Invincible Beyond Heavens: Cultivating With A Broken EXP System

”Hm?”

Soon, Li Yun discovered the unusual nature of this place.

Within this starry sky, all of his methods had been completely sealed. His chaos qi, Immortal Flesh, and even his Slaughter Sword Intent were all restricted, leaving him unable to use any of them.

Swish!

Just then, a flash of light appeared. Rays of radiance swiftly converged before him and formed a figure.

That figure held a long sword, pointed it at Li Yun, and spoke indifferently.

”Defeat me, and you win.”

”Competing in swordsmanship?”

Looking at the sword-wielding figure before him, Li Yun instantly understood.

In fact, he was not unfamiliar with the Starfall Chessboard.

The Starfall Chessboard created different trials according to the characteristics of each cultivator. For a sword cultivator, it tested swordsmanship. For a saber user, it tested saber techniques. For a fist cultivator, the corresponding trial would be fist techniques. In short, the trial was perfectly suited to the challenger’s own path.

Shoo!

Before Li Yun could continue thinking, the sword-wielding figure suddenly struck with its sword.

Swish!

The sword-wielding figure’s sword speed was extremely fast. Although there were no fluctuations of qi, that speed even surpassed some cultivators with lower cultivation. Purely in terms of swordsmanship, it had already reached an extremely high realm.

Based on swordsmanship alone, this sword-wielding figure was enough to defeat an ordinary Xiantian Realm cultivator with a single strike.

However, facing this strike, Li Yun only swung his sword casually.

His longsword directly parried the opponent’s sword to the side, then pierced the opponent’s heart with a single thrust.

This was not even a contest.

Li Yun had once tempered his swordsmanship beneath a waterfall for a month while all his cultivation was sealed. Although the opponent’s sword was fast, in his eyes, it was no different from a snail crawling forward. The two of them were not even on the same level.

Whoosh!

In the blink of an eye, the sword-wielding figure turned into scattered points of light and quickly dissipated.

This chess piece was easily resolved by Li Yun.

Next came the second piece, then the third piece.

In only one hour, Li Yun advanced like a hot knife through butter and directly resolved twenty chess pieces.

Twenty chess pieces was the minimum requirement for solving the Starfall Chessboard. Anyone who could not solve even the first twenty pieces would be directly obliterated by the guardian of Starfall Pass.

However, starting from the twenty-first piece, the difficulty clearly increased significantly.

That was because the opponent who appeared within the twenty-first chess piece had actually mastered Sword Intent, and it had reached thirty percent.

Thirty percent Sword Intent was naturally nothing under normal circumstances. Li Yun’s own Sword Intent had long surpassed that stage. The problem was that inside the Starfall Chessboard, his Sword Intent had been sealed just like his qi.

In other words, he had to break the opponent’s sword moves while enduring the pressure of their Sword Intent. This was undoubtedly much more difficult than before.

However, this level of difficulty still could not cause Li Yun too much trouble. Before long, the guardian of the twenty-first chess piece was also defeated by him.

A day later, he had already reached the thirty-first chess piece of the Starfall Chessboard.

Shua!

His opponent emerged.

It was still an expressionless sword-wielding figure. However, judging from the aura emanating from the opponent’s longsword, this opponent had clearly reached sixty percent Sword Intent.

Sixty percent Sword Intent was a qualitative leap compared to the previous levels of Sword Intent. Facing an opponent who had reached this stage, even Li Yun felt powerful pressure.

Swish!

The opponent thrust its sword forward, and sixty percent Sword Intent erupted. The longsword in Li Yun’s hand trembled slightly, clearly suffering heavy suppression.

Sixty percent Sword Intent had a clear advantage against a sword that was not supported by Sword Intent. That suppression alone was enough to weaken the opponent before the battle even truly began.

”Heaven-Intent Sword Art!”

Facing this strike, Li Yun’s expression became incredibly solemn.

He swung his longsword, and a burst of Sword Qi shot out. The Sword Qi was extremely fast, whistling forward as it collided with the opponent’s sword.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

In the next moment, both Li Yun and his opponent retreated three steps.

This was the first time since beginning the Starfall Chessboard that Li Yun had failed to defeat his opponent with a single strike.

”This is getting interesting.”

Li Yun was not disappointed by this setback.

On the contrary, a faint smile appeared on his face. The stronger the opponent, the better the tempering effect.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

With a movement of his body, he swung three more times in succession.

Each of these three strikes followed a different trajectory. They carved three arcs through the air as they shot toward the opponent from separate angles.

Three bursts of Sword Qi, three arcs, and three trajectories displayed swordsmanship that had clearly reached an extremely refined level.

Rip!

The sword-wielding figure blocked two bursts of Sword Qi, but it failed to block the last one. That final Sword Qi directly pierced through its body.

The guardian of the next piece, the thirty-second chess piece, also possessed sixty percent Sword Intent. However, its swordsmanship was far more refined than the previous opponent’s, and its movements were clearly much more cautious.

On the Starfall Chessboard, every ten pieces after the twentieth represented a qualitative change. However, even ordinary increases between pieces could not be underestimated. Especially after the thirtieth piece, every additional piece became extremely difficult to resolve.

It took Li Yun a full five days to successfully resolve the fortieth chess piece.

The guardian of the forty-first chess piece possessed an even stronger Sword Intent, which had reached seventy percent.

Before the opponent had even made a move, seventy percent Sword Intent already brought immense pressure upon Li Yun. The longsword in his hand trembled incessantly, making it almost impossible for him to hold it steady.

The suppression caused by seventy percent Sword Intent was simply too great.

This was only because they were inside the virtual space of the Starfall Chessboard. If they had been in the outside world, the longsword in Li Yun’s hand might already have shattered under that pressure.

This would be a hard fight.

Swish!

The sword-wielding figure did not give Li Yun much time. As soon as it appeared, it thrust out its sword.

This strike was as fast as lightning, like sparks bursting from flint. In an instant, it tore directly through Li Yun’s figure.

This was the first time Li Yun had suffered defeat since he began the challenge.

Fortunately, everything within the Starfall Chessboard existed in the form of consciousness. No matter how many times one died here, there would be no real damage. Soon, Li Yun’s figure condensed once again.

In his mind, he constantly replayed the opponent’s strike.

He could clearly see the trajectory of that sword, but under the pressure of the opponent’s Sword Intent, he was unable to react effectively even though he had seen it.

Ultimately, his sword was still not fast enough.