame! With so many top geniuses gathered, there would’ve been so much loot left behind! Haa, whatever. I guess I need to go find another golden goose.”

The woman’s figure disappeared once more, merging with the wind and flying away soundlessly.