Transmigration: A person in a martial arts world, cultivating to ascend to immortality

Lingzhan and Huachengtian entered the stone pavilion and sat down opposite each other.

"Life is unpredictable, and no one knows when their life will undergo a dramatic change."

Hua Chengtian took the wine gourd hanging from his waist, twisted it open, and took a big gulp. "If Xiao Sheng hadn't gotten lost back then, or if I hadn't abandoned you in my haste to search for him, perhaps everything would be different now." He shook his head again and gave a self-deprecating smile. "In this world, there aren't that many 'perhaps'."

After saying this, he channeled his inner strength and threw the wine gourd in his hand to Ling Zhan.

Lingzhan seemed to sense something and immediately used his inner strength to catch the flying wine gourd.

The moment his palm touched the gourd, Lingzhan was startled.

The true energy that Hua Chengtian had attached to the gourd had not yet dissipated, so he could clearly sense the power of this true energy.

This is definitely not something an ordinary top-tier expert can possess!

"Your strength—"

Lingzhan looked at Huachengtian with a surprised expression.

A year ago, the two were evenly matched. Even if Hua Chengtian trained non-stop for a whole year, it would be impossible for him to widen such a big gap in just one year.

Something must have happened during this time that he was unaware of.

"My strength?"

Hua Chengtian looked at his palm and sneered, "I have to thank that arrogant woman for this. If she hadn't been so conceited and impatient, how could I have so easily found a loophole and drained all my power!"

Lingzhan was completely confused, and his brows furrowed even more.

Hua Chengtian continued to mock, as if talking to himself, "That woman is truly naive! She thinks that by absorbing all my power and reaching the Grandmaster level, she can easily ascend to the position of sect leader. How pathetic! Little does she know, the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind."

"She thought she was playing the role of the praying mantis, but she never imagined that she was just the cicada. But what does it matter if she is a cicada or a praying mantis? In the end, she still cannot escape the fate of becoming food in the mouth of the oriole."

After saying that, Hua Chengtian suddenly turned to look at Ling Zhan, who was frowning and staring at him, and pointed to the wine gourd that Ling Zhan had placed on the table. "Why aren't you drinking? I brought this especially for you."

Ling Zhan shook his head. "I appreciate your kindness. But as you know, I don't like drinking."

"No, no, no." Hua Chengtian waved his finger. "You have to drink this wine. Even just a sip will do." He then leaned closer, raising an eyebrow and smiling. "What? Are you afraid I've poisoned it?"

Faced with Hua Chengtian's unusual behavior, Ling Zhan was too lazy to argue, so he simply twisted open the wine gourd and took a small sip.

As soon as the drink entered his mouth, Ling Zhan sensed that something was off about the taste.

It appears to contain some kind of medicinal herb.

But Ling Zhan didn't think too much about it. After finishing his drink, he immediately covered the gourd, threw it back to Hua Chengtian, and said:

"Didn't you just say you had something to tell me?"

Hua Chengtian's expression instantly calmed down. After a long silence, he slowly said, "Not long ago, I went back to Fancheng. At that time, the abandoned City God Temple where the three of us—Xiao Sheng, you, and I—lived together hadn't been demolished; it was still the same as it was more than ten years ago. If you have time in the future, you can go back and take a look."

Ling Zhan nodded. "I will."

Hua Chengtian smiled, stood up, and looked at the full moon hanging in the sky. "It's getting late, you should go back."

Is this all you wanted to tell me?

Ling Zhan also stood up, looking at Hua Chengtian's back with a puzzled expression.

"That's all."

Hua Chengtian didn't turn around. "Do you think I came to see you so late because of something important?"

"If that's the case, then I'll go back."

Ling Zhan stood silently for a while, and seeing that Hua Chengtian no longer spoke, he turned around and walked out of the stone pavilion.

After Ling Zhan's figure completely disappeared, Hua Chengtian remained motionless, standing still like a statue, staring blankly at the full moon hanging in the sky.

……

The morning light is dim.

Just like yesterday, Jiang Yuchuan and Qi Changqing left the city early and set off for the Suspended Sword Pavilion.

After yesterday's fierce competition for the spots, the one hundred martial artists who will participate in today's ranking battle have been officially determined.

Although Jiang Yuchuan didn't witness the entire process yesterday, Qi Changqing immediately recounted to him in vivid detail the fierce battles for swords and tokens he had seen at the foot of the mountain after returning.

Among them, those who performed the best and displayed the most remarkable strength were all disciples from the four major sects and the Gongfeng Academy.

The disciples of these five factions basically did not choose to form alliances with anyone. They all relied on their own strength to obtain the sword tokens on the mountain peak and easily defeated all the other martial artists who were besieging them and trying to take the sword tokens from them.

Everyone could see that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the top ten in this second ranking battle would be selected from these individuals. Other martial artists simply didn't see any chance.

When Jiang Yuchuan and Qi Changqing arrived at the training ground, it was almost full of people.

Just as Jiang Yuchuan was looking around for a seat, a striking red figure appeared in his line of sight and waved frantically at him.

This person is Jiang Jihai.

Seeing the two empty seats that had been deliberately left next to Jiang Jihai, Jiang Yuchuan smiled slightly and walked over with Qi Changqing.

Jiang Jihai chose a seat in the second-to-last row.

After Jiang Yuchuan and Qi Changqing were seated, Jiang Jihai pointed to the huge scroll hanging between the two thick stone pillars directly in front of the training ground and said:

"Look over there, sir. The list of today's matches has been released and is written on that rolled-up blue cloth. I secretly glanced at the list before it was hung up. I saw that Brother Chen's first match is today's third match."

Jiang Yuchuan glanced at him. "In my opinion, the name you're looking for isn't Lu Jingchen. Seeing him was probably just a side thing."

"Hehe." Jiang Jihai smiled sheepishly, "It's good that you know, sir. Why did you have to say it out loud? It makes me so embarrassed."

Qi Changqing seized the opportunity to say, "Sir, I saw Brother Jiang's sweetheart yesterday. She's so beautiful!" Then, he shook his head and sighed, "It's just a pity—when Brother Jiang greeted her warmly, he was met with her cold indifference."

"What do you know, you brat who hasn't even grown all his hair yet!"

Jiang Jihai argued, "Wan Ning is cold on the outside but warm on the inside, and she's also shy. Naturally, she wouldn't respond to me in front of so many people."

Qi Changqing blinked his big eyes at Jiang Jihai and grinned, "Since you know she's shy, why did you still greet her in front of so many people?"

"I—I—"

Jiang Jihai stared at Qi Changqing for a long time, almost turning red in the face, before finally giving in and mumbling, "I couldn't help myself back then..."

Just then, Jiang Yuchuan seemed to sense something and turned to look directly in front of the training ground.

A moment later, a long sword flew in from afar and quickly came into everyone's view.

The longsword arrived in an instant, severing the rope binding the scroll as it flew, revealing the list of opponents to everyone.

After cutting the hemp rope, the longsword was planted directly in the center of the training ground, the blade sinking nearly a foot into the ground.

The two large characters 'Tianlu' are neatly engraved directly below the hilt of the sword.