"To untie the bell, one must untie the bell-holder; since the Void Emperor’s royal decree is connected to its existence, its mysteries should also be unraveled by the decree."

Ling Chen’s mind stirred, then he flipped his hand to take out the Void Emperor’s royal decree, holding it in his left hand, and the Black Small Sword in his right. Comparing the two, Ling Chen sensed the black sword seemed to tremble slightly, a feeling that, though brief, did not escape Ling Chen’s keen perception.

Raising his palm, Ling Chen slowly infused True Qi into the Void Emperor’s royal decree, yet nothing unusual occurred between the two. Ling Chen’s other hand also infused True Qi slowly into the Black Small Sword.

After the infusion of True Qi, both the Black Small Sword and the Void Emperor’s royal decree revealed intricate patterns, but no further resonance occurred between them, until Ling Chen was nearly ready to give up, when suddenly a twisted beam of light refracted from the center of the Void Emperor’s royal decree, and injected into the Black Small Sword.

The Black Small Sword trembled again, then beams of light converged, forming a diagram in the Void, ultimately seeming to compose some strange route patterns, resembling a map.

Ling Chen’s gaze swept across the map, finally landing on the position marked by a red dot.

Ling Chen was quite familiar with the Nine Province Map; this red dot was located in the southern territory of Yangzhou.

Though he didn’t know what this red dot precisely signified, Ling Chen could guess it must be linked to the Void Emperor’s royal decree, otherwise, the Black Small Sword wouldn’t solely connect to the decree.

"Could the red dot’s location be where another Void Emperor’s royal decree is located?"

Ling Chen conjectured.

If this guess proved true, then acquiring this Black Small Sword was an unquestionably great gain!

The Void Emperor’s royal decree is such a precious object, containing Martial arts that even Saints would go mad over. If another decree could be obtained, it would undoubtedly elevate Ling Chen’s strength considerably.

However, even to go to Yangzhou, he had to first resolve matters here.

Stowing the Black Small Sword, Ling Chen promptly sat cross-legged, continuing his comprehension of the Gold Sword Pupil.

...

Two days passed, as the atmosphere of Divine Capital nearly approached a frenetic evolution, finally arriving gracefully.

And when the first light beam on the third day tore apart the clouds and illuminated the earth, the entire Divine Capital was undeniably engulfed in an extremely fervent ambiance, the piercing sound of wind breaking never ceased, shadows whisking like locusts, executing Light Skill and rushing towards the direction of the Imperial Palace.

This Heavenly Sword Tournament was held inside the Imperial City, at the Imperial City Square.

At that time, around the square of the Imperial Palace, countless images of people occupied the space, and even from afar, the urgent sound of wind breaking continued to emerge, evidently still swelling this terrifying ocean of people.

Whoosh!

A large group of shadows arrived, finally halting a thousand meters from the square, none other than the Ling Family’s entourage, including Ling Chen and others.

"Quite spectacular."

Suspended in mid-air, everyone gazed around at the seemingly endless ocean of people, involuntarily clicking their tongues, indeed, a great event on Nine Provinces Land, such scale could truly be described by the word ’vast’.

So many people entered the Imperial City, even under strict conditions because there had long been regulations: only warriors above the Sky Apex Realm had the qualification to enter the Imperial City to watch the tournament, and now those flooding in for observation were not less than tens of thousands, the entire venue was essentially filled.

Ling Chen also nodded with considerable awe, among the overwhelming images, he could detect many hidden and mighty auras, revealing that there lay unknown numbers of hidden talents, indeed, this Heavenly Sword Tournament was a gathering of formidable figures.

"Participants from all major Saint Families have essentially arrived."

Ling Xue looked at the tightly packed images and auras, commenting faintly.

Ling Chen’s vision scanned this batch of images, then settled at the forefront, where there stood an unassuming-looking male, yet the intense killing aura permeating him caused Ling Chen’s gaze to subtly focus.

"This individual is the most outstanding disciple of the Heavenly Wolf Family, known as Little Wolf King Gui Tianchou; he’s said to have successfully cultivated the Heavenly Greedy Wolf Technique, his strength quite formidable."

As Ling Chen’s vision focused on the male, Ling Xue, beside him, spoke.

"Oh?" Ling Chen raised his eyebrows, the "Heavenly Greedy Wolf Technique," he had heard of, it’s said to be as powerful as Ling Family’s Sky-breaking Sword Technique.

The Family Head of the Heavenly Wolf Family serves as the Grand Marshal in the Imperial Court, a rank only marginally inferior to the Grand Marshal’s position, potentially replacing Ling Family at any time.

"The group on the left, wearing white scholar robes, are the Literature Saint Family, and this year, the most formidable young person in Kong Clan is Kong Wenju, who cultivated the "Wensheng Secret Scripture"; the Literature Saint Family, with a history of three thousand years, is the most ancient among the Nine Great Families, not to be underestimated." Ling Xue looked at the white-clad male, then continued.

Ling Chen nodded; three thousand years is undoubtedly lengthy. For Kong Family to stand firm for such a long time without collapse, their foundation is indeed frighteningly deep.

Without waiting for more from Ling Xue, Ling Chen’s gaze had already shifted to another place, where before a group of figures in blue stood a lady clad in a green skirt, elegantly standing; her appearance rather exquisite, but most striking was her long hair, tinged with light green, exceptionally eye-catching.

Azure Dragon Family, Little Dragon King Murong Ziying.

Ling Chen had already met her during his time at West Market.

Back then, Sima Xiaoyao, Liu Mengru, Peerless Sword, and others were in the pavilion, and the green-clothed lady was Murong Ziying.

Shifting his gaze again, Ling Chen saw another group of young men dressed in black at another position, none other than Tang Haotian and other Tang Sect talents he had encountered at the city gate.

"So over there, those must be Xing Family people, right?"

After marveling for a moment, Ling Chen looked to another place, where many figures in blue stood, with unicorn symbols on their garments’ chests representing the god beast of law, unmistakably belonging to the Xing Saint Family.

The leading blue-clothed youth appeared quite skinny, yet his gaze was hawk-like, seemingly penetrating hearts, capable of seeing the secrets within.

This person was the most outstanding genius of the Xing Family, Xing Youfa.

"Truly, monsters have gathered."

Ling Chen laughed lightly; these individuals, being the most exceptional within their families, sufficiently testify to their talent and capabilities, indeed making this Heavenly Sword Tournament an interesting event, worth the journey.