“Assist me?”
Qin Nan immediately rejected it without hesitation.
Since his goal was to comprehend the Sky-Desolating Saber Art, he would need to complete the trial on his own.
“Qin Nan, please don’t misunderstand my intentions. I’m only helping you to finish the trial faster, but you have to comprehend it yourself.” Chen Zilai said smilingly, “Besides, don’t you think my involvement is part of the trial too?”
Qin Nan was startled upon hearing this and somehow agreed with it as he pondered for a moment.
It was possible that the Sky-Desolating Saber Monarch helping Chen Zilai alter his destiny was only one of the chess pieces that he had prepared beforehand.
“Alright!”
Qin Nan nodded after taking everything into consideration.
After all, Chen Zilai’s involvement would only speed up the process. He still needed to rely on himself.
“I’ll owe you a favor after this.” Qin Nan said to Chen Zilai. It was important to remember the kindness of others, not to mention that they were each other’s opponent in the upcoming Monarch Horoscope Contest.
“You’re being too serious about it. Maybe I’ll need your help soon too.” Chen Zilai’s eyes wore a complicated look as an adorable yet playful face crossed his mind.
Qin Nan was startled. He could sense that something had happened to Chen Zilai, but he chose not to inquire any further after a slight hesitation.
“Qin Nan, you should comprehend the remaining saber intent. Come to my statue after you’ve done so.” Chen Zilai said as his figure slowly became faint before transforming into a golden ray of light that floated into the distance.
Qin Nan did not stay any longer. He returned to the Demon Cage and began to comprehend.
For the next ten days, he fully comprehended the saber intent lingering in the Demon Cage, the Bodhi Ritual Temple, the Bai Clan’s ancient mansion, the forbidden area in the Royal Palace, etc.
The saber runes on his forehead had slowly become a blurry character.
The desolation aura emitting from Qin Nan’s body became stronger during the process.
Most importantly, in the past ten days, the Royal Family, the Chen Clan, the Bai Clan, etc. had all sent someone to invite Qin Nan to a feast, but he rejected all the invitations. In the end, the Emperor commanded that no one was allowed to disturb Qin Nan.
...Meanwhile, on the morning of the eleventh day...
Qin Nan’s figure turned into a ray of light as he flew straight to the shoulder of the giant statue.
The cultivators guarding the surroundings of the statue were startled and were about to become enraged when they took a closer look at the person. They immediately backed off in a respectful manner.
“Qin Nan, let’s begin.” The statue emitted a golden glow as Chen Zilai’s voice appeared.
“Sure!” Qin Nan nodded as he activated the left eye of the Divine God of Battle and gathered his attention.
“The cycle of life, the world without limit, ten thousand Buddhas roaming the boundless world.”
Chen Zilai placed his palms together as he uttered with a blasting noise, astonishing the cultivators in the Royal City. Following this, his palms emitted a blinding Bodhi glow, which spread across the Royal City like a flood.
“Mm?”
Qin Nan’s eyes flickered with astonishment.
The reason was that each of the cultivators and everything else in the Royal City began to vanish. Every street, structure, tree, and stone was shining with a faint saber intent, which resembled a city made of saber intent from a distance away.
Furthermore, the saber intent in places like the Chen Clan, Bai Clan, Royal Palace, Demon Cage, Bodhi Ritual Temple, Aromatic Inn, etc. was abundant and grey in color, clearly different than the rest.
“Qin Nan, are you seeing it?” Chen Zilai asked.
Chen Zilai could not see it himself. He was only repeating the words that the senior had told him.
“I can see it.”
Qin Nan nodded as he shut his eyes and recalled the series of events he had gone through in the Royal City.
The blurry finding that he had been grasping at previously in his heart started to become clearer.
He reached out his hands and pointed at each of the locations.
“The conflict in the street.
“The assistance at the Aromatic Inn.
“The fight at the Chen Clan.
“The Empress in the pagoda.
“The anger in the jail.
“The encounter with the sage.”
A shocking sight took place as he pointed at the last location. The saber intent of the entire city began to swarm toward places such as the Aromatic Inn, the Chen Clan, etc. In the end, the saber intent accumulated at each of the places sprang into the sky like a giant beam of light.
It seemed like an ancient illusionary figure was holding the saber intent like a giant brush as he completed the strokes of a giant character.
However, none of the people in the Royal City were able to see it. They only saw Qin Nan standing on the glowing statue’s shoulder.
“HAHA, as I thought.”
Qin Nan burst out laughing.
Everything that he had experienced in the Royal City had its meaning, as they were all parts of the trial.
If he were able to fully comprehend the saber intent from everyplace, he would be able to control the saber intent to summon the final part of the trial, the giant character.
However, with Chen Buhui’s help, he was able to skip the final step and hasten the process.
“How impressive, in the end, such a complicated plan was only the beginning instead. The senior’s capabilities entirely exceeded my imagination...” Chen Zilai could not help but exclaim.
One could only start comprehending the art after fully absorbing the saber intent of the letter.
As such, triggering the character was not enough to guarantee that Qin Nan would successfully comprehend it.
“Thanks for your help. We’ll talk some other time, as I’ll be going into seclusion now.” Qin Nan brought his fists together.
“Sure.” Chen Zilai nodded.
Qin Nan took a deep breath and directed his focus toward the blurry character in his mind.
The character in his mind was most likely the same character that had appeared.
However, he would need to rely on the character in his mind to thoroughly absorb the saber intent of the giant character floating above the city.
Meanwhile, a shocking sight took place.
The silhouettes of four dragons appeared on Qin Nan’s chest and intertwined with one another, as the number in the middle of the dragons began to change.
“Mm?”
Qin Nan and Chen Zilai were stunned.
The Monarch Ranking was changing at this time?
Apart from that, Qin Nan also noticed that the unique badge given by the Shadow Pagoda inside his Sumeru Ring began to emit a brilliant glow.
It seemed like the Shadow Pagoda had just sent him some news.
The fact that the Shadow Pagoda had taken the initiative to contact him meant that the news was surely something important.
For once, Chen Zilai’s expression changed tremendously as he learned something from the message.
“What? The Monarch Horoscope Contest of the God Ranking has ended? Thirteen geniuses have acquired the Monarch Horoscope?"