King of Ten Thousand Years

Xuanwu Square, Sub-match 1.

Xia Bingyue, dressed in a snow-white robe, had skin of ice and bones of jade. Her jet-black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, making her resemble an immortal descended to the mortal realm.

"I, Xia Bingyue, am a woman of my word. You won with your Ninth Layer Cultivation, a well-deserved victory. Bingyue is willing to offer herself to you in marriage."

The top prodigy on the Human List, the Ice Immortal maiden who had suppressed all the contemporary geniuses of the Azure Cloud Kingdom, blushed a rosy red as she fulfilled the promise she had once made.

Whoever from her generation could defeat her, she would marry.

Xia Bingyue was upholding not just her promise, but also her conviction in the Sword Dao.

It was precisely this devotion to the Sword Dao that had allowed her to stand above all others on the Human List and grasp a sliver of True Sword Dao Intent while still in the Spirit Sea Realm, making her a rare sword prodigy seen only once in centuries.

"Offer herself in marriage?"

Luo Tian was shaken to the core. He stared at Xia Bingyue, dumbfounded and in disbelief.

An uproar erupted among the geniuses from the various Wu Mansions outside the platform. All of them were stunned, their faces frozen in shock.

Everyone’s first reaction was to wonder if they had misheard.

Or perhaps, Xia Bingyue was only joking.

Luo Tian felt the same.

However, the breathtakingly beautiful girl before him had a captivating blush on her icy, jade-like face, and her eyes shone with firm resolve.

"How is this possible!"

"How could Fairy Xia marry that brat..."

Shocked and angry questions, even hysterical roars, could be heard from offstage.

Xia Bingyue’s talent and beauty were unmatched on the Human List; she was the dream goddess of countless young men of her generation.

They had all fantasized about defeating this stunning Ice Immortal and making her their wife.

But in this moment, the dream in the hearts of all these young men had been realized by someone else.

This was a bolt from the blue, driving the numerous geniuses to the brink of madness.

In that instant, countless gazes—filled with jealousy, rage, and murderous intent—locked onto Luo Tian.

If looks could kill, Luo Tian would have died innumerable times over.

"Miss Xia, a matter as important as marriage is no child’s play..."

Luo Tian took a deep breath, his eyes falling on the girl in white robes, her shoulders partially exposed, exuding an air of icy purity and jade-like flawlessness.

If he agreed, this girl, as beautiful as an ice fairy, could become his wife, or at least his fiancée.

Luo Tian wanted to refuse, but he hesitated.

’It must have taken immense courage for a young woman, especially one of stunning beauty, to offer herself in marriage.’

Furthermore, he held no ill will toward Xia Bingyue. In fact, after their battle, he even felt a sense of mutual respect.

"Bingyue is certain."

Xia Bingyue’s serene, ice-clear eyes fixed on Luo Tian’s face, a hint of indescribable complexity within them. Her beautiful face could not hide her blush.

As for Luo Tian, Xia Bingyue held no favorable feelings for him; before their fight, she even had a rather poor impression of him.

But Luo Tian, with only a Ninth Layer of Meridian Opening cultivation, had defeated her—an expert at the Half-step Spirit Sea Realm. This had shaken her heart of the Sword Dao, dealing it a setback.

Under these circumstances, she could not retreat. Instead, she had to face the difficulty head-on and fulfill her promise. Only then could she transform this setback into a trial to temper herself and elevate her Sword Dao to a higher level.

SWISH!

With a flash of white, Xia Bingyue vanished from the platform.

Luo Tian sighed inwardly. This heavenly blessing, a stroke of luck others could only dream of, was somehow proving to be a problem for him.

But Luo Tian understood that Xia Bingyue wasn’t offering herself because she had a good impression of him or liked him.

’Looks like I need to find a chance to talk to Xia Bingyue in private.’ Luo Tian made a decision. ’It would be best if I could resolve this tactfully without hurting Xia Bingyue’s pride.’

"Luo Tian!"

From Sub-match 2, Wang Tian’s icy, murderous gaze was fixed fiercely on Luo Tian.

At the auction house, Wang Tian had already clashed with Luo Tian and developed killing intent.

Now, the woman he desired to conquer had been snatched away by Luo Tian. How could he possibly let this go?

"Damn it! Bingyue is actually going to marry this man! I absolutely refuse to allow it!"

Yuwen Xuan from Sub-match 3 let out an angry roar.

He had admired Xia Bingyue for a long time, even going so far as to join the Panshi Martial Mansion and participate in this grand event just to fulfill his life’s wish.

Who would have thought that the goddess of his heart would be marrying some weakling at the Ninth Layer of Meridian Opening.

’I absolutely must stop this!’

"That brat actually got Xia Bingyue to offer herself to him!"

The Seventh Prince, Li Yao, was furious. He was going mad with jealousy, his eyes bloodshot.

Even though he was a second-generation heir with the most money and power, when it came to a heaven-gifted prodigy like Xia Bingyue, the number one on the Human List, he knew he was out of his league.

What made him furious was that Luo Tian, a commoner Martial Artist he once disdained, was about to possess such a perfect, fairy-like ice beauty.

"Luo Tian!"

Liu Ziyan clenched her teeth, her heart filled with resentment, humiliation, and unwillingness.

She had once wanted Luo Tian to look up at her from below, to make him regret rejecting their marriage all those years ago.

But reality kept moving in the opposite direction.

Whether it was Princess Yunxiu or now Xia Bingyue, they were both women she could only look up to with envy.

Yet, these noble and perfect women were throwing themselves at Luo Tian one after another.

In comparison, she felt so small and insignificant.

...

At the Wu Mansion Grand Gathering, the first round of sub-matches gradually came to a close.

After Luo Tian and Xia Bingyue’s battle, two more rounds of elimination took place.

The rankings for Sub-match 1 were more or less decided.

Each sub-match would determine five qualifiers.

Sub-match 1.

Xia Bingyue took first place with the most points.

Luo Tian was second. He had only lost one match, yet won the promise of a beauty’s hand in marriage.

After them, third place was the Seventh Prince, Li Yao.

Fourth place: Xu Mengxin.

Fifth place: Xi Shan.

As night fell, the matches in the other sub-matches also concluded one after another.

Although every sub-match had its highlights, Sub-match 1 remained the most watched and most exciting.

Especially since Xia Bingyue had fulfilled her promise to "offer herself in marriage," leaving countless young men heartbroken and resentful.

"The first round of sub-matches is over!"

"The top five from each sub-match will advance to the second round, the ’Ranking Challenge’!"

An Imperial Elder announced.

The second round of matches was held at night.

On Xuanwu Square, pillars of light from arrays lit up the spectator stands and the surrounding area, turning night into day.

BUZZ! BOOM!

Under the glow of the arrays, the four Martial Combat Platforms from the sub-matches began to sink, disappearing into the ground.

Immediately after, in the very center of the square, the radiant light of an array surged, and a tall, magnificent bluestone dais emerged.

On the bluestone dais were two rows of golden stone seats.

There were ten seats in each row, for a total of twenty.

"Qualifiers, please take your seats according to your point rankings."

The Imperial Elder and several judges took out a list and began to make arrangements.

Xia Bingyue, first place from Sub-match 1, indisputably took the first golden stone seat in the first row.

And so on.

Wang Tian, first place from Sub-match 2, sat in the second seat of the first row.

Yuwen Xuan, first place from Sub-match 3, took the third seat.

The Third Prince, Li Yi, first place from Sub-match 4, was ranked fourth.

The positions of the four great, influential geniuses remained unshaken.

However, starting from fifth place, there was a change.

Luo Tian, second place from Sub-match 1, sat in the fifth seat of the first row.

"Fifth place in the grand event!"

"Who is this guy? How did he rank fifth?"

Seeing Luo Tian take the fifth seat, some of the geniuses in the audience were astonished.

Not everyone had been paying attention to Luo Tian’s fights.

There were several hundred participants split into four sub-matches, and some of the arenas were quite far apart.

Only a small number of people had watched all of Luo Tian’s battles.

"Luo Tian actually fought his way to fifth place?"

The participating geniuses from the Sun Chasing Holy Mansion were shocked.

Senior Jin Fan, Nangong Yu, Xie Lin, and the others had incredibly complicated expressions.

Of course, this was just a provisional ranking determined by the organizers based on points and performance in the first round.

In the second round’s Ranking Challenge, those who were unconvinced could issue challenges to establish a more definitive ranking.

Behind Luo Tian, in sixth place, was Hong Peng of the Martial Kun Holy Mansion, who was ranked fifth on the Human List.

"Hmph!"

Hong Peng’s skin was like black iron. He also practiced Body Refining Techniques, making his physique extremely powerful and giving off a heavy, oppressive aura.

Clearly, Hong Peng was not at all convinced that Luo Tian deserved fifth place.

Seventh place, Senior Jin Fan.

Eighth place, the Seventh Prince.

...

Overall, the biggest change in the top ten came from Luo Tian, pushing many people’s ranks down by one spot.

"Not bad! The Sun Chasing Holy Mansion has three people in the top ten."

On the spectator platform, Vice Manor Master Yue wore a smile.

Although this result was still inferior to the Cloud Heaven and Martial Kun Holy Mansions, it was much better than expected and not a disgrace.

Before long, the top twenty of the Wu Mansion Grand Gathering had all taken their places in the two rows of golden seats on the dais.

"The Ranking Challenge begins now!"

"First, the eliminated students from outside the top ranks—specifically, the top ten from each sub-match—will have one chance to challenge someone in the top twenty."

The Imperial Elder announced.

This was the last chance for those who had been eliminated.

The organizers had taken into account the geniuses who might have failed to make the top twenty due to bad luck.

Another twenty geniuses appeared below the dais, all of them high-ranking eliminated contestants.

Most of these challengers were at the Peak of Ninth Layer, and some were even at the Half-step Spirit Sea Realm.

Each of them had a single chance to challenge.

"I challenge the one in twentieth place!"

"I challenge the one in nineteenth place!"

A student at the Peak of Ninth Layer and another at the Half-step Spirit Sea Realm issued their challenges.

As it turned out, the rankings from the first round of selections held a certain degree of authority.

Both challengers were defeated within twenty moves.

After several consecutive failures.

"I challenge the one in eighteenth place."

A tall, handsome young man stepped forward.

It was Nangong Yu.

The person in eighteenth place was a blue-robed youth at the Half-step Spirit Sea Realm, a student of the Cloud Heaven Holy Mansion.

"Challenging me? You already lost to me once during the sub-matches."

The blue-robed youth shot a teasing glance at Nangong Yu.

Nangong Yu had placed sixth in his sub-match, just barely missing his chance to enter the top twenty.

For someone with his Peak of Eighth Layer of Meridian Opening cultivation, this was truly not easy.

"Begin!"

The blue-robed youth and Nangong Yu quickly clashed.

In less than ten moves, the blue-robed youth, relying on the advantage of his Half-step Spirit Sea cultivation, was clearly suppressing Nangong Yu.

"Activate!"

Nangong Yu shouted.

BUZZ!

The True Qi in his body began to boil like a dormant volcano erupting, bursting forth with an incomparably powerful aura.

In an instant, Nangong Yu’s combat strength doubled or even tripled.

Furthermore, his cultivation instantly broke through to the Ninth Layer of Meridian Opening.

BOOM! CRACK!

Nangong Yu unleashed an extremely dense Cyan Jade Palm Light that emanated power comparable to the Spirit Sea Realm, sending the blue-robed youth flying and coughing up blood.

"Challenge successful!"

The nearby judge showed a look of astonishment.

The tyrannical power that Nangong Yu had just unleashed startled many of those in the top twenty.

SWOOSH!

Nangong Yu stepped onto the dais, taking the eighth seat in the second row, which ranked him eighteenth.

During this process, Luo Tian’s and Nangong Yu’s gazes met, and Luo Tian could feel the latter’s unyielding fighting spirit.

’This Nangong Yu... his cultivation technique is really strange. The longer a fight goes on, the stronger he gets,’ Luo Tian mused. ’Based on my current perception, the power of the cultivation technique Nangong Yu practices is no weaker than my own Guiyuan True Skill.’

Nangong Yu’s successful challenge inspired many others.

"I challenge the one in fifth place!"

A fierce and powerful voice rang out.

It was a burly man, his eyes shining as he stared at Luo Tian as if he had just found an unexpected, delightful surprise.

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