There was less than a month before the Stars Ranking Tournament and all the prodigies and geniuses from the various sects of the East Unicorn Continent were getting prepared for it. Some of them were cultivating secret techniques, some were cultivating martial arts, while some were in seclusion in order to breakthrough one more level in cultivation.

=Heaven Fiend Sect=

On a mountain peak, in a courtyard where the Yan Clan was situated…

"Qingwu, you are our Yan Clan's rare prodigy that only appears once in a century. In this Stars Ranking Tournament, you must obtain the top 36 ranks. Only by obtaining the top 36 would you be rewarded with the Heaven Dipper Battle Qi, allowing you to quickly breakthrough to the Heaven Realm. Furthermore, when you are at the Heaven Realm, your cultivation speed will multiply. Or else, even if you are a 6-star bone frame, it will still take a lot of time for you to become a true martial expert." In the courtyard, a handsome middle-aged man with long hair was speaking to the absolute beauty, Yan Qingwu with hands behind his back.

Yan Qingwu nodded, "Father doesn't have to worry. Qingwu will certainly do it."

Her father was the Yan Clan's Patriarch, Yan Beitian and also the Protector of the Heaven Fiend Sect, he was at the 1st level of Reincarnation Realm.

"How is the cultivation of the 4-star secret technique, Flying Swallow Cleave that I imparted to you previously?" Yan Beitian inquired.

The Yan Clan was a veteran clan in the Heaven Fiend Sect which had deep foundations. They might not have 5-star secret techniques, but they did possess a 4-star secret technique.

Yan Qingwu replied, "Father, I have already cultivated the Flying Swallow Cleave to near completion rank."

"Good. With the near completion rank Flying Swallow Cleave, it shouldn't be a problem for you to obtain the top 36 rankings." Yan Beitian laughed heartily.

4-star secret techniques were very powerful and a sub-completion rank was equivalent to a completion rank 3-star secret technique.

=

Eternal Spring Valley=

One of the most elite sects in the East Unicorn Continent.

The Eternal Spring Valley was located in a small and compact valley. Su Muyu was wielding a scythe and practicing a secret technique.

Back at the tomb, she obtained a 6-star secret technique called the Qi Assembly Dipper, which could assemble qi into dipper qi.

Dipper qi was unrelated to the Heaven Dipper Realm.

It was a type of usage method of qi, or perhaps it was considered a higher grade qi.

By using stronger techniques, the qi that was cultivated would be dipper qi.

But such techniques would generally be earth class techniques.

Only a rare few mystic class peak-tier techniques were able to cultivate dipper qi and it had to be at an extremely high rank.

With the Qi Assembly Dipper secret technique, Su Muyu's overall ability had a sharp increase. Even though she was only able to cultivate the Qi Assembly Dipper to the green dipper state,

Pfff, Pfff, Pfff, Pfff!

In the valley, there were metallic ores which were the height of humans.

As the scythe was swung down, these metallic ores were all split apart like tofu.

"Heer!"

After 81 swings of the scythe, Su Muyu's qi presence rose up to the apex as there was a layer of red light on the scythe. With the red light's assistance, not only did Su Muyu slice apart the metallic ores effortlessly, she even sliced a deep crack in the ground.

"Red dipper state." Su Muyu had on a pleasant expression.

The Qi Assembly Dipper was separated into four states, green, red, yellow, and black. The green dipper state was considered a completion rank 3-star secret technique, while the red dipper sate was a completion rank 4-star secret technique, the yellow dipper state would be a 5-star secret technique, and the black dipper state would be a completion rank 6-star secret technique.

"With the red dipper state, I will have a higher probability to obtain the top ten rankings."

Su Muyu's cultivation was already at the 9th level of the Earth Realm, hence she didn't have inferior cultivation and it was something that Li Fuchen couldn't be compared to in regards to her.

=Azure Water Sect=

After spending less than ten days, Li Fuchen's Blaze Devil Sword Intent was finally at the consummate rank and was extremely close to a mystic class peak-tier sword intent.

"My contribution points are nearly emptied." Li Fuchen laughed bitterly.

He previously had more than ten million contribution points. Half of it was used to redeem various resources which he had been using until now. There was still a lot of leftovers, which was mainly because he had obtained quite a bit of resource on the outside as well.

More than half of his contribution points were nearly all exhausted at the Sword Monument Canyon.

100,000 contribution points for a single day wasn't something regular disciples could afford.

'But my gains are also immense. The Meteor Sword intent was actually promoted and reached the mystic class high-tier class.'

The Meteor Sword intent was originally a mystic class low-tier sword intent, but it had promoted twice and had even surpassed the Starfire Sword intent, Rotating Flow Sword intent, and the Nine Revolution Sword intent. He had to say that this was a miracle.

The mystic class high-tier Meteor Sword intent's speed and burst strength had reached a horrific level. Li Fuchen had tested it and when he executed the only sword move of the Meteor Sword Art, Meteor Fall, the sword speed was extremely shocking and in certain factors, it was even more dangerous than the Blaze Devil Sword Art.

When one's speed exceeds the opponent's reaction, many things will have lost the purpose.

In all the martial arts of the world, nothing can't be overcome, only speed.

(TL note: It means that speed is a crucial factor in all martial arts)

"The Meteor Sword intent shall be my main sword intent." Li Fuchen thought to himself.

His intuition told him that the potential of the Meteor Sword intent was very astounding and mustn't be treated like a regular sword intent.

"It is about time to breakthrough the Sword Essence secret technique."

Li Fuchen had never once dared to slack off on the Sword Essence secret technique.

Back at the Mystic Martial Hidden Domain, Li Fuchen had studied the Bronze Sword Essence chapter for a very long time.

The Bronze Sword Essence chapter had more than one thousand types of yellow class high-tier sword patterns, and by using them, Li Fuchen had formed nine types of mystic class mid-tier sword patterns. Once he combined the nine mystic class mid-tier sword patterns into a single mystic class high-tier sword pattern, the bronze sword pattern would be formed.

As time ticked by, Li Fuchen was gradually moving towards success using his astounding perception.

Combining three types of sword patterns into one.

Combining four types of sword patterns into one.

Combining five types of sword patterns into one.

…

Probably due to his robust and accumulated sword dao foundation and with the Blaze Devil Sword intent at the consummate stage, it allowed Li Fuchen to have a deeper understanding of the sword patterns, hence there wasn't much trouble in combining the sword patterns.

Combining seven types of sword patterns into one.

Combining eight types of sword patterns into one.

When nine types of sword pattern were combined into one, Li Fuchen's body emitted a dreadful qi presence.

But it the sword dao master or the sword pattern master, they were all actually seeking for the sword dao.

After having a complete grasp of the bronze sword pattern, Li Fuchen was already considered a sword pattern master.

At the same time, he was able to create mystic class sword arts, hence he was also considered a sword dao master.

Right now, the qi presence that was emitted from his body was unfathomable and horrific.

But soon enough, the horrifying qi presence was withdrawn and Li Fuchen regained his normal outlook.

'Sword patterns are also a part of the sword dao. After comprehending the bronze sword pattern, it feels as though the benefits aren't just the mastery of a secret technique.'

Li Fuchen felt as though his mind was surging with spirit light, like waves crashing.

At this moment, his sword dao foundation increased again and was waiting for another opportunity to burst out again.

After getting a complete grasp on the bronze sword pattern, Li Fuchen immediately began to condense the bronze sword pattern on his bones.

The bone which were originally covered in a black iron sword pattern was now slowly being invaded by the bronze sword pattern.

5%, 10%, 20%…

For the next few days, Li Fuchen replaced 30% of the black iron sword patterns on his bones with bronze sword patterns.

Chi!

With his middle and index finger extended, a wisp of bronze color sword qi was retracting and extending from the tips of Li Fuchen's fingers. It was extremely razor sharp.

"Bronze sword qi is not just two folds stronger than black iron sword qi. This is just after forming 30% of the bronze sword pattern."

Li Fuchen drew an arc with his finger, which sliced open a huge crack on the ground. It was immeasurably deep and its power was even more terrifying than a black gold sword emitting sword qi.