Chapter 19: Heavenly Sword Form

In the Blue Luan Sect, Feng Wu's figure is bewitchingly graceful, while Feng Qi's gaze is captivating; each excels in her own beauty. As for the girl Feng Ming, outwardly she is rather pretty, but has no particular traits.

Among the female cultivators of the Blue Luan Sect, Feng Wu and Feng Qi are not only two of the three beauties, but their attack power also ranks among the top ten. Though attack power does not precisely reflect strength, does lacking attack power mean lacking strength?

In the Cloud Hidden Sect, besides the Heavenly Sword Hall's Qing Ge, there are two fellow disciples of the Heavenly Sword Hall, Qing Sha and Qing Wu; among the remaining four, three are disciples of the Overbearing Blade Hall—Qing Ren, Qing Li, and Qing Fu. In addition, there is a Refining Hall disciple whose dharma name is Qing Chou.

The Heavenly Sword Hall disciples all wear tied‑back white robes, graceful and otherworldly, exuding a sense of transcendence. The Overbearing Blade Hall disciples all have loose hair, but these three, unlike the burly man Qing He, have hair not messy but as smooth as the model's hair in a shampoo commercial—silky, supple, floating, and shining like polished metal.

It's not just the hairstyles; the temperaments of the two halls differ greatly. If the Heavenly Sword Hall disciples are dashing worldly gentlemen, the Overbearing Blade Hall disciples are refined warriors—both restrained, yet the latter's domineering aura inevitably leaks out.

From Wei Yuning's perspective, the disciple with the dharma name Qing Chou is not ugly, just has an exaggeratedly large mouth; placed among a group of handsome men, he looks rather mediocre.

A Dao name is a person's calling card that stays with a cultivator for life, so Wei Yuning finds the Dao name Qing Chou rather odd. Dao names are usually given by a master, and Wei Yuning doesn't understand why Qing Chou's master chose it. Perhaps there's a hint of casualness in it.

In the Cloud Hidden Sect, generation rank and master are separate concepts. For example, Wei Yuning himself, although he is the named disciple of Elder Tai Chong, does not become a member of the Xu generation or a peer of Administrator Hongzhi; he remains of the Qing generation.

The Qing, Hong, and Xu generations are sectal generational ranks that change every fifty years; they are the permanent status for cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage and above. Even if a junior disciple is extraordinarily gifted and ascends to Great Ascension within a century, they must still address a senior of the Opening Light stage as 'teacher‑uncle'.

The instructors in the Transmission Hall are not true masters; they only teach techniques and do not supervise disciples' daily conduct. Moreover, disciples who have not yet established a foundation have no master at all.

However, once disciples complete foundation establishment, senior sect members will select disciples they favor. If no one selects a disciple due to talent, temperament, or appearance, the sect will, based on proximity and convenience, randomly assign a senior 'teacher‑uncle' as a cheap master—for example, the vast majority of the herb garden disciples are apprentices of Administrator Hongle.

Such master‑apprentice relationships are highly informal; masters are inattentive, and disciples have no expectations, so disciples fend for themselves. If lucky, they may receive guidance during a Transmission Hall lesson, but if the instructor ignores them, they must self‑study. The Library holds countless cultivation manuals, and most can be read with a spirit stone.

Considering that most participants in this marriage gathering are hopeless, useless disciples within the sect, it is highly likely that the name Qing Chou originated from a cheap master.

Nevertheless, Qing Chou managed to stand out among the many useless disciples, standing shoulder‑to‑shoulder with disciples from both the Heavenly Sword and Overbearing Blade Halls, and he hails from the Refining Hall—a commendable feat. Moreover, this year's marriage gathering includes three inner‑sect disciples; Qing Ge is one of them, raising the event's prestige far above previous ones.

With Administrator Hongzhi personally overseeing the contest, the arena's order improved greatly. The laborer disciples hurriedly arranged the benches around the central platform into a semicircle; disciples sat in rows, while those without seats stood at the back.

The wooden dummy now bears a layer of pale violet‑golden skin over its bare branches, fitting like a custom suit. This skin is not a simple material but a sect‑wide protective talisman called the Golden Silk Veil, woven from spirit‑spark liquid and golden silkworm thread; it is extremely tough yet highly elastic, shrinking to fit any oddly shaped object perfectly.

This version differs slightly from ordinary Golden Silk Veils; it is a special‑made item inscribed with a formation that clearly displays attack intensity. The veil is divided vertically into five zones—Heaven, Earth, Humanity, Deity, and Ghost—each showing a light ring according to external force strength, with Heaven highest and Ghost lowest; each zone is further split into upper, middle, and lower sub‑zones.

Wei Yuning, as a contestant, was honored to secure a spot as a laborer, sitting with the other ten winners and the inner‑sect disciple Qing Cong in the frontmost 'VIP' audience seats. Meanwhile, Administrator Hongzhi and Yunyan Fairy sat on either side, highlighting the importance of this row.

Wei Yuning sat at the far right of the twelve‑person group; coincidentally, to his left were the three Blue Luan Sect female cultivators, with the Autumn Goose female cultivator closest, Feng Ming and Feng Wu a bit farther, and beside Feng Wu remained the ever‑present Qing Cong. In other words, the three Blue Luan Sect women were sandwiched between Wei Yuning on one side and Qing Cong on the other.

Even more amusing, Wei Yuning's right side was the stunning Yunyan Fairy. Because the seats were cramped, neighboring arms brushed against each other. Wei Yuning felt a bit awkward; it was his first close contact with a female cultivator, and his heart raced. Though he isn't impressed by the Blue Luan Sect women's charms, it doesn't mean he feels nothing. Moreover, close contact differs from distant observation.

"Qing Wu, nephew of the Heavenly Sword Hall, you go first; you may use a spell and a sword attack each, and the higher of the two will be your final score," Administrator Hongzhi said to the disciple beside him.

"Yes, Teacher‑uncle Hongzhi," Qing Wu replied. He is tall and robust, yet his movements feel remarkably agile. He leapt, soaring over two meters high, light as a feather, drifting toward the contest platform.

After foundation establishment, a cultivator sheds mundane aura and can envelop the body with spirit energy, greatly reducing weight and allowing temporary hovering flight. With a foundation disciple's spirit energy, sustaining flight for a dozen seconds is already decent.

Unlike the chaotic scene this morning, now the marriage‑pairing disciples of the two factions plus the laborers—about 660 people total—are silent, all eyes fixed on Qing Wu.

After landing on the five‑foot platform, Qing Wu turned, first bowing to the crowd below, then walked to the wooden dummy; upon reaching three feet away, he halted, closed his eyes to regulate breath, preparing a spell attack.

After a full ten breaths, Qing Wu clenched his left fist, held the Heavenly Sword Form in his right hand, widened his eyes, exhaled and shouted, "Hai." The Heavenly Sword Form is the most basic and common attack technique of the Cloud Hidden Sect's Heavenly Sword Hall; the three fingers contract, leaving only the index and middle fingers together, resembling a sharp sword.

A golden flash, like lightning, streaked briefly from the tip of Qing Wu's right middle finger into the wooden dummy. A white light ring appeared beneath the second‑to‑last zone.

"Spell attack intensity is Divine‑Low; rest briefly, then prepare a close‑range attack!" Administrator Hongzhi shouted from below.

Even the laborer disciples, let alone foundation‑stage disciples, mostly gasped in amazement. Qing Wu is only a mid‑foundation cultivator, yet this strike already matches the peak attack strength of an average foundation disciple—truly worthy.

"The Cloud Hidden Sect truly produces talent after talent; even an ordinary Heavenly Sword Hall disciple shines like this. Nephew Wei Yuning, you must perform well later!" Yunyan Fairy unexpectedly initiated conversation with Wei Yuning.