Chapter 749: Illusion Sword Pupil

Not far away, Bi Xuan was busy arranging and managing various affairs on the island.

"Bi Xuan."

He called out softly.

Hearing his voice, Bi Xuan instinctively turned to look at him.

With only that one glance, Bi Xuan’s entire person suddenly froze.

A look of confusion appeared in her eyes, and her whole being fell into a dazed state.

"How is this possible?"

It only lasted for a single breath before Bi Xuan woke up, but an uncontrollable look of shock surfaced on her delicate face.

After all, even though it had only lasted for a single breath, she was in the Spirit Manifestation Realm. Even if she was only at the 1st level, she was still a genuine Spirit Manifestation Realm powerhouse.

A cultivator at the 2nd level of Heavenly Core Realm had actually caused a 1st level Spirit Manifestation Realm expert to fall into an illusion.

No one would believe it if word got out.

"Not bad."

Seeing Bi Xuan’s shocked expression, a trace of a smile appeared on Li Yun’s face.

If he could confuse a 1st level Spirit Manifestation Realm cultivator for one breath without using the full power of his Nine Tribulations Divine Eye, then he could naturally confuse a cultivator at the 9th level of Heavenly Core Realm for much longer.

Even top powerhouses at the 2nd level of Spirit Manifestation Realm would be confused for at least three to five breaths.

This amount of time might not seem like much, but in battle, it was entirely enough to change the situation.

With Illusion-Extinguishing Sword Pupil, Li Yun could almost be said to stand on invincible ground.

Furthermore, although Illusion-Extinguishing Sword Pupil primarily resulted from the fusion of the pupil sword technique and Phantom Bubbles, it was not without offensive means.

Illusion-extinguishing had two meanings.

One was illusion.

The other was extinguishing.

As long as Li Yun wished, this pupil technique could shift completely from soul confusion to directly attacking the opponent’s soul, and its lethality would be even more formidable than Thunder Rain Soul-Snatching Sword.

"Now, it is time to use the Sword Intent Fruit."

In the time that followed, he consumed and absorbed the Sword Intent Fruit.

Then, he decided to raise both Immortal Sword Intent and Slaughter Sword Intent to sixty percent source mastery. That way, both Sword Intents could synchronize harmoniously.

"It is time to rest until the Challenge Tournament."

Li Yun had done his best to improve his strength.

Now, he was truly confident in the upcoming challenge.

Thus, the Elite Disciple Challenge Tournament of Sword Peak’s outer sect arrived as scheduled.

The first two stages of the challenge tournament did not have much to do with elite disciples like Li Yun. They were mainly meant to select candidates from the ordinary disciples.

In the first stage, the strongest one hundred disciples would be selected.

In the second stage, another eighty would be eliminated, leaving only the final twenty to compete against the original elite disciples in the third stage.

The rules of the third stage were also simple.

The twenty original elite disciples would each guard an arena, while the twenty challengers could choose any elite disciple to challenge.

However, all challengers only had two chances.

If both challenges failed, they would be eliminated.

Finally, after everyone’s challenge opportunities were exhausted, the twenty people still standing on the arenas would become the new batch of elite disciples.

Similarly, elite disciples also had the right to challenge each other.

The higher the rank of the arena occupied, the better the rewards would be after the Challenge Tournament ended.

Although the first two stages did not concern elite disciples like Li Yun, most of the elite disciples still went to watch the battles during the second stage, except for a small number of people.

After all, anyone who could pass two rounds of selection and enter the third stage was definitely not weak. It was always good to gain more understanding of future opponents.

And during these two selection stages, many experts did indeed emerge.

Although they were only ordinary disciples, their natural talent was not necessarily much worse, since they had entered the Profound Origin Immortal Sect. Combined with years of accumulation, it was not surprising that they possessed strength far exceeding ordinary cultivators.

For instance, the current number one outer sect disciple, Jiang Haobai, had originally been just an ordinary disciple.

However, he had deliberately suppressed his cultivation and stayed in the outer sect for many years, eventually becoming the strongest expert of Sword Peak’s outer sect.

Therefore, if one looked down on these challengers just because they were ordinary disciples, the outcome would undoubtedly be unpleasant.

Among these ordinary disciples, there was a white-robed youth named Ye Wuhen whose strength was terrifying.

Along the way, not a single opponent could withstand one strike of his sword. This even included several experts at the perfection stage of the 9th level of Heavenly Core Realm.

Such strength could rank at least in the top five, or even the top three, among all elite disciples.

Even the other ordinary disciples who obtained challenge qualifications were quite strong.

None of them were simple.

Finally, amidst much anticipation, the final stage of the Challenge Tournament began.

Twenty arenas were lined up.

Li Yun and the other elite disciples stood on their respective arenas, with Li Yun occupying the last one, Arena Number Twenty.

These arenas were arranged based on the sect elders’ assessment of the twenty elite disciples’ strength.

The stronger one was, the further forward their arena would be.

The weaker one was, the further back their arena would naturally be.

Li Yun’s apparent cultivation was only at the 2nd level of Heavenly Core Realm, so it was only natural for him to be assigned to Arena Number Twenty.

As soon as he stepped onto the arena, Li Yun felt countless burning gazes.

Except for a few people like Ye Wuhen, almost all the other challengers immediately looked toward him.

Around him, the ordinary disciples who were watching looked at Li Yun with mockery, disdain, or schadenfreude.

"Tsk, a fellow at the 2nd level of Heavenly Core Realm can actually become an elite disciple. I wonder how long it will take for this guy to be eliminated."

"Is that not obvious? He will be eliminated in the very first battle. Do you really think he can win even one match?"

"True, but this guy has already been an elite disciple for three months, so he has already gained quite a bit."

"You do not understand. It is one thing to never have had something good, but losing it after gaining it is not something ordinary people can handle. Following past tradition, many geniuses never recovered after losing their elite disciple status. In my view, this guy will be the next one."

The crowd’s discussions were completely undisguised.

In response, Li Yun’s expression remained incredibly calm.

He had long been mentally prepared for this scene.

If these people thought such words could shake his heart, they were completely wrong.

"You should all be very clear about the rules for the third stage."

Right then, a sect elder appeared above the arenas and called out loudly, "Challenges will begin in order of ranking, starting from the last challenger and moving forward."

"Now, the challenges begin."