Chapter 614

Today is an extremely special day for the Daoist School.

To be precise, it is today every five years.

Since the Daoist School split three hundred years ago, there have been some problems with the ownership of the famous sword Xueji, which represents the identity of the Daoist Sect Master. Finally, through negotiation between the two sects, it was decided to determine the ownership of this sword through a duel.

If one side wins, they can hold this sword for five years. During these five years, the winner, as the orthodox Daoist School, is respected by both sects.

At first, this method could only be used as an expedient measure, barely maintaining the relationship between the Heaven and Man Sects of the Daoist School. For the people of the two sects, they did not think that the Heaven-Man Sword Debate would continue forever. They would eventually win the final victory and make the split Daoist School return to one.

Especially after the Yin-Yang School rebelled against the Dao and established itself, for the people of the Heaven and Man Sects, there was one thing they were trying to restrain and avoid, which was to avoid completely tearing their faces with the other sect, thereby causing the other side to rebel against the Daoist School and establish their own sect like the Yin-Yang School.

In the first hundred years or so, the Heaven Sect of the Daoist School had an absolute advantage.

Two geniuses, Lie Yukou and Yang Zhu, appeared one after another.

Lie Yukou and Yang Zhu were two of the ten heroes of the world in that era. The former, although from the Heaven Sect, besides advocating quietness and inaction, his subsequent thoughts were also recognized by the Man Sect. Such as "treating all things as one" and "embodying the Dao and merging with truth," all directly pointed out the essence of cultivating the Dao. He was also the Daoist Grandmaster most likely to unify the Daoist School and make the Heaven and Man Sects return to one.

During his period, the Man Sect of the Daoist School was once shaken.

But by the era of Yang Zhu, all this changed again. Although they were both among the ten heroes of the world, Yang Zhu was different from Liezi. Yang Zhu advocated preserving truth and nature, and valuing oneself over things. Although in the world of that time, it attracted many people's admiration, and there was a phenomenon where the words of the world belonged to either Yang or Mo, this statement was not liked by the Man Sect.

The Man Sect cares about all things in the red dust and believes that cultivating the Dao is a process of living in harmony with all things. How can one perform the act of harming the world to benefit oneself?

During his period, the Heaven and Man Sects deviated again. That period was also the time when the Man Sect was suppressed the most miserably.

After all, Yang Zhu was different from Liezi. Liezi valued emptiness, while Yang Zhu valued himself. He was an ambitious person who prepared to annex the Man Sect in his own way. The Man Sect of the Daoist School was also at its weakest in the era of Yang Zhu. It was called the Man Sect, but in essence, only a part of the people were struggling to persist.

Until the end of the era of Yang Zhu, the Man Sect finally turned the corner.

They had an unprecedented Grandmaster-level figure—Zhuang Zhou.

The Grandmaster here is not the Grandmaster in today's Jianghu, but a title for someone who is learned in heaven and man, ancient and modern, and a master of the Daoist School.

And the realm of today's Grandmaster is purely a martial arts realm. Even the origin of this realm stems from Zhuang Zhou's debate at the Jixia Academy.

Zhuang Zhou's theories were passed down from Laozi and Liezi. If you look at his theories, they are very similar to these two, especially Liezi, who is a top figure in the Heaven Sect of the Daoist School. But besides the thoughts of "Heavenly Dao is natural" and "treating all things as one," what truly made him a Grandmaster of the Man Sect was "Free and Easy Wandering." A piece of "Free and Easy Wandering" seemed to point out the way forward for the people of the Man Sect.

It was also during the time of Zhuang Zhou that the Man Sect of the Daoist School truly had the capital to be mentioned on equal terms with the Heaven Sect.

The Man Sect did not decline because of the suppression of the Heaven Sect. On the contrary, in the era of Zhuang Zhou, it developed to its peak.

Even after Zhuang Zhou passed away.

The Man Sect had already risen.

And so, that sword debate every five years has been passed down from three hundred years ago to the present. Even if the Heaven Sect has appeared with such geniuses as Master Beiming in these years, it has always been inferior to Yang Zhu. Even Yang Zhu, one of the ten heroes of the world, could not completely suppress the Man Sect and annex it, let alone Master Beiming. In these years, although the Heaven Sect is still powerful, the Man Sect has also appeared with many geniuses one after another. In general, the two sects are still in a state of equal strength.

Just like now, the current Sect Master of the Heaven Sect, Chi Songzi, has won the Xueji competition twice in a row. The Heaven Sect has held Xueji for ten years, but the Man Sect has no fear at all.

Even if Chi Songzi is very strong, in these two Xueji competitions, their Man Sect only lost by a narrow margin.

Since it was a narrow loss, it shows that the Man Sect's cultivation method is not weaker than the Heaven Sect's, and what they insist on is correct.

Or rather, they actually no longer need to prove the right or wrong of their cultivation method.

Just because, whether it is right or wrong, Zhuang Zhou had already verified it for them back then.

If there were problems with the philosophy advocated by their cultivation method, it would be impossible for Zhuang Zhou, a peerless Grandmaster, to appear.

Around the Guanmiao Platform, there are evergreen pines and cypresses.

The disciples of the Heaven and Man Sects stood quietly, and the major Elders mingled among them. The people of the two sects were as distinct as the Jing and Wei rivers, standing opposite each other under the leadership of two old men, looking like they were ready to fight.

The Sect Master of the Heaven Sect is Chi Songzi. He is nearly seventy years old, but he is full of vitality and has strong blood and Qi.

The Sect Master of the Man Sect is named Xiaoyaozi. He is much younger than Chi Songzi. Before the age of thirty, he was a hot-blooded hero in the Jianghu, once having the reputation of being the number one hero in Guanzhong. Later, for some reason, he escaped into the Daoist School and cultivated in seclusion. Although he joined the Daoist School halfway, a genius can shine in his own light wherever he is. After years of hard cultivation, Xiaoyaozi mastered the unique skills of the Man Sect and even obtained the unique Daoist title "Xiaoyao," which shows how much the Man Sect values him. He did not live up to the Man Sect's high regard and later became the Sect Master of the Man Sect. Five years ago, during the last sword debate, it was his first battle after succeeding as the Sect Master of the Man Sect. Facing Chi Songzi, who had already held Xueji once, he only lost by a narrow margin.

For this sword debate, the people of the Man Sect believe that after five years of hard cultivation, their Sect Master Xiaoyaozi will definitely be able to win back Xueji and make the Man Sect superior to the Heaven Sect.

During the warm-up of the Heaven-Man Sword Debate.

At the foot of Mount Taiyi, the main peak of Nanshan, a figure dressed in black clothes walked slowly.

The disciples guarding the mountain discovered the visitor at the first opportunity.

"Stop, visitor. Today, the Daoist School is closing the mountain!"