Manager of the Tower was also lost in thought at this scene.

How could they possibly investigate the background of every Sword Cultivator? The Sword Tower didn’t have an intelligence network like the Seek Dao Sect’s Task Hall; they couldn’t even begin to conduct such thorough investigations.

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Besides, this situation had never occurred during previous Sword Inquiry Conventions.

Strange affair.

"Tower Master, I’m afraid this isn’t a good sign. Should we prepare for something?" A certain Elder of the Sword Tower felt that this Sword Inquiry Convention was extraordinary and quietly transmitted his voice to the Tower Master.

Manager of the Tower nodded in agreement with the Elder’s view. The events of this Sword Inquiry Convention had already exceeded the Sword Tower’s capabilities, "Indeed, it’s not a good omen. Let’s inform the government office first, so they can send more people, lest we can’t apprehend everyone when the time comes."

The Sword Tower was not one of the Five Great Immortal Sects and held no law enforcement authority.

...

The first group of competitions, aside from massive irreconcilable differences between individual Sword Cultivators, didn’t have anything else noteworthy.

Xuanxuan and Wu’er’s iron top competition attracted the attention of many Sword Cultivators. The two members of the Sea Clan clashed to the extreme. First, Wu’er activated his hidden bloodline, and an Illusory Shadow of his ancestor appeared overhead, granting him new strength and the upper hand.

Soon after, Xuanxuan activated his hidden bloodline, the Illusory Shadow of an ancestor appeared, turning the situation around and gaining the upper hand.

In the end, Xuanxuan, acting later, held the advantage and secured the victory.

With this, the first group’s competition successfully drew to a close.

Since they were all incarnations of Sword Intent, even if one killed the opponent, at most it would just result in the collapse of Sword Intent, preventing any danger to life.

Of course, if there were to be any vendettas after the competition, that would be out of their control.

Compared to the first group, the second group of competitions was even more worth watching. In the second group, there were Mingtai and Lu Yang, two young and much-anticipated new stars of Swordsmanship; people had only heard rumors, this was the first time they would see them in action.

However, the most eye-catching was Yue Chuan; he stepped onto the stage directly with the Sword Spirit Ah Lan.

A Sword Spirit, being part of a sword, did not violate any rules.

Lu Yang did not allow the Immortal Sword Spirit Fairy Eternity to take the stage. If the Fairy were to join in, not to mention the Sword Cultivators participating in this Sword Inquiry Convention, even if all the Sword Cultivators from all previous conventions were bundled together, they wouldn’t be enough for Fairy Eternity to fight alone.

Lu Yang believed in fighting honorably and squarely and not relying on those nebulous external powers.

Lu Yang’s opponent was a Cultivator dressed in somewhat strange attire, pale-faced and seemingly unable to withstand a breeze, holding an Ice Sword with snowflake patterns etched onto its surface.

Mingtai had mentioned this person before; he was a Cultivator from the Extreme Northern Lands named Xue Shilou, somewhat famous in that region.

To be introduced by Mingtai meant he must possess exceptional skills. However, when compared to Lu Yang, he was undoubtedly far inferior.

"It’s a shame for this Xue Shilou, encountering Lu Yang in the first match."

"No helping it, that’s just bad luck there."

"It’s uncertain how much of Lu Yang’s strength he’ll be able to force out."

"I hope the fight lasts a little longer, the more of Lu Yang’s hidden cards are forced out, the better for us."

Hearing the soft discussions of the Sword Cultivators below the stage, Xue Shilou’s eyes were full of determination. So what if Lu Yang had high Swordmanship Talent? He could make up for the gap with effort. Over his tens of years practicing swordsmanship, his tears, sweat, and scars were countless.

On this journey, he had faced so many powerful opponents, and many had said he couldn’t win, yet he proved them all wrong in the end.

On the platform, within a moment’s time, they exchanged dozens of moves. Xue Shilou lived up to his reputation as a Swordsmanship genius from the Extreme Northern Lands, tempered over the years, with a Sword Intent that carried a trace of severe cold and decisiveness.

This was Lu Yang’s first time experiencing a fight as an incarnation of Sword Intent, and he found it quite novel.

After experiencing what it was like to fight as an incarnation of Sword Intent, it was time to get serious.

As Lu Yang’s sword skills changed, Xue Shilou suddenly felt the pressure multiply. It was as if Lu Yang wasn’t wielding a sword, but a great hammer capable of shaking heaven and earth. Each collision sent shockwaves up his wrist, making them tingle numb.

Could this be Lu Yang’s true strength? Had everything before just been a warm-up?

Cold sweat broke out on Xue Shilou’s forehead. Since they both used incarnations of Sword Intent, unrelated to cultivation level, it meant Lu Yang’s Sword Intent was far superior to his.

Lu Yang’s sword skills were both heavy and fast. He seemed to see through Xue Shilou’s moves, aiming at his weaknesses with every strike, forcing Xue Shilou into a position where he could only defend, unable to attack.

The spectating Sword Cultivators also realized that Xue Shilou was merely resisting and that defeat was only a matter of time.

But none of them could figure out how, if they were in his shoes facing Lu Yang, they probably would end up with the same fate as Xue Shilou.

"Why not just concede?" Lu Yang suggested earnestly, wanting to finish the fight early so he could watch how others competed before their matches ended.

"No!" said Xue Shilou earnestly. Even though he was at a disadvantage, his eyes were resolute, not swayed by the overwhelming disparity in strength.

Lu Yang was taken aback for a moment, realizing his attitude was incorrect. As a Sword Cultivator, one should fight to the last moment. The notion of conceding was akin to slapping Xue Shilou in the face. "Sorry," Lu Yang said seriously, "As compensation, I will use my full strength to defeat you!"

Feeling Lu Yang’s increasingly heavy and swift attacks, Xue Shilou was drenched in sweat, and his blood was almost boiling.

Was the gap between himself and a real Swordmanship Talent so vast? Was he truly going to stop here?

Xue Shilou’s expression became distant for a moment as his memory was pulled back to his childhood.

...

In the midst of the heavy snowfall, Xue Shilou, holding a broken iron sword, stood on a wooden post as the north wind whistled past, the snowflakes hitting his face painfully.

"Master, I can’t hold on much longer."

Xue Shilou gritted his teeth as he spoke, not daring to speak loudly for fear of swallowing the descending snowflakes.

His master, hunched over, leaning on a cane, seemed completely oblivious to Xue Shilou’s teetering stance.

"Continue to endure, you must adapt to this environment, block this blizzard, and in the future, you will understand the significance of today’s training."

...

"Master, had you foreseen today’s events long ago?" Xue Shilou murmured to himself, Lu Yang’s attack was strikingly similar to the blizzards of the Extreme Northern Lands.

He slowly reined in his sword skills, narrowing his defensive stance, adjusting his movements, and stood in a somewhat odd posture—it was the stance of Stance Sword Style.

He gradually recalled his master’s teachings, every detail of practicing the sword, and how seemingly unrelated techniques at thmoment linked together to form a new move.

"Stance Sword Style!"

This was the sword style that could withstand the fierce blizzard, the one even his master had not completed!

"Slice."

Lu Yang softly uttered the word "slice" as his Sword Qi transformed into a full moon, piercing right through Stance Sword Style and knocking Xue Shilou to the edge of the arena, rendering him unconscious.

"Junior Brother Xue is unconscious, this is not good," a sword cultivator watching below said urgently upon seeing Xue Shilou pass out.

"Fellow daoist, what will happen now that Xue Shilou is unconscious?" someone asked.

The man sighed, "Xue Shilou is my junior brother; he was an orphan picked up by our master. At a very young age, he showed an astonishing swordmanship talent, and the master considered him his rightful successor."

"Just when the master thought he had taken in a good disciple, an accident happened. Junior Brother Xue fainted and upon losing consciousness, another consciousness took over his body. Under that condition, Junior Brother Xue became cruel and formidable, and it was during such a time that he broke our master’s leg."

"Later, when Junior Brother Xue woke up, he remembered nothing, and neither I nor the master ever spoke of the incident."

"Master suspected that Junior Brother Xue had experienced some trauma before being found, resulting in his split personality."

Sure enough, after Xue Shilou lost consciousness, he somehow managed to stand up again, and his entire demeanor underwent a dramatic transformation.

"How could this trash faint again, it looks like I’ll have to handle this," "Xue Shilou" said, looking at Lu Yang with a cruel smile on his lips.

"Slice."

As usual, Lu Yang softly uttered "slice," knocking the alternate persona of Xue Shilou unconscious as well.

Within the world of Xue Shilou’s mind, there existed two versions of himself, one embodying light and the other darkness.

"So it was me who broke Master’s leg?" the bright Xue Shilou cried out in anguish, "No, it was you, you’re the one who hurt the master!"

The dark Xue Shilou snorted at this, "So what if I did? It’s all because the Bloodline Power within you is too overpowering to control, which is why my personality was split from yours."

"Without me, you would have frozen to death before our master ever found you."

Seeing the bright Xue Shilou still crying, the dark Xue Shilou showed a look of frustrated concern.

"Crying, what’s the use of crying? Will tears defeat your opponent?"

"Then what do you suggest we do!" the bright Xue Shilou shouted between sobs.

The dark Xue Shilou revealed a complicated smile, "Just now, you grasped the Stance Sword Style and ascended to a new level of realm, just a little help shy from being ready to handle your Bloodline Power."

"A little help?" the bright Xue Shilou was taken aback.

Without explaining further, the dark Xue Shilou stepped forward and embraced the bright Xue Shilou, his form slowly dissolving.

"We need to merge. I hope when I am gone, you will no longer be the crybaby who weeps at every difficulty."

"Little An!" the bright Xue Shilou shouted, desperately trying to grasp the other aspect of himself, but in the end, all he clutched was a patch of light.

In reality, the fallen Xue Shilou once again slowly rose to his feet, his gaze filled with sorrow and resolve. He slowly raised his sword, facing Lu Yang, as if speaking as one person, yet simultaneously as two voices in unison.

"Lu Yang, I will defeat you!"

"This aura, he possesses the legendary Bloodline of the Snow Emperor!" a sword cultivator from the Extreme Northern Lands exclaimed from below.

"Are you never done, slice!" Lu Yang roared angrily, striking out with his sword.

Xue Shilou fell from the arena.