Rise of the Sword Son-in-Law

Chapter 220: The Beginning of Holy Refinement

"You may rise!"

The Sovereign of Great Qin spoke, his voice booming with an air of majesty.

"Thank Emperor Xie!"

The crowd responded in unison.

Situ Feng and others looked somewhat surprisedly at Xu Ping’an and Li Qingyi.

Neither of them kneeled?

However, Xu Ping’an paid them no attention and continued to watch.

"Let’s begin!" the Sovereign of Great Qin declared before taking his seat at the main chair.

At the same time, a middle-aged man clad in battle armor stepped forward.

This man was a Seventh Rank Expert, apparently the commander of the Long Yan Army.

"I will now announce the rules for the sacred alchemy competition of the Immortal Dynasty," he said.

"The competition is divided into three rounds, lasting thirty days as usual, with the first round lasting ten days. All participants will enter the First Round, which will take place in the Holy Heaven Holy Land. It’s an elimination round: kill one person to gain one point. Only the top five hundred scorers will advance to the second round. In the secret realm, when someone is killed, they won’t die, but will instead be teleported out. However, unlike before, these points will carry over to the second and even the third round," the Long Yan Army commander announced.

Everyone at the venue was astonished.

The rules have changed?

The points carry over?

So, does that mean the final ranking is determined by points?

That means you have to kill even more in the first round?

Xu Ping’an was also somewhat surprised.

As for not dying in the secret realm, Xu Ping’an was not too shocked, since many such realms existed in the Spirit Realm.

Essentially, many powers in the Spirit Realm had such secret realms to train their disciples.

And those who entered didn’t have to worry about being killed.

"The second round will take place in the Hundred Monster Tower, where you also accumulate points. The top one hundred scorers will advance to the third round," the Long Yan commander said.

The onlookers were inwardly shocked; it really was as expected.

You really need to kill more in the first round, hiding won’t do any good.

"The third round will divide participants into ten groups based on points, with one-on-one battles. One person from each group will advance, gaining all the points of the opponent upon winning, whereas the loser’s points will reset to zero," the commander Yan Wu stated.

The crowd listened silently. This made the competition seem somewhat fairer.

"Now, let me discuss the rewards. Anyone who enters the top five hundred will receive a Fifth Rank Dragon Transformation Elixir. For those advancing from five hundred to one hundred in the second round, the reward will be a High Grade Spiritual Artifact and an Earth Rank Combat Technique manual," he continued.

The surrounding crowd revealed astonished expressions upon hearing this, the rewards were indeed quite generous.

Xu Ping’an, however, continued to listen; he wasn’t interested in these rewards.

"The top ten of the third round will receive a Heaven Rank Combat Technique manual, a Superior Grade Spiritual Artifact, and three Sixth Rank Superior Grade Elixirs," he added.

The crowd gasped in amazement; the rewards were incredibly lavish.

"The fifth place gets a slot to enter the Jade Immortal Realm, three days of access to the Scripture Pavilion of the Imperial Academy, plus one session of instruction from Emperor Xie, and three days of cultivation opportunity in the Ancient Hao Tian Secret Realm. Fourth place gets to spend four days at the Imperial Academy, one session with Emperor Xie, and four days in the Hao Tian Secret Realm. The rewards for second and first place follow the same pattern," he elaborated.

Upon hearing this, everyone gasped.

The rewards were truly unprecedented.

Even Emperor Xie’s instruction and the Hao Tian Secret Realm were included, which had not been seen before.

Even Xu Ping’an was somewhat surprised; the rewards were truly significant.

As for the Hao Tian Secret Realm, he guessed it must be a sacred place for cultivation.

A single day of cultivation there was worth a hundred days in the outside world.

Even Xu Ping’an found this enticing.

"It seems I need to work hard to secure a spot," Xu Ping’an thought to himself with a silent chuckle.

"Very well, please ask the Martial King and General Dingguo to work together to open the Holy Heaven Secret Realm," the Long Yan general commanded.

After speaking, two figures flew out, unleashing immensely powerful True Yuan.

The heavens shook instantly, and a huge spatial vortex appeared above the battlefield.

The vortex was filled with an air of ancient times.

"It really is an Ancient Secret Realm," Xu Ping’an thought with some surprise.

He wondered whether this secret realm was an inheritance from the Mortal Realm or if it came from somewhere else.

"Buzz!" At the same time, a huge scroll unfurled in the sky.

"Please leave a drop of your fresh blood on this scroll," commanded Long Yan.

Xu Ping’an could tell at a glance that this scroll was integrated with the secret realm.

The scroll, having received their blood, would ensure their survival in the secret realm.

It also enabled monitoring of their locations within the realm and displayed everything they did, including their points ranking, of course.

One after another, figures flew out, left their blood, and then soared into the spatial vortex.

The sky was crowded with thousands of geniuses taking flight.

The spectators on the ground were thrilled; the Holy Refinement was finally about to begin.

Xu Ping’an didn’t rush to fly out but waited silently instead.

He was observing, watching who was present.

As expected, several powerful auras emanated from the major forces.

"We’ll go ahead," Situ Feng, Lei Hu, and others could no longer wait and darted into the vortex.

"Shall we go too?" Li Qingyi turned to Xu Ping’an and said.

"Alright," Xu Ping’an nodded.

Suddenly, at that moment, Xu Ping’an sensed a dangerous aura.

He swiftly turned his head to look to his left, only to see an unfamiliar woman looking at him.

Xu Ping’an frowned.

Who is this?

I don’t know her!

Why is she looking at me with a hint of murderous intent in her eyes?

For some reason, this woman felt eerily familiar and dangerous to him.

"Fifth Rank First Layer Realm, Five Elements Sect, that seems to be a third-rate power, right?" mused Xu Ping’an internally.

The person was only at the Fifth Rank First Layer, but why did he feel a sense of danger from her?

Could it be that she was hiding her true strength?

The woman only glanced at Xu Ping’an before quickly flying into the vortex.

As the woman entered the vortex, the sovereign seated in the main chair glanced at her, his brows furrowing slightly, but they soon relaxed.

Xu Ping’an also watched the woman thoughtfully.

"What’s wrong?" asked Dugu Tianyu from beside him.

"It’s nothing!" Xu Ping’an shook his head, collecting his thoughts and deciding not to dwell on it further.

"It’s normal to be a bit nervous, just relax," Dugu Tianyu offered comfortingly.

Xu Ping’an couldn’t help but smile ruefully; when had he ever been nervous?

It’s probably been you who’s been nervous all along.

"Let’s go," said Xu Ping’an to Li Qingyi.

Li Qingyi nodded, and then she and Xu Ping’an flew together towards the vortex.

As soon as he entered the vortex, Xu Ping’an felt a sensation of the world spinning around him.

Meanwhile, Li Qingyi had already vanished from sight.

Clearly, Li Qingyi and he had been separated; the vortex contained a teleportation formation.

Entering the secret realm was likely just a random teleportation.

Sure enough, after a moment of dizziness, Xu Ping’an landed on an expansive stretch of ground.

The surroundings were a vast wilderness, emanating a strong wild aura.

However, the spiritual energy here was dozens of times denser than the outside world.

"Indeed, a good place for cultivation," Xu Ping’an muttered to himself.

He began to operate his Cultivation Technique, absorbing these heavenly and earthly spiritual energies.

He also popped an Explosive Elemental Pill into his mouth and started silently converting True Yuan.

Not knowing if the outside world was watching, he dared not use the Monster Core.

The effects of the Monster Core would have been even better.

While operating his Cultivation Technique, he also started to wander around.

If killing more meant earning more points, then naturally, one had to kill.